It’s that moment when you say to yourself “Did you make the right decision?”
It’s that moment when you’re so close to your dreams that it becomes reality.
It’s that moment when you know that you have arrived.
That moment is called success and today I believe that I achieved some degree of it. #ProjectB coming soon. I can’t wait to tell the world about it.
#takemyfoolishadvice seize the moment!
Beloved,
AWalk
Eyes fixed forward. Hands embraced in one another’s he revealed, “I have seen you every week for the past eight months. You’re a great mother and you give your son and everyone around you great love. I have also seen that you have no one to love you.” I felt completely naked as I sat fully clothed.
He continued, “I have a lot of love to give but I’ve been hurt enough. I de
cided to give up. I thought maybe I am really not the man I thought I was. Then I decided to come to this church one day. I didn’t know what I was looking for but somehow some way this church found me broken, disgusted with myself and my situation. I’m an architect and I cannot for the life of me, rebuild my own life. I was completely hopeless and beyond repair and I just didn’t care anymore.” He snickered, “I know the saints of this church probably think that I’m sleeping every week. But really as the weeks pressed on I had to keep my eyes shut just to take it all in. My eyes could not experience the video of my life as it unfolded before me sermon after sermon. Every week that I came I find more and more of me right here in these pews.”
He became silent as if contemplating to say more or simply get up and walk away. Instead he turned to me and said humbly, “I believed everything the pastor said today. I also believe everything God has told me in his Word. And now I know that I deserve love from a wife and a family and I want it. I need it.” I turned and looked him in his brown eyes, searching for where this was all coming from. Searching for the “Ah hah… Got cha!” hidden in the stress lines around his mouth. I was puzzled to say the least. Why had this stranger decided to be so transparent with me? Light bulb moment, could he had overheard my prayer?
Like a recording, every word I had uttered in prayer replayed verbatim.
“Our Father who art in Heaven, hollowed be thy name…. Dear Lord, I praise you for bring me two loving parents that saw fit to rare me in a loving 37 year marriage. You have blessed me. You have taught me how to love my child unconditionally with my hands, my mouth, my heart, my entire being. Never before have I ever experienced such a humanistic and unwarranted type of love. Lord please teach me how to love myself in the same manner. Teach me to love myself enough to forgive myself for having Sarid out of wedlock. Forgive me for not thinking so much of him to opt for a family first. Lord I have cheated him out of the blessing you had given me. If it is your will please send me a man that I might be able to give Sarid a family, a father that loves him, a man to teach him, a mentor to guide him. And Lord, if it’s not too selfish please send someone that loves you more than life itself. Because then I’ll know he’ll love and care for us without limits. I thank you for grace that allows me to petition your throne. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling. Amen.”
Like an outer body experience I watched myself quietly and timidly say to him, “I want and deserve to be loved. I know I’m a 30 year old single mother but I want a husband, one that comes home and laughs with his family and looks forward to pizza nights and picnics. I want a man that’s not going to leave me or fold when life decides to be difficult. I want a man that going to be true in every sense of the word. I don’t want someone to make me feel dumb or ugly.” My speech became rapid and intense. “I don’t need a lack luster type of love. I need passion, desire, blazing fire on a winter camping trip type of love. I have so much love to give and I just need a chance.” Unsuspected I divulged my deepest hidden desires and began inserting him in what I wanted. “I want to feel like you will never leave me and when I hug you I want to melt with each exhale. I want you to keep our family safe and together. You are the one…” I grabbed my mouth when I realized the gravity of what I’d just done. My eyes became glossy but I tried hard not to cry. Pure emotion had taken over me. Just when I was about to retract all that I had said and shamefully apologize I heard music in the form of words.
“I love you and I will love our family until the end of time faithfully, whole heatedly, and without conditions. I. Love. You.” Maximus who had listened to every word I had expressed continued and said, “I promise to love you and OUR family. I will keep you safe and hold all of your secrets.” After each word he held my hand tighter and tighter. “It is my duty and honor to make you feel beautiful and worthy of all of my time, thoughts, and affections. My joy will be in seeing and making our family happy and prosperous. I promise to love you with everything that I got inside me and more.”
My whole body was shaky but for the first time in my life I felt completely transparent but confident and cherished, with a stranger. When I had glanced down at our hands that had been joined together for the past hour, it dawned on me that this had been the most emotionally revealing and honest conversation that I have ever had with a man in my life. And this was the immediate answer to my prayers.
