That’s the Buju Banton song I just listened to on my way back from my God tree. Touching the tree, though, I gave my husband a call in Nigeria and prayed that God would strengthen him in his inner being to take on his crucial role for our family and the entire world. God will also give him His wisdom, perspective, guidance, favor, and support. Love you forever, best husband/my gift from God! That’s my prayer for us all as we each bravely and lovingly take on our individual roles, all for God’s glory. Amen.

I strengthen my inner being by having many (no shame!) appointments with God by reading my meditation books and old posts I’ve written, continually reminding myself that I’m not going through life alone; God is with me every second. No doubt! And He is with you too! It’s just for us to practice the DISCIPLINE of having those alone times with God and crucially looking to Him in every moment, keeping our eyes fixed on Him, and asking what He would have us do. Extremely hard but so worth it in the end because God’s ways are always best, even when He takes us out on shaky and unstable limbs (walk on water kind of faith needed!) where we’re forced to lean on Him more than ever (me at the moment!).

And God is so good to me, guys, that He finds the sweetest ways to let me know He is with me. I call them my God winks, where everything lines up a little bit too perfect to be considered an ordinary coincidence. But they’re God’s way of revealing His invisible Presence. And this awareness of His Presence is truly what gives me the courage to take on my role as His Rockstar wife, mother, and person. God’s girl all the way, baby!

This morning I had the best time doing a run with Coach Bennet on the Nike Running Club app. Devon Franklin encouraged me to put some praise and worship music on my playlist, and I’m so happy for that advice. You should have seen me running out with my hands up in the air praising God while singing this song (and no, I didn’t look at all crazy!):

“Your grace is all-sufficient
It’s an all-sufficient grace
Your power and Your glory
Are forever on display
And Your loving kindness
Loving kindness
Is better than life

All your ways are just, you’re just in all your ways
I will lift my hands in gratitude and praise
Life can be uncertain at times
Your loving never fails” – Better Than Life, Israel Houghton

Fast forward to me sitting at my computer debating what to share with you guys today. Can you believe God took me to these very lyrics on our family’s website. It was a screen I had left open from days before, and God had me to go right back there minutes after that run, as if He was personally saying, ‘I saw you out there running and singing this song, My Nik!’ No way this was a random coincidence! God went before me and intentionally had me to leave those lyrics open on my screen from days ago just to let me know that His Presence is with me. Trust me, out of 132 web pages and years of blogs, no way I left off reading exactly there by some ordinary accident!!!

And speaking of God’s loving-kindness, I just spoke to my brother Kevin and his wife, Verona. I thanked them both from the bottom of my heart for all their genuine love, wisdom, and support they have given me. Kevin insisted on paying me for some help I gave them yesterday, and I asked, “How can I possibly charge the person who has held my hand for the last three years that I’ve been going through my little rough patch?” He said he wanted to support our family hustle. I told him the emotional, mental, and spiritual support he has given me on behalf of my business and family has been priceless (not everything is about money!).

Yesterday was the most beautiful day with the kids at work with me, thanks to Kevin saying to me one day, “You have to teach your kids the family hustle.” Since then, it has given me a new joy and perspective on going to work. I feel like I’m doing this not only for our kids, but for our future grandkids and great-grandkids. Not to mention all the people who support us and purchase cars for them to do their respective hustles in the world.

Emmie (our 14-year-old) and I fought all that day about working hard and putting excellence into everything he does, but on the way home, he said, “At the end of the day, I still love you.” (HUGE SMILE) Doing everything all for the glory of God!!!

He wants to be PERSONALLY involved in our lives!!! I had a lot going on today, but I’m so happy I’ve disciplined myself to go for that run to my God tree just about every day to spend some time with God and get His Almighty perspective on my life! It’s too hard to do without Him!!! NO SHAME! God, I need You!!!

A situation happened where I released a car to some customers that might not have been the best move (not sure yet). But I was so happy that my kids were around to witness the ups and downs of our family business. At the end of the day, when I questioned them as to the lessons they had learned, Julie responded, “In life you will have problems, you just need to figure out the solutions.” This is after she saw me tackling the issue head-on, attempting to resolve it with one of our lenders. That didn’t work, and now I’m on to plan B.

But here’s the most crucial part of the story. I’m discussing the entire situation with God, seeking His help and guidance. His ideas and solutions are coming to mind, and I’m running with them. I feel Him in my spirit directing me and helping me. God and I are super close now, and He tells me He wants me to develop the habit of always being with Him. So, my entire day is spent asking, ‘God, what should WE do here?’ and following wherever He leads. Even releasing that car, I followed Him. And I’m learning to enjoy His company, knowing I’m secure with Him standing by my side through it all. IN GOD WE TRUST, BABY!

