Episode 1: Walking by Faith with Rev. Robin Smiley

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to the Circle 31 podcast. I am your host, Ayanna Robinson-Dixon. And on today's episode, I'll be talking with Reverend Robin Smiley. Reverend Smiley is the CEO of From the Heart to You Catering and of Higher Apparel. She's also an ordained minister and the visionary of Come Up Higher Ministries. Today, you'll hear firsthand from a woman of faith. Reverend Smiley walks us through the ups and downs in her life and how God showed up in real and practical ways for her. No matter what you've been doing, you know, it was just like, okay, I knew then that I heard God for once, you know, my great spirit was over and to return to my first love. And I just went down and, you know, she's like, sister, why are you here? And I just cried and said, I'm returning to my first love, you know, and from there, that's when he really started working in me through ministry and in my businesses. Reverend Smiley shares with us the practicality of walking with the Lord day by day and moving forward by faith when God doesn't show you the entire picture. Now, here is my interview with Reverend Robin Smiley. I'm here with Reverend Robin Smiley. Thank you so much for being a part of what we're doing. Thank you for being a guest on the Circle 31 podcast. It's a pleasure to have you here today. Thank you for having me. Now, you are a woman of faith that wears many hats. You're a CEO, you're a visionary of a ministry, you're an author. Can you just tell us a little bit about how God is using you in those different areas? Sure, sure. And they all came about, none of it was planned. None of it was Robin's idea, but it all came about as a result of my obedience and a result of my faith in him. So as you mentioned, I am a CEO. I have a catering company from the Heart to You Catering, as well as an online clothing store of higher apparel. And both of those really started just out of my passion. I wasn't looking to really... have them as a full-time business, but what God has shown me, I actually started with the catering. And every time I had a catering job, people would always respond with, what did you do to this food? It's just something about this food, right? And what they didn't know was that I did pray, right? I did pray every time before I would prepare the food. And even if I had to serve and get there, but what God was showing me was even through the food, it was a form of of ministry, it was ministering life, it was ministering hope, it was ministering even health, because I try to use healthy products, right? And so then later on after the catering, I started going to Bible college. And again, that was simply because I wanted to grow closer to God. I wanted a better relationship with him. I wanted things to be better in my marriage at the time. not thinking about being ordained as a minister, none of that. But as the years went on, it was like, okay, because when we, by the time you got to your fourth year, actually your third year, you had to fill out this form and say how you wanted to graduate. And I never, you know, I saw it each year, but I didn't pay attention. And then when I saw all the different, you know, ways as an ordained minister or as this type of, you know, or just a certificate, God kept saying, I'm ordaining you for such a time as this. And I'm like, okay. And so I clicked the box, still not knowing where it was going to go because the Bible college was through my church. So I was serving there. So I was thinking, well, this is no big deal. I'm already serving. And so I got ordained in October of 2006 and just continued to serve. But As I mentioned earlier, things weren't that great in my marriage at the time. Unfortunately, that marriage ended in divorce a year later. So even with that, I'm like, God, how are you going to ordain me as a minister and have me speak into women? Because I had started a small women's prayer group with a girlfriend about marriage. I said, how are you going to have me teach women about marriage? And I can't even keep mine together. And so he's like, I just need you to trust me. Everything you've gone through is for a purpose. And don't condemn yourself. I've forgiven you. Let's do what I've got for you to do. For a time, though, I was angry and I walked away from the church because I was like, why you didn't change my husband? Why you didn't save my marriage? You know, I blame God for everything. I wasn't taking accountability for anything. And, you know, he let me stay out there a little while. I mean, I just act like I didn't know who he was in that time. Right. And finally, he said, look here, girl, your grace period is over, you know, and I'm just so grateful that I was grounded enough to recognize the voice of God. I knew that, okay, I had to get it together. He was calling me back. What did that tug feel like Reverend Smiley when you were said you were in that period where you were out there and when you heard God calling you back and like you put it, your grace period was over. Can you please walk us through what that was, what that was like and how you actually applied the call you heard from God as someone who was angry, as someone who was like, Lord, where were you? Can you walk us through that? Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, at the point of realizing that the marriage wasn't going to work, it was almost like a child having a tantrum. Right. I just had a tantrum and I was like, I'm not going to do what you say. I'm not going to the church. I'm, you know, and but even now. At the same time, I was like, Robin, what are you doing? You know, this isn't right. Everywhere I went, you know, I'd see something that reminded me of God. I couldn't stop playing my gospel music, even though I tried to only listen to, you know, the secular stations. I always was drawn back or I'd see a license plate, right? So he was always speaking to me, you know, but yet I was still running. You know, I was like, well, I'm not going to church because I know somebody going to say X, Y, and Z. It's like when you know that you're not doing right, you stay at from the people that are going to steer you back in the right direction, right? And so then that tug got so tough, right? It was like, you know, I'm tugging one way and God's tugging the other way and he wouldn't let me go. You know, like, who was it? Jacob wrestling with the angel. Right. And God wouldn't let me go. And I wasn't trying to let go of what I wanted until finally it was like when he said that it was like, you know, when your parents say, I'm not playing with you, you know, I got to straighten up. And that's what that voice was when he said, your grace period is old. He didn't say it's over. He said it's almost over. So for me, it was like, well, I don't know if that's today. I don't know if that's two weeks from now. Let me get my act together. Mind you, I had been out there for like three years, in and out of the church for three years. And when I got that message, I went to a service. I want to say it must have been like the beginning of the year, shortly after the beginning of the new year. And the pastor that was preaching, an assistant pastor at my church at the time, she preached a message titled, Return to Your First Love. And I was like, okay, God, right. It was like totally for me and everything. thing she said in there was like, he loves you. It's okay. No matter what you've been doing, you know, it was just like, okay. I knew then that I heard God for once, you know, my grace period was over and to return to my first love. And I just went down and, you know, she's like, sister, why are you here? And I just cried and said, I'm returning to my first love, you know? And from there, that's when he really started working in me through ministry and my businesses. And so So, you know, I can share with you even how Come Up Higher Ministries was started. So I'm drawn back and I'm committed. I'm like, okay, God, I'm here to serve. I start doing teaching Bible study there, doing things on Sunday, what we had called School of the Word. I would do a little mini sermon before the actual service, just serving, right? And I was pretty much like my pastor's right-hand man. You know, if he needed something, I was there to do whatever needed to be done. I was that backseat I wasn't trying to be upfront, but I can make sure everything was running smoothly. And so in 2011, he had an ordination service for people that he was elevating to the role of pastor.

UNKNOWN 9:29

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

And so my parents happened to be in town because again, this was during the holidays and he called me the day before the service and he was like, I need you to help me out tomorrow. I was like, sure, what do you need? I'm thinking, okay, you want me to MC the service, blah, blah, blah. He says, I want to ordain you as pastor of the women's ministry. Wow. So remember I said, all of this I'm doing, none of it was Robin's idea, right? And so when he called me and said that, I kind of was like, Oh, wow. You know, but then I was like, okay, that's fine. Cause I had been working with the lead of the women's ministry already. So in my mind, we're just going to work together. You know, he's, he's putting somebody official in that role. You know, I'm like, sure, no problem. But unbeknownst to me, everybody wasn't happy with that decision.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

And

SPEAKER_00 10:21

so I started experiencing some things that I never thought I would experience in the church, things I had heard about. But it became, you know, a certain group was basically against me and another group was supporting me. But the group that was against me was led by someone very prominent in the church, you know? And so there became another tug of war. And I was like, God, you know, and I even told my pastor, I'm like, look, I don't have to stay here. I said, I fought in my marriage for 10 years because I know God hates divorce, but I can divorce this right now. And he's like, I knew that's what you were going to say, but I just need you to hang in there. And people were praying for me. The other side of the group that was for me, they were praying for me because they could see it. It was very evident. And I just began to trust God. I'm like, okay, God, if you're not going to let me go, Well, Reverend Smiley, I think that right now, I feel like we're just the way that we are in society and this culture is we're very quick to, if something, if we meet challenges or something difficult, ready to be like, peace out, I'm gone. I don't have to deal with this. So can you tell me, I just