This post is long overdue; I realized recently that not sharing our story was denying those around us the chance to see/hear for
themselves the wonderful work that God can do.
I said I do to my wonderful husband on April 19th
2013; it was a joyous day for the both of us not just because we were finally
husband and wife, but also because getting to the altar was no mean feat.
I remember before I agreed to date George I had
resolved that I was done with men, I was jaded from failed relationships. I was
ready to focus on building my career, making the money buying the house the car
and then adopting a child who would be the focus of my whole life, a little
companion to shower my love upon. I had convinced myself that it wasn’t In my
future to get married, that maybe he had created me to me single and celibate. I
Imagine as I continued to utter these words to those close to me ,God must have
laughed out loud together with the angels thinking, “Oh my child you have no
idea what’s coming around the corner”.
So anyway fast forward to 2010 and I met George we
were introduced by a mutual pal (thanks Njeri Ngige soon to be Olang) and we
became fast friends. There was no plan to take it further at least not for me,
when he began to show interest I continually told him I wasn’t ready that I was happy just being friends. In
retrospect I am glad I did because I now know how important it is to enjoy
being single! Life was good. The year ended and come 2011 ,something had
changed I couldn’t say no anymore, there
was an awakening of feelings that I couldn’t fight anymore and so I pushed
aside all my fears ,all my doubts and I said yes.
The faith journey began as I fast forward to 2012 and
this man proposed in August 2012, how you ask? By sitting down with both my
parents and asking for my hand. This was a huge milestone for me, because I had
secretly always longed for a man who would be able to face my father and ask
for my hand. Any man can give you a ring but one who asked for my hand from
that showed bravery and commitment and warrior tendencies! The warrior princess in me was ecstatic I had
finally met my warrior prince who was ready to slay the dragon and rescue me
from my self-induced imprisonment and ride of with me on on...wait...sorry but
I digress..
So there we were, he was asking for my hand having
just recently lost his job, with no prospects of permanent employment at the
time and saying that we were to wed in December 2012. Yes the story of faith
had begun.
After that meeting things progressed rapidly, we
talked to both sides of the family and realized that the folly of youth had
struck us both; this happens sometimes where our words run away before our
minds. We quickly realized that December 2012, four months away was not practical
or possible and we both agreed to push it forward to April 2013.
And so the planning began, I had the wedding all
planned out in my mind. I wanted a ball wedding, in a hotel ballroom where we
would say our vows, and eat and dance the whole night away. He was game being
the Prince that he is, he was willing to make it happen; that was until we
began to drive around Nairobi and received the astronomical catering quotes
from Hotels within the city. With our joint earnings or lack thereof there was
no way possible we could raise those amounts and still have some left over
after the wedding Day.
God in his wisdom was teaching us to trim our okay MY elaborate fantasies and work towards
planning for our marriage and not just the wedding day. This was throughout the
month of December and January. We were fasting and praying for God to open up
doors for this wedding day to happen.
And So January 2013 was here, still no venue, no
payments to suppliers made. Nothing had been done yet. But life had to go on;
we still believed that breakthrough would happen.
We attended our friend’s wedding on January 1st
and our first miracle happened. The venue was in Karen, the owner a friend of
George from his former church. After the wedding reception they happened to
chat for a while and in those few minutes of conversation, he offered the
venue, his home and compound to us, to use for our wedding, for FREE! As we
drove home I remember thinking this is unbelievable, things like this don’t
happen in real life , like WHAT?? For FREE! ?
So wedding venue, check.
Second on the list was the dress, I wasn’t your
typical bride, I didn’t want to visit all the bridal shops in the city to try
on 50 dresses just to choose one. On referral I used an online shop, went on
the internet chose the dress that was on sale and had it delivered to Nairobi.
Wedding dress, check.
In the meantime George had gotten a permanent job and
was given an opportunity to do some voice overs, what he was paid for those
voiceovers was able to pay rent for the house +two months deposit, plus deposit
for my dress , AND to buy an engagement ring ,how he placed it on my finger is
a story for another day !
House to live in, check.
We continued to attend weddings as the months went by
and I’m thankful for that because we were both exposed to outside of the box weddings.
Tina and Eugene Banja’s wedding was one of those, their DIY décor got me
thinking that flowers are over rated and over priced. I went online and decide and
got the idea to make paper coloured pom
poms . Being artistically challenged I am thankful that one of my friends
Elizabeth Wanjiku Maina offered to undertake this project with her brilliantly
creative sister. She also offered to be the wedding planner and basically help
us with our wedding checklist.
Décor check ,check
Meanwhile people from all over the world continued to
surprise us with cash contributions .One of these angels offered to
pay the full amount for the cake, mind you we hadn’t chosen a cake yet it
didn’t matter to him (he prefers to remain anonymous ).For whatever price he
would pay it and so he did.
Cake ,check !
Catering was paid for too, so were the tents and
chairs. George and I were continually amazed by the daily miracles popping up
all over the place. This was truly God’s wedding, he was showing up and showing
off ,so that everybody would know that it wasn’t by the work of our hands but
by the work of HIS hand.
On our wedding day I woke up that morning fully at
peace, I had a smile on my face and a spring in my step. I wasn’t worried about
anything; all I was focused on was my groom. I couldn’t wait to say my vows and
begin our life journey of faith. The whole ceremony was fun, intimate and so
stress free. We had decided to think outside the box in terms of timing and had
planned the wedding to begin from 3pm -7pm. The photo session was at my
parent’s home at 10 am in the morning where there was plenty of green grass and
trees, after all isn’t that all one needs for a photo shoot? Yes, I saw my
groom before the actual ceremony, and no lightning did not strike us. I don’t
believe in bad luck. Those are old wives tales, God was before us, and nothing
could come against us!
The day quickly went by as I hang out with my maids
laughing and eating and counting the hours until the ceremony. Finally it was
time to leave, and just as our wedding party drove away from my parents’ house,
it began to rain. I remember looking at my mother’s worried face and I relaxed and
said a prayer. I asked God to hold the rain at least until after the ceremony.
And by the time we got to the venue 10 minutes away, it had stopped raining.
Why worry when you can pray?
The rest of the day was a blur I tell people all I
remember on that day was up to the vows, after that nothing registered. People
ate, laughed, the day ended and night fell. Believe it or not the caterer fed
over 500 people and went back with left over food. Another answered prayer!
So the wedding was over, and yet another miracle was
underway, one item was still pending on our checklist; we had not yet paid for
our honeymoon. Thankfully the contributions left by the guests in the envelopes
at the gift table was enough to pay our DJ, (shout out to K1 AKA DJ Makmende)
and our super Mc Mugambi Nthiga, and do some shopping for our new home AND pay
for our honeymoon.
What more can I say? Our God was faithful and we plan
to serve him for the rest of our days. And to all our friends and family who
were so heavily involved in the planning we will forever be grateful for
allowing yourselves to be used of God to make our wedding day come to pass.
Matthew
6:26
Do
not worry
25"For
this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you
will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.
Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow,
nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are
you not worth much more than they? 27"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour
to his life?…
