I REALLY NEED TO START RECORDING OUR CONVERSATIONS!!!

Honestly, every discussion with my brother/guru, Kevin, is filled with profound wisdom that I can take to improve my life. Like yesterday, he said that none of us are perfect, but we should NEVER GIVE UP TRYING to be better. We should not be so hard on ourselves or others because none of us ever get it completely right. Honestly, that was the perfect message to me because I’ve been beating myself up a lot because I say I will do all these things every day and end up miserably failing (like my book that I’m not working on!). But Kevin’s message reminded me to never give up trying to be the person I aim to be. Every day I can reinvent myself or even reinvent myself several times in one day and KEEP TRYING. Fall a million times, get back up a million and one!!!

Then we also talked about how everyone is talking about how foolish I am for staying with my husband. Kevin said, “Neeks, you love your husband, and you don’t have to make any apologies for that!” I explained that my marriage at this point was beyond love. It’s a commitment to my husband (I’m ride-or-die loyal!) AND my entire family.

People don’t realize that when you have kids, you have to stop thinking about yourself and start considering what’s best for the entire team. My happiness goes to the back seat! The emotional, crazy baby whiner starving for hubby’s love and approval must go, and a wise, mature, calm, unconditionally loved and approved by God woman MUST take her place, doing her thing for her God and her family. WE MUST BE OBEDIENT TO GOD, NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE ELSE THINKS OR SAYS!!!! GOD ALWAYS KNOWS BEST!!!

Kevin once explained that marriage is like a team. When one spouse is weak, the other has to be strong, and vice versa. So when hubby only has 20% to give, I want to be that 80% for him because that’s what he loyally, genuinely, and faithfully does for me. When I went crazy on him recently for a few seconds, he asked me one question that stuck with me, “Nik, I’m here with you every night. Every day I go out to work doing my best for you guys. What more do you want from me?” That’s what God and Kevin have both been trying to teach me TO FOCUS ON HUBBY’S POSITIVES. Kevin says, “You have a husband that respects you. He takes good care of you and your kids. There’s nothing more you can ask for than this. Neeks, enjoy your gorgeous life!”

“The world will be more loving because of our relationship!” I say to Kevin. Honestly, because he has been such an extraordinary support to me, I’m forcing my daughters to spend their summers together so that they can keep their sibling bond strong. This life is too rough to do on our own! We need each other! Now we pass the love torch on to you! Go out there and love yourself and the entire world! Let’s charm God by making all our actions pleasing to Him!!! Wink Wink!

“No man is an island. All have influence, and when you influence a person for good, that person influences others for good as well, and the ripples of love continue outward.”

“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also, – 2 Timothy 2:2 (Taken from Mottos for Success Calendar)

They are what I call my God winks, where everything lines up a little bit too perfect to be considered some ordinary coincidence. This one happened at work today when my assistant, Lillian, asked of a particular customer on one of our invoices named “FALCON USA.” Within five minutes, our cleaning guy, Sylvannos, came in with a bottle of a carwash, incredibly named (of all names in the entire world!) “FALCON” and written on the label was “made in the USA (Wink! Wink!). For all the customers for her to ask me about at that moment, for the cleaner to come over within 5 minutes with that carwash with the name FALCON was all completely and totally orchestrated by God to let us all know that His Spirit is always with us! Now, tell me, how could that just be some regular coincidence?

“… and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” -Matthew 28:20

I’m loving my appointments with God with my sons, and after asking Joshie about how he knew that God was real, he responded, “No way our God winks are coincidences!” Honestly, these God winks give me the courage, peace, joy, and strength to take on my life, knowing that God Himself is always with me, supporting, loving, approving, guiding, advising, and helping me in the spiritual realm by tweaking situations on my behalf (Wink! Wink!).

