That was my son, Joshie, to me yesterday. He heard me on the phone with his dad saying that him and I have a bad reputation for being highly persistent and incredibly annoying (no shame!). My little ten-year-old son Joshie was offended, though! I had to explain to him that persistence is a good attribute to have, and I want to be even more persistent like him because that’s when you accomplish great things in life through hard work, patience, perseverance, and persistence.
But to be honest with you, I had something that I was doing that needed my full concentration, and Joshie kept interrupting me. I was getting a little bit annoyed with him!!! I even tried to persuade him to go and watch TV until I was finished. But he ended up staying with me most of the time, KINDLY asking me if he could help me and take over at the end.
Minutes after that, I go to have an appointment with God, and after feeling Joshie was ANNOYING me, look what God had to say:
“Hide all your ugliness in My heart. It’s a hospital, you know, and doesn’t one sometimes come out of a hospital cured? Trust in Me with all your heart since I am your great friend. You remember the keynote for the year, ‘Hope in Me.’ My help never comes to an end, and I never cease to watch over you. I am infinite and I am love. So lose yourself in Me, trusting Me to guide you. Be the little blind child who skips joyously because he is holding someone’s hand. Oh learn to be joyous since you are Mine and open your heart to everything you lack. You don’t ask. ABOVE ALL, DON’T BE AFRAID OF WEARYING OR ANNOYING ME (Wink! Wink!). What could you lack when you live in His friendship?” – He and I
Of the over 87 pages of old posts there, for these words to show up was God letting me know that even though I thought Joshie was annoying, that He would never find me annoying. This was no coincidence; it was God finding another way to show me His deep love and intimate Presence in my life. I gave Joshie a BIG HUG and apologized for the way I acted with him. Even when he wanted to chat on his phone in our bedroom late last night when I wanted to sleep, I just allowed him.
Such love this Joshie shows that I want us all learning from him. I’ll never forget a time when he said to me, “Mommy, I just want to be with you.” And he shows genuine love, no fake love with Joshie. He is the real deal! Even if he gets mad, he is right back to his joyful, loving self a short while later as if nothing happened. I told him that God sent him to me to teach me how to love:
“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 4-8
In fact, I called my brother, Kevin, yesterday to tell him I’m changing my name to PATIENCE after he kept telling me last year to be patient! That patience has paid off! I’m thanking him and God for guiding my life to such a beautiful place where I’m full of love, peace, and joy. Our hope remains in God!
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
“MOMMY, I HAVE THREE VOICES IN MY HEAD” (REPOST)
Said my incredibly wise ten-year-old son, Joshie, to me yesterday. “They are my voice, God’s voice and doubt,” he explained. He even told a little story about how he did something he shouldn’t have and how God’s voice said to him that was not the right thing to do, so he went back and corrected himself.
And this was just the reality check I needed at that very moment. The crazy lady wanted to make an appearance, but I got a nudge from God to give Joshie a call in Nigeria and have an appointment with him reading from Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life Devotional for Kids. Thank God I did! My little spiritual guy correctly reminded me that I must listen to God’s voice in what He would have me to do, and for the crazy lady to disappear.
I called a friend to tell her about what Joshie said, and we should practice listening to God’s voice. She admitted to doing something she knew that wasn’t what God would have had her to do, and we agreed to be better in doing what made God happy. Hanging up from her, I had a little appointment with God by myself, and He confirmed what we had just spoken about:
“The thing you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what God wants.” – Matthew 6:33
And let me tell ya, even though it’s EXTREMELY difficult sometimes to be obedient to God, this has been my experience with Him:
“Now to Him who is able to do infinitely more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20
I praise God! He exceeds my expectations, and His guidance through my spirit hasn’t disappointed me. Yes, I still go through my share of troubles, but I always come through them wiser, stronger, and most importantly, closer to Him because He never leaves or forsakes me. He guides me to stay on the high road being my most loving, excellent and forgiving self no matter what anyone else is doing, knowing everything is between Him and me, not between me and anyone else.
Yes, there are losses and wounds I must endure, but I write them all off against the HUGE blessings and victories that I end up winning. Wink! Wink!
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
I’M JUST TRYING TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE!
Like I would be a terrible human being if I kept this great news to myself! That we can go through life with a God perspective knowing His invisible Presence is continually with us. It doesn’t get better than this! In every moment, we have the Creator of the entire universe walking with us, advising us, loving us, accepting us, taking care of us, and teaching us.
The teaching part is what I didn’t find funny this weekend in God’s school of hard lessons!!! I was so sad, bursting out crying, an emotional train wreck for sure. But I didn’t call anyone, I went running to God, asking Him what it is He would have me to learn. And let me tell ya, God’s ways are not like human ways, they’re so much better. Here are some of the sweet lessons from my awful weekend:▪ We are not handling life alone. We can show up, do our best, and trust that God is behind the scenes helping us. That’s FAITH! Our burdens are light when we allow God to handle the complex parts (the 99.75%) in the spiritual realm while we do the light .25% in the physical realm. We can imagine ourselves and God wearing a yoke (the wooden bar used to put two animals together by the neck), where we can lightheartedly tackle problems, giving God the heavier parts. When we feel overwhelmed and stressed (me this weekend!), that’s our cue to know we’re taking on too much of the load, and we’re not trusting God enough. The battles belong to Him! We can, therefore, think best-case scenarios, not worst-case KNOWING GOD IS STANDING WITH US AND THAT HE IS ON OUR SIDE. His love and favor follow us wherever we go! Whatever happens, we trust it’s from the hands of a loving God who knows what is best for us. Woohoo!!!
