BEFORE
It didn’t use to be the way things
are now. Patrick, the man she dated wasn’t one you would call religious or
spiritually astute. He was the guy that sat at the back of the congregation
observing the goings on. His whole demeanor seemed to suggest the Pentecostal
settings of his church were not really his style and that he would be more
comfortable in an orthodox setting, kind of. He was the classic mysterious and
brooding guy that happened to be a constant in the fantasies of most girls. It
was no wonder Stella fell for him too. To Stella, he was God’s answer to her
prayers. He was the last person she would call zealous when it came to church
business, which suited her just fine, as long as no breeze of kingdom service
touches her hair. It didn’t take a genius to know that his career trajectory
was as far removed from the pulpit as possible. In church, he could easily be
mistaken for a mute; a mute who suddenly seemed to find his voice once outside
the church walls. Then came all the prayers to make him more committed to the
things of God than he currently were, just not to the point of stewardship and
Stella’s prayers were answered or so it seemed. Patrick himself had
categorically stated one day, that he doesn’t know what would even give him the
desire to want the responsibility of a pastor. That had been the icing on the
cake for Stella.
**********
This morning as she stood in her kitchen with her hands absentmindedly massaging her forehead; one of her numerous nervous gestures,
the wheels of her mind were as busy as those of an over speeding Ferrari.
It took every available willpower in her not to bring up the
subject at breakfast this morning. She had learned over the course of their
marriage to first pray about any heavy topic that had the potential of becoming
a big deal before broaching it at all. Patrick may seem like an amiable guy but
he has a stubborn streak that Stella honestly believed nobody could tame. His
mother certainly couldn’t. As his wife, she had discovered this used to clash
frequently with her strong will and it had taken a lot of hard work from both
of them to come to some form of an understanding on the issue. By the wisdom of
God, they had both agreed to pay more attention to the other’s viewpoint before
taking an unshakable stance on any issue. So far, it had worked so well for
them.
The issue of whether or not she wanted her husband to become
a pastor however is something she so desperately wished wouldn’t come up at
all. To her, it seemed like the very foundation of their marriage was
threatened with this seemingly non-issue.
Standing in the kitchen, thinking and rethinking the whole
business just served to get her more agitated so she got out into the grounds
of the house. She decided to take a stroll right inside their compound to clear
her head. After a few paces, she decided to do what she knew she must do; take
it to the third person in their marriage.
The Prayer:
“What happened? I specifically asked you for something, why
does that change now. Am I married to the wrong man? Now that he’s got this
idea in his head he won’t let go and you know how he gets.
Can’t we just serve you another way without becoming reverend
and missus?
“Are you not going to talk? I probably look like a mad woman,
standing here and talking to myself.”
The one sided conversation went on for an hour at least until
Stella seemed to have exhausted her list of unfair situations to gripe about.
She felt tired and reclined in a garden chair to see if any other complaints
would come to mind.
Meanwhile, Patrick spent the hour’s drive to work wondering
what had peeved his wife this morning. To the best of his recollection, she was
chirpy all through dinner last night, even before bed and he was pretty sure he
fell right asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow so he couldn’t put his
finger on what he might have done or said to make her moody. He had done what
he usually did when he didn’t have all the relevant information upfront. He had
decided to postpone dealing with her mood until he assessed every available
angle before bringing it up. It had probably upset her more that he didn’t ask
her what was wrong but sometimes he thinks the woman expects too much of him.
As soon as he got to the company’s premises, Patrick shoved his misgivings in a
compartment of his mind till a later time and started planning strategies for
all he had to do for the day. Domestic issues could wait; he had to be at his
best today!
“Are you done whining?” an inner voice asked. It was so loud
it startled her into opening her eyes and looking around. But of course, there
was no one around.
Stella: You finally answered!
God: you finally kept quiet long enough to listen.
Stella: whatever! What is all this pastor business Patrick was
talking about last night?
God: I don’t remember Patrick saying anything to that effect
last night. Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?
Stella: are You kidding me right now? What do you mean by You
don’t remember? You are supposed to know everything.
God: yes I actually DO know everything, thank you very much. I
just can’t remember something that never happened.
Stella (squinting her
eyes in a semblance of a thoughtful action): oh my God! You are in on it.
God: don’t use My name in vain. I’m in on what?
Stella: You want him to be a pastor! He’s talked to you about
it, hasn’t he? You are on his side?
God: another accusation which isn’t true. Have you talked to
him about this? Have you asked him?
Stella: no, I wanted to talk to You about it first.
God: what you really mean is; you wanted to accuse Me first
before you accused Patrick, right? Apparently all we do all day is sit and plan
your unhappiness.
Stella: I don’t mean it like that.
God: if there is something like that in the works, you do realize
it would be about Patrick becoming a pastor and not about you, right?
Stella: how effective would he be without a supportive wife? It
is about me too.
God: you may be right on that score.
Stella: wait oh! Did You say I was dreaming last night? That my
memory didn’t happen?
She didn’t get any answer to that particular question.
Stella: see, I have to go take care of some stuff. I have a
busy day today, kind of. Talk to You in the evening.
God: talk with you tomorrow.
True to form, she didn’t get back from town till late in the
evening. When she got home, Patrick had already taken care of their supper. Her
mood that evening seemed an improvement from that of the morning and her
husband was relieved. He had planned not to query her about it when he got home
and she still hadn’t returned from town. They had a companionable evening and
retired early for bed.
It was early morning when Patrick had left for work that
Stella realized she hadn’t resumed her conversation with God yesterday. She understood
then, what He meant by His parting words.
Something else struck her as peculiar. Patrick brought up the
same issue of his pastorship last night at almost the same time as the night
before, about 11:30pm. She seemed to remember his words stating his intentions
were almost verbatim to the night before. This struck her as odd and she began
to think that the whole thing was a dream.
That morning when she said; ‘good morning, Father’, she had
an idea of what the whole thing might be about. Two scriptures dropped into her
spirit. 1 Samuel chapter 3 and Acts chapter 10. She knew what was in the third
chapter of 1st Samuel because she had read it sometime ago in the
previous week. What shook her was the specificity of the scripture of Acts
chapter 10. She could explain away the first scripture reference as one from
her memory and imagination but she couldn’t do that with the second scripture
reference from the book of Acts. She didn’t know that scripture was the one
about the Apostle Peter’s vision. It suddenly dawned on her that her memory of Patrick’s
pastoral ambitions was an open vision, the first ever in her entire life.
Her new revelation gave her an understanding that it wasn’t just
Patrick’s ambition she was dealing with but with God’s intention as well.
Stella: I can’t be a pastor’s wife.
God: says who?
Stella: I have assessed myself and I know my strengths.
God: and you know yourself so well more than I do?
Stella: well…………..well……
That evening at dinner, Patrick mentioned that he ran into an
old acquaintance who had turned a pastor.
Patrick: I don’t get people most times. I mean, what does it
even mean to get “THE CALL” to be a pastor? When they can’t make it in the
business world they tend to think becoming a pastor is their best option.
Stella: hmmm! So I take it if you ever get “THE CALL” to
become a pastor you wouldn’t heed it?
Patrick: what call? I hardly think God would ever call me in
that capacity. He knows I wouldn’t be good at it.
Stella just couldn’t hold back her mirth. She burst out
laughing so hard at the absurdity of the whole situation. You have a lot of work on Your hands, Lord. She thought to herself.
Patrick didn’t see the amusement of the conversation.
Patrick: what is so funny?
Stella: oh, nothing. Nothing at all. This should be
interesting……………
THE END
