We are moving!!!

After over three years of blogging on WordPress, it is with great joy that I announce that drumrolls 

We are moving to our own website!!!

Moyosmiles will no longer blog on WordPress but on Moyosmiles.com. I finally have an avenue that brings together all the things I love – God, fashion and writing. 

So let me tell you a little bit about the website so you’ll be as excited as I am to go check it out. 

Moyosmiles is divided into two major pages: The Girls in Tiaras Page and the House of Smiles. 

The House of Smiles contains everything about my journey with Christ, my fashion blog and fitness. 

The “Girls in Tiaras” page is what I’m really going to draw attention to here because it is not mine but God’s. 

What is Girls in Tiaras ? 
  

We should not  perish for lack of knowledge. Ignorance should not be our excuse. It’s the 21st century and we are very inquisitive people. We should know the WORD more than we know the WORLD. We need more communities of young people built on the foundation of sharing the pure, undiluted truth in love. We need more older women coming out to mentor the younger ones; not condemning them but embracing them in love and truth. We need to come together to fight for the kingdom not against ourselves. 

Girls in Tiaras is one of those avenues. We want to build a community of young women who will constantly thirst for the Word and seek to get more insight from the Holy Spirit. Discuss the truth without photoshop and encourage each other through the storms of life. It’s time we picked up our crowns/tiaras dust them off and start living like a King actually did die for us. 

You all have been wonderful and sharing this journey with you has made it even more worthwhile. I am even more excited for what God is going to do in our lives through this website. 

What are you waiting for ?! Click on Moyosmiles now to find out more and don’t forget to subscribe there! 

Love always 

Moyosmiles 

Who am I ?

“You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely oh Lord”- Psalm 139: 3-4

You guys know how much I love gospel music. Worship is my favorite time with God and I am thankful to the Holy Spirit for being a source of inspiration to many of the songwriters/singers I listen to, because it definitely has to be God. I listen to the words of some songs and I’m like: “they couldn’t have possibly come up with that on their own”. The depth some of these songs carry and the connection I have with them is nothing short of divinity. 

So this song by casting crowns came to my mind when I was having one of those wordless conversations with Pops (God).  The song is titled “who am I” and the line that stood out to me was. 

“Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin, will look on me with love and watch me rise again” 

Boy, did that hit me! 

Do you ever wonder: “if some of our closest friends knew us so much that they know about every sin, every random bad thought that comes to our minds, every craziness…. 

Would they still love us the same?”

No really, you gotta be honest, If the tables were turned, how easy would it be for you to look past that and for how long before the camel’s back is broken?

Well, God does that every time. He knows us more than we even know ourselves. Deepest darkest secrets? Yep. He knows every single one of them. 

But his knowledge of those things doesn’t take an inch, not even a pinch out of the kind of love he has for us. 

Another line in the song goes:

” I am a flower quickly fading,

Here today and gone tomorrow 

A wave tossed in the ocean 

Vapor in the wind…”

THIS is ME! I see my indecisiveness, my wavering mind, my sometimes shaky faith  and I’m like :

“God how are you able to put up with all of these?”

And my answer was in the bridge of the song that goes: 

“Not because of who I am 

But because of what you’ve done 

Not because of what I’ve done  

But because of who you are”

I could go on and on trying to fathom the extent of God’s love. I could spend my whole life trying to figure it out but I just cannot get to the end of it. As far as the east is from the west…

It has nothing to do with my abilities or the works of my hands. It is simply who he is- Love. 

Thank you daddy, even though I may never get to fully comprehend your love, it is a book I never want to stop reading, it’s a story I never want to stop hearing about, it is a song I never want to stop singing. 

Your love is an ocean that runs deep….

