So, This is Love? Episode 13 – Judith Onyoyibo
I battled greatly with my smoking addiction. I almost ran mad. Stephen suggested I get rehabilitated but I strongly opposed it. I struggled till I could no longer struggle again. I finally gave in for rehabilitation. I spent a month at the center before I returned back home.
I stood in front of my standing mirror and was terrified by what I saw. The girl I saw standing in front of me broke my heart.
I used to stand in front of this mirror and was always pleased with the reflection it gave. I used to see a very sexy and curvy lady, who’s well endowed. A lady with had so much sèx appeal.
“What changed now?”. I was no longer pleased by same features.
All I saw in front of me was a wounded and bruised lady. A woman whose heart has been torn into a million pieces. A woman who gave so much and got nothing in return.
I grabbed a scissors from the trolley which was beside the mirror.
With a trembling hand, I took the scissors straight to my head.
After what seemed like an eternity, i ran the scissors through my hair and made a huge cut.
“Now, there’s no going back”.
In less than 10mins, I was done discarding my wine tinted hair.
I looked like a widow. This made me burst into laughter. In seconds, my laughter turned into tears.
When I was done crying, I took myself to a beauty salon and got a good hair cut.
I stood in front of the mirror again and liked what I saw.
“You are a new creature, Janet”.
Stephen called later that night and we spoke at length. He asked if we could say midnight prayers together. I accepted. He promised to call me when the time comes.
I was fast asleep when my phone started ringing. The painful part was that the caller kept calling nonstop without relenting.
Angrily, I reached out to my phone to cuss the caller only to find out it was Stephen. I had completely forgotten about the midnight prayers.
We started praying. It was more like a mortal combat between sleep and I, rather than a prayer session. At last, I gave in to sleep. I left Stephen to pray alone.
It took me close to a month to finally get used to the midnight prayers. It wasn’t easy at all.
I totally avoided contacts with Favour. I wasn’t discriminating against her. I only felt that I wasn’t yet strong spiritually to resist her influence.
I continued to make deliberate efforts into knowing God personally for myself.
“You should start reading Acts of the apostles during your midnight prayers. One chapter every night. After reading each chapter, ask the holy spirit to explain it to you. When you are done praying, just lay still on the ground for some minutes”. Stephen said to me on the phone.
“What will happen to me?”. I inquired.
“It’s better experienced than told”. He said.
I did it for the first five days and nothing happened.
I got discouraged. In fact, I felt like serving God was somewhat a burden to me because I was no longer as free as I was before the whole thing started. I felt so burdened and restricted.
Any time I felt like calling it quit, Stephen was always there to encourage and guide me. He was more like my spiritual director.
Any time I want to tease him, I will just call him “My pastor” 
. He doesn’t like it.
Well, I continued praying with the acts of the apostles. This really engineered my faith. I read about how the apostles were treated unfairly because of their faith. They were arrested and prosecuted but that didn’t defer their faith. No matter the situation that was in front of them, all they cared about was God.
“What manner of men were they?”.
Just one breakup from Mike turned my life upside down and made me resent God.
The experiences of the apostles really challenged my faith in God.
I kept on begging God to make my faith as strong as theirs.
One night, I studied the Acts of the apostles as usual and prayed. I laid flat on the floor to meditate when I felt a gentle breeze hovered around me.
“Welcome spirit of God. Welcome oh holy spirit”. I kept on repeating these words. Voila! I started speaking in tongues. I spoke in tongues for straight 2hrs.
When I was done praying, I felt so relieved. I called Stephen to share the good news.
“I am happy for you Janet. This is just the beginning, the lord is still working on you”. Stephen said.
I registered for baptism class and after 3months of intense training, I got baptized.
I changed my name from Janet to Cecilia.
I got a call from a sister in church that Stephen was gravely ill. I suspended all I was doing and rushed to his house.
“Happy birthday!!”. Was what they used in welcoming me as soon as I opened the door.
I was so surprised. I totally forgot it was my 35th birthday.
Stephen alongside some of our church friends planned everything together.
We ate and danced. The party ended with an intense prayer session. We all left for our respective homes.
I was about calling it a day when Mike’s call came in.
#OpraDre This is Love This is Love This is Love This is Love This is Love This is Love This is Love This is Love This is Love This is Love
