Ready to Be Loved by You by Enewerome

Chapter One: Levi

Waves of excitement and nervousness washed over Levi as he got out of bed. Waking up before his alarm could ring at 5 A.M. was no surprise because today was unlike any other Saturday where he worked as an event coordinator with his boss, Ms. Preye. It was the day he would show her how capable he was of pulling off the perfect wedding ceremony and reception for an expat bride and her husband and that he deserved more opportunities like this. This was his first shot at overseeing the entire planning and coordination of such a high-profile wedding, something his boss had never done since he started working for her.

Levi loved every aspect of his job. Right from the discovery call with the clients to mapping out their vision for their events, sourcing for vendors, and getting the best deals, to seeing the entire vision come to life and receiving feedback from his clients.

However, what he looked forward to most was the wedding ceremonies and receptions where he could watch the couple looking so in love with each other.

Every time he helped couples plan and organize their wedding ceremonies, seeing how happy they were on their big day fueled his desire for love and a happy marriage even more.

He walked into the bathroom whistling the popular "Blessed Assurance" hymn, catching a glimpse of his crucifix necklace in the mirror as it bounced off light. Singing was something he did to calm his nerves, and right now, they were all over the place. He had about an hour to leave the house so he could get to the church by 8 A.M., at the latest. That would give him ample time to make sure everything was in the right order.

As usual, he had to spend some time praying and studying his Bible before leaving the house, so he took a quick shower and dressed in a white button-down t-shirt, leaving the top button undone so his crucifix necklace showed. Midnight blue was one of the wedding colors, but since he didn't have pants in that color, he wore his navy blue ones.

He went to his prayer corner and opened his devotional. The topic for the day was dealing with anxiety, which was something he had been battling with ever since his cousin, Joshua, passed away four years ago. The anchor Scripture for the day was Philippians 4:6.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

After his cousin's death, Levi went to therapy for a year to help with his anxiety and panic at-tacks. Coupled with prayers and affirmations from Scripture, his condition significantly improved and the panic attacks stopped. Still, he had to deal with having constant knots in his stomach whenever he felt tense about anything-today was no exception.

Levi's mind drifted to the wedding, and he was about to reach for his iPad to check his To-Do list when he caught himself. This was his devotion time, and God deserved his full attention.

He read through the devotional one more time and highlighted the key areas he needed to work on, one of which was learning to stop the need to control everything even though being a perfectionist didn't help matters. If he was being honest, he didn't like living with the feeling that something could go wrong at any time. What was funny was that a majority of the time, his worries were unfounded. Even though he had been working on learning to make peace with things not going as planned or people not doing things exactly the way he would have wanted, today's devotional was the perfect reminder and encouragement for him to allow God to take the lead. Levi looked at his wristwatch and saw that he had forty minutes left of his devotion time. He would use this remaining time to pray about his anxiety and commit the day's job to God's hands.

"Heavenly Father, thank you for today. I thank you for my life, for sending your son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins so I can have this beautiful, growing relationship with you. My Father, I thank you because you are concerned about even the minutest detail of my life. Thank you for helping me overcome this spirit of anxiety over the years." He paused and then continued.

"I know that you have healed me of this spirit that threatens to steal the joy and peace you have lavishly given to me. I decree in the name of Jesus that I am no longer anxious for anything, regardless of the situation. Therefore, I commit my day and this job to your hands, Lord. I ask that you guide my path and help me do my job excellently from a place of rest, Lord. Let my performance at work and my behavior toward everyone I meet today bring glory to your name. Thank you, glorious Daddy, for answering my prayers in Jesus's name."

He prayed in tongues for a few minutes and felt the peace of God wash over him. All he had to do now was remain conscious of God's peace in his heart to fight against anxiety. As Levi walked out of his house, he made a mental note not to allow any situation or anyone to rob him of his peace. While he fished for his car keys in his pocket, the smell of rain hit his nostrils and his heart skipped a beat. He looked up at the marble mix of dark and light clouds in the sky and couldn't tell if it was going to rain or not. Subconsciously, he clutched the crucifix pendant on his necklace and prayed.

"Lord, please, let it not rain. Please! I can't afford for anything to go wrong today." Trust in me with all your heart…

Proverbs 3:5 popped up in his heart, and he let go of the crucifix pendant, knowing God had his best interest at heart. The first thing Levi did when he got into his car was to turn on the radio. If he wanted to maintain his peace, he had to ensure the atmosphere around him was right. Much to his surprise, a crude song blasted out of the speakers and he hurriedly lowered the volume.

"Just imagine the nonsense they are playing this early morning."

Levi sighed and started his car to warm up the engine. He scrolled through his phone to search for a worship song. He needed a song that would fill him with hope and the expectation of God's goodness. So, he played the latest addition to his worship playlist, "Fear is Not My Future" by Chandler Moore, Brandon Lake, Kirk Franklin, and Maverick City Music, which was becoming his favorite song.

He drove out of his compound with the music on full blast, and each time the song got to the chorus, he would sing loudly and sway his head.

It was just 6:30 A.M. and the roads were already busy with pedestrians and vehicles of all sorts. There were people already hawking their wares along what was left of the road motorcycle and tricycle drivers hadn't bullied pedestrians for.

The frequent cacophony of car horns blasting into the chilly air made Levi wonder how he survived this madness daily. He would often joke that any Christian living in Lagos needed a double dose of the fruit of the Holy Spirit to live a sanctified life.

Levi stopped in front of a red traffic light with other vehicles and watched as the countdown began.

As soon as the red light turned yellow, vehicles started revving up their engines. One truck in particular emitted so much carbon monoxide that Levi could still smell it in his wound-up air-conditioned car. Some drivers even attempted to move forward with whatever little space they could maneuver their vehicles into. This made them honk persistently at those who refused to make room for them.

Soon, they had about thirty seconds more to wait until the yellow traffic light turned green. In the middle of the chaos going on, Levi lifted his right hand in worship and sang the chorus loudly again.

"Hello, peace; hello, joy; hello, love; hello, strength; hello, hope. It's a new horizon (fear is not my future)!"

When the timer got to five seconds, he put his hand down and got ready to move. The light turned green and all the drivers charged forward, each one trying to overtake the other. Levi was about to move when a tricycle cut in front of him and he stepped on his brakes abruptly.

Is this man crazy or something?

He wound down his window and honked loudly, intending to give the crazy driver a piece of his mind if he looked back.

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