The Other Offers — A Lagos Story About Faith, Calling and the Cost of Obedience

Lola knew Third Mainland Bridge like a bad habit, and it had her again. 

Her back was already wet from the dreadful heat that threatened to melt her. 

Gala sellers, shoe hawkers and every form of chaos were already wide awake to take advantage of the stand still. She squinted past the cloud of smoke in front of her to see if there was any movement, but still nothing. It had been like this for the last hour. Car horns blared loudly and drivers looked like they were about to kill each other. Lola clenched her knuckles on the steering wheel. What was she going to tell Jane this morning? 

She turned her attention to the passenger side, staring down her purse like an opponent. With a frustrated sigh she faced forward hoping to see something different than what she saw 5 seconds ago. Nothing had changed. Reluctantly, she grabbed her purse to take out her cell phone, while holding the steering wheel with one hand. She placed the purse on her lap and shuffled around for her cell phone. Her fingers brushed past a stray charger before snagging the rubberband that held her nokia together. Once she grabbed the phone she dialed Jane’s office line. 

It rang. She put it on speaker. 

The ringing filled her car like a funeral processional. 

She tapped her fingers on her steering wheel furiously. 

Someone picked up on the other side.

Lola stopped tapping. Her throat felt tight but she managed to speak.

“Hello…Miss Jane. I’m just by…”

“Lola… don’t tell me you’re running late again”, Miss Jane interrupted her, the sharpness of her tone cutting through the air.

The line went silent.

 Lola leaned back in her seat in despair, she slowly raised her eyes till they met the roof of her car. Not knowing what else to do, she closed her eyes and whispered under her breath. 

With a sigh she responded, “Miss Jane, I’m truly sorry. I’m on my way”.

After a few moments, the sound of someone sucking their teeth came like a hurricane from the other side of the line.

“This girl will not kill me…”, Miss Jane muttered.

“You better be here before the daily stand up is over”.

clink

The line ended.

Lola simply stared straight ahead. She leaned her head on her hot steering, thinking about what she’d need to do to avert the calamity that had started in the office. What next…

A loud horn came from behind her, jerking her out of her thoughts. She looked up. The cars in front of her had started moving.

Maybe there was hope. 

Lola disembarked the Third Mainland Bridge and merged onto the exit that will take her to Oniru. In a few minutes she started to enter Oniru proper. Oniru was nice with its quaint buildings but it wasn’t Lekki by any chance, and she strangely preferred it. She continued her drive towards Seedbed Initiative office, the non profit that had been her job in the last year. Lola was now very close to the office. She spotted the billboard that greeted her on her way in every morning. It read, “Are you ready for business if you didn’t go to Lagos Business School? LBS your best choice”. The message always made her smile. Having earned an MBA from LBS she definitely agreed, but more importantly LBS reminded her of a life before. A life against the backdrop of Mile 12, when she worked in her aunt’s pepper grinding store. Business had always been fascinating to her even as early as then. There was something about attracting the right customer at the right time that has always fascinated her. At a tender age she witnessed so many people of different pedigrees come through Mile 12 irrespective of their socioeconomic status. Everyone needed pepper. It was fascinating to Lola that value was the common denominator between the rich and the poor, and if you had the right goods or service you could attract the right crowd. She wanted to spend her life doing just that. 

Lola drove past the billboard, she tried to smile as she always did.

She got to the plaza gate and parked at a free spot near the entrance. Frantically grabbing her bag and her heels in the passenger seat, She jumped down from her brown Peugeot. She dropped her heels and quickly squeezed into them, simultaneously slamming her car door shut. A loud thump revealed the car was securely shut. Lola pressed her key to lock the doors but they did not lock, she proceeded to pull the door open and shut it once more, this time harder. 

Bam

She pressed the key again and this time it locked.

Lola ran into the courtyard and through the left entrance heading up the stairs. As she ascended the stairs she paused. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 

She had made the choice to take this job for good reason. This was where she needed to be. Her memory was still fresh from the night after she graduated LBS. Two job offers and none felt right. All she knew was that she had to volunteer in a non-profit, and God led her to Seedbed. Her only living relative did not understand her choice, but she chose obedience.

She made it to the second floor and ran towards the green door that showed the Seedbed Initiative at the end of the hallway. When she got to the front of the door she took a beat, wiped her brow and slowly reached for the door handle. With care, she pressed it open.

The front office was empty. Good everyone was at the team meeting, it means she didn’t miss it. The team huddle door at the right side of the entrance near the corridor seemed to be shut. She quickly walked towards the huddle and stood near the door listening. Miss Jane was speaking about assignments for the day, it means there was at least 5 mins left in the meeting. Lola took a deep breath and opened the door. Most people turned to look at her, but Miss Jane continued. She stood close to the door hoping she didn’t make too much noise. The meeting did not miss a beat. 

“Alright, that will be all everyone. Remember we do this not for us but for the small businesses that make Oniru a place for everybody.”, Miss Jane said as she dismissed the team.

The meeting was over.

Everyone took turns to exit the huddle back to their designated spaces. 

“Lola stay back”,  Miss Jane thundered across the room before she could leave.

When the last employee left the huddle, Miss Jane continued.

“Lola, you need to figure out if you want to be here or not. You haven’t been putting in as much effort as when you first started, and now you’re coming late to work often. It is not professional…and you know better”.

“I’m sorry ma”

“Not sorry, do better. You are losing your passion and you need to dig into the root of it.”, Jane said to Lola.

Lola grew stiff.

Losing my passion?

“Understood”, Lola responded.

“Alright, let’s try not to have this conversation again.”

Lola nodded, she walked towards the exit calmly to exit the huddle.

The rest of the day was a blur as Lola pondered Miss Jane’s words.

Losing my passion?

On the drive home, Lola continued to replay the last conversation. Has she really lost her passion?

Her mind was having trouble letting go of that statement.

She had done what she felt God asked her to do, she wasn’t in a big company like her friends. She laid down her offers for God’s will. How could she be more passionate?

Suddenly a scripture came to her mind.

If you are willing and obedient,

you will eat the good things of the land; 

She had obeyed God, what else could she do?

You need to be willing also…

Lola bowed her head.

If she was honest… her aunt had been talking to her about getting a “real” job recently and their conversations were starting to put a lot of pressure on her. 

“Lola, Toyin just started working with Julius Berger in Lekki. Oh my gosh, have you seen her car?”. This was the main point of her last conversation with her aunt. Her classmate and one of her closest friends back in Lagos Business School had gotten a coveted position and her aunt wanted to let her know how much she was missing out. 

She didn’t realize how much these taunts were weighing on her. 

Work had slowly become a grind she had to just do for God. She didn’t want to disobey God, but she had forgotten to enjoy the process and release her fears to Him.

She had to repent. 

She knew better. 

Her current season is for preparation and service, she needed to not only submit but release her vision of what her life could look like so she could be truly willing and obedient. Otherwise it would only be a voluntary pain-fest instead of true preparation.