How we found our way
to forever

Praise: We met in church. I was serving in protocol, and REKs was in the media unit. The media equipment was kept around the church office, so he was always coming to the back to get a key, pick up something, or help with one thing or another. He was just everywhere. My first impression of him was basically: This guy is always around. Not because he was particularly talkative. He was just very helpful and always seemed to be needed somewhere.

REKs: Meanwhile, I had already noticed something else. This is a pretty lady. Very pretty, actually.

Praise: At that point, though, we barely spoke. It was just hi, good morning, and that was about it. Until one day, REKs came to the office to pick up equipment before a service. I was wearing a white dress that day; a detail he still remembers and somehow our conversation moved to an Ecobank account. Do you have an Ecobank account? And somehow, that became one of the beginnings of our story.

REKs: I eventually asked her out and got her number.

Praise: And I gave him my number. But that did not mean I was going on a date with him. I don’t go out with someone I’ve never actually had a conversation with. I need to talk to you. I need to know you. I need to vibe with you first. So, even though he had my number, I wasn’t rushing anywhere.

REKs: And then nothing happened. Months passed. We barely spoke. Until a wedding brought us together.

REKs: I was filming the wedding.

Praise: And I was there for the wedding. After everything was over, I wasn’t in a hurry to leave, so I stayed back. REKs was packing up his equipment and trying to eat before leaving, and somehow that became the day we finally had a proper conversation.

REKs: And we talked. A lot.

Praise: A lot. It was the first time we actually sat down and talked properly, and we just clicked.

REKs: I also took plenty of pictures of her that day.

Praise: Plenty. And then he called me Adora.

REKs: It seemed appropriate.

Praise: There was also one tiny moment that I remember. I had my phone positioned in a way that made it easy for it to slip. REKs was talking to someone else and seemed completely distracted. But somehow, he noticed. He turned and caught my phone before it fell. I didn’t even know he was paying attention. And I remember feeling really good about that. I felt seen. But I brushed it off. Because, at the time, we were just friends.

REKs: Or at least, that’s what she thought.

Praise: We kept talking. And talking. And talking. Sometimes there wasn’t even anything important to say. We could just stay on a call while we both went about our day.

REKs: I enjoy my own space. But somehow, I really enjoyed having Praise around. Even when she wasn’t physically there.

Praise: We discovered that we had so much in common our faith, our values, our work ethic, our ambitions and the way we looked at life. And then there were the exam nights.

REKs: Praise had exams to prepare for, so I became her unofficial study partner. I would stay awake with her, read with her, wake her up when she fell asleep and take screenshots.

Praise: Very annoying screenshots.

REKs: Evidence was important.

Praise: At the time, I was also in another relationship. REKs knew that. But he still showed up. He was available. He checked on me. We talked constantly. He was there even when there was technically no reason for him to be. And I remember talking to one of my friends about him. I called him gold. And my friend said: You are sleeping on gold. Looking back Maybe I was. Because somewhere along the way, friendship became attachment.

Praise: I started getting jealous. Which was funny because I didn’t want to date him. But I also didn’t want him dating somebody else.

REKs: I had already made my feelings clear. When I was turned down, I stepped back. But I couldn’t completely walk away. I still wanted Praise in my life.

Praise: And that friendship became a safe place for both of us. We talked about life. We prayed together. We studied the Word. We held each other accountable. We were becoming important to each other before either of us officially gave it a name.

Praise: Eventually, my previous relationship came to an end. But I didn’t want to immediately jump into another relationship. I needed time. I wanted us to just be cool. No relationship pressure. No love talk. Just space to breathe and allow things to settle. I didn’t want it to feel like I was simply moving from one person to another.

REKs: But from my side, I didn’t feel like someone new was entering her life. I felt like I’d already been there. I just needed the relationship to catch up with what the friendship had already become.

Praise: And then came another wedding. REKs was shooting. I was a bridesmaid. I had also made the brides wedding dress. After the wedding, we had dinner. Our first real date.

REKs: We took pictures.

Praise: Beautiful pictures. We talked. We laughed. And somehow, we even created our own couple’s handshake.

REKs: We also talked about the future. And I remember how clearly Praise knew what she wanted. She talked about her vision, her plans and what she wanted her future to look like. She wasn’t vague about it. She knew what she wanted. And I remember thinking: I can build with this person. It wasn’t just attraction anymore. It was bigger than that. I knew I wanted to marry her.

Praise: And I knew I wanted to get married the following year. I hadn’t necessarily analyzed it from every possible angle. I just knew. And then REKs asked me to be his girlfriend.

REKs: And she said yes.

Classic case of "Don't let your boyfriend stop you from meeting your husband."🌚

Praise: Interestingly, becoming official didn’t change everything. We were already friends. We already talked about everything. We already laughed together. We already knew each other’s personalities.

REKs: The biggest difference was that now the relationship had a name. And a direction. We weren’t just seeing where things would go anymore. We were intentionally working towards marriage.

