The Woman with the Issue of Blood

By Mabel Olu

Stephanie grew up to see her mother go through series of abuse. Clara( Mama) was forcefully given to marriage to a stranger. Clara ran away from the stranger on the night of her wedding. Clara became Olivers (Papa) wife by her uncle's plan. Clara( mama) died from the pain of Cancer coupled with the abuse from her husband.
The stranger came across Stephanie to revenge on the fact that he lost the opportunity to marry Clara. Papa was Obsessed with Stephanie after Claras death. Stephanie ran away from home frustrated and she contemplated suicide. She was delivered from her fear when she came across a church.
She met her heartthrob Bonny but she discovered she was already pregnant from her past shame. Stephanie went ahead and married Bonny to conceal her past but the past came back to stare on her face, her issue of blood.

Authors Note

Throughout my lifegrowing up as a child and in my adulthoodI have been exposed to abuse, neglect, and rejection. Im writing this piece of novel to encourage someone to bounce back to life. Remember, the woman with the issue of blood in the Bible finally moved on with her red garment to touch Jesus after she tried all other ways. She left her past ways and dragged the heavy red garment to meet Jesus. Forgive your past. Move on and touch the Masters garment.

This inspirational novel will inspire everyone, not only the womenfolk but everyone. Youre not alone! Someone in the universe is going through that problem that youre going through; sometimes it is even a deeper issue. The world is full of issues! Yes! There are issues everywhere, whether bloody or in any form. One thing is apparent to all mankind; we all have blood running in our veins. Blood signifies a thick bond. Issues of blood can come as deep or shallow problems in our lives. It could be from our past or present circumstances. In whatever form it may be, lets be assured that were not alone in the battle. God is with us! Amen! Alleluia!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984518828

Mabel Olu

Mabel Olu became an author through the inspiration of God and through her past and present experiences. She is a proud mother of three wonderful kids. She have attended many schools and colleges. But the most acknowledged one is the school of spirituality that she attended at the Angelos Biblical Institute in California USA, where she obtained a Bachelor degree in Christian Education. She a teacher, a mentor and a spiritual coach. She hail from Nigeria. She lives in California with her family. She is dedicated to empowering her generation, most especially, women and their children for theyre not called weak but theyre the called the weaker vessels and helpers . They have immutable strength to support and revive their generation. Most part of my life , growing up as a child and in my adulthood, I have been exposed to abuse, Neglect and rejection. Im writing this piece of novel to encourage someone to rebounce back to life. Remember the woman with the issue of blood in the Bible finally moved on with her red garment to touch Jesus, after she tried all other ways. She left her past ways and dragged the heavy red garment to meet Jesus. Forgive your past. Move on and touch the master's garment.

Book preview

THE WOMAN

WITH THE

ISSUE OF BLOOD

MABEL OLU

Copyright © 2018 by MABEL OLU.

ISBN:               Softcover               978-1-9845-1878-1

                          eBook                    978-1-9845-1882-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 09/07/2018

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

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Contents

Acknowledgement

Prologue

Chapter 1 Life in Lounge

Chapter 2 The Missionary Visit

Chapter 3 Mother Mary the great

Chapter 4 My Childhood

Chapter 5 The Scar

Chapter 6 Footsteps in the Sand

Chapter 7 The Stranger

Chapter 8 Tunnel to Hell

Chapter 9 The Five-Star Church

Chapter 10 Escape from Hell

Chapter 11 The Land of No Return

Chapter 12 The Exit of Bonny

Chapter 13 Ice-Cold Dreamland

Chapter 14 Life in Yankee

Chapter 15 Nine-One-One (911)

Chapter 16 God’s Own Country

Chapter 17 My Enslaved Freedom

Chapter 18 Who Is My Father

Chapter 19 My Story

Chapter 20 The Betrayal

Chapter 21 Yankee Babe

Chapter 22 Letter to Bonny

Chapter 23 The Move

Chapter 24 The Touch

Chapter 25 Our Reunion

Epilogue

Acknowledgement

I dedicate this book to God the Father, the son and the holy Spirit who have given me the gift of life and the opportunity to write this story. I also use this opportunity to acknowledge my mom, Olu Wonuola for her endurance in issues of blood she had during her lifetime. I love you Mom, but the Lord love you most.

I appreciate my Wonderful kids Grace, Richard and George, for their patient throughout the stages of my writing this inspirational novel.

I almost want to give up on this long awaited dream but God brought helpers on my way. I’m grateful to you all!

I have read books of authors and writers and I have watched their footsteps. I have learned from their ways of writing. I say thank you to everyone that I have contributed to my achieving this long awaited dream. I appreciate you all! Thank you.

