Every day I run to the end of those 47 trees God had lined up for me in celebration of my 47th birthday, and I give that last tree a high five and say, ‘GOD, WE’RE TOGETHER. WE’RE TOGETHER. WE’RE TOGETHER.’
Like yesterday, that meant parking somewhere before getting to work and having an appointment with Him. Again, no shame in my game!!! I was feeling hurt, disappointed, and frustrated, and God loves me so much because I felt Him saying to me in my spirit to read the very last day in my own book, and it was the perfect message:
“Can you imagine getting to a place where you do not feel anger, insulted, offended, or annoyed by anyone for what you believe is unfair treatment by them and having such feelings only against yourself? Wow, what a wonderful life that would be, but is that even possible humanly speaking?!?”
Well, God is truly trying to get me there, and I want to challenge you to get there with me. We’re to love others, stop judging them. Everyone is on their own path with God.
We must be professional ignorers, otherwise, we will go through our lives always offended, insulted, and frustrated. When others disappoint us, we have to shake off the hurts and disappointments immediately and keep walking humbly with God, extending grace (pardoning without punishment), forgiving endlessly, becoming better instead of bitter and loving extravagantly.” – Keep Calm, You’re Rolling With God
Not easy, but the way I’m looking at my life is that I’m on this beautiful life adventure with God. Down to a quarter of a second, He is with me. I can spend those quarter seconds enjoying Him or frustrated by other people. I pick door number one: Enjoying God. I can, therefore, hand over all the disappointments to Him, with my eyes fixed on all the roses in my life. Like getting an email from my daughter, Julie’s teacher this morning saying what a pleasure it is having her in her class. I replied, “It’s a pleasure having her as a daughter!” God has exceeded my expectations in every aspect of my life. It’s just for me to focus on the roses and not the thorns and sticking with this other message from God:
“Remind yourself that alone you are nothing. Can you acquire this beautiful habit of always being with Me? TOGETHER ALWAYS (Wink! Wink!)… Invite Me often to be present in your life, as though you gave Me a ticket for a concert. And keep Me a place of honor in the front row, as if you were concerned that I miss nothing of the spectacle, this spectacle of your daily acts, all lived for Me.” – He and I
God, it’s my honor having You in my life. May all my actions be pleasing to You. Amen.
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“WHAT KIND OF WONDERFUL GOD IS THIS WHO REACHES DOWN INTO THE LIVES OF PEOPLE, PICKS THEM UP, GRANTS THEM FAITH, AND CHANGES THEM.” (REPOST)
That’s undoubtedly what He has done for me, over and over again! I’ll forever be talking about my wilderness experience in the U.S. for three months last year, away from my family and friends in Nigeria. That was God picking me up out of the terrible rut I was in. I was utterly miserable, and God wanted me happy-very, very happy!
I was carrying a lot of pain and bitterness around with me back then. My mind was stuck on the same sad song day in and day out. I was starving for love. So, God took me away to Himself. He showed me so much love that I finally realized that HIS LOVE IS ENOUGH. It really was the closest I’ve felt His Presence. He sang songs to me, and He showed me such love and attention that I returned to Nigeria as God’s girl, first and foremost. A big part of that journey was about me freeing my husband to live his life. I wanted to track his every move, and God reminded me, ‘Nik, I didn’t send you to earth to do that. I have much more crucial goals for you to accomplish.’
God freed me from all the pain and bitterness. I was expecting perfection and only God’s perfect. I love a quote I read recently:
“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you. – L.R. Knost
God has given me such fresh, new perspective on my life. My husband is now my precious gift from God. Then through him, I have four other gifts: our children. In fact, I just have much more appreciation for everyone. I sent some friends an email today asking, “Have I told you lately how much I love you?” MY ENTIRE LIFE IS A GIFT!
But, God, in all His wisdom, knew I needed to go through the hurtful and painful parts to get here. He’s too much! He broke open my heart to put it back together, better.
“WHAT KIND OF WONDERFUL GOD IS THIS WHO REACHES DOWN INTO THE LIVES OF PEOPLE, PICKS THEM UP, GRANTS THEM FAITH, AND CHANGES THEM.” – Alistair Begg
KEEP CALM—YOU’RE ROLLING WITH GOD
“WHAT IS YOUR IDEAL LIFE?”
