How beautiful would it have been if we were born with a life’s manual, made solely for us and with our names on it! Often, we find ourselves clueless in life, unsure of steps to take, decisions to make, or how to find the joy and fulfilment that our hearts desire. Many questions in our minds have remained unanswered for years. Life is what it is! Man was not made to do or discover these things all by himself.

One sure thing that makes life roll is love. It does beautiful things in and through us that the mouth cannot fully express. Have you met someone in love before? C’mon, tell me….How can one fully describe that beautiful smile on the person’s face when he/she talks about his/her lover? How do butterflies get to be flying in someone’s tummy? Love is both magic and magical. 

I love listening to stories, even though I am not good at telling stories. That’s one irony of life that I am yet to crack…smiles. Some stories are lovely, creating a hunger for such testimonies, while some are gory and scary, making us fearful. Such is life! What story describes you? What story made you? 

Some life stories and experiences of many people in marriages are heart-wrenching! It can make you ask questions like how did they meet? How did their love fall through the cracks of life? Is love supposed to turn sour? Is marriage ever worth it? To mention a few. However, it would be beneficial to know that in most tragic love stories, not all the “truths” are laid bare to third parties. I can affirm to you that there is danger in one-sided/ half-baked stories of failed marriages. People who tell stories of how their marriages fail often don’t tell what they could have done better and the beauties they experienced, their struggles notwithstanding. On the other hand, the “Instagram-perfect” narratives of successful marriages do not tell the complete story either, for all marriages have their issues. 

Around the time that I was asking God for guidance on a brother’s marriage proposal to me, I had a memorable experience. It was a rainy day, and I had to go to lectures. Many potholes were on the road, so my friends and I had to go easy, hopping from one pothole to another. This fateful day, I told myself I would walk to school unstained and was sure it was a possible goal. However, as we were almost at the end of the hopping drama, I hopped right into the middle of the mud. How did that happen? I asked myself. Then I heard a gentle, small voice speak to my heart: “You can’t do life by your strength, not even marriage”.

Therefore, I beseech all singles reading this post today, irrespective of your past experiences or stories you have heard about marriages - good or bad - to seek your Creator to give you the blueprint of your marriage journey. Learn all that you can from the experiences of others, but don’t allow these experiences to deter you from enjoying the fullness of God’s plan for your life. 

God is the Author of your life, and you are the author of your own stories. How and what you write depends on your mindset and how you allow life’s stories and experiences to form or deform you. Please be mindful of what you write because, as sons and daughters of God, we are the epistles that the world is reading. 

©️ SELAH SERIES 2023