Did you know that a smile can be a master of disguise? Allow me to paint a beautiful story from these photos from the 5th ACABA Awards gala.
When I asked Titus Otieno to tell us what was happening inside his heart at the exact moment his name was called for Content of the Year in the Men/Women Category at the 5th African Christian Authors Book Award – ACABA Gala for his book Activated Husband, I expected something along the lines of “I was excited” or “I felt honoured.”
What I received instead was a small theology lesson on smiles.
This is what he said:
“𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒.
𝐷𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒—𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑏𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑓𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑤 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒.
𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑐. 𝐼’𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑦 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙. 𝑀𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑜 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑, 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒.”
And just like that, the smile became holy ground.
You see, on stage we saw a composed man—upright, smiling, gracious. But beneath that calm exterior was a heart reliving a long journey: losses survived, tears swallowed, prayers whispered in seasons when applause felt like a foreign language.
The smile did its job well. It fooled the audience.
But it could not fool Heaven.
And it certainly could not fool family.
And then—because God has a delightful sense of timing and humour—there was a second surprise waiting for the man who said winning felt strange.
From the same 5th ACABA Gala comes another honour:
Best Set at the ACABA BookFest, complete with a Kes 10,000 Printing Voucher from Christian Literature Communications – CLC Kenya’s Print on Demand.
This set by Titus was so inspiring that I had a quiet moment of self-reflection—right there, mid-Bookfest. I found myself thinking, “When I grow up… and by grow up I mean 2026, I want my set to look like this.”
It had presence. It had intention. The kind of setup that doesn’t shout for attention but somehow commands it anyway. The kind that whispers, “I came prepared,” while smiling politely at the rest of us still figuring out decor placement. If sets could preach, this one would have said, “Order is godly, excellence is intentional, and yes—I thought this through.”
In short, Titus didn’t just bring his book to the Bookfest; he brought a visual sermon. And now some of us have added “upgrade set” to our 2026 prayer lists—right there between “more wisdom” and “better posture.”
So Titus, cheers to the best set at the 5th ACABA BookFest. Well done on the double wins!
Because sometimes God says,
“I know this feels unfamiliar… so let Me make it memorable.”
And sometimes, the man whose smile is hiding a tremor is the very one Heaven is quietly applauding.
Congratulations, Titus—on the award, the book, the set, and the courage to smile through the shaking.
Connect with Titus at: https://africanauthors.net/titus-otieno/
