He makes me feel like the most loved person in the world with all the attention I receive from Him. Yesterday I felt extremely weak and fatigued and I pretty much dragged through the entire day like that. Even the large café con leche (coffee with milk) with extra coffee didn’t do anything for me. I was super tired!

Fast forward to that afternoon, I decided to have an appointment with God, to lean on His heart for a little bit. I continued from where I had last left off to read this message from Him:

“I am with you; that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9

“…when I am weak, then I am strong –the less I have, the more I depend on him. Whenever you feel weak God is reminding you to depend on Him.” – The Purpose Driven Life

That was the perfect message for me in that moment! No shame in my game! I can therefore boast of my weaknesses because those weak times that I go to Him, remind me that He is with me and He’s intimately involved in every moment of my life. We’re not going through life alone, God is with us!

In fact, whenever I sense any type of disturbance within me, I use it as an opportunity to RUN to God and say, ‘Help me, I don’t like feeling this way.’ I then reflect on the situation from His Almighty perspective and what He would have me to do. And His view changes everything. I constantly remind myself that my life is a joyous journey and adventure with Him. Every day is unique and filled with so much that I have to be grateful for. I keep my eyes fixed on God and not this world! I immediately shake off the disappointments or whatever is disturbing me, and go back to being the loving, forgiving, trusting in God, and going the extra mile person He has called me to be. Everything is between God and me, not between me and anyone else! God, my reward is with You!

Are you having those crucial appointments with God to learn His voice and what He has to say specifically to you? We need Him! His unconditional love is there for us. I feel that weakness yesterday was to slow me down and have some quiet time with Him to reflect on what is His purpose is for my life. Am I living the life He has called me to live? Are you? He doesn’t push Himself on us, but a life lived close to Him is the best!

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PERSPECTIVE IS EVERYTHING!

And I’m importantly living from the perspective of KNOWING God is with me. I can relax and trust He’s working behind the scenes of my life on everything that is concerning me. This God factor changes everything. I no longer have to figure out how to resolve situations on my own, I can trust that God will show me one step, then the next, then the next, to help me get through anything that may come my way. There is nothing too difficult for God. I lay ALL my affairs in His hands!

Are you here with me, trusting that God is intimately involved in your life? He reminded me of that yesterday when I needed to get some sim cards for the girls’ phones. They still had their Nigerian numbers, and after their school kept calling my office yesterday about a situation, I was determined to get them US numbers so they can always reach me in case of an emergency. We got to the store, and there is a 50-minute wait time to see a sales representative, but I said no problem, we’ll wait!

A lady comes in while we were waiting and she didn’t see a seat so she stood at the back. I pointed out a seat up front, but she kindly gave it to another customer waiting. She eventually found another place. Some minutes later, I had to leave the chair where I sat, and I ended up sitting next to this very lady. We started talking, and she strangely asked when was my birthday. Can you believe we both share the exact birthday? She even got out her drivers’ license to show me! I asked her what prompted her to ask me that and she said she just liked my spirit. I then told her all about my blogging and how I’m this crazy God lady, and I asked if I could include her. She unbelievably said something like, ‘Yes, I’ve been wanting to get closer to God. I feel so blessed by Him.’

I then go to my Nook where I read my meditation books on my phone. The very words on that page, where I had last left off reading from my book said:

“…favorite song lately, Hold You Down by DJ Khaled”

She then shockingly says, I work at DJ Khaled’s restaurant. Guys, this was no coincident that I end up sitting next to this lady with my birthday. This was another one of God’s orchestrated events to let me know, and hopefully you, that He is intimately involved in our lives. For me to have those words from my book on the screen in very BIG font for her to see that DJ Khaled out of all the books on my phone and of all pages of my very wordy 365-day devotional was once again everything lining up EXTREMELY too perfectly to be some random occurrence. It was God revealing His invisible Presence with us. THE GOD PERSPECTIVE CHANGES EVERYTHING!!!

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“ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT ME DRIVING?”

That was my daughter, Ember, yesterday as she drove us somewhere. I said, “No, I remember what God said to us when we were debating whether or not to leave Nigeria in our kids’ devotional: “No matter where you go, God will be with you.” That right there, KNOWING that God is always with my kids, even when I’m not, has given me such peace. We’re not going through life alone; God’s invisible Presence is always with us.

Are you feeling His closeness? That’s my assignment from Him, to share with you my experiences so you begin to feel Him as you go through your life. Like yesterday, sitting on a little stool in our bathroom, He showed up. I decided to chat with and encourage a friend who has gone through a crushing failure recently. I typed, “F.A.I.L. – “For Another Important Lesson.” I shared how a mistake I made the other day has been so good for me because I’ve learned that instead of rushing in to do things on my own, I need to slow down my roll and check in with God first – ‘God, what would You have me to do here?’ Right after that conversation, still sitting there, I decided to have a short appointment with God, and I unbelievably and randomly opened to this as if God was speaking to me:

“It is through problems and failure, weakness and neediness, that you learn to rely on Me.” Wink! Wink!

