She, a pastor’s wife! She doesn’t
even like people that much to be cast in the perpetual role of godly hostess
the rest of her life. This wasn’t about Patrick, this was about her. Over the
past few years, Patrick’s spiritual growth and that of his relationship with God
has been a blessing and an amazing thing to witness but a pastor? She had no
doubt he could be one and an exceptional one at that but that wasn’t the
problem. The problem was that; she didn’t want to be that wife who undermined
all her husband’s hard and noble work with her attitude. She wasn’t called to
the office of pastor’s wife, period!
***************
MC: Praise the Lord!
Audience: hallelujah!
MC: It’s now time for the word. Someone, say ‘the word’.
Audience: the word!
MC: oh, I didn’t hear you. Let’s hear you say, ‘the word!’
Audience: the word!
MC: yes, the word. The bible says: ‘man shall not live by bread alone but
by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God’. Pardon me, I still love
my old King James version, amen? ‘Proceedeth’, that’s what I’m talking about,
hahaha. Amen!
Audience: amen!
MC: It is now time for our spirits
to be fed and watered and we are blessed to have with us; Mrs. Stella Kudjoe to
minister to us, what has been given her by the Holy Spirit, tonight. Hallelujah!
Without wasting much time, we call on Rev. Mrs. Stella Kudjoe to give us the
word. She is the wife and helpmeet of the man of God who couldn’t be with us
here today. You might have noticed her in the front seat. Even the Queen of
Sheba would be envious of her beauty. Ah, snow white kwraa, is no match for her
beauty.
The student body gathered in the
auditorium that evening burst into applause as Stella mounted the stage.
Stella: Hahahaha! Thank you, Michael. Hello, everyone! Hahahaha!
Audience: Helloooo!
Stella: What an introduction. Snow White! Oh, my dear Michael! Hahaha! I bring
you greetings from Rev. Patrick Kudjoe. He is awfully sorry he couldn’t make it
here today. I know how it is; When I was a student, I would have had a strike
each against the organizers of this program and the substitute speaker already.
After all the hype they gave the guest speaker in their posters and all. I pray
you don’t be like I was back then, ameeeen!
Audience: Amen.
Stella: Rev. Kudjoe has his heart set on this institution because it is
one of the structures God used to groom him into who he is today. So you guys
are special, Amen!
Audience: Ameeen!!!!!
Stella: This is his alma mater and mine as well. This is where we met, so
those of you so bent on the “exters”, “inters” are good too……..praise the Lord!
Audience (mostly male voices): Bor hor bioo, bor hor bioo!
Stella: shall we pray. Lord, we thank you for the gift of life and for
the grace you have made available for us to be able to meet you like this. Minister
to each of our hearts as you see fit. Let us leave this auditorium with a
testimony that, indeed it was good we were here. In Jesus’ name…….amen!
Audience: amen!
*****************
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.
