Flutterwave: Payment processing by Nigeria for Africa to the world

The Flutterwave story ~ A Nigerian payment solution for Africans

Africa is still rising.

Commerce and trade in Nigeria albeit, in Africa hold potential for growth if they can access a larger less-fragmented African market. The signing of the landmark continental Free Trade area (CFTA) by 44 countries in Kigali in March 2018 offers hope for increased intra-Africa trade. Similarly, the African Union’s Agenda 2063 calls for increased intra-African trade from the current 16% to over 25% by 2025. 

Payment systems and other infrastructures are an enabler for economic growth and the development of strong and secure financial market infrastructures is important in helping to drive more cross-border trade within Africa and with the rest of the world.

Although retail payments are a major component of the digital payment landscape, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, in many countries where mobile money proliferates, merchants remain off the digital payments grid. One major reason for this is that there is no common platform connecting all customers throughout the market that merchants can connect to as well. Customers and services stand apart in their own silos.  Thus any payment system that can meet globally accepted standards and connect customers as well as merchants to all available payment channels, will not only facilitate trade and commerce in Nigeria (and Africa) but will also open the continent up to global trade and investments. The key function here is interoperability.

Flutterwave is an online payment technology solution with a mission to inspire a new wave of prosperity across Africa. Flutterwave provides technology, infrastructure and services to enable global merchants, payment service providers and Pan African Banks, by building payments infrastructure to connect Africa to the global economy. With headquarters in San Francisco and offices in Lagos, Nairobi, Accra and Johannesburg, Flutterwave builds the infrastructure to ease payment processing and provides businesses with a powerful, reliable and intelligent payment gateway. It was founded in 2016 by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Olugbenga Agboola along with a team of ex-bankers, entrepreneurs and engineers. The company was part of the summer 2016 batch at YCombinator and is currently a post-Series A company which has raised $20.4m in funding over 9 rounds since being founded. Their last funding was raised on Oct. 15, 2018 from a Series A round. The four major investors in Flutterwave are Y Combinator, Greycroft, Google Launchpad and Green Visor Capital. There are 21 other investors too.

With over $2.5B in payments process, over 100 million transactions, 50 Bank partners across Africa and over 1200 developers at works, Flutterwave is geared to disrupt online payments in Africa and ensure full financial inclusion of Africa and Africans in the new global economy powered by the internet.

How does Flutterwave intend to achieve these laudable goals?

Flutterwave Products

Flutterwave’s payment solutions have been deployed through products targeted at specific markets. Their flagship products are Barter and Rave.

The GetBarter App

This is a lifestyle product for individuals of varying levels and it can be accessed by downloading the app either on the Apple App Store on Android Google Play.

One interesting thing about this product is that it enables you to send money to anyone with the person’s phone number. To receive the sum, the person receives an alert on watsapp and sms with a link to download the app and open a Barter account into which the sum is credited. Interesting from the dashboard of Barter app, you can perform various other transactions such as utility bill payments, subscription payments, online money transfer, virtual card creation for both naira and dollar payments. Payments on the GetBarter app can be scheduled for specific dates and if you are short on cash, you can apply for a short term loan on the app.

Another interesting innovation on this app is the ‘Request Money’ feature with which one can request money from phone book contacts. You can imagine how valuable this feature will be to students who get the hang of it!.

The GetBarter app is a banking app, mini-financial planner, fund raiser all rolled into one. It does deserve the term ‘your better (financial) half’! *smiles*

Raveby Flutterwave

This is a web enabled payment solution for African businesses, who can register on the product under any of the available three categories; as an individual (for freelancers, sole traders and unregistered businesses), as a Registered business, as a non-profit or NGO. Upon registration, businesses are introduced to a dashboard with tools to manage and process payments and payouts. Analytical insights into business payments, payouts and general cash flow are also provided.

Businesses within the Rave payments ecosystem are able to accept global payments from cards, bank accounts and through USSD as rave supports payments in many currencies from 154+ countries. Rave enables these businesses by providing APIs for linking websites, custom Apps or e-commerce sites and there is also has a forum for developers where questions and feedback are given. With connections to shopify, Quickbook, Sage, Xero, Squarespace and Zoho, Rave makes e-commerce and business accounting so much easier for businesses in its payment ecosystem.