After telling my brother Kevin that we’re lucky to have learned our mom’s charming personality – light, happy, humble, kind, loving, generous, joyful, and funny (even at 90 years old!) – God got in on our conversation the next day telling me that I should charm Him. I took that as meaning that everything I do and every interaction should appeal to God. Not that anyone ever gets it ultimately right all the time, but we keep trying to do everything pleasing to God.

Especially in the love department! We can always improve there by shining super bright as God’s representatives. If I have to be the poster child for this messy love to teach the world, I say, God, no problem! Anything to please You, let me learn. When others are unfair to me, Your ways are MORE than fair! Between God and hubby, I’m super spoilt!

Tell God that today is the day you want a closer relationship with Him! Amen!

“WRITE ABOUT HOW TO STOP BEING A PEST!!!”

That’s from my sweet, fantastic, funny, lovable, and huggable son, Joshie! He and his brother, Emmie, are unhappy with me today because I’ve banned them from TV, and the video games have been locked away until after some upcoming tests. But about me not being a pest, NEVER!!! I have this great news to share with the world about God’s deep love and intimate involvement in every moment of our lives. HEEHAW!!!

Like this week, I shared in Ceri’s Breakfast and the Bible Clubhouse group about how this verse has been my experience with God:

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” – Ephesians 3:20

I was bragging, as usual, about how God always gives me more than I can imagine, think, or expect! A few hours later, Pastor Joel Osteen shared this message in his email devotional:

“You can’t ask in faith for your daily bread, your protection, and your guidance if you don’t know you’re His child. Because of who you are, you can stay in peace, KNOWING THAT YOUR FATHER WILL DO FOR YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN ASK, THINK, OR IMAGINE (Wink! Wink!).

God confirmed my bragging, baby!!!! And He didn’t stop there! After sharing a clip of the video I recorded about God exceeding my expectations on my Facebook story, this morning I opened our huge over 700-page devotional, Jesus Calling, and the message I randomly opened to said (written as if God was speaking to me):

“THINK BIG WHEN YOU PRAY, but remember that I always think bigger! I look at the big picture—all the moments of your life—AND I AM DOING MORE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE (another Wink! Wink!).”

I was bragging to Ceri’s group members about how Ceri showing up in my life at a pretty low time (LIFE WILL KNOCK YOU DOWN SOMETIMES!!!) was an example of how God exceeds my expectations! Ceri taught me that God is strategic about the people He places in our lives. Jason, my brother, said I talk a lot about God, but I didn’t have confidence in God. Viola! God sends Jason’s friend Ceri, who has increased my faith in God more than ever with his faithful recordings on the Club House platform from over a year ago. I’ve reached new levels of joy, peace, courage, and, most importantly, CLOSENESS TO GOD!

Ceri joined in with my brother, Kevin, who said one day, “My job from God, Neeks, is to keep you happy!” Kevin has been my personal adviser from God for about four years now, keeping me on God’s path for my life!!!! Thanks, guys!!! See how God exceeds what I could ask or imagine! He sends personal angels to support, inspire, uplift, and encourage me when I’m low! Now we want to pass this message of faith, hope, and love on to you!!!! So help us, God!

That was the conversation between Kevin and his wife, Verona, yesterday, which I’m taking as a message from God Himself for the entire world today. Can we all just uplift, encourage and support each other? I spoke in Ceri’s Breakfast and the Bible group this morning, and I shared this scripture:

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” – Micah 6:8

I have fallen in love with MERCY (forgiveness without punishment!). This is such a beautiful quality to possess!!! I LOVE MERCY! It’s a word you barely hear anyone mention anymore, but where God would have us be with others more often. NO ONE GETS IT RIGHT ALL THE TIME! The same unconditional love, mercy, and abundant patience God shows us, He is asking us to show to others, especially in our homes.

That’s the Ceri influence that has helped me make many significant decisions. He has taught me to let love (God) lead, and obedience to God has guided me to a beautiful place, and I don’t want you to miss out. Enough hate, anger, bitterness, revenge, and unforgiveness. Let’s go the extra mile in love, faithfulness, gentleness, and patience on behalf of God. I promise you, this is how He lovingly guides us on the paths He has for our lives. Wink! Wink!

