God Bless the Work of Our Hands

“The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands…”
Deuteronomy 2:7

During my winter break, I was fortunate enough to be a bridesmaid aka hype woman in the wedding of a dear friend in Nigeria. The trip was far too short, but after not visiting Nigeria for 13 years, I’m sure no time would have felt enough. The day before I headed back home, I took a bus, ke ke (little yellow “taxis”), and a motorcycle to make it to a local arts/craft market in Elegushi where I stumbled upon this man.

Don’t get it twisted, he was parlaying my haggling tactics like the naija pro that he is, but his art spoke for itself. I bought some cute little baskets that caught my eye for some of my friends back home, and went on my way to find something for myself. I tried to go to other vendors to see what other straw products were available, but none matched the work I had seen, so I went back and said “my friend!” And he hooked ya girl up. I watched him making more products with his hands and the thought crossed my mind about the amazing things we are blessed to do with our hands. How grateful I am that my hands function perfectly. So many things could have gone wrong when I was being formed in the womb, and the same goes for Yusuf. He uses his God-given hands and skills to create something out of nothing. It was a beauty to behold.

My new friend Yusuf and I had a little photoshoot of him killing it at work. Lol. I hope you enjoy the shots. He was serving looks.