“I don’t want to waste time with dating, pretending and creating a persona to impress you. I want you to know now, right now, that this is me and everything I am and aspire to be. I’m picking you and our family. Do you want me to love you? Will you love me?” Maximus words had penetrated layers of me that I didn’t even know existed. My heart was beating rapidly, my palms sweaty. With conviction I told Maximus, “I will love you and I want us to be a family.” Maximus held his son in one arm and embraced me and my son in the other. Our embrace was the most obsessive and loving thing I had ever experienced.
I am hot. My arms and face are burning and I feel water on my face. I drift back into reality and the Caribbean sun is pelting beams of sunshine on my skin. I adjust my seat to find my mother sitting among the other ladies looking cold and stern. In the midst of all the excitement I couldn’t understand why her demeanor wasn’t one of long awaited overwhelming joy. Her last born child is about to be married. Trying to stay positive in thought, I reconciled that she might have just been jet lagged. I reach for her hand with a loving smile and she clenches my hand seriously hard. She is trembling and her bugged eyes are steering at me. As fast as she took a hold of me is as fast as she let me go and turns her attention out the window to the scenery. I nervously look to my sisters for an explanation. They are oblivious to this brief and weird interaction. Soon the ladies become excited once again and demand my attention above the sunroof of the SUV, we have arrived at the resort, and it is breath taking!
We are greeted by topless chiseled chest men dressed in white linen pants singing the melody of Jagged Edges “Let’s Get Married”. An older gentlemen walks down the pathway they have created and takes me by the hand. My name is Mr. Webster, the owner and operator of Utopia Luxury Resort, welcome to paradise.
“Ohhh girl did you hear that Caribbean accent. You might not be the only one getting married this weekend,” yells April from the back. “You get a green card, you get a green card, and you and you and you, she screams pointing at each topless man.”
The first thing I see when I enter is the double marble staircase. It looks even more royal and elegant then in the pictures. I could hear the “ooohhs” and “ahhs” of my girlfriends, I know they are impressed. Mr. Webster gives us the grand tour. The amenities are endless, a lavish spa facility, fully equip gym, Olympic size salt water pool, a palm covered pathway that lead to a private beach and a 80 ft. yacht is sitting on the water at our disposal. I was speechless. Inside, an elevator takes us to the second floor to the living accommodations. I am instantly in love with the gigantic 2,000 sq. feet four bedroom suite for the bridesmaids, the wood floors are exquisite. All of the small manicured details stand out to me. Mr. Webster concludes the tour with the honeymoon suite. I am already overly impressed; I don’t think there could be anything more stunning then what I have seen.
Mr. Webster places his hands on the door knobs and pause. “Before I open this door I want to tell you a little story first. I was at an airport in Chicago when my flight back to Barbados was delayed for three hours. I was very tired and in fact a little under the weather. I guess the gentlemen next to me noticed so he offered me some water and moved the chairs around so I could elevate my legs. He even went as far as to fetch my medication out of my luggage and phone my wife to let her know my status every hour on the hour. I asked him if he was a doctor or nurse because the care he gave me was so exceptional. When he told me he was an architect I could not believe it. The way he paid attention to my symptoms I determined that this man had a natural knack for details.
After waiting four hours it was determined that the flight would be delayed until the morning. Now, I was in Chicago on business so I had no family or friends to take care of me. Before I could motion to the gate attendant for assistance, this gentlemen offered to put me up for the night at his home. He rationalized that I should not be left alone just in case my condition deteriorated. And if I was feeling better we could both make our way back to the airport in the morning.
I was impressed with his level of compassion for a mere stranger and agreed to stay the night at his residence. He appeared fairly well dressed and groomed so I imagined the accommodations would be suitable. When we arrived to his home I was blown away with how magnificently crafted it was. I spent the whole night eyeing every curve, every line, the modern feel messed with contemporary flair and I loved it all. I decided that night I wanted this man to build my resort. I felt better by morning and during the flight explained my vision of Utopia to him. He was equally excited about the idea and happily accepted my proposal. He began working two weeks later. It took a year and three months for him to erect my dream of Utopia on Earth. When he was done I told him that I wish I had a daughter that I could offer him just so he could get married in a place that he so beautifully created.”