That was no coincident, but God revealing His intimate Presence with me there, with an important message for my friend after that disappointing defeat:

“Thus begins your journey of profound reliance on Me. It is a faith-walk, taken one step at a time, leaning on Me, as much as you need. This is not a path of continual success, BUT OF MULTIPLE FAILURES. However, each failure is followed by a growth spurt, nourished by increased reliance on Me. Enjoy the blessedness of a victorious life through deepening your dependence on Me… The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” – Jesus Calling

Notice the sweetness of God and how He comes to us amid life’s messiness. To be honest with you, I don’t know if my friend really believed this was a message from God, but I did. God has spoken to me so many times through this book that I have no doubt this was Him. Through our alone times, I’ve gotten to learn His cool and down to earth personality – He shows up in my bathroom! LOL! This gives me such confidence in knowing that He is my personal Protector, Adviser, Counselor, Friend, and Father, who is always with me.

Are you getting to know Him? I loved listening to the “Bible” app with my husband yesterday. To hear him so excited to share his alone time with God made this God geek wife super happy.

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“THE GOD FACTOR IS YOUR GUARANTEE OF SUCCESS!”

That’s the message from the calendar (Mottos for Success) that God speaks to me through all the time! I so believe this! In every aspect of my life, He has been there for me, helping and guiding me through anything that may come my way with His INFINITE wisdom. Like with my challenge lately of getting our business back on track here in Florida. I feel Him through my spirit, giving me advice on what He would have me to do. On Saturday, that meant asking my smart daughter, Ember, to work on a project for us, and astonishingly it pinpointed a crucial weakness we have going on. And to become strong again, we must attack those weaknesses!!!

This is what I love about my relationship with God. He figures out ways to let me know where I’m going wrong and what I need to improve in. I don’t have too much time these days to sit and have my appointments with Him reading my meditation books, but I listen to Him all day long through my spirit (His voice within us). I ask constantly, ‘God, what would You have me to do here?’ It’s forcing myself to slow down and get God’s input before I do anything. I then FEEL where He is guiding me. Peace, excitement are Him saying ‘Yes, go that way.’ However, stress, doubt, worry, anxiety are Him saying, ‘Don’t do that!!!’ So all day long I FEEL Him with me and directing me. He’s for sure a 24/7 God. No direction means don’t move!

God’s ways are not our ordinary human ways. He’s an expert in everything! The more we get Him involved, the better things work out. I know that as I do my best, God is doing His best to help me in the spiritual realm, sending people and ideas my way to assist me with anything. Don’t miss out on the best life close to Him. Say this prayer with me, ‘God I want a closer walk with You!’ Amen.

“THE GOD FACTOR IS YOUR GUARANTEE OF SUCCESS!”

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WHAT’S STOPPING YOU FROM BEING HAPPY?

That’s the important question I have for us today! I know this transition from Nigeria to Florida has had me on a roller coaster of happy and sad (happy to be here for the girls, but seriously missing the boys and my hubby), but like I always write about – GOD IS HELPING ME.

Sundays are especially super tough and as I type this, I’m sitting in Starbucks with my delightful daughters, having our once a week treat. It was a nudge from God when I lied in bed crying one Sunday morning when I felt Him saying, ‘Nik, get out of this bed. You and the girls go and get some Starbucks, and have a nice run in the park together.’ And since then, it’s been our little Sunday routine. – No time for being sad! I’ve accepted that this is my life right now and I intend to ENJOY it knowing God is with me in every moment. It’s a JOYFUL sacrifice!

And as I’m enjoying the girls, hubs and the boys are bonding without the mama. Like I woke up in panic mode today, thinking I didn’t see about them getting their annual Nigerian outfit for the Independence Day celebration at school made. I called my elder son, Emmie, and he said that someone from our office in Nigeria coordinated for the tailor to come and sew outfits for them, without me knowing anything about it. It felt like God was saying, ‘Nik, Relax. I got you!’

So, what’s stopping you from being happy? Get God involved! HIS PERSPECTIVE CHANGES EVERYTHING. God has been my special Counselour. I go through my life lying on His heart. Whatever I’m sad about is a time for me to go to Him and talk about it. Getting up that Sunday morning and making it a routine with my daughters changed everything, instead of being sad and depressed. I trust that the boys and hubs are well taken care of by God. Ask Him to help you address what it is that’s upsetting you. Everything I’m worried about, I give it to God. I do my best and I leave the rest with Him!

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I’m seriously missing my very comfortable life in Nigeria right now! But like my daughter told me, “Mom, you’re on a mission!” And I’ve happily accepted my assignment from God, realizing this is a sacrifice for Him – Everything is between God and us not between us and anyone else – FOR REAL, FOR REAL!!!

