This chapter opens with two high school roommates in conversation, as one persistently asks the other to give her life to Christ and become a born-again Christian. Both are the same age.
Chapter 1 – Uneasy Lies The Head That Wears A Crown
“O God! What on earth have I done to myself? What? How did I get into this mess in the first place? How? Where do I go from here? Where? God look at me and have mercy on me, please. And to think that I brought this on myself?” Streams of tears rolled down her eyes wetting her blue and green striped blouse. She used the back of her hand to wipe her nose in order to prevent mucus from running down too. Then she remembered…
“Mildred my dear, please dress up. It’s almost time for fellowship. You know there’s need, a great need for you to get closer to God if you really wish to make it in this life,” Juanita reminded Mildred her roommate.
“My dear, I’ve told you to stop bothering yourself about me. Can’t you see that l’m not cut out to be a nun? I fear God; is that not good enough? I am a Christian; is that not okay? I go to church on Sundays is that not enough? I pray in the morning before I go out and in the night before I go to bed; is that not all right? Please Juanita listen to me my dear. I really need to graduate from this Kogi State University with a good degree. In fact, let me tell you why I’m here.”
“I am here because I want to study very well and graduate, do my one year National Service, get a good job in a bank, get married to my dream man, and settle down to a happy family life with beautiful four children surrounding my table. So from the things I mentioned, you can see that I did not include going to fellowship, church, night vigils, mountains, etc. every day,” Mildred explained. There was a big grin on her face.
“Look at her. All I want to do is this…. All I want to do is that…, “Juanita mimicked, “and you did not consider it important to involve God in your future plans? My dear, there’s nothing you can do without God I’ve warned you as a friend. Consider God and serve Him diligently.”
“As for me, I have decided to serve God and honor Him, keep myself pure for my born-again, spirit-filled husband. You know, I can’t imagine myself getting married to an unbeliever, no, never! I will study hard but in everything and in all the good plans I have for myself, I will not forget God. I must allow Him to Order my paths and direct my footsteps. I must seek Him first.”
“Take a look at this our room, Every day after lectures, you rush back to it to rest because it is well arranged. Everything, the table, the chair, the clothes, the books are always well arranged. Tell me if this room is always scattered will you like to rush back to it? The answer is a simple no. That is how our life is. We need God just like we need this room: Everything is complete in Him, joy, peace, name it,” Juanita said.
“All right, I’ve heard you. But you must respect my views about life. I am convinced from the way you are going about this church of a thing, that you will either graduate to become a pastor or a pastor’s wife. But whichever one you turn out to be is your choice. I have told you mine,” Mildred said.
“So where is this leading?” Juanita asked pretending to be angry.
“This is leading us to realize that I will not be going to the fellowship venue with you today.”
“But you promised to go with me today,” Juanita remarked.
“Yes, I did. But it is a pity I have an assignment to do this evening. After that, i will try and get some sleep because I want to read all through the night. Remember, Evangelist Juanita, exams will soon start,” Mildred warned before she left the sparsely furnished room painted in deep blue color to go and ease herself.
The two friends had been attracted to each other right from the first day they met at the bank where they had gone to pay their school fees in their first year.
Coincidentally, they were both in the Faculty of Management Sciences but in different departments. While Juanita was in Business Management, Mildred was in Banking and Finance. They were given the same room in their first year.
In their second year, they decided to rent an apartment off campus. Juanita, as a born-again Christian, came from a very religious family. Mildred noticed that, the first week she spent with her in the hostel. Mildred was not a heathen. It was just that she saw going to church any other day than Sunday as a waste of time.
Apart from this difference, the two beautiful, average in height girls of seventeen years, had everything in common. Juanita continued persuading her friend to give her life to Christ and become a born- again Christian but Mildred kept delaying the date.
In their first semester third year, a twenty-five year old man named Fred who had just returned from Texas in the United States of America asked for Juanita’s hand in marriage.
At nineteen, Juanita believed that she was that she was old enough to get married. Except that Fred was not a born- again Christian, he was everything she had wanted in a man. In fact her dream man. He was tall, learned, rich and handsome. He read Medicine and was practicing as a gynaecologist in one of the hospitals in Texas USA.
Ahmad Nwabuzor is a Nigerian author and storyteller with a strong passion for writing and sharing meaningful stories. He is a graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), where he studied English and Literary Studies.
He writes across different forms of storytelling, including cultural narratives, emotional fiction, and moral stories that teach life lessons. His storytelling style is rooted in African life and shaped by a deep interest in how traditions influence people’s choices and emotions.