LOVE (THE MANNER OF LOVE )

PART ONE

Lorna collapsed into the soft sofa in the sitting room. She was already exhausted. Lorna suddenly realised how much her body hurt. Her feet especially as she extended her hands to  massage gently. She had to tuck in her drunk mum to sleep, who seem not to realise what she was doing. Still trying to process how much of a day it had been with her younger siblings creating big messes round the house, her dad walked in. Patrick walked in calmly at first then stared at her for seconds. Lorna felt an eye on her, she quickly sat up to face whoever it was. It was her dad,  still staring in disgust.
"Dad...good eve..ning" she stammered and acted like she was cleaning the sofa she was now sitting on.
Her dad gave her a quick stern and warning look and went into his room. That look meant she shouldn't mess his sofa with her sweaty body. Lorna sighed, a sigh of relief and disappointment. Relieved that he left, disappointed that he hadn't even sat to eat his meal she prepared which was on the dining. Lorna began to feel sleepy. She got up quickly to use the shower before she fell asleep. Lorna planned to return back to check if her dad has eaten and then finally clean up before going to bed.
Lorna stood in the shower, she put back the sponge she used to scrub her body in the green coloured bowl in the sink across but close to the shower. It was a pretty small bathroom built for one. Hot tears began to run down her face, when did her Dad become so cold? She asked herself. Lorna remembered the days he use to carry her on his shoulders and run round their small courtyard, she caught her mum's smile through the kitchen window as she watched each time while cooking. Lorna would laugh so hard and look at her mum excitedly.
Lorna remembered her parents arguing seriously one sunday night, that was the last sunday they went to church together as a family. Her mum kept screaming at the top of her voice that she wasn't in love with her father anymore and that she found someone else whom she was so in love with. Her dad was mad at her mum but Lorna could hear him plead. Lorna held her siblings so close to herself that night in in her room. All two had run to her room crying. Lorna was just ten then. Her younger ones Serah and Jonathan were two and four respectively. Lorna's dad refused to sign the divorce papers, he pleaded with her mum to consider the children but her mum insisted. The man her mum wanted to leave her dad for soon left her for another woman after seven months of their affair, claiming he couldn’t go out anymore with a woman who was still legally married. Her mum blamed it on Lorna's father Patrick. Lorna's mum then resulted to drinking and neglected them all. Rebecca her mum became a shadow of herself, she lost her job due to negligence and started keeping late nights. 

Each time, she returned home drunk. Her father was good to them at first but soon felt burdened as he had to take care of them on his own. Lorna tried to help out to ease his burden but he soon neglected them. They lived like strangers, even strangers who shared an apartment were better. At least most of them talked to each other. The only people Lorna talked with were Jonathan and Serah.
Lorna soon realised how much she had spent showering. She hurriedly rinsed and left the bathroom.

The next morning was pretty bright for 6am, the sun sank right deep into her eyes, Lorna turned to other side of the bed. Lorna quickly sat up to face the clock, it was 6.30! Lorna sprang to her feet. She ran to her sibling's room to get them ready for school. After that, she ran downstairs and met her mum who seemed to have just woken, complaining of headache, though talking to herself.
"Whose daughter are you, useless child, are you just waking up?" Rebecca asked her daughter as she sighted Lorna, irritated. Rebecca hissed and went on to sit on the sofa. She yawned and stretched at once.
"Good morning mum, I'm sorry" Lorna responded and briskly walked to the kitchen to get breakfast ready. She stumbled upon piled up dirty plates she was too tired to wash the previous night. Lorna packed them out of the sink into an empty basin to make breakfast first. She had to get to school by 7.30.
"How am I gonna do this" she thought to herself. She hurriedly prepared boiled plantain and fried egg. She heard her mum complaining about everything in the sitting room from the kitchen. Lorna wiped the sweat out of her face as she served breakfast. 