And don’t feel as if you must have your life all together. Trust me, my life is a complete mess! No joke! But yet I feel incredibly loved by God as if I’m His fav girl!. His love is unconditional, unlike the love we receive from humans, who are quick to cut us off if we mess up. He wants to walk with you, too! Just start talking to Him, asking Him to be the Guide and Partner of your life.

I was talking to my sister-in-law, Aima, yesterday about the kids coming to work with me. She said I should pay them, and I said I’m teaching them about relationships. That this mom and dad who have been so good to them, that they should just be asking, ‘What can I do to assist you?’ and not looking for any formal payment arrangement. We also spoke of someone who is very arrogant and has difficulty getting along with people. I said this is why I’m bringing the kids to work with me because it’s so important in life to get along with others. So, at 6 minutes past the hour later that night, I felt God nudging me to go to page 6 of our family’s website. Look what showed up there in an old post:

“Like after speaking with her (my sister) today, I had to have a tough meeting with my daughters. I explained that life is not just about always asking, ‘What’s in this for me?’ but, ‘What can I do to help you?’ Relationships are a two-way street. You give, and you get! Having humility and asking, ‘How may I serve you?’ with a helpful, grateful, and kind attitude and always giving your best is the way to go. Not just asking other people to do for you! It ain’t that kind of party! “If you’re a street cleaner, be the best street cleaner!” God loves the humble!!!”

God is intimately involved in our lives, guys! No way all this randomly showed up on page 6 at 6 minutes past the hour. I’m talking I got a strong feeling from Him in my spirit to stop what I was doing and read page 6! I sent it to my sister-in-law as a reminder that God is always with us. Every conversation. Every thought. Every move we make, He knows all about it. That includes every worry, every fear, and every challenge. God knows all about it!!! It is just for us to show up, do our utmost best as to what we feel He would have us to do, and leave the rest with Him! (Wink! Wink!)

I love a message from Him through Joel Osteen this morning from a sermon he did like 5 years ago. Joel said, “God will go ahead of you and level the mountain.” This was God letting me know that He was in the fires of my life with me. I can trust Him to go ahead of me and tackle battles on my behalf in the spiritual realm.

I’m feeling close to God and want the entire world here with me. GOD IS PERSONALLY INVOLVED IN OUR LIVES!! Don’t miss out on Him! Say this prayer, ‘God, I want a closer walk with You.’ Then start having alone times with Him and then feeling Him in Your spirit as to what He is saying to you directly regarding your specific life issues. His ways are always the best! Even when bad things happen, I trust that God knows the experiences I need to improve. Amen.

That was me to my guru (spiritual adviser), Kevin, yesterday. It was maybe a year ago. I called him asking how he predicted this statement when I called him all frustrated, sad, and emotionally hurting under my God tree:

“Neeks, you’re like a boxer right now. After getting hit (NOT PHYSICAL HITS) in your head like 10,000 times, you eventually get numb to the pain.”

Fast forward to a year later, your girl here has become numb to the hits! How did Kevin know this would happen? I have no doubt about it now; God speaks to me through Kevin. An ordinary human response would be to get out of the ring after 10 or 100 punches, Kevin encouraged me to stay even past the 10,000th punch, when I would eventually get numb to the pain. Who would advise such a thing? But that advice has paid off, and I’m super happy I stayed in the ring. True love has to be tested! (HUGE SMILE)

God has been teaching me that these hits were a part of the journey between Him and me, not between me and anyone else. He wants me to learn how to love unconditionally, then pass these lessons on to you guys. It has NOT been an easy journey (I’ve fallen like a million times), but I always felt I was doing it for the team (the entire human race!). To help us all learn these messy love lessons that God Himself would have us to learn.

God is love. He wants us all to abide in love with Him and each other. That’s what would make Papa God proud. The way Kevin has been supporting me and encouraging me to get back up when I fall with all His great advice has been all God’s way of showing me His deep love. And that’s my prayer for us, that we can all be God’s hands and feet and mouths in the world, His representatives, spreading His love wherever we go. Not easy, but God will be our strength when our human capacity to love and forgive fails. Our job isn’t to judge anyone, just to love and hopefully bring them closer to God, as Kevin lovingly has done for me.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34-35 NIV

That was from a customer I sold a car to yesterday, after I shared with him and his brother how my brother, Kevin, has been lovingly holding my hand and giving me direct messages from God. Yesterday, I even called Kevin to thank him for his statement that God wanted me to know that I was secure in Him. It’s really sinking in, and it explains why I’ve been so happy lately. Can you believe God went a step further with that message under my God tree today? In my spirit, I felt Him say that I should go to a specific version of my fav meditation book, Jesus Calling. As I randomly picked a page to read, look what incredibly showed up (written as if God was speaking directly to me):

“I want you to realize how UTTERLY secure you are (Wink! Wink!)! Even if you falter as you journey through life, I will never let go of your hand. Knowing that your future is absolutely assured can free you to live abundantly today.”

