Pastor Bimbo Odukoya's Life of Passion

One of the victims of last week's Sosoliso Airlines crash was the very popular associate senior pastor of the Fountain of Life Church in Ikeja, Bimbo Odukoya. She ran the "Single & Married" Ministry, which counseled couples experiencing tough times in their marriage and also guided singles in finding good spouses. Marriage (finding a spouse and keeping him or her once you find them) is absolutely important in Nigeria. Consequently, her ministry became so popular that it eventually became a program broadcast on 14 stations within Nigeria, as well as in England, Ghana and Kenya.

Pastor Bimbo was passionate about living her life for Christ and spreading his message as far and wide as she could reach. In her Singles & Married Ministry, she absolutely believed in saving sex for marriage and in the man being the head of the family. My personal beliefs run more along the lines of a partnership between husband and wife with both respecting and (yes, even) submitting to each other. But, I feel strongly that submission should be a two-way street.

My personal opinions not-withstanding, I admired the courage with which Pastor Bimbo followed her calling and lived out her passion for God without holding back. She lived each day with a purpose and touched people in countless ways. Thinking about how she lived her life makes me think about the book I read a few weeks ago, "I Know I'm in There Somewhere: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner Voice and Living a Life of Authenticity." I think about my continued struggle to identify my calling.

Over the last few years, I have come to see that it is possible not to have one major, earth-shattering calling, but to discover a myriad of little things that make me happy and fulfilled and my life more meaningful. One of these things has always been volunteer work - particularly with women and girls. Even though, I was nowhere as geeky as many of the technology staff at the Boston NGO I worked at, I was still very fascinated by the endless opportunities technology provided, for instance, to make learning more interesting, help solve problems, or build virtual communities of people with shared interests or goals. It was intensely rewarding to see formerly hesitant people grow in their confidence and use of various technology tools.

I think writing might be another thing that I'm meant to do, although the jury is still out on that. I loved writing as a child and produced a prolific amount of stories and magazines. This is the first time in well over a decade and a half that I'm writing for pleasure and so I'm unsure about where it will lead, or if indeed it will lead anywhere. I'm enjoying writing in this blog and maybe that, in self, is enough.

Whatever my calling(s), I plan on having fun discovering and living them out. Sometimes, I'm just trying to get through the day and I lose sight of the bigger picture of my life, but occasionally certain events act as a sharp reminder of the path I set out on and that I need to get back on it.