That was from our nephew, Gbenga, who stayed with us for the past month or so. My immediate response was, ‘Ha! Trust me; we have plenty of problems! But the crazy thing is that those troubles and challenges end up bringing us closer with more love and respect for each other. That’s because we have made God the center of our marriage, making decisions by constantly asking, ‘God, what would you have us to do here?”
Fast forward to our Sunday brunch conversation today; hubby and I shared with him some of the Godly values and principles that are seriously working for us:
LOVE AND LOYALTY
Both hubs and I go the extra mile in showing each other love and support. No breaking up over here! Whatever we have to go through, we’ll go through it TOGETHER. I keep asking Gbenga, “Are you taking notes?” because I want him to see my husband in action the way he goes overboard in his responsibilities as a husband, dad, and businessman. He exceeds our expectations!
I cried talking to my daughter, Ember, yesterday because she is such a fine example of this love and loyalty. It’s so important to have a strong team of people to love and support you because this life gets hard. We need one another to make life lighter, happier, and more bearable when it gets difficult. Cherish the people who are there for you, and you be there for them, too. Wear love and loyalty around your neck! Accept that we all have strengths and weaknesses, but we must keep forgiving and going overboard in love!
GOD IS OUR BOSS!!!
We believe that every blessing is ultimately from God, and when we try to live lives that are honoring to God, He is the One to bless us. This is how He lovingly guides us on the path He has planned out for us. “Work hard and cheerfully as something done for God, not for human masters.”
Yesterday we had a situation at our office, and I said to our manager, “Let’s honor God by staying on the high road with Him. He will make this up to us.” Not that we get it right all the time, but we learn the lessons and try to improve.
THE HOLY SPIRIT (GOD’S VOICE INSIDE OF US) IS OUR BEST FRIEND!
I told Gbenga when God told my husband to start doing business in Nigeria and leave me and the kids in the US, I was not in on that conversation! However, the conversation God had with me was that I should let my husband go and do his thing! I held my husband with open hands, supported him by holding down the fort in the US, and those decisions turned out to be great for us.
Make God your Leader! Don’t ask God to follow your decisions, ask God that you follow wherever He leads you. Amen!
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
“WHEN YOU GO THROUGH DEEP WATERS, I WILL BE WITH YOU”
That’s the verse from Isaiah 43:2 I feel God speaks to me through so often lately. Not only does He comfort me with so many of our favorite Bible verses that show up everywhere, but He also sings to me! Call me crazy, but this morning, in the middle of my run with Him, I was bawling, crying like a baby feeling so loved by God.
This God wink started when I woke up to have my regular appointment with Him reading our family’s website, we rollwithgod.com. At 51 minutes past the hour, I go to read page 51, with this post showing up at the top:
“‘I FEEL GOOD’
Let me tell ya! I’m having the best time listening to Beres Hammond’s song, as if God is singing to me:
“I feel good
When you’re wrapped up in My arms
Dancing to a reggae song
Feel good, feel good
I feel good cause your perfume isn’t loud
That only I can talk about
Feel good, feel good”
God said I should find new ways of enjoying Him, and I’m doing exactly that, imagining that I’m going through my life wrapped up in His arms dancing to a reggae song, with only Him smelling my perfume. (SMILE)”
I had such a good time reading this because I’ve been locked up alone with God a lot these days, and I do imagine Him smelling my perfume! (Crazy, right?) But to tell you how much God knows every thought we think, can you believe out of my library of over 800 songs, this very song played minutes later when I began my morning run. I’ve written so many times how I put my music on shuffle, and God takes over as my DJ, and this morning my DJ did not disappoint! Your girl here started crying, feeling so loved by Him. Like no way this was some ordinary coincidence! For me to go specifically to page 51 to read this post about this song and minutes later for it to play randomly was all God!
