Cardboard Testimony

Hey Everyone! Hope your weekend was restful? Mine was anything but.
It was my younger sister's introduction and there was a million and one thing to do to prepare for the initial visitation from our soon to be in-laws.. it was awesome though!
We had an array of mouth watering dishes,cat fish pepper soup, peppered snails, fried rice, jollof rice, pounded yam with ewedu soup, efo riro and egusi soup prepared by all the women in the house!Yup!
By the time they were done eating, I'm sure they understood more, why their brother wanted to marry our little sweetheart. The whole event went so well and by eight pm in the night I was headed home, tired but very happy for my sweetheart. I decided to stay in on Sunday.
I had just settled in after making a quick pit (bathroom) stop in the wee hours of the morning when my younger brother Aflie called! I contemplated whether to ignore the call or answer.
Thankfully, the call was lost but he followed with a text message, persistent little bugger! I lay there trying to get back to sleep as my mind wondered what was so urgent.
I finally picked up the phone and opened the message, it read, "your movie is showing today in church so get your *** ass to church now!" I jumped out of bed as if i'd been stung, my movie was showing?!
Let me shed more light to the matter, I'm in the drama team in my church and earlier in the year, the pastor told us that he didn't want us doing stage presentations anymore, he wanted us to film five to ten minutes plays for screening in church on Sundays.
So finally last month, we shot our first feature which was written, produced and directed by me! I knew the only reason I was in church was to see people's reaction to our efforts and finally, after the offering and testimony, our short film was finally aired. it was phenomenal! I know it was technically not sound and most of the actors were untrained, but the message was passed and people appreciated it.
But Church took a turn for the better because the pastor's message was titled, "Thank You Jesus!" and to thank God, he had the ministers write what they used to be in the past before they got saved and how Jesus changed their lives, it was called the Cardboard Testimony because the words were written on cardboards held by each minister! it was awesome, watching all those well dressed people and seeing the conflicts, pain and struggle of their past. It reduced the whole church( okay I'm stretching the truth! not the whole church but me and some other people around me) to tears!
At the end of the day, my Cardboard Testimony, was my short film titled, "Captives of the Mighty"
Because though we are bound or imprisoned by our selfish ambitions, burning with anger toward those who hurt us, broken by our past mistakes, when the light of God is introduced to our situations, we are set free! Healed from pain, mended from hurt, made whole by His love and totally free from the darkness within!
What is your cardboard testimony? list all your former vices on one side, it doesn't matter how shameful they look after you write them down, just write! Then turn that page over and list all you have gained from knowing Jesus(if you indeed know Him) see what a huge difference your life has become? That's the state of grace! It is by God's grace that you have been saved, alive and well! Never take that for granted.
I love this verse of the bible that says, "although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall the fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail and the fields shall yield no meat, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" When all else fails, praise God, because the availability of Life means there's still hope and a chance to make things better!
Ciao!
(write your vices as comments here, and i promise to pray along with you about a change for the better, no matter how bad they are,write them anyway!)