want to back up a little bit. Can you tell me how you felt when you realized there were like two camps forming and one of them was against what God was calling you to do? How did you feel about that? I felt rejected. I felt abandoned. I even felt misled because I'm like, you know, why would my pastor put me in this position? You know, I felt like, did he know that these people weren't going to accept me? You know, and I just felt all of those things. Right. But the rejection and the abandonment piece, I later learned that was because it was something I hadn't dealt with even from my childhood. My mom and my biological dad divorced when she was eight months pregnant with me. And I don't even recall a relationship with him until probably nine or 10 years old. I'm sure I saw him before that. So I had that whole issue to deal with. And so It was really rough because I was like, why are they rejecting me? I'm doing what God has said, you know, and then God took me to the scripture where Jesus couldn't perform miracles in his own town because of unbelief. His family and people around him, they just did not support him, you know, but it didn't stop him, you know. How important is it to acknowledge those past hurts in order to deal with, you know, current situations, current conflict. Oh my goodness. It is so important in any type of relationship, right? Not just ministry, but what marriage, work, any type of relationship, you've got to be able to identify those trigger points, right? And if you haven't dealt with them, you're going to experience the same thing. Like you said, if you can't confront your issues, you're going to just want to run away and say, peace out. But we have to deal with those issues in order for God to get the glory in our relationships, right? Because if we just continue to run away and run away, first of all, we're not dealing with the problem. Secondly, we're causing someone to miss the opportunity of why God even placed us in their lives, right? You know, when I was doing the women's ministry before I even was ordained as the pastor, I would share with the wives, you know, that thing that seems to be rubbing you so bad that your husband is doing is God's a way of working out a character flaw in you. That is so good. Yeah. Now what happened with the two camps? So what happened is I finally got to the place where, okay, I'm just going to keep pressing. If it's five people, 10 people, however many people. And so in 2012, or was it 2013? Can't remember the exact year now, but it was birthed in me to do a women's conference out, you know, away from the church. And my pastor agreed. It must have been 13 because the first year I wanted to do it because of the animosity. He was like, no, you can't do it yet. You can't be out of my sight like that yet. I was like, oh, my goodness. And so I did this women's conference. The theme that God gave me for the women's conference was come up higher. And we went away. We went to this place where didn't have TVs in the room. I mean, it was like we were going in and probably had about 50 women participate because the group that was for me, they invited other people. Right. And so it was awesome. There was deliverance. There was healing. You know, people just were like. Wow. And we came back and then of course they're talking about, Oh, this was the best conference ever. And so the naysayers are kind of like, you know, still like, but then it was like, okay, well maybe she's not so bad. Right. And so I was excited. I'm like, okay, I'm good. You know, even if the naysayers never come around, there's people that are excited and they're ready to go with God. Right. Then lo and behold, God said, okay, It's time for you to leave. I'm like, what? We just had this conference. The women are excited. Their lives have been changed. I'm good now. You know, I'm not tripping off of these people no more. And now I can leave. He's like, yes, now it's time for you to leave. Give your pastor a 30 day notice and it's time for you to leave. So for me, it was like Abraham. He told Abraham, you got to get away from your folk. and go where I'm going to show you. That's all the information, right? And I'm like, well, what am I doing? Where am I going? Blah, blah, blah. But I knew my obedience was tied to the next step. I told my pastor, I said, It's time for me to leave. The Lord has said he's called me to do my own ministry. It's time for me to go. And he was like, well, why can't you just stay here and do it? Because, you know, there were other people in the church who had their own ministries, but they were still there serving. I said, because that's not what he told me to do. I said, but I'm going to give you a 30 day notice. I gave him the date, whatever it was. I said, I'm going to continue to serve, continue to do all that I'm supposed to do. Even to the point of on my last Sunday, we were having, I think it was a baby shower or something was going on and I catered it. That's how far I served, right? And that's how important it was for me to serve. And all of this that I've just shared with you, I'm just going to plug myself since we're talking. But all of this I've shared in a devotional that I co-authored with 130 women called Promise, God's Assurance on the Cross for Our Crown. And In that devotional, like I said, with 130 women, there are all kinds of testimony