And waking up every day, striving to be the wife, mother, daughter (my mom is here with us!) and person God would have me to be has led my life on a lovely path – despite the hard work at the moment. I see my entire life as a gift from Him:

▪	The extraordinary husband who I have such love and respect for

▪	These hardworking and responsible daughters who are going the extra mile in making us super proud

▪	My wonderful sons who have given up their mom for a bit as a sacrifice for their sisters

▪	My 87-year-old mom who came from the Bahamas to keep our company (who I get to vent all my frustrations to for some excellent advice on how to handle them)

▪	Our staff here who make going to work enjoyable and a fun challenge we’ve taken on together as a team

▪	Our staff in Nigeria stepping up, even more, to help hubby while I’m away

▪	The people who keep my neighborhood so beautiful that I get to go running in every day to recharge and have some alone time with God

And I can go on and on seeing everything from the perspective of – God, You did all this for me?

Even the challenges are gifts – they’re helping me to become ALL God has created me to be. The comfortable life in Nigeria has made me very lazy, if I’m sincere. I need to step up my game in spreading this GREAT news that God is intimately involved in every aspect of our lives and how much He unconditionally loves all of us! The next book is on the way! God, gracious (thank You in Spanish!)

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PAY ATTENTION TO THIS (REPOST)

Was the feeling I got when I was STRANGELY drawn to notice the sun shining brightly through our bathroom window revealing all the dirt there. I thought to myself about it, debating as to whether to clean it or not, but when I considered the hassle, I said it wasn’t worth the trouble. I then continued getting dressed for work.

Fast forward to that afternoon, I was having some alone time with God, and look what miraculously showed up:

“Avoid the little faults. Ask me to help you see them more clearly, in their true light, LIKE A WINDOW IN SUNSHINE (Wink! Wink!).”

Wow, God! HIGH FIVE! That was no coincident. It was His sweet way of revealing His intimate Presence with me. For me to pay attention to that WINDOW IN SUNSHINE that morning, and me going to look for some glimpse of His Presence in my alone time with Him, to find these words: WINDOW IN SUNSHINE, was all orchestrated by Him. God is always finding these different and unique ways of letting me know that His invisible Presence is ALWAYS with me. Are you getting to know His personality?

And these faults /imperfections He mentioned, I’m praying hard for Him to help me with some of them, especially my negative thinking, lately. But even these faults He’s helping me to use for my good! Anytime I catch myself, I run to God for His help and guidance, and we even laugh about them together. He’s teaching me to lighten up and not be too hard on myself or others. Practice, practice, and more practice. Nobody’s perfect, but we can all try to become BETTER. Who we were five minutes ago, doesn’t matter! We can continually begin again.

And that’s the love I’m getting to know from God. That I can sit down for some alone time with Him yearning to feel His Presence, and He shows up. We can even laugh at my imperfections! He’s pretty cool like that!

This life is not easy, and events can get us down. That’s why I needed that reminder from Him that despite all the negativity in the world I can keep myself resting permanently at HOME with Him filled with positiveness, gratitude, and love – that’s FAITH, baby! It’s like He melts away all my stress and frustrations saying, ‘Don’t worry about anything, Nik, I’m here with you.’

Please get to know Him for yourself!! Notice how His Spirit had me to pay attention to that window. Small, gentle nudges through our Spirit is what He does a lot – Do this. Don’t do that. START PAYING ATTENTION!!!

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A GOD WINK BEFORE BED

Right before going to bed I thought to myself, ‘I haven’t gotten any of my God winks, lately. God must be busy with all the other billions of people in the world.’ LOL! I then thought of the astonishing evening I had with my mom, Ember, and Julie, which was a BIG reminder of how God always EXCEEDS my expectations of Him. God, You rock! Five minutes later, I continued reading my meditation book. Can you believe a God wink showed up?!? These so-called “coincidences” are my glimmers of His invisible Presence always with me.

This one started that morning when I wrote this in my last blog about some crucial values I’ve brought back from Nigeria:

“Like the first and most important one is a STRONGER faith in God. A very simple life gave me space and time to seek God and to build a close relationship with Him, and that alone right there has made my life infinitely better.”

I remember debating what word could best describe what this faith in God had done for me, and the only one I could come up with was “INFINITE” – meaning impossible to measure or calculate. Fast forward to that appointment with God before sleeping, it was no coincident that this showed up in my meditation book:

“This gift of salvation is of INFINITE value. (Wink! Wink!) It gives meaning and direction to your life.” – Jesus Always

Again, these God winks are when out of the blue everything lines up too perfectly to be an ordinary coincidence, and I know God Himself was orchestrating this alignment after I complained of not having a God wink from Him! Nothing can calculate the peace, joy, and fulfillment these give me – infinite for sure.

