A few weeks ago, a couple’s prewedding shoot went viral after the soon-to-be bride’s wig fell off her head during the shoot (HERE).
Well, we now have their love story and it’s amazing, it will make you cry!
Her side of the story….
that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those
who are called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28
I remember the day like it was yesterday when I first met Hilary. It was NEW YEAR’S EVE 2009
at an event space called Redeye Lounge. I was a lover of the club scene
back then and that was my thing. This was definitely before my Jesus
days started. I saw a girlfriend that used to shop with me when I worked
for BeBe and she walked in with her boyfriend and his friends. Hilary
just so happened to be amongst one of those guys.
I chatted it up with my girlfriend and a few moments later Hilary tapped me on the shoulder and said, “MY WIFE!”
Of course, I laughed because every Nigerian man uses this line. It
didn’t phase me at all. However, I’m a sucker for smiles and his smile
GAVE ME LIFE. Although he was short, the fact that he made me laugh was a
HUGE plus. So we danced the night away and brought in the New Year
together. He asked for my number and I obliged.
Hilary and I never really had a MAJOR first date. I would go to his
place and we would watch HGTV because he was in the process of
purchasing a home. Plus we watched all the other television shows he
recorded on DVR and I would watch him play video games. His place was
where I would go when I didn’t feel like driving home to Frisco from my
late night club shenanigans. Just to emphasize on how much I partied,
his friends had a nickname for me, “Hip-hop hurray the party planner!” Now, don’t get it twisted, we never slept together and that was a great thing that I discovered much later.
I really liked Hilary! In fact, I actually told my dad “I think I met
my husband!” But my fast pace life style and many distractions at that
time kept me from really getting into a serious relationship and truly
getting to know Hilary. I personally don’t think either one of us was
ready for anything serious. I also thought Hilary was sort of BORING and he was a BUG-A- BOO……
So after sometime I actually just stopped answering his calls. Once
again, I had A LOT of distractions. Thank God for the Lord’s love, mercy
and grace.
Interesting enough two years later I ran into Hilary at a NEW YEAR’S EVE
service at Christ Embassy Church in Dallas. I know, I know… Something
must be real special about New Year’s Eve! I was sharing my testimony
and spotted Hilary in the audience. That made me a bit nervous because I
had not seen him in a very long time plus my life was completely
different from the last time he saw me. I had fallen in love with Jesus
and I hoped that he wasn’t having memories of the old Jessica. We
briefly chatted and he jokingly asked, “So this is where you’ve been
hiding?” I laughed it off, but we left it at that. It was just a good
seeing you thing.
I kept running into Hilary at Christ Embassy because his good friend
attended that church as well so anytime there was a baby dedication for
his friend we saw each other. After running into Hilary for a third
time, I finally decided to reach out to him and just ask for his number
again. I must admit, he looked really REALLY GOOD this one particular
Sunday and I made up in my mind that I wasn’t going to let him get
passed me this time.
We exchanged numbers for a second time and shortly after we left
church I text him to let him know that it was great catching up and good
to see him. I also mentioned that we should hang out soon. He was up
for it so a few days later we hung out at Shops of Legacy in Plano and
we really hit it off. We were together all the time and everything just
felt right except for one thing…… I wanted to change a few things about
Hilary. Now remember life had really changed for me. I gave up the club
life and started a women’s ministry so I became the church girl hoping
to make my man into a pastor or we start some ministry together. Hilary
wasn’t to happy about all my big plans I had for him so we clashed A LOT
about it. I started to have doubts on whether or not he would fit into
MY PLAN (not God’s). We prayed and fasted together and we sought counsel
from a few spiritual mentors. I loved this man so much, I was just
refusing to allow him to be Hilary.
After taking time away from each other, I knew I wanted to spend the
rest of my life with Hilary. I missed his laughter and the way he made
me feel and how I was able to be myself around him. I always experienced
freedom and peace with him. Being with Hilary has always been a safe
place for me. I started looking back over the past few years and how the
both of us had grown and so much had changed about us and that is what
gave me the most comfort to move forward in a relationship with Hilary. I
knew that if Hilary and I ever got married we would forever be growing.
Hilary will not be the same man 10 years from now. He will be even
better than how he was when I first met him and vice versa.
Finally, NEW YEAR’S EVE 2013, Hilary and I
decided to make it official. He told me that day, we are going to do
this and sure enough we did. And two and a half years later, September 25th , 2015,
he proposed to me in front of my family and friends. It was definitely
one of the happiest days of my life. Hilary has been a huge part of my
growth and my testimony. He has helped me become better and I thank God
for him each day. I’ve learned to give up my control because only God
has full control over our lives.
Who would’ve known that my life as a club girl actually worked in my
favor of meeting the love of my life? I believe God kept the both of us
in each other’s paths until we were ready to take the next step and
ready to serve one another as husband and wife. My relationship with
Hilary has taught me to accept people for who they are and respect the
season they may be at in life. God does the changing and we do the
praying. The more I prayed for Hilary the more things began to change
not only in him, but within me as well. I strongly believe
that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those
who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
His Side of the story….
It was New year’s Eve 2009 and I had gone
out to support one of my friends who had an event space called Redeye
Lounge, As I walked in the place it didn’t take long at all for me to
notice Jessica as she had recognized a girl that was in our entourage
and had exchanged pleasantries with her. I gave it a few minutes and
walked over to her and said to her – you Know you are “MY WIFE”?
Literally that was the first thing that came to my mind; we ended up
hanging out and dancing together most of the night and at the end of the
night exchanged contact information.
In the next year to come I was more reserved and didn’t party as much
as Jessica, I was more of an easy going person and Jessica was heavy in
the entertainment Scene and party planning, My two close friends Tony
Odeghe and Ahmed Aminu Kadiri even nick named her “hip-hop Hurray”. We would hang out and it was casual and over time just remained friends and eventually lost contact with each other.
In 2012 at a New Year’s Eve service at
Christ Embassy church in Dallas, I ran into Jessica and we exchanged
greetings and had small talk, as it turns out over the next few visits
to Christ Embassy, I discovered Jessica had given her life to Christ and
was different from the “hip-hop hurray” girl I had met, she had matured
into her own. This time I didn’t make any moves to approach her we
would just occasionaly exchange greetings. On the Baby dedication Sunday
of Tony Odgehe’s daughter Jessica comes up to me after Church and asks
for my phone number, in the next few days we went out on a date and
continued dating after that.
As we started dating Jessica wanted to change a few things about me
and I let her know she would have to accept me as I am as well as God’s
Plan for my life and her life as God has designed and not our design.
We took some time apart from dating, I missed Jessica and on a
faithful night during that break I was home and Jessica called. It was
late, she comes over and I see her and the look in her eyes when she saw
me as well after a break of about 6 weeks and at that very moment I
knew I was going to ask Jessica to be my wife for real this time.
In 2013 we made it official, we started dating and taking steps to
grow in the relationship with one another, even did pre-martial
counseling before any idea of proposing and on September 25th , 2015
– I took the next step, I proposed to Jessica asking her to spend the
rest of her life with me and be MY WIFE – SHE SAID YES …..
Proverbs 18:22 (NLT) The Man Who finds a wife finds a Treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord.
Source: Helen Events Blog