GOD IS IN ALL THE MESSY DETAILS OF MY LIFE!!!

Like this week, I called a friend all the way in the Bahamas from Nigeria about a frustrating situation that seems to never want to go away. We’ve playfully referred to this as our “WEEDS.” “The weeds are back!” I complained to her. No matter how many times we think we have the “WEEDS” handled, some more pop up! To the point that we’ve just agreed to turn the entire matter over to God because it’s just too much for us to handle without Him! God is BIGGER!!!

Fast forward a few hours, God lets me know that He was in on our conversation, and He had this to add:

“You turn over the soil and bury the WEEDS.” Wink! Wink!

And this was the perfect message for the crazy lady that day because I have so much soil (blessings, excellent things to think about) in my life that I can literally turn over the soil and quickly bury those weeds. God has guided my life on such a beautiful path that I have no right to complain about anything – including the weeds.

I loved another message from God some years ago about this same weed matter:

“Don’t let the weeds overshadow the wheat.”

We live in a broken world where, unfortunately, there are WEEDS EVERYWHERE, but we must not let it dim all the good. With our eyes fixed on God, we must continue to be the superhero wives, husbands, parents, and people He is calling us to be, committed to LOVE AND LOYALTY no matter what is going on around us.

“Who is full of compassion like the Lord? The Lord cast our failures in the deepest sea and they will not remember you.” I believe this is where He is calling us to be with ourselves and loved ones. Sometimes you have to just to swallow some BITTER things, move on, and focus on being happy and full of hope. Yes, Father. I’m in! LOVE WINS.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”

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“SAY, “HI, GOD!!!””

“Hi, God.” That was the cute little conversation I had with my sons as we waited for hubby IN OUR CAR yesterday evening. One asked, “Is God really here? Where is He?” I answered, “God is everywhere, and He is always with us.” “Will God answer us back?” another asked. “Sometimes He does,” I replied. Can you believe God did answer?!? He figured out a way to let me know that His Presence was INDEED with us IN THAT CAR.

Fast forward a few hours, I’m in bed trying to sleep. But because my body clock still has not adjusted to the Nigerian time zone, I couldn’t. I then decided to listen to Rich Roll’s podcast, but for some reason it refused to play. I then go to listen to Bel Air’s Church’s, and boom, it surprisingly worked. However, the one that played, I ended up changing to play another episode. Listen to what the Pastor unbelievably says a couple of minutes into that other sermon:

“We CAN imagine that God is in the same room OR THE SAME CAR WITH US…” Wink! Wink!

Again, for that to line up sooooo perfectly, out of the blue, like that, was no ordinary coincident. It was God revealing His invisible Presence that’s ALWAYS with us. Of all the podcasts I could have listened to, for Rich Roll’s one to refuse to play, and for me to listen to THAT specific one after my sons wanted to know if God was really in that vehicle, was another one of my God winks, with Him sweetly answering, “Yes, I was there IN THAT CAR WITH YOU.”

And this is the love I’ve gotten to KNOW from God. He stoops down and comes to our level and our little lives to let us know that He’s REALLY there. Right after that, I smiled with Him, and I drifted happily off to sleep.

Are you getting to know God’s voice and His communications with you? You see that smile on my face in this pic? No fake smile over here! This is the smile of someone with REAL joy who KNOWS she’s incredibly loved by her God/Heavenly Father. I USED to be STARVING for the love and affection from others. No more! His joy. His love. His peace. EQUALS MORE THAN ENOUGH. God, fill our lives with even more of Your Presence. Amen.

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GOD EXCEEDS MY EXPECTATIONS!!!

That’s my testimony for sure! His blessings and favor follow me wherever I go! But, of course, I want you guys in on this good loving, too, DIRECT from God Himself! Wink! Wink! So, here are my three key points for living the BLESSED life:

IN ALL THY WAYS FOLLOW HIM! I’m talking constant and never-ending conversations with God about everything! Today, I was in a little bit of a sticky situation, and I prayed, ‘God, help me!’ I debated all the different options, and I landed on one, which I felt was God approved, and I did that. He is helping me to learn that I can go through negative experiences, TOLERATING some frustrations, but still hold a positive attitude, with a love and HOPE that NEVER GIVES UP. Phew! We’re to reflect God’s faithfulness with our loved ones! No matter what we do, God loves us unconditionally. We must do the same for others. Nobody’s perfect! And like my sister-in-law taught me, sometimes that means pretending we’re DEAF, DUMB, AND BLIND. Wink! Wink!

