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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Ruth Yimika Afolabi

Good Morning,

Marriage is a beautiful gift. The blessing to walk the journey of life with a partner, in a covenant relationship is one I don’t take for granted. However, all too often, society can position marriage as a relationship which completes us. In my opinion, no person - but God - has the power to bring us ultimate fulfillment.

We can also be wrongly told that if we’re single, our lives are on hold. I love being married but I also look back fondly on my years of being single. Those years gave me a chance to discover who I was, what I was passionate about and what I was called to do. It meant that when I did meet my husband, I came into it with a strong sense of identity which served a strong foundation for a lifelong relationship.

I know making a life decision as monumental as marriage can be daunting - and that’s where I’m so grateful for my faith. Through my relationship with God and speaking to Him in prayer, I felt a sense of peace from day one of my relationship with my husband. I had confirmation of a prayer I prayed saying ‘God I don’t want any more false starts’.

My husband was my first - and last - boyfriend, and we met when we were 26. Our first conversation was over two hours and was about purpose, identity and calling - quite deep for a first conversation! I felt a sense of peace and of being at home when we met. We realised that we were aligned in our faith, values and lens through which we saw the world. Day to day, praying together, having a conviction that God brought us together and remembering we’re on the same team and that God can help us through when facing challenges is fundamental to our marriage.

Whether you are single, in a relationship or married, I pray that you are able to find joy and purpose in every stage and circumstance.