That was me to my family last night as we enjoyed a night out at our fav Asian buffet restaurant. It was a topic of whether or not open communication of one’s true feelings is good or bad. Everyone thought that you should be open and not hold things in and speak honestly. I then shared what God has been teaching me about learning to vent to Him and to others I should remember silence. I explained that it is an act of love towards another person when you sometimes hold back words and NOT speak. A part of being wise is knowing when to speak and when to be quiet.
Fast forward to this morning, my husband certainly didn’t get the lesson of holding back words, and he totally went into me about something. I didn’t respond (although I had plenty to say!) as an act of love towards this husband who has been our gift from God – ain’t nobody perfect! It was my opportunity to practice what I preach.
I instead vented to God on the run to my God tree (God, You see the way this husband talks to me!) and look what incredibly showed up at 8 minutes past the hour on page 8 on our family’s webpage with God confirming His lessons to me:
“The LORD will fight for you, AND YOU ONLY HAVE TO BE SILENT.” – Exodus 14:14
God has been teaching your girl here all about keeping silent and venting to Him. That I should hide all my ugliness in His heart (it’s a hospital). SUPER TOUGH when the crazy lady wants to come out, but that’s where the praying all day every day comes in. God teaches me to control my emotions, put on a poker face when necessary, and be wiser in making decisions. Smile. Be calm. Loving. Patient. Forgiving. Self-controlled. Peaceful. Brave. And good. Knowing that he is in the background of our lives fighting battles on our behalf once we do this. Wink! Wink!
Got that? Go to God all day. Every day. Asking what He would have us to do, say and go. Life is all about the decisions we make! A LIFE GUIDED BY GOD CANNOT FAIL. He is with us in every moment. It is just for us to involve Him! KK?
Wow! God AGAIN got in on our family’s conversation! I told you all; God is pretty talkative when you have ears to hear Him. Out of over 109 pages on our website, God had me go directly to this message at the top of page 8 to reveal His intimate Presence with us. And these glimpses of His Presence are what give me the courage to have a strong life. Not allowing the world to dampen my mood and get me all upset and worried. I can be full of joy (God’s Rockstar, baby!) like the Apostle Paul, who was able to write these words while locked up in prison:
“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” – Philippians 4:4
Was from my brother, Kevin. I was out under my God tree when I called him for some needed encouragement. He said, “Neeks, the best thing I can tell you is get closer to God. Make God your priority.” Let me tell ya, the God maniac here surprisingly needed that reminder that I can use the worst situations as opportunities to have an even CLOSER walk with God. Sweet! That way, I make whatever the awful problem that I’m facing as motivation to become better, stronger, and wiser by keeping my eyes fixed on God (not this sometimes-scary world!) and what He would have me do on a moment-by-moment basis. HEEHAW!
This morning, I had a beautiful conversation with Him sitting on a park bench very close to my God tree. With so much going on, I needed some advice from Him. He took me to the same post he took me to yesterday when I questioned Him about the same matter again. I took it as no coincidence, but God confirming everything I’ve been feeling in my spirit from Him. ‘Yes, Neeks, this is the way for you to go!’ (HUGE SMILE) Remember, feelings of peace are His cue that we are walking in the right direction. Stress, doubt, anxiety is Him saying, ‘Hold up. Let’s rethink this one.’ Doubt means don’t!!!
Then an old post from a good five years ago showed up:
“HOLD MY HEAD UP HIGH, I WILL STAND TALL”
Were the words I fell in love with from the Boyz to Men’s song, I Will Get There, while working on my book again until about 2 a.m. It has to be in a particular format and instead of wasting time complaining about it, I’m doing what my DVD exercise trainer, Shaun T, has taught me – to dig deep, having the endurance for exercising as well for my life. Honestly, I’ve become very lazy, but I’ve decided today that I will accept God’s invitation to play life at a higher level, and in areas where I’ve been weak, I will become strong.”
