THE WIDOW'S DIARY (PART 2)

 Hello! 

I think I'm much better now to continue sharing, thanks for your patience! 

The day my husband passed on to glory, I felt my whole world collapsed. 

That was the beginning of poverty, Hmmn... I thought I knew what poverty was when my late husband was alive but I was wrong. 

After his death, My children and I saw the height, length, depth, color, In fact, We could recognize the ugly face of poverty even from a distance! 

There were times, We would starve because there was no food at home and even when there was "food", It was usually bread and we would have to divide one loaf of bread for everyone to eat and drink water. This greatly affected my health and that of my children. 

Not just that, We had to move to a smaller apartment, Actually, It was not even close to being called an apartment, it was made of dry leaves, Carton, Nylon and Palm Fronds. 

To crown it all, It was a mini zoo, because all manner of Cockroaches, Rats, Mosquitoes, Flies e.t.c lived with us! 

Whenever it rained, We dared not sleep, We would line up buckets in the middle of the room because, when the buckets became full they would run over and spill all over the room. 

As if that was not enough for us, My late husband left a huge debt for us as his inheritance. We inherited his huge debts and the debtors would barge into our room frequently to demand for their money. 

I would go down on my knees and plead for mercy, 

I would literally weep at their feet, I often felt like the woman in the Bible who washed Jesus' feet with the alabaster box, the only difference was that I didn't have an alabaster box, all I had was my tears and the feet of my debtors to wash with my tears. 

A memory that would forever linger in my heart was the day the debtors came into our room, and as usual, I fell at their feet weeping and pleading for mercy. 

But that day, their cup was full, they were so furious that they started throwing out our things. 

My children stood aside crying and watching the whole drama. 

When I realized that there was nothing I could do to stop them, I sat down on the floor and wept like a baby, my children came around me to comfort me, they hugged and begged me to stop weeping. 

"All would be well" They tried to reassure me 

"When? How? When exactly would God send help to us?" I raised my teary face at them to ask . 

Just then, one of the debtors came up to me, grabbed my blouse violently and started caressing me, I started screaming for help, the man scorned me and warned that the next time they come, they would not only throw out our things but burn down our" good-for- nothing-house" (that was how he described our house) 

Just then, two of my sons stood up to face him, I tried to deter them from confronting the debtors, I didn't want them getting involved in it but it was already too late. 

The debtors surrounded them and started to beat them, to a pulp, I used all the strength within me to beg them to stop, that they should rather hit me and not my children, I lost my voice that day whilst screaming and shouting for mercy. 

All my pleas fell on deaf ears, When they had given them a good beating, they turned to me and gave another warning that the next time they come, not only would they burn our "good-for-nothing" house like they had said but, they would take away my sons and turn them to their house helps (In other words, slaves) in their respective homes till they have exhausted the debts that my late husband owed them and they barged out of the house. 

At that point, I could no longer weep again, I had exhausted all my tears, I crawled to my sons and embraced them. 

"I'm… I'm so sorry" was all I could mutter to my children who were now with red eyes, swollen cheeks, broken lips, teeth. 

Honestly, I was so angry at God. 

Why would He let us suffer this way? 

My late husband worked his whole life to serve and please Him . 

My husband would pray for the prosperity of others and God would answer but when it came to answering the prayers of our family, He became mute and silent. 

I was fed up! 

If you were in my shoes, how would you feel towards God? 

To be continued... 

The Widow