That was the conversation question that my recent high school graduate, Ember, asked at our celebration lunch at our fav Cheesecake Factory. I told them that I’m living it! And I wouldn’t change anything. I love my life! She and her sister, Julie, said they didn’t believe me, that there must be something I would change. I again replied, “Nothing! I love my life exactly the way it is! It isn’t perfect, but God has been very good to us.” Fast forward a few hours later, we’re talking to their dad in Nigeria, and we asked him the same question, “What is your ideal life?” I was so happy when he responded precisely what I had said, “I’m living it!”
That’s why it is my honor to share our testimony of a family rolling with God. We go through our share of challenges, celebrations, defeats, victories, good times, hard times, ups, and downs, but through them all we see the hands of a God who is extremely faithful. We know without any doubt that He is at work in the spiritual realm on our behalf. This verse has seen us through many battles:
“So don’t worry, because I am with you.
Don’t be afraid, because I am your God.
I will make you strong and will help you;
I will support you with my right hand that saves you.” – Isaiah 41:10
Let me tell ya, God sticks with His promises to help us! He surprises me with how He sends help that we can be strong, confident, joyful, and peaceful, knowing He is with us in every moment of every day. Today, I was back running under my 47 trees in Florida, where I spend time with God, seeking His wisdom, clarity, and perspective on whatever is on my mind. With so much on my plate to tackle, I’m going with the mindset that with God I can tackle any set of intimidating situations! He stands with us and He is on our side. I love this word “Synergy” that shows up at many gas stations here. I’m reminded of a God wink where God said to me that His strength and my weakness are a perfect synergy (alliance, union, team). When I am weak, God is my strength! Heehaw!
I want us to make our entire lives a worship offering to God, seeking to be our best selves, all for His glory. He told me on the flight here that I should even offer every gesture for Him. I didn’t get it until I was so exhausted the following day, and I asked my daughter, Julie, to please help me ask my sons what they wanted for dinner. She came back to say that they went to my sister-in-law, Aima’s house, to pick up dinner. She prepared so much food to send over to us that we even had enough for the following day and still some. I told Aima it was like God Himself sent that food to us. I was so grateful. That gesture from Aima was taken as a gesture from God because He knew how tired I was. Let’s all be God’s angels out there!
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” – 1 Corinthians 10:31
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NOBODY LIKES A WHINER (COMPLAINER)
That’s me having some fun with my son, Siah, for the last 24 hours. First, it was about his finger hurting. Then he went to tell his dad about it. Then his tummy had a slight pain. Then his sandwich was not heated enough. With me just having some fun with him and repeating, “Nobody likes a whiner!” Then he would playfully say back, “It takes one to know one!” With us both just enjoying each other’s company.
Fast forward to when we’re onboard a flight, and of 205 movies, I decided to watch Superintelligence. One of the characters seems to get in on me and Siah’s joke and says, “Stop acting like a baby…A peepee WHINEY (Wink! Wink!) baby face baby!”
Call me crazy, but that was one of my God winks where He goes before me and plants these tiny glimmers of His Presence that is always with me.
And if that’s not good enough for you to qualify as an official God wink, I have another one. Right before leaving for the airport, Siah brings me a shirt that was recently given to him and said, “Look at this shirt, it says Florida!” where we were headed. I said, “It’s Cape Canaveral, Florida where the spaceships take off.” Then at the end of the same movie, the same character says,
“This is the part where you guys should all cheer and high five as if you are at CAPE CANAVERAL (Wink! Wink!) when they landed on the moon.”
This lined up too perfectly to be some ordinary coincidence. It was God sweetly planting these moments in this movie to remind me of His deep, deep love for me. That He lovingly goes ahead of me to surprise me with these glimmers of His invisible Presence. And that He is familiar with all my ways. So, God even went as far as having a friend give Siah THIS SHIRT of all shirts to help orchestrate this wink! And for him to show it to me right before we were leaving. So that I would know, without any doubt that His invisible Presence is always with me and my family.
What first got my attention about the movie, though, was when the main character said something like, “You’re making it sound like I’m going to be your average baseline guinea pig,” when I just wrote two days ago how I’m feeling like God’s guinea pig to learn these lessons and teach you guys. Another wink to let me know His Presence is always with me!
And He’s with you, too! I’m only the God nerd here who has been given this awesome assignment to report back to you what I experience with Him! That we have a God who is madly in love with us. That He is always talking to us. Always available to us. He is just like a shy person waiting for us to invite Him in to be a part of our lives. Will you invite Him by saying this prayer with me, “God, I want to roll with you on the daily!!!” And then start learning His character and the person He would have you to be in the world.
