GOD, I’M AT YOUR SERVICE!

I loved a conversation with my son, Emmie, yesterday. He said his dad, NOT ME, works hard to provide for our family financially. I got to share with him how his father and I have come up with a beautiful synergy (combination) where he has his role to play (he is an excellent provider!), and I have my role of being the wife who supports him and our kids, along with doing my work for God in the world.

This is a life that God and I have designed TOGETHER, and I love it! Yesterday, I didn’t go out to the office, but I had a great day with our kids. I brought Emmie to my home office to show him the university brochure where our daughter, Ember, will soon attend. He had asked me what the big deal about it was, and I showed him all the internship opportunities she would have access to, like working with Apple or working on Wall Street in New York city. “She won’t just graduate with a regular degree; she will have experience on her resume working with the top companies in the world. This is where I want you to go as well! You have everything it takes to live a successful life, and it’s my job as your mom to help you become all God has created you to be. While daddy goes out to work, you are my important work, my son!”

And speaking of Ember, I pushed her to go to work even though I didn’t. It’s the essential family values that I want to be instilled in her, like going the extra mile by giving her best at every moment as if working for God. There is a report that I gave her the responsibility of sending her dad every week. “Overwhelm the leaders who work hard for you with love, respect, and appreciation,” I constantly tell her. “Be faithful and dependable with that report. Ask your dad what you can do to help him and give your best!”

In all the work you are doing, work the best you can. Work as if you were doing it for the Lord, not for people. Remember that you will receive your reward from the Lord, which he promised to his people. You are serving the Lord Christ.” – Colossians 3:23-24

I found out that everyone was keeping from me a mistake Ember had made. So, I said to her, “MISTAKES ARE OK! We just have to fix them when they happen.” She proudly called me later to say that she had taken care of the mistake. But just to show me (and hopefully you) how deeply God is involved in our lives, minutes after talking to Ember, I had an appointment with God taking a breather on our coach, feeling so exhausted from being Julie’s driver, housecleaning and cooking for the boys, look what incredibly showed up after me telling Ember that mistakes were OK:

“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 (Wink! Wink!). 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.”

To tell you the truth, I needed that reminder because I haven’t been the person I would like to be lately. Fall a million times, get up a million and one! But God also told me in that appointment that it doesn’t matter how long we’ve been going in the wrong direction; we can always turn around. (HUGE SMILE) God, may we all be at Your service knowing that you are by our sides through all of it, backing us up with Your strength, wisdom, love, guidance, favor, approval, and faithfulness. Amen!

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GOD HIMSELF HAS WIPED AWAY MY TEARS!

That’s the beautiful testimony I have to share with you today. God never promised us easy lives, but He does promise to be with us as we take on the challenges, disappointments, and difficulties. “I am with you always” is the continual message I feel from Him. That verse from the Bible that says, “Blessed are those who mourn,” is so true because those sad times are when you feel God’s Presence with you more than ever if you are open to receiving Him. As much as I begged God to take away all my depressing thoughts, all that horror that was going on in my head has pushed me directly into His arms, where I am now, first and foremost, God’s girl, baby. (HUGE SMILE)

And this is where I want us all! Looking to God as the first love and Guide of our lives, seeking to follow His leading at every moment, asking, ‘God, what would You have me to do? Where would you have me to go? What would you have me to say?’

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” – John 10:27

There is nothing more valuable than knowing the voice of God! Like the other night, I almost turned into the crazy lady talking to my husband when I felt God nudging me to check the time. It was 9:11 in the US where I was, but when I calculated the time in Nigeria, where my husband was, it was 3:11. And I’ve written and spoken so many times how this “311” has been my cooler from God to be on chill, to be quiet, to stay on the high road with Him, to send crazy lady bye-bye, and to be my most loving, gentle, patient and forgiving self. This was truly the perfect guidance because if anyone deserves my love, respect, and silence, it’s my husband! He goes above and beyond what anyone can ask for in a husband and dad. Thanks, God, for the guidance!

God even went as far as having a colossal billboard appear on a highway between my home and office with this gigantic “311” printed on it. It was a day I didn’t even want to go to work because I was so upset and furious, but a customer insisted on coming and dealing only with me, so I had to go. Driving home and seeing that billboard, I instantly smiled with God, knowing right away this was a message from Him to me saying, “Be still and know that I am God.” The crazy lady went away, and God lovingly sorted out the entire situation on my behalf. Don’t mess around with God! He exceeds our expectations when we follow His leading!

