Can Two Walk Together? The Beginning

By Garikai Katsere

I can never forget one thing I said when I was in high school. My mom and I were watching the news and I was so frightened and impacted by the portrayal of Africa to the point where I blurted out, "that is one place I will never visit". As I think back to that day, it brings a smile to my face, because I have been to Africa and I grew to love and care for Africa, so much that I miss living there. This brings to memory a bible verse, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there? Nathanael asked." Likewise I asked, "Africa can anything good come out of there?"

My answer is a resounding yes; my husband is a testimony that something good can come out of Africa. God has blessed me with a wonderful husband who has helped me to grow, specifically in my spiritual life. There has been times when I was rebuked by him but I have learnt that he does it out of love and also for me to continue growing. If I tell you that life has been a bed of roses, that would be a blatant lie; we have had trying times but because of love and with God's help, what could be stumbling blocks are turned into stepping stones. We are about to reach 5 years of marriage and it seems like just yesterday. Our lives have intertwined, we are neither Africans nor Americans something new has come to life a splendid mixture of both cultures.

This book tells how two persons from different continents with very different cultures, can successfully become one in marriage. You will read about our courtship and the difficulties we experienced before our families gave us their blessings for marriage. For those of you who are thinking about getting into a relationship, this book gives information on how God guided the author through prayer and counseling
from pastors to find his soul mate. No matter what your age, go ahead and read of how God guides his children even when it seems like He's taking you down an impossible path.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Garikai Katsere
• Release date: Dec 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310117503

Garikai Katsere

I was born on the 31st of January 1982 and a third child in family of four. Graduated as Geological Engineer in 2007 and have worked in mining industry since then. Married to the most amazing beautiful woman Monique and I have 2 children- Princess Vanessa and the Knight of the house-Paul.My passion is to help young people not to take the wrong turn based on my experiences as a youngster. There is a growing need to have young people inducted in the right way so that they don't carry burdens, hurt, disgust in their lives as they grow into older beings.

Book preview

Can Two Walk Together?

The Beginning

Copyright

Copyright © 2015 by Garikai Katsere

All rights reserved. 

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

ISBN: 978-0-7974-6618-0

Can Two Walk Together? The Beginning

Cover and book design by: Lazarous Safarao

Published by: gmkatserebooks

: [e-mail]

: garikaimoniquekatsere

: garikai.katsere

Dedication

Five years of marriage to a beautiful wife, Monique Katsere

To my lovely princess, Vanessa and the prince of the house, Paul.

You have becoming my breathing ground and I leave you with this legacy.

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to give thanks to the Almighty God for making my life unique and for giving me the most prudent wife I could have ever imagined.

I thank my wife Monique who has become my heart beat and has been on my side through thick and thin.

I would also like to acknowledge my now deceased father, Alexander Katsere for the encouragement he gave me from the beginning of my relationship and my deceased brother Rufaro Katsere who loved Monique to the core, my mother and my mother in law for being on our side at all times.

My gratitude also goes to Bishop Prof. Manjoro and Mother General Dr A.C Manjoro for the unwavering love for this marriage

Reverend Faithful Mutibvu has been a pillar of support in this relationship.

My pastors Overseer and Amai Shanobi who are always are concerned about our well being even when we are not in Zimbabwe.

Chananda, I owe you a lot for the love you have shown to Monique.

Lastly I would like to thank Pastors Humberto, Mirvelyis Dallan and Irelis for the prayers and love they showed us whilst we were in Cuba. We are forever indebted to them.

Foreword

I can never forget one thing I said when I was in high school. My mom and I were watching the news and I was so frightened and impacted by the portrayal of Africa to the point where I blurted out, that is one place I will never visit. As I think back to that day, it brings a smile to my face, because I have been to Africa and I grew to love and care for Africa, so much that I miss living there. This brings to memory a bible verse, Nazareth! Can anything good come from there? Nathanael asked. Likewise I asked, Africa can anything good come out of there?

My answer is a resounding yes; my husband is a testimony that something good can come out of Africa. God has blessed me with a wonderful husband who has helped me to grow, specifically in my spiritual life. There has been times when I was rebuked by him but I have learnt that he does it out of love and also for me to continue growing. If I tell you that life has been a bed of roses, that would be a blatant lie; we have had trying times but because of love and with God's help, what could be stumbling blocks are turned into stepping stones. We are about to reach 5 years of marriage and it seems like just yesterday. Our lives have intertwined, we are neither Africans nor Americans something new has come to life a splendid mixture of both cultures.

This book tells how two persons from different continents with very different cultures, can successfully become one in marriage. You will read about our courtship and the difficulties we experienced before our families gave us their blessings for marriage. For those of you who are thinking about getting into a relationship, this book gives information on how God guided the author through prayer and counseling

from pastors to find his soul mate. No matter what your age, go ahead and read of how God guides his children even when it seems like He's taking you down an impossible path.

