p@rt 31
(CONCLUDING p@rt)
“ISOKENE”
(St©p MY WIFE FROM SMILING)
©Opeyemi Ojerinde Akintunde
Isokene had invited me for a celebr@tion p@rty at her house because Ibidolo had submitted Isokene’s smiling painting he made for a painting competition.
Out of all the paintings submitted, Isokene’s Portrait took the first position. Ibidolo had won a lot of money because of Isokene’s smile…
“ Attention everyone, I want to appreciate everyone for coming … My wife has brou-ght me great fortune and I have decided to celebr@te her to keep her smiling…I just have one thing to say… Any man that tries to st©p his wife from smiling is actually s£nding Favour away from himself… I am a living testimony… Now I un-derstand better the Bible verse that states that “Whoever finds a wife findeth a good thing and obtains Favour from the Lord” Isokene’s smile has brou-ght me fortune… So all my friends here, in all your doing make sure you make your wife smile…. When you make her smile, she will bring you fortunes”…
Ibidolo k!$$£d Isokene and I saw that Isokene deciding to pl@ythe fool had made her joy full…
When it was time for the menu menu and the guests were eating, Isokene and I stood at her balcony chatting while Diamond was trying to shout Halleluya; his first word… but Out of the Blues, Isokene asked
“When last did you hear from Margaret?” she asked
“When Last? Or you mean to ask how often does she call me? Isokene, She practically calls me every day…” I said
“Well, Aunty that’s because you have not done what God asked you to do…” Isokene said bluntly
“What?” I asked very confused
“To pray for her to be settled in her own home, Aunty, don’t you know what you have done, you have successfully s£nt her out of your be-d room, but she is hanging around, because you did not create a new place for her like God told you to do…Aunty, this is even more risky, I advise you to act fast, remember, when the stranger is s£nt out of a b©dy, he comes back to see if he can return and you know ma, the return is always worse…”
“Hmmm…but I don’t have any available man around me….?”
“Are you sure? What about that wealthy widower?”
“Mr. Gbesan? How? He can never marry Margaret, he is a very disciplined man and besides I don’t want to light old flames by calling him…Forget it…” I said
“Ok, let’s try something else? Isokene said “Like?” I asked her
“Interceding for her… let’s pick a day of the week for her, when we can do joint prayers on her behalf…” Isokene suggested
“Ok…that’s fine, I am usually free for Wednesdays, if that’s ok by you…” I said
“Very Fine”… Isokene said
**********
We maintained Wednesdays as a day of intercession for Margaret and we did it for three months consecutively, before I had the leading to invite Margaret for a surprise birthday Ibidolo held for Isokene at an executive h0tel beside her house.
Margaret was excited when I invited her for the p@rty as she told me of how bored she had been and how things had been difficult…
*************
Margaret and I sat together at Isokene’s Surprise birthday p@rty and were having little chats when Diamond messed his diapers up. I was trying to clean him up at a corner with Margaret’s help, when a handsome hvge man walked up to us…
“Good evening Ladies, “he said with a de-ep British accent
“Good evening…” We replied without looking up as we thought it was one of those loose men who had come to the h0tel. My thought was he was trying to hit on Margaret…, but we looked up when he mentioned Margaret’s name
”Margaret ?“ he said like a question
Margaret looked up and looked intently at the man before screaming
“Jesus Christ! Oluwasegun Kolawole Ajani?” Margaret said screaming so loud Margaret and the handsome man with the British Accent hvgged in excitement…
“What are you doing here?, you also c@m£ for Isokene’s Birthday…” Margaret asked
“No, I own this place…” the man said
“Its a lie ooo, Wow… God has really blessed you, but I was told you were fully based with your family in the UK”
“Yes, but after I lost my wife, UK was not the same for me…” he said with a sad smile
As I sat there, attending to Diamond’s diapers …I heard in my Spirit very clearly….
“THAT’S HIM, YOUR PRAYERS Brou-ghT HIM FOR MARGARET”
I almost screamed in ton-gues but had to caution myself but I knew I nee-ded to act fast…
I jumped into their conversation…
“No introductions Margaret..? Is he an old friend or an old lover, because I can s-en-se some current around here” I said jokingly, the man smiled and said
“She left me for a rich man, She was my first love, but my future didn’t look so bright back them, so she ditched me for someone else….” We all laughed
“Well, unfortunately and fortunately, it seems, there may be a second chance…” I quic-kly started marketing Margaret
“Auntieeee” Margaret said shyly
“What’s that ma?, she is not with her husband any more, I thought this was her baby?” He asked with sudden interest
“No, this is my baby, Diamond and Yes, her husband left her, she is Widowed like you “ I said…
The man stood for some few seconds, and the next thing he did surprised us…He moved closer to Margaret and hvgged her de-eply
“So, you are still going to be my wife….finally….” Just then two adorable twin girls ran up to the man…
“Daddy…Daddy, why are you hvgging a girl, you said it is not good to hvg the opposite S-x” one of the girls said…
“Well, that’s because she is an old friend”
“Wow, she looks like mummy” the other twin said…
“You are so right…” the man said
Olusegun later told us, the first day he saw his first wife, she reminded him of Margaret and that was the major attra-ction….
3 months later, Margaret found her new be-d, as she and Olusegun bec@m£ one. They had a very beautiful expensive wedding.
Together as a family, they had a son again, ma-king Five children in their family: Margaret’s two Boys and Segun’s two girls with the new Baby….They later relocated to Michigan….
