The Dance

As she was reading her Bible that
morning, the Holy Spirit told her he had
settled her case and she should dance!
It wasn't wishful thinking, she got
out of bed and started preparing herself
to pray when she suddenly felt a strong
urge to get on feet to sing and dance!
Just then her phone buzzed
She checked the message, it was a text
message from the brother in Jeans and 
T-shirt
She had written to tell him the situation
in which she had found herself and 
her continuous battle against stagnancy
He had called and spoken with her
He promised her if she could give her
life to Jesus and get baptized in the
Holy Spirit, her situation will turn around
within a short time
He told her some believers were quicker 
than others in grasping how to live
the higher life in Christ Jesus
After almost two hours of counseling and
admonision, she gave her life to Christ
and got baptised in the Holy Spirit
he promised to call her often so that
she wouldn't get rusty because there
was no church around her where she
could share the same reality of the
Holy Spirit
They also exchange messages often
so it was no surprise for her to get
a message from him that early in the
morning
The message said "There will be an 
unsual confluence with a strange ill-wind,
you must not get emotional!
Keep your head above the waves
and dance!
I see you dancing with your husband
in the middle of this storm with
reckless abandon
I see some close calls but at the end
I see you holding palm fronds of victory!
No matter what you see playing out,
follow this instruction stubbornly...
Dance, Dance and Dance!!!"
She took the instruction as a confirmation
of what had been laid in her heart
She danced and danced until she
busted into tears of joy
Then she showered and went to work
with a great expectation
She was a marketer for a microfinance
bank and even though the pay was nothing
to write home about, the work was tasking
She waited for something good to happen
A stranger walking in with a huge deposit,
a letter of employment from one of the 
places she had applied to, a phone call,
a text message, something!
But nothing happened till 5 pm when she
closed and trudged home disappointed
'She got back from the office
to meet a packed house
Her parents and her husband's parents
were seated in her sitting room looking
as if the clouds had fallen off the sky
She was alarmed at first, wondering what
could have happened to warrant such a
seating in her home
She rushed into her room and took off her
high heeled shoes, something told her they
came to the house because of her,
especially because her husband didn't
react at all when she walked in
She scanned her mind, wondering if there
were unresolved issues between her and her
husband that warranted a family meeting
She couldn't think of any
She relaxed
She changed into something more
comfortable and slowly walked to the
sitting room
She didn't know why her heart was beating
like a talking drum
She had a very bad feeling about the
gathering 
When she got there, she sat beside her
husband
Her father welcomed her and told her that
he and her mother after several 
consultations and prayers, had been
told that she was in the wrong marriage
and unless she left her husband to marry
another, she will neither have a child 
nor be fulfilled in life
"We have met with our in-laws and asked
them to pray and make their spiritual
findings too
After a month, they reached out to us that
what we knew to be true had been 
confirmed by the spiritualists they visited
too
The two of you are wasting each other's
time in this marriage
You are spiritually and naturally incompatible
We are your family and it is our duty to
watch out for your wellbeing and guide
you through life
We have returned your bride price and
this is why your in-laws are here
They came to confirm our findings and
support us as we dissolve this union." 
It is true that she has been married for
ten years and was yet to have a child
It is also true that even though she 
graduated top of her class, she was
barely making headway in life on every
front, but she loved her husband and
her marriage was the only thing that
has given her joy over the years!
Her husband was a businessman
Like her, he was struggling in all his
endeavours but he really loved her!
She looked at him
He looked away
She knew he was trying to form "It is well"
since it was her parent that engineered
the whole issue
She realized he wouldn't fight for her
Not that he doesn't want to but because
the matter had been well handled before
she got home that evening
They had talked "sense" to his head
and made him see reason
She was losing her home
She was losing her marriage
She was losing the only thing that
made sense in her life
She didn't know why her thought
went in a particular direction
Her parents and other relatives were fond
of dissolving marriages of their children
on a whim
She grew up among so many aunts and
uncles whose marriages was scattered
by other relatives
In her own nuclear family, her parents
had scattered the marriage of three out
of their four children
Her marriage had been the only one that
lasted more than five years because
she kept her family members at arms 
length and told nobody anything going
on in her marriage
It was as if her parents were determined
to wreck everybody's lives with their
eccentric behavioural pattern
She was angry but she kept hearing
Dance, Dance, Dance in her spirit
She took her husband by hand and pulled
him towards her
She said "Let us talk first, you and I, let
us have a brief conversation"
Her husband looked at his parents
They shrugged
She pulled him again and he walked 
with her into the room
When they got into the room she locked 
the door
She said "When they are tired, they will
leave! All i feel like doing right now
is dance, dance and dance"
She had expected him to resist or argue
but he didnt 
He laughed and jumped on the bed
He couldn't believe her audacity
it was one of the reasons he had
married to her
She doesn't think conventionally and
her thought pattern had always 
fascinated him
Their parents eventually came knocking
but by that time they were both lost
in the music of sweat and sighs
That was how the plot of the time stopper
failed over their marriage
Perhaps it was the love they made while
their parents were in the sitting room
or the one they made the day after
One month later, it was confirmed that
she was pregnant and from that moment
on things just got better and better for
their family
She got an online job that paid her
comfortably and her husband was offered
a franchise which he secured with a loan
from a microfinance bank
Her parents practically disowned her
because she blatantly 
disrespected blood for love on the day
they came to dissolve her marriage
Her parents forbade her siblings and 
other relatives from associating with
her in any way!
His parents didn't go that far, they even
apologized for the role they played in the
whole mess
Things continued to improve for her and
her husband tremendously
Within a year, they were owning properties
The transformation was shocking
It drew her family members to her
Her siblings especially started sneaking
to her house
She led them to Christ one by one
and played a major role in the restoration
of their broken marriages
Her parent''s influence waned steadily
while she waxed stronger and stronger
Within five years all her siblings were
happily married again and their businesses
and careers boomed!
After six years of shutting her out, her
mother sent for her one Sunday evening
When she got to her parents house,
she met them seated under the tree
just outside their compound
Her father said "Betty, do you know
it is unthinkable that your Father, your
mother, your Father-in-law and your
mother-in-law would stand by the door
of your room and hear you and your
husband making love?
Where did you get the confidence to
do such after you have just been told
that your marriage has been dissolved?
Where did you get the nerve to dance
when I and your mother brought a storm
to your home?
And you didn't dance alone, you danced
with your partner! 
I had asked myself this question for
many years but I couldn't get an answer!
I called you here to ask you, so that
I can know the truth before i die!"
She just kept quiet
She didn't know what to say
The question caught her unawares
And her father's voice was overwhelming
Her father stared at her for a while and
said "Not only did you escape, 
you even dared to open the gate for the
others! I salute you"

Ps: Her father died two days later
Her mother joined her father a week
later
The evil pattern was broken forever
Marriages began to last and prosperity
began to shine forth like the sun in the
family
This event happened somewhere in 
Eastern Nigeria (2014)
Her parents died in January 2020