Yahweh's Protection: The story of a missing child.

   

Yahweh's Protection: The story of a missing child

  Andrea walked out of her house to her rowdy street while holding her 4-year-old daughter by the hand. It was a few days to the new year, and she needed to travel to her mother-in-law's place in Saki as it was a yearly ritual for the whole family to spend the new year at "Grandma's." Her husband had gone a few days before to test the waters and see if the environment was conducive enough for their little beanie. Bag strapped firmly to her back, a small travel bag in her left hand, and her daughter's hand fitting perfectly into her right hand, Andrea found her way to the bike spot. On a normal day, she would take a tricycle (Keke napep), but she was running late that day, and if she didn't find a bike in time, the train would zoom off without her and Samantha, her little bundle of joy. After carefully scanning the faces of the bike men, she finally found one that looked calm enough to not drive roughly. 

 

   Holding firmly to her load, she put her hand luggage at the front of the bike and placed her daughter on the bike after negotiating a price with the bike man. Before Andrea could swing her legs over the bike to sit behind her daughter, the bike zoomed off with her little one holding tightly to the bike man, screaming "Mummy!" It took Andrea a few seconds to process what had happened; as soon as she realized, she screamed out for help and let out a loud cry as tears poured freely down her face. The bike men who witnessed the scene got on their bikes and began a hot bike race to catch up with the kidnapper. Andrea thought of running to catch up with him, but she realized it would just be a waste of time. Instead of running, she collapsed to the ground in a fit of tears. How could her only child get kidnapped under her watch just a few days before the new year? Onlookers and bystanders gathered around her to pacify her, and a woman was heard shouting "ikunle abiamo o" from the other end of the road. 

 

   Suddenly, Andrea jumped up like someone scared from Dreamland by a ghost and begged one of the bike men to take her to the nearest police station where she could table her complaints. After the police got her statement and promised to get back to her, she refused to go home as she wanted an immediate response. She stood at the police counter for hours until they forcefully "removed her from the premises." On her way back home, with her face soaked in the pool of her own tears, she called her husband to explain. The yell blasting from the phone caused her to create a social, emotional, and physical distance between her beloved ear and the device, then she put it on speaker while keeping it at arms length. She could hear her mother-in-law nagging and blaming her for the kidnapping of her daughter in the background. Soon, the noise died down. She assumed her husband had found a quiet place, and her assumption was right. Koleola asked her to recount what happened; after struggling to explain it to him in tears, she heard a sigh followed by a soft voice saying, "Calm down, babe, we'll find her." "I'm on my way home."

 

 

   Walking into her house and locking her door, Andrea sat at the foot of her sitting room sofa to cry. She looked around, hoping to see her little bundle of joy doing the usual happy dance she loved to see every time she got back home. She listened extra carefully to hear Samantha jump out and say "Welcome, mama!" but she heard nothing. It was then yet again realized that it wasn't a dream, it was no prank, Sam was gone for real. 

 

    Eyes wide open, she said a prayer in agony, "Bring back my child, Lord!" Every word was laced with a pain tougher than the type experienced in the labor room. Andrea's heart was heavy; she couldn't even say more than one word of prayer. She lay on the tiles, still weeping silently, before she unconsciously drifted off to sleep. She woke up to the sound of the door creaking open. She checked the time and saw that she had slept for over four hours. Turning back to her husband, tears slid down her face; the tears alone were enough communication. Kole approached her with tears brimming up in his eyes, crouching to her level, and he hugged her tightly, assuring her that their child would come back home. "Babe, Samantha is a covenant child." "Before she was born, God told us what she would become, and in none of His testaments about her did He say she would die at four; she's coming back." The encouragement from Kole seemed to lift Andrea's spirits. Both of them joined hands to worship God on behalf of their little one. After about an hour of praising God, Kole and his wife stepped into the kitchen to prepare Samantha's favorite meal, jollof rice and chicken. The meal was halfway done when they heard a knock at the door. Kole asked his wife to remain in the kitchen with the food while he went to find out who was knocking. Lo and behold, Samantha was standing at the foot of the door with a note in her hand. At the sound of Kole's scream of "babe," Andrea ran out of the kitchen only to pause halfway and fall on her feet as she saw her daughter in her husband's arms, the most beautiful sight to behold. Tears poured down her face as she kept chanting, "Lord, I thank you!" Kole went down on his knees and let Samantha out of his arms to run into her mother's embrace. After a few minutes of mommy time, Kole moved closer as the family joined hands on their knees to appreciate God. 

 I'm not sorry for kidnapping your child, I never will be sorry. I'm only sorry that I couldn't use her for sacrifice. I invested so much in this cause, I followed you for days, monitored your movement for days and this is what I get? a rejected sacrifice? 

I suggest you throw a Thanksgiving party to your God because Samantha should have been long gone. Anyways, I'm off to look for another victim to prey on. 

Claws of death

   Alas the family was seated on the dining table, eating the delicious jollof rice prepared in gratitude. Andrea shook her head and smiled when she saw how Kole's left hand firmly held onto his daughters chair, as if to protect her from disappearing again. She suddenly remembered the note that accompanied her daughter home and got up to check. The note was signed "Claws of death", her heart kept on going haywire as she read it. 

   Thanking God in her heart for saving her only child, she folded the paper nearly and tucked it in the middle of a book sitting pretty on the shelf, hoping to show her husband when he was done eating. She heaved a sigh of relief and went back to eat with her family. 

God doesn't let his own suffer; he watches over them like a hen watches over her chicks. He's more protective than a nursing mother and more proficient than a robot. I know it's almost a new year, and it seems like it's over, but it's still possible with God. I pray that everything you've lost will be replenished unto you in a million folds. I hope you enjoy this story. Please leave a comment and share. 

 

And oh, that's dad in the picture. 

 Happy New Year! ❤️