Our God is not only faithful, but He is also quite talkative! (HUGE SMILE). It’s just for us to get to know Him better for ourselves. His sheep know His voice! After reminding myself the entire morning that God wanted me to know I was secure in Him, for Him to go to the trouble of having me go specifically to that page in this big daily devotional for 365 days, just blew the God maniac here away. This was no coincidence! It was just God AGAIN revealing a glimpse of His invisible Presence with me under that tree. And this awareness of God’s Presence is truly what gives your girl here the peace, joy, courage, and strength to take on life! Amen!

Hubby said a beautiful prayer under the tree today for our family (ANOTHER SMILE). The kids are all upset at me because I’m forcing them to work four days a week each following in my husband’s mom’s footsteps, who dragged him to work with her consistently. And my hubby turned out to be a great guy! Hard work and dedication pay off! I tell the kids that I’m not their friend now, but one day they will appreciate this momma. My mom taught me that if you’re a street cleaner, be the best street cleaner. So, between my husband’s mom’s legacy of hard work and my mom’s of giving your best, we have some awesome people in the making, by the grace of God! OUR FAMILIES ARE IMPORTANT TO GOD!!! MAY WE DO IT ALL FOR HIS GLORY!!! Big ups to my brother, Gil, in the pic! I’m enjoying having you around!!!

That was the vital question asked by an angel God sent to work with me. The kids ask, “Mom, what is his job?” I reply that his job is to make everyone happy, and he is excellent at that! As soon as he comes, we greet each other, saying, “Thank You, Jesus (God), and all day we continue repeatedly thanking God. He said one day, “We sell cars; we say thank You, Jesus. We don’t sell cars; we say Thank You, Jesus.” This morning he woke me up at 7 am, saying, “Don’t forget, we have a customer early today.” The employee was calling to wake up the boss to get to work (HUGE SMILE)! And we had a beautiful and fun day of car selling!

On that note, I jumped up from bed, and I was off for my run to my God tree. I can’t do this car business without Him! There God reminded me that even if I fall a million times, I should get back up a million and one. He also told me how proud He was of me. I might have fallen a lot, but I kept getting back up. And I did some hard things for Him (ANOTHER SMILE). Here’s that old post!

“WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME?” (REPOST)

I questioned my daughters yesterday after they called, asking if they could go for a run in a nearby park. I wasn’t expecting this response (I paraphrase here): “Mom, you were the one who kept saying, “Let’s do hard things!” You’re so brave. You’re fearless! We see you running through bushes, over snakes, doing challenging things. We’re following you.” Wow! And that confirmed my change of perspective on this rough year!

Earlier that day, I felt God speaking to me through a “Suckcess Run” with Coach Bennet of the Nike Running Club. He talked about perspectives and how we can look at our failures from a different angle. So, here I’ve been thinking what a mess up I’ve been this year of what felt like a million falls, and thanks to Coach Bennet, I flipped it, feeling God had this to say, ‘Wow, Nik, you did some hard things for Me. You’re my little superhero. You might have fallen, but you were resilient, you kept getting back up. And you kept focused on building a closer relationship with Me. Great job! We have a lot to celebrate here!”

Then hearing my daughters remind me that they were watching their momma take on this challenging year was the icing on the cake. Not only did they see me, but I also shared with you guys how God would show up in every one of those falls to let me know He was with me.

And that’s the best perspective change ever. Knowing God is with you in the good times and the hard times. He has your back no matter how many times you fall and fail, and He loves you unconditionally no matter how many times you mess up. This year also importantly taught me that this is what He expects us to do for others – love unconditionally.

I love how God uses my husband to teach me all these love lessons to pass on to you guys. I told him today that all I know and all I need to know is that he is the best husband in the world. We may have our dark nights, but we rise up again with the hope that our best days are still ahead of us. We remain loyal to each other no matter what we go through. In fact, these difficult times seem to bring us even closer together. Go figure! Like we can go through the toughest times, survive, and recommit to getting even better TOGETHER! God’s ways are not our ordinary human ways; they’re so much better!

