Cultivating and counting my blessings through free rides, etc

On Friday, August 16, 2024, I went to drop off a family friend, Sheila, at her place in Dansoman after having dinner in Osu. She did her Masters' degree in India (a country I would love to visit). She told me a lot about India which was consistent with what I have heard. She also mentioned how Christians were a minority there (Hello Captain Obvious) and how she engaged in her religion while in India. This blog post is about what happened after I dropped her off, it is about religion. My religion is Christianity. 😇It's the most popular religion in Ghana, where I am from, was bred, live and care a lot about.

While trying to navigate from Dansoman to go visit my sister's family in Amasaman, I decided to give some free rides like I normally do. I stopped at a bus stop somehwere in DC, mind you, I do not know Dansoman well, at all! I spoke to 2 ladies and a guy who seemed to be waiting for a trotro and asked them where they are going and if I could give them a ride. I told them where I was going, and they happened to be going to locations on my route. In fact, 1 of the ladies had ordered a ride which had just arrived. She cancelled the ride, apologized to the driver, and I also quoted the apology and added my own. Why do I give free rides? I do this to volunteer. Volunteer In GH. So I can say, "I Made Ghana Better Today". Soon come is NVDay (National Volunteer Day). Good karma. One good turn deserves another. Is it Christian? Probably. 😇 Someone help me with a Bible verse to back this. Many of those I give free rides tell me "God bless you" at the end. Wouldn't you want such good wishes, and blessings? Thank you.

As we were driving, Citi 97.3FM was broadcasting Friday Fiesta with DJ Mingle. I do not primarily give free rides to people to mingle with them. But networking does ensue. This radio show features lots of old school hiplife (from my hey day), songs I can karaoke to easily. #MusicWeDeyFeel. I told my passengers to be listening to Citi 97.3FM because they are the best, they engage in #SolutionRadio, etc. 1 of the ladies had never heard about CitiFM (wow), and she said I should also listen to Sweet Melodies FM. Now, this is a radio station I have heard of. They play a lot of gospel. I need to listen to more gospel music, especially Ghanaian gospel music. 😇 Not because of Defe Defe, but I just need to be in the spirit more, and seek God's counsel, grace and favor. 

I was looking for a route from Dansoman to Amasaman to visit Stacey and co. I could have used Google Maps. But sometimes, I just like to talk to people and ask for directions. These 2 ladies & this guy were literally going to trotro stops well on my route. You cannot make this thing up. It is the kind of situation that makes you believe in God. I was pleasantly surprised by how far I took them. I have forgotten their names o. I didn't take the ladies' phone numbers. You thought I did eh? 😂.

In fact, after the 2 ladies dropped, the guy decided that he would help me navigate towards Amasaman, using the routes that would make me dodge traffic and not get confused with confusing highways in Accra. We bypassed his stop, passing suburbs in Accra I had no idea about, on a route I had never used. We went all the way to a bus stop on the N2 (Accra-Kumasi) road in Amasaman. It was then, that he went to his final destination. I called Stacey's husband, Pastor Samuel, and navigated to meet him and we headed to their home.

What happened on Saturday & Sunday deserves its own blog post. 😍 But hear me out for what happened on Monday.

On Monday morning, after a great weekend with my sister and her family, I set out to work - Kosmos Innovation Center. I used Google Maps to get to the main Kumasi-Accra road, I think it did not choose the best route for me. Anyway, just before I joined the highway, I was right by a trotro stop. Yes, you know what I did next. That's great that you are following. I wanted to pick some people to give them a free ride, towards not just Achimota o, Dzorwulu, home of KIC. 

It was hard to go closer to the people to ask about giving free rides. I saw a policeman around the stop, directing traffic. I called him and told him that so so so, he should help me get passengers. While he left his post to go do the Lord's work, I realised his fellow policeman who was standing by, looked familiar. I waved at him and he recognized me. What are the chances? It was Justice, a KIC fellow and who had also been to Barcamp Accra in 2015 or so. We caught up for a bit, he mentioned which police station he was with. His fellow policeman brought a man and a woman and her 2 kids into the car. I said bye to Justice and his colleague and off we went.

I was listening to the Citi FM Breakfast Show, #CitiCBS as we drove along. The man is a driver who was unemployed. The lady was a Moslem lady and her kids were singing along to Cocomelon. Yeap, Ebo's favorite from a certain age, introduced to him by my wife, his mother 😊.They were singing, 

The wheels on the bus go 'Round and 'round

'Round and 'round

'Round and 'round

The wheels on the bus go 'Round and 'round

All through the town

I dropped the lady and her kids off at Achimota, before the ramp to the Achimota station side. I finally dropped the man around the Achimota station as well.

I am writing this blog post on a Sunday where I spent the better part of the morning and afternoon listening to gospel music. I have a lot to thank the Lord Jesus for. Especially after the road traffic accident I was involved in on August 23. I am not likely to become a pastor, but like my mum started telling me a lot in 2021 and 2022, I should take God a lot more seriously. God does really love me, I know. I give a lot of that love in what I do, my deeds. I am extremely positive, driving with #PositivityRules. Here's to taking my faith more seriously.