Favvy_Okwans🖤

If there's one thing I've learnt recently, it's that just because something worked in one season, or God used a particular method to help you at a certain point, doesn't mean it will always be that way. God may have moved on from the strategy you're still holding tightly to simply because it worked once. Be flexible. If something that always worked suddenly stops working, while it is wise to investigate and learn from it, also pay attention to the possibility that God is doing something new. Sometimes, we become so busy asking "why?" and crying over spilled milk that we fail to notice what is right in front of us. While the Alan Watts backward law suggests that understanding the past helps us step into the future, it is not the same as clinging to things, people, opportunities, or even versions of ourselves that no longer serve God's purpose in our lives. Dearest reader, if the door you've been knocking on refuses to open, perhaps God is not asking...

On today's story review of The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, we're looking at the final story in the collection, The Headstrong Historian. And what a way to end a book. The story begins with Nwamgba, a young woman who insists on marrying Obierika despite concerns about his family's history of childlessness and miscarriages. She loves him deeply, but shortly after the birth of their only son, Anikwenwa, he dies, a death she suspects was orchestrated by jealous relatives. Fearing for her son's safety and inheritance, she sends him to the new Catholic school established by the white missionaries, and that's where things begin to change. School gives Anikwenwa opportunities, but it also distances him from the traditions and beliefs his mother holds dear. He becomes a catechist, starts a family of his own, and raises children in a world very different from the one Nwamgba grew up in. But for me, the heart of this story is Afamefuna. Born into Christ...

On today's story review of The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, we're looking at story 11 titled Tomorrow Is Too Far. "He tells you, it did not occur to him to want, because what mattered was what you wanted." Guyyyyyys. The way I screamed when I read that line because who says that? Who writes that? Mehn, Chimamanda writesssssss This story was unsettling in the quietest way possible. It follows a young girl who grows up in the shadow of her older brother, Nonso. He is loved by everyone, admired by everyone, and treated like the center of the universe. Meanwhile, she is left craving the attention and affection that seem to come so naturally to him. At first, I thought this was just another story about sibling rivalry, but it wasn't. The narrator admits that she planned it. She dared Nonso into climbing the tall tree in their grandmother's compound because she wanted something to happen to him. But not death, never death, she simp...

On today's story review of The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, we're looking at story 10 titled The Arrangers of Marriage. Mehnnnnn! Just like the title suggests, the story follows Chinaza, a young Nigerian woman whose aunt and uncle arrange a marriage for her with a doctor living in America. After only a few weeks of getting to know him, she packs her bags and moves across the world to begin a new life. Only, that new life turns out to be very different from what she imagined, what struck me most wasn't even the marriage itself, it was her husband. From changing his Igbo name to Dave Bell, to correcting the way Chinaza spoke, to rejecting anything that connected him to Nigeria, it felt like he was constantly trying to prove he wasn't who he really was. At some point, I found myself thinking, "Oga, rest Na" And I think that's what made the story so interesting. While Chinaza is trying to adjust to a new country, Dave is trying to erase ...

On today's story review of The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, we're looking at story 9 titled The Shivering. Today's story felt beautiful in a quiet, familiar way. It begins with a plane crash in Nigeria. After hearing the news, Ukamaka gets a knock on her door from Chinedu, a fellow Nigerian living in her postgraduate lodge. He suggests they pray together, and from that moment, an unexpected friendship begins. Through their conversations, Ukamaka finally starts talking about her ex boyfriend, the man who had recently broken up with her and who was supposed to be on that flight but somehow missed it. A breakup so painful it had sent her back to church. One thing I really loved about this story was the friendship between Ukamaka and Chinedu. He listened to her talk endlessly about her ex, never rushing her, never trying to fix things, just quietly being there. Sometimes that's exactly what people need. As they grow closer, Ukamaka learns ...

On today's story review of The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, we're looking at story 8 titled The American Embassy. Gbam!!! Another powerful story, this particular one broke my heart. The story follows a woman whose journalist husband writes critically about a political figure. One day, armed men storm their home looking for him. Unable to find him, they kill their four year old son instead, a child she had spent years trying to conceive. What made the story even more painful was that she didn't see her husband as brave the way everyone else did. As far as she was concerned, his bravery had cost her everything. Her son was dead, her husband had fled the country, and she was left carrying the weight of a loss no parent should ever have to bear. She eventually goes to the American Embassy to apply for asylum. All she has to do is tell her story, but she can't and that's where this story really got me. Because this wasn't a story about visas or...