DO GOOD, IT’S FOR YOU. DO BAD, IT’S FOR YOU!!! God has never failed me. Always, any issue I have, He’s at my service to help me navigate through any rugged terrain! “GOD DEY!” As they say in Nigeria. All the challenges and trials your girl has fought have been so good for me. I’m forever seeing God show up and show off. He knows how to teak situations in our favor. And for everything He does for me, I regularly ask, ‘God, what may I render to You?’ Yesterday I said to hubs, “You know God has stolen me from you, right?” The days where we were united at work and home are now over. God has taken our marriage to a new place where hubby is free to do his thing, and he has freed me to do my thing, including this work for God. Hubs response was, “Anything for God!” He is a witness to God’s goodness. I say I work for God, but in reality, He is seriously working for us!

DO YOUR BEST!!! Work as if God is your Boss because He really is! Every blessing is from God, and He rewards those who seek after Him doing the right and excellent thing in every moment. Whatever anyone else does is between them and God (Like today – that’s on them!). I keep my eyes fixed on Him, seeking to please Him in everything I do. This is how He astonishingly guides us on the path to the best life with Him as our Helper and Guide. Even our mistakes are transformed into beautiful and crucial lessons that He Himself would have us to learn.

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“NIKKI, YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT”

That was this incredible husband to me this morning. Despite all the ups and downs we may go through, bottom line: I trust him. More importantly, I know God Himself is behind the scenes of our lives guiding us on the right path. Like last night I questioned him about how he found out about some wrong someone close had done to him behind his back, and he responded, “I don’t know. My mind just told me I should ask about it.” That’s God in action! He’s very much involved in our lives, whispering to us exactly what He would have us to know, what to do, where to go, and even what to say. START PAYING ATTENTION!

A few weeks ago, though, I was saying to God, ‘I didn’t need to know all of that!!!’ But I believe it was to teach me, and hopefully you, a crucial life lesson: MERCY (forgiveness without punishment). Hubs had admitted to making a mistake (nobody’s perfect!), and as I listened to God as to how He would have me to react, I felt Him say to me through my spirit, “SHHHH. Quiet, Nik, leave it alone.” I accepted the fact that we all make mistakes, forgave hubby, and I haven’t mentioned it since. Which was the same thing hubby did with me when I made a very costly mistake recently. “Let’s not talk about it anymore,” he lovingly and forgivingly said to me.

And that’s the place where God has beautifully guided our marriage, that we both can mess up, and we still can say, “It’s OK, boo, I still love you.” Granting each other constant grace and forgiveness.

“How are you able to forgive?” someone asked me the other day. And I responded that it’s not me, it’s God’s strength and power coming through – I can do all things with Him! My appointments with God are helping me to learn His character so that I can follow Him when I’m back out in the world. God is love. I’m slowly becoming much more loving, kinder, gentler, and forgiving. I loved a wink from Him today, “You see, when you become more beautiful, I become more beautiful.” Can we all make God more beautiful by demonstrating His love in the world?

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THE HUSTLE IS REAL

This pic is of my handsome hubby and me at work today! Let me tell ya, when we first got married, someone advised that it would be better for me to get a job working independent of him (for financial reasons), but thank God, I said, “No way, I’m sticking with my boo!” It hasn’t been easy, he’s a tough boss, but that one decision to work with him has led my life on the BEST TRACK. Hubby is continually correcting and criticizing me (that won’t ever change!), but at the end of the day, he’s made me better, and vice versa. Eighteen years in, we’re a super team, all for God’s glory! I’m holding on to God’s promise:

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” – Psalm 27:13

Amen! This is why I want us learning to filter every decision through God. His ways are not our ordinary human ways, they’re so much better. I want us learning to go to Him in both the BIG and SMALL decisions. When I thought about working in another office away from hubby, God’s Spirit within me said, ‘NO WAY!!’ That is how I make all my decisions now, based on His voice. If I get a nudging from Him that says, ‘Don’t do that!’ trust me, I pay attention.

