My Life changed in 2023

...a year in review?

The last time I attempted to write a year in review I stopped mid-way and switched it to a year in view because I did not think I had achieved enough to make for an interesting ‘year in review’ read.
I feel the same way now, but unlike younger ‘Setemi, I will chronicle the sparse achievements anyway because in them you would find the threads that will weave the tapestry of my life.

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When I was a lot younger, I learnt the names of God and the one that really stood out to me was Jehovah Rohi because at the time, although I was surrounded, I felt alone and found a friend in God.
I also felt alone often this year. I was finally in a “phaseless” stage of life and while I was mentally prepared for it, it was still a new experience and I did not know how best to navigate it.
I left mainstream social media and just lived outside of the self imposed gaze of it for a while, which was very liberating.
In 2023, once again, I came face to face with Jehovah Rohi.

The first half of the year was difficult for me and you will not find any hints of the difficulty in my words as you read this, but in December I remembered it often and several of those times I had to quell the bitterness, the anger, and the hurt that I felt with the reality of my regenerated spirit in Christ.
God is still helping me.
There are so many wounds we carry that we may never be able to explain. In our inability to explain, we might even be convinced that the wounds are but a figment of our imagination- except, imaginary wounds do not hurt.

Prophecy carried me in 2023.
Prophetic words about me that God had given to me.
In 2023, I learnt to be self-reliant on God, and not to depend on men to hear God or to share God’s heart with me. I became content hearing God and running in His direction, without waiting for anyone to confirm to me what I had heard the Lord say.
I was my prophet and I was content being that.
Some days I cried to God in prayer because I was the only one seeing what God had shown me and I was following without any confirmation from any human being.
In doing this, I learnt to trust God like I never have in my life.

In 2023, I bet on myself and I pushed hard for my goals. I know the work that went into 2023, even the ones not covered in this review; the silent and honest conversations with God that proved significant for the journey as new terrains opened up to me. A few times I had to give myself pep talks. These pep talks had no words, all they had was a knowing, a knowing that carried a message heavy enough to cause a reset.
As you read this review, my structure may not do well to carry the depth of my gratitude to God or the magnitude of my achievements.
You might read this and think my greatest achievement was launching projects in the month of May, or the liberation I finally felt in December. You might also read this and be underwhelmed by my achievements in the year.
Nevertheless, I believe that my greatest achievement in the year 2023 was being a conduit of the heart, power, and presence of God.
Being God’s Emissary.
I absolutely loved being the one God sent on assignment.

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January
January was rather uneventful, I was working and scheming to get my money up and get that promotion when due.
January was also the month that I began to curate the curriculum for citizen’s club.
At the end of January I got invited to interview for my current role, which placed me smack! in the middle of a crossroad.

February and March
I decided to move forward with the interview after speaking to God about it.
When I spoke to God, what I received was not an assurance of success, but an assurance that pursuing this was not opposite to God’s direction.

April

In April, I turned 24.
And I felt so blessed on my birthday. My friends came from all around the city to eat my sad attempt at jollof rice and fried chicken.
It was such a last minute decision to host people and I didn’t even have enough money to host them well but they showed up regardless and I felt immensely blessed and extremely loved.
It felt like a warm hug that I did not know I needed.
I did not know so many people liked me enough to show up.

May

When God gives me an assignment, I’m prepared to run with it whether men or elements align. God told me, and I know the voice of God like I know my birthdate, therefore I will obey God.
So when men support God’s instruction it feels like God in human form charting the course with me. This year felt like that. May especially felt like that.
May was a month of birth, as various things came to life.
The first edition of The Living Rooms (TLR) Worship Meeting held and once again, it felt like a warm hug because people showed up, and people supported the work.
Citizen’s Club was also officially launched in Lagos and my friend gave financially to it, which I wasn’t expecting at all.
Sometime in this month I got the offer from my current job, and half of my troubles disappeared.

June
By the end of May I left my previous job and spent the month of June resting, reading my Bible, memorizing scripture, and watching Youtube videos.
In June, I also deactivated my social media accounts on a whim because I was honestly just tired and I was finally okay with being out of the loop.

July
Yoruba people say “Ase were ni ise Oluwa” which means that God is a perfect orchestrator.
I resumed my job and finally realized that I was walking in a miracle. I don’t know how it dawned on me but it did eventually, and the magnitude of the lengths God went to orchestrate this was simply mind blowing.

August
My friends relocated in August.
I also started taking discipline seriously because my environment was beginning to encourage gluttony.
I started running and went to the gym for the first time.
I also started working with a very amazing project team. My manager drilled and pushed me, but in the end, we struck a pretty decent friendship (I still won’t accept his invitation to the club though 💀)

September
I remained consistent with the gym and my runs.
I think in September my personal devotion took a hit and I decided to take the bull by the horn in October.

October
This was operation resurrect your devotional life.
Desperate times call for desperate measures so I started putting scriptures on my mirror with sticky notes, and I cannot forget the multiple prayer alarms.
Sometime in August, September or October, I listened to a podcast episode by Ezinne Zara, on devotion, that was very helpful because I thought I had to be doing the most to maintain my devotional life but listening to someone else who was doing what I was doing was like “we’re two twins” (as Ife aptly put it).
I also mistakenly came back on instagram.

November
I was looking for a new challenge.
I did not find it, what I found instead was time to spend with my friends who were available which was very good for my heart.

Met up with Friends

December
December was very good.
I left my house and experienced things I like (none of which includes loud music)
I also realized why I no longer enjoyed publicly sharing on social media.

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In writing this review, I have had to reflect deeply on the past year.
I learnt fellowship and contentment in a sense so broad that it would take more than 2 lines to explain it.
I learnt to love God in a busy world, and invited others on this journey through TLR.
I learnt to honour and respect myself (and I am still learning).
I even had the privilege of making new friends after so many years of having the same friends.
God changed my life in 2023.

I know that I will come back to this review and I will cry again, but this time it will mostly be tears of gratitude, because future Setemi will be grateful for the foundation laid in 2023.

Finally, I urge you, in this new year, plan with God, sit with God.
There are so many elements of your life that you cannot successfully plan away.
Only God can.
Let Go, let God, and together let us see what God can do with a surrendered life in 12 months.

Here’s to another year of God changing my life- and yours.

You Have All My Love,
’Setemi.