I was the eldest and I knew that someday I would have more responsibilities handed over to me. Although my father didn’t say so, it was a position I assumed at a very young age, I wanted him to know that he could depend on me and that I will be ready whenever he felt it was time to assume a position in the family business.
My younger sister Yomi wasn’t like me, she was the life of the party, whenever she stepped into a place the atmosphere changes and immediately lights up. While I sought to please the father and do his bidding, Yomi did hers and accommodated him whenever she found the time to do so.
Growing up was fun. Yomi and I would run up the flight of stairs laughing boisterously and talking, and in the evening, we go fellowshipping with the father. Our house was a place of affluence, we had servants at our beck and call, money was never an issue and we wanted for nothing.
Occasionally, I would try to do things the servants have been designated to do for us and each time the Father catches me doing them, he will say there are other things that he will rather have me do than the things I bother myself with, which have been designated to the servants because they are there to minister to my needs but I never really listened, I will always try to juggle the things that He expected of me with other things.
Yomi was nothing like me. She knew her rights as the Father’s daughter and knew how to utilize it. The servants were always ready to minister to her needs, as she would often tell me whenever I’m trying to go over and beyond, “Wura, the Father says the servants have been placed as ministering spirits to minister to our needs” let them do what they have been placed to do.
As long as the Father provided (of which, we never ran out of provision), Yomi was going to make full use of the provision as long as it was available, however, she pleases, but that didn’t continue like that because Yomi decided she wanted to try her hands on other things…
I was 21 and had just graduated Top of my class from Harvard Business School and was just settling back into the country when everything began to spiral down quickly. Yomi walked into the living room while the Father tried to fill me in on what’s been going on in the family business when she outrightly asked for her own share of the inheritance.
I was mortified, how could you ask for your inheritance from a man who is still alive? I asked her as I followed her into the room, every form of advice I had to give fell on deaf ears neither was she ready to reason with me, her mind was made up and that was final, and since I knew daddy was definitely going to be giving her, her share of the inheritance.
It’s been 8 years since we heard from Yomi after she requested for her share of the family inheritance, got it and left the house but I followed her on the gram and got a glimpse into all her adventures and escapades, and then gradually there was a decline in her post until there was none and then all her social media account were deleted like she no longer existed. Somedays, I hoped she was not just spending all her inheritance on adventures but truly hoped she had the common sense to save and invest in something worthwhile.
However, while Yomi lived her life, I climbed to the pinnacle of success in the family’s business, working tirelessly to eventually becoming the second-in-command in the chain of business. My work rate had earned me the workaholic title from my parents. Sometimes, I wonder why I never took days off work or even embark on vacations, I have been busy with the family business that my communication with the father began to drop, we never saw each other as often as we use to even though we lived in the same house.
One evening on my way back from work, I noticed that there was a huge fanfare going on at home, the house was boisterous, the music was loud, the servants were up and about like they were preparing a feast worthy of a king. I got down from my car and beckoned to one of the servants to inquire what was going on and his response was “The one who was long gone is back”, still it didn’t make much sense to me till I stepped into the house where I met my younger sister looking haggard and tired in the arms of the Father narrating her ordeal as everyone gathered to listen with interest.
The scene playing before me felt like what you see when kids gather to watch “Tales by Moonlight”.
Her ordeals were of course gory but it didn’t start out being gory, she first had the time of her life, travelling to different countries and partying with both strangers and acquaintances before she was duped at several points while trying to invest in businesses she didn’t bother to make findings about which all turned out to be Ponzi, and then her money ran out with no other way to survive, she started pushing dustbin and even at that she could barely survive until the day she had an epiphany that even the servants in her Father’s house do not pick from hills of dung before they can survive and then she remembered the father’s constant words to both of us ‘’No good thing will I withhold from you”.
I watched with disdain as she poured out her story, it was not that I hated my sister because I didn’t but I have been with this man every single day, serving, proving myself time and again and yet he had the guts to throw a party for someone who demanded for her inheritance and squandered it, what significant thing has she done that deserves her having the father’s attention like that, I was filled with rage.
But here she was, pouring out her story and asking for forgiveness because she knew that no matter what she might have done, he would forgive her and welcome her home.
