Oma’s story begins with a wedding. It was the happiest day of his life, perhaps the most stressful, but of course, the joy outweighed the stress. They are bound by the love of life and journey for forever and the day it begins. She and her husband decided to take the time to love each other the best they could before introducing another human into the mix. But soon, he realizes that he needs another human to show his love and he tries without success. Thus began the journey of infertility.
Most brides, on their wedding day, get nervous at dawn and Oma is no exception. When she saw the wedding dress, “a lump was in her throat and she couldn’t swallow.” He called it “the last-minute chill” and briefly reflected on the decision he had made. You should not be presumptuous to conclude that this small bout of jitters foreshadows what is to come. As the story progresses, Oma remembers, during her marriage, the explicit statements of the prophets that consolidate the conclusion. To consider that the words he heard from one of the prophets, which “caused his heart to sink” made him question if his decision to marry Ikhide on his wedding day would not be far from the truth. A few months into her marriage, she received a phone call that afternoon and fueled her decision to finally “have a child walking around this place”, but unknown to her, her story would become more interesting.
The author highlights several conditions that some women face from adolescence to adulthood and dysmenorrhea is one of them. “Oma suffered from dysmenorrhea since childhood. When she gets her period, everyone around her will know because she will cry and can hardly stand or sit. Sometimes, they are injected with drugs to ease the pain or put to bed until the worst is over. It is not uncommon for women to purse their lips, grit their teeth and bite their tongues because of the pain during menstruation. It looks painful. It’s no surprise that labor pains compare. Oma deals with this every month and when she starts trying for the baby, this monthly pain becomes the enemy. He also found an enemy in his wife at some point. One of the things we just don’t talk about is the emotional rollercoaster fertility treatment puts women through. After each round of IVF fails, Oma is left to stew and burn with depression, which is understandable. But this caused a rift in their union.
Oma’s story depicts an individual’s journey on earth marked by the supernatural. Through her brief stint with womb massagers, fake nurses and pastors promising her babies and even going to lengths to give her pregnancy hormonal injections just to make her feel pregnant, God remains constant in her life. He experienced freedom from his “spirit wife”, fasted for days without water and prayed without ceasing. But the breakthrough eventually came in an unexpected form. He knows the fact that his fellowship with God directs his path and the thoughts he has for him are good thoughts and not bad ones to bring him to a satisfying end. Oma’s experience is a testimony and what a testimony does is revive people’s hope. If it can be true for Oma, it can be true for anyone else.
There are not too many lessons that can be taken from Oma’s story, but one of them can be found. There is no one way to be a parent. All the available options are the right way to lead godly children and Oma’s story makes this clear. Waiting on the Lord does not mean sitting and folding your hands while you wait. What it means is doing the work, prayerfully finding the best option to find and trusting God to do his part. Oma’s story is an example and shows how we can be intentional about our stories.