JIB Hearts: Antoinette and Christopher

Hey Sweetums!!!

How are y'al doing? I had a veeerrrrrryyyyyyy FULL weekend as I had a bridesmaid duty on Saturday; it was a really dramatic process but I took a lot of pictures to make up for the drama.

Speaking of weddings, here is the beautiful love story of my girl Antoinette Igebu and her boo, Christopher Oguta. I am particularly stoke about these folks because they have done their best to keep Christ center, left, right and around their relationship; God has surely kept them going as they progressed from friendship to courtship to the upcoming wedding.

As you read the story, open your heart to share in their love and begin to see God's hand in your life as you go through the adorable pictures. 

Enjoy!

ANTOINETTE:

Where do I start really? How about the day we spoke. I had received a call from a friend asking me if I had a boyfriend and telling me one of his friends wanted my number. Initially, I was like "Gosh. These boys have come again". So I asked the basics. What's his name? Surname? Where did he see me? What exactly does he want? Is he a Christian and I don't mean church-goer? What does he do? Is he fine? Lol! I was a bit skeptical but I gave my friend the permission to give this "new guy" called Chris Oguta my number. After the phone call, I proceeded to wear my Detective Cap immediately. Google to the rescue! I didn't find much except for his LinkedIn profile. Bummer. I scrolled through and thought to myself, "This will have to do for now".

I had thought Chris would act like the typical boy who would take ages to call (after begging for your number o! Forming will now start. Idongerrit) but he called me almost immediately. We clicked. Which is something rare for me especially with "prospective toasters". Maybe it was due to the fact that he asked if he could take me out for a "meal" and I was like, what age are you from please? Who still uses the word "meal"? Are you a vampire? Lol. He called me razz and said it was Jand English. Right.

Wow, I'm only on the day we spoke still? Okay, let me speed this up a little...

So I agreed to going out for a meal with Chris and we set a date. He came to pick me up and the first thing I noticed was his very "yellow"  hand. Then my eyes traveled up to his face. Niiiice. I liked what I saw. Totally different from his LinkedIn profile photo (Thank goodness, he has changed it now. I made sure of it). Talking to Chris felt... natural. We were so real around each other and it really was the best date I had ever had. I had been to Cactus several times before so it definitely had nothing to do with the venue or the ambience. I felt peace about this guy and I just could not explain it. By the time he dropped me home, we both didn't want to leave each other's sight.

The next couple of weeks was like a whirlwind. We spoke on the phone A LOT! Gosh, I wonder how we did it then. Our relationship was pretty much long distance - he lived on the mainland part of Lagos while I lived on the island. If you live in Lagos, you know that's long distance. So, we made sure to spend time on weekends. I was attracted to his personality - especially his love for God and his respect for my values. I knew he was the one, and I knew he knew I was the one. Haha. Our love grew deeper and 3 weeks later, he officially asked me to be his girlfriend.

Chris and I both knew we were going to get married afterwards. There's no way in the world I would have said yes to being his girlfriend if I wasn't sure he was going to be my husband. It was in May that he asked me to marry him. I was having the worst day and he asked to take me out so I could clear my head. I should have figured out what was about to happen because he was acting so weird. We were done eating and about leaving when my friend walked in. Immediately, it dawned on me and I started screaming. HAHAHA. 

He got down on one knee and I honestly don't remember anything he said. Scratch that. I didn't hear anything he said. Till he asked if I would marry him and I screamed, yes of course!

Is he the one? Absolutely! 

Does he make me happier than I ever imagined I could be? Absolutely! 

Am I excited to start this new chapter of marriage in my life? HECK YES!

CHRISTOPHER: 

It was September 2015 and I was single and searching (not even going to front. Lol). I was going through Instagram and I saw this very interesting picture appear on my Explore page. I decided to click on the picture and with every other click, went through more of her pictures, I became more curious to find out who she really was. Her posts were not typical and for someone who had so many "followers", it didn't seem like she was selling something. 

Already being very curious, I was faced with a dilemma. Should I DM her? Will that really be the best approach? Then from a stroke of luck (well, hard work actually because I went through virtually all her pictures), I saw a comment by a friend on one of her pictures. They seemed to be cordial, so I knew that was my inroad. (Meanwhile, she later told me that if I had gone through the DM approach, it would have been a NO NO. Thank God for saving me) 

Days later, I was having a telephone conversation with her and asking her out for a 'meal'. Our first meal/date went very well and I probably hadn't felt so comfortable with anyone on the first conversation. That's when I started to have the feeling that something special could be brewing. I did my background check (you can't blame me, this is Lagos) and I was very happy with the feedback. Antoinette ticked all the boxes for me.

Few weeks later (including many hours spent on the telephone), we started dating officially. I genuinely believe it was the best thing that had happened to me. By the time I proposed in May, I had long known that Antoinette is the love of my life and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. Fast forward to December and that's exactly what I'll be doing. 

Cheers to a great future to us!



This love story convinced me that God orders the step of His people, yeah?
This couple right here are the real power couple; the bride-to-be is a Queen and her groom to-be is Captain Sparks so when they are together, sparks fly all about!!!

JIB wishes you a life of bliss and God's continual goodness..

Credits:
Pictures: thequeenandthecaptain.com
Photography: Blawz Studios
Styling and Props: Antoinette Igebu