Little things

While growing up, mom and I always had quarrels about my inability to hold a smile. She would say: “you squeeze your face like you carry the weight of the world on your head”. Then I would get angry and tell her that was who I was, not everyone needed to have a smile plastered on their face. Another time it was about my lack of enthusiasm when greeting people; She told me I would greet in such a grumpy way. And again I replied, “mom, I’m an introvert, you just don’t understand me” 
To me, not smiling was more of a defense mechanism. I didn’t want people to take me for granted because I was quiet and I thought me not smiling would guard against that. 

I have now grown to understand that the fights I had with my mom weren’t about me changing my personality but my attitude. She thought me to value everyone I come across in life;even when they have nothing to offer me

 It is true, as an introvert, I find it difficult to start up conversations with people because it takes me a while to warm up to them. I’ve had times when I’m having a really bad day and then someone random smiles at me. Their smile doesn’t take away the situation but it sure makes a difference to have someone show that simple act of kindness and it has nothing to do with whether they’re introverts or not. Which made me realize not smiling wasn’t in anyway a defense mechanism, it was just me holding back simple gestures.

 
I met miss Gloria on one of my trips to the bathroom in the Engineering study room. I had seen her cleaning there a couple of times but I decided to say hello that day. Ever since then, we would stop to have a 5 min chit chat every time we run into each other. 

Robin is the lady that stays in the mini mart in the same building and she would ask about my day, tell me about hers and tell some jokes every time I drop by to grab a snack. 

These ladies are not in any way obligated to be kind to me but they are anyway and the short conversations I have with them add up to what makes my day. 

We get so focused on the big goal, the big picture, the big life that we fail to recognize and appreciate the little things. 

I’m learning to be more conscious of the people around me. I’d say thank you to the bus driver when getting off the bus and even though it’s their job, they should still be appreciated for it ; if they decide not to do it I’d have to walk to school everyday. 

I’d smile at the construction guy on my way to the bus stop in the morning just to silently wish him a good day. 

We are all going through something in some way or the other and you never know what difference a simple gesture would make. 

Sharing the gospel doesn’t necessarily have to be us carrying our bibles and standing on the streets. Sometimes it’s just treating people the way we want to be treated. Sometimes it is just acknowledging people and appreciating them for who they are. Sometimes it is just as simple as a smile. And you’ll never know how  these little things will draw people to the light we radiate. 
“Sometimes, we are the first Bible people get to read”

I’m grateful to my mom for teaching me this valuable lesson and I pray God gives us all the grace to see the joy in the little things. 

When Protocols are broken for your sake.

I shared a Testimony almost a year ago about my “big move”. Yep it’s been a year and I was reminded of how much favor God poured out to me today after I left my advisor’s office to finalize my graduation plans. Yep yep! Baby girl is graduating next year. If you read my testimony last year, you’ll understand how much of a big deal that is. 

For those that didn’t read it, I’ll do a quick flash back ( or just click  Here to read). I transferred from a Nigeria University last year to one in the U.S and I had ALOT of odds against me. I literally had to live out Romans 8:31 because honestly, God was the only one for me. It was a risky step because the possibility of my credits not being accepted were very high. I was already three years into my degree in Nigeria and coming here might mean I have to start over. That was just one of the things on the long list of odds. See, the God I serve does not work with protocols; there’s no such thing as a natural cause of things when the Holy Spirit is involved. 

 Hmmn, let me just let you in on a secret, PRAY. Do not ever underestimate the power of a praying tongue, talk to God about EVERYTHING.  You are NEVER too young to PRAY! 

  

So a lot of my credits were accepted but I still had problems with a couple of them. I was advised to take an exam that’ll cover the remaining credits so I can still graduate as planned. It was an English exam and if you’ve taken SATs and co you’ll understand what it means to have to write such,especially at this stage in my academics. I took the exam half-spirited. Lol. In honesty, I was prepared to take it a second time just in case it didn’t work out. I passed though! 

I went to see my advisor today and she said: “Moyo you have everything working out perfectly for you, you’ve gotten all your credits and you’re on the right track; lucky you!”. In my mind I was like,  me? Lucky? Lol. If you know who goes before me to level the mountains, blessed would be the word. 

Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been the smoothest year since I got here. In fact, it has been one of the toughest years in my life. But never for once did I let Phillipians 1:6 slip away from the palm of my hands 

  

I have had to battle with my faith in the midst of storms; it got to a point where I had to recite bible verses while walking on the road just to keep my heart from beating so fast. But You see, when I wrote the post  Do not calm the storm I meant every word of it. I began to realize that with every storm, my faith gained an extra point. I grew. I can confidently say I am not the same person I was last year and if God had left me to happily sit in my comfort zone, I wouldn’t be able to say that right now. So for that, I’m grateful . And for the times I couldn’t pray for myself, I’m grateful for the awesome friends that never stopped praying for me. 

So does this mean I get a Yes from God everytime I ask for something? Lol. I wish. 

In this past year I have learnt and even still learning that prayer is a mode of communication between me and God not a request session. Sometimes I even talk to Him like he’s physically there. You know, chilling with the Holy Spirit kinda thing. lol

Another thing I learnt is that God’s will prevails in every situation. So when I get a yes from God about something then I know it’s because my plans align with his will not because I know how to pray better than the rest of the world. And when I get a no, it doesn’t match his will; simply put. It’s however difficult,sometimes to take a no for an answer because we want to believe our plans are better. I find myself having these larger than life plans and God is like Nope, I have a better one. 

Why then do I still ask if He already has a plan?

I’m asking with the hope that his will may be revealed to me and align my thoughts with it. And even when I’m not so comfortable with His will at that point, I ask for the grace to be at peace with it. 

We pray because communication is one of the best ways to keep a relationship alive not because we have the ability to bend God’s will. 

I know it is really hard to stay in the back seat and have God be the driver, but really, that’s all you gotta do. 

God has been faithful to me ,not because of what I’ve done but because of who he is. Talk to him, even in the storms, He listens. He’ll give you the strength to get through it and reveal Himself to you in ways you can’t imagine. 

  

Grace and peace !

Grumbling is inversely proportional to peace.

“Look at a mountain for what it is, not as a comment on your life”- unknown.

I used to complain about everything.  Sky is falling? I’m complaining about it, because when the sky falls, I’ll be the only one affected. I didn’t realize this was a problem until nothing seemed to satisfy me anymore. This minute I’m looking forward to something, the next I’m complaining about it. It became a habit. A reflex action to everything. Sometimes I’d even complain about being too happy. Lol 

I complained about a lot of things because I was always so focused on the downside, so much that I rarely  even notice the bright side. It was a big challenge to stay positive in dwindling situations when my mind is always trying to pick out the things that don’t seem right. I remember a situation that really drew my attention to this behavior. 

Some years back, my phone was really bad and I wanted to get a new one so bad. I was always complaining about how horrible my phone was and I went on and on about it without actually making an attempt to get the problem fixed. It got so much that my best friend snapped at me one day: “please go get yourself a new phone and stop whining in my ears” 

I didn’t even realize I had talked about it so many times for her to get that irritated. That’s just one of the countless examples. 

The thing about incessantly complaining is the aura you carry with you. You’re not only making life uncomfortable for yourself but also for people around you. People rarely want to be around you because of the probability of their days getting ruined. I have been around people who never stop complaining and that even made me want to change that attitude more. Continuously grumbling is actually a sin (1 Corinthians 10:10)

Remember the Israelites ? They complained so much that they provoked Moses to the point of hitting the rock twice.  

Circumstances will come in life, sometimes they’ll seem unbearable or annoying and it’s easier for us to never stop complaining about it; maybe a way to distract us from the problem itself. Yeah, there are just some things you can’t help but complain about, but note that there’s a healthy limit. 

So how do you reduce the way you complain ? 