So, please, don’t miss out on this precious gift of FAITH. Your girl is in work mode these days working on getting our business here on the right track again. It can be stressful at times, away from overprotective hubby, but it has been perfect for me. I’m relying even more on God. When hubby wanted to fight a battle for me yesterday, I said, ‘No, I have to handle this myself, boo.’ And honestly, I’m enjoying a more closeness with God, bringing Him into more of my moments, asking through my spirit what He would have me to do. WE’RE NOT GOING THROUGH LIFE ALONE!!! My screen saver still says:

“In each other’s hearts. You will keep yours in Mine (God’s) and I’ll be in yours.” – He and I

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WE’RE IN LEGACY MODE, BABY!

That’s me to my hubby these days! Everything we do, I want it to be about leaving a tradition to pass on to our kids, to hopefully pass on to their kids, who will hopefully pass it on to their kids, and you get my point. It’s not about us anymore! All by God’s grace, of course! Nigeria has really taught me some important values that I’ve brought back to this other side of the world, and I’m super happy to share them with you.

Like the first and most important one is a STRONGER faith in God. A very simple life gave me space and time to seek God and to build a close relationship with Him, and that alone right there has made my life infinitely better. Knowing that I have God on my side and that I handle nothing alone gives me such peace and joy. All I have to do is stay in my FEELINGS (listening to His direction, moment by moment on what He would have me to do). Learning to PAUSE and ask God, ‘What would You have me do here?’ has led my life on a wonderful path. My life has become a joyous adventure with God led with His wisdom in a complicated world. He asked me the other day, through a meditation book,

“Will you at last believe in My love? Very simply, every moment, no matter what happens? And with the greatest joy?”

To be very honest, I’m still a work in progress. But I’ve noticed, even the negative situations that come my way are helping me to get closer to believing in God’s love for me. All the hurts, disappointments, challenges, problems, worries, sadness, anxiety are my PUSH to seek Him even more. The more I get hurt, the less I cry because every time I go to God, He figures out some way to say, ‘Nik, I’m with You!’ And with a love like, that I can take on the world knowing I have the BIGGEST AND BEST BACK-UP – God. He’s on our side and He knows what is best for us. I’m holding on to His hands super tight as I live my life with His arms around me.

Another significant value I’ve learned from Nigeria is loyalty and faithfulness. No matter what hubby and I go through, we’re sticking together. My sister in law was the first to teach me that the wife is the glue that holds the family together. Years later, I’m still doing my utmost best with that! And all the people I’ve met in Nigeria who have influenced me with their example and advice on fighting for our families. I’m grateful! Our loyalty to our families is rewarded by God Himself! Everything is between Him and us, not between us and anyone else! As we give Him our best, being our most loving, forgiving and excellent selves, He gives us His best! Wink! Wink!

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“WE’RE SO GHETTO!!!”

hat was me to my daughters yesterday! They wanted to play tennis, and the one tennis ball we had was at my office. So, instead of going to buy some more balls, we politely collected the ones that were left around by other players, and we had ourselves an excellent tennis tournament with me beating them both. Heehaw!

I actually wanted to go for a run, but Ember wanted to play tennis. With one glance at God, though, I knew what He would have me to do – work on a closer relationship with your daughter by showing her your love and attention. Yes, Father! And that’s where I want us in EVERY moment, seeking God’s guidance for our lives.

The tennis turned out to be a good thing as we got some other stuff done at our home association’s office. When I told the lady we’ve lived there for 15 years, she was amazed, and I was reminded of how God has really guided our lives beautifully. When hubby and I found this house, we knew this was the one for us after looking at so many other homes that we couldn’t agree on. But with this one, we felt excited, at peace and knew without a doubt that this was the one.

Every morning as I go for my run with God in this beautiful neighborhood, I thank Him for His guidance. Fifteen years later, we’re still in love with this home and area. Now, even the college the girls want to attend is only minutes away, and I just can’t get over how God has every aspect of our lives so perfectly planned out, even FAR ahead into the future. A life guided by God cannot fail! He knows what’s best for us. PERIOD.

Are you seeking God in every decision? That peaceful and happy feeling, knowing without a doubt that this was the home for us, is how God astonishingly guided us. I remember hubs and I loving this house so much that we would ask for the key while we waited for the closing just to hang out like little kids. Super excited! However, all the other ones we weren’t so enthusiastic about, that was God saying, ‘No, not this one, guys.’

All day and every day, start paying attention to your feelings as God becomes the main Guide of your life. No peace, feelings of doubt, stress, worry are God’s way of saying hold up, this may not be a good move for you. Joy, excitement peace, however, are usually Him saying, Yes! This may be a good move, but still, proceed cautiously listening to Me one step at a time. Don’t make a move without Him!!!

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