𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕊𝕙𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝔻𝕠 𝕐𝕠𝕦 ℂ𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕖?

The gate was opened and Temilade drove in.

“How can someone live in such a humongous house almost alone.” Tiffi was no longer thinking about herself. Temilade must be a very strong woman she thought, as she walked into the nicely painted hall. The cream colour was inviting just as a pastor’s sermon would. Tiffi noticed a broken speaker behind the red couch.

…………

“My marriage threatens the very essence of my womanhood and in trying to remain a woman, I find myself drifting away from it,” Tiffi lamented with her hands behind her head. Her headgear was on the floor behind the red sofa but she would not let the cheap thing interrupt her conversation. Sipping from her glass of wine in silence, Temilade listened as Tiffi poured out all the hurt she had in her heart against her husband. “You’re not saying anything ma!” Tiffi said with some frustration in her voice.

“Oh, it would help you, Deaconess,” Temilade responded with a smile. “And by the way, I need to understand you before speaking,” she continued as she drew closer to Tiffi.

“I need help before I end up doing something I’ll live to regret,” Tiffi ended with her crescent shaped eyebrows twitching every second. Temilade stared at her for a while without an expression on her face and then spoke with the same smile that often introduced her words.

“It is well, Deaconess. May I get you some more ice?” Temilade wouldn’t wait for an answer because she could see desperation on Tiffi’s face. She dashed into the kitchen, got some ice cubes from the fridge and then paused to pray. “Lord, your daughter needs to hear something soothing and I don’t have anything to say. Help me today again to save this life in Jesus name, amen.” As she made her way out of the kitchen to the hall, a song dropped in her spirit and she sang it out loud.

“Bigger than all my problems, bigger than anything. God is bigger than any mountain I can or cannot see…” Tiffi upon hearing her joined. They both sang until they busted out laughing in amazement.

“I didn’t know you were such a good singer, Lady Rev,” Tiffi praised, wiping off the tears that rolled from her eyes. Her make up was beginning to wear off.

“Ah! You are a better singer, Deaconess.” They hugged and hugged. Temilade was known for hugs. “Go home with this song, Deaconess. I’ll pray with you before you leave and I’ll be praying for you always. You’ll not loose the essence of your womanhood. God would grant you the grace to make the right choice; picking the right shoes,” she paused and opened her eyes with a smile. Dropping some ice cubes into Tiffi’s wine glass, she continued, “The enemy is really fighting the church and he’s doing that through our marriages but we’ll stand strong, Deaconess, in Jesus name, amen.”

“Amen o!” Deaconess Tiffi responded. Her mind was occupied with random thoughts… She wondered why the Rev. Mrs. prayed for her to make the right choice and all the allusion to shoes. She thought she was going to tell her what choice to make, after-all she was the counsellor. She suddenly remembered her headgear after the prayer session and stood up to pick it from behind the sofa. Her hands could not reach it. She tried using her legs but she was interrupted by Temilade.

“We’ll drive back to church after we’re done taking the soup I made this morning. You’ll love it, Deaconess!” Quickly, she made her way to the kitchen leaving Tiffi in the hall alone.

Tiffi was determined to get her headgear that got stuck between the red sofa and something that looked like an old speaker. She moved the sofa forward revealing a piece from a ripped paper that read …pretending all is well whe… As she was about to pick it up, Temilade called out to her…

“Here you go, Deaconess,” handing a bowl of fresh fish soup to Tiffi on a brown plastic tray.

Startled, Tiffi raised up her headgear with her right hand and said, “Oh! My headgear got stuck so I had to…” Temilade did not allow her to finish.

“Eat up. Today, I have someone taste my food,” she said staring at Tiffi as she took her first sip. Tiffi couldn’t help but notice the glow in her eyes. A call came through for Temilade. It was Rev. Kels. He wanted to know when she was going to return. The reception was about to begin and he needed the wife of the senior pastor present. Temilade promised to be there soon and so they had to leave the house in a rush.

As they drove back to the church again in silence, Tiffi felt a lot better but had a lot of questions. This time, it wasn’t about her problems because she didn’t see anymore challenges after praying that Nancy who’s been sleeping with her husband would fall in love and be married to a man her age. Her questions were for Temilade. Why was she over excited that someone was going to eat her food? Where was the Bishop at that time of the year when everyone was with family? Why did she make the statement she made? Whose note was it under the sofa? What was a young woman like Temilade taking that she shouldn’t? What? Why?.…

𝙏𝙤 𝘽𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚𝙙————————-

𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕊𝕙𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝔻𝕠 𝕐𝕠𝕦 ℂ𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕖?
Remember this line from Cinderella? ‘One Shoe Can Change Your Life!’

Yes, One SHOE can change your life sister!

Now, I am not talking about the Manolo Blahniks, Aquazzura, Neous, Loq, Tabitha Simmons, or a Jimmy Choo, NO!

You all know that a shoe carries the woman, yeah? Christian Louboutin puts it thus; A woman can carry a bag but it is the shoe that carries the woman. Allow me paraphrase; a woman can have a lot of problems or challenges but the shoes she chooses would determine how far she can go!

Girl, how far do you want to go?

Life can be so hard, my sister. You don’t want to choose the wrong shoes. Truth is, there are lots of shoes. There are career shoes, relationship shoes, work shoes, family shoes, friendship shoes, community shoes, destiny shoes, love shoes, country shoes, motherhood shoes and many more.

Notice the title: Which SHOES do you choose? I didn’t say: What SHOE do you choose? I say shoes because there would be times that you might have to change your shoe. You sometimes cannot wear a particular shoe for too long and so you might need more than one.

What I love more about shoes is that I have a choice! The choice of shoe per time is yours! In choosing your shoe, I advise you consider your journey. You cannot be comfortable in the wrong shoes. If it would take you a year to choose right, please take two because your feet can never shrink and not all shoes have the capacity to expand. Put these three things in perspective when choosing your shoes: you, your journey and God. Start from the last in making the choice.

If you ever had to walk carrying your shoes, that’s the right time to get another one.

Love,

Jace