Episode 5 THE WEDDING WE ALL REGRET

Theme: Premature Marriages and Ignored Red Flags
Episode 5:
Let me gist you about a wedding that still haunts all of us.

It was just last year. I remember it so well because we all showed up dressed to kill. The canopy, the music, the fireworks, the makeup artists. Everything was lit. But beneath all the color and noise… there was a silence nobody wanted to address.

The bride? Our neighbor’s first daughter. Let’s call her Feyi.

Ah, that girl was something else; beauty, brains, and heart. She could walk into a room and light it up with her presence. She was the kind of girl that made people say, “This one will go far.”

The groom? He was tall, calm, rich, and articulate. Always wore white shirts. Drove a Benz. Quoted Bible verses with a clean accent.

But…

We saw it.
We heard it.
Some even felt it.
There was something off about him.

You know those people who smile with their lips but carry fire behind their eyes? That was him. There were whispers. Stories about an ex-girlfriend he roughed up. About his temper when things didn’t go his way. Some said he was controlling. Others shrugged it off as “he just likes things done properly.”

I remember Feyi’s aunt pulling her aside two weeks before the wedding, gently asking, “Are you sure you’re ready?”
And Feyi, with a shaky smile, said, “It’s not perfect, but who is?”
She added, “At least he’s serious about marriage. Isn’t that what matters?”

We clapped.
We danced.
We prayed and poured anointing oil on everything.

But the day she moved in… the mask came off.

He started with silent treatments. Then controlling what she wore. Then monitoring her phone. Then… he hit her.

By the third month of marriage, she came back home.

Swollen eyes. Spirit crushed. Carrying a baby that hadn’t even kicked yet.

She wasn’t the same girl anymore.

She didn’t sparkle. She didn’t speak. She stared into space like someone who had been robbed of her dreams.

And the rest of us?

We were silent.

Because what would we say?

We saw the signs.
We knew something felt wrong.
We had a chance to ask harder questions, to help her pause, to delay that wedding… and we didn’t.

Now, we carry guilt like a souvenir.

💔 Reflections from the Story:
• Why do we let culture silence our convictions?
• Why do we praise marriage more than we protect purpose?
• Why do we believe that being “marriage-ready” is more important than being emotionally and spiritually mature?

📖 Scripture Light:

Proverbs 14:12 — “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
Not every wedding is God’s will. Not every “good man” is a safe husband.
We must teach our children discernment, not desperation.

🧠 For Parents and Mentors:
1. Don’t rush your child into marriage to save face.
2. Ask uncomfortable questions before the wedding, not after.
3. Teach your daughter and son how to recognize manipulation dressed as love.

✉️ A Word to Every Feyi Out There:

You are not weak for coming back.
You are not broken beyond healing.
You are not less because you left.
You are brave, and your story will help someone else pause and reconsider.

🙏 A Family Nest Prayer:

Father, help us not to clap for what You never ordained.
Give us boldness to ask hard questions,
courage to delay what is not yet right,
and grace to restore the daughters who return home broken.
Let our family culture never value celebration above safety. Amen.