We all laugh, I thought it was a great story and I am excited to see my bridal suite. I am a hopeless romantic so I love a place with a little history Mr. Webster. “Is that right,” he said. Mr. Webster opens the doors and we all walk in. The bridal suite is even larger than the bridesmaid suite. The actual bedroom even has its own French door entrance.
Mr. Webster finishes his story, “As time went on I began to love this man as my own son. When the building was complete he promised me he would marry his wife in this resort, the first resort he had ever built.”
He allows me to open the bedroom doors. I look to him as I open the doors and ask “Did he ever make good on his word? The doors open and reveal Maximus sitting on the bed with a single red rose in his hand. I grab my face and begin to cry.
In his sweet Caribbean accent Mr. Webster whispers, Maximus was the architect.
*******
This is the second installment from my first short story entitled “I Called the Wedding OFF!” I’m excited to hear your feedback. #takemyfoolishadvice subscribe and share this story with a friend. Trust me you do not want to miss what happens in part 3.
Beloved,
AWalk
Related Articles:
“I Called the Wedding OFF!” Pt. 1 at (www.takemyfoolishadvice.com)
Last month the readership response to the Harriett’s, the amazing husband and wife duo that gave up their life in the United States to become missionaries in Africa, was amazing and you guys demanded more.
This month’s feature focuses on someone who is just as amazing. He’s smart, courageous, and his wife will describe him as “the most handsome husband, dad, and solider in uniform”. Meet Sergeant First Class Wavell Williams Jr, US Army, 25B Information Systems Operator.
Before he had these honorable and distinguished titles before his name, I knew him as plain ole Wave. Too as far back as I can remember he always had a thrill seeking nature about him and never backed down to a challenge. Oldest brother to three naturally he is protective. When he had decided to enlist in the United States Army in 2000 my first thought was, the Army isn’t ready for Wave! After his first year he returned home and paid me a visit at my parents’ house. We sat on the porch and he described basic training, the camaraderie amongst fellow soldiers and the differences between army life and civilian life. The boy that I had once known transformed into a mature adult with priorities strictly aligned to meet clear and obtainable goals. It was apparent to me then that he was maturing into a man, a man of God, a man of character and virtue. He even had a little mustache to prove it. LOL.
After serving 4 tours in Iraq, Wave, age 30, has seen the best and worst of what people can do to each other. Through it all his personal relationship with God has allowed him to endure and see the silver linings of life. Still jumping out of the back of planes and protecting our freedom he now has made it his personal mission to share his love of aviation with family and friends. And what better way to do it then giving them the first-hand experience of a life time, having them ride co-pilot.
Climb aboard for my exciting interview with Sergeant First Class Wavell Williams Jr.
What is your first love? real love – a woman…LMS (let me stop), the “other” love – aviation
Well I would hope your first love is a real woman. I’ve seen a few episodes of My Strange Addition. We share a laugh like old times as we reflect on some of the craziest episodes we’ve seen but then we’re focused again. So how will you use your love for aviation to change the way people view the world in 2012? By taking as many people, especially minorities, on a plane ride as soon and as much as possible. Hopefully inspiring them to begin a career in aviation. I got the chance to take my parents in flight with me. Both of them got a chance to feel my excitement for flying. I take many friends flying as often as I can and that usually changes their position on aviation.
My son has always had a fascination with planes. He’s 7 years old but he knows that he wants to build them one day. He was really excited to see your pictures.
I’m almost scared to ask but, what is the craziest thing you have ever done? Jumped out of a C-130 with 20 knot gusting winds in Iraq and landing on a near-concrete ground. Made for a great story. At that point, I had been a Paratrooper for 10 years and it was my 50th jump. It was also the fastest drop to the hardest, most complicated landing I’ve ever had. Ever.
You’re right that does make for a great story. President Obama has brought most of the troop’s home but the US economy is still in a slow moving downward slump. What opportunities, in your occupation, exist for other African Americans between 21-40 years old? NUMEROUS. The military is a melting pot of culture and races. One can come off the street and be trained to be part of a unit and then receive specialized training on a multitude of career fields. Many of the skills and trades taught in the Army can be transferred to civilian careers. Even though a lot of our men and women have been brought home, protecting our freedom is a job that will never end.
