Bukunmi&Ifeoluwa

Bukunmi Baby,

We met in Church. Alex Oyebade had introduced us a couple of months earlier, but at the time, it was really nothing more than a simple introduction.

Fine boy me, I was just dey my dey. 😌

It was the usual “hey,” “hi,” and “hello” whenever we saw each other in Church. Nothing serious. Nothing that suggested that something as beautiful as this was about to begin.

Then came my birthday.

She sent me a birthday message, and somehow, that message sat there unreplied for an entire week. 😂

We eventually saw each other in Church the following Sunday, and I apologised for leaving her DM hanging. Of course, I couldn't just apologise normally. I had to tease her, asking why she hadn't seen me the previous week and didn't even ask after my health, especially since I had been a little under the weather.

Then, in my usual cheeky fashion, I asked her:

“Wa fun mi ni hug.”

And she did.

Little did I know that one hug was about to change everything.

After the hug, she came back and asked that we become friends. Apparently, she didn't just hug people who weren't really her friends. 😂

So, we shook hands and officially became friends.

And somehow, that beautiful friendship just… blossomed.

The weekly syncs became end-of-day catch-ups.

The end-of-day catch-ups became late-night phone calls.

And you know it was getting serious when goodnight prayers entered the mix. 😂

By this point, what started as a simple friendship had quietly become something much deeper for me. My intentions had moved from platonic to very romantic.

I was excited. I was scared. I knew this was something I wanted to pursue, but more importantly, I knew I wanted to pursue it with God.

So I took all my fears, excitement, hopes and intentions to God.

Locked in. Kpa! 🙏🏾❤️

Then, one Sunday morning, I asked her to be my girlfriend.

And she said Yes.

Just like that, what started with a missed birthday DM, a little teasing, one unexpected hug, and a simple friendship became the beginning of our journey together.

And that was the day the road to forever began. ❤️

If you had told me that a random Sunday after church would be the beginning of my love story, I probably would have laughed.

Because, honestly, when I first met Ife, there was absolutely nothing romantic about it.

It was a Sunday, and a mutual friend, Alex, introduced us during a friendly after-church conversation. And before you start thinking Alex was trying to play matchmaker, let me stop you right there. He wasn't. Trust me, I know this… but I can't tell you why. LOL.

At the time, Ife was simply someone I had been introduced to. Nothing more.

I do remember one thing, though: they couldn't pronounce my surname.

So, naturally, I had to intervene.

Actually, I shortened it for them.

“Don't come and be butchering my father's name abeg.” LOL.

And that was that.

Or so I thought.

Fast-forward about two Sundays.

Ife gave me a really nice compliment, and I smiled. Looking back now, there is one particularly funny detail: I had actually forgotten his name.

He, however, had remembered mine.

Interesting.

Then, probably about two weeks later, it was his birthday.

At RCCG The Shelter, we have A1 in Hospitality, so his picture was posted and everyone was congratulating him on the WhatsApp group.

Now, I have this thing where, if I know it's your birthday, I'll personally send you a birthday message in your DM, either before or after the general birthday wishes on the group.

So, innocent me did exactly that.

I sent him a birthday message.

And I didn't get a reply.

I genuinely didn't think anything of it at first. People get several messages on their birthdays.

(Honestly, this is me trying to be nice. It is bad character, in my opinion, when someone doesn't reply to your birthday message on time. It is bad character!! LOL.)

Then came the Sunday following his birthday.

It was our Annual Still Waters Conference, which, honestly, is usually such a beautiful weekend with God. If you're in Lagos, you really shouldn't miss it.

But back to the story.

Ife saw me in church that Sunday and said:

“Bukunmi, o rí mi, o bèrè mi.”

Ask your Yoruba friends to interpret that one. 😂😂😂

And I was just there like…

But I sent you a happy birthday message and you didn't reply

He tried to apologize and

Then came the next line:

“Wá f'ún mi ní hug.”

You know that big-brother kind of vibe, right?

Exactly. wink

Now, I don't just go around hugging random people. I really don't.

But we were outside church, and I didn't want my brother in Christ to feel bad… abiii.

Because, in all honesty, up until that day, he was still just “someone I knew who attended the same church as me.”

So I had no logical reason to hug him.

That was the voice in my head, anyway.

“Ha! Why did you hug him? Is he your friend? Ha! Hug? Be careful ooo, you don't even know him like that…” etc.

(The voices in my head sometimes.)

LOL.

Exhibit One of an overthinker.

So, to silence the voice in my head, I went into church.

Ife was on the altar, doing the usual after-service shenanigans. He's actually a badass keyboardist, by the way, so he was probably about to play or practise with the band.

I walked up to him and said:

“Do you want to be friends?”

Because, to me, that was the only way the hug would make sense.

I didn't tell him that, though.

Instead, I said:

“Do you want to be friends, so I can have an excuse to be checking on you, so you don't get to be saying, ‘You didn't check on me’ and stuff.”

I'm not even sure he remembers that conversation.

But I remember it.

Very clearly.

Because it happened.

And I won't let him rewrite history. LOL.

He said yes.

So I stretched out my hand.

We shook hands.

And just like that, we became friends.

Then really good friends.

And somewhere along the way, the friendship became something much more.

The person who was once just “someone I knew from church” became someone I genuinely wanted to know, someone I looked forward to seeing, someone I wanted to talk to, and eventually, someone I couldn't imagine my life without.

And now, that same person is about to become my husband.

My favourite person.

For life.

Am I excited?

Hehehehe…

Like MAD. 😂🤍