Sunday morning, the day after her sister’s wedding, Favour struggled to get out of bed. She had obviously been stressed out and needed rest. While contemplating whether she could make it for first service of rest a bit and attend second service, she heard her phone ring. Her ring tone was ‘Onise Iyanu’ by Natheniel Bassey. She decided to make it her ring tone so as to remind herself of God’s faithfulness every time her phone rings.

It was about 7am. “Who could possibly be calling me early Sunday morning?” She thought to herself as she stood up to get her phone which was charging at a corner of the room.

It was an unknown number. Her data was turned off so true caller was of no help. She didn’t like picking strange numbers so she silenced the phone, flung it on the bed and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

“What if it is Emma?” A thought flashed through her mind.

The phone rang again and she decided to pick it.

“Hi Favour,” the voice sounded familiar.

“It sounds like him” she thought. “Good morning, please who am I speaking with?” she asked politely

“Emma, we met yesterday.”

Her heart skipped a beat, the excitement began to well up again. “Hi Emma, how are you?”

“I’m fine thank you. Sorry I didn’t get back to you last night. I felt you must have been tired and needed to rest. Hope you rested well?”

“That’s so thoughtful of you.” she smiled. “Yes I did, I was just about to prepare for church.” She quickly used the opportunity to find out about his faith. “Are you a Christian?”

“Yes I am.”

 “Great. What church do you attend?”

“My parents are Anglicans but I don’t go to church, except on special occasions. I run a very busy schedule.”

Favour could not believe her ears. ‘Disappointed’ wasn’t even a good enough word to describe how she felt. That was a red flag right there. “This guy is definitely not for her,” she thought to herself. There is no point continuing this conversation. Just as she was beginning to analyse what strategy to use to end the call, she heard him speak.

“Hello Favour, are you still there? I got you didn’t I?” He chuckled.

“Got me? What are you talking about?” She was so confused

“The not going to church thingy, don’t mind me I was just been naughty. I attend Redeem but since I came to Nigeria two weeks ago, I haven’t been to church. I was thinking of going to the church in the neighborhood today.” He explained.

“Oh I see,” Favour was relieved.

“The ‘my parents are Anglicans’ part is true though, they are strong Christians and made sure they brought myself and my siblings up in the way of the lord.”

Favour gave a sigh of relief, she noticed how she smiled when he spoke about being a Christian. Suddenly it occurred to her to invite him to her church.

 “Why don’t you come to my church, I’m sure you’ll have a great time, that’s if it’s ok by you,” she smiled.

“That will be nice, I’d love to. Will you send me the address then?”

“Sure. I’ll text it to you right away.”

“Alright then, see you at church.”

“Bye.”

Favour, who was initially contemplating if she was strong enough to be at church, suddenly found strength and she made sure to look her best. She paid special attention to her appearance that morning. She changed her mind about wearing the navy blue skirt suit and decided instead to wear a coral cord lace flowing gown that brought out her beautiful shape. She tied a royal blue head tie and wore accessories to match. She was looking dashing. She kept asking herself why she was doing all this. She didn’t bother about the answer but instead, with joy and excitement kept singing and preparing for church.

When she got to church, she looked around but didn’t see Emma. She was pretty early as first service had not ended. She picked her phone to call him and then a text came in.

‘I’m about 15 minutes away’

‘Okay, let me know when you arrive,’ she replied.

She sat at the back of the church and kept checking her phone every minute. Finally, it rang, it was Emma calling. She stepped out to pick it and just then and there saw a shinny black Honda parking. On a closer look, she recognized it was Emma and so decided not to bother picking the call but to walk towards the car instead.

After parking, he came out of the car. He had on a royal blue long sleeve buba and sokoto, the same shade with her head tie and accessories. He gave her a side hug. She loved the smell of his cologne, it was the kind that made you want to stick around just a little longer to perceive more.

“Wow you look amazing,” he said as his eyes gazed on her beauty. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Thanks,” she smiled. A bit shy. “Welcome to my church, I hope you have a good time. First service just ended so you are right in time.”

“After you,” he said as he signaled for her to lead the way.

Service was indeed a blast, but was it because it was thanksgiving service or because of who was seated beside her? She loved what she saw; how he worshiped God, how he danced, she heard him blast tongues from time to time, he paid rapt attention during the message and carefully jotted salient points into his journal. She was impressed but knew she had to be careful with her feelings. So as not to jump ahead of herself.

She silently began to pray, “Lord, if he is your will for me, please let it be clearly made known”. She had this overwhelming peace and decided to allow God lead her not her emotions.

“I had a lovely time in church today,” Emma said as they walked towards his car. “I’ll be travelling back next month, but in the interim, I believe I have found a place of worship.”

“I’m glad you had a nice time.”

“Yeah me too. I however don’t want to wait till next week before I see you again. What’s your week like?”

Yet again, Favour could feel her heart racing. “Work starts from 8am and ends by 4pm every day.”

“Alright, so how is Tuesday evening?” he asked with a charming smile and great expectation.

“Hmmmm let me see,” Favour looked into space just to buy time then said “well Tuesday is fine by me” and added “Wednesday is Bible study, if you’ll be able to make it.”

“Sure, why not. So, Tuesday it is then,” he stretched his hand for a hand shake. “See you on Tuesday. I will text me the time and place,”

“Alright, that’s fine,” she smiled

“Did you come in a car or can I give you a lift?” He offered.

“I’m parked over there,” she pointed at the petit red Kia Picanto

“Oh great see yon on Tuesday,” he opened the door to his car.

“Have a blessed week,” she watched him enter his car and drive off. She had a good feeling about this one but hoped it wasn’t just going to end like the other ones did. 

    To be continued…

Don’t miss any episode of Favour’s story. Follow any of the below links:
Favour’s  Love Story
Favour’s  Love Story 2
Favour’s  Love Story 3
Favour’s  Love Story 4
Favour’s  Love Story 5
Favour’s  Love Story 6