During the traditional engagement and paying of the bride price for my third son's wedding, my in-laws' tent was set up on one side, and ours was on the other.
Because of the prolonged traditional Yoruba customs, my son eventually came to me frustrated. He noticed that the ceremony was dragging out, with the bridal party pausing and singing different songs every few minutes, claiming their car had run out of fuel.
He said to me, "Daddy, whatever money they need, just give it to them, because by 2:00 PM, I must leave here for a crusade."
I approached the coordinators of the engagement and told them to collect whatever money they needed so the delay wouldn't continue. They promised to hurry up, but they eventually forgot our deadline. When they delayed yet again, claiming another vehicle had just arrived at the door, my son approached me a final time.
He told me, "Daddy, please continue with this program. Check the tubers of yam and the kola nuts—if they are correct, give it to them when they arrive."
With that, my son picked up his Bible and walked out of his own wedding event to head to the crusade ground.
I shouted after him that I would accept the wife on his behalf when she finally arrived, but he insisted that whenever she came, they could hand her over to me. When the bride realized that my son had completely left the venue, she immediately picked up her own bag and followed him to the crusade.
The venue became completely empty. I was left behind, trying to appeal to my in-laws and making excuses about how "the children of nowadays" behave. But the truth is, both of them had gone to the mission field. They left all of us sitting there.
That is the exact way I trained my children concerning the matters of the Kingdom. I explicitly taught them the absolute priority, desperation, and urgency with which we must attend to our spiritual lives and assignments.
Credit: Baba isaac omolehin
