Testimonies
HONOUR REBUILT WHAT HURT HAD BROKEN BY SIS F.O.
Growing up, my mother’s negative words about my father shaped my perception of him. I began to despise him and show dishonour in simple ways-delaying his instructions on purpose or ignoring them completely. I felt he had failed as a father and didn’t deserve honour.
But after listening to God’s Word taught by Pastor Ita Udoh, my mind was renewed. I understood that God commanded me to honour my father, regardless of my feelings. I prayed for God to forgive him and began obeying instructions to show honour through giving.
During holidays, I started buying small gifts: groundnuts for my dad, perfume for my mom, footwear for my dad, and helping rebrand my mom’s sandals.
Early this year, after my internship, I bought wine for my dad and edibles for my mom. My dad, who rarely expresses gratitude, smiled openly because the wine I bought happened to be his favourite. My dad’s appreciation humbled me and reminded me of what I missed all those times I used to despise him.
Beyond gifts, I learned to honour them through service. My mum, who sells fish, is often too busy to wash her clothes and sometimes repeats outfits. So whenever I’m home, I wash all her clothes and occasionally wash my dad’s too. I also wash dishes, clean the kitchen, sweep, and tidy the entire house. One of my brothers who lived with them at that time wasn’t much help around the house, so maintaining cleanliness usually falls to me. My dad always worries about who will keep things clean when I travel.
I also serve through cooking. My mum is not a kitchen person, doesn’t cook much; I learnt how to cook certain soups properly from my brother’s wife in my early twenties.
My dad has grown used to simple meals, but whenever I’m around, my mum joyfully says, “Thank God you’re around-now your dad will eat good food.” I cook different meals for them and leave as much food as possible before returning to where I stay, even though it doesn’t last long, as we don’t have a freezer.
Through giving and serving, God has helped me restore honour to my parents, and I believe these acts are accumulating blessings for my life.
HONOUR TURNED STRANGERS INTO FAMILY AGAIN BY SIS U.J.
Growing up, my relationship with my father was strained, with no love lost between us. However, when I joined God’s LightHouse, I heard Pastor Ita Udoh preach about honouring parents. He emphasised that for the majority of us who were students and so could not provide financially for our parents, we are to honour them by being faithful in discharging our chores.
I was already working on overcoming unforgiveness and malice, so I decided to put this into practice. I gathered all my dad’s clothes, including those he had not worn in years, and washed them. After they dried, I felt prompted to iron them, so I enlisted my siblings’ help. They were reluctant at first, but I explained that doing the opposite of what we feel is one of the ways we fight in the kingdom of God.
When my dad returned, he was visibly touched. The dust from the clothes made me sneeze, and surprisingly, he went out and bought me medication. This was unusual, as we had not been communicating much before. Days later, I saw him on the road, waved at him, and he waved back at me. This was very shocking to me, and a very significant gesture from such a strict person.
Later on, he would, at different times, give me some money – this too was very unusual as he rarely gave money to any of us, especially after he had given us what we needed in school.
From that day that I washed all my dad’s clothes, our relationship improved greatly. Today, we are very close. If my siblings need something and my dad is unresponsive, they often ask me to intervene.
By obeying Pastor’s words and serving my dad, I experienced healing and restoration in our relationship. May God’s name be praised!
GROUNDNUTS, SERVICE, AND UNHINGED FAVOUR BY SIS G.O.
During the last school holiday, I went home, and, just as Pastor had encouraged, I bought a bottle of roasted groundnuts for my father. He received it gladly and enjoyed it during his free time with my mother.
I was very helpful around the house. I handled almost all the chores, not just for my parents, but also for my sisters who were staying with their kids. When it was time for me to return to school, they asked me to stay a little longer because of how helpful I had been.
Before leaving, I wrote my list of things to take back to school, and to my surprise, I was given everything on the list, along with a new pair of sandals I hadn’t even asked for!
I also helped my sister host her old school reunion, which took place at our house. I was basically everything-cleaner, cook, photographer, usher-you name it. After the event, I cleaned up the entire place by myself without complaining.
When I returned to school, that same sister sent me a generous amount of money to take care of myself until my next visit.
READ NEXT: HONOUR (PART 12)