God is pretty talkative once you get to know Him! Mostly I hear from Him through my feelings. I’m talking about constant conversations with God about EVERYTHING! Have you ever had a nudge within you saying not to do something, and you went ahead to do it anyway? Then when it didn’t go so well you said something like, ‘My mind told me not to do that.’ That was God’s voice within you trying to keep you from making a wrong choice. The wiser Nik now PAYS ATTENTION.

Staying strong means holding on to God’s hand in every moment KNOWING we are never alone. WE HAVE HIS WISDOM, STRENGTH, FAVOR, AND LOVE BACKING US UP! Being self-employed for me and hubs means we have no regular paychecks coming in, but God has been faithful. I’m amazed at the people He sends into our lives to support and help us – Not by might, nor power, but by God’s Spirit. Wink! Wink! As we seek to do our best, God shows up and does the rest. THE HUSTLE IS REAL, but God blesses us even while we sleep when we stick with Him – guided by doing the right and excellent thing He would have us to do in every moment. We’re not perfect, but we work at constant and never-ending improvement seeking to be the people God would have us to be!

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ARE YOU LEARNING GOD’S PERSONALITY?

I am! I am! I am! And I can’t get enough of His cool, loving and so sweet character? Like yesterday, I was chatting with my friend Kira, all the way in the Bahamas from Nigeria, and we were talking about Psalm 91. Another friend of hers had said that was she was the owner of that particular Psalm, and I said, “No way! That Psalm belongs to me!!!”

So, fast forward to late that night, I was up late working and decided that I had had enough of listening to my husband’s phone read the Bible to him to help him fall asleep (his nightly ritual that I’m so thrilled about!). It was playing for over a good hour and a half, and I figured it was OK to now turn it off. I go to the phone, exited the Bible app, and I put back his phone next to him, thinking I had turned it off. Next thing I knew, a voice from the phone says, ‘Psalm 91…” Can you believe this was exactly where I had stopped it? As if God Himself was saying, YES, NIK, THIS PSALM IS FOR YOU!!!’

And this is my confidence, a God who shows up in the most unexpected places to let me know that He is always with me. That He knows EVERY step I make, every conversation I have, and that He Himself is familiar with ALL my ways. That Psalm 91 showing up exactly where I had thought I was turning off hubby’s phone was no coincident, it was all loving arranged my Him to let me know how intimately He is involved in my life – I mean down to every nanosecond! Perfect timing! Claim the words of Psalm 91 for you and your family as well:

“Those who go to God Most High for safety will be protected by the Almighty. 2 I will say to the Lord, “You are my place of safety and protection. You are my God and I trust you.” 3 God will save you from hidden traps and from deadly diseases. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you can hide. His truth will be your shield and protection. 5 You will not fear any danger by night or an arrow during the day. 6 You will not be afraid of diseases that come in the dark or sickness that strikes at noon. 7 At your side one thousand people may die, or even ten thousand right beside you, but you will not be hurt. 8 You will only watch and see the wicked punished. 9 The Lord is your protection; you have made God Most High your place of safety. 10 Nothing bad will happen to you; no disaster will come to your home. 11 He has put his angels in charge of you to watch over you wherever you go. 12 They will catch you in their hands so that you will not hit your foot on a rock. 13 You will walk on lions and cobras; you will step on strong lions and snakes. 14 The Lord says, “Whoever loves me, I will save. I will protect those who know me. 15 They will call to me, and I will answer them. I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue them and honor them. 16 I will give them a long, full life, and they will see how I can save.” A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.”

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THE BABOON WAS UP WORKING UNTIL 1 AM LAST NIGHT

That’s what my hubby calls me, while he is the monkey working hard to take care of me! At first, I used to get really upset by this (his way of saying I’m lazy!), but now I run with this baboon title KNOWING God sees everything I do and He is well pleased with me – no human approval necessary! I’m good! That’s GROWTH, baby!

