Have I told you about my friend, Chachaa? 

Hmmmn.

Chachaa. My generous, sassy, talkative friend. There was never a dull moment with her. 

We were classmates in elementary school and we also had another mutual friend, Tinu. We were always together, except during our lessons in class. Our teacher refused to allow us sit close to one another because we would disrupt the class with our giggles and whispers. 

Chachaa was our leader. I don’t know whether to describe her as smart or manipulative but somehow, Chachaa had Tinu and I wrapped around her fingers and none of us wanted to be kicked out of her clique. You know why?

Chachaa made us believe that she came from a very wealthy family. She brought lots of snacks from home and she was always willing to share. Tinu and I brought our own snacks too but there was ‘something’ about Chachaa’s snacks that we couldn’t resist. She made us believe that everything she had was either from ‘America’ or ‘UK’. Tinu and I were so gullible! We had never visited these countries at that time and so to us, they were synonymous with heaven. If only we knew that those snacks were purchased from the regular stores in the city. The same stores our mothers patronized! 

Everyday, during recess, Chachaa will give us ‘interesting’ updates of what happened in her house the previous day. She will tell us stories like: 

“Do you know that armed robbers came to our house at night? But my daddy beat them up and they ran away!”

Or she would say,

“My mom cooked chicken-in-a-bun for dinner. Oh! So you don’t know chicken-in-a-bun? That’s what we always eat whenever we visit our cousins in America.”

Tinu and I believed every story she told us. After all, we had never witnessed our dads beat up armed robbers, neither did our moms cook ‘American’ food. She told these stories so well, they sounded like music in our ears. Oh how we longed to have the kind of life Chachaa had! 

One day, Chacha showed up in school with a lovely wristwatch. To us, it looked really cool and expensive. She flashed the wristwatch in our faces as soon as we got outside to play. Tinu and I couldn’t resist the urge to ask if we could wear it. 

“Okay, Tinu you will wear it for five minutes and then you give it to Chinazo. You can wear it for five minutes too, then you people will return it o.” 

We were both excited! Suddenly Chachaa blurted, with an attitude, 

“My daddy bought it for me from London. He went there yesterday.” 

Tinu quickly turned around and gave her a surprise look. 

“But is it not your daddy that came for you  yesterday after closing time?” 

“Eeeeeeh, yes…then he travelled in the night and came back this morning.”

“Aaah! Chachaa, you are lucky. I wish my daddy can travel to London like that”, I said, looking at this wristwatch and wondering why life chose this kind of daddy for me – a daddy that cannot do a return trip to London, UK within 24 hours! Is that one a real daddy? 

Don’t blame me. I was about 7 or 8 years old when this happened. 😅😅😅

Tinu and I got our turns to wear the watch, which felt a bit heavy and loose for our tiny wrists. Somehow, Tinu got a second turn and I didn’t. That was how Chachaa forgot the wristwatch with Tinu and went home. 

The next day, we found out the truth about the wristwatch. 

Apparently, it belonged to Chachaa’s older cousin who lived with them. Chachaa’s parents found out that she stole the wristwatch and when she was being questioned, she mentioned Tinu’s name and said the wristwatch was with her. Her Dad didn’t believe so he showed up in school to meet with our teacher and Tinu. 

My name wasn’t mentioned. Hallelujah! 😅😅😅

(I just imagined my tiny 7 or 8 year old self standing before the Lion of the tribe of my family, my Dad😅😅😅, and explaining my involvement in the case of a stolen wristwatch! Aaaaah!)

That day, Tinu and I got to know that almost everything we had heard from Chachaa about her family were lies. Our naive, little brains never gave us the signals that something didn’t add up in her stories. All we knew was that Chacha was our superstar and none of us wanted to cut ties with her so we listened to her lies, believed them and we did everything to remain in her good books so that we would be identified as her ‘best friends’, share in her ‘abroad’ snacks, wristwatches and whatever else her little self chose to flaunt in our faces! 

Chachaa was just a little liar! 😅😅😅

You’re laughing at the story, right? 

Isn’t that what we do daily, as adults? 

Believe ridiculous lies? 

We are frustrated with our lives because we have chosen to believe the lies that the people around, through their false lifestyles, present to us. 

We are in the wrong relationship and we refuse to let go because we have believed a lie? Their words are pleasing to our ears and so we accept them as truth. We would rather dwell in that lie than be liberated from it because we have been told that “the devil you know is better…” 

We allow a fellow human being manipulate our adult minds just because we don’t want to do the ‘hard work’ that may involve tasking our brains, activating our thoughts, searching for and knowing the truth? 

We cannot do anything meaningful with our God-given life because we have believed the lie that we are good-for-nothing?

We hold grudges and we avoid certain people – people who could be blessings to us if we give them a chance – not because of what they have done to us but because of a false report we heard and believed. 

Isn’t that so?

Take a good look at yourself. I mean, conduct a detailed check on everything that concerns you – your habits, your relationships, your ideologies, your beliefs, your convictions, your environment, even your career choice. 

Is there any thing you are holding on to and refusing to let go because you have believed a lie? 

Stop hurting yourself. Look for the truth (not ‘YOUR’ truth but ‘THE’ truth; because what you call YOUR truth could be a lie),

and when you find it,

hold on to it.

For therein lies your freedom.

“And you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free.”