I am glad to bring to you today a couple that I met a couple of times, and that was enough to form a very cordial relationship + you know I love to 'attach' myself to great testimonies of marriage and relationships :-).. They sure have a great thing going and I am really honoured to be able to feature them this week on Waiting and loving It.. The guy has a very unique name and you will understand why when you read about his background :-).. But more than that, I hope that you are richly blessed by their beautiful story! Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Waiting and Loving IT featuring Gospel and Amarachi Amaugo! Enjoy xx
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OUR STORY - Gospel and Amara Amaugo
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| Hiya!! |
Gospel
Hello, my name is Gospel L. C Amaugo. I am a born again Christian from a Christian home. Actually, my late dad was a Pastor in one of the Pentecostal churches. I am a husband of one wife, whom I married in 2009 about five years ago (though it still feels like we just got married!). I am an Evangelist by calling and I am passionate about disseminating the right information on sex, love and relationships. Hence, I am a relationship expert and a professional counsellor with emphasis on Relationship and Couples Counselling. I have a Masters degree in Public Health from the University of Bedfordshire. My wife and I run an organisation – ‘Relationship Builders International Foundation’, a platform for fulfilling our vision as a couple.
Amara
My name is Amarachi Ngozi Amaugo. I am a Human Resource Management Consultant, a Researcher with special interest in Transfer of Knowledge within Multinational Companies from Emerging Economies. I am also a HRM lecturer with the University of Bedfordshire, United Kingdom. I have a Bachelors degree in Economics, I also did a Masters degree programme in Business Administration MBA at Wisconsin University USA. However, my passion for human capacity development led me to do another postgraduate degree in International Human Resource Management, and I am currently doing my PhD with the University of Bedfordshire, UK. I run a charitable organisation known as 'AMYGRACE FOUNDATION'; which is based in Nigeria. I am the first born of four children.
Amara
My name is Amarachi Ngozi Amaugo. I am a Human Resource Management Consultant, a Researcher with special interest in Transfer of Knowledge within Multinational Companies from Emerging Economies. I am also a HRM lecturer with the University of Bedfordshire, United Kingdom. I have a Bachelors degree in Economics, I also did a Masters degree programme in Business Administration MBA at Wisconsin University USA. However, my passion for human capacity development led me to do another postgraduate degree in International Human Resource Management, and I am currently doing my PhD with the University of Bedfordshire, UK. I run a charitable organisation known as 'AMYGRACE FOUNDATION'; which is based in Nigeria. I am the first born of four children.
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| Love from wayy back! |
Gospel
I met my wife at the university while we were doing our first degree and that was in 1999-2000. Our meeting was not with the intention of marriage, we attended the same campus fellowship (Christ Ambassadors Students Outreach CASOR). We were close friends then, but with time, it became obvious that we had ‘something’ together. You know being a Choral director and she, being a member of the same choir, gave us the opportunity to know each other very well. I believe the decision to marry someone must be based on your knowledge of the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. You don’t have to know everything but at least find out the level of his or her relationship with God and the level of compatibility you share or else you are starting on a wrong footing.When I told her about marriage, there were so many suitors asking for her hand in marriage (she was in high demand!) and you know how difficult it could be for a lady when you have so many attractive options; however that did not deter me because when you know and have seen what you want, you have to go for it, trusting God that what belongs to you will not elude you.
I met my wife at the university while we were doing our first degree and that was in 1999-2000. Our meeting was not with the intention of marriage, we attended the same campus fellowship (Christ Ambassadors Students Outreach CASOR). We were close friends then, but with time, it became obvious that we had ‘something’ together. You know being a Choral director and she, being a member of the same choir, gave us the opportunity to know each other very well. I believe the decision to marry someone must be based on your knowledge of the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. You don’t have to know everything but at least find out the level of his or her relationship with God and the level of compatibility you share or else you are starting on a wrong footing.When I told her about marriage, there were so many suitors asking for her hand in marriage (she was in high demand!) and you know how difficult it could be for a lady when you have so many attractive options; however that did not deter me because when you know and have seen what you want, you have to go for it, trusting God that what belongs to you will not elude you.
I think, she accepted me because she believed God was leading her, she accepted me because she saw a great future in me and believed she has a part to play in the assignment God gave me. Maybe, I should allow her clarify that. For me, I could not see another woman who fit the picture of my dream woman. There were so many reasons to quit the relationship, but I knew that God was in it and I loved her enough to be committed to her forever. I am grateful to God that I made that choice because she has coloured my world with beauty and has proved to me that genuine love is obtainable and can be enjoyed by couples.
Amara
I met my dear husband while I was in the university, we started off as friends though marriage was never in the picture. Over the years our friendship grew, he became my confidant and someone I looked up to. I really admired him a lot.
