“A son,” she whispered, tears streaming. “He came… in his own time.”

Chidi wanted to throw a clod of dirt at them. But instead, he listened. Really listened.

Determined to force his own blessing, Chidi borrowed money from a harsh moneylender to buy quick-growing fertilizer. He ignored the old farmers who warned, “The soil needs rest, Chidi. Ukpe Chukwu is not a sprint. It is a dance.”

Every evening, Chidi would sit on his veranda, listening to the village elders debate. One night, the old gramophone from the village square crackled to life with a new song by Power Nancy: Ukpe Chukwu .

Months passed. The rains came—not early, but exactly when the soil was ready. The yams grew deep, not fast. And one evening, as the sun set orange and heavy, Nkechi called out from the kitchen.

Chidi went home and apologized to his wife, Nkechi, for the stress he had caused. Together, they decided to do things the slow, faithful way. They cleared a small plot. They planted native seeds. They watered by hand. They sang Ukpe Chukwu as they worked, not as a complaint, but as a prayer.

Papa Onwuachi pointed to a small, gourd water-dropper he used to water his seedlings—drop by drop, for hours each day.

“Ukpe Chukwu, o di ka mmiri na-agba n’ala—olu oma na-abịa n’oge ya.” (The step of God is like water sinking into the earth—good news comes at its own time.)

He sat in the ruined field, head in his hands. The village children walked past, singing Power Nancy’s song: “Ukpe Chukwu… olu oma na-abịa n’oge ya.”

In the small, bustling village of Nkwoegwu, there lived a young farmer named Chidi. Chidi was known for his strong back and his weak heart—not a sickly heart, but an impatient one. He wanted things now . He wanted his yams to sprout the day after planting. He wanted the market prices to rise the moment he arrived. And most of all, he wanted a son.

Chidi scoffed. “Easy for a song to say,” he muttered. “But my farm is struggling. My wife weeps at night. Where is this ‘step of God’ I keep hearing about?”

That evening, the oldest man in the village, Papa Onwuachi, called Chidi to his hut. The old man was carving a wooden bird.

Chidi ran. She held a tiny bundle.