Look at a moutain for what it really is and not as a comment on your life 

You must first understand that while there are a lot of things within your circle of influence, there are a million other things outside it. The moment you accept that fact, you’re one step ahead. 
In every situation you find yourself, focus your energy on the good side of things. Easier said than done right? Trust me, coming from someone who made a living out of complaining, it is doable. 

Even when it is really difficult to pin-point anything good that could possibly come out of something  Find peace in the fact that a valuable lesson will be learnt. 

Like a friend told me: “begin with the end in mind”  

In other words, highlight possible outcomes of situations, condition your mind to be okay with wherever the road leads and life will rarely throw surprises at you. 

The difference between an optimist and a pessimist is perspective. One of the things I have learnt is that, the heart can be conditioned the way you want it to be. 

Don’t follow your heart; lead it 

God has been wonderful enough to give us that gift of free will. Which means, you can’t control a lot of situations but you’re in full control of your response to life and the choices you make. After you’ve made your choice, His grace is readily available to help you hold on to that choice. 

If you feel you’ve been caught up in the sin of grumbling and acknowledge the need for a change, ask God for the grace to see the good in everything. You’d be surprised at how much of a burden will be lifted off your neck. 
Grace and peace !

Pursuit of Joyfulness.

I stopped being on the pursuit of happiness after understanding the clear distinction between Joy and happiness. Joy, an independent variable, requires no external constraint for its existence. It’s one of the fruits of the spirit that replaces the crucifixion of the flesh (Galatians 5:22) and demands absolutely nothing but the presence of the Holy Spirit to operate. 

We are constantly on the pursuit of happiness. We are in search of that which will give us optimum satisfaction, trying to fill a void so to say. We say things like : “I’ll be happy when I get this or when I get to this position or when I’m with this person. We become so encapsulated by our penchant need for the “happiness idol” that we build our entire lives around it. 

You’d think a life time would be  enough to find this “ultimate treasure” but if that were true, many wouldn’t die without finding it. Do we ever stop to consider if we are actually chasing after the right thing before embarking on this journey of uncertainty?

Happiness is a dependent variable and it has such a large pool of demands that its seekers get caught in a cycle of dissatisfaction. Happiness says: 

“you are filled up with whatever makes you happy and once it is removed, you are empty”

I always wonder how the apostles found peace in whatever situation they found themeselves. 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness- James 1:2 

This level of radicalism pertaining to Joy can only be explained by the clear understanding of the distinction between Joy and happiness. Of course, it makes no humanly sense for us to remain happy in the midst of trials- that’ll be very weird. Being joyful, however, is looking beyond the present afflictions and succumbing to a greater force within (1 John 4:4)

I’m on a pursuit of Joyfulness; a cycle of peace.  Not that I will not sometimes be affected by the happenings around me because the flesh remains as it is. I’m on a pursuit of Joyfulness, confident of the fact that my Joy cannot be stolen, it cannot be devalued… it is my fountain of strength. 

Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength- Nehemiah 8:10

Treasures in Hidden Places

The birds in the sky

The grass where I lie

The blossoming hibiscus

Paul on the road to Damascus 

Little miracles…big miracles 

The inspiring pianist 

The humble  florist 

The air I breathe 

My soul beneath 

Little miracles…big miracles 

The dawn of a new day 

The words I get to say 

The painter’s depth 

A baby’s birth 

Little miracles…big miracles 

In everything your glory unfolds  

Everyday, a miracle to behold 

A place to dwell, you chose my heart 

The universe,  a beautiful work of art 

Little or big, every moment with you is a miracle. 

Whatever you’re doing…

“How did it begin?” 

When you tell me to explain to you what is going on inside of me. I’m quiet… 
I’m quiet because I have no words to describe it. 

I can’t possibly put my thoughts into a coherent statement. I’d babble for a minute and then my words would get caught in between my breath. I want to explain to you… So so badly you have no idea. But I can’t explain it, atleast not by myself…… 

I could tell you a story of how it all began… Maybe you’d see from where I’m standing. 