from sickness to business to gender issues, all types of testimony similar to mine that people can read about and be encouraged. So, yeah, that launched me into ministry, that experience. that mishap or that misfortune, that mistreatment. And like I said, the irony is God titled the conference come up higher. And then he said, that's the name of your ministry. Come up higher ministries. Now I want to circle back to something that you shared. You talked about giving the 30 day notice. Here you were, you had made peace with, you know, okay, this is, you know, I've just had this conference. It was, it was amazing. Many people were blessed. I still have some naysayers, but they'll probably come around. If not, I'm still going to do what God called me to do. It seems like you had reached a place where you had just made peace with it in your heart. When you had done that, God said, okay, time to go. Now you give your pastor the 30-day notice. Can you talk to us about those last 30 days? Where were you mentally and spiritually in those last 30 days? How did you continue to serve with integrity, with peace, with joy in those last 30 days? You know, I did it because, like I said, I knew my obedience was tied to whatever he had next. All I knew is that he told me it was time for me to start my own ministry. But I really didn't know what that looked like. I didn't know what it meant. But I had learned through serving that That's where your elevation comes. And so I knew that I couldn't say, I'm out of here now. I don't care if you don't like me. I couldn't take that approach, right? I had to serve until the end, even to the point where I honored the ringleader of the naysayers. Their birthday came around and I gathered the women and I said, hey, we're going to celebrate this person. Whoever wants to donate, this is the gift we're buying. And I had certain several people come to me and say, why are you doing that when they've mistreated you? I said, because this is what God would have me to do. Right. And so I, I just simply focused on God. I took Robin out the equation. I had to put my feelings on the back seat because what faith don't care how you feel, right? Faith is totally dependent on trusting God for what he has for you. And that's how I did it. You know, when those negative thoughts came and tried to tell me, are you stupid? They don't care about you. Why are you doing this? I was like, no, this is how I have to go out. I cannot go out in any other way and expect God to bless whatever it is he's calling me into. That is an excellent point that you made. Very excellent point. And I wanted you to talk to us about from the point where God told you it's time to leave. I want you to launch out on your own. You mentioned Abraham. There might be someone listening that. is in the same place that you were at that point where God has spoken to them. And how do you figure out how to practically obey? So you know you have to leave, but how do you stay aligned with God in launching whatever he has you to do? What are those practical steps from hearing what God said to starting to execute the steps? How does that work? Practically for me, I had to get back into the secret place, right? I had to go deeper. I had to spend more time in my word and spend more time in prayer. Because again, I didn't know what I was going to be doing, how I was going to be doing it, but I knew he was going to give me the blueprint, right? Just like he gave Moses the blueprint, all those specific details about the tabernacle. I wanted to make sure I didn't miss any detail. So I just said, you know what? I've got to amp up my my time in god and it was beautiful because when he called me out and when i left because you get so used to going to the church you know like now we've been in this pandemic and some people still haven't gotten over the fact they can't go to the building but i was like okay god what am i going to do where am i going to worship you he was like in your home it's going to be me and you you know it's going to be one-on-one and that that was you know the practical thing that i did i just I just worshipped him on my own. He would tell me who to watch. Sometimes he would send me to certain ministries to get a word that day. But it was a true calling out. It was a time of sanctification and consecration. And I just had to stay focused on what he was doing. Okay, so as you spent time with God, was it there that he started to reveal to you piece by piece what he wanted you to do? Yeah, it was like he brought everything back to my remembrance. He was like, remember the women's ministry that you had started? you are called to women. Remember the name of the conference? That's the name of your ministry, right? And it just all started to come together. He was like, what I need you to do is bring people from the place, bring women from the place of either not being saved at all, or to the place where they have a hunger and thirst for me that they want to come up higher. Not that I would, you know, and I tell people all the time, this is not a church, right? I'm not stealing anybody's members, but it's to cause, it's to provoke women to level up and to come up higher in their faith. And that's what we do. That is amazing. So God is using you as a mentor. You're discipling people. You're actually giving practical steps on how to