Rave is a PCI and PADSS certified solution with fraud management tools such as 3D Secure. Rave makes it easier for African businesses to do business in Africa and with the world by providing secure reliable tools for payment processing.

With a well-priced fee structure, standard settlements timeframe free set up and integration, no periodic fees (just transaction fees), Flutterwave also offers out-of-the-box payment customization services for its customers.

Currently, Flutterwave has connected Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Rwanda and it is in the process of connecting more African countries to the world as hiring and setting up is ongoing in about 10 more African countries.

Some major recent achievements have been partnership with Visa to create the Barter app services for consumers and integration with Alipay which is projected to open up Africa to over 1 billion Alipay users.

Of course, there are other African alternatives to Flutterwave and yes, from time to time there are hitches in Flutterwave’s payment processing.

However we are well aware that that this company is barely three years old and well on its way to achieving the ambitious goals it has set for itself.

In conclusion, in over 400 years of global economic engagement in Africa – from slavery through colonialism, primary resource development and ultimately development aid – there has been little focus on payment methods. Payment systems overwhelmingly relied upon cash, reflecting the extractive nature of most relationship. This has been the bane of development in Africa and one major reason for the large economic divide between Africa and other continents inspite of it beinga resource rich continent. However, Africa is now rising and Africans, like Flutterwave are providing African solutions like payment platforms to solve some of the continent’s major problems, including poverty.

Flutterwave is a Nigerian solution to the African problem of connecting Africans to each other and to the world. In the history of payments in Africa, the strides being made by Flutterwave will count as milestones. It will be interesting to watch and see them achieve the audacious ambition of interoperability across Africa, bearing in mind the pitfalls of other major attempts at connecting Africans to each other and to the world

This is an African story and we must not wait for others to tell it. We ought to document it and tell it to the world ourselves, lest our stories get hijacked. Like the opening paragraph says, ‘Unless the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter’ – Chinua Achebe.

When you're in a rut....Travel!

When was the last time you did something for the first time...?

It's been scientifically proven that getting out of your comfort zone and just doing something new reprograms your neural pathways and sets you up for fresh ideas.

I recently got into a funk; nothing was working out in my life and it seemed like i was on an endless joyless treadmill at work. Work, which had always seemed so interesting and for which i never lacked fresh ideas, now seemed..... bleh.

Even though i didn't admit it, i realise now that i was borderline depressive. I had never been in this situation before and so it was difficult for me to identify the exact issue.

I was in a rut!!!

.....and i found my way out of it. I took a vacation to a totally new place and did exciting things i had never dared to do before. I know it seems counter intuitive, but have you heard the saying, '...spend on experiences and not on things?'. Experiences stay with you for life, even when the material things loose their satisfaction value.

So, i took a trip to group of islands on the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean called The Maldives. The Maldives is a collection of over 1000 islands which are composed in groups called Atolls. Located in South Asia, The Maldives is known for its beaches, blue lagoon and reefs. The favourite thing to do for most tourist is island hopping. So you could tour a range of islands, such as Maafushi, Male (capital city), Hulhumale etc by speed boats.

I was looking for new things to do and so i ....

1. Went fishing and caught a fish (surprising, right?)
2. Visited a mosque – For a christian with no ties to islam, visiting the 17th-century Hukuru Miskiy (or the friday mosque) was novel.
3. Learnt to shoot a canon (😜)
4. Went snorkeling (in the Indian Ocean 😳)
5. Tried to jet ski
6. Went swimming with the fishes, turtles, dolphins and other marine lives (really fun -the view under water is spectacular! It’s awesome.)
7. Tried cuisines of different nationalities such as Thai, Chinese, Indian and even a Maldivian breakfast of fish and coconut flakes (made into something similar to a muesli)

So what new things have you tried lately? What are your go to ideas for breaking out of a rut?

Better still, why wait for a rut.....?

After my experience, i have decided to incorporate activities into my life which would help me avoid a rut. One such activity is travel. Travel affords an all in one opportunity for rest, refreshment of mind and spirit, and inspiration.