---

“It’s time for healing time to move on

It’s time to fix what’s been broken too long

Time to make right what has been wrong

It’s time to find my way to where I belong

There’s a wave that’s crashing over me

All I can do is surrender 

Whatever you’re doing inside of me

It feels like chaos somehow there’s peace

It’s hard to surrender to what I can’t see

but I’m giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again

Revaluate who I really am

Am I doing everything to follow your will

or just climbing aimlessly over these hills

So show me what it is you want from me

I give everything I surrender…

Time to face up
Clean this old house

Time to breathe in and let everything out

That I’ve wanted to say for so many years

Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever you’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe

You’re up to something bigger than me

Larger than life, something heavenly

Whatever you’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see

This is something bigger than me

Larger than life, something heavenly

Something heavenly

It’s time to face up
Clean this old house

Time to breathe in and let everything out”

Song lyrics: Whatever you’re doing (Something Heavenly)  by Sanctus Real 

Chastity for Men by Frances Okoro

When Frances reached out to me about publishing a book called “Chastity for Men”, I was really excited for what was to come because I saw what the series did on her blog. And then when she went ahead to say: “Sis, could you please write a review for me after reading it”, I was beyond honored.
This young lady has inspired me in countless ways and sometimes I forget that we’ve never even met in person, lol.  Thank you so much Frances, for letting the Holy Spirit use you to be a messenger of God’s word; you have no idea how many lives have been touched. 
Click  HERE to download the e-book and you can email me ( moyosoreaj@gmail.com) if you need me to send it to you personally.

Sex is a topic every believer thinks about or might have thought about at some point, yet it is something we least talk about in our churches. We need to start revealing, in depth, the true purpose behind God creating sex instead of teaching young people to stay away from it or they’ll go to hell or die sighs

I have  to commend Frances for not only stepping out boldly to share her story on sexual sin but also for being brave enough to address it to men.
Many times I have sat in the congregation and listen to pastors talk about premarital sex. For the most part, they point the arrow of discussion towards women. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard: “women, keep yourselves for your husbands!” And I’m there thinking: “is my husband keeping himself for me?” My point here is, the bible addresses sexual immorality for the female gender just as much as it does for the male population ( 1 Corinthians 6:16-20)

Sex is one of the major ways through which the devil has infiltrated our hearts and he has managed to turn something God himself created for his children to enjoy (Ephesians 5:31) into an instrument of destruction.
Purity is not just about keeping your virginity or abstaining from premarital sex. It is a way of life in which God has called us to live so that we may enjoy the full essence of the liberty he bought for us through the blood of his only son. Purity is an intentional decision you make everyday, a decision to die to self and live a life holy and acceptable in the sight of God; this applies to everyone, male and female.
Thereof, we do not choose to live a life of purity just because we are saving ourselves for our future spouse or because of the fear of going to hell. We choose purity because we love God and this is His will for us.
  
Frances and the men in this book shared their stories of struggling with sexual sin with us to encourage us that there’s no such thing as being too far gone because you can always find your way back to the throne of grace (1st Corinthians 10:13). I remember a friend telling me: “A man that doesn’t have sex till marriage is not normal and I have never met such a man.” Wow, the devil really is a liar isn’t he.

This book reveals so many treasures in hidden places and sheds more light on chastity for our brothers who may also think it is “abnormal” to stay away from all forms of sexual immorality. Don’t worry, it is completely okay if you weren’t aware of the importance of purity because I have once sat comfortably in my ignorance as well. However, after reading this book, you no longer have an excuse.

My dear dear brothers, I know the society has twisted so many things in its favor and made you believe your worth is in the number of women you’ve slept with. I hope by the time you read this book, you can truly understand that a man’s nobility is in his ability to serve God whole-heartedly even if it means sacrificing a moment of pleasure. You have no idea how much heaven respects a man that obeys God’s commands and if I were you, I’d care more about the “heavenly popularity”.
My prayer is that all men who are still struggling with this sin will be inspired by the stories of these brave men who were once in their shoes and hence, made the decision in their hearts to break free.