Today I ran in the rain to go and touch my God tree before me and my daughters left to attend church. These meetings with Him there have drastically changed me. He would always find some way of letting me know that His Presence is always with me, along with some vital information He wanted to remind me of or teach me.

For example, I just had had a conversation with someone that God does expect us to suffer sometimes. That not every day is all happy and rosy and sometimes He does ask us to do some difficult things for Him. Shortly after that, I go to my God tree and this verse incredibly showed up:

“A person might suffer EVEN WHEN IT IS UNFAIR, but if he thinks of God and stands the pain, God is pleased.” – 1 Peter 2:19

The way this lined up so perfectly after that discussion, was all orchestrated by God. I told y’all I’m feeling like I’m having face-to-face conversations with Him now and this was one of those talks. I’m feeling so close to Him that I can wake up every day filled with such peace, joy, courage, gratitude, and excitement. Even the hard parts are getting easier when I’m doing it all for His glory. I get to wake up every day like God’s rockstar, sharing this great news with you guys that we can go through life walking with Him, only the Creator of the entire universe.

So, to all the mourning and sadness that had me running to God, I thank you for visiting with me and helping me get closer to Him. But you must go now so that I can be about my work of bringing the entire world closer to Him. Wink! Wink! Read all about having a closer walk with God on our family’s website:

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“MOM, I WANT TO GO TO THAT CHURCH EVERY DAY!!!”

That was surprisingly from my son, Joshie, last night. Let me tell ya, God works in mysterious ways! I purchased a basketball rim one Sunday for my daughter, Ember, and her friend that loved playing. I insisted, “Ember, find one and purchase it today!” But to be honest with you, they may have played it less than five times. Fast forward a few months, the boys came from Nigeria, and they love it. Fast forward again to some more months, my friends’ son, Sammy, came over, and they all started playing together.

Next, I invited Sammy to come to work with the boys on Saturday, but he couldn’t attend because he had planned to attend a church youth group event. I said to his mom, “Please, I want my boys to go with him!” Yesterday, I was in charge of the pickup and drop-off, just unceasingly thanking God for this beautiful friendship the boys have developed with Sammy, who has such a kind, respectful, polite, and Godly character. He loves the church and just a few minutes at the door watching them all there, my boys love it too!

Wealth is the company you keep! I feel like the most blessed person in the world right now for all the people who love and support me, especially when I have my downtime. I joked with my sister, Kelly, this week that God had her retire from her job just so she could be there for me and to listen to all my silliness. Thanks, Boogie!

Then I sent my brother, Kevin, some pictures of my gorgeous life that he taught me to enjoy and stop stressing the unimportant. Today, I asked my daughter, Julie, if she would give me the honor of spending the day with me. Every moment has been priceless. The other evening my other daughter, Ember, and my sons, Joshie and Emmie, spent time at the mall together, and again, I savored every moment. My mom called me yesterday thinking I was unhappy, and I explained that her daughter has NOTHING to be unhappy about. I may have my sad little moments (that’s a part of the human experience!), but when I look at the BIG picture from God’s perspective, I’m God’s spoilt girl here! (HUGE SMILE)

So, let’s learn to cherish the people in our lives. No relationship is perfect! I loved a conversation with my hubs today about my God wink. I wrote yesterday about someone asking me if I wasn’t afraid that a Nigerian lady might steal him from me, and I confidently responded that I know I have the best husband, and my husband knows that he has the best wife. Fast forward to this morning just randomly reading an old post that I posted, this showed up about a time the crazy husband showed up on me on a Sunday morning:

“When my husband got back home, I gave him a big hug and told him that HE KNOWS HE HAS THE BEST WIFE, AND I KNOW I HAVE THE BEST HUSBAND.” Wink! Wink!

Believe it or not, there was no way that this was an ordinary coincidence that I picked this post of the thousands of posts I’ve written, to randomly reread today. It was God confirming that His Presence is with our family and that I do have the best husband, y’all! Wink! Wink! We ain’t perfect, but we’re pretty close!