And that’s where I want us all, with our eyes PERMANENTLY fixed on God in every moment doing what we feel He would have us to do, going the extra mile in love and dedication, all for His glory. When we do this, God joins in to help us.

Like I was up working late on getting a package together to sign up with a bank that would greatly help us get lots more business. After getting to a little bump in the road, I called our new manager saying maybe we should hold off for now and send the package in another time. But then I thought, ‘We’ve gotten this far, we should just go for it!’ I immediately sent out the requested information to the bank, and I ended up sending him a text right before sleeping, “We do our best and then leave the rest with God.”

First thing this morning, I woke up with a strong nudge to have an appointment with God reading through my Tumblr.com posts. I searched for “God” and look what incredibly showed up:

“Do your best and God will do the rest.” Wink! Wink!

This was even what I had written on our business’ vision board one day after my nephew said I didn’t have much I was working with. I asked, “Didn’t God create the entire universe from nothing?” Anything is possible with Him! And I confidently wrote, “We do our best and God does the rest.”

Here’s the deal: God is intimately involved in our lives. He knows how to tweak situations in our favor. It was a former employee that God just gave me another nudge to say hello to and tell him about some people that might be able to help him and he turned around and gave me this bank that he felt could assist me. You see how God works –Nik, just contact___ and tell him about this connection you found.’He ended up helping me! Those who trust in God will not starve! He know the connections we need!

So, God is at work guys on our behalf in every area of our lives, its just up to us to get Him involved making Him the center of every move we make. Off to eat with hubs and the boys!!!

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“IT’S A GOOD THING I’VE STOPPED DRINKING!”

That was me to my husband talking about the rough time I had coping with leaving him and the boys in Nigeria. It’s been hard. But thank God for God. He knows what’s best for us, and on a morning out for a run, He pushed me to go and talk with a neighbor. I argued with Him, but He didn’t take “no” for an answer, and I ended up running back to talk with her. Long story short, she ended up taking me to church with her, and that was the changing point. Every Sunday, the sad, depressed, crying for no reason Nik, got stronger and stronger with each visit. I believe this verse describes what happened:

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” – Ephesians 3:16-17

He strengthened me in my inner being in those church services. On the first Sunday, I rededicated myself to God. The next Sunday, I rededicated myself and my family. Another Sunday, I rededicated myself to my work for God, and honestly, every week I felt myself getting stronger, happier, and slowly becoming a better version of myself. All thanks to God PUSHING me to go and talk to my neighbor that morning. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!

Again, that’s the God I’ve come to know and love. He accepts us EXACTLY AS WE ARE. Even if we’re at nothing, He says no problem, didn’t I create the whole world from nothing. Even today, as I complained to Him about some nagging thoughts that get the best of me, I felt Him say, “Offer them to Me all the same. They’re something of yourself. Give so that I may restore. Keep yourself often before Me, My very little one.”

See how accepting He is of us completely and unconditionally – even the bad sides of ourselves He wants us to bring to Him!. And He’s waiting for us to come to Him with open arms JUST AS WE ARE. And to come often. In every moment we can go to God, rest with Him on His heart when the world gets too much for joy, strength, and His amazing love.

And notice how He spoke to me through my Spirit to go back and talk to my neighbor. I want you getting here with me PAYING ATTENTION TO HIS VOICE WITHIN US. That’s how He leads us on the path to the best life. He knows the people we need in our lives (and the ones to stay away from). He knows where the opportunities are (and the ones that are a waste of time). He knows the best solutions to all our problems, but we must get in the habit of RUNNING to Him and seeking His input for our lives! Off to study with these two handsome sons!

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NIKKI, ARE YOU CALLING TO TELL ME ABOUT A GOD WINK?!?

That was from my beautiful friend, Kira. I called to ask her permission to use this picture of her. She’s been my friend since 5th grade and I was thrilled to see her looking so young, healthy and happy – I’m inspired! You rock, my love!!!

Am I really that bad with the God winks?!? They’re when, out of the blue, things line up just too perfect to be considered a regular coincident. I believe they are arranged by God Himself to remind us that His invisible Presence is always with us.