“You have no business in your husband’s phone!” was the message from a wonderful priest I was privileged to speak to at our office. I enjoyed every moment of that conversation! I told him the joke of how God corrected me when I wanted to go out to work with my husband to monitor his movements, and God in my spirit said, “Nik sweetie, that’s not your job!!!”

Instead, and more importantly, I wake up to have appointments with God with our sons before they leave for school, meetings with God with hubby before he leaves for work, and my personal alone times with God, including my run with Him where I hash out everything that’s going on with me. TIME AND ENERGIES ARE IMPORTANT COMMODITIES, AND I WANT US TO TALK TO GOD ABOUT WHAT HE WOULD HAVE US DOING AND NOT GET DISTRACTED BY USESLESS AND NONSENSE BATTLES. Like my son, Joshie, just told me, “FOCUS!” Let’s focus on being the WISE mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, and people God created us to be! By God’s strength, we will love others the way God loves us! Amen!

GOD SHOWS UP AGAIN ON MY DRIVE TO WORK

The love and attention God shows me truly blow me away! I told you guys how Ceri speaks clearly to me from God, but this week I teamed up with another messenger from Him who asked me if I would share his messages with you guys (we will call him Ricard!). I said it would be my honor and pleasure because he has genuinely helped me improve – “He who walks with wise men will be wise.”

So, the day before yesterday, Richard said to me (I paraphrase here), “Nikki, I want you to go to the beach and baptize yourself. WHEN YOU COME UP FROM THAT WATER, I WANT YOU TO BE A NEW PERSON.” I told him I would do that because I needed a complete refresh and reboot. I would take that opportunity to recommit my life even more to God, asking His help in me being the person He would have me to be, leaving my old self behind.

Fast forward to today, I’m back stalking Ceri in the app where he has all these recorded messages where he shares Bible messages and his take on how they relate to our lives now. Today I freaked out again when Ceri said this:

“Forget about your past. Don’t keep dwelling on it. Your past is your past, and you can’t change, but the one thing you can change is your future. And the way you change your future is by the steps you make today… When I got baptized last year, the words the Pastor told me always stuck and will stick with me for the rest of my life: “WHEN YOU GO UNDERNEATH THIS WATER AND COME BACK UP, YOU’RE A NEW PERSON (Wink! Wink!).” And I’ve been living like that, and everyone deserves that chance. Everyone deserves that opportunity because God gave it to me.”

Wow! This was another one of my famous God winks where everything lined up extremely too perfectly to be some ordinary coincidence. I kept scrolling all the way back to almost a year ago, passing over a good number of them, to hear Ceri repeat those very words from Richard spoken to me two days ago. Let me tell ya, our God is pretty talkative and I can’t get over how He knows everything about us, even every word spoken by Ceri in those recordings. It was God Himself saying, ‘Nik, I need you to hear those words from Ceri today!!! Wow!

Honestly, though, that conversation with Richard was on a day when I was extremely overwhelmed by things I needed to do, but I felt God saying to me in my spirit, ‘Nik, take this time and talk to him.” Only to confirm to both of these people that I definitely hear God’s voice through both of them. I’m not crazy, y’all!

The message from Ceri was 11 months ago, but such an important message for us all today:

So I want to read from the book of Isaiah 43:18-19, and it says,

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

This verse are very impactful because God reminds us of a few things. Like forget the former things… basically forget about your past. He tells us to don’t dwell on it. Don’t keep reminding yourself of your past. Like your past is your past, and you can’t change but the one thing you can change in life is your future. And the way that you change your future is by the steps that you make today. The decisions that you make today is what can determine your tomorrow…

Everyone deserves a second chance but the reality is all of us have a past. There’s not one person sitting on the stage, there’s not one person walking this planet who has done everything in their life what’s right in God’s eyesight. None of us. Every single one of us falls short of the glory of God. So, who are we to go there and and comment on somebody for their past or things that they’ve done? Who are we to try to make a decision on how their futures is or what they will be in life? That decision don’t rest with us and don’t rest good with me when people try to do it.