Like an important lesson He wants to teach me lately is about being silent. “Seize every opportunity of keeping silent…” this is a tough one for your girl here who is forever wanting to turn into the crazy lady! But for God, “No problem.” Another lesson I feel He could also be teaching us is to think of others’ happiness, not just our own when we make decisions. Maybe my daughters are right about me in that I can be a narcissist who thinks about herself a little bit too much. Maybe I can think more on the lines of how can I make others happier? The world does not just revolve around us and our happiness! We can be more gentler and supportive of one another.
I really needed these winks from Him today in that movie, though. I’m headed back to Florida with some tough stuff on my plate to handle. But these winks were just God reminding me that I handle nothing alone and that He will be there with me! I don’t see how I’m going to handle things, but I’m trusting God. My help comes from the Lord, baby! That I will just show up as my best self in every moment and ask His Spirit to guide and lead the way! One step at a time, I know He will open the way before me! Heehaw!!!! I love my life with God! Don’t miss out!!!
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“GET GOOD AT COVERING THE OFFENSES OF OTHERS!”
This is such great advice I received through Victoria Osteen! In fact, I’m getting GREAT at overlooking, forgiving, ignoring, and staying on the high road with God. It’s like I’m living life with one foot on earth, where the offenses constantly show up, but one foot sweetly in heaven where I rest and enjoy God. I don’t let the irritations, frustrations, and disappointments get the best of me anymore. I wisely use them to push myself even closer to God. And the closer you get to God, the infinitely better your life gets. (HUGE SMILE)
In my alone times with Him, God whispers His secrets to me. Like today, He had these reminders to pop up:
“Happiness never came from the dependency upon people; happiness comes from dependency upon Allah/God alone.” – Tumblr.com via believeroftheunseen
“Don’t love people so much; don’t rely on people so much. It is deception, don’t love it, don’t love anything here. Allah (God) has made connections in this world like mother, father, husband, wife, or friend to test you. Don’t put too much heart in this matter.” – Shaykh Mohammad Akram Nadwi
God, I’m seriously getting the lesson! I just had one of my sacred conversations with my daughter, Julie. She shared with me how God is teaching her not to love praise so much from other people. And that you should accept compliments the same as criticism because people are so fickle. One minute they can love and adore you, and the next, you are their biggest enemy. So, the trick I’ve learned is not to lean on other people for recognition, love, and approval; I look to God and respond to everything and everyone with His love holding and backing me up in this treacherous world.
So, the wiser Nik has learned to go to God every moment. I seek to be the best person He is calling me to be in every circumstance, every relationship, every decision. Doing this has led my life on a gorgeous path like my brother, Kevin, so wonderfully put it. It’s all because I’ve made God the Guide and First Love of my life. A LIFE GUIDED BY GOD CANNOT FAIL!
All these relationships are tests. Learn the crucial lessons each interaction is there to teach you and keep walking humbly, calmly, and faithfully with God. We need others. Life is too hard on our own. We just have to learn to keep everyone in their proper perspective. God has to be our God, who we’re ultimately depending on, nobody else. So let’s show up as our MOST loving, genuine, supportive, and forgiving selves, giving our best, all for God’s glory. Everything is between Him and us!!! When we shine, He shines, too! Wink! Wink!
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“I’M THANKING GOD FOR THESE TRIALS!!!”
Can you believe that was me to my husband this morning! Yup! Your girl has been going through some fires lately. But I’m seeing such a difference in myself from when they first came up to where I am now: so, so, so much closer to God!!! Heehaw!!! These challenges were personal gifts to me from Him to help free me from so many issues holding me back like anxious, worrisome, sad, and depressing thoughts to procrastination, laziness, and being constantly distracted. A complete mess, let me tell ya!
That’s why I say, “We don’t go wrong with God!” I’m with the Apostle Paul, who said we could count everything as rubbish compared to this knowledge of knowing God. That we can wake up every day full of peace and joy, KNOWING we have the Creator of the Universe standing with us and helping us fight all the battles that come our way. In an intense meeting today, I felt God taking my attention to this verse on my phone’s screensaver:
“THE LORD HIMSELF WILL FIGHT FOR YOU. JUST STAY CALM.”
