On the day he proposed, he told me that he wanted for us to get married on Valentine's Day. So in February, I got on a plane and left my life behind in the United States to start my new one in Africa. I dreamed of happiness and simplicity and most importantly us being together. We knew of abandonment in our own families, we were never going to know of abandonment in each other - “never leaving nor forsaking, till death do us part.”
It was a whirlwind, I got off the plane and rushed into the arms of my beloved church family in Kenya. Immediately, we were thrust into ministry on a daily basis. I was in heaven – sitting on the front row looking up to my beloved in the pulpit. I had had visions of this when we were in Congo. I knew what he was capable of – I had called him on it – I had prayed for God to bring it forth. God is faithful to answer our prayers!
We were on Billboards, on television, on the radio – we were touring all over the country! Every day one of us was in the pulpit, with every weekend attending crusades. I greeted, sang, ministered to the ladies who came to pray with us afterward. All my dreams had come true! I got up every morning praising God for the many blessings in our life! Every day I fell more madly in love with my husband and the life I had always desired!
I also had the biggest most beautiful family that I had ever wanted! I was embraced from the first second I got off the plane into an amazing family! I fell in love with them as much as him! I had sisters, a momma, cousins, grandparents, aunts & uncles that stretched for miles. Everywhere I looked, I had a new family member. I adored them as much as they adored me! Everyone kept saying, “You've brought our son back to us – he's completely changed! He is the boy that we once knew! Thank you for your love has healed him!” I believed them, life was beautiful!
Slowly things began creeping in, I summarily dismissed them. I defended him. I explained how it was being back in the land of his birth, where all of the negative things happened, that was affecting him. It was spiritual warfare for our powerful ministry. It was our cultural differences. It was our age difference. It was just the way he acted in front of his old friends. It was a misunderstanding. It was the hurt being expressed since we were forced apart for six months. It was insecurities. It was the pressure. It was perfectionism. It was familial expectations. All we needed was to finalize our marriage with our civil ceremony, then get on the plane to go to our new job in China. Once we got away from all of this, our life would go back to the way it was in Congo.
The day of our civil ceremony was practically perfect. He served me breakfast in bed. He scooted me off to the spa for a morning of pampering in time for our noon ceremony. I got a mani/pedi, my hair perfectly curled, a make-up artist, and a perfect white katenga to get married in! I was escorted back to the hotel to find the most gorgeous man in the world, standing there in all white, grinning at me from ear to ear! I cried through the whole ceremony. I couldn't wait to hear him speak those vows aloud with all our friends and family present! He whispered in my ear, “there will never be another.” My heart was light and peace flooded my soul! I knew that this was the final commitment, no more fear, anxiety, questions – it was legal in the presence of God and country. I knew that there would only be good going forward! “Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.”
I would go to bed that night alone and wake up to the biggest horror of my life. . .
To Be Continued. . .