Can you believe, on my way back home, this very song played. Again, it was no coincidence, but God confirming this message to me, as I still struggle with being who I know God is calling me to be (He is pretty talkative once you learn His voice):
“And about this playing life at a higher level, God has challenged me again through the rapper, Prince EA, to answer a vital question: “Who am I in the deepest sense?” He spoke about us being loyal to conditioned thoughts passed on from generation to generation. Thoughts that we’re so loyal to that we’ve fought over, killed over, get angry, sad, and depressed over. Me included! I get sad and depressed over the same crazy thoughts over and over again. I’ve had enough! I’m going to the next level of focusing on important goals like bringing humanity closer to God, seeing my children grow up to be the superhumans they’re capable of becoming, helping my husband take our businesses to new levels of success, and becoming the most awesome version of me.
That means no more constantly thinking crazy thoughts such as worry, fear, and insecurity; They’re not becoming of superhumans rolling with God! Instead, we pray, work hard and let God worry, doing our best and leaving the rest with Him. That also means we’re spiritually and mentally disciplined to new levels of thinking about our lives, goals, dreams, and aspirations and we’re constantly, constantly, constantly catching ourselves when we find ourselves thinking negatively and saying, No, no, no! We’re not going there! and reprograming our minds with new thoughts with the best and most beautiful outcomes.
We must beat our minds with a stick, becoming mentally disciplined, focused, and strong like John Joseph taught me. I can already see my husband and me at our kids’ college graduations and me doing significant work in the world for God. I have faith and like the Boyz to Men song says, “I will get there!”” “Hold my head up high, I’ll stand tall. And I swear this time I won’t fall.”
Dear God, help us to dig deep and become the superhumans You intended for us to be. Amen.”
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
SOMETIMES, IT ALL GETS TO BE A LITTLE BIT TOO MUCH!!!
Life gets highly overwhelming, but that’s where a relationship with God comes sweetly in, baby! Even for your girl here, the God maniac, I have to keep running to Him to get His crucial perspective on all the dramas that show up on a moment-by-moment basis. No shame!
And His love continues to blow me away. Before typing this, I prepared this pic for today (that’s my beautiful inside and out daughter, Julie, BTW), feeling strongly that the caption should be, “GOD, I DEPEND ON YOU.” Instead of resharing an old post, I felt God in my spirit dictating what He would have me to say. After a weekend where my emotions were all over the place, this portion from Marianne Williamson’s book, A RETURN TO LOVE, came CLEARLY to mind:
“What I learned from A Course in Miracles is that the change we’re looking for is inside our heads. Events are always in flux. One day people love you; the next day you’re their target. One day a situation is running smoothly; the next chaos reigns. One day you feel like you’re an okay person; the next day you feel like you’re an utter failure. These changes in life are always going to happen because they’re part of the human experience. What we can change, however, is how we perceive them.
There’s a biblical story where Jesus says we can build our house on sand or we can build it on rock. Our house is our emotional stability. When it is built on sand, the winds and rain can tear it down. One disappointing phone call and we crumble; one storm and the house falls down.
When our house is built on rock, it is sturdy and strong and the storms can’t destroy it. We are not so vulnerable to life’s passing dramas. Our stability rests on something more enduring than the current weather, something permanent and strong. WE’RE DEPENDING ON GOD (Wink! Wink!).”
For those words, WE’RE DEPENDING ON GOD, to show up less than 5 minutes after me making the caption for this picture, “GOD, I DEPEND ON YOU,” was just His sweet way of revealing His invisible Presence with me, when once again, and out of the blue, everything lines up extremely too perfectly to be some ordinary coincidence. This is where He wants us all, DEPENDING ON HIM. No matter how difficult life gets, we can have God as our firm foundation so that life doesn’t crush us.
“You gain confidence through knowing that I (God) am with you – that you face nothing alone. Anxiety stems from asking the wrong question: “If such and such happens, can I handle it?” The true question is not whether you can cope with whatever happens, but whether you and I together can handle anything that occurs. It is this you-and-I together factor that gives you confidence to face your day cheerfully (Jesus Calling by Sarah Young).”
Say this prayer with me, “God, we’re depending on You!” Nothing is impossible for Him. Let’s just keep doing our best in the physical realm, knowing God is at work in the spiritual realm on our behalf! Wink! Wink!