I knew I had finally had enough of whatever she was selling, so I slammed the door to announce my presence making everyone to react to the sound and then I ran up the flight of stairs to my room.
The Father: -
With tears in my eyes, while still holding on to the daughter who had just returned, I watched Wura run up the flight of stairs in tears. All I ever wanted was for her to know that I have loved her with an everlasting love that cannot be shaken but for some reasons, she kept thinking that her works will make me love her more, that her continuous work will always keep her in my good graces.
I mean, how do you explain to a child that it doesn’t matter what they could have done or didn’t do you would always love them forever.
I believe that was the difference between Yomi and Wura, Yomi knows that if there’s anything constant about the Father that it will be the Father’s love and that no matter how much she might falter the Father will always show up for her but will now have to learn discipline and balance, while for some reasons, Wura had held on to the notion that she needed to work for everything to be deserving of the Father’s love and attention so as to always be in his good graces.
The Father’s Love: -
I knocked slightly on her door but I could hear her sobbing heavily, I walked in, sat on her bed, gathered her in my arms and allowed her to sob completely in my bosom. After sometime she pulled herself up and a rush of questions came tumbling amidst fresh tears,
Father, why do you love me less?
Why is it that everything I have done was never enough?
I have been here with you, working tirelessly and producing results, how come you never throw me a party?
Am I such a bad daughter not worth celebrating?
Listening to her as the questions flowed out of her mouth broke my heart into a million pieces… I stretched out my hand to her calling her name so she could focus on me and then told her
“I love you Wuraola, I loved you before I met you, before you were formed or had any thought process I loved you, I love you not because of the work you do at the family business and even if you choose to be lazy in your duties despite knowing that I frown at laziness, I won't love you less. I have loved you and will continually love with an eternal love”.
I would like if this becomes your motto now going forward, having the surety that I will always love you and I see all the work you do, all the effort you put into it and all the amazing results it has yielded and I couldn’t be more proud of you.
However, I think that’s its also right to celebrate your sister who was once lost but has now been found, someone whose disappearance felt like she dropped from the surface of the earth but now home hale and hearty.
Don’t you think that alone calls for a celebration, Wura? I think so too.
I believe it’s going to be a good celebration tonight because I did not just gain my lost daughter back, I was also able to tell my other daughter how much I love her and how much she means to me.
***
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18 comments
A wonderful adaptation of The Prodigal Son. To be honest, its an old story but still bears a lot of relevance, physically and spiritually. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I couldn't agree more. There's something about the love of God that outlast time.
DeleteWow! This blew my mind! I love how you used the prodigal son parable, and you were able to make the story so surreal. It wasn't boring at any point and I enjoyed reading it. Beautiful story!
ReplyDeleteThank you Bukola. Your comment is definitely one to always look forward too and thank you for allowing me to blow your mind.
DeleteLovely piece Yimmie, you sure know how to mix words to make a lot of sense. Thumbs up
ReplyDeleteThank you. I appreciate you.
DeleteGreat piece indeed. Your blend of words really creates a picture in the mind of every reader, me especially though. Like watching a movie... I enjoyed reading... Thanks
ReplyDeleteThank you dear. I'm really glad you read it. How do you think the Father's response on loving his daughter should have played out?
DeleteHmm...The Father's love...divine and true!thanks for this piece Yinka. This is a must read.its a re-assurance of His unfailing love towards us. Eternal!
ReplyDeleteIt definitely is. If there's anything that the Prodigal son story teaches us is that the Father's love will never fail.
DeleteNice one dear, Fathers are definitely one of the greatest gift we have.❤️❤️❤️❤️
ReplyDeleteThank you Darling ❤️
DeleteWow, beautiful piece. No better way to express the father's love with a representation of the realities of our time. Great writing.
ReplyDeleteYass!!! I couldn't agree more.
DeleteWoowww, The father's everlasting love is unconditional. Good job dear, you make the parable of the the prodigal son so real
ReplyDeleteIt definitely is. Thank you for reading.
DeleteAmazing!
ReplyDeleteI need to sit with you and learn how you the mastered the art of storytelling.
The prodigal son story suddenly read like I never heard it before.
Thanks for birthing this, Yimika.
Thank you for your kind words as always.
Delete