Gospel
One of the major things that sparked off the interest was her heart, my wife has a wonderful and genuine heart and she has a heart for God. Anyone who knows her knows that she can go the extra mile to touch someone’s life. Furthermore, she is natural, simple and real. Most importantly, she is a woman of integrity which is reflected in her accountability with money, I saw a virtuous woman in her and from my perspective, her moral standards were high. I desired to see that in the woman I was going to marry.
Amara
Amara
I met my dear husband while I was in the university, we started off as friends though marriage was never in the picture. Over the years our friendship grew, he became my confidant and someone I looked up to. I really admired him a lot.
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| Still going strong! :-) |
One of the major things that sparked off the interest was her heart, my wife has a wonderful and genuine heart and she has a heart for God. Anyone who knows her knows that she can go the extra mile to touch someone’s life. Furthermore, she is natural, simple and real. Most importantly, she is a woman of integrity which is reflected in her accountability with money, I saw a virtuous woman in her and from my perspective, her moral standards were high. I desired to see that in the woman I was going to marry.
Amara
I liked so many things about him. The key point about him is that he is very objective, though that was a challenge for me at the early stage, but I realised that he was the only guy who told me things in plain terms. He was not interested in making unnecessary impressions or not being real. The other guys I met did not really challenge me to be the best that I can be. He made me realise the truth about myself, he was very open and truthful to me in a nice way even when it was not convenient for me. For me that was the purest form of honesty.
Gospel
I was convinced about her being the one because we share similar values, faith, vision and all of those. The spiritual compatibility was a key factor to my decision to be married to her; of course, I was 100% convinced that God was in it. So many things happened to confirm that.
Amara
It took me a whole year after he proposed to say 'Yes' because I needed to be sure of who I was gonna spend the rest of my life with(!). I needed to be sure that he is God’s plan for me not withstanding the fact that we share similar values, life principles and all that. The thought of considering other options made me restless but with him, I had an overwhelming peace. I was not scared of the future with him. Now I can beat my chest and say thank God I did.
Gospel
As a couple, we didn't consider waiting until marriage before being intimate as optional, it was a principle that was based on our understanding of God’s word and His expectation for us. We defined the boundaries from the outset, even though by default, we knew it was non-negotiable considering our religious background. Nevertheless, we had to define what waiting entails. It may surprise many people to know that from the year 2000 when I met my wife until 2009 when we got married, we did not kiss, neither did we 'touch'. I know many who believe there is nothing wrong with kissing, but we decided to keep away from that because we believed it was better to be too far from what will lead us into the main act than to burn with lust. After all, Jesus said, that if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has committed the act. So it starts with the mind before the body contact. No matter how passionate you are for someone you love, if you haven’t broken the first boundary line of physical contact, you would never be involved in premarital sex. It does not mean we never had the opportunity to do whatever we wanted, but the accountability was with God and to each other. My wife had the opportunity of being away from Nigeria for her Masters, two years before our marriage; honestly speaking, what kept us together despite the distance was the trust we built while we were together. It is difficult for a thief to trust another thief because you know what he knows. We knew that the foundation of a successful marriage must be laid on sexual purity. I am not saying that if a couple got involved before marriage, then they are doomed forever. My point is that in God’s original plan for marriage, a man should have sex with the wife only after marriage. “Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral” Hebrews 13:5 (NIV). We decided to wait because we wanted to honour the sanctity of our marriage before God. I am very happy we kept this vow because if we had done otherwise, who knows, we probably would not have ended being married. Even if we got married, it would have haunted us today. I also want to say that we kept our vows not basically because we agreed to do so but God saw our heart and our willingness to align to his word and obey his command; thus he granted us the grace.
Amara
Waiting is part of my values and principle. I knew that going against it will affect a lot about me. Personally, it was not something to contemplate doing because I believe it is sin against God and would mean building my marriage on a wrong foundation. Marriage is worth the wait, the curiosity, the fact that you have something to look up to during your honeymoon, makes the waiting a motivation for marriage in itself. I am happy I waited - why steal the sweet when you would have the whole jar for a lifetime?
Gospel
The benefits of waiting are enormous and one of them is trust. I have counselled many married people and I have come to discover that one of the keys to marital success is trust. It is difficult to love someone if you don’t trust the person and trust is built based on knowledge . If I know that when we had the opportunity to do this before marriage and you were able to say NO, it gives me an impression that if you are tempted out there, you are likely to say NO. Premarital sex erodes the foundation of trust in marriage. Please, NEVER START WHAT YOU ARE NOT READY TO FINISH.
The best part of being married is when you are open spiritually, emotionally, mentally, financially, physically and sexually to each other without shame , guilt or fear of being vulnerable. That is what intimacy is all about.
Amara
As a single person, it is important to discover yourself before going into a relationship. Some people go into marriage with the expectation of finding who they are while in marriage and that puts a lot of strain on the relationship. The waiting period should be a time of self-discovery, for when you know who you are, as a woman, you don’t need a man to give love to you in exchange for sex. If he loves you for who you are, he will wait knowing that you are worth the wait. Knowing who you are means you have set values that cannot be compromised irrespective of who is involved or the circumstances that you are faced with.
