On Love and Marriage: Mrs Alabi's Story (#LearnASkillChallenge)

Have you ever had a Church Mummy - an older woman from Church is who very interested in your affairs and progress? If you don't, I pray you get to experience one, a great one for that matter as I am blessed to. Mrs Alabi is one of my Church Mummies, who looks out for my best interest and never fails to encourage me. I appreciate you Ma, God bless you.

See this outfit below? She made and gifted it to me 😀❤️😘

As a certified Church Mummy, you know she constantly asks about my marriage plans 😆. Not in a condescending way though, she does with so much love, care, and compassion, encouraging me to trust God and He'll sort me out. She shares a lot with me about lessons from her life and after one of such chats, I told her I'll blog about her story. I wrote down what I recalled and gave her the draft; she okayed it but declined to have her photo put up lol. I told her I'll go to a photo studio then and take a good shot with the dress she made me, then use it in the post ('promise' kept 😆).

Here's her story in brief:

Some years ago, Mrs Alabi studied Chemistry at University and had graduated. There came a time when she was being asked about marriage, so she decided to seek God in prayers and fasting for seven days about it. On the third day, the Holy Spirit spoke to her to go and learn how to sew, even though she was preparing to enrol for a Master's degree in a Management course by the time. This direction from God didn't make 'natural sense', with her educational background and the status of her family. She obeyed God though and started as an apprentice to learn how to sew.

About three months later, a customer whilst interacting with her mentioned how different she was, and found out she was educated and had a degree. This customer had a relative (a Pastor) who works at a Federal institution, so referred her there with her credentials for work; Mrs Alabi had learned the basics of sewing by then.

One of Mrs Alabi's products

On arrival at the prospective workplace, she wasn't warmly received by the boss who felt a prospective employee was being "imposed" on him even though there was no vacancy. Suddenly, a staff in the department resigned. It came as a shocking news and he was asked why, without sufficient prior notice. 

He said the Holy Spirit asked him to resign, that a lady was coming for the job and he obeyed; that's how God gave Mrs Alabi a good job without much hassle. What if she hadn't sought God, or sought God but ignored the Holy Spirit's leading to pick up tailoring because she felt it was beneath her? Stay tuned, the story gets more interesting.

Mrs Alabi's new workplace was some distance from where her family lived, so transport was quite some hassle. The Pastor offered that she could stay with his family as long as she was well behaved. She did and behaved herself wisely (my inference 😉). In the process of time, the Pastor informed her that he wanted her to marry his friend (Dr Alabi) and she was like 😳 . They (the Pastor and herself) went to visit a man of God which incidentally, Dr Alabi was visiting too. God used that 'Man of God' to confirm that it was indeed God's will for them to be married. Mrs. Alabi responded that they came separately, like: "What was he on about?" This was in September.

Later, Dr Alabi made his marriage intentions known to Mrs Alabi, that he intended to spend Christmas with this wife. Long story short, Dr and Mrs Alabi met in September and got married in December. To the glory of God, their fifteenth wedding anniversary is this year. She still worked in the city where she met Dr Alabi until he asked her to join him in the city where he lived and worked. She told me how detailed she was to God with the specifications of who she wanted to marry, hos complexion inclusive lol; God honoured her desires!

Remember the tailoring she started to learn after the Holy Spirit asked her to? She is now a pro and it is a source of income to her. She does a lot of children's wear but also sews for bridesmaids and ladies on demand (see photos throughout this post).

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As an entrepreneur, she has sufficient time for her family (her children are well behaved, responsible and disciplined - I visited her first son's school last year. When he sighted me and came to greet me, a teacher told me he was the School Pastor; I told him I was proud of him. Her other children are also doing very well). She's also an employer of labour, as she has people working for her. She told me sometimes, the Holy Spirit gives her ideas on what to do with different materials and as she's working in it, He inspires her on another.

         

The first time I wore my outfit to Church, no fewer than seven people commented and asked where I bought it. I happily replied it was made by Mrs Alabi. Next question: "Oh wow, how much? or I hope it didn't cost too much?" (Ladies ask that kind of stuff lol). With a big smile on my face, I responded: "It was a gift". I had to text her to thank her again and again for this lovely outfit.

I hope Mrs Alabi's testimony inspires you not only to trust God to write your love story but to 

know that:

God is interested in EVERY aspect of your life, CAREER inclusive.

Jesus told the disciples that it was vital that He goes away so the Holy Spirit would come (John  16:7). The Holy Spirit has come and if we'll let Him, He'll not only prepare us to stay ready for Jesus' return and live the lives God wants us to be, but also make the mark we're supposed to make in this earthly sojourn of ours. God does not just want Christians in the 'ministry' but in every sphere of influence of humanity. Remember, we are light and salt (Matthew 5:13-16).

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Stay blessed x

© Lydia Ndagilaya