The 100th One! Yayy!!

This is my 100th post on 1 + The One, yay!! I don't even know what to say but laugh hehehehehehe.. I'm smilinggggg... Thank you Jesus! I have actually never celebrated a landmark on here so allow me to be happy :-D :-D

So as you may have guessed, I am intrigued by relationships :-)

I love love, and everything about it! I love the love of God and I love the love that I have experienced thus far in my life..

I have always wondered if it is worth falling in love even if it doesn't last or it's cut short. So, would you rather fall in love and experience heart-break it's end or would you rather not love at all than go through the whole hurt.. 

Hmmmmm, I've always wondered as sometimes depending on what frame of mind I am in at the time, I'm like 'Oh, I don't regret being with him at all, the joys of being in love with him I will not trade at all' and other days I'm like 'Oh Lord, if you knew it would not work out, why did you make it happen? I would rather have not than have to face this intense sadness'.... You see, I belong to the category of people who when they love, love hard! It doesn't happen easily but when it does, it hits hard!

So what do you think? Which school of thought do you belong to?

To love and lose but be grateful for the experience or to love and lose and wish you never had to go through it?

At the moment, I'm in a grateful place so I am dedicating this post to HOG!

You have a special place in my heart bebe! Love you still xx

The Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Hi all!!



So, I was very chuffed and grateful when I went on one of my very favourite bloggers site and saw that I had a .. *drum roll* nomination from him as an inspiring blog *awww*.
"I would like to thank God - The ultimate One, my family, friends, fellow bloggers who have inspired me to no end, faithful readers / commenters, God again, enemies for being wonderful audiences as He sets a table before me :-P " iKid.. But seriously though, I'm truly gratefully.

The truth is I find his posts so wonderfully encouraging and every time he writes a comment on any of my posts. they.. 'make sense gan' lol. He is an incredibly wise and focused man and if he wasn't the one who nominated me, he would have definitely made the list below!

Set Watchman, thanks so much!!!! And as you make a way for others, you will always achieve your dreams! Please check out his very fantastic blog here.

So here goes, these are the rules!

1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you. (Should I be ashamed to admit that I don't know how to do this? Help Plssss!)
3. State 7 things about yourself
4. Nominate 15 other bloggers for this award and link to them.
5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and award's requirements.

7 things about myself:
1. I love singing and dancing, music and songs. I sing anyhow, anywhere - on the road, in the shower etc :-)
2. I love reading - haven't had the time to in recent times though.
3. I am not a TV / movie person at all.
4. My favourite book is Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.
5. I attend the Redeemed Christian Church of God and one person in the whole wide world I would love to spend 'learning' time with at the moment is Pastor E.A Adeboye  (Oh bonus, I LOVEE Pastor Agu Irukwu)
6. I am a 'people-person' but treasure my 'home-time'. Family is a major priority for me.. After God, comes family.
7. I am passionate about Jesus :-D I am in a place at the moment where I want to know Him more, fall deeeeeep in love with Him and cultivate an intimate relationship with Him. I love GOD.

Phew.. So that's a little bit of me.

Now to nominate 15 people *rubs hand in glee*

1. EROInspirations - I love this amazing woman. She is an inspiration indeed. Would definitely love to meet her! :-)
2. SayeDero aka The Fashion Engineer - An Engineer and fashionista extraordinnaire! I admire and I'm inspired by her creativity, sheer genius! 
3. Aloted - Another wonderful woman. Encourager through and through.
4. Myne Whitman - A wonderful writer and social activist :-) Has her own book published and is making it happen! Obviously loves what she does and is committed to it.
5. Boundless Line - A blog by different contributors who break down the ABC of God-ly relationships. Wonderful!
6. DollChic - Another lovely young woman of substance. Her faith and life inspires me.
7. GoodNaijagirl - The 'Thankful' lady :-) Always has a positive outlook to life.
8. Wailacaan - Witty, down-to-earth and lovely young Christian lady. Her writing style is lovely. Always a joy to read.
9. Solomonsydelle - One of my main inspirations for venturing into the world of blogging. Thank you! xx
10. Linda Ikeji - My other main inspiration to start blogging. Thank you! xx
11. From Now Till I Do - Beautiful woman with a heart for God. Love her insights into being newly married.
12. Chibundu - Such an achiever at a young age and a Christian who is not ashamed to publicly state it to boot! Inspiring!
13. Verastic - One of my early reads. Real and down-to-earth. Her writing style inspires me. I definitely see a talkshow in the offing!
14. My World of Acting - Lovely personality (well from her blog :-) and a great encourager.
15. The Alabaster Jar - One of my new finds but I have absolutely learnt so much! Again, focused on marriage, relationships et al.

So the list above is by no means exhaustive! All the blogs listed on the right hand corner of this page inspire me! I refer to them as my blog treasures. May God bless you all and continue to make you Lights in this world and an inspiration to others!

Loveeee xxxx

Lettin' that bad bwoy go!