Consistent travel and sightseeing is truly a rewarding lifestyle experience. For more about possible experiences The Maldives has to offer, click here

It would be great to hear what lifestyle changes you've also incorporated to avoid a rut.

Been musing about some things lately ....
Why do friendships not last, why do relationships which in their peak build you and take you to high heavens just fizzle and die.....
My heart aches for relationships i lost, friendships that blossomed only to be cut down...
Am i the only one thinking....
I discovered the true story below while in this mood and decided to share it. It is a sad but true story and shows the heights to which we can suffer if we do not act on time to save our relationships from failing.

BE PATIENT AND READ, ITS QUITE LONG BUT THE BEST MAIL I HAVE READ SO FAR.

Just two years after our marriage, hubby brought up the idea of asking Mother to move from the rural hometown and spend her remaining years with us. Hubby's father passed away while he was still very young. Mother endured much hardship and struggled all on her own to provide for him, see him through to a university degree. You could say that she suffered a great deal and did everything you could expect of a woman to bring hubby to where he is today.

I immediately agreed and started packing the spare room, which has a balcony facing the South to let her enjoy the sunshine and plant greenery. Hubby stood in the bright room, and suddenly just picked me up and started spinning me round and round. As I begged him to put me down, he said: "Let’s go fetch mother." Hubby is tall and big sized and I love to rest on his chest and enjoy the feeling that he could pick me up at any moment put the tiny me into his pockets. Whenever we have an argument and both refuses to back down, he would pick me up and spin me over his head continuously until I surrender and beg for mercy. I became addicted to this kind of panic-joy feeling.

Mother brought along her countryside habits and lifestyle with her. For example; I am so used to buying flowers to decorate the living room, she could not stand it and would comment: "I do not know how you young people spend your money, why do you buy flowers? You can't eat flowers!"

I smiled and said: "Mum, with flowers in the house, our mood will become better."

Mother continues to grumble away, and hubby smiled: "Mum, this is city-people's habit; slowly you will get use to it."

Mother stopped saying anything. But every time thereafter, whenever I came home with flowers, she would ask me how much it costs. I told her and she would shake her head and express displeasure. Sometimes, when I come home with lots of shopping bags, she would ask each and every item how much they cost, I would tell her honestly and she would get even more upset about it.

Hubby playfully pinched my nose and said: "You little fool, just don't tell her the full price of everything and that would solve it."

There begins the friction to our otherwise happy lifestyle.

Mother hates it most when hubby wakes up early to prepare the breakfast. In her view, how could the man of the house cook for the wife?

At the breakfast table, mother’s facial expression is always like the dark clouds before a thunderstorm and I would pretend not to notice. She would use her cutlery and make a lot of noise with it as her silent protest.

As I am a dance teacher in the Children's Palace and get exhausted from along day of dancing around, I do not wish to give up the luxury of that additional few minutes in the comfort of my bed and hence I turned a deaf ear to all the protest mother makes. From time to time, mother would help out with some housework, but soon her help created additional work for me.

For example, she would keep all kinds of plastic bags accumulating them so that she sell them later on, and resulted in our house being filled with all the trash bags; she would scrimp on dish washing detergent when helping to wash the dishes and so as not to hurt her feelings, I would quietly wash them again.

One day, late at night, mother saw me quietly washing the dishes, and "Bam!" she slams her bedroom door and cried very loudly in her room.

Hubby was placed in a difficult position, and after that, he did not speak to me for that entire night. I pretended to be a spoilt child, tried acting cute, but he totally ignored me.

I got mad and asked him: "What did I do wrong?"

Hubby stared at me and said: "Can't you just give in to her once? We couldn't possibly die eating from a bowl however unclean it is, right?"

After that incident, for a long period of time, mother did not speak to me and you can feel that there is a very awkward feeling hanging in the house. During that period of cold war, hubby was caught in dilemma as to who to please.

In order to stop her son from having to prepare breakfast, mother took on the "all important" task of preparing breakfast without any prompting. At the breakfast table, mother would look at hubby happily eating his breakfast and cast that reprimanding stare at me for having failed to perform my duty as a wife. To avoid the embarrassing breakfast situation, I resorted to buying my own breakfast on my way to work. One night, while in bed, hubby was a little upset and asked me: "LD, is it because you think that mum's cooking is not clean that's why you chose not to eat at home?" He then turned his back on me and left me alone in tears as feeling of unfairness overwhelmed me.