Prologue

I’m the woman in a red gown

With Issues flowing in my vein

I sit at the corner of my house

Tears rolling down my face

I’m in the midst of the storm

I’m in the midst of two lovers

One on the right

And the other on the left

One promise life

The other heaven on Earth

They both called out!

Oh! Beautiful damsel!

when are you going to become my bride?

I bowed down my head

In shame of my ugly past

Eeeeh! No! You can’t see my face!

It’s full of spot and wrinkles!

I’m dressed in red

Crimson red at Christmas

Velvet red on Valentine

You both loved it!

The right lover say to me

I gave my blood

You don’t need to shed another one

"I can wipe away your spot and wrinkles,

I promise! I promise! I promise!

I want you to be my lover

So you can wear the white robe

The other says to me

Let me see your face

So I know what to tell my Lord

I answered him in deep pain

I’m afraid! I can’t show my face

You let me down the first time

And the man answered

"I’m imperfect and humane!

I’m impatience! I can’t wait for too long

And the Lord of the man say to him

"I told you to love her

just like I loved you unconditionally"

I hope you can, but you’re just humane.

And The Lord of the woman says to her!

Come to me! Come to me!

I promise, I promise! I promise!

I will be with you! I will be with you!

My hope is that you wear a new gown

A white robe that is spotless

The One with no wrinkles or blemish

With train that flows to eternity

Come! Come! Come to me!

Come in your red guan!

Come be my bride!

I will give you a new gown!

I will give you a glorious robe!

I will prepare you for your groom

I’m the first and the last

And the man opened his mouth

obeying the voice of the Lord

All that my Lord say to me

I will do for you

I will nurture you until eternity!

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CHAPTER

1

Life in Lounge

T he sound of the bell’s ding-dong in the city was replaced by the noise of cockcrowing at dawn. The amazing thing is Mother Nature never got its time wrong. As the cock crowed the footsteps of villagers along the route to the market square were heard as they greet one another with prayers and wishes for a good day. Some of them went to fetch water from the large town well, while others were on their way to the market square which was miles away from Lounge.

I grew up with my Papa, and I regretted the early passing of Mama. Mama’s absence made life difficult for me and my siblings because mama’s contribution to the family was enormous. Mama was a woman whom we could call virtuous.

Mama had five of us from Papa. The Story has it that my Papa was my uncle’s friend. My uncle at the time, was a Carpenter. He worked with the missionaries to re-build houses that have been thrown down by the hurricanes. My uncle and my papa became very close friend by virtue of their profession, they had both worked for years in the same carpentry shop in Lounge.

My Mama was a beautiful woman to behold and everyone in the village said Mama was supposed to marry one of the kings’ men in Lounge. My Papa made a fast move on my Mama when she ran away from her espoused husband. The tradition of the people of Lounge was to give the bride to whoever paid the dowry. My papa didn’t pay my mama’s dowry, the stranger did. The stranger paid my mama’s dowry in return for a piece of land that my grandpa wanted to use for farming.

Just like my mama, my grandma was also an industrious woman. She taught my mama her knitting skills. She was a cloth merchant and a Legend in fabric making in Lounge and it’s environs. She did the weaving of clothes at the backyard of the house that my grandfather built with thatched roof and mud. My Grandma passing away resulted to great loss for traders and market women in Lounge.

My grandpa and grandma died in succession. Shortly after my mama was espoused to the stranger, my grandpa lost his life in a fatal boat accident that took his life. Two years later, my grandma was diagnosed of cancer, and this claimed her life also. After my grandpa’s death, my grandma felt more pain in the loss of her husband and she died.

The absence of my grandma was hard on my mama. When my grandma was alive she tried her best to stop my grandpa from giving my mama to the stranger. But my grandpa was a garrulous man, all he cared about was the proceeds he was going to get from the stranger, which accumulated to be the bride price. My grandma couldn’t handle this situation, and she advised my mama to run away from the stranger on the night of her wedding. My grandpa has a lackadaisical attitude towards life, he cared less about anyone, even his own life. He had collected the bride price from the stranger and he had spent it all on his palm wine meetings. The stranger demanded for my mama in return for his money, but my grandpa gave excuses that my Mama was too young to get marry at age thirteen. The stranger threatened to take my grandpa’s life if mama wasn’t released. My Grandpa tried to play hanky-panky games with the stranger, but the stranger came to the house one day unannounced and tried to snuff life out of my grandpa. My grandpa was afraid of the stranger and he eventually forced the wedding to take place. My grandpa was a garrulous man, he can possibly exchange his life for money. On the night of the wedding my mama ran away from the stranger. This being the plan of my grandma and my Uncle to prevent my mama from the bondage of the wedding which they think could possibly cause her future pains. After my mama’s escape from the stranger, my uncle became mean to my mama and he also convinced my mama to marry his friend out of wedlock. My mama went through series of abuse, early and later in her life.