Are you getting CLOSER to Him? Say this prayer with me, ‘God, I want a closer walk with You.’ Then start having alone times seeking Him and asking Him to be a part of the 1,000 decisions you make every day, seeking to make Him happy. I promise you, the best life is close to God!!!

That was me to my guru (spiritual adviser), Kevin, yesterday. It was maybe a year ago. I called him asking how he predicted this statement when I called him all frustrated, sad, and emotionally hurting under my God tree:

“Neeks, you’re like a boxer right now. After getting hit (NOT PHYSICAL HITS) in your head like 10,000 times, you eventually get numb to the pain.”

Fast forward to a year later, your girl here has become numb to the hits! How did Kevin know this would happen? I have no doubt about it now; God speaks to me through Kevin. An ordinary human response would be to get out of the ring after 10 or 100 punches, Kevin encouraged me to stay even past the 10,000th punch, when I would eventually get numb to the pain. Who would advise such a thing? But that advice has paid off, and I’m super happy I stayed in the ring. True love has to be tested! (HUGE SMILE)

God has been teaching me that these hits were a part of the journey between Him and me, not between me and anyone else. He wants me to learn how to love unconditionally, then pass these lessons on to you guys. It has NOT been an easy journey (I’ve fallen like a million times), but I always felt I was doing it for the team (the entire human race!). To help us all learn these messy love lessons that God Himself would have us to learn.

God is love. He wants us all to abide in love with Him and each other. That’s what would make Papa God proud. The way Kevin has been supporting me and encouraging me to get back up when I fall with all His great advice has been all God’s way of showing me His deep love. And that’s my prayer for us, that we can all be God’s hands and feet and mouths in the world, His representatives, spreading His love wherever we go. Not easy, but God will be our strength when our human capacity to love and forgive fails. Our job isn’t to judge anyone, just to love and hopefully bring them closer to God, as Kevin lovingly has done for me.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34-35 NIV

That was a message from a friend today. She said initially she didn’t want to hear my positive advice, and I completely get it.I do the same with God – God, I don’t want to hear from You! I want to be mad, mean, angry, and upset! But thank God for GROWTH and maturity. Now I’m RUNNING to hear what God has to say because He honestly leads me on the best paths. Here’s an old post to explain more:

‘THIS IS VERY FRUSTRATING!’ I complained to God. It’s an ongoing issue that has become my cross, and He is helping me to carry it joyfully (most of the time!). I love that I can go to Him in all my terrible moments and look at things from His Almighty perspective. He had me reread this prayer:

”O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I WILL NOT DWELL ON THE UNPLEASANT THINGS OF LIFE. “

And speaking of being FULL of anxiety, that was me yesterday, and I immediately RAN to Him AGAIN. I reread some old posts, including my fav lately:

“Come to me all you who labor and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, here you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

She (a priest) called our attention to the image of the yoke, a wooden bar or frame by which two draft animals such as oxen are joined at the heads or necks for working together. She said she could imagine Jesus (God) already wearing the yoke and inviting us to let Him be our Partner as we bear our burdens together with Him. She said when things get harder (and they will get harder) Jesus (God) would not let his side of the yoke go.

I loved this part so much that I listened to it repeatedly, imagining God and I clasped together with this piece of wood holding our heads together. I especially loved it because now I’m WISELY learning to let God lead the direction we go in, on a moment-by-moment basis. It’s not always easy, and at times it takes serious DISCIPLINE not to be the crazy, drama Nik who wants to make an appearance. But God’s ways always lead me to make the utmost best decisions no matter the tough situation. I never regret following His leading, even when He takes me out of my comfort zone on some treacherous paths.”

Are you going to God in your sad, frustrating, painful, anxious, and other awful moments? Let’s bear all our burdens with Him.

KEEP CALM—YOU’RE ROLLING WITH GOD

This morning, I was headed back home from touching my God tree, where I try to go every day to see what He has to say to me there. On the way back, I thought of someone I spoke with two days ago. In my mind, I was thanking them for their honesty and great advice. At that precise moment, I looked up, and that very person I was thinking of was directly walking ahead of me on the cross street! Wow! That lined up extremely too perfectly to be some ordinary coincidence! Even the God Maniac here was blown away by that one! (HUGE SMILE)

I tried calling them, but they didn’t hear me, so I ran and caught up with them, telling them how I was just thinking of them and what they said in our last conversation, and they suddenly appeared. No coincidence, but a God wink that He is intimately involved in my life and incredibly knows everything about me, including every thought, I think! To have that person lined up so perfectly was just God again revealing His invisible Presence REMINDING ME THAT HE IS IN COMPLETE CONTROL OF EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE!!! Come to think of it, maybe He was the One who placed that thought in my head. It is one of the ways He communicates with us – through our thoughts.

