JET: THE
WEDDING- This is Our God (Jesus Ernest & Turi)
Life with Turi
has been like a series. Season one: Dating. Life was filled with highs and
lows, laughs and cries and it all led to a season finale that left everybody in
suspense. Was he going to marry her? Season two: Courting. I guess we are a few
weeks to the end of that season to usher in another. So I will fill you in on
what you missed that God has impressed on us to share.
One remarkable
thing I have observed is the learning process. I never seem to have come to the
point where I now know it all or I have the right relationship formula. I guess
Jesus plays his J part in the JET bond in such a way that he’s always teaching.
We on the other hand have a choice, to miss class or to keep on learning.
Missing class and going by what we think we know always proved to have a
negative consequence since the first day I met Turi. I have experienced it. There
is a way that seems right to a man but its end is destruction. Banking on the
words of Christ even when I did not understand why, brought blessings beyond
what I deserved. This is our GOD. That though he was rich yet for our sake he
made himself poor that we through his poverty might become rich. This is our
God. Christ’s words when obeyed in my relationship have always left me
positively rich, nothing less. Rich is character. Rich in patience. Rich in
attitude and even Rich materially speaking. He’s provided. The blessing of the
LORD makes rich and adds no sorrow. Christ’s words ignored have left regret.
Turi and I are
not blow-your-money rich. We drive a Toyota and use matatus very often. We cry
foul when iMax is charging students 500sh for Spiderman after we have just
graduated and we are regulars at flea markets. One important lesson we both
have learnt is living within one’s means.
Every girl who
desires to marry would want diamond chandeliers for her wedding and velvet
draping that matches the maids’ dresses.
And every guy marrying that lady would want to give her exactly that.
However, being in the process of planning our wedding, I kind of thank J that
we had just what we needed. There was no excess to pour. There has been enough
to spend and even enough to give away. I realized that God doesn’t give anyone
a tithing-off season just because they’re getting married. But what I have also
seen is that GOD truly honours and favours his children. Because they’re holy?
No. They’re not actually. If they were, he wouldn’t have died for them now
would he?. Because they’re worthy? No. They’re not that either. Because they’ve
waited for sex till marriage? Not primarily, no.
Because HE is
Good. This is our God
Where to start
At the beginning
of the year, Turi and I had nothing but our savings. Venues were pretty much
expensive. The cheapest best we got was 55,000sh. We had to add a further
30,000kes to have photography costs incurred. The total was 85,000kes. There
were other cheaper venues but the standards were appalling. We settled on this
particular one not far from the city. The day I went to pay the deposit, I was told
it was already booked yet we had secured the date. I was frustrated. I called
Turi. We had to start looking again. The previous day, Turi had an intuition
about Brackenhurst. It came strongly and she kept wondering why. In my mind, I
dismissed the idea. Brackenhurst was a lofty retreat centre with foreigners
lodging there. The price was likely to be close to 200,000kes. Still, I trusted
her intuition and we called Brackenhurst. Brackenhurst offered us their grounds
for the ceremony, the reception, the photography and a nature trail for only
45,000kes! Boy was I glad the other venue was booked.
Lesson: Trust a
godly woman’s intuition. This is our God.
Free is Free
We drove to
Brackenhurst to see the grounds. What a beautiful place it was! It was too good
to be true. We paid a deposit and secured the 45,000kes price. We were served
by a lady called Mercy. Mercy had recently been married and had graduated from
Samantha Bridal as a wedding planner. Seeing that we were getting married, she
offered her services. She pulled out her tools: files, contacts, contracts, designs,
fliers, cards et al. From the get go, we knew we couldn’t afford her. She was
very professional and had top class information. We told her we were sorry.
Mercy didn’t take no for an answer. Her response nearly ripped out my kneecaps.
“That’s okay,” she said, “I will plan it for free.” I couldn’t help but ask
what free meant. To my surprise, Mercy’s definition of free rhymes with mine.
No charge at all. And she’s been planning ever since.
Lesson: God can
use strangers. This is our God.
Taxing Tasks
At the beginning
of the year, Turi and I went for the Samantha Bridal fashion show in Westlands.
I had been jittery about buying my suit. I knew that I had money in my savings
but the prices around town spooked me. I asked Christ to ease the burden
expenses. I had no idea he was quick to reply. We arrived just in time for the show. We watched
breathtaking dresses and suits grace the runway. And in the process, it
reminded me of my undue expense. During the show, the MC asked all the men to
get onstage. Curiosity defied my shyness and I got onstage. She said that she
would cast a white hat in the throng of men. We were to fight for it. The
winner would win a prize. She turned and cast the hat. It was here that my
conviction was confirmed; watching all those WWE matches was worth it. Thank
you Rey Mysterio! Your moves paid off. We scrambled and poured all over the
runway. I emerged victorious getting 90% of the ripped hat. The prize was a
wedding tuxedo worth 55,000sh (shoes inclusive).
Lesson: There’s nothing too big for our God. This is our God.
Food for thought
I was elated
after the tux. A lesson I learnt
in the process is how man easily forgets the faithfulness of Christ. I had
prayed for the suit and it came. Yet despite me having seen the miracle, I was
worried about provision. I knew my job would have to sacrifice a lot for the
wedding. I just did not imagine it would feel so difficult at times. But J was
with me. And as if to prove it to me again, I experienced another peculiar
blessing. My parents one morning during breakfast told me, “Ernest, we’ve been
thinking about the food for the wedding and we have decided that we will take
care of all of it.” And thus hundreds of thousands of shillings were cancelled
off the budget.
Lesson: Christ
feeds the birds of the air, how much more you his child. This is our God.
If he dresses the lilies, he will dress the bride
The next month,
I focused a lot on growing Penstrokes (this blog). I dedicated it to Christ and
the outreach was overwhelming. We got readers from Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen, Oman, India, Alaska,
Canada, USA, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, France, Germany, Latvia, Russia,
Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Zambia, Palu, Indonesia and Kenya. One lady from
Uganda by the name of Sandra found me on Facebook. She asked if I was the
writer of Penstrokes. I affirmed it. She asked to print a few to share with her
friends in church. I gladly accepted. A few days later, Turi and I were praying
for a wedding dress. Turi could not find one that she liked. The ones she liked
were too pricy. I told Turi that J would provide like he did the tux. A day or
two after that. Sandra writes to me a message on Facebook. She tells me she
doesn’t know why she’s doing this but she ‘s giving me a wedding dress. All she
knows is that God asked her to do it. And send the dress she did. And thus
another prayer was answered.
Lesson: Be about
God’s business and He will be about yours. This is our God.
God was taking
centre stage in the wedding. He brought us to a point where he asked us to
choose between to either have Him be the centre of the wedding or to have
ourselves. If you ever get to this point beloved, choose Christ. Choose the
cross and bear the loss. This life was never about us in the first place. Let
him take centre stage and watch him move to bless not only you but others as
well. We are not worthy people. We are not perfect people. We are not great and we are not better than others. We are just saved people. This is just
a tip of the iceberg of the gospel of J. This is his grace that sustains those that follow him. It is the grace of our Jesus who being in the very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made himself a man and died on a cross for us so that we may stand right in the presence of a Holy God when we die someday. I pray that you may give him a chance. This is
our God.
What more does
this Almighty Maker have in store? I guess I will have to wait for September
the 1st 2012 to
discover.