PAULINA... A Life With A Difference
© OLAYEMI GRACE

EPISODE FOURTEEN
The first semester was gradually drawing to a close and lectures were being rounded off and exams were knocking. Students became more serious with their academics and some of them neglect other things to face the exam squarely. Some even went to the extent of staying away from the church fellowship with the mind that they wanted to have enough time to read.

Paulina was rather different, she was always calm during exams and didn’t really change her normal routine except that lectures had ended and she would have more time to herself. She had formed the habit of reading daily right from her secondary school days so during exams, she would just do some revisions and pray.

Exams came and went and the school had to go on two weeks break to allow the students rest before the commencement of the second semester. Paulina had the habit of staying back in the school during short holidays for personal retreat and communion with God. But that particular time, she had a leading in her spirit to go to a nearby town where there was a camp site for her retreats. She was expectant as she knew that anytime she received such instructions she would always have a special encounter with God. She packed all she would need for the journey and set out.

The retreat ground was about two hours drive from the campus. Paulina set out early on a Tuesday morning in order to meet the first bus to avoid the problem of sitting for long hours in the bus before the bus gets filled with passengers. She had been to the camp site before when she went on a village outreach with her team. They lodged at the camp site and the pastor there was very accommodating, he made sure they enjoyed their stay and he gave them all the necessary information they needed about the village and even joined them in prayers. The camp site was interdenominational and the pastor was only in charge of overseeing the activities of the people that went there for retreats or programs.

Paulina got to the place at about 9am and she had no problem settling down. She went through all the registration procedures and was directed to the quarters where she would be sleeping, it was a well-furnished self-contained room. She made herself comfortable and after taking a bath she decided to sleep for a while before she launched out into her programs for the retreat.

After sleeping for a while, Paulina got up and went out to the praying ground to start her prayers, study and meditation. She prayed for some hours after which she started studying the bible. She had not even read up to a chapter before someone walked up to her.

“Peace be unto you,” the lady who was wearing a white garment and was looking pale and unkempt said to Paulina as she approached her.

It was not in Paulina’s habit to respond to people or engage in any form of discussion with anyone whenever she was studying her bible. She believed that she was having a conversation with God at that time and it would be rude and unruly for her to talk to someone else. Paulina kept her gaze on her bible ignoring the woman’s greeting hoping that she would get the message that she didn’t want to be disturbed and she would walk away. But the woman who was hell bent on speaking to Paulina tapped her shoulders and repeated the greeting again. Paulina knew at that time that she could not ignore the woman anymore and then she gave a long sigh, muttered a short prayer to God to excuse her for a while and then looked up at the woman.

“Peace be unto you too,” Paulina said looking at the woman from head to toe.

“I have a message for you my daughter,” the woman said.
To be continued...

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