Because imagine if I had sat back and allowed people to tell me who I would be. Imagine if I had sat back and accepted that I couldn’t forgive myself for the things that I did. It took me a long time – it took me meeting all of y’all in here and tell me boy get over it – forgive yourself. Move on. God has renewed you and restored you. When I got baptized last year, the words the Pastor told me always stuck and will stick with me for the rest of my life: “WHEN YOU GO UNDERNEATH THIS WATER AND COME BACK UP, YOU’RE A NEW PERSON. And I’ve been living like that. Everyone deserves that chance. Everyone deserves that opportunity because God gave it to me.”

God, help us all forgive ourselves and others for the past and to keep moving forward with You as our Life Partner and Guide, forgetting the former things and being excited about the NEW lives You have planned for us. Amen!

Fast forward to this morning, the song ‘Mercy’ played by Shawn Mendes, and I knew right away this was a message from God to us all today. God, who is extremely merciful, loving, and patient with us, asks us to do the same for others. Can we be God’s angels in the world? We all mess up, and no one ever gets it right all the time!

Don’t miss out on the best life with God! I was reminded of something very important from Ceri yesterday about EXPECTING God’s supernatural help and favor. We can show up in the physical realm doing the utmost of our abilities and then leave God to handle the rest by working in the spiritual realm on our behalf. Wink! Wink!

CASE IN POINT: In trying to collect some monies owed from a customer, they didn’t answer our call. So we set a reminder to call again at 4 pm. As we go to call her again, I’m told that their representative is in our waiting room. I used it as an opportunity to bring up the balance politely. The gentleman is unbelievably taking complete charge of helping us get paid. That’s God’s favor in action – sending the people we need to assist us! We need to stay positive, KNOWING OUR HELP COMES FROM THE LORD, MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH! NOTHING IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR GOD, PERIOD! Wink! Wink!

ANOTHER VOICE NOTE FROM KEVIN!!!

Yayy! Honestly, I didn’t get a chance to listen to it clearly until the day after he sent it. But when I really heard it clearly, this part has significantly changed me forever: Here’s what K had to say:

“Neeks, it really ain’t that serious. It’s an adage. It’s a cliché. But it’s the truth. It ain’t that damn serious. Don’t ask God for things not to happen to you; ask him for STRENGTH to deal with whatever comes your way because as sure as we are right here today, things are gonna come. Put on your boots. Grab a hold of that rope. Tuck yourself in the saddle and enjoy the ride. Smell the coffee. Admire the roses. Smile. Laugh at the movies. Laugh at the jokes. Compliment people. They are all pieces, links put together to make this world LIFE for all of us.”

I laughed at myself and all the silly things I’ve been taking too seriously! Especially when I add in the God factor and the fact that He is forever saying and showing me, ‘Neeks, I got you.’ I laugh at myself even more when I say I’m the God maniac here teaching everyone about having faith in God, but yet, I’m the very one taking life too seriously and stressing too much instead of trusting God.

Speaking of this strength, though, hubby and I had a great appointment with God yesterday morning, listening to Dr. Charles Stanley’s (may his beautiful soul rest in peace) sermon about having a strong life:

“A person who has a strong life consistently obeys God as a habit, and attempts and tries to leave all the consequences to Him. Sometimes we don’t. That’s why I said trying. If you have the habit of your life obeying God, for example, think about this. As a follower of Jesus Christ, to disobey God should be an exception in your life. To obey Him should be the norm for your life, why? Because that’s who we are. And a strong life is a life that is built on obeying the truth of the Word of God. Then, of course, one of the areas of a strong life is that we see the Lord Jesus Christ as the strength of our life.