Just like Isokene said, Margaret bec@m£ occu-pied with her new family that she ha-rd ly had time to call me except for calls during festive periods to wish my family and I Well and there was no time she called that she didn’t say these words….
“ Auntie, thank you for this new space you created for me, thank you for giving me my own home…because sometimes I ask this question ”What if you didn’t invite me for Isokene’s birthday, I might never had met My Oluwasegun… Thanks ma… Thanks for the love and forgiveness”
Isokene was a gift from God to me and that was why I decided to name this book after her, because throu-gh her, I discovered my weakness. Also throu-gh her I learnt the solution (pla-yING THE FOOL TILL MY JOY WAS FULL) and finally, it was throu-gh her my husband’s mistress found her own matrimonial be-d….There are certain people that might not be up to us in age, status, wisdom but might be the carrier of what we nee-d… Isokene was that for me….
***********
EPILOGUE…..
25 YEARS LATER
I sat my handsome Diamond down to tell him his Birth Story….and guess what my son said..
“Wow, this will make a good movie” he said laughing “Movie? Is that all you are going to say? I asked “Yes!, or what were you expecting me to say Mum?
Emerald spoke instead…
Emerald was alre-ady married with three kids, She named one of them Gold…. We were at her place in Dallas as Diamond just graduated as the best graduating student of his university., a Medical student. The dream I had for Gold…
“Mum, I told you this story telling was not necessary” Emerald said laughing
“ But you said you wanted to clear your conscience, Well you have seen it now that your son doesn’t see it as anything, he even wants to make a movie out of it” Emerald said laughing
“Hold on Big Sis, What was Mum expecting me do ? Like start crying and looking for a woman I don’t know… Mum, you are my mother…I don’t nee-d to know whoever this Margaret is….She was just privileged to carry me in her wo-mb, she is not my mother…” Diamond said walking to the Fridge to get himself a drink…
Diamond was a complete replica of Gold in character, he never took life too seriously… he had too much love, there were times I wondered if God put the Spirit of Gold into Diamond….
My son Diamond had just graduated as a Medical student the day before and I felt it was necessary to tell him the truth about his birth, but here he was taking the matter so lightly….
“Mum, have you ever heard of surrogate mothers. This Magaret must have been my spiritual Surrogate mother.. God used her as a gate to bring me to the earth.. she was just a GATE…nothing more, but you ….Mum… You are the sweetest , loveliest, most beautiful mother of mine…Mama give me a pe-ck and a smile….Mum, remember, I hate worries,I live everyday like my last…” Diamond said as he sat down to eat his pop corn and jui-ce
Emerald and I looked at each other very shocked…
“ What? “ Diamond asked when he saw the surprises on our faces .”You just spoke like Gold” I shouted…
He laughed heartily and he said
“ And I have always told you, God didn’t want you to miss Gold too much, so he still put a little Gold in your Diamond, You know how beautiful that combination is “
By this time, Diamond was alre-ady by my side giving me a pe-ck when his father walked in…
“ Hey MISTER, How many times have I told to leave my wife’s cheek for me alone?” Henry said jokingly with a fake frown
“ The jealous man is back” Henry started chasing Diamond around Emerald’s living room and that sight was just beautiful. I looked around me and I thanked my God with all of my heart because he gave me strength to obey him, We had relocated to Houston Texas some years back, the same town God s£nt me from to go get back my husband…
Just like the dream Gold and I had, we had gone back to get our Missing Henry….The dream of over 25 years has manifested in a positive way …
LESSON LEARNT: No matter how bad your marriage has turned out, If you can Locate God, he can turn the worse case around in your favor… I was able to continue my ministry but with DISCRETION….My story has become my message, Like Isokene said, I went throu-gh my professional course to be a Professor in teaching others about Marriage, My name is BETTY and God has made my Life BETTER than it used to be, but I am still expecting His BEST, sing this song with me….
“Who is like unto Thee
O Lord among the gods?
Who is like unto Thee
Glorious in holiness
Fearful in praises
Doing WONDERS
Who is like unto Thee?
Who is like unto Thee”
God turned around my captivity and my life looks like a dream…
Life is complex, but in all its complexities, it can not be smarter than the Very ONE who created it… Take your complex life back to God, your creator and let him Fix it….He fixed mine….I am a living Testimony…..
If you have gone far away from him and you want to return back to him, Say this Short Prayer:
“Dear Heavenly Father, I come before you this day with an open heart, Forgive me of my sins and have mercy on me. I accept Christ as my lord and Saviour. Repair my life and Home in Jesus name I pray….”
NOW TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER…..
Isokene’s son and Diamond my son bec@m£ best of friends and together built one of the biggest pri-vate Hospital in our home country, Nigeria with major preference for people living with Sickle Cell Anemia They are achieving great things for mankind.
Is this God not the MOST HIGH, the Great PUZZLE FIXER, the ALPHA and OMEGA , the RESto-reR and He who is Great at ORche-stRATING all things in our Favor ?… I salute HIS ROYAL MAJESTY….
AND DON’T FORGET IF YOUR SPOUSE TAKES AWAY YOUR SMILE WHETHER PHYSICALLY OR EMOTIONALLY, REMEMBER YOU HAVE A FATHER WHO CAN RESto-re YOUR SMILE….
God bless you…
THE END OF ISOKENE (St©p MY WIFE FROM SMILING)
ALL GLORY TO GOD
de-ep Th0tS (Of the LORD)
Totally Inspired by REVELATION from the MOST HIGH Written by OPEYEMI AKINTUNDE (née Ojerinde)
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