The Maelstorm

She was tired of the marriage
There was nothing worth giving to
a husband that she did not give him
He was from a very poor background
Her father insisted she should not
marry him
But she refused to listen to her father
Her father in her opinion had no right
to give anybody marital advice
Her father married over nine wives
He was a very rich man
They were from a city in Eastern Nigeria
Her father was a very wealthy man
She was given the very best education 
money could buy
Her father had several children
He was a Christian but his Christianity
was the social kind
He went to mass once in a blue moon
and also dabbled into traditional rites
and rituals as a means of fortifying 
himself against his rivals and enemies
She was brought up in an atmosphere
of strife
Her mother was always angry and bitter
She fought many battles and had no rest
No rest because she believed the rival wife
was determined to kill or destroy her
She was always on the edge
Determined not to be caught unawares
by being happy or joyful even for a 
second!
Her mother was the reason she became
a Christian
She didn't want to live a life 
of the "besieged" like her mother
She wanted to have rest
She wanted to live a happy life
A friend introduced her to the gospel
She was in secondary school at the time
It was exactly what she needed
She joined a church that taught the
gospel as a simple message
She found her freedom and rest
Her mother bought into it a few
months after she did
She told her mother all about Jesus
Her mother needed the rest badly
She was fifteen at the time
She went off to the University to
study English/Education
She had always desired to teach
She graduated and traveled abroad
to further her studies
When she returned, she joined the
media department of the church
She wanted to serve the Lord in
the publishing arm of the church
She was put in charge of the Sunday
School manual and other materials!
She wrote, transcribed, edited and
proofread materials as expected
This was where she met her husband
A first-class graduate of Literature
A genius whose command of the 
English language was second to none!
He had the option of working wherever
he desired
He chose to work with the church
as a paid employee!
She loved his dedication and was
very impressed by his brain
She really liked him
He asked her out eight months
after he started working with
the church
She went to the Pastor of the Church
The pastor told her to consider it
The pastor said "He may not look like
much now but he will be big deal in
the future"
She married him a year later
She defied her father and the entire
family
Only her mother stood by her
They had a very good marriage
She gave birth to three boys and one girl
By the time she delivered her last
child, her husband had struck gold
as predicted!
He had built his own printing press
and was supervising the writing 
projects of many pastors and ministries
She also thrived in her career
Her father died and bequeathed his
chain of schools to her
She proved to be very resourceful
Both of them were doing very well
Until she fell ill
It was very strange
She rarely fell ill
She went to the hospital and was
told she had contacted a Sexually
Transmitted Infection
The doctor was so sure of it!
The doctor told her to get her sexual
partner to the hospital immediately
before the damage went out of control
She told her husband 
She expected him to go all spiritual
and rebuke her for daring to say such
a thing to him!
He kept quiet!
He looked at his feet in shame and
kept quiet!
She almost lost it
He had been cheating!
Wow!
She never thought of it
She never suspected him
Not for a minute
Wow!
They went for treatment 
He apologized and promised never
to cheat again
But the experience had opened her
eyes
She couldn't ignore the signs she
had willingly ignored before
It was not his genius that kept her in
the dark for many years
It was her Christian heart
She refused to see evil or hear evil
And she probably would have continued
to turn a blind eye had she not been
infected in such an embarrassing 
manner
He didn't change
He kept at it until he made a nag
out of her
She simply refused to keep quiet
Eventually, he moved out of the 
house
He built another house in Ikorodu
He didn't tell her about it
He furnished it and moved in
He left her in the first house he built
at Ikeja
He came around and they had a 
cordial relationship
When she protested
He said he was through with 
making babies and had lost 
interest in sex!
She was forty-three years old
A mother of four
An independently rich believer
Her marriage was reduced to a mere
status by his behaviour
He didn't just tacitly dump her
He also used the 28-kilometer distance 
between Ikeja and Ikorodu as an excuse
to leave their church without attending
another one
He was forty-five years old
And he was determined to chase skirt
The two things that could stand as a
hinderance
The church and his marriage were
discarded wittingly 
He was free!
Two of her children 
(Her second and third son) 
preferred staying with him
The first son and her only daughter
stayed with her
It was not as if it was clearly defined
The children knew what was going on
It was the elephant in the room
Nobody talked about it
They remained that way for six years
They were married
They talked about the children
He met every financial need
But she was alone, she was unloved
She was taking a stroll one morning
A man parked and offered her a lift
She thought she knew him from 
somewhere
It turned out she didn't
He just liked what he saw
He wanted to be her friend
He wanted them to be lovers
She declined the offer
She was not tempted at all
But it got her thinking
Should she remain in a sham 
of a marriage?
If she was alone, her response to
the man that gave her a lift might
have been different!
Should she be loyal to a marriage
when the other partner had left
it to pursue his own lustful desires?
She decided there was no point
pretending any further
She had tried!
She called her lawyer and started
making inquiries about a divorce
She didn't want anything scandalous
Her husband had practically given
her the property at Ikeja
The children were aged 25, 23, 21 and 19
It would just be a formality 
She confided in her daughter
Her daughter to her to call the 
brother in Jeans and T-shirt
She called
She said she really didn't want a
divorce but it seemed inevitable
She told the Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
the whole story
They prayed
The read scriptures and declared 
the word of God
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt
told her God will surely do something
She should just give thanks to God
for answered prayers
Two weeks later...
Her husband traveled to London with 
one of his babes
Their boys living with him decided to
go to the club
They took one of their Father's cars
They picked up their friends and 
girlfriends
On their way back from the club
They had a motor accident 
The car was a complete wreck
Somehow everyone on board survived
When she got the call, she was at her
house in Ikeja
She rushed to the hospital
Her sons were in a coma
The others sustained some injuries
but they had been treated and were
recovering!
She called her husband
He rushed back home 
The doctors told him the boys might
not make it
Both had crashed their heads and chests 
against the dashboard and one had been
flung out of the vehicle through the 
windshield
They were not wearing seat belts!
They were both lucky to be alive
But the luck was fast running out!
She called the Brother in Jeans 
and T-shirt
They prayed
She gave her husband the phone
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt 
told her husband to remember Jonah!
"You are on a collision course with the
Holy Spirit, you need to turn around
and fasten yourself to his chariot!
If you ride contrary to him, this won't
end well!"
Her husband took a walk
He asked for forgiveness
He promised the Holy Spirit he would
rebuild his home and marriage
He promised he would return to his
first love and shun lust
He also promised he would return
to the church and to Christ
The walk took an hour
By the time he got back to the hospital
there was no change
But within the hour, things turned!
By the next morning, both children
were conscious and responding to
treatment!
The journey took three months!
The boys bounced back
They all moved back to the house in 
Ikeja
He discovered that his sons had been
rusticated from the University
while he was chasing skirt 
So many things had gone wrong!
They started rebuilding together
Forgiving each other
Healing together
The boys got filled with the Holy Ghost
He also retraced his steps
He set the example and the family 
followed

PS: It's been two years
This event happened in Lagos
She said the maelstorm was
followed by a season of serene
calmness and peace
The dimensions of their love for
each other were once again being
explored
The boys were enrolled in a private
University some months after they
were discharged from the hospital.
Her daughter said she knew it would
end in praise even during that trying
season when she feared she would
lose her brothers!
She was confident of the fact that
God always answers the prayer of
His children!

This Christmas season, I bring you
glad tidings of great joy!
Scattered homes will be gathered
Broken hearts will be mended
and broken destinies will be fully
restored and set on a course of
fulfillment