Breakfast was ready, her siblings soon came, ate and left for school. Lorna hurriedly did the dishes, cleaned the house and went to shower, she dressed up quickly in her rumpled school uniform she had not had time to iron and was on her way to school. It was 9.05am. She hadn't seen her dad that morning. Lorna prayed he was fine. Lorna felt something in her uniform pocket on her way, she put her hand in to check. It was a condom, she quickly put back the condom that fell out with another paper but held on to the paper in her hand. It was a flier, a church flier. Sandra, her junior in school gave it to her. Lorna rolled her eyes at the flier. She thought to toss it to the nearest bin, she couldn't find one around, so she held on to it. Lorna was used to cleaning up messes and got used to not making one herself. Still walking to school, she got tired of holding the flier and decided to read it because she was bored from walking to school.
The church's name was written at the very top. It was three days evening program, tagged " Love ( the manner of love). Lorna laughed and then suddenly frowned. Lorna thought Sandra gave the wrong person the flier. She didn't even know what the word love meant anymore and if it existed. Out of frustration of not finding a bin, Lorna put the flier into her school bag, the space she left for later throw outs.

Lorna soon arrived the school premises, she was punished by the staff on duty for coming late to school despite her pleas and excuses, the staff was already tired of hearing same story everyday that week. Lorna got to class by 10.15 am and was sent out by the teacher for lateness. It was her SS3 geography class. She brought out a bubble gum and chewed loudly outside the class by the door, it got the teacher so irritated and mad at her. The vice principal took them geography. He flogged her on her palms severely for her rudeness in which Lorna didn't resist or cry for. The teacher stopped amazed and asked to see her in his office immediately. 

Few minutes after, Lorna came out of the vice principal's office, she went to a corner and counted the naira notes he gave her. She thought of buying new sandals with it for herself and for her younger brother. She thought of buying another condom to replace the used one and she would then use the money she took from her mother's purse the night before to buy foodstuffs for lunch. It was two months since her dad last gave her money for upkeep and her mum laughed in her face when she asked. Patrick was well to do. They lived in a good house. He still worked but he stopped giving her money two months back. Lorna decided to do something about it when she came back home from school one afternoon and saw her siblings crying their eyes out due to hunger. They barely ate everyday for weeks.
As Lorna was done counting her money and planning her budget, she noticed the highly esteemed girls of the school coming towards her direction in a group, she quickly arranged her uniform as she watched them chatter and stroll towards her. They were her classmates. The girls soon met up with her. Lorna exchanged pleasantries with the girls and agreed to help the girls get snacks from the school's canteen after they asked. She was glad they asked and was happy to help. She felt so happy each time they stopped to talk to her. It made the other kids in school notice her and that she knew the highly esteemed girls and sometimes walked with them.

Lorna soon got home from school, she felt a bit stressed but not too tired. It was 3.30pm in the afternoon.  She quickly made lunch for her siblings who were already at home before her. She was thankful her parents weren't home. Before arriving home, Lorna quickly went to the market after school to get the sandals her younger brother Jonathan and her needed for school. She was about to clean up after they ate when she noticed the frown on Jonathan's face. Lorna didn't bother to ask, she was already used to him being unhappy if he didn't get what he wanted so she pulled up her school bag underneath the dining table and brought out his sandals and gave it to him. The excitement on his face, Lorna couldn't explain as she watched in awe. Jonathan and Serah soon left the sitting room chattering happily over his new sandals after thanking her. She was happy he was happy.

 
Lorna thought to it was time to dispose the unwanted stuffs in her bag,
"Here, we go again" she said to herself when she saw the church flier in her bag. Lorna tried her best to avoid Sandra through out that day in school. She read the flier again out of frustration, something got her interested. There was music concert too. Lorna loved music. Music was the only thing that ever loved her, so she thought. It gave her some sort of peace and made her forget her troubles when she listened. She wondered what kind of music they actually were going to present. According to the flier there was refreshment. If not for the music, then the food. She decided to go.

Lorna took a quick shower, she wore a mini blue skirt that exposed a great part of her thigh with a long black top, she had opted for a crop top revealing her navel but thought church people would judge her She had other plans, who knows, she could meet her helper. Lorna tip toed into her mother's room, used her mother's brown powder and light pink lip gloss and ran out hoping no one would see her. She told her younger siblings she was going to collect a note from a classmate and will be back soon.

Lorna soon arrived the church. It was a bit far from her house. She sweated a bit and tried to pat her face at the entrance with her hands.
"Lorna!" Sandra screamed in excitement.
"I'm glad you came" she said.
Lorna was shocked and confused, she didn't realize Sandra was the Usher who stood in front of her, previously backing her, she wore a blue jean trouser and a white t -shirt.
"Hope you are good, come let me lead you to a sit" Sandra said excitedly and led the way into the church.
"Yes, thank you" Lorna responded. The only response she gave since her arrival. Lorna felt odd. The atmosphere was strange to her. She tried to pull down her skirt a bit as eyes were on her. Lorna was a bit surprised as they mostly smiled at or welcomed her. Sandra noticed her discomfort and squeezed her hands to reassure her.

