ENIOLA: Beauty For Ashes

Chapter Twenty

King reclined the car seat and got comfortable. Eniola was with other new converts being addressed by a church leader. He didn't have any expectations when he invited her to church other than hoping she would start to see reasons why she needed God. When he saw her stagger out to the altar, shaking and in tears, he couldn't help but drop to his knees and thank God.
She was now born again.
Oh how his spirit rejoiced at the thought of it.
However, there was something incessantly tugging at his mind, something he didn't feel too comfortable with, despite the fact that it felt so good to dwell in. He kept pushing it into the deepest recesses of his mind, hoping it was just a phase that would pass. For a while, it did fade, to the point where he thought he overcame it...till he watched her confess Christ. It returned with such force that he called on the Holy Spirit for help. He was about to give voice to his thoughts and start a conversation when he heard a soft knock on the window and sat up.

There was a smile on her face and a glow about her. The hardened demeanor of someone who was fighting to survive was replaced with the softer look of a soul that received new life. She looked refreshed, physically tired but refreshed.

"Cry baby" he teased when she entered the car.
"Mm, I agree. Can we get something to eat on the way home?"
"Sure, whatever you want".
He got her some pizza and ice cream before taking her back home. She went inside to put the ice cream in the fridge and came back outside to meet him. They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Can I hug you?" she asked.

He opened his arms and let her in. Her grip was a little too tight.
"Hey, are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"You're sort of squeezing my lungs"
She laughed and pulled back. "Is this how it felt, for you?"

He deduced that she was talking about the feeling that came with being born again.
"Yeah, it felt...new, refreshing. You look happier than you did when I picked you up this evening. You're glowing" he said.

"I am?"

"Yes, you are. Congratulations baby girl"
He saw her face turn pink and laughed. "Why are you blushing?"

"This is the second time you've called me baby girl Kingsley, and I don't think you even notice when you do it" she said.
His eyebrows involuntarily shot up in surprise, because she was right. He never noticed.
But he noticed how close his face was to hers.

So close.
Too close.

"I've decided not to get the car back. I gave the mechanic my permission to strip it down for parts" she said, breaking their embrace to take a few steps back.

"What informed that decision?" he asked.

"My life has been in shambles for months since Kunle died. I want to take control of my life again. I'm starting with letting go of everything connected to him. It's funny how I didn't feel like this until an hour and half ago"

"I saw you downloading a Bible app on your phone on the way back. Open Philippians 2:13 and read it out loud"

She opened it after a minute or two of trying to figure out whether Philippians was in the Old or New Testament.

"For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure...what does that mean?" she asked.

"It means that in the journey to discover purpose, once you recognize that you need God and you put Him first, He starts to align you back into the original plan for your life. He starts by making you want what He wants for you. Proverbs 23:7 says 'as a man thinks in his heart, so is he', so if you start to think what God thinks, you will want to do what God wants you to and voila, you're in purpose. Does it make sense?" he said.