THE PARALLEL LINES: How Lola Ignorantly Replaced ''Presence'' With ''Presents'' - A True Love Story Of Lola...

THE PARALLEL LINES: How Lola ignorantly replaced ‘presence’ with ‘presents’- a true love story of Lola…

Lola was on her way to church one evening when she noticed a young man caught in traffic in another lane, and they smiled at each other. Unknown to them, they were both heading for the same church service. They finally met in church and were introduced. The young man’s name was Akin. Instantly they developed a liking for each other.

Akin was in town from the USA and was accompanying his pastor on a mission to hold a crusade in Nigeria. It was not true. The crusade never took place. The following month Lola took ill and had to be hospitalized. Akin seized this opportunity to get closer to her. He was at Lola bedside throughout her stay in the hospital, showering her with gifts and attention. By the time Lola was finally discharged, she had fallen madly in love with Akin and they started dating. Lola was so in love that she agreed to marry him before the end of that year.

So in love was she that she failed to ask Akin the necessary questions, neither did she seek counsel, or commit the relationship to God in prayer. Lola was blinded by what she thought was love. A few close friends who felt concerned about the way Lola was handling this affair, tried to intervene. They wanted Lola to acquaint them with all she knew about Akin. To their surprise, she knew very little about him. To make matters worse, she couldn’t care less.

During their courtship Akin travelled back to the United states twice, leaving his supposed office phone numbers as the only means of contact for Lola. In April, 1997 Akin and Lola secretly got married in a court of law. Lola did not border to notify even her parents until September 1997, when they became suspicious and accused her of carrying Akin’s baby outside wedlock. It was then that she brandished her civil marriage certificate.

Lola’s parents, family and friends fell out with her, but after much pleading and pacifying they calmed down. The reality was that Lola was already pregnant and an abortion was out of the question. A date for a proper family introduction and subsequent wedding ceremony was fixed. Wedding invitations were sent out. The family introduction took place, but to everybody’s amazement, Lola and Akin eloped to London a week before the wedding day. In March 1998 Lola gave birth to a baby boy in London. Lola had a shock of her own a few days after the delivery. Akin had gone ahead to the USA, ostensibly to make arrangements for them all to travel to America and lived there as a family. That was the last Lola saw Akin!

Fifteen months later Lola learnt through a friend Akin was critically ill and had been hospitalized somewhere in the United states. Fortunately she found out the name and the telephone number of the hospital. A cherry nurse took her call. The talked at length and, when the nurse was about to transfer the call to Akin, she informed Lola that Akin’s wife and two children were at his bedside at that moment. Lola was dumbstruck and emotionally paralyzed but she managed to hang up. That piece of news choked her confidence ansd extinguished her pride. Barely a year after that Lola was to learn of another woman in Nigeria whom Akin had deceived into ‘marriage’. This lady also had a child with him. It was only the grace of God that kept Lola from having to be treated by a psychiatrist.

The good news, however, is that Lola has rededicated her life to God. Today Lola is a single parent living in London and she is very active in the Pentecostal church. She says she has learnt her lessons, albeit the hardway…

THE MORAL LESSONS TO BE LEARNT.

Ø  Lola erred badly by replacing ‘presence’ with ‘presents’. She did not seek counsel, ask relevant questions or pray.

Ø  Never enter into marriage without getting proper information on the background of your intended. This could be a major mistake, as proved by Lola’s case.

Ø  Be careful with long distance relationships.