Some people were singing on the podium, Lorna kept staring at the congregation. A lot of people were on their feet some just up and others jumping, some cried while some danced. She wondered why people would cry for just a song. She relaxed and watched.

A tall slender, light skinned man soon went up the pulpit. After a short prayer. He announced his topic.
"Love ( the manner of love)"
"My text is from....all the scriptures in the bible". The young man said and paused as if to get an expression from the congregation . All the people in the church marvelled at what he said. Some thought he was in sane to want to get the text from all part of the bible. Where was the time for that?

"Basically, the bible Is God's love letters to us. From Genesis to Revelation. God tells us everything he has done and will do because he loves us. The basis for God's action from the beginning is love. Have you ever thought of it that way? What manner of love! A lover reveals himself to his love, how he feels about his/her love, what he wants to do for him/her and that is what God has been doing, through his word. I thought of getting a text for today's message from a particular book or chapter of the bible but I just couldn't because i found it in every part i read. God's love is everywhere in the bible and evident in creation. In you and I. 

Lorna was interested but, nobody has ever really loved her. She felt the message wasn't for her. She felt undeserving and unworthy of any love. She has always felt that way since she was ten. People only looked at her twice if she had any thing to offer in return for their favour. She didn't feel she was beautiful. So why would someone love her. She felt she was too wayward. She felt responsible for breaking up her family. Her parents cursed at her everyday. She moved her chair back to stand up and leave but the noise the chair made drew attention to her so Lorna pretended to pick something from the floor and sat back. She didn't like attention.

"From the beginning, for God to take out that special time to create us in his IMAGE, what manner of love! And God said that what he made was good. We stare at our beautiful reflections and image through the mirror everyday and nod to ourselves because of how good we look. Then when God looks at you, can you imagine how much he nods in admiration? He sees himself in us! He loves what he sees, you are God's reflection and image, you are beautiful.

Nobody ever called Lorna beautiful. But hot or sexy was frequent. She felt so special after he said that. It got her interested. 

"If there is no mistake in God, then there is non in you. He is not a God of mistakes". The pastor said.

His last statement made Lorna cry. Her class supervisor once called her a mistake. Her mum did frequently. She wiped her tears because she didn't want to attract attention to herself.

"You are so loved and special that he had to make a special and  beautiful place for you before creating you to enjoy it, the earth.  He placed you in charge. Hence, you must possess the earth. He gave you plants for food, plants to admire, oceans to drink from and bath from. God would have made it that you wouldn't need to bath but still be clean but he knew the pleasure of having water run over your body and made it for you as well as other pleasures like food, you could just eat to grow without tasting but he made you able to taste it by creating those taste buds. What manner of love! 

Then came sin, he still loved despite that. His love was more than his chastening. The bible said he chastens the ones he loves. He wanted to put an end to sin and give you victory over it. To break that barrier holding you back from coming into and accepting the fullness of his love. What manner of love! So he sent his son Jesus to die for you. John 3 vs 16 says " For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life". 

Because he so...loved you and me. He sent his only son. His priceless son to pay the price he didn't owe. And his son came full of love from the father, in abundance he showed us an incomprehensible amount of that love by dying on the cross. How many would have borne the pain and trauma till the end? Jesus did it. For us all. You just need to believe in Jesus and be saved. That's how much he loves you. You are the righteousness of God through Christ. He did all the work on the cross for you. His blood cleanses you. His blood presents you purified and perfect before the father. What manner of love! Just come as you are to him. That is what he is telling you today. He would have just come into the world and probably be killed at infancy for us. But he did the work, he set the pace, he lived in the world full of sin but sin had no power over him and he showed us it could be that way with us. He didn't come to condemn but to save you. Jesus loves you. This is the strongest and most powerful love. You can't even classify it or fully understand why he loves you. But he loves you. Once God loves you, it doesn't matter who doesn't. God's love conquers!

The pastor did not do an altar call yet but Lorna found herself kneeling in front of the podium, she was in tears. She was happy Jesus loved her family and would make her family whole again. Lorna poured her heart to God knowing he loved and accepted her just the way she was. Lorna prayed for her family too.