walk lockstep with God. Now you were ordained, you say, in 2011. Is that correct? When did you launch, officially launch your ministry and come up higher? Come Up Higher was launched in 2013, December of 2013. We had a prayer breakfast. And we probably had over 70 people there. And I would say 90% of the people that came, I did not know at all. Wow. So, yeah, yeah. That is amazing. Okay, so I wanted to ask you, you know, your testimony of how God took you and moved you through ministry, I could hear you hear the theme of faith just lined all through that. I want to talk about that a little bit. How does someone who is brand new to their relationship with God grow in faith? Many of us who are listening may have been with God for, you know, have some time with him. But those who are just coming into relationship with God, how do you take that first step so that you have a track record with him? How do you begin to trust God when you've never done it before? I think there are two key principles. The Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. You have to surround yourself by the word and you have to surround yourself by people who are going to give you the truth, right? Because the word is what truth. And so for me, because even though I gave my life to Christ at the age of 10, I didn't really have a relationship with God until I was good and grown, probably in my late 30s, right? And that all started because I started surrounding myself with the word of God. I started, you know, I made the decision. It's all about a choice. See, some people look at being a Christian and giving their life to Christ, what I like to call this fire insurance, because they don't want to go to hell. But after after they've done that, they'll go to church on Sunday. They'll sit there for the two hours and that's all they do. But there's a purpose for Bible study. There's a purpose for revival. There's a purpose for Sunday school is to help you to grow. And so the best way to grow in your faith is to learn the things of God through the word of God. and surround yourself with people that can give you the Godly counsel, that can answer your questions, that are not gonna condemn you. Because surely starting out, you're going to slip back. You may want to, you know, still go do things that you used to do or you realize you really shouldn't be doing it. You know, as I say, you have one foot in and one foot out. But as long as you keep that word coming, it's going to get inside of you to where it's going to change your mindset. And as long as you keep people around you that speak to you in love and say, you know, baby, you might want to stop going there or you might want to stop hanging out with so-and-so. And, you know, if you listen, you'll find yourself coming closer and growing in your faith in God, because then God will begin to show you, you know, who he is, you know, through little things. He'll begin to show you, you know, that if you trust me here, just like with Tybee, So many people have an issue with giving that 10%. But I can truly say every time that I would tithe, even though my bank account may be tight, nothing would ever be missed. The minute I would stop tithing, The tire would need to be replaced. Something else would need to be replaced. Right. And so I share this testimony all the time that, you know, there was there was a time where things were tight. I was still tithing, but I didn't have enough money for gas the next week and I had to go to church. And I said, Lord, you know, I need some money for gas. Just let somebody bless me. I forgot all about it right in my 10 minute drive to church. When church was over, a sister came up to me and handed me a check. And I was like, what's this for? And she said, because God said to do it and it was like, you know, it clicked, right? I trusted him enough just to talk to him, to have the conversation and to know that he would provide and he provided, right? Why did he provide? Because I had been consistent in obeying his word because I took his word for truth. And so I, you know, he says even about tithing, try me, right? Test me. And so I put him to the test that day, not literally thinking that's what I was doing, but, but, you know, all I'm saying is as a new believer, take God at his word. Have that, as they say, childlike faith. Like a child trusts their father. If their father throws them up in the air, they trust that he's going to catch them. That's how we have to approach God. And I wanted to ask you the two-part question. How important is relation or our relationships, how important our relationships as you are coming into being a part of the body of Christ, that's part A and part B would be, how has God shown himself faithful to you in your personal relationships? Relationships are key. because he didn't create us to do life alone, right? Even when he created Adam, he said it's not good for man to be alone. So clearly God intended us to be in relationship with others. Where we fall short is because, you know, especially like a person like me, I want to see the good in everybody, right? And so I would often give too many chances to people, but that's where you have to rely on God to show you, okay, I've sent this person to you, or I need you to sit under this person or, you know, that type of thing. Because if you aren't careful, you will find