Everyone knows that a man in uniform doesn’t stand alone. There are family and friends awaiting your return. Thankfully your parents are still with us and you have two younger brothers. In addition, you’ve been married for 3 years; have 2 year old twins and a daughter on the way right now. Congratulations on the little ones! How does your work affect your spouse and family dynamics? It has a lasting effect every day. Sometimes with this career, you are called away suddenly to serve a purpose higher than your own. As a result you will miss anniversaries, birthdays, Christmases, New Years, birth of your children, weddings of your friends and a host of other things. It sucks, but at the end of the day when it’s all done and you’re coming home, I can usually say, it’s okay. For some reason, a decision was made and we must execute that decision. The family, while they may not always like it, is supportive.
Marriage, twins, baby on the way, husband that jumps out of planes defending our freedom for a living. Your wife is amazing; I can only imagine the juggling act she puts on every day to keep everything balanced. Sarcastically, with one eye brow raised high. So Wave, tell me, what amazing things have you done with and in your life thus far? Laughter takes over. Your wife is here just … you know… giving birth… two twins and another one on the way. We laugh and then I allow him to answer. I’ve been the recipient of the highest achievement in life. Being a dad. Yes, I’ve got two boys and a girl on the way with an amazing wife that I adore that manages to do it all when duty calls. A distant second is earning a pilots certificate with an instrument rating and a complex/ high performance aircraft endorsement. Third would be learning to play the piano and learning how to teach music. That was pretty fun. But yes, my wife is amazing and what she does for our family is undeniable short of a miracle.
That is wonderful, hats off to good wives and good mothers. There are three questions that I like to ask everyone I interview, especially those that have had the opportunity to see the world.
What is your advice to other young adults that want to travel? Go to your local airport. Tell them you want to learn to fly. EARN your private pilot certificate and instrument rating. Travel wherever you want to go. See the world from the pilot’s chair, blog about it and take NUMEROUS pictures.
Great advice! I’m praying that my son designs a spectacular aircraft that he can pick me up in. What should more 21-35 year olds be doing that they’re not? Saving for retirement. A lot of times I see my Soldiers with the latest car or clothing. I remember when I was that misguided. When I ask them of the future, they usually refer to the 50 meter (immediate) target and forget about the 300-meter target. The thing is, many times, it’s the 300-meter target that will take you out before the 50-meter even touches you. Moral of the story, plan for the future or you and your work will soon be reciting marital vows – til death do you part.
I’ve discussed financial topics often on the blog. I hope my readers really take your message to heart and #takemyfoolishadvice when it comes to budgeting and planned spending. What is a charity or cause you will support or continue to support in 2012? ADRA – Adventist Development and Relief Agency. I’ve been supporting them through the CFC – Combined Federal Campaign for years. They are one of the first relief organizations on ground during a disaster, so I support it.
Sergeant First Class Wavell Williams Jr. and dear friend, thank you for taking the time to allow us into your world. God’s grace has kept you well. I pray God’s continuous favor on you and your family. TMFA readers this will not be the last time we hear from the Sergeant, I will be sure to drop in with a picture of the that beautiful bouncing baby.
UPDATE: I was just informed that little Ms. Arieonna Elizabeth was born on February 26th 2012 at 6lbs 11 oz. 18 inches long. Both mother and baby are doing well. Congratualtions again to the Willimas’ family.
#takemyfoolishadvice you’re never too young to be an instrumental difference in your own life or the lives of others. It doesn’t take a special person to be called to defend the honor and virtue of millions. God used David to defeat Goliath. Decide today to use your life to do something amazing. Listen for your God given purpose and when you hear it, be sure to come back and share it with us in the comment section below.
Beloved,
AWalk
Related Articles
To kick off the new “Featured” series on takemyfoolishadvice I turned to two amazing young professionals that have an even more amazing story to tell. Meet one of my favorite young, black and married couple; Andre and Coline Harriott. These two brought the fairytale, boy meets girl… girl falls in love with boy… boy marries girl, to life. Andre and Coline met on the campus of Florida International University when they decided to pledge the brother and sister organization Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.
At first Coline’s rough exterior kept Andre at bay. Back then as a college sophomore I encouraged Andre to #takemyfoolishadvice and snitched on everything I knew about Coline. I knew Coline was really intrigued by Andre and once she let her fully equipped military covert operations special forces guard down, she wouldn’t regret giving him a chance. Once the cat was out, Coline was caught up in love. The two married in beautiful Miami in June 2008. On their honeymoon to the captivating country of Ethiopia Andre and Coline were in enthralled with an experience of a lifetime and felt a vibrant connection to the land, its people, and a mission.
The happy couple on their wedding day.
Meet Andre & Coline Harriott
February 2012