He even went another step to confirm that this was really Him singing to me through that song. Still crying, I go back to reread the post, and as I’m reading it, the run was continuing through my AirPods. And as the coach said the word “smile,” I read the word “SMILE” on the post at that exact moment. To perfectly orchestrate these winks for His girl here as I go through some deep waters, it was His loving way of saying, ‘Nik, I’m with you!’
Don’t miss out! Get in on this love from God! Start having your appointments with Him and seeking to know Him better. I promise you; there is nothing better than going through life knowing God is your Companion! Nothing!! He helps us keep our heads high no matter the troubles! GOD STRONG, BABY!!!
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
“GOD IS WITH ME IN THE LOWEST AND HIGHEST POINTS”
Was the caption on yesterday’s pic that I’m so running with! Even this morning, in one of those low moments, He unbelievably found the sweetest way to let me know that His invisible Presence is always with me. Right after my morning run, I sat down to read my meditation book, Jesus Always, and after I’ve repeated so many times how God is trying to teach me this difficult lesson of patience, this message showed up:
“LOVE IS PATIENT. In the apostle Paul’s long list of characteristics of Christian love, the very first one is “patience.” This is the ability to endure adversity calmly-not becoming upset when waiting a long time or dealing with difficult people or problems.”
‘God, here we go again about this patience thing!’ I smiled with Him. I loved it so much, though, I went as far as taking screenshots of the message. The appointment with God did the trick, and I was crucially
reminded that He was with me.
Fast forward like 5 minutes after putting down my phone from that appointment, unknowingly, my son grabbed it from when I dropped it, and he started watching a YouTube video. I still had my air pods in my ears from my run, and exactly where Emmie continued watching a video, the YouTube gamer guy incredibly says in this fun voice,
“I’m telling you, it’s all about patience, bro! Be patient!” Wink! Wink!
And that was another one of my God winks when everything lines up a little bit too perfect to be some ordinary coincidence. It was all orchestrated by God Himself to let His girl here know that He is forever with her. Wow! Notice God’s fun and sweet side, ““I’m telling you, it’s all about patience, bro! Be patient!” When patience has been this tough lesson He has been trying to teach me! Of all the millions of YouTube videos, for Emmie to start this one, precisely at that spot for me to hear, was all God.
Does anyone else need that reminder? This crucial virtue of patience is not something we practice much anymore, but as you can see, it’s important to God. To be quite honest, I’m grateful for this lesson of patience. It has guided my life to a very beautiful place. My brother, Kevin, put it like this, “I’ve made a lot of good decisions because I was patient.” I feel the same way!
God’s ways are not our ordinary human ways; they are so much better! With the patience and love He shows us, can we learn to show patience to others, all for His glory? No one walking on this earth is perfect; We all need patience. “I’m telling you, it’s all about patience, bro! Be patient!” Wink! Wink!
“When you and I are patient, we see God at work in our life. When we are patient we don’t jump ahead of God, we do exactly what He says. We begin to see how He works things out and we’ll conclude every time that God’s way is the best way.”
— Charles Stanley
“No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.” 1 John 4:12
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
“WHAT WAS THE LOWEST POINT OF YOUR LIFE?”
That was the conversation question my son, Siah, asked at the dinner table last night. I thought back to a year ago when my heart was crushed into a million pieces! It wasn’t pretty, y’all! But what a difference a year makes because I’m even thanking God for the gift of getting my heart broken. Go figure! It was His way of helping me to get free from so many heavy burdens I carried around with me. I’ve climbed back up to the top of the mountain, baby, feeling stronger than ever. And it’s another testimony to the grace of God in our lives and that we CAN heal from hard things. Whoop! Whoop!
I just downloaded Devon’s Franklin’s book, ‘Live Free,’ and immediately upon opening it, I received a wink from God in the book’s dedication:
“To every caged bird…it’s time to break free.”