Praise: And then his friends found out. Suddenly, I started getting messages. Congratulations! Welcome to the family! It was so awkward.

REKs: But I loved that they embraced her.

Praise: And underneath all the jokes, something important was happening. We were becoming a team. Not a perfect team. We're very different people. Different personalities. Different reactions. Different ways of processing things. We had things to unlearn. Things to improve. Things to understand about each other. And we learned that love isn’t simply about discovering that you fit. Sometimes, it’s about learning how to fit.

REKs: Of course, it wasn’t always easy. We had disagreements. Some were small. Some were definitely not small.

Praise: There was one particular season where we really struggled to see things from the same perspective. We tried to resolve it ourselves. We couldn’t.

REKs: And eventually, we did something that has become important to our relationship. We sought counsel.

Praise: Both of us have people we trust and submit to. And we believe that’s important. Because sometimes you’re so convinced you’re right that you can’t hear the other person anymore. We needed someone who could speak to both of us. Not just tell one person they were right. But help both of us see our blind spots.

REKs: We learned about boundaries. Communication. Compromise. Responsibility.

Praise: And we learned that being committed doesn’t mean you’ll never disagree. It means disagreement doesn’t automatically become departure.

REKs: That season changed something for me. Marriage stopped being just about the butterflies and the beautiful moments. It became about choosing Praise when things are messy.

Praise: And for me, it reinforced something I really value about REKs. He listens. He can receive correction. He’s willing to grow. And that matters to me. Because I don’t want a marriage where we pretend to have everything figured out. I want a marriage where we keep growing.

Praise: Our story isn’t really defined by one huge romantic moment. It’s the little things. The everyday things.

REKs: Late-night studying. Praying together. Studying the Word. Holding each other accountable. Being available. Showing up.

Praise: Helping each other’s families. Checking in when someone wasn’t feeling well. Doing things without being asked.

REKs: One thing that meant a lot to me was seeing how Praise showed up for the people I love.

Praise: And for me, it was the way REKs showed up for my family. When my mum had a birthday and I couldn’t be there, he went. He prayed for her. There were times I would simply say: Please check on my mum. And he would.

REKs: Even before we officially became a couple, I was already becoming part of her world.

Praise: And that’s one of the things I love about him. He’s resourceful. He’s always willing to help. He loves doing things for people. Sometimes he helps so much that I almost become handicapped. But it’s one of the things I know I would really miss if he wasn’t around.

REKs: Then came the proposal.

Praise: Well, I knew it was coming.

REKs: I wasn’t exactly subtle.

Praise: I knew he was going to propose on my birthday. I knew. But somehow, knowing didn’t make it any less special. Because REKs had prepared something I didn’t expect.

REKs: I reached out to the people Praise loved. Her mum. My mum. Her siblings. Her friends. The people who mattered to her. And I asked them to record messages for her. Then I put everything together into a video.

Praise: And that was the highlight for me. Seeing all the people I love appear on the screen was so special. It wasn’t just REKs asking me to marry him. It felt like seeing the people and relationships that had helped shape us becoming part of the moment too.

REKs: There were pictures. Friends. Laughter. A birthday. A proposal.

Praise: And even though I already knew where things were heading It was still beautiful. Very beautiful.

REKs: When we look back now, we laugh at how ordinary the beginning of our story was—a guy in the media unit, a girl in protocol, a few greetings, a church office, and an Ecobank account.

Praise: Then came a missed first date, a wedding, a camera, a few photographs, and a phone that almost fell.

REKs: There were late-night calls and exams.

Praise: Friendship became feelings.

REKs: A couple’s handshake became a dinner. Difficult conversations became lessons. And through it all, there was a lot of prayer.

Praise & REKs: And somewhere between all those ordinary moments, something extraordinary happened. We found each other.

REKs: I love that Praise knows what she wants. She listens. She loves people deeply. And she isn’t afraid to challenge me to grow.

Praise: I love that REKs is resourceful. Attentive. A people person. And yes, very good-looking. Especially when he’s walking around with his camera.

REKs: That part made it into the wedding story?

Praise: Absolutely...

Praise: I love that he listens. That he shows up. That he takes me seriously. That he listens to people who matter to him. And that he listens to God.

REKs: And I love that she challenges me to become better. Not because she expects perfection. But because she believes in who I can become.

Praise: We don't believe we're perfect, and we certainly don't have all the answers.

REKs: But we've learned that love isn't just finding someone you can live with.

Praise: It's finding someone you're willing to keep choosing.

REKs: When it's easy.

Praise: When it's difficult.

REKs: When we agree.

Praise: And when we don't.

REKs: We're stepping into marriage with our eyes open.

Praise: And our hearts full.

REKs: And our hands held together.

Praise: We may not have had perfect examples, but we have a reference: God and His Word.

REKs: We have people we trust.

Praise: And we have each other.

Praise & REKs: So, this isn't the end of our love story. It's the beginning of our favorite chapter. We choose to grow together, build together, laugh together, pray together, and keep choosing each other by the grace of God, forever.