Like I’ve had this poster on my bathroom door for months

in hopes of improving on some weak areas. One of them was to spend two hours with God every day reading my meditation books and learning more about Him (total God geek here!). Every time I would look at it, though, I would cringe because with everything I have going on, two minutes is difficult, much less two hours.

So, Saturday, I finally took a different spin on it, and instead of feeling guilty, I changed that 2 to 24, meaning I would spend 24 hours with God, making Him the center of every move I make. I was thrilled with this change- no more feeling guilty about not having alone times with Him, my entire life will now be ALL about Him in every moment TRYING to be the Nik He is calling me to be. And just for the pleasure of knowing He is always with me as my GREATEST FRIEND EVER. Through the difficult and happy times! Yayy! And even when I mess up, He always seems to just say, ‘Mistakes are OK. Improve next time!’

So, a couple of hours later, I go to get a 15-minute pedicure on my way to the airport to catch a flight, believe it or not. And in that short time, a song that I feel God sings to me through, played on the radio:

“24 hours… I need more hours with you.”

So, after changing that poster to 24 hours with God, He sings and says, ‘Nik, I need more hours with you!!!’ No coincident that that song played, it was God showing me His love.

And that’s the God I’ve come to know. He has the sweetest and coolest personality and He’s intimately involved in every moment of our lives. See how that song lined up too perfectly for me to tell that lady I have 15 minutes for that pedicure and of all songs in the entire world, for that specific one to play while I was there was all orchestrated by Him.

And not only does He sing to me, but I feel Him working behind the scenes in every aspect of my life. He gives me more than what I can expect from Him, from the right people showing up to help me, to ideas and solutions and what specific steps to take and solve problems seem to magically pop to mind, and even when I’m sad, He ALWAYS figures out some way to comfort me. He fills my life with such love.

Are you getting to know His personality and love for yourself? Don’t miss out on the best life with Him as your Guide, Counselor, Teacher, Advisor, Father and Friend. Repeat this prayer with me, ‘God, I want a closer walk with You. Amen.’

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‘GOD, I NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU!!!’

That was me waking up super early this morning to Him. No shame in my game, I have my difficult moments that I NEED His help to get me through. Those times when I MUST hold onto His hands SUPER SUPER TIGHT, continually reminding myself that I’m with Him, I’m with Him, I’m with Him.

And can you believe He answered that prayer? I was texting my sister in the Bahamas and said, ‘Enough texting, let me call her!’ We ended up having one of our sacred conversations, and I told her that we have to go both with the PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL in dealing with problems – We do our best in the physical realm and leave God to do what He has to do in the spiritual because He knows how to tweak situations in our favor. Kk?!?

I ended up handing my phone over to my mom and left them talking. When I went back to get my phone from my mom, though, she asked if I could charge her phone for her, and the quickest way was just to plug it into the TV. I remember thinking, ‘God, forgive me for wasting electricity in using this big TV to charge my mom’s little phone.’ Like one minute later, on the very station I turned the TV on to, an announcer says something concerning some orphan kids, “We take care of both their PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL needs.” WINK! WINK! And just like that, God shows up to say, ‘Nik, RELAX, I got you!’

That’s was another one of my God winks where once again, out of the blue, everything lines up EXTREMELY too perfectly to be a regular coincident. It was God sweetly revealing His invisible Presence with me.

I cried yesterday listening to a freshman in high school, Madison, pray this prayer at Bel Air’s church in California:

“Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for waking us up this morning. And thank You for everything You give us. I pray for us to help know Your BOLDNESS. That we will be able to move forward in our faith, in our prayer life, and in everything that we are doing. That you will be at the center of every move we make and KNOW THAT MISTAKES ARE OK. To know that we can move forward and that YOU ARE BY OUR SIDE THROUGH ALL OF IT. And that we will be able to prosper and have abundance, and growth and help other people to grow as well through knowing you and knowing your faith and boldness… Amen.”

After she prayed, the congregation was invited to “come forward for prayer, come forward to confess things, come forward to ask for healing.” Will you go to God now with anything You need His help with? He hears our heart prayers.

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