My papa looked like the only hope for my mama because of her first failed marriage. The problem in the house started when my papa was diagnosed of the disease of excess sugar. My papa and mama fought like cats and dogs in the house. On several occasions, Papa would seize Mama’s merchandise and call her names and would never believe her story of going to sell sugar cane at the market square.

Most of the traders in Lounge were in sugarcane business at that time. The trading on sugarcane plantations was handled by the wealthy king’s men in Lounge and it’s environs, and this served as the major source of income for most families.

How Papa was able to build his house on the hill is still amazing to me until this day. His house could be seen from afar without a telescope. My papa’s house was singled out among the rest of the houses in town. The house was built in an old-fashioned way, where bamboo and thatched roofs did the works that planks and bricks do this day.

Our greatest fear on this hill was the anonymous encounter with the day of judgement from the hurricanes. Hurricane visits had been the death sentence of many villagers living on this hill.

Papa argued that his forefathers survived this hurricane in the past because they were worshippers of a particular god, Loa, known as the god of the hurricane. I had participated in the many festivals that have been thrown to appease this god. It was mandatory on the days of the festival to wear black and have your hair shaved, both men and women alike. It was a taboo for the woman to cover their hair in this festival. We’re advised not to eat anything but the sugar cane sacrificed to the gods. While the festive was going on, I was thinking of how the villagers were fooled to believe that the gods actually came to eat the sugarcanes.

"How did this happen when I am here from dawn till dusk? I asked astonished… I never saw Loa rise up from the shrine and pick a single piece of sugar cane. I was thinking of how foolish it was to believe in the act of this god.

So demons like sweet things I thought"If they do, why do they act so sour and weird in their characters?" I asked in bewilderment. I was lost in my thoughts, I couldn’t flow with the tune of the festivities, the Melody songs they sang to their god. Dancing Steps of villagers, men and women in wrapped drapes that showed them almost half naked thundered on the floor and the wooden bench I was sitting on was shaking from the ground continuously distracting my thoughts. The morning sunshine faded on the villagers, Nature’s bright face continuously casted its generous gift on them, as it reminded me of the merciful act of the true God, he allowed the sun to shine on both the just and unjust.

Our God is merciful!" I seighed, engrossed in my thoughts and praying for revival to come from somewhere. After a while of watching the episodes of this crazy festival. I shifted my focus from the folly of the villagers and I began humming to myself the song of revival.

Man made god, man made god,

I will never worship man made god

They have eyes, but they cannot see.

They have ears; they cannot hear.

They have mouth but cannot speak,

They have legs but cannot walk.

Those that worship them are dumb like them.

I will never worship man-made god.

For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jehovah, is a jealous God. Ameeen! Alleluia!

—Exodus 34:14

CHAPTER

2

The Missionary Visit

W hen the missionaries arrived at Lounge, the people sighed breath of relief. The resentful hearts of the people towards their leaders was restored to hope. The missionaries came back with one of my town boy, Clementine. Clementine’s parents have been renowned philanthropists in Lounge for ages. They fought for the cause of the people with the opportunity they have to travel Abroad. Their experienced modern lifestyle they promised to impact on Lounge. Clementine’s parent first visit with the missionaries was in the seventies. They replaced the thatched-roof open-house school buildings for more modern structures. Stream water was replaced with borehole. Our water became fresh and clean. I remember Clementine when we used to play in the mud years back. Now he had grown into a handsome young man, an amiable humanitarian and philanthropist, working for the cause of the people. He had longed travelled over seas for his Bachelors education. It happened that when the missionaries came in the eighties, they picked him among other kids in town because of the good deeds his parents had done in Lounge.

Apart from the light that the missionaries bought to us, they also discussed the likelihood of constructing new houses for the people. Papa’s house was one of the houses marked out for reconstruction. I was excited about this development because it was a long-awaited dream for me and the people. Rainwater dropped on my head from the roof in my room nights when the rain becomes so heavy, and our saving grace was to place buckets in our rooms and collect the residual which we eventually use to have our bath in the morning.

The rumor of the coming hurricane was the fear of the people. Everyone look forward to the visit of the missionaries with great anticipation. When the missionaries came, they did things that marveled the villagers. The battery lights! They use a small ball-like glass connected to a battery to give us light. The use of lantern and candles had been the fashion of the people to get light in the night. Our local chiefs had built transformer for the villagers, but they had to cut down light in the night because they presumed it would save the cost of electricity.

Rumors had it that our local chief had been awarded funds from foreign lands to build electricity in town, but the money had been embezzled. They left the people of Lounge to their faith,