WITH THIS RING – a novel – will be posted all through this month
(Author: Pastor Taiwo Iredele Odubiyi)
Read and be blessed.
Feel free to share it.
(Day 2)
These depressing thoughts came to Ibie’s mind often but whenever they did, she rejected them and confessed God’s promises to her instead. No curse would work against her. She knew that nothing was impossible for God to do. She believed in miracles but … could it happen in this case?
She also knew that she had reasons to be grateful to God in spite of everything. Today, the last Monday in the month of May; she received a letter of promotion at work. And in about a month’s time, July specifically, she would be forty six years old. She also had Grace.
Femi was her pastor anyway, Ibie reminded herself regularly. She must be careful so she wouldn’t make a nuisance of herself. To keep her emotions in check, she tried to avoid him unless she had a good reason to see him. She couldn’t help wondering why Femi returned to Nigeria with his children.
She got Pastor Femi’s number, and ignoring the little flip-flop her heart was doing, she dialled it. As she waited for him to answer it, her heart beat a little faster.
“Hey, you are blessed.” The deep voice said.
Her heart picked up speed. “Amen. Good evening, Pastor Femi.”
“Good evening, Pastor Ibie. How are you?”
“I’m doing well, Pastor. I trust you are doing well too.”
“Oh yes.” He said confidently. “I give God the glory. How’s your daughter – er, Grace?”
“She’s fine, thank you Pastor.” Ibie answered. “And how are your children?”
“They are fine. They returned to their campus yesterday evening.”
“Oh, that’s good. Er – Pastor, I was supposed to see you after service yesterday but there were a number of people waiting to see you, and I had to leave for an appointment.”
An appointment or a date – he wondered but said, “Oh yes. That’s true. Why did you want to see me?”
“It’s about the upcoming Singles’ programme. I wanted to run by you the venue we are considering for the programme and will also like you to help us select a theme.”
“Okay.” He said to let her know he was listening.
Holding up the paper in her right hand, she read from it, “About the theme, we have three suggestions. One, ‘How important is money in a relationship?’; two, ‘To hold on or walk away?’; three, ‘Can secrets hurt a relationship?’ Which one would you want us to choose sir?”
“The three are okay. Er – let’s see,” he paused to think, “I think I rather like the second one.”
“To hold on or walk away?” She asked, then quickly balanced the phone between her left ear and shoulder, and passed the paper to her left hand.
“Yes.”
She took the pen and ticked number two on the paper. “Alright Pastor. And about the venue, the people suggested HotBytes, it has a very big hall. You may not know where it is, it’s at -”
“I know where it is.” He said. “I think it’s okay, it’s a nice place. And as a matter of fact, if I’m not too busy on that day, I might join you.”
“Oh!” She exclaimed. “That would be wonderful, Pastor! The singles would love to have you come and share some of your experiences with them.”
He laughed. “Hey, I’m not promising yet -”
“Please, Pastor,”
“I don’t know but it’s a possibility.”
“God will make it possible. We will pray.”
They laughed.
“When is the programme?”
“It’s the last Saturday in June.” She said.
“Okay.”
“I have contacted the guest minister you suggested and she has agreed to be there.” She told him.
As they talked, Ibie felt as if she had known him for at least five years and not five months. The whole church felt the same way as well. The rate at which Pastor Femi had quickly blended surprised them. Ibie wasn’t surprised though. The man started the parish in New York from the scratch and grew it to a population of over five hundred members before his relocation.
“Fine. I’ll be there if I can.”
“Thank you very much, Pastor.”
“You’re welcome. How was work today?”
“It was okay, thank you.”
“Tell me about it. What’s a day like for the General Manager of Jones Cosmetics Manufacturing Company?” He asked.
Wow! He still remembered the name of the company where she worked and that she was the General Manager. She had given him the information about herself when she gave his family some of the products of the company. That was a couple of weeks after his family joined the parish. He was obviously very smart with a good memory, she thought and laughed.
Just then, Grace emerged from her room wearing her beige robe.
Ibie waved at her in greeting.
Seeing her mother was on phone, Grace waved back. She walked across the room, pushed aside the sliding door that led to the balcony and stepped out to get the pair of slippers she put there in the morning. She soon returned into her room.
Femi was lying on the black three-seater leather sofa in the living room of his four-bedroom bungalow with the day’s newspaper on his chest. He wore a white snap-button shirt on jeans shorts. The TV was on but on mute. As he listened to Ibie, he smiled.
“It’s very busy for me.” She told him and laughed.
“I can imagine. As the GM, the health and well-being of the company rests on you.”
“Yes, you can say that again. I’m responsible for all areas.”
“Oh, I was going to tell you. My children and I like the hair care products, shower gels and lotions you gave us when we just got to the church. They are what we’ve been using.”
“Really?”
“Yes. They are really good.”
“Yes, they are. I’m glad you like them. Please let me know whenever you need more and I’ll bring them.” Ibie said.
“Okay, thanks. I’ll do that. Aside shower gels, toothpaste, lotions, body creams, and er … the hair care products, the shampoo, conditioner and hair cream, what other things does the company manufacture?”
“We have a wide range of products. We have perfumes and colognes for both men and women, shaving creams, after shaves, lip balms, and a variety of soaps. We also have makeup such as lip gloss, lipstick, eye shadow, nail polish, and so on.”
“Wow! That’s a lot. Where is the headquarters?”
“It’s in Paris.” She told him.
When Femi eventually got off the phone, he chuckled. He definitely felt something for Ibie. Is she the one, Lord? He asked silently, looking into space in a thoughtful manner.
He would like to be married by next year latest, for his sake and the sake of his children. His two children were no longer babies but the presence of a woman in the house would definitely help them.
He would prefer a beautiful woman who was both spiritually and physically mature. He didn’t want any of those young ones; some of them could be funny and very selfish. He didn’t want a woman just to warm his bed but also to warm his heart and be a good mother to his children. He was forty eight years old and would want to grow older in peace, not in pieces.
At the headquarters of the church, there were quite a number of single ladies and he found some of them who qualified by his standard but somehow, he wasn’t particularly drawn to any of them. And here at Lily of the Valley Centre, three women including Ibie qualified but Ibie won his heart about two months ago when she stood on the altar one Sunday morning and preached.
It was her appearance that first took his breath away. From the ruby red hat on her head that matched her bubble hem knee length gown, to her matching high-heel sling-back peep toe shoes, she was a paragon of elegance. Her face was well made-up and her jewelleries were modest and just right. And when she began to preach, he told himself that he had found the woman he was looking for: the next and last Mrs. Femi Crowther.
He could still remember the title of her message that day, it was ‘Let Go and Let God.’
To be continued.
You will learn about the mercy of God and that there is hope for you, in this novel.
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