I took it as a special wink from Him to relax and stay calm. Then a few minutes later, at 14 minutes past the hour, I said let me see what God has to say to me on page 14 of our family’s website, and look what sweetly showed up:
“THE LORD HIMSELF WILL FIGHT FOR YOU. JUST STAY CALM.”
That was no coincidence! It was God confirming His message, ‘Nik, don’t worry. I got you!’ I did precisely that, and everything went way better than expected. God fought for me BIG TIME! I can breathe easier now! I look back at everything, and I’m seriously thanking God for using these difficult situations to bring me closer to Him. He said today to me that faith needs practice. Trust me, I got plenty of practice!!!
I see myself so much improved, though, in every aspect. I came through a better wife, mother, and person. Much softer: loving, loyal, patient, gentler, and at the same time harder: braver, bolder, courageous, unflinching, tougher, stronger, more confident, and ready to take on the world KNOWING GOD IS WITH ME EVERY LITTLE STEP OF THE WAY!
Are you getting to know God better? I promise you the best life adventure with Him as your Partner, Protector, and Guide. Make Him a priority by going to Him at every decision point. Pausing and asking, ‘God, what would You have me to do here?’ YOU DON’T GO WRONG WITH GOD!!!
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“YOU WILL BE CALLED THE PEOPLE GOD LOVES”
This was from some Bible verses hubby and I read in our appointment with God today. Heehaw! God certainly makes us feel that way with all the love and attention we receive from Him. Like, I still can’t get over that meeting we attended yesterday. The screensaver on my phone said, “The Lord will fight for you. Just stay calm.” And God showed up and showed off. Things went exceedingly above and beyond our expectations! God is really too much! He promised to level the mountain for me, and He did! (HUGE SMILE)
To be honest with you guys, I insisted to my husband that he should be the one to attend the meeting, not me. However, he wanted me there. Then when some critical decisions needed to be discussed, I quickly called him to come. He gets there, and in the middle of an awkward moment, I said something I shouldn’t have said, and boy oh boy, hubby was so upset at me. But remember what God taught us, He rather us make 20 mistakes in a day and make spiritual progress than to make no mistakes and no spiritual progress. Your girl made a mistake, but I made great spiritual progress!
Like I taught my son, Emmie, yesterday, pause and have a conversation with God before saying and doing anything. Our GREATEST STRENGTH IS KNOWING WE HAVE GOD WITH US FOR HELP ON A MOMENT-BY-MOMENT BASIS. He is available to us in our spirit with His wisdom, tact, charm, and personality, ready to assist us. I love this old post because this is something I’ve been teaching my daughters:
“They are the ones taking care of my 88-year-old mom in the US while I’m with hubs and our sons in Nigeria. I’m using the experience as relationship training because good relationships are what make life beautiful. I’m teaching them how to go to God and use His tact, personality, and charm to win over their grandma. When my mom complained recently that the girls had done something wrong, Julie took my advice and calmly responded, “We’re so sorry. Ember (her sister), how could we have done such a thing? Grandma, it will never happen again!” Instead of getting upset at my mom’s harsh criticism, my daughters handled the situation from a God perspective – kindly, wisely, and lovingly! Wink! Wink!”
After the meeting yesterday, and hubs wanted to attack me again for my mistake, I was tough and I quickly reminded him what I said before the meeting, “This is your strength and my weakness. You should be the one to go!” Getting back to our office, I met him, though, and apologized for my mistake. But he still came home saying I’m under punishment! But again, looking at God at that moment, I just stayed on the high road, being my most loving and forgiving self, not getting all sensitive and feelings hurt like I have so many times in the past. That’s growth, baby! Like Victoria Osteen taught us, “Let it go! Get good at covering the offenses of others.” By this morning we were both laughing about the entire situation, with me back calling him the better than best husband.
MORAL: GET GOD INVOLVED IN EVERY MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE! Respond wisely to situations seeking His strength, boldness, courage, tact, wisdom, personality, charm, love, flexibility, and approval before saying and doing anything! God always knows best! Wink! Wink!
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I CAN’T GET OVER GOD!