After some time, hubby sighed: "LD, just for me, can you have breakfast at home?" I was left with no choice but to return to the breakfast table.

The next morning, I was having porridge prepared by mother and I felt a sudden churn in my stomach and everything inside seem to be rushing up my throat. I tried to suppress the urge to throw up but I could not. I threw down the bowl, rushed into the washroom, and vomited everything out. Just as I was catching my breath, I saw mother crying
and grumbling very loudly in her dialect, hubby was standing at the washroom doorway staring at me with fire burning in his eyes. I opened my mouth but no words came out of it, I really did not mean it.

We had our very first big fight that day; mother took a look at us, then stood up and slowly made her way out of the house. Hubby gave me a final stare in the eye and followed mother down the stairs.

For three days, hubby did not return home, not even a phone call. I was so furious, since mother arrived, I had been trying my best and putting up with her, what else do you want me to do? For no reason, I keep having the feeling to throw up and I simply did not have appetite for food, coupled with all the events happening at home, I was then at a low point in my life.

Finally, a colleague said: "LD, you look terrible; you should go and see a doctor." The doctor confirmed that I was pregnant.

Now it became clear to me why I threw up that fateful morning, a sense of sadness floated through that otherwise happy news. Why didn't hubby, and mother who had been through this before, thought of the possibility of this being the reason that day?

At the hospital entrance, I saw my hubby standing there. It had only been three days, but he looked haggard. I had wanted to turn and leave, but one look at him and my heart soften, I couldn't resist and called out to him. He followed my voice and finally found me but he pretended that he doesn't know me; he had that disgusted look in his eyes that cut right through my heart. I told myself not to look at him anymore, and hailed a cab. At that moment, I had such a strong urge inside me to shout to my hubby: "Darling, I am having your baby!" and have him lift me up and spin me around in circles of joy. What I wanted didn't happen and as I sat in the cab, my tears started rolling down. Why? Why can’t our love
couldn't even withstand the test of one fight?

Back home, I laid on the bed thinking about my hubby, and the disgusted look in his eyes. I cried and wet the corner of the blanket. That night, sound of the drawers opening woke me up. I switched on the lights and I saw hubby with tears rolling down his face. He was removing the money. I stared at him in silence. He ignored me, took the bank deposit book and some money and left the house. Maybe he really intends to leave me for good. What a rational man, so clear-cut in love and money matters. I gave a few dried laugh and tears starting streaming down again.

The next day, I did not go to work. I wanted to clear this out and have a good talk with hubby. I reached his office and his secretary gave me a weird look and said: "Mr. Tan's mother had a traffic accident and is now in the hospital."

I stood there in shock. I rushed to the hospital and by the time I found hubby, mother had already passed away. Hubby did not look at me, his face was expressionless. I looked at mother's pale white and thin face and I couldn't control the tears in my eyes. My god, how could this happen? Throughout the funeral, hubby did not say a single word to me, with only the occasional disgusted stare at me. I only managed to find out brief facts about the accident from other people.

That day, after mother left the house, she walked in a daze toward the bus stop, apparently intending to go back to her old house in the countryside. As hubby ran after her, she tried to walk faster and as she tried to cross the street, a public bus came and hit her...I finally understood how much hubby must hate me, if I had not thrown up that morning, if we had not quarrelled, if... In his heart, I am indirectly the killer of his mother.

Hubby moved into mother's room and came home every night with a strong liquor smell on him. And me, I am buried under the guilt and self-pity and could hardly breathe. I wanted to explain to him, tell him that we are going to have our baby soon, but each time, I saw the dead look in his eyes, all the words I have at the brink of my mouth just fell back in.
I had rather he hit me real hard or give me a big and thorough scolding though none of these events happening had been my fault at all.

Many days of suffocating silence went by and as the days went by, hubby came home later and later. The deadlock between us continues, we were living together like strangers who don't know each other. I am like the dead knot in his heart.