yourself in relationships that will cause you to either slip away from God or to cause you to not trust him because somebody has burned you. Right. So I, Again, relationships are important, but you want to make sure you have the right type of person or persons in your life. Your circle needs to be small because everyone is not going to understand what God is doing in your life. Everyone is not going to know how to even encourage you to keep going. And so you just have to be careful with that. But relationships are important. And I wanted to ask you too, you mentioned that you went through divorce and I wanted you, if you wouldn't mind speaking to leaders who are listening right now. Can you speak and speak to leaders about how should leaders handle people who are going through a divorce, people who love the Lord, people who want to do, you know, God's heart, who love him, but they are going through this, you know, very painful period. What posture should a leader, a pastor, a minister, or someone who is caring for the people of God, how should they be approaching people who are going through such a painful time in their lives? That's a very good question. Even prior to my marriage and my husband and i we did meet with with the pastor but the problem was we didn't get counseling soon enough and so at that by the time we started meeting both of our hearts were hardened mine probably more so than his um but because my heart was so hard you know it was easier for me to walk away however in that in those couple of counseling sessions that we had you know, the pastor gave some good advice to us because I told him, I was like, I just want to move out. I just want to do, you know, X, Y, Z. And my husband at the time, he was even thinking about going overseas to work for a while. And my pastor was like, no, that won't help your marriage at all. Some distance may help, but not you being all around the world, right? And so he said, use the time of separation to date So, you know, get to know each other again and let's see what can happen, right? But that didn't happen. You know, my husband didn't pursue me and that just, for me, just solidified, okay, this thing is over. But to answer your question, people that are going through divorce do not need to be condemned. because we already know that God hates divorce. Most people don't get married with the idea. If this don't work, I'm gonna get a divorce, right? Like I said, I fought for 10 years for my marriage. So the first thing I would say to, um, pastors, bishops or whatever apostles don't come to that, that person or your people with a mind of condemnation, right? Um, Love them through the process, just as you would love anybody, love on somebody who's grieving the loss of a loved one who has died. Divorce is another form of death. So that's how you have to approach that person, that they are in this time of mourning. They need comfort. They don't even need a gazillion scriptures, right? They just need to be comforted and to know how you're going to be there for them as they are going through. That's what I would say. Because truly, once a person has made up their mind, it's hard to turn them back. it's hard to turn them back. But if they're truly seeking, you know, can we make this work? Then help them through that, right? But again, not through condemnation, not through, you know, God hates this, you know, God hates this, but teach just like sharing the gospel. We don't want to beat people over the head with, if you don't get saved, you're going to hell. We want to give them the love of God. It's the same way when somebody's going through the divorce, give them the love of God, have compassion. Can you talk to us about your healing process after the divorce? Yeah, yeah. My healing process, again, was in stages, just like with mourning. You know, there was denial, right? I didn't want to accept what had happened. There was a point of depression. There was a point of guilt. And then there was a point of acknowledgement, right? because with divorce, you have to acknowledge your responsibility. What did you contribute to that? And so as I went through those various stages, I would say by the time I got to the acknowledgement stage where I was like, okay, Robin, this wasn't all his fault. Look at what you did. How did you attribute to this? And then I worked on those things that I didn't do well in the marriage because I knew for one that I was called to be a wife. So I didn't want to carry this baggage into another relationship. So then I began to do some inner work, some self work, some soul work so that I could truly become the wife that I knew God was calling me to be. Reverend Smiley, what is soul work? Can you talk to us about that? Mm hmm. Soul work. Well, you know, you got to understand that the soul is made up of our mind, our will and our emotions. Right. We're a three part being. We're first spirit because we're created in the image of God. We're soul. And then we're flesh. Right. We're spirit, soul and body. And so there's what happens is the soul work happens. We have to get our mind to be in alignment with the things of God so that our emotions and our will will lead us in that way. So I had to address the thoughts. You know, the Bible is so true. You know, you have to take those thoughts captive that are in disobedience to Christ. If you allow