Now, think about this for a moment. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” He’s in jail, beaten, chained, locked up, you name it, and you know what? His foundation was so solid that no matter what they did, they never discouraged him. They never made him quit. They tried their best to stop him, from attempted assassinations to everything else they did. Why? Because he was strong. He was strong in the Word of God. He was strong in his relationship to God. He was strong in his obedience to God. And he knew in his heart that the strength of his life was not in his body but was in his relationship to Jesus Christ. That’s where our strength lies: in relationship. And all these other things are part of that relationship.

So, ask yourself the question: How strong is your life? How much of your life– for example, you get up in the morning and you say, “Well, I’m gonna do this, that, and the other.” How often do you get up to say, “Father, I want to thank You that You’re my strength today”? And if you have a job that’s very difficult, do you ever say to Him, “Lord, I need Your strength today to get this done. I don’t even know how I’m going to be able to do what I’m supposed to do. You’re my strength.” Now what you’ve done is you have invited the Lord God into your life, so to speak, through His Holy Spirit, to enable you and strengthen you and encourage you and don’t–does not let you quit, because with Him, you can accomplish anything God has set before you to accomplish. Then, of course, expressing love and care for other people. If you can’t express love and care for other people, you’re not strong. If you can’t love, you’re not strong.

Love is one of the basic– listen, listen, when Paul describes the fruit of the Holy Spirit, where does he start? Love, joy, peace–love. Loving somebody else, you’re giving yourself away to someone else. You may give them things or you may give them yourself. In other words, but most of all, loving someone is making yourself available to them, cheering them up, encouraging them. A person who really loves is an encourager.

A person who really loves is a person who makes a difference in the people around them. So, ask yourself this question. The people who know you, do they think of you as a person who loves or a person who complains all the time? How many of you love being around a complainer?
None of us. People who are just complaining about everything. It doesn’t make any difference what happens; they find something to complain about. Godly people, strong people, find something good, something good, not something to complain about all the time. Loving is very important.”

WELCOME BACK TO THE KEVIN, CERI, AND NIKKI SHOW! (HUGE SMILE)

God has put the three of us together to share this up to this very moment information about living our best lives with Him, baby! Kevin has all these real-life experiences and this extraordinary gift of wisdom from God. Ceri is the same, but he brings his God and Bible expertise. It blows my mind how deep he is with this knowledge of God. My strength is my closeness to God and how I experience His intimate and deep Presence. Ceri explained that God strategically places people in our lives out of His deep and unconditional love for us all. I do not doubt that now that God Himself has put us three together to hopefully inspire you not to miss out on a life close to Him.

Exactly August 10, 2022, your girl here was not in a good place, and I was weak and struggling, and I shamelessly formed a WhatsApp group with Kevin, Ceri, and my other brother, Jason thinking I needed to tap into their strength. Thank God I did that (never be embarrassed to ask for help!) The group is now up to 12 of us! All angels that God again has strategically and loving placed in my life! Thanks, my support team!

I honestly cried happy tears this morning thinking about Kevin and how he has lovingly held my hand and supported me for about four years now (God’s love in action!). Yesterday we had another one of our sacred conversations, and I was thanking him that I was exactly where I was supposed to be at that moment – at work with my husband, loving and supporting him. I told hubby yesterday, “Right or wrong, I’m sticking with you all the way, my boo!” Kevin’s advice got me here:

“Neeks, you’re like a boxer right now. You will take 10,000 punches, but eventually, you will become numb.” I told him today that I am as numb as steel! Nothing can hurt me at this point!

“Neeks, you’re going to have to be patient right now.” While being patient, God has lovingly changed my perspective as Ceri correctly explained that God does. He may not change our situations, but He would change our perspective on the situations so that we can still be happy despite what may be happening around us. I’m thanking and praising God now! Things may not be how I want them, but I’m thanking God because they could also be so much worse!!!

