I LOVED OUR CELEBRATORY DINNER!!!

We had a great time at our fav Asian buffet last night! It was the perfect conclusion to another beautiful day with God. I wrote this yesterday:

“LISTEN FOR GOD’S VOICE IN EVERYTHING WE DO!!! The more you pay attention, the clearer His voice gets to the point that you will know precisely what God is saying to you on a moment-by-moment basis.”

And I did exactly that when debating whether to leave work early yesterday, but the feeling from God was to stay, and I was so happy I obeyed. I took a picture of my husband working on a car while Julie and Joshie were close by, and sent it to my brother, Kevin, with a message saying, “Thank u.” God and Kevin have been my guard rails to keep me on the right track by making wise decisions, being patient, and going the extra mile in love and loyalty. God’s ways are not our ordinary ways, they’re so much better! Minutes later, hubby blew me away with a comment to Julie on how he would do his best to assist her with her college endeavors. I thanked him later, and he said something like, “I don’t play around when it comes to my family.” So true!

And that has been the constant message of Kevin, “Manny (my husband) may have his ways, but he is a good guy.” The crazy lady here would focus on his faults and failings a little bit too much, but God and Kevin have been teaching me to focus on the positives, and there are so many. So, when the “bad” show up (nobdy’s perfect!) I can write them off against all his great qualities that I highly admire. I joke that God tricked me into marrying him twenty years ago, but those feelings of peace, excitement, and joy that said, ‘MARRY HIM!’ were truly God’s voice saying, ‘Nik, this is the husband I personally picked for you!’ No joke!

We don’t go wrong following God’s voice! That voice that said stay yesterday at work just left me in awe of God. To be a witness to that conversation with Julie and my husband was God again blowing me away with His love for my family and me. This has been our experience with God:

“Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us,” – Ephesians 3:20

He goes beyond our human prayers, hopes, or dreams. It’s just for us to learn His voice and be obedient to what He would have us to do. Not easy, but truly the way to the best life with Him! God even showed up at our office for me yesterday to reveal His Presence with me. Our manager quit, but God was letting me know that HE WAS STILL WITH US! Someone sent me a message on WhatsApp saying, ‘It’s well.’ Fast forward to fourteen minutes later, I opened up a book on our front desk, and the words on the same page I opened to freaked me out, written in capital letters:

“IT IS WELL (Wink! Wink!) WITH MY SOUL,
IT IS WELL, IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL.”

No way was this some random coincidence! God planted that little surprise there for me to remind me that no matter who leaves or forsakes me, His presence will always be with me. (HUGE SMILE) May we all work on getting closer to God this year, knowing that He is our faithful Companion who stands firm with us no matter the challenges, hurts, setbacks, disappointments, and frustrations that show up. It’s just for us to keep our eyes fixed on him, obeying Him and leaving all consequences with Him. Amen! God is with us and for us!!!