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!
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
“PLEASE, DON’T LEAVE US WITH MOMMY!!!”
That was my son, Emmie, a short while ago when my daughter, Julie, asked me to take charge of them for today. Having some fun, I replied, “Julie, please don’t leave me with the boys!” But Julie confessed that when she was their age, she hated the annoying mom that showed up, but now, in the long run, she is grateful for a mom who pushed her hard, always to give her best. (HUGE SMILE)
This is exactly how I feel about my relationship with God. The very times I ask Him, ‘Why me?’ turn out to be the very experiences that I need to grow up to become better. In the long run, I see that it was all for my good. Like all the times I ran to my tree this summer venting to Him. Now, I’m thanking Him that I had my heart crushed into a million pieces. I needed the bitter taste of rejection. It brought me to a new level of intimacy with God like Dr. Charles Stanley perfectly summed it up for me today in an appointment with Him. I depended too much on other humans for love, support and approval, while God was sweetly saying, ‘Nik, My love is all you need. Stop looking to other humans for something they cannot give you.’ Now, I’m first and foremost God’s girl. (ANOTHER SMILE)
“Sorry, I have to do God’s work first,” I just said to my son, Emmie. I had just returned from taking some pictures to have our insurance switched from our vehicle for Julie. Just last night, in bringing it home for her, I had two God winks. The first was that I entered the new car at exactly 6:11, and minutes into the drive, God’s spirit took my attention to a license plate on the back of a truck that read “611.” Then it was something we had an argument about earlier in the day that Julie sent me an email trying to defend her position (my future lawyer!). I started reading the email in between waiting for a traffic light, and exactly when I read the words “clinical trial,” the announcer on the radio said “clinical trial. “Julie, this is the vehicle God has picked for you,” I called Julie right away to say. The comfort I feel in putting my precious daughter in is priceless. That God will be her protection as she drives this vehicle.
And that’s what I want you guys to get. That the love and attention I receive from God is far beyond anything I can ever get from this world. His blessings, peace, joy, favor, support, wisdom, strength, and guidance are what I don’t want you to miss out. Make sure you are taking time to have appointments with Him! Then start seeking Him in every moment. Every decision. Every relationship. Wink Wink!
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
GOD TURNS MY BAD INTO SUCH GOOD
All my running to my God tree every morning has paid off! (HUGE SMILE) I would run there so anxious, frustrated, upset, angry and hurt, and God would find some way to reveal His invisible Presence with me. It could be a conversation with someone that I had the day before or I’ve even had a simple thought about something that He would use to say, ‘Nik, I’m with you!’ Such love and attention He paid to me that He gave me an entire different perspective on every aspect of my life. This was the post I read this morning under the tree and now I get why He doesn’t mind me having the worst day:
“SOMETIMES I DON’T MIND YOU HAVING THE WORST DAY”
Were the lyrics from Justin Bieber’s song ‘Take It Out on Me,’ that I totally took as a message from God recently after I spent a day upset. The very next day in my appointment with God, these lyrics sweetly showed up from Him:
“Sometimes I don’t mind you havin’ the worst day…
Let your frustrations out right here…
I’m your psychiatrist, let’s talk about it…
I see the weight weighin’ on your shoulders
It’s so heavy
Let me be the meaning of your composure”
And honestly, I didn’t want to tell you guys I had another awful day, but when I thought about how God sweetly shows up for me in my “weak” moments, I can BOAST of my weaknesses, baby! MY GOD IS WITH ME!
When I sat down to talk to Him about all the things weighing your girl here down, this verse showed up in THREE separate places:
“When you go through deep waters,
_ I will be with you.” – Isaiah 43:2_
I smiled with God, instantly reminded that as I do my best in the physical realm, He is fighting on my behalf in the spiritual realm. Wink! Wink!
Then it was a WhatsApp message that my husband forced me to read that got me all sad AGAIN. It was directly talking about the thorn in my side, and it even referred to it as a “thorn in the side!” I said to God, “NOT FUNNY!” This is an issue that I’ve begged God to take away from me, but yesterday God was my therapist, and we talked about this thorn. Between my meditation books, our family’s website, werollwithgod.com, and Tumblr.com, here’s what He had to say:
Firstly, He said that I should thank Him for any persistent problems in my life. I should go as far as being friends with them! Remembering that He can fit everything into a pattern for good. To be honest, this problem has been a friend because it has taken me closer to God than anything else. I go running to Him for His guidance, and He is always there for me, just like He was yesterday, to give me His perspective, and crucially reminding me that He is with me through all the struggles and challenges that come my way! That’s faith!
Then, God asked me to share the lessons that I’ve been learning from dealing with this issue with you guys, and there have been LOTS! Like this one from the WhatsApp message:
“My Personal Opinion
Value your ‘imperfect’ marriage (Like God tells me, ain’t nothing perfect, girl!)… Don’t compare your partner to celebrities who project a perfect marriage or relationship… Every marriage has a secret tiny ‘demon’ and many angels…. Focus on the angelic aspect and continue to pray against the tiny demon… The tiny demon is usually what Paul described as a Thorn in the flesh… It is usually hidden, tiny but present. But if you focus on the angels in the relationship, you will only use divorce to fool governments and systems.”
That’s exactly what I do in all my relationships, I focus on the angelic qualities of others and myself, and not the demons that are present in us all. Prayer and Patience go hand in hand!
Thanks, My Therapist (God)! You have led my life on a very beautiful path that I can even BOAST of my weaknesses!!!
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM #faith #God #love
AM I CRAZY FOR TALKING ABOUT THIS “311” SO MUCH?
I questioned myself yesterday. So, I took the matter to Mr. Google to ask the significance of this “311” showing up for me, and I got the confirmation I was looking for:
“The angels are reminding you that you are loved, cherished, supported, and surrounded with positivity and good vibes…Follow your instincts and listen to your heart for great success and happy life.” – subconsciousservant.com
Honestly, I feel like the most loved person by God ever that I get on my knees every night only to say thanks to Him. No matter how demanding or stressful the day, I know He has a plan, purpose, and a reason for everything, including my anxieties, disappointments, hurts, frustrations, challenges, and problems. They are all there to make me better, wiser, happier, stronger, braver, and more loving.
That’s the conversation I had with my daughter, Julie, yesterday. I said how I’m so much more joyful and peaceful out on my runs every day now compared to only a month ago. I would run to my God tree so bitter, angry, anxious, frustrated, and hurt. But every time I go there and take time to hear what God had to say to me, I return home a little bit better. He told me His heart is a hospital for me. That I should vent to Him and to others, I should learn silence.
That “$3.11” showing up on a gas station sign across from our business, minutes after a customer’s insurance payment came to $311 was God’s way of showing up when I wanted to go crazy and lose it on my husband one day (crazy wife here!). It was God perfectly reminding me what He had been teaching me about being silent and venting to Him. And to be very honest with you, a month later, I’m so happy I took God’s advice. Hubby is back to being my gift from God. I told him next to God that he and my mom were the best things that ever happened to me. (HUGE SMILE)
So much so that I’m here to tell you a God-guided life is the best life. Yes, we still go through our dark times, but He is there with us, helping us come out the other side with joy and peace that we can never get from the world. Today, I found a book out with hubby that said, “Don’t say, “God is in my heart.” Say, “I am in the heart of God.”” That’s where I try to live my life, in God’s heart, where His love, approval, protection, support, favor, wisdom, and kindness are always available to me. God exceeds my expectations. Don’t miss out. Make sure you have your alone times with God asking what he has to say to you. That’s the best gift you can ever give yourself, time alone with God. Wink! Wink!
