A walk with my crush. Episode 2.

A walk with my crush. Episode 2.


What are you thinking about?" Eric asked me as we walked through Ring Park. My most favorite place in the whole of Lagos.
"I was thinking about the day we met." I said and smiled up at him.
"It was crazy." He laughed at the memory.
"I can't forget how calm you were when I was screaming my throat sore and hanging for dear life during that ride."
He chuckled. "You actually scream a lot on a normal day."
"I don't." I said stamping my right foot.
"You also deny that a lot."
I laughed and he laughed and we continued walking in silence.
"Who would have thought that both of us were so close even before we knew each other. I mean, in the same University, faculty and department."
"Yeah," I said plucking an hibiscus flower.
His phone rang and he reached for it in his back pocket.
"Can I?" He asked raising his phone.
"Go ahead," I replied trying my best not to study his features again.
My mind reeled back to the day I told my mum about him. My mom was a woman leader in the church and I was surprised at the way she answered me and advised me. Oh, if only all women were like my mum. Maybe then, Christian girls would really understand how to handle their crushes.



"Mum?" I called from the hall way.
"I"m in here darling." She replied from her room.
I entered to find her on her bed with her Bible on her laps and her orange highlighter poised in her left hand.
"Mum," I said, "could you spare some minutes?"
She removed her glasses and placed them on her bedside table. She looked at me with concern in her eyes.
"Of course." She replied. "I'll always spare a minute for you. What is it? Come."
She motioned for me to come closer and patted the bed for me to sit.
I sat and looked warily in her eyes. I didn't want her to misjudge me but at the same time, I needed to talk to her.
"Mum," I started, hesitatingly.
"Go ahead, Lydia. I'm all ears." I had her full attention now.
"I have a crush I can't control." I said, finally.
"What's a crush?" She asked, confusion etched in her brows.
I smiled at my "old-fashioned" mum. "I mean, I like a guy."
"Ohh," she said, smiled and started nodding. "I get you. Is that so?"
"Yes." I replied.
She smiled. "That's a very normal thing, my dear. It's bound to happen. You can't avoid it. But.."
"Mummy, it's getting out of hand." I said. "I can't concentrate. I can't read, I can't do anything without thinking of him. I want to see him as a normal boy mummy." I said helplessly. I seriously needed help.
"Darling, I was coming to that." Mum said, putting her Bible aside and facing me fully.
"Tell me, how did you meet him?"
I blushed, embarrassed. I had not told my mum of that club episode.
"Mum, does that really matter?"
"I want to know." Was all she said.
I told her. From scratch to finish. I did not leave any detail out. I was used to telling my mum intimate stuff, this could not be an exception.
"Hmm." She sighed deeply when I was done. "That was quite an adventure. Wasn't it?"
"It was." I replied sincerely. I can never forget that day.
"Lydia, have you stopped to wonder what he was doing there in the first place?" She asked me.
"I have, but I don't know."
She nodded again. "Lydia, in all fairness to him, he sounds like a decent young man. But, that is not the will of God for you."
"Will of God?" I laughed. "Mummy, I'm not thinking of marriage."
"Lydia, my dear let me finish. Wether marriage or a platonic friendship, God has a will and it is very important. The Bible says "Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" Does Eric know God? Does he love God? If no, don't think of making him a very close friend."
"How do I get rid of the crush." I asked, understanding her point.
"That my dear, is God's work, not yours. You can't."
I groaned inwardly. "So I'm going to keep liking him like this and keep being useless to myself?"
Mum laughed. "No, Lydia. You hand over your feelings to God. Tell Him why you like Eric. Every single detail. Then tell him to help you control your feelings. Ask Him to help you keep every thought that comes to mind under the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ. And finally, tell Him to give you the grace to relate with Eric in a very clean way."
I nodded. It all made sense. Mum had thoroughly gotten my point.
"Do you understand?" She asked and squeezed my hand gently.
"I do." I replied. Thank you mum."
"Thank God," she smiled. "I'll be praying for you, dear."
I left for my room and sank my knees in the purple plush carpet in the center, ready to take my burden to God and leave it there.
"God," I began. "I like Eric. I like him very much because he's fine, speaks very well and dresses nicely. I like the way he looks at me and listens to me when I talk. I like his perfume. It smells very lovely, somewhere between Cinnamon and Chocolate. I love the way he walks too. God, I like almost every single physical characteristic he has. But Lord Jesus, you know Eric more than I do and I ask that you give me the grace to put every ungodly feeling I have for Him under your Lordship. I pray you help me to relate with him in a normal way because I know it is not your will that I enter a relationship with him. I pray you give me the grace to not fantasize about him anymore and help me to concentrate on more important things. Help me to be useful to myself and you instead of thinking of him all the time. And Lord, save his soul. Thank you Lord for listening to me. Thank you for answering my prayer. In Jesus'mighty name I pray. Amen."

"Yeah, bye" Eric finished his phone call and turned to me. "Sorry for the interruption."
"Why are you apologizing? We weren't doing anything. Just taking a walk and looking at flowers."
He laughed.
"So do you come here often." I asked.
"No. My family just came up here to have a nice time and I decided to tag along. I was going to get the food in the car when I met you here, talking to the flowers." He teased.
I laughed. "I wasn't talking to the flowers. I was talking to myself."
"That's not less weird, you know."
I laughed again. He had a good sense of humor.
"I have to head back now. My folks will be wondering where I went, see you later Lydia." He said smiling and left.
"Bye Eric,"I replied watching his back as he sprinted off.
Then I turned around and smiled. My chest no longer felt tight when I was with him. I liked him because he had a good sense of humor and was very polite not because of his handsome features or confident gait. The images of me and him together, alone that used to pop in my mind occasionally was no longer there. I was able to think and read and write and cook and study and pray without me seeing his face in my books or mind. I was free! Free!! Free!!! Jesus is truly the key - to everything.

"The next time I have a crush, I'll know how to handle it." I said to the hibiscus flower and laughed so loud because there was no burden in my chest again. Water dropped from my eyes and I felt as if I was floating on the blue skies above that looked like a  big blue bed with plenty of plush white pillows.
 
                                         The End.
        Written by: Obidi Eunice Onyekachukwu.
     Copy rights owned by: King of Glory in Heaven.