And to my darling sisters, Frances has addressed the last chapter of this book to us. If you’re already on the path of purity, I encourage you to keep keeping on and if you’re not, not to worry because our Heavenly Father gives us a clean slate as soon as we make that decision to start afresh. Don’t let the society tell you “there’s nothing to preserve” because there is so much more to ( read the book to find out more :p)

Finally, coming back from the bondage of sexual sin may seem like the most impossible thing to do and the world may even mock you for it. I want you to know that you are not alone, even when it feels like it. The devil’s goal is always to bury us in the guilt and shame of our sins (John 10:10) but guess what? God wants us to trade it all for eternal joy and everlasting peace ( Matthew 8:17).
I pray that God gives us all the grace to not get tired of doing his will and a spirit that loves him more than the world.

Once again, here is the link to the e-book series: http://www.imperfectlyperfectlives.com/chastity-for-men/

P.S: I have a big surprise for you soon! Stay in touch will ya? 😀

Grace and peace.

God is not Logical.

I know I’m supposed to continue my review on “The Runaway Bride” by Heather Lindsey but I thought we’d take a rain check. This is actually somewhat related because it’s part of what my friends and I discussed during our book review, so I thought I should share it.
Over the centuries, humans have effortlessly tried to answer the question: “Is there a God?” 

Different theories have been put forward by numerous schools of thoughts as to whether there really is an existence of a supreme being. However, I am not here to stand in-between existing controversies but to share my thoughts on my already established stance. 

I shared this a few days ago: 

“I want to teach my children to understand the clear distinction between religion and faith”. 

Why you may ask? 

Religion is just a term that describes a group of people and what they believe in; merely carrying a tag on your neck that shows your religion doesn’t equal the level of your faith. Religion sometimes makes us place constraints on our faith as we find ourselves picking out what to follow and what not to. It turns our relationship with God into a routine and without realizing it, we begin to worship the idea of God rather than God himself. Teaching them religion without clarifying the discrepancies with faith leaves them at the risk of getting locked in a monotonous life, hence getting bored and then losing interest completely. 

So understanding, first, that you are not saved by your religion but by your faith draws a line between logic and faith. 

What is Faith? 

Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance in what we do not see- Hebrews 11:1

From the little years I’ve spent in academics, I believe that defies all scientific laws. It is just mere hypothesis because for you to have ASSURANCE in something you must have carried out a plethora of experiments and have physical proof that your theory is feasible or valid. 

Now what is logic? 

Logic is the use and study of valid reasoning 

You see the two don’t mix? In fact they are two things moving in opposite directions; their paths can never cross. 

My point here is, sometimes we try to make sense of God’s plans for us. As intelligent beings that we are , we want to break it down into logical reasoning and most times it never works out. Trying to match logic with faith is like wanting to fit a square in a triangular hole. It’s difficult to believe when God says He wants to do something huge in us when in the real sense of it, it is absolutely ridiculous.

Just imagine telling a 90- year old Sarah she’s going to conceive, isn’t that something you’d laugh so hard about. And that’s the whole point God was trying to make when He said : 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways – Isaiah 55:8

You can’t begin to wrap your head around His supremacy, He’s an unsolvable  puzzle, a mystery that has no end. 

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not – John 1:5 

I find myself questioning God a lot of times, especially in the case of bad things happening to good people. Or when I ask for something and He gives me another thing that’s not even close to my request. While I was reading Heather’s book today, the Holy Spirit ministered to me thus: 

Instead of trying to understand God’s every move, instead of questioning every decision He makes for you, why not direct that energy into loving and trusting Him.  Fall helplessly at His feet and ask Him to align your thoughts to His will. He is the driver of this car you’re in and would you rather be a distraction than a cheerleader? 

The more we try to logicalize things with God, the harder it is to trust Him and the farther we are away from Him. 
Grace and Peace.