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9
I asked my kids yesterday, and Julie funnily replied, “From the ghetto part of the Bahamas!” No shame, guys! I’m proud to be ghetto fabulous BUT with one crucial factor: I’M HIGHLY LOVED BY GOD. That’s my testimony, baby! The love God shows my family and me is incredible! Like last year I wrote about this spectacular God wink:
“… after my husband sent an old picture of us together yesterday, I felt God saying I should respond with this specific message back to him:
“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, and as we’re driving next to the highway, Ember shocking points out a LONG STREAM of water flowing that was not there before. 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 us 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 over a year later, God has kept His promise: He has done a new thing by changing my perspective on my entire life AND He has taken our family to new and greater heights!!! God has once again exceeded our expectations in EVERY aspect. We do our 50%, and God does the rest! (Wink! Wink!)
I’m only the God nerd over here who pays attention to report back to you that no matter where you are from, your mistakes and failures of the past, or how flawed you may think you are, YOU ARE INCREDIBLY LOVED BY GOD. You can come as you are, and He will welcome you CLOSER to Him with arms WIDE open! My daughter, Julie, wrote this yesterday:
“There is a popular misconception that you have to be polished or perfect to have a good relationship with God, but that’s false! God made us imperfect so that we can stay in constant communication with Him. If you had everything under control, then you’d forget about God. And we all know, GOD IS A JEALOUS GOD! We all have our little areas where we can improve in, but we are constantly improving and evolving. No matter how many mistakes or terrible things you do, God still loves you unconditionally, and that’s the point of life: You fall and get right back up again. Beating yourself up for the little things is not going to get you anywhere.”
No one can fathom the deepness of God’s love – He created a stream next to a highway JUST for me! It’s up to us, though, to experience His love and love Him back. Get to know Him through daily alone times seeking Him reading anything spiritual that you feel connects you with Him. The Bible is particularly faith-strengthening and filled with profound wisdom for making significant decisions, especially the fruits of the spirit like Patience, Kindness, Love – they work! I promise you, your closeness to God will determine the quality of your life. Wink! Wink! Don’t play around with your relationship with Him!
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
“I DON’T GIVE A DAMN!”
Can you believe this was from my sweetie pie Joshie the other day? But I’m stealing this line and making it mine! Energy and time are precious commodities. We have to focus and follow through on the things that God would have us to focus on, and on the rest, you must have this ““I DON’T GIVE A DAMN!” attitude because life is way too short, my peeps, to be fighting the wrong battles. The trick is having the correct discernment from God, though, as to what He would have us to focus on. Wink! Wink! And today on my run with Him, He had this to say to me about the unimportant stuff your girl gets focused on a little bit too much:
“Sometimes it’s sunny, but sometimes it don’t shine
And life is a bitch, but sometimes it’s alright
So I’ma let go of things I can’t control
Let it go” – Let It Go, DJ Khaled
Then it was me and hubs watching the show Blacklist together last night with this statement from Reddington to someone who was carrying unforgiveness in regards to his wife who cheated on him:
“Forgiveness doesn’t change the past, but it can change the future.”
Sometimes I angrily vent to God as to why I have to be the forgiving, going the extra mile in love, staying on the high road with Him person. But honestly, that has been the best advice. As I sat there with my husband, with all our kids here with us happy, healthy, and strong, I just smiled with God and gave hubs hand an extra squeeze, excited about our future together. (HUGE SMILE)
“Forgiveness doesn’t change the past, but it can change the future.”
I’m so excited to have a collection of books by Robert Strand about the nine fruits of the spirit: Goodness, Faithfulness, Self-control, Patience, Gentleness, Joy, Kindness, Love, and Peace. The closer we get to God, the more He brings out these fruits in us, and the sweeter our lives. I now confidently say that the quality of your entire life will depend on your closeness to God and the implementation of these values from Him.
So much so, I just ordered a case of them to give my daughters for their collection for appointments with God. Just today, I discussed goodness with my daughter Ember. As I show up spreading as much good in the world, believe it or not, it’s all highly repaid by the King of Goodness Himself: God. As she is about to go out on her own to college and make key life decisions without the annoying, overbearing parents around, I’m hoping that these reminders help form a part of her character of being her most patient, faithful, loving, kind, joyful and peaceful self. With these values ingrained, I have no doubt that she will make the utmost best life decisions with God’s priceless influence. Amen!