I loved the ending of that post:
Moral:

1. No one is perfect! We all have demons and angels within each of us. Let’s be quick to forgive and forget, overlooking the faults of others, going the extra mile in love, gentleness, and patience, all for the glory of God, ESPECIALLY IN OUR HOMES!

2. We have God with us in the challenging and happy moments! Seek His perspective in every decision, every relationship, and every circumstance. So help us, God! (HUGE SMILE)

Make God your top priority!!! Make sure you are having alone times with Him seeing what He has to say to you! He is intimately involved in our lives!

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THE GOD SHOW CONTINUES, BABY!

I’m reaching a new realm of closeness with God, and, of course, I want the entire world here with me feeling His sweet, intimate and invisible Presence! Like the other morning, of all places, I’m in the restroom saying that I must finish listening to a podcast of Oprah Winfrey interviewing Paulo Coelho before leaving. I did! But afterward, I said, let me stay there and have an appointment with God to start my day on the right track with Him. I first went to our family’s website, but nothing there gave me the high five I was looking to get from Him. Then, I went to my book (a huge book of 366 blog posts), and simply continuing from where I had last left off having an appointment with God with my sons, look what IMMEDIATELY and INCREDIBLY jumped out at me:

“…watching Oprah Winfrey interview Paulo Coelho.” Wink! Wink!

For these words to show up there, after I had just forced myself to relisten to this very interview, was things once again lining up a little bit too perfect to be some ordinary coincidence. This was God revealing His Presence with me there, EVEN IN THE RESTROOM!!! Yup! I’m in agreement with David, who wrote this thousand of years ago:

“Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.” – Psalm 139:7-10

Honestly, though, I can boast even of my weaknesses because of the way God shows up for me. He is ALWAYS with us, and He incredibly knows everything about us in every moment of our lives, including every thought we think. This morning He sweetly found a way to correct me over the crazy lady thoughts that get the best of me far too often. This God wink began on Friday when I sent my husband a picture of an old post of what my brother, Kevin, had to say about him:

“Manny (my husband) is a good person. Everybody has their little faults. But, all in all, he takes care of his family, he respects his wife, and I don’t think you can ask for more than that.”

On Saturday, I say to my husband, “If I ask anything more from you, I’ll be greedy.” Fast forward to Sunday morning with the crazy lady wanting to show up again (the devil!), I said, let me search for an old email that I’ve sent out before using the search keyword “bananas.” The very second email I opened from December of last year incredibly said:

“Manny is a good person. Everybody has their little faults. But, all in all, he takes care of his family, he respects his wife, and I don’t think you can ask for more than that.”

The very words that I took a picture of to send my husband on Friday, less than 48 hours prior! Again, God showing up and saying, ‘Nik, please stop these crazy thoughts about your husband. He really is a great guy!!!’ God corrects those He loves! Then this crucial and very needed reminder showed up in my alone session with God under our tree today:

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices over the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always endures. Love never ends.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Life is not easy! But the great news is that we have God’s Presence sweetly with us, and we have access to His wisdom, guidance, strength, joy, peace, love, direction, and approval backing us up. On the way home from church, I told my daughters how I felt God telling me to leave the church some years ago, in a quest for a closer walk with Him by myself (mission accomplished!), and now I feel Him saying I should start attending again. I’m so excited to see my daughters excited about attending church, y’all! Praise God! My husband called us on that ride home, and I told him how I went for the altar call. He asked what for, and I responded, “Hon, I went to say thank You to God for all He is doing for us.”

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“I DON’T RECOGNIZE THIS HARDWORKING MOMMA…”

“Are you an alien?” commented my son, Joshie, yesterday. Very funny, my sweetie! He has been seeing me go hard with trying to find inventory for our business all week. I’ve been waking up as early as 4 am to just be about giving my best to every moment, all for the glory of God. And I’m giving God all the praise and glory for helping me to tackle my demons to get here with a clear and stable mind, with an even more intense focus on being the wife, mom, and person God would have me to be. (HUGE SMILE)

Even with all my imperfections, mistakes, and failures, though, I still feel so loved by God. Like for two days in a row, I wrote about this song that played this week in a pharmacy while waiting for my son, Emmie, to get his second dose of the COVID vaccine, feeling so strongly that this was God singing these lyrics to me:

“I must make you understand
I want to be your Man” – Zapp and Roger

With my husband in Nigeria and me in the US with the kids, God always reminds me that He is my constant Companion and Partner. That all day, every day, I can count on Him to be there no matter the challenges that come my way (your girl is learning to be courageous!). Even as my Greatest friend to help tackle all those demons going on in my head! Can you believe after going out for my run yesterday and playing that one song repeatedly (sounds crazy, but no shame, I NEED GOD!), God confirmed that this song was indeed a message from Him to me? Look what incredibly showed up in a movie my daughter, Ember, picked for us to watch, of all them on Netflix, these lyrics unbelievably showed up on the screen:

“Just wanna be your man” Wink! Wink!

I felt like the most loved person in the world! No coincident here after I wrote about it two days in a row, played the song over and over again on my run, and for all songs for them to play in this movie, for these words to show up? All orchestrated by God to let me know His love for me. His way of sweetly helping me tackle my demons. ‘Let me be your Man, Nik!’

This morning I woke up again with God singing to me through Akon’s song ‘Beautiful’ saying,

“You’re a symbol of what every beautiful woman should be.”

Before running, I decided to have an appointment with God at 30 minutes past the hour to read page 30 of our family’s website and look what showed up:

“He even went as far as playing the song ‘Beautiful’ by Akon on my computer yesterday in a little heated moment with the boys who were upset at me… Others may see me a certain way, but He said, through that song, “You’re a symbol of what every beautiful woman should be.””

God confirmed His message! Others can see us however they want, but I want us working on seeing ourselves as God sees us – immeasurably loved and approved of no matter our screw-ups and failures. We can each hold our heads super high! He wants to be your Man, too. No matter where you are right now, know that He is with you, and there is no situation too difficult for us to turn around with his help backing us up (even with the crazy thoughts in our heads!). Pray for an even closer walk with Him, praying for His guidance, love, and support all day. Every day! Wink! Wink!

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“I WONDERED WHY WE STOPPED CALLING HIM!”

Those were the words from my little spiritual guy/son, Joshie, this morning on the way to school. He noticed that we weren’t calling his dad anymore to speak to him together on the car’s speakerphone. “I was very angry with him,” I confessed to them. But it was a day of feeling down that I decided to take time to lean a little bit more on God. And like always, He was right there for your girl here!

Telling God that I was feeling rejected by hubby, He took me to an old post that said the real me, His child, can never be rejected. His love for me was unconditional and never-ending. (HUGE SMILE) God even went as far as singing to me through a song today while waiting in a pharmacy:

“I must make you understand
I want to be your Man” – Zapp and Roger

And on this morning’s run with Him, Mario’s song ‘Let Me Love You’ played. Both were God’s way of sweetly reminding me of His love for me! That invitation is for all of us! Let God be the One to love us. Human’s love is fickle, going up and down, but God’s love is steady, constant, and faithful.

As I explained to the boys, I can’t expect their father to provide me with happiness. That’s my job! My number one goal for this year was to depend more on God and get my love, peace, joy, purpose, approval, and fulfillment from Him, not anyone else. I’m to share God’s love with others, including my hubby, interacting from a space of always trying to glorify God – Am I reflecting God in my words and actions? Sometimes I get it seriously wrong, but I keep trying.

“Our citizenship is in heaven!” Google defines a prototype as “someone or something that serves as a model or inspiration for those that come later.” Can we all serve as God’s prototypes bringing heaven to earth by being God’s representatives, especially in our homes? God’s ways are not our ordinary human ways. Like I told hubby with the boys today, “If we ask anything more of you, we would be greedy!” God has been teaching me to focus on the angels and innocence of others, not their demons and guilt. Me included! I’m still my own biggest enemy! We’re all a constant work in progress.

“Learn to get good at covering the offenses of others,” is what Victoria Osteen taught me. We do that for God and ourselves so that we don’t waste precious time and energy getting bitter, angry, upset, and constantly frustrated and replacing those emotions with love, forgiveness, gentleness, kindness, and patience. I leave everyone on their journey with God while focusing on running my race the best I can. I had such a beautiful evening picking up and hanging out with my super sons! Super wife, momma, and person, all for God’s glory! I get to show up every day knowing He has my back! My help comes from the Lord! Wink! Wink!

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