Euodia was a raging fool! That was the burning thought in Syntyche's mind. Unfortunately for her, Euodia was asked to state her case first. The manipulative witch twisted the whole story and made her seem like a trouble-maker. She had to take the defensive position and it was an uncomfortable position to be in. To make matters worse, she lost her temper.
Pastor Gabriel seemed like he'll rather be elsewhere than in the meeting. Euodia had her best "virtuous woman who could do no harm" look. Her blasted anger chose to most inopportune time to show up. She was trying hard to restrain herself!
"Deaconess Syntyche, you need to apologize to Deaconess Euodia about calling her a witch", Pastor Gabriel said gently.
Syntyche felt no remorse. Euodia was a witch and they both knew it. However, she didn't want to be removed as a Deaconess; that was the one thing she had going for her. Her marriage may have hit the rocks, her son may consider her an incompetent mother, her family may consider her a disgrace and her company may consider her obsolete but as a Deaconess, she felt useful and valued most of the time. She didn't want to lose Pastor Gabriel's love and respect. So, she gave a half-hearted apology.
*************************************
Euodia was tired. If the Deaconess position wasn't the only thing she had going for her, she would have stepped down today. Syntyche was an unbearable, uncouth specimen. She didn't need this after the high she got from listening to G.O. earlier. She would have walked out if it wasn't disrespectful to Pastor Gabriel. She wished Pastor Gabriel was firmer with Syntyche. Apparently, he had enough influence over her to make her behave herself. She remembered the cheque and made a mental note to remember to drop the cheque before leaving church. She managed to forget on Sunday, thanks to Syntyche's drama.
"So, what do you have to say, Deaconess Euodia?", Pastor Gabriel asked gently.
Euodia's mind had drifted from the meeting so she had no idea what Pastor Gabriel was talking about.
"Whatever you say is fine sir", she responded with a sweet smile.
"So, you'll forgive Deaconess Syntyche and forget about the Sunday incidence?"
"Yeah, right. It always ends with 'forgive and forget'", Euodia thought as she said sweetly, "Yes sir".
*************************************
Archippus felt terrible lying to Euodia. If she was open to testing, maybe he would have stood by her, he rationalized. Cynthia wasn't a bad looking lady. She was also relatively well-mannered. She became pregnant almost immediately he had sexual relations with her. She wasn't a virgin but she told him that she made a mistake when she was younger. Who was he to judge in this case, considering the genesis of that conversation. He was so glad that he wasn't the one with the problem. He wasn't sure how Euodia would take it if he was the one who couldn't have a child. Now that he knew it was her, not him, he would stand by her as she was a good wife, really.
Euodia! His virtuous, God-fearing, submissive wife. She always did what he said. The only time she dissented was when she decided not to go for fertility tests. She had reminded him how she had always obeyed his orders. He was definitely cornered in this one. That was when he went to discuss with Mama about Euodia's refusal to go for tests. In less than 3 days, Mama had a plan. If she wasn't his mother, he would have sworn she had a plan immediately he told her but just waited for a while to fool him. Anyway, he was a proud father of a bouncing baby boy. He had to plan to see his son soon.
*************************************
Lydia was very tired. Pastor Gabriel had called her at 4pm and asked her to join him in the meeting with Euodia and Syntyche. She had heard about the drama on Sunday. The Welfare Unit had a group outreach so she had left with her team immediately after service.
She had to send Timothy a message, cancelling their date. Tonight was their date night. She'll have to find a way to make it up to Timothy. Timothy hadn't particularly complained about how Pastor Gabriel seemed to command more respect from her than he did, though he made ambiguous statements that seemed to suggest so. In the early days, she had demanded that he justify every decision he wanted them to take as a family. Meanwhile, she never questioned any of Pastor Gabriel's decisions.
Things had come to a head 5 years ago when Timothy had opened up to her about how he really felt about that. She had brushed off his concerns as the rantings of a control freak. As she spent time praying about the matter, the Holy Spirit exposed her shortcomings. She apologized to Timothy and they started ACTIVE DATING. When she gave up her need to always be right and in control, she started experiencing peace.
Lydia sighed inwardly as Euodia and Syntyche muttered their insincere apologies. She knew they'll be back as Pastor Gabriel hadn't spent the time required to get to the root. She was glad this meeting was over, though, because she could still try to meet Timothy at the new restaurant close to the house. They had the house to themselves tonight as Sharon and James were spending the night with Lydia's parents. It was definitely going to be a long night.
*************************************
Syntyche tried to start her car for the 3rd time but the car chose tonight to disgrace her. "Deaconess" Euodia had seen her struggling with her car and had conveniently pretended not to notice as she zoomed past her. Pastor Gabriel and Lydia had left before them. She thought of calling Sylvia but she quickly discarded the idea. She felt irresponsible enough to have sent Cletus to spend the weekend with Sylvia and her family.
Thankfully, she was already at the foot of 3rd Mainland Bridge. She decided to call her regular cab man to come get here. She had learnt to have these numbers handy as there was no one she could count on as a single mother when life threw her lemonades. In the early days, all she had to do was call Stephen, her superman. Well, no time for silly reminiscing; she had to get home.