“Neeks, every day you can reinvent yourself!” I’ve changed that to every moment we can reinvent ourselves! Yesterday I wanted to do something silly, but God corrected me in my spirit – You will do no such thing, Ms. Nikki! God had one sticker on a car deliver a message to me: LET LOVE LEAD. I instantly reinvented myself in that moment, deciding not to let the devil and the crazy lady direct me but to always look to God and what would make Him happy.

Neeks, you focus too much on this husband to the point you neglect your kids (Ouch!). I needed the correction!

Neeks, make God your top priority! Honestly, the closeness I feel with God is off the charts. After telling a staff that he should name his son Emmanuel because it meant “God with us,” Fast forward about two hours later or so, I’m sitting having dinner with my husband and sons (all three of them are named Emmanuel), and I ran to get my phone so we could have an appointment with God. I asked Joshie for a date to read, but I ended up accidentally clicking on the wrong date next to it, and look what showed up in this 365-day devotional:

“They will call him Immanuel” – which means “God with us (Wink! Wink!).” – Matthew 1:23

That was another of my God winks with God Himself revealing His Presence with us at that table. No ordinary coincidence! Again, His deep love for me and my family! (ANOTHER SMILE)

I say all that to say don’t miss out on the best life with God! He is with us and for us and by our side. We can tap into His love, perspective, strength, wisdom, tact, approval, charisma, joy, and courage at every moment. Say the prayer I said about 15 years ago, ‘God, I want a closer walk with You!’

“CERI IS YOUR COPING MECHANISM!”

That was the surprising comment from my brother, Kevin, in another one of our sacred conversations yesterday. Honestly, when I thought about it, I realized that I ran to Ceri’s messages in some of my worst moments, and God speaks clearly to me through him. Ceri has wonderfully pointed me to THE ULTIMATE COPING MECHANISM: GOD HIMSELF, BABY!!!

But speaking of one of my worst moments when I ran to Ceri, it was the day before yesterday when I felt so wretched that I had to stop everything I was doing and ask God, ‘What is wrong with me! Help me out here!’ God showed up in a recording that Ceri did over a year ago but spoke directly where I was STILL getting it seriously wrong: I look too much to my husband for his love and approval. Look what Ceri said to me in that awful moment:

“… now that God knows you, why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world… It’s so easy to become slaves to different things. You could become a slave to a lot of worldly things, but you also could become slaves to different emotions. You could become a slave to anger. Any little thing ticks you off. That means that anger controls you. If every time you feel down or depressed, you run to the bottle for a drink; you’re a slave to that because that is your master. It’s EVEN DOWN TO OTHER PEOPLE. IF YOU BECOME SO DEPENDENT ON ANOTHER PERSON’S OPINION FOR YOU TO SURVIVE OR FOR YOU TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF, YOU HAVE NOW BECOME A SLAVE TO THEM (ME EXACTLY!!!!!) That isn’t how it’s supposed to be. The only thing you’re supposed to be a slave to is the word of God and His word. Nothing more and nothing less. Our faith is what we are always supposed to rely on. And that’s why he gave us this book (the Bible!), so whenever we need to run to something, we always have a reference point.”

And God didn’t stop there. The next morning, I asked Him what page to visit on our family’s website. I felt Him say page 22, and look what showed up, a post I wrote over three years about this very slavery issue:

“At one point, I was listening to Rob Bell’s podcast and his guest, Don Golden, talked about the slaves from Egypt being freed and how God is calling us ALL to be freed from anything that is holding us back from being the people He is calling us to be. I got so excited calling her back, saying we have to free ourselves from our personal mental slavery and start thinking the thoughts that God would have us thinking, not this JUNK we’ve been getting sad and depressed over. The words from Bob Marley’s song came to mind, “Free yourself from mental slavery.” After talking to her, I texted, “Google Bob Marley’s song. Wow, He is speaking directly to us.”

Minutes later, God reveals His intimate Presence with us. She walks past her nephew’s bedroom, and he is UNBELIEVABLY playing this very Bob Marley song, “EMANCIPATE YOURSELF FROM MENTAL SLAVERY.”