In His extremely loving way, God is trying to free all of us from whatever is holding us back from living our best lives with Him. I’ll never forget the visual of a bird being released from a cage on Instagram. I thought it was God saying I needed to free my husband from the cage I wanted to keep him in, but in a book that I randomly opened a short while later, the title of the page was ‘Freed From Our Cage,’ and I immediately knew God was speaking to me, ‘Nik, it’s you I want to free!’ The book amazingly said:
“In His (God’s) strength, may we no longer be bound by fear, shame, or oppression. God has rescued us from those cages of death. We can run free.”
Amen! Thanks, Devon for the God wink! I know God is still calling me to run free from fear, sadness, regrets, disappointments, shame, and worrying too much about other’s opinions of me. I need to step up to where God has called me to be and living my best life with Him! Heehaw! God. Let’s do this!
Honestly, like Siah put it one day to me: We have three voices in our head: God’s, doubt (the devil!), and our voice. Too often, we allow the thoughts from the devil to hold us back and weigh us down. We must be alert and discerning of the voice we listen to!!! That’s why it’s so important to have a relationship with God, so we follow His lead. I want us to have conversations with God all day, every day, following what HE would have us to do. Let’s not let the devil put insane ideas in our head telling us to do and think crazy things. Say, ‘No, no, no! I’m living my best life with God!’
“The Goal: To be devoted to God and driven by a passion for Him—That every breath and beat of the heart might be for His glory; that every thought, disposition, word, and activity might be conformed to His will; that every accomplishment might find its end in His good pleasure.” – Paul Washer
Get Devon’s Franklin book, ‘Live Free!’ He has been one of my crucial messengers from God! I want to follow him being a Rockstar for God! But first, I must live free!!! What is God trying to free you from? Amen!
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
“MOM, YOU KNOW YOU HAVE A REPUTATION FOR BEING LAZY AND PROCRASTINATING!”
Oh my goodness! I’m so thanking my daughter, Ember, for being so real with me when she said this to me recently – l love criticism! Can you believe God even confirmed that this was partly why He gave me this big challenge I need to tackle lately? Yesterday, I stopped working just to have an appointment with Him, and I asked Him what He had to say to me through my own book, and look what incredible showed up exactly where I randomly scrolled and open up to:
“GOD & HUBBY I GET IT
My message from God lately seems to be WORK HARD! This has been the biggest complaint from my hubby, that I need to work harder (I’ll admit it, life in Nigeria has made me very lazy because of all the help I get). And now, God seems to be joining in with this message that has shown up all over the place…
… I saw someone I hadn’t seen in over two years. I told him that we’re guaranteed to be winners if we go with God, and he responded, “and work hard!”
Later that same night, an email newsletter from Joel Osteen came in with the scripture verse quoted for the day: “Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people” (Colossians 3:23, NLT).”
Wow, that just changed my entire perspective of this stressful ball in the air that I’m tackling to, ‘Wow, God, I will cheerfully complete this assignment as if I’m working for You!’ “I’m at the service of the President,” I always tell my husband, to help him and support him anyway I can, so this was God’s way of giving me even more inspiration to lovingly bravely and manly handle it. God, may I be the wife, mother, and person you will have me to be!
And after a conversation with my husband this morning, I’m even more motivated to up my game and change my reputation! I asked hubby if there was fuel in the car for taking the boys up and down to school, and he responded, “Yes! I don’t play with my responsibilities!” Let me tell ya, this husband goes the extra mile in taking care of his family. We’re so blessed by God to have him! But I must admit, I need to step it up! Like the next book that I never work on! But no beating myself up over the past:
“All experience failure, and are required to right things after each lapse and go forward as if nothing has happened. Lamentations (expressing grief) over these failures would only cost time and energy. These are precious gifts of God which we are not supposed to waste. It is necessary that we use each minute well if we are to be ripe for heaven.” – Yes, Father
Let’s all WORK HARD and play our roles well (like hubby is so excellent at) of whatever God has called us to do! Especially in our homes! Our families are critical to God! We all have demons and angels in us, but we must focus on the angelic qualities of others and overlook and ignore the demons, going the extra mile in support, love, patience, and kindness with everyone. Bring Heaven to earth, all for God’s glory!