yourself to meditate on those negative things, your will and your emotions are not going to go in the same way as the spirit. But when you get to the point that, okay, when the enemy tried to tell me, nobody's going to listen to you about marriage because you've been divorced, I had to take that thing captive. And I had to say, no, I have the mind of Christ. My experience, you know, does not define who I am. Somebody is going to be blessed by my testimony. The Bible says we overcome, you know, I had to, I had to rehearse and change my mindset. So soul work is really about changing your mindset. Because until you can change your mind, like it says, don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed how? By the renewing, you have to think differently. You have to have new thoughts in your mind. And when you get your mind in order, then your will and your emotions will come in alignment. And whenever the Holy Spirit says to do, you're like, okay, let's do this thing. When did you realize that you were healed? I realized I was healed when I stopped having an attitude when I heard his voice. Because in that time, we had to wait six months before it could be finalized. And so when I stopped having an attitude, when I stopped being nasty when he called, when I stopped turning the other way if I saw him because we worked in the same building. So I had contact with him on a fairly regular basis. When I was able to just hold a conversation with him without feeling any anger or any anxiety, I was like, okay, I'm good, yeah. Okay, so talk to me about the fact that, okay, you're healed and there is someone that God has for you that is waiting somewhere. Talk to me about the process of waiting for God's timing for your husband to come and find you. Talk to us about that. That was a test too. When I met my current husband, I knew that he was my husband, which is really interesting though, because didn't have all the things that i thought my husband would have right um you know he he he's not as deep into the word as I am. He's, you know, all of these things that I expected, but the way that he loves me is still exhibits the love of God, the way that, you know, he leads the home, you know, and make sure things are okay. He's attentive. He takes care of things, right? And so it's really interesting because we dated for, much longer than i would suggest anybody needing to date but because i knew that he was my husband i stuck it out um but again even with that i would say to women don't be so in a hurry you know that you actually i'm working on something now don't settle for the counterfeit The counterfeit can get you thrown off if you're not in tune to who God has for you and the type of person that he has for you. If you are so thirsty and so wanting to get married. One of the mistakes I made in the first time was I was listening to, you know, you're almost 30, you know, your biological clock is ticking. You need to get married so you can have children. And, you know, ironically, I never birthed the child. So because I made a rash decision based on emotions and all of those things, I still didn't get what I thought I was supposed to get from marriage. And so as the woman is waiting, Be like Ruth. Find you some seasoned woman that has some insight about marriage that can guide you and tell you what you need to do, how you need to respond to the person, and just trust God in the process. How do you balance everything that you're doing? and keep things going, keep everything going the way it's supposed to be going and stay connected. What I guess I'm asking is with the busyness of all that you are doing and all of the productivity that's going on in your life, how do you stay centered? Is there some type of system that you use to stay organized? How do you make sure that you're touching with God every day? And how do you make sure that you're keeping up with your responsibility and all of the other things that you have going? Very good question. Very good question. I learned a long time ago that the word balance is really not the proper word, because you have to understand that whatever season or whatever phase you are in life, that's where your attention is going to go. And so I when we were talking about relationships that's why it's important that your husband or your spouse you know has a good understanding of the calling on your life because if they don't they could start feeling neglected when you're over here trying to launch this business that god has told you to launch or you're over here trying to get this ministry going because it is going to require more time now what i do is daily I just set aside some time with God to make sure that I can check in with him. You know, I've been doing it lately in the mornings. And what I like to tell people is if you can get with God before your day starts, God, what would you have me to do today? It's fine to write it up to do list, but let God tell you what's the priority. So when you understand what the priority is for the season of the life that you're in, then you will find balance. in your life because you will be focusing your energy in the right places. If you're trying to do everything at one time, you're going to become frustrated because something is bound to fall through the cracks. So I hear you saying being sensitive to the season that you're in and