She was mature yet full of life.
Probably hailing from the middle belt of Nigeria, I would hit a guess at Kogi
or Benue state or somewhere on the borderlines of both. She was a complete
woman as the eyes could see. Her feminine gait and graces were intact. She
filled out in the right places and when she smiled, you could see that those
two primitive African marks on her cheeks couldn’t stop the glow on her face.
She was my friend. I was an
industrial trainee and she was an employed staff at the school café. It wasn’t
long before we began to exchange more than pleasantries. I thought her the
little computer skills she needed to get through when she was stuck and she
supplied the gist to keep the day going.
Days went by and we got talking
about relationships… she was catholic and had her beliefs. I was Charles and I
had my thoughts. We shared, argued, laughed and even taunted ourselves.
Days rolled into months and she
came beaming one day. She was getting married! Yes, I knew it. She definitely
would make a good wife…then she announced that her husband-to-be is a soldier!
My heart sank.
A soldier? Oh come on! Didn’t she
know they fight wars and some never return? How could her love go in this
direction? I felt a bit sad as I imagined
the worst for my friend.
I couldn’t attend the wedding
but
it went well. I was happy the marriage had started and just few days later the
posting came. Her husband had to leave the country on a national assignment.
Well, all we can do is pray and hope all goes well and if it never does then
atleast let my friend’s husband make it home alive. I was really not very happy
for her. She needed her husband by her side and he was not just at home, he was
out of the country on a risk-laden mission. God help my friend. More, her
husband
Life continued and the husband
went on missions and returned safe and all kept on track. Then time later I
heard the good news…my friend was pregnant. Wow! How times changes yesterday. I
was glad. Maybe my fears were just unreal and human. This family was growing
and nothing I had thought about was happening or ever going to happen. Here I
was just being a pessimist or better still a concerned friend.
Nine months later or fairly so,
another friend called me and we were all full of joy. My friend had put to bed
and he was a baby boy. Wow! She was a mother now…no be small thing o. The
husband cum father must be a happier soldier. Oh my gosh! I could imagine what
the boy looked like, would he have those tribal marks of his mother? …oh
naughty me, of course he wouldn’t. Would he be fair complexioned? Yes, almost
all babies are fair at birth….i just kept dreaming until I got the shocker…
My friend passed away during the birth! Speechless,
lightening struck, dumbfounded, beclouded, traumatized with shock…I just could
imagine it. My family all turned to look at me because I had forgotten their presence
just as I received the news. It was a very, very bad news for me.
The soldier father was now a
widower at this early stage, with a son that would always remind him of the
love of his life, the one he lost for his boy’s sake? Oh my! What a world, what
a loss, what a terrible and irreparable loss. A mother gave herself for her
child or …didn’t she?
Its over four (4) years if I am
not mistaken that my friend passed on but It’s still a sad tale, one I always
remember with skipped heartbeats. I ask myself now, how the child would feel
when he is grown up knowing that his mum died to give him life. His father
would surely tell him the story of his birth and life. I thought it was the
soldier that was at risk but I didn’t see this part of the picture. What man on
earth ever sees the whole picture?
If you were the boy, how much
would you love your mother? If you were the boy, what would you give your life
to? If you were the boy, how would you see life on earth? And who says you are
not THE BOY? I thought it was you that CHRIST JESUS died for? I thought it was
your sins that nailed sinless him? I thought it was his life taken for yours? Or
maybe I am wrong…. And if I am not wrong then how is it with YOU?
What value do you place on his ransomed
life? What value do you place on your life as a whole?
Hear this: “…and you are of Christ and Christ is of God”
1Cor 3:23 (NIV)
Hear again: “…you were bought at
a price therefore honour God with your body” 1Cor 6:20 (NIV)
Really, how is it with YOU??