Monique V. Katsere (Eng)

Table of Contents

Introduction ………………………………………………….1

Prayer………………………………………………………...3

Time ………………………………………………………….4

Trusting in the Lord…………………………………………..8

Discernment …………………………………………………10

Confirmation ………………………………………………...14

Doubt………………………………………………………...24

Preparation…………………………………………………...27

The Beginning ……………………………………………….35

Talk…………………………………………………………..37

Third Cord …………………………………………………..44

I am sorry…………………………………………………….49

Testimonies…………………………………………………..53

Acceptance…………………………………………………...56

Mentorship…………………………………………………...58

Conclusion……………………………………………………60

Introduction

The bible starts with a very astounding verse: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Of course it could have started with all kinds of clichés but it began with in the beginning… For our human minds, all beginnings are difficult to handle. Take it in the physical or the natural. Many have tried to lose weight, even going to the extremes of trying all sorts of remedies but to no avail as they get frustrated even before they start; for to begin is a tall order. I would even want to get into God’s shoes for a moment and go into the supernatural. This is my own imagination. He could have said why create the earth when these people at one time will sin against me. It should have been hard but of course He is a loving God and He did it for us anyway.

It’s only natural when beginning something new - relationship/courtship/dating – to desire instant maturity. But where does everything begin? This is a question I always asked myself. Being a Christian, my desire was to have a God fearing wife. This thought would frighten me because I would say to myself I have never really gone out (dated) with someone in my life. I had tried some few relationships when I was at school but this was because everyone was getting a girlfriend I guess. For records sake never got to be with one! As Christians, be it a young man or woman; the desire of a God fearing spouse is very paramount. But the question still arises: where does everything begin?

I have chosen to write this book with its title: Can two walk together? and not maybe steps to courtship or how to be in a relationship etc. As you peruse through this book, you will notice that it was written on the basis of what I experienced during my courtship, so this may also serve you as a guideline. The intention of this book is to provide a guideline to situations that arise before and during courtship. This has been a difficult title to choose but when I just saw Amos 3:3 it rang cymbals and bells because the issue of relationships is two sided and we will learn later that there is a need for a third element in our relationships.

The question still remains: But where does everything begin? Do I go flirting around? Do I go the dating route? Do I buy flowers to impress that special lady? Where does it really begin? As I stated earlier, this book is based on my personal experience so I will endeavour to relate to you How it began for me.

I was privileged to start going to church at an early age and taught basic bible principles. Growing up, one experiences different things as a teenager, experimenting with this and that. It was not until I reached A’ level when I was really taught about marriage principles. We were taught about the nitty-gritty’s of parenthood, being a good spouse and living in a family life. The sad thing though was no one talked about the before of the marriage. I would have my ears completely open hoping to hear something about courtship. The only issue that was discussed was: no sex before marriage. Guess it was so controversial and confusing to discuss about this. One thing though, I really liked about these lectures at my former high school was that they emphasized the need to start praying for our future spouses. Age eighteen and this was not in my mind.

This comes to the first point: But where does it begin? Everything has to have a beginning. It sets the pace to the finality of events. God had to create the earth and the heavens in the beginning so that in the end Adam and Eve could wander around and enjoy its fullness. Think about this; had God just created the first couple before He created the earth, they would have been hanging somewhere because it states in the second verse of Genesis chapter one that the earth was formless and empty. Beginnings set the path you are going to follow for you to reach the final destiny; that is marriage.

Many young people get disappointed to note that what they would think is the right person turns out to be a person who you just like and maybe never grow to love. For us to see a beautiful sponge cake, a base was set up first. I remember when we were young and it would be a Saturday afternoon and everyone at home. My mother would insist on baking a sponge cake. There was only one problem with all this; we did not have an electrical mixer. So we had to take turns to mix the butter and sugar and after 30 minutes we would go to my mother to ask if it was now ready for the next stage. Of course the answer would be ‘keep mixing my boys’. Sometimes we would go the half done route. Knowing she would have taken a nap, we would mix a little and when we thought it was done we would add the eggs. What a mess! The mixture before hand would dangle on top of the eggs no matter how hard we mixed it with our rustic hand mixer. At the end, the cake would not come out as soft as the name implies.

As a young person, we should be able to set the right base from the onset. A sponge cake needs a good butter mix so we also need to have the right mix. Prayer is the base that is needed for this mix. One would quickly refer to the verse: A good wife comes from the Lord (Proverbs 19:14) but one should also remember that this same book reminds us from the beginning that it is wisdom from the Lord which has a bearing on a good wife. Reading through chapters 5-7 of the book of Proverbs, the bible explicitly warns us to keep on guard our hearts. Our hearts guard our wisdom by fearing His name. Fearing His name comes from seeking His presence that is PRAYER.

Prayer

The Lord Jesus always made prayer His top priority. Before choosing His first 12 labourers, the Apostles, He prayed all evening. Then He chose them and sent them into the harvest (Luke 6:12-13). He did not have to beg them or plead with them. He prayed and God the Father moved in their hearts and they were ready!

Prayer is essential in relationship matters just as it is necessary to deposit money in a savings account so that it accumulates interest. We have different desires in life speaking of which I would pray to God that I desire a wife who is the same height as me, complexion wise should be almost the same as me, educated, but one of my greatest desires was a wife who knows how to cook better than me. It seemed awkward that I would pray for something like this but remember the bible says that His ears are not too heavy that He cannot hear us Isaiah 59:1b. He truly heard me. Prayers make