One day, I passed by a western restaurant, looking into the glass window, I saw hubby and a girl sitting facing each other and he very lightly brushed her hair for her, I understood what it meant. After recovering from that moment of shock, I entered the restaurant, stood in front of my hubby and stared hard at him, not a tear in my eyes. I have nothing to say to him, and there is no need to say anything. The girl looked at me, looks at hubby, stands up and wanted to go, hubby stretched out his hand and stopped her. He stared back at me, challenging me. I can only hear my slow heart beat, beating, one by one as if at the brink of death. I eventually backed down, if I had stood that any longer, I will collapse together with the baby inside me. That night, he did not come home; he had chosen to use that as a way to indicate to me: Following mother's death so did our love for each other.

He did not come home anymore after that. Sometimes, when I returned home from work, I could tell that the cupboard had been touched - he had returned to take some of his stuff. I no longer wished to call him. The initial desire to explain everything to him vanished. I lived alone, go for my medical checkups alone, my heart breaks again and again every time I see a guy carefully helping his wife through the physical examination. My office colleagues hinted to me to consider aborting the baby, I told them no, I will not. I insisted on having the baby, perhaps it is my way of repaying mother for causing her death.

One day, I came home and I saw hubby sitting in the living room. The whole house was filled with cigarette smoke. On the coffee table, there was this piece of paper. I knew what it was all about without even looking at it. In the two months plus of living alone, I had gradually learnt to find peace within myself. I looked at him, removed my hat and said: "You wait a while, I will sign." He looked at me, mixed feelings in his eyes, just like mine.

As I hung up my coat, I keep repeating to myself "You cannot cry, you cannot cry..." my eyes hurt terribly, but I refused to let tears come out from there. After I hung up my coat, hubby's eyes stared fixed at my bulging tummy. I smiled, walked over to the coffee table and pulled the paper towards me. Without even looking at what it says, I signed my name on it and pushed the paper to him.

"LD, are you pregnant?"

Since mother's accident, this is the first time he spoke to me. I could not control my tears any further and they fell like raindrops. I said: "Yes, but its ok, you can leave now." He did not go, in the dark, we sat, facing each other.

Hubby slowly moved over me, his tears wet the blanket. In my heart, everything seems so far away, so far that even if I sprint, I could never reach them. I cannot remember how many times he repeated "sorry" to me. I had originally thought that I would forgive him, but now I couldn't. In the western restaurant, in front of that girl, that cold look in his eyes, I will never forget, ever! We had drawn such deep scars in each other's heart. For me, it's unintentional; for him, totally intentional. I had been waiting for this moment of reconciliation, but I realized now, what had gone past is gone forever and could not be repeated.

Other than the thought of the baby inside me that would bring some warmth to my heart, I was totally cold towards him, I no longer eat anything he buys for me, I don't take any presents from him and I stopped talking to him. From the moment I signed on that piece of paper, marriage and love had vanished from my heart. Sometimes, hubby will try to come into the bedroom, but when he walks in, I will walk out to the living room. He had no choice but to sleep in mother's room. At night, from his room, I can hear light sounds of groaning, I kept quiet. This used to be his trick; last time, whenever I ignore him, he would fake illness and I will surrender and find out what is wrong with him, he would then grab me and laugh. He has forgotten that last time I cared for him and was concerned because there was love, but now, what is there between us? Hubby's groaning came on and off but I continuously ignored him.

Almost everyday, he would buy something for the baby, infant products, children products and books that kids like to read. Bags and bags of it stacked inside his room till it filled up. I knew he was trying to use this to reach out to me, but I was no longer moved by his actions. He had no choice but to lock himself in his room and I could hear him typing away on his computer keyboard, maybe he is now addicted to web surfing, but none of that matters to me anymore.

It was sometime towards the end of spring in the following year, one late night, I screamed because of a sudden stomach pain, hubby came rushing into the room, it’s like he did not change and sleep, and had been waiting for this moment.

He carried me and ran down the stairs, stopped a car, holding my hand very tightly and kept wiping the sweat off my brow throughout the journey to the hospital. Once we reached the hospital, he carried me and hurried into the delivery suite. Lying on the back of his skinny but warmth body, a thought crossed my mind: In my lifetime, who else would love me as much as he did?