letting God direct you to what you should be focusing on at the moment. Exactly. What is your favorite Bible scripture? I have two, really my two go-tos, Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding, acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will direct your path. And then Isaiah 40 and 31, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. And lastly, do you have any parting words for our listeners, any words of encouragement for women who are balancing, not balancing, but who are moving in the direction that God has called them to move in, in many different areas? Do you have any word of encouragement for women who are just starting out, who are just starting to hear that call like Abraham had, just like you had? Come, I'm calling you out, and they're just starting to take those steps. Do you have any words of encouragement for them, for us? Yeah, I would definitely encourage Encourage the women that don't allow themselves to get overwhelmed. Don't get ahead of God, right? And which is some mistakes that I've made, you know, like even with my current online store, you know, he told me, this is what you're going to do. And you're going to start with these t-shirts. I jumped ahead and I started adding all these clothes to my store, right? And then what the pandemic hit. And because I hadn't established a good market, I didn't have the steady traffic of clientele. So my encouragement is to listen to God and follow the step-by-step instructions. Don't get ahead of God. But even if you do, if you make a mistake, don't stay there. He's going to help you get out of it. Just trust him along the way and know that if he's called you to it, He's going to equip you to do it, right? If he's giving you the vision, he's going to give you the provision, whether it's finances, whether it's people, whatever it is, we just have to stay like my favorite scripture, trust in him, acknowledge him and let him direct your path. That's what I would say to encourage. And where can we find you on social media? On social media, if you want to follow me on Facebook, my personal page is Robin Evans Smiley, or you can find me at Come Up Higher Ministries on Facebook. I also have a Facebook group called Soaring by Faith, where we're now reading through the Bible in one year. On Instagram, you can find me at RevRobinSmiley. Also, Come Up Higher Ministries or Up Higher Apparel, which is my clothing line. Up Higher Apparel also is on Facebook. And then on Twitter, RobinSmiley on Twitter or Up Higher Apparel on Twitter as well. Are you currently conducting, is there a Bible study? If someone wanted to join you, join your Bible study, or you mentioned a study of the Bible, how could someone join that Bible study in a year? Yes. So on Saturdays, because every day, Monday through Friday, I go live at 6 a.m. on Facebook and YouTube. And so you could definitely join us there. We have various topics that we cover there. But for the online, I mean, for the one year Bible reading, we meet every Saturday at 7 a.m. on Zoom. And so if you're interested in getting in on that, what we do is we just talk about the readings for the week, how they've impacted us. What did we get out of it? It's been really good. We started in January. And so even if you want to just start now, it's great to pick up. All you would need to do is email me. My email address is info at robinsmiley.com and say, hey, I want to be a part of the weekly Bible study and I can get you the information. And you can also check out my website at robinsmiley.com. Well, Reverend Smiley, I want to thank you so much for joining us today. You have been a wealth of information and wisdom. And we just pray that God will continue to bless you so that you can continue blessing all of us. And we thank you for the impact that you're making. And we thank you for your transparency and being willing to share your wisdom and insight with all of us. So thank you for joining us today. Thank you so much for having me. It was so much fun sharing and just an honor to be with you, my long lost friend from a long time ago. Yeah, we grew up together. I can remember mentoring you in the things of God. No doubt, no doubt. I always talk about you all the time. I tell everybody about you and the impact that you've made. So this is a complete treat for me as well. So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 47:58

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 48:00

interview with reverend smiley it's evident that she is a woman of faith this is something i've known for a long time god used reverend smiley in my life decades ago to be a living breathing example of what it looked like to truly live according to the will of god she was a mentor and discipled me at a critical time in my walk with the lord i was new to the faith excited and clueless about what it really meant to walk by faith. I thank God that Reverend Smiley was obedient to his will. She was kind. She was a friend to me, but managed to maintain her role in my life as a mentor. I can go on and on about how God used her in my life. I am eternally grateful that our paths crossed and that she is our very first guest on the Circle 31 podcast. If today's episode was a blessing to you, please subscribe to our podcast. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Thank you for joining us today.