The way He finds ways to speak DIRECTLY to me. I was reading to a friend yesterday some of the notes that I wrote down from the YouTuber, Stargirl, who perfectly articulated precisely what God has been putting me through lately to teach me some crucial life lessons that I can pass on to you guys. It’s like I’m God’s little guinea pig, y’all, but I’m not complaining because the lessons, like Stargirl so wonderfully put it, “You have successfully made it through those challenges into this beautiful new person.” (HUGE SMILE)
This beautiful new person who sees life from a completely new perspective! Like all those sad and depressing thoughts that brought your girl here down WAY too often. By the grace of God, I’m learning to focus on the angels in others, not their demons, which we all have. I’m learning to love others unconditionally the way God loves me. He said to me that He will cover my mouth whenever I try to speak of the past. I’m practicing this going the extra mile in love and forgiveness with everyone. NO ONE WALKING ON THIS EARTH IS PERFECT! I’m doing everything for God by going the extra mile in love, loyalty, gentleness, and patience, AND I’M SO MUCH HAPPIER HERE!
Then, those anxious, fretful, and worrisome thoughts that AGAIN brought me so low, are all being replaced with such strong faith in God. To God be the glory! The way God shows up for me has been incredible. He finds these sweet ways to let me know that His Presence is always with me. Especially through Stargirl. I read back the book of notes from her that I’ve written down, and astonishingly ask, ‘How can this lady pinpoint so clearly the issues God has been addressing personally with me?’ Like controlling my emotions and being more responsive (wisely) than reactive (crazily) to difficult situations. I’m now always pausing, looking to God, and asking, ‘What would You have me to do here?’ Allowing His wisdom to be the guide of my life from moment to moment. These messages from Stargirl are no coincidences! They are God confirming that He is intimately involved in my life, and therefore I need not worry about anything! His love goes deep!!!!
God doesn’t disappoint! WILL YOU JOIN ME IN DOING EVERYTHING FOR HIS GLORY! I promise you; this is how He guides us on the path to the best life with Him! God, not our will, may Yours be done on earth as in Heaven! Off to study with my two handsome and terrific sons!!! “Ask me how I’m doing! I’m blessed! Living every moment, no regrets!”
GOD MAKES ME FEEL LIKE THE MOST LOVED PERSON IN THE WORLD!!!
I argued with Him about including this verse as the caption on the pic I usually post with my blog, feeling I recently used it:
“The LORD Himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” – Exodus 14:14
I found the pic on my Facebook wall, saying to Him, ‘See, we did use it!’ I’m arguing with God, y’all! But the feeling I got was, ‘Nik, use it again!’ I said, ‘Ok, Boss! You know why!’ Fast forward to the next morning, I read through a discussion on WhatsApp that a friend, Chris, organized to read page 2 of my book. When Chris asked a participant what he got from that page they were discussing, he incredibly said this:
“Exodus 14:14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Wink! Wink!
I rushed to see if that was a verse included for that particular day of the book, but it wasn’t. It was just the verse that came to his heart to share. Of course, I took that as no coincidence, but God Himself planting that specific verse in that group chat, confirming His message to me, that He will fight for me, I just need to be calm.
And the God Wink didn’t stop there! Just after quoting that verse in that post, I also debated about sharing this one, feeling this is what God does for me with all the challenges I have going on at the moment:
“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13
Fast forward to a couple of hours from Exodus 14:14 showing up in that group chat, I was rushing out for work. I decided to have a speedy appointment with God reading my mediation book Jesus Calling. Out of over 700 pages, look what Bible verse I DIRECTLY opened to:
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13
No way out of over 700 pages, this verse that I debated on including in that post just randomly showed up. It was God showing His deep love for me and His involvement in my life.
He is with you, too. We all can be calm no matter the storms because God Himself will fight for us. Our God is faithful! Just start seeking Him in every relationship. Every decision. Every situation. Always asking, God, what would You have me to do here?’ And then listen to Him in your spirit. Feelings of peace, excitement, enthusiasm are Him saying Yes, do this. However, doubt, stress, anxiety are His ways of saying, ‘No, slow down, let’s rethink this!’ He always says a BIG “YES” in our spirit, not a maybe. Start seeking God all day, every day, as He guides you. I’m living my best life with Him, as I hopefully inspire you to do the same. He is our GREATEST FRIEND/INFLUENCER/MENTOR. Wink! Wink!
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HEALTH MATTERS
DAY 146 OF 365 DAYS OF DISCIPLINE!
DISCIPLINE INCLUDES BEING IN CHARGE OF OUR EMOTIONS!!! We can catch ourselves in the midst of anger, anxiety, depression, disappointments or any negative emotion and look at whatever is bothering us from a God perspective, seeking His guidance on how WISELY to respond. Let’s be God’s angels out there! We all need extra love, encouragement, and support these days!