As she pulled out her phone to call, she heard a knock on her window. Yeah right! So she was about to get robbed! She said a quick prayer and turned around to find Pastor Mike smiling at her. She heaved a sigh of relief.
*************************************
Euodia was tired. If the Deaconess position wasn't the only thing she had going for her, she would have stepped down today. Syntyche was an unbearable, uncouth specimen. She didn't need this after the high she got from listening to G.O. earlier. She would have walked out if it wasn't disrespectful to Pastor Gabriel. She wished Pastor Gabriel was firmer with Syntyche. Apparently, he had enough influence over her to make her behave herself. She remembered the cheque and made a mental note to remember to drop the cheque before leaving church. She managed to forget on Sunday, thanks to Syntyche's drama.
"So, what do you have to say, Deaconess Euodia?", Pastor Gabriel asked gently.
Euodia's mind had drifted from the meeting so she had no idea what Pastor Gabriel was talking about.
"Whatever you say is fine sir", she responded with a sweet smile.
"So, you'll forgive Deaconess Syntyche and forget about the Sunday incidence?"
"Yeah, right. It always ends with 'forgive and forget'", Euodia thought as she said sweetly, "Yes sir".
*************************************
Archippus felt terrible lying to Euodia. If she was open to testing, maybe he would have stood by her, he rationalized. Cynthia wasn't a bad looking lady. She was also relatively well-mannered. She became pregnant almost immediately he had sexual relations with her. She wasn't a virgin but she told him that she made a mistake when she was younger. Who was he to judge in this case, considering the genesis of that conversation. He was so glad that he wasn't the one with the problem. He wasn't sure how Euodia would take it if he was the one who couldn't have a child. Now that he knew it was her, not him, he would stand by her as she was a good wife, really.
Euodia! His virtuous, God-fearing, submissive wife. She always did what he said. The only time she dissented was when she decided not to go for fertility tests. She had reminded him how she had always obeyed his orders. He was definitely cornered in this one. That was when he went to discuss with Mama about Euodia's refusal to go for tests. In less than 3 days, Mama had a plan. If she wasn't his mother, he would have sworn she had a plan immediately he told her but just waited for a while to fool him. Anyway, he was a proud father of a bouncing baby boy. He had to plan to see his son soon.
*************************************
Lydia was very tired. Pastor Gabriel had called her at 4pm and asked her to join him in the meeting with Euodia and Syntyche. She had heard about the drama on Sunday. The Welfare Unit had a group outreach so she had left with her team immediately after service.
She had to send Timothy a message, cancelling their date. Tonight was their date night. She'll have to find a way to make it up to Timothy. Timothy hadn't particularly complained about how Pastor Gabriel seemed to command more respect from her than he did, though he made ambiguous statements that seemed to suggest so. In the early days, she had demanded that he justify every decision he wanted them to take as a family. Meanwhile, she never questioned any of Pastor Gabriel's decisions.
Things had come to a head 5 years ago when Timothy had opened up to her about how he really felt about that. She had brushed off his concerns as the rantings of a control freak. As she spent time praying about the matter, the Holy Spirit exposed her shortcomings. She apologized to Timothy and they started ACTIVE DATING. When she gave up her need to always be right and in control, she started experiencing peace.
Lydia sighed inwardly as Euodia and Syntyche muttered their insincere apologies. She knew they'll be back as Pastor Gabriel hadn't spent the time required to get to the root. She was glad this meeting was over, though, because she could still try to meet Timothy at the new restaurant close to the house. They had the house to themselves tonight as Sharon and James were spending the night with Lydia's parents. It was definitely going to be a long night.
*************************************
Syntyche tried to start her car for the 3rd time but the car chose tonight to disgrace her. "Deaconess" Euodia had seen her struggling with her car and had conveniently pretended not to notice as she zoomed past her. Pastor Gabriel and Lydia had left before them. She thought of calling Sylvia but she quickly discarded the idea. She felt irresponsible enough to have sent Cletus to spend the weekend with Sylvia and her family.
Thankfully, she was already at the foot of 3rd Mainland Bridge. She decided to call her regular cab man to come get here. She had learnt to have these numbers handy as there was no one she could count on as a single mother when life threw her lemonades. In the early days, all she had to do was call Stephen, her superman. Well, no time for silly reminiscing; she had to get home.
As she pulled out her phone to call, she heard a knock on her window. Yeah right! So she was about to get robbed! She said a quick prayer and turned around to find Pastor Mike smiling at her. She heaved a sigh of relief.
"Are you okay, Deaconess?"
Pastor Mike was the tall, dark and handsome, never-been-married pastor in his late 40s that many single ladies in church wondered what he was waiting for.
"Yes...Er, no...Er, I don't know. My car just gave up on me" She said with a feeble smile.
"Oh, can I help?"
Syntyche let him in and he spent a few minutes checking all he thought should work. The car refused to budge. By this time, some guys had come around to "help". Pastor Mike took charge and they got the car to the filling station where he had parked his car before coming to help her. He offered to take her home and return with her the next day.
As they drove home, they listened to a message by the G.O. , Dr. Felix Peter. G.O. prophesied "You are next in line for a miracle" and they both said "AMEN!", looked at each other and smiled.
Author's Note: Euodia and Syntyche's story is found in Philippians 4:2-3. This is a very very fictionalized version...Stay tuned for Episode 7.
