Hi everyone,

Firstly, I want to thank you all for the love, support and encouragement you’ve shown towards me this year.  I can’t believe it has almost been a year since The Undiluted Word was started. Thanks be to God for sustaining me and using me as a mouthpiece to spread His word. I can truly say that I  have learnt a lot from the posts I have shared and thus my relationship with God has grown from last year. I am still not where I would like to be, but I am assured that I will get closer to where I want to be. 

As  we count  down the remaining days and hours of 2015 I sit down in reflection and awe of what a year it has been. Here’s my shout out paragraph to God! (For those who haven’t come across the term Shout Out it simply means to give a public expression of thanks or gratitude / to acknowledge with respect.)

JANUARY- I had purposed in my heart to start a blog and Thanks be to God that dream came true. It is always a huge blessing to start a new year, so I was very thankful for life. 

FEBRUARY- I attended university interviews in January and February, which God saw me through. 

MARCH-Everything seemed to be working against me when it came to finishing up coursework and my 4,000 extended essay. Within the space of starting and finishing the essay I had 5 different supervisors as each one new teacher seemed to leave. Albeit, I completed the essay and achieved a good grade overall. Thanks be to God!

APRIL- On the 16th I experienced one of my happiest moments- an offer to study medicine at University Of East Anglia. 

MAY- The end of 18 months of studying the International Baccalaureate had finally come. It was truly God that sustained me through the 2 weeks worth of exams and having to sit 4 hours worth of exams in a day. He remained faithful from start to the finish, and when my results came in July, I was able to testify of His greatness. 

JUNE- I had the opportunity to travel to America for a family celebration and a well deserved break. 🙂 I truly thank the Lord for journey mercies which we all often take for granted. The turbulence on the plane coming back was the worst I had ever experienced, fear continually ran through me but I turned to my dad who was already in deep prayer. I followed his lead and Thanks be to our Faithful God we both landed in the UK safely. 

JULY- A few days before my 18, I got chicken pox. I was very annoyed and angry that I got chicken pox but then I realized that something far worse could’ve happened. Some people die before they reach birthday landmarks or are in a terrible accident but all that happened to me was chicken pox. Thank God for Life! The devil tried to take away my Joy and make me miserable on my big day but God said “Nah!”.

AUGUST- Looking through pictures from the summer, I miss those great summer days that I spent meeting new people and also creating more memories with old friends. I am able to appreciate those that God has placed in my life. I am forever grateful 🙂 ❤  I asked the Lord to grant me with a job and He did so. Is anything to difficult for the Lord? … No!

SEPTEMBER- Despite the roller coaster journey God took me to get there I started University in September! This was an eye opening experience and probably my biggest testimony for the year. The verse in Proverbs 16:9 truly came to life for me; In their hearts humans plans their course, but the LORD establishes their step. I thought by studying hard for my exams, sitting & passing them and doing well in my interviews nothing could hinder me going to Uni. But God wanted to teach me a lesson. Many things happened during the course of the year that showed me that: As humans we always fall in the trap of thinking that if we want something to happen it has to happen in a certain way, but God has another route he wants to take you to get to that destination. The route someone else took to get somewhere is not necessarily the same one you will take, everyone is different. Another verse this experience reminded me of is John 13:7 when Jesus says: “You do not realize now what I am doing, but someday you will.” As human beings it is impossible to fathom why God makes us go through certain experiences, but I am here to let you know that everything He does has a purpose. Never think that God is punishing you, he is taking you on a journey to strengthen your faith and relationship with Him. AND most of all he is showing that he will remain FAITHFUL to the end. 

OCTOBER-  My parents went to Nigeria for my grandad’s funeral. Thanks be to God it was a success and everyone returned back to their various destinations around the world safely. 

NOVEMBER-   I had my first MED school exam and as of December I found out my results, I passed:Thank the Lord. I pray that as he has seen me through the first of many exams in this field, success shall always be my portion.

DECEMBER- Finished my first semester. It has been tough settling into a new area and making new friends. However, God has placed some lovely people in my life at Uni.  I thank the Lord for bringing myself, family and friends (old and new) to the end of another year. 

One word that describes how God has been to me this year is Faithful. The word faithful is used to describe a person who is strict or thorough in the performance of duty, true to their word, promises or vows. Through my experience this year I can confidently say that God is truly reliable, loyal. I am sure you have also experienced God’s faithfulness this year. The reason I decided to share these testimony points is to trigger your minds to remember how God has been faithful to you this year and to Thank Him for bringing you this far. You may have had your low, painful, sad and/ or difficult moments but then God surely stepped in and showed you His goodness in one way or another. 

I once saw this quote … With that in mind, I urge you all to to go through the year 2015 and Thank God for what He has done in your life. Don’t forget to thank him in advance for the things he is yet to complete. You do not want to wake up in 2016 without the things you took for granted and forgot to thank God for. You may have started a journey this year which God has brought you through and on the other hand you may feel like God hasn’t fully settled a dilemma or finished a particular journey yet – Fear Not your time will come. Not in your own timing, but in God’s  perfect timing. So thank him in advance. 

Stay tuned for the 2016 New Year Post.

Thank you,

Dara x