Mothers-in-law in Africa are infamous for many things, and what they are not famous for is complimenting their daughters-in-law.

So you’ll understand my humility when her mum in law – my (maternal) Auntie, remarked sometime back.

“Wabula Rhionah yye mukama y’amutuwa nga kirabo” (translated: matter-of-factly, Rhionah was really given to us as a gift)

Now hours into this special day, the freshman girl from Complex hall is no longer a “ fresher” – hours into her 28 birthday, and four years after our first date, God has kept us husband and wife, Whoah!

At the original moment of writing this, little daughter Mercedes is not yet awake, which as many Parents understand, I have a moment to retreat from it all and think about the woman God gave me years ago (I pray I never take this habit for granted)

This has been our life, our many sins often leave us desperate to hear God’s word each morning.

But that’s not the point of my reflection today, the idea is to hopefully show you the profound impact of a young woman called Rhionah on us all. Thank you Rhionah!

Thank you for nourishing this place we call home, committing your productive hours to make it truly home.

Thank you for not looking down on a penniless soon-to-graduate campuser in 2014 and saying yes to his words, even when the bank balance didn’t line up.

Thank you for enduring a very normal courtship with an unstylish guy far more concerned with theology than whether his shirts fit! It paid off? ( I hope the theology and the shirts both fit, now)

Thank you for being the God-centered, Bible-saturated, Christ-exalting, church-centric, Piper-loving (No offense John MacArthur fans) wise woman you are, often at hand to extinguish my foolishness, as life’s paths have threatened to derail, thank you for always reminding me about the “lamp of our feet”, we’ve never outgrown our need for it indeed!

Thank you for loving our daughter Mercedes, giving up your time and resources to be her chief advocate, teacher, inspiration, drawing-mate, what not? thank you for teaching her about Jesus. What else rises that high?

Thank you Rhionah for coping with my failure in recalling things (I once got chucked for this by the way) forgotten celebrations, date nights what else? I am certain this forgetting habit is slowly disappearing, (as this piece can testify.) Thank you!

It’s easy to think of you in the background Rhionah, but forget it, you are the steel our backs, the marrow in our bones, those wedding day promises I want to remember, because you have lived out each, daily.

The ancients spoke of “many women doing noble things and only one woman surpassing them all,

King Solomon also spoke of “charm being deceptive, Beauty fleeting- but praise going to a God fearing woman” —now I understand!

I want to say, I really want to publicly say, thank you Rhionah, wife of my embrace! Here’s to many supreme enjoyments together.

Oh, and happy birthday from Mercedes and I, I love you.

Thank you, Rhionah!