So one of my friends asked recently during a discussion how a 'young heart moves on from a broken relationship with someone who is not good for them or someone who is maltreating her but can't seem to move on'.

Now, I I'm not an expert on this topic (and I hope never to be by experience! Lol) but I thought I may just share some of the points that I have found personally helpful when it comes to going through that process.

The truth is that a number of us have gone through what is referred to as 'wrong love' syndrome and the worst part is when for some, after the relationship ends, you are unable to or find it difficult to let go or move on.

So here goes, suffering from a broken heart + 'wrong love' syndrome and want to move on / let go? Hope this helps:

1. You need to want to move on. You need to come to a place of understanding that the relationship is not good for you and not for you. If you keep thinking 'what if', moving on will be extra hard.

2. You need to believe that you are WORTH a good man. If you are happy to settle with someone who is not good enough or who will not treat / celebrate you as you ought, it will be difficult for you to move on.

3. You need to constantly affirm yourself as the lady that God has made you to be and believe it. Books / audio messages help a great deal. Listen to some Joyce Meyer / Pastor Bimbo Odukoya / T.D Jakes / Christian friends for some encouragement. You need to hear things to reassure you that your self-worth is not determined by any man or relationship... Remember faith comes by HEARING!... Hear the right things!

3. You need to try as much as possible to avoid the triggers that remind you of that relationship. Not a total cutting off (although that's necessary sometimes) but avoid those things that bring back memories of both of you being together, as much as possible. Then also stop texting/calling/fbooking (even if it's just to 'check on him' - yup we all know that line! lol). Let considerable time pass before you begin doing that again.

4. Now, the most important and helpful thing for me is the assurance that GOD gives of who I am in Him, how much He loves me, and how much He has invested in me. At this point, you need that closeness with Him, pray for strength from Him. Cry if you want to, but everyday until it happens, ask God for the grace to let go. It may not come immediately, it may seem like it's getting to you badddd but the wonderful thing about committing things to God is that He has a great way of turning bad situations into great testimonies.

He may not come back but there's a reason why that door is closed and in due time, you will see it. Trust your faithful Father in heaven and patiently wait. You will certainly see it and thank God for it.
If he is yours, he will come back but not on your terms or by sitting idle waiting for him to realise he's made a mistake, you have to move on with your life by God's grace and let/watch God move on your behalf.

I can certainly testify that no matter how bad it seems, when you look back on it, you will have much to thank God for. Trust Him, He has only the best will for you.

So my friend, let that bad bwoy go! xxxx

PS there's no text book answer or solution as each person is different so please feel free to share your helpful points :-) God bless you xxxx

Thank God for Closed Doors!

I have been thinking and reflecting recently and today I listened to a wonderful message by Joel Osteen about 'The God who closes Doors'.

It was just a confirmation of the encouragement and words I have been getting from God. I will be writing from the point of relationships but please feel free to apply it as you deem fit.

So, I have been very very sad about the end of my last relationship. To be honest, I thought he was the One. Even though I had only known him for a short while, I was convinced it was one of those relationships that take off very quickly because you just KNOW... 

He was many things I had hoped and prayed for in my future partner. In fact I had admired him from afar and the fact that it became real made me want to sing and dance for joy. I was sooo in lovee! I kept thanking God everyday that not only did he bring someone into my life, He brought HIM.. It was an answer to my prayers and I felt a reward for all the time of waiting!

I don't think both of us would have ever thought that very shortly down the line we would be calling it quits and for no apparent reason. It just wasn't working out and I did not want to remain in something that wasn't 100%. I desire God's best and I wasn't ready for anything less no matter how attractively packaged it was. I must admit that I had my own issues etc but I don't think it was over the top. 

So when it ended, I cried and cried! I didn't even know it could ever get to me like that! I have had my fair share of disappointments in relationships so I thought it would just be one of those things but this one was different. I don't think I have ever felt this heart-broken and helpless before. 

Of course the next thing I did was turn to God.. I prayed and prayed! I asked God for mercy, to right the wrong. To make him come back... But He didn't or He hasn't and I have been so discouraged. What makes it worse is that there is no apparent reason why it had to end. 

... However, I am coming to understand that sometimes God closes a door to open THE door and like Joel Osteen said in his message, He loves you too much to give you less when you cry for it when He knows that the best is coming! Our thoughts/visions/plans are way limited compared to what God has in store for us. And sometimes He withholds what looks ideal to our human eyes to enable us get the real deal! 

..Sometimes though, He requires you to give up that precious thing to prove that without it you can still remain happy and content in Him. If He chooses, He brings it back, just like Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22:!-19) BUT even if He doesn't, know that He has not a shred of wickedness in Him.. All God has for you and I is love and He ONLY ever wants the best for you.

Be encouraged, you and I don't know what God has just saved us from because our sight is limited but in due season, you will come to know and appreciate Him even more. Right now, all you can do is trust in Him, thank Him in all situations and wait with the right attitude for the very BEST He has for you.

Lots of love xxxx