So, I walked with this person for a bit, then headed back home. I noticed a speed limit sign with the number 30 on it. I felt God in my spirit (a strong nudge/feeling) saying I should go to page 30 of our family’s website for an appointment with Him there as I walked back home. I couldn’t believe what was there at the very top of the page! It was a story from over two years ago that I started to write and tell you guys about TWICE yesterday in my post, but deleted it both times, feeling it wasn’t the message God wanted me to reshare that day. For me to just see that sign saying “30” and to go there on our family’s website to see this very story on the top of page “30” was God’s way of AGAIN revealing His invisible Presence with me, as if saying, ‘I saw you, Nik, delete that story both times yesterday!’ The story began with my husband sending an old pic of us together, and I felt God dictating to me the specific message to send in response (He is my help in every aspect of my life!):

“Forget the former things! God is doing a new thing! He is taking our family to new and greater heights! HE WILL MAKE A STREAM in the wastelands, a spring in the desert.”

Long story short, the girls came out to run errands with me that day, and as we were driving next to the highway, Ember shockingly pointed out a LONG STREAM of water flowing that was not there before. Apparently, some nearby lake overflowed from lots of rain, and I immediately thought of that text to my husband: HE WILL MAKE A STREAM. God did! THIS WAS NO COINCIDENCE! That was God finding a NEW way of showing me His deep love and attention. I was at peace the entire day driving around with my daughters KNOWING GOD HIMSELF WAS THERE WITH US.

Fast forward two years later, the lake overflowed again recently, and I thought back to God’s promise from two years ago. Honestly, guys, GOD HAS DONE A NEW THING! Where God has taken our family TRULY blows me away, and why I say I’m no longer on the high road with Him, I’m on the highest road! God, how may I please You, let me learn.

God has exceeded our expectations, as usual! I’m thanking Him every moment, grateful that we’ve kept our HOPE IN HIM, following His leading, and doing what Dr. Charles Stanley taught: OBEY GOD AND LEAVE THE CONSEQUENCES TO HIM. Like that person I met up with today said, “Only God doesn’t disappoint!” Let’s forever keep our hope in Him, no matter what’s going on around us. Nothing too complicated or difficult for God to handle. Let’s keep doing our utmost best and leaving the rest with God! Amen!

I was so thrilled to hear this from my daughter, Ember, as we left a meeting about improving our family hustle game. We got to the location, and there were no more parking spaces. I told Ember to pull into the main parking area, only to double-check, and suddenly, someone came out and backed out of the very first parking spot closest to the entrance, as if they were there waiting for us to arrive as if saying, ‘I was holding this spot for you guys!’ Got that right, holding for God’s fav girls, baby!

So, I’m in the meeting, trying not to happy cry – Nikki, compose yourself – just being there with our eldest daughter, with this company that we’ve worked with for over 20 years now. This organization has been such a blessing, helping us to feed our family, y’all. The God nerd here was filled with such joy being in that room. Wow, God! You really love us!

It’s another testimony of how you CAN work smarter, not harder, with God as your Personal Life Partner and Guide. People always suggest that we work with other companies, but we stay loyal to this one because this is where we strongly feel God Himself wants us. YOU MUST LEARN GOD’S VOICE FOR YOURSELF!!! No joke! Honestly, this company exceeds our expectations, and I’m just thanking God for the wisdom and insight to stick with them. God’s an expert in everything, don’t play around with your relationship with Him!

There is a rep there that I took to introduce my daughter to at the end, and I told him how our little sign of the “411” has been showing up all over. God uses this “411” as a sign that He Himself is helping me with our business. Hubby is busy, so God has been the One letting me know that I should take getting our business together here as a lighthearted challenge that He and I are working on together. (HUGE SMILE) I told the rep that I even see these signs everywhere advertising 800 “411”-PAIN, and I remember God’s promise that He is helping me. I’m not going to lie to you guys, we left that meeting, and directly across from the building’s exit where we needed to stop, was a bus bench advertising of all things possible, 800-“411″ (Wink! Wink!)-PAIN.

Of course, your girl here REALLY started crying because I knew that bench placement directly across from the building’s exit, minutes after that conversation with that rep, was totally and completely orchestrated by God to make His girl here happy, AGAIN revealing His invisible Presence there with my daughter and me. How could that possibly be a coincidence for that ad to show up there minutes after our conversation with that rep? All the deep love of God for me and my family that I want you to begin to pay attention to and learn for yourself. OUR GOD IS WITH US, AND HE IS PERSONALLY INVOLVED IN OUR LIVES!

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding; Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

Amen!