He held the delivery suite door opened and watch me go in, his warm eyes caused me to managed a smile at him despite my contraction pain. Coming out of the delivery room, hubby looked at our son, and me, eyes tear with joy and he kept smiling. I reached out and touched his hand. Hubby looked at me, smiling and then he slowly collapsed onto the floor.

I cried out for him in pain... He smiled, but without opening that tired eyes of his... I had thought that I would never shed any tear for him, but the truth was, I had never felt a deeper pain cutting through my body before that moment.

Doctor said that by the time hubby discovered he had liver cancer, it was already in terminal stage and it was a miracle that he managed to last this long. I asked the doctor when he first discover he had cancer? Doctor said about 5 months ago and consoled me saying: "Prepare for his funeral."

I disregarded the nurse's objection and rushed home, I went into his room and checked his computer, and a suffocating pain hits me. Hubby's cancer was discovered 5 months ago, his groaning was real, and I had thought that...

The computer showed over 200 thousand words he wrote for our son:

"Son, just for you, I have persisted. To be able to take a look at you before I fall, is my biggest wish now... I know that in your life, you will have many happiness and maybe some setbacks, if only I can accompany you throughout that journey, how nice would it be. But daddy now no longer has that chance. Daddy has written inside here all the possible difficulties and problems you may encounter during your lifetime, when you meet with these problems, you can refer to daddy's suggestion...

Son, after writing these 200 thousand words, I feel as if I have accompanied you through life journey. To be honest, daddy is very happy. Do love your mother, she has suffered, she is the one who loves you most and also the one who loves me most..." From play school to primary school, to secondary, university, to work and even in dealing with questions of love, everything big and small was written there.

Hubby had also written a letter for me:

"My dear, to marry you is my biggest happiness, forgive me for the pain I have caused you, forgive me for not telling you my illness, because I wanted to see you in a joyful mood waiting for the arrival of our baby...

My dear, if you cried, it means that you have forgiven me and I would smile, thank you for loving me...These presents, I'm afraid I cannot give them to our son personally. Could you help me to give some of them to him every year? The dates on what to give and when are all written on the packaging..."

On getting back to the hospital, hubby was still in coma. I brought our son over and placed him beside him.

I said: "Open your eyes and smile, I want our son to remember being in the warmth of your arms..."

He struggled to open his eyes and managed a weak smile.

Our son still in his arms was happily waving his tiny hands in the air. I pressed the button on the camera and the sound of the shutter rang through the air as tears slowly rolled down my face...

A fatal misunderstanding and the person who loves me the most in this world is gone forever.....

"Cruel misunderstandings one after another disrupted the blissful footsteps to our family. Our original intend of having Mother enjoy some quiet and peaceful moments in her remaining years with us went terribly wrong as destiny's secret is finally revealed at a price, every thing became too late.".....

This is a true story.
LEARNING POINT – DO NOT EVER HOLD ON TO OFFENCES !!!

Thank you and have a nice day.

Cute...

"Never lie, steal, cheat or drink.
But if u must lie, lie in the arms of the one u love;
If u must steal, steal away from bad company;
If u must cheat, cheat death ;and
if u must drink, drink in the moments that take ur breath away.."

God is at the window

The Duck and the Devil

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner.

As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved! In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his sister watching!

Fatima had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch the next day Grandma said, 'Fatima, let's wash the dishes.' But Fatima said, 'Grandma, Ahmed told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.' Then she whispered to him, 'Remember the duck?' So Ahmed did the dishes.

Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, 'I'm sorry but I need Fatima to help make supper.'

Fatima just smiled and said, 'Well, that's all right because Ahmed told me he wanted to help.' She whispered again, 'Remember the duck?' So Fatima went fishing and Ahmed stayed to help.

After several days of Ahmed doing both his chores and Fatima's, he finally couldn't stand it any longer.

He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, 'Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Fatima make a slave of you.'

Thought for the day and every day thereafter?

Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done... and the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.)....whatever it is...You need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. He has seen your whole life.. He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven.

He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.

The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness, He not only forgives you, but He forgets. It is by God's grace and mercy that we are saved.