His name was Bro Stephen, and truthfully speaking I had serious issues with the name. The fact that the Biblical Stephen was stoned to death just made me dislike this brother from the get-go. After I returned from school, my mother had teased me severally that, a certain brother she had met during her early Morning evangelism would make a fine husband. She said the first day he came to our house and saw my lifesize picture frame in the living room, he had jokingly told her… “ Mummy, is this your daughter… I like her, I hope you can give her to me?” I didn’t give Mum any reply as I was still trying to lick my emotional wounds. I called Bro Kennedy several times in the first three days but I got no response. Likewise Papa called me several times but I refused picking up. I called Mmesoma to know if she heard what happened and Yes she did. I knew the gist must have gone round the school already… “ Hello Timi, Good Afternoon…” “ Mmesoma how are you? “ “Fine and beautiful!” She said smiling… “ Ok, I just thought to check on you!” I said “ Ok, thanks , but I know you want to find out if I heard about what happened at the fellowship center, Yes I did, Timi, but it’s okay I believe you should be happy that the truth is out, because the Bible makes us understand in Proverbs 12:19 that “Truthful words stand the test of time, but lies are soon exposed”. If this had not come up now, it would have come up at a time you won’t be able to control the effects. Imagine if Bro Kennedy had found out after the wedding, it would have been disastrous… But it’s still better this way… If God wants you both to end up together, God will make it possible. All you need to do right now is seek God’s face and when God forgives you, raise your head high, because When God Forgives, Man’s criticism is inconsequential. So brace up, remember it is bad when we fall, but it becomes worse when we refuse to rise up… Forget the shame and rise up. Sis Timi, When bad things happen to me, I don’t let it lessen me rather I take it as a Lesson” She said and after about few minutes of encouragement, she ended the call… “How will I face the whole school?” I knew I would receive a lot of finger pointing. I knew the campus newspaper would see it as a great news. I could imagine the headline: BORN AGAIN SISTER GETS PREGNANT &ABORTS BABY FOR PRAYER WARRIOR LEADER…. I didn’t want to face that shame… It was therefore a wrong timing for the so called Bro Stephen my mother was trying to hook me up with. I was emotionally sick and needed healing. Unlike Bro Kennedy, this Bro Stephen was a handsome, born again Christian. He looked clean, he had a good set of teeth, his cloth was always well ironed, he had a nice haircut but the fact that he was a religious brother, an evangelist for that matter, I was not interested. Anytime he came around, I would dress up and leave. I only greeted him out of courtesy. When it was about 5 days to the end of my two weeks break, Bro Stephen spoke up … “ Sis Timi, it seems you don’t like my presence, you always leave anytime I come around”. He said and I saw the way my mother eyed me maliciously like an original African mother. I knew I would need my allowance when going back to school and if I continued that way Mum was not going to give me a good allowance. At that point, I couldn’t joke with money because of my final year project. I politely waited and smiled. “ Not at all sir, I just wanted to take a walk!” “ So how is school?” He said “ School is fine” I replied meanwhile what I wanted to say in actual fact was “ Bros, What is your business, are you the one paying my school fees?” But the stare I was getting from my mother few meters away from us told me it would be a big mistake… “ Ok, Your Mum told me you are in your final year, so what do you plan on doing after school?” He asked “ Oh Boy! Is this some career talk session?” I reasoned Silently “Some of these Spiritual brothers can be one hell of a boring lot.” I saw the way my mum was looking, so I knew I had to get us away from where she was so I could give this Bro Stephen some stones of words that will send him far away from me. “ Sir, do you mind if we take a walk, I like taking early morning walks” I said “ Wow… That would be nice, actually walking is my hobby. It really gives me an upper hand as regards my ministry, as I can trek miles while evangelism.” He said as we started walking away from the house. “ It was on one of such occasions I met your Mum, when she was also evangelizing. The moment I saw her, my Spirit clicked with her…” He was saying and I cut in… “ Sir, I actually took you away from there so we could talk!” “ I know” he laughed “ Ok Sir, mummy tells me you are interested in me, so I want to know if that is correct?” I asked very bluntly “ Yes, absolutely, I have a certain peace about you…” “ Good, but I need to let you know me a bit, because I don’t want you to judge me by my mother’s spirituality. I am Jadesola’s mother” I said expecting a look of surprise but he said.. “ Ok… I know that already, your Mum told me!” “ Ok, since that is not a problem, I want you to know I recently got pregnant and had an abortion!” This time around he looked shocked and became silent, so I knew that was my best time to strike “ The reason why I am telling you this is for you to know the kind of person I am, I am not a saint and judging from your level of Spirituality, you will want to marry a Godly woman, unfortunately I am far from that. Please, don’t break my mother’s heart by telling her about the abortion, all you need to do is tell her, you don’t think we are compatible… God bless you sir…” I walked away from Him as I knew I had stoned Bro Stephen and whatever love or attraction he must have felt for me had died. I returned back home hours later and expected my mother to look at me in a terrible way, but to my utmost shock, she smiled and gave me a big hug saying…. “ Bro Stephen said, you are exactly the kind of woman he wants to marry.. Praise the Lord!” “ What! This brother Stephen is sick and stubborn but if only he knows who I am, he won’t dare me..” I reason silently as I watched my mother dancing in excitement. I didn’t want any church boys!!!!
To be continued