That conversation with Kevin’s wife, Verona, from so long ago, confirming Ceri’s message from God that I needed to free myself from being a slave to my wonderful hubby, was God Himself coming to wrap His loving arms around me and correcting me (God is so patient with us!!!). My decision to constantly seek hubby’s love and approval made me his slave. My choices should come from a place of , ‘God, what would please You here!’ And trust me, when we live from that perspective of seeking to always please God, He exceeds our expectations in every aspect of our lives. I now understand this verse:

“God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic (ME!!!!)—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.” – Matthew 13:44

For God, the Creator of the universe, to come down and speak so clearly to me through Ceri and that old post of where I’m going wrong, I feel like His favorite girl in the world! I jumped out of bed so happy! I found that treasure and what joy I have in knowing God’s deep, deep, deep love for me! Like God Himself said, “My Nik, why are you so troubled over whether your husband loves and approves of you! I love and approve of you!!!

That right there is the love, joy, and peace you cannot buy! What are you a slave to? Talk with God about what is holding you back from being all He is calling you to be.

“ARE YOU TAKING NOTES?!?”

That was me to my son, Emmie, today, as we spent some time with his dad getting ready to leave for work. I’ll never forget a day at the office when I felt completely overwhelmed by everything my husband had to take on, and a close family friend said, “Nikki, don’t even try to understand the pressures on a man. We were built to handle this; you were not.”

So, this post today is for everyone doing complex things on God’s and their family’s behalf to remind you that our God is a living God who is with us in every moment, supporting us, helping us, and giving us the strength and courage to keep going. Our support system is the Almighty God, and the joy of the Lord is our strength to take on HARD THINGS. It’s just for us to focus on Him in every moment, tapping into His strength, guidance, wisdom, favor, protection, tact, personality, joy, and help that is incredibly available to us in every moment. But enough from me today, our friend, Ceri, shared this recently:

“From the book of Haggai 2:4-5 that says:

“But now the Lord says: Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.’”

Today I’m just grateful for the spirit of God. I am grateful for our strength, something that I continuously pray for and I’m grateful for, like this verse says, God’s spirit lives amongst us. It’s so important for us to remember that the God that we serve is a living God…

Our faith is in alignment with our God. Our God lives amongst us. He’s a living God, and it’s just so refreshing to know that He’s here at all times. Even though we can’t see Him, our faith shows and tells us He is here. When it’s time when we need Him, and we call on Him, He shows up. Even though we don’t see him, but we know that he shows up because He shows up inside people, or He shows up through things, or like He still shows up. It’s hard for us to explain, but we know that He is here.

One of the things that stood out to me in this particular verse again was how Haggai was in this particular book in the Bible. They’re speaking about rebuilding the temple. He was speaking to some of the old Jews and just basically telling them to like be strong, keep pushing, we have a job to do.

And God was telling them that like even though it seemed like such a hard task, that He was there with them. God told them in this particular verse, ‘For I am with you. Be strong for I Am With You.’ And that’s something that always replays in my mind, and every day and every moment that I pray, that’s one of the first things that always comes out on my lips is that I pray for strength. I know that God is with me, but I also know that I can’t do it alone, but I need the strength so that I can keep pushing forward. I can keep doing my best. I could keep growing. I could keep being strong for other people who are close to me. A lot of times, my strength isn’t just for me. A lot of times, I pray for my strength; it honestly isn’t for me. It is to hold up the house so the roof doesn’t collapse around everyone else.

I pray for strength over anyone that needs it. And I want to remind anyone who needs to hear it that they close this verse by saying, “Do not be afraid.” Fear is of the devil, and it’s easy for it to encapsulate us and for us to get worried and anxious about things. And you must be reminded that God we serve is a living God, and He’s amongst us and lives with us. He told us not to be afraid. I’m gonna listen to him.”

Let’s keep it pushing! God Himself is with and for us!!! Heehaw!!!