Do you have any question, or would you or someone you know like to be featured here? Please do not hesitate to contact us!
Email - oneplustheone@gmail.com
Twitter - @1plustheone
Facebook - www.facebook.com/1plustheone
I was convinced about her being the one because we share similar values, faith, vision and all of those. The spiritual compatibility was a key factor to my decision to be married to her; of course, I was 100% convinced that God was in it. So many things happened to confirm that.
Amara
It took me a whole year after he proposed to say 'Yes' because I needed to be sure of who I was gonna spend the rest of my life with(!). I needed to be sure that he is God’s plan for me not withstanding the fact that we share similar values, life principles and all that. The thought of considering other options made me restless but with him, I had an overwhelming peace. I was not scared of the future with him. Now I can beat my chest and say thank God I did.
Gospel
As a couple, we didn't consider waiting until marriage before being intimate as optional, it was a principle that was based on our understanding of God’s word and His expectation for us. We defined the boundaries from the outset, even though by default, we knew it was non-negotiable considering our religious background. Nevertheless, we had to define what waiting entails. It may surprise many people to know that from the year 2000 when I met my wife until 2009 when we got married, we did not kiss, neither did we 'touch'. I know many who believe there is nothing wrong with kissing, but we decided to keep away from that because we believed it was better to be too far from what will lead us into the main act than to burn with lust. After all, Jesus said, that if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has committed the act. So it starts with the mind before the body contact. No matter how passionate you are for someone you love, if you haven’t broken the first boundary line of physical contact, you would never be involved in premarital sex. It does not mean we never had the opportunity to do whatever we wanted, but the accountability was with God and to each other. My wife had the opportunity of being away from Nigeria for her Masters, two years before our marriage; honestly speaking, what kept us together despite the distance was the trust we built while we were together. It is difficult for a thief to trust another thief because you know what he knows. We knew that the foundation of a successful marriage must be laid on sexual purity. I am not saying that if a couple got involved before marriage, then they are doomed forever. My point is that in God’s original plan for marriage, a man should have sex with the wife only after marriage. “Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral” Hebrews 13:5 (NIV). We decided to wait because we wanted to honour the sanctity of our marriage before God. I am very happy we kept this vow because if we had done otherwise, who knows, we probably would not have ended being married. Even if we got married, it would have haunted us today. I also want to say that we kept our vows not basically because we agreed to do so but God saw our heart and our willingness to align to his word and obey his command; thus he granted us the grace.
Amara
Waiting is part of my values and principle. I knew that going against it will affect a lot about me. Personally, it was not something to contemplate doing because I believe it is sin against God and would mean building my marriage on a wrong foundation. Marriage is worth the wait, the curiosity, the fact that you have something to look up to during your honeymoon, makes the waiting a motivation for marriage in itself. I am happy I waited - why steal the sweet when you would have the whole jar for a lifetime?
Gospel
The benefits of waiting are enormous and one of them is trust. I have counselled many married people and I have come to discover that one of the keys to marital success is trust. It is difficult to love someone if you don’t trust the person and trust is built based on knowledge . If I know that when we had the opportunity to do this before marriage and you were able to say NO, it gives me an impression that if you are tempted out there, you are likely to say NO. Premarital sex erodes the foundation of trust in marriage. Please, NEVER START WHAT YOU ARE NOT READY TO FINISH.
The best part of being married is when you are open spiritually, emotionally, mentally, financially, physically and sexually to each other without shame , guilt or fear of being vulnerable. That is what intimacy is all about.
Amara
As a single person, it is important to discover yourself before going into a relationship. Some people go into marriage with the expectation of finding who they are while in marriage and that puts a lot of strain on the relationship. The waiting period should be a time of self-discovery, for when you know who you are, as a woman, you don’t need a man to give love to you in exchange for sex. If he loves you for who you are, he will wait knowing that you are worth the wait. Knowing who you are means you have set values that cannot be compromised irrespective of who is involved or the circumstances that you are faced with.
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| With love from the Amaugos! |
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Don't you just love friendship stories that morph into much more?! *singing* First comes friendship, then comes love :-) (By the way, still single? Better take a second look at your friends again! lol #Kidding.
So many things I like about their story. There was just this 'peace' I got reading it in a funny way (lol), to make me feel comfortable with them just reading their story. Almost like I got invited to lunch at theirs and they were sharing their story over good food :-)
Something Amara said stood out for me, "Why steal the sweet when you would have the whole jar for a lifetime?" Great reminder to self - In due season, the time will come, and glorious it shall be. I trust God enough to believe so, hope you do too? :-)
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Please click HERE for other wonderful Waiting and Loving It Couples!
Do you have any question, or would you or someone you know like to be featured here? Please do not hesitate to contact us!
Email - oneplustheone@gmail.com
Twitter - @1plustheone
Facebook - www.facebook.com/1plustheone
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