▪ “Stay strong, Nikki,” was the advice of someone yesterday. That was another lesson. In any given moment, we can decide who we want to be – weak or strong, victor or victim. I kept reminding myself of the words of my brother, Kevin: “Neeks, I want you to shine bright. Let them they say how did this woman get so strong!” I’m now saying I want to shine BRIGHTER for God, shining His goodness in as many dark places as possible.
▪ “Emmie, you must forgive your dad.” That was me to my son this morning. I explained that his father does so much good that we just have to forgive him when the negative parts show up. That’s the unconditional love God has been teaching me in all my relationships. Nobody’s perfect. Like Marianne Williamson has taught me, we can either focus on someone else’s guilt or we can focus on their innocence. This person who shows up as the best husband and father has earned our unconditional love and respect. Sometimes that means I have to wisely choose my battles and pretend I don’t see what I see. Ain’t nothing perfect! You must learn to MANAGE the difficult situations God throws your way with lots of PATIENCE.
▪ PLEASING GOD MUST BE OUR PRIORITY AS WE GO THE EXTRA MILE IN MERCY (PARDONING WITHOUT PUNISHMENT) AND LOVE. Others may disappoint us, but God EXCEEDS our expectations when we stick with Him. Wink! Wink!
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
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
DON’T MISS OUT ON AN OPPORTUNITY TO BETTER YOURSELF (REPOST)
That was the message from Coach Bennet on my run with him yesterday, so I’m joining my daughter, Julie, in a never-ending quest of self-improvement! My 50 days of discipline are back, baby, where I aim to stick with these goals (as perfectly as possible!):
– Be joyful
– Wake up at 5:30 am
– Sleep by 10 pm
– Spend 24 hours with God
– Talk less
– No sweets, dairy, fried or fast foods
– No negative thinking
– Fasting from noon to 5 pm
– Exercise 35 minutes
– LEAVE COMFORT ZONE
God had some more to say to me about the TALK LESS part last night when this showed up in my appointment with Him:
“Any words at all… you can say them to Me (God). But with others, GET TO LOVE SILENCE. I mean by that a silence of goodness. You will find me there, I shall hear all the words that you don’t say. You will keep them for Me, for My sake. You will ask Me for the strength, and these silences will be like cut flowers. I’ll offer them to Myself in a bouquet. Right now would you like to begin this silence with others, this silence that will speak so eloquently to My love? I ask you for this new way of pleasing Me. I need all your ways. How could I not want your entire being when I know that you are free.” – He and I
God said that when I’m ready, He will BEGIN teaching me some lessons in love, and this holding back of words has been a super hard one. It’s another way of showing respect to others by holding back some words. God said we can say anything to Him, but with others lets offer the unsaid, hurtful, belittling, and embarrassing words to God as a gift to Him.
Honestly, someone said this to me, lately, “Nikki, you talk too much!” I agree! Let’s be mindful of what we say and make God proud of us. Kk?!? May God give us the strength to do so. Amen!
“Pleasant words are like honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” – Proverbs 16:24
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
“ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR MARRIAGE?” (REPOST)
Was the question asked by my super daughter, Julie, yesterday. I replied, “The more important question is: ‘Are you happy with your family?’” And to be honest with you, I’m thrilled with MY FAMILY right now.
Like my daughter, Ember, came out to work with me and to help sell a car, she was up and down between a parts store, the mechanic shop, a tire shop with me, and I was so ecstatic knowing I have such an on the ball, faithful, responsible daughter. Right now, we’re in legacy mode, preparing them to take over our businesses someday hopefully. Every moment around them has become so sweet and enjoyable, even as we take on challenging work.
We didn’t get home until almost 9, and Julie had the most delicious Nigerian food made for me with the special salad that I love. She is on her quest to get into Columbia, one of the top universities in the entire world, and yesterday when she was a bit discouraged by a website that her chances of getting in were low, I said to her, “You’re forgetting the God factor!” As we do our best, God has a way of tweaking situations on our behalf! I encouraged her to keep moving confidently forward in the direction of her dreams, showing up as her most excellent, hardworking self, and God will direct her path. I said, just pray for God to be the Guide of your life.
Then I was so thrilled with my son, Emmie, in Nigeria, who said he would call me back to have an appointment with God, and he did saying we should have two of them since we were missing out on them lately. I was just so happy knowing I have such a great and wonderful son. God has exceeded my expectations!
Joshie called me to say he was upset over a bad dream. I said let’s read our kids’ devotional to see what God had to say, and we picked one to read, but we didn’t get a high five from God. After reading the next one, I asked him what he got from it, and he said he learned that he had to increase his faith in God. That’s my ten-year-old son, y’all!
And Duro, my nephew, told me that he has everything all set to begin his college classes shortly. He is getting up earlier and working extremely hard with us, and I’m so proud!
So, it isn’t just about our marriages, guys, it’s more importantly about our families. I have more love and respect for my husband every day, though, as God opens my eyes to all the excellent qualities in him that I highly admire. Nobody’s perfect! Let’s practice patience with each other.
I see myself as God’s little superhero. Like I told Julie, as my most excellent self, I will show up being the HAPPY wife, mother, and person, God Himself would have me to be. When I die, I imagine Him saying, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Amen! May ALL our families keep going higher, all for the glory of God, as we increase our faith in Him! Wink! Wink!
GOD MAKES ME FEEL AS IF I’M THE MOST LOVED PERSON IN THE WORLD
Like yesterday, I loved a post on Tumblr.com:
“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE. BUT PERFECT LOVE DRIVES OUT FEAR, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” — 1 John 4: 16-18 (NIV)
In that anxious moment, I was instantly reminded that God’s love drives away all fear from me. I thought back to all the terrible situations I’ve been up against and how God always showed up as if asking, ‘Who’s messing with my Nik?!?’ Those times have seriously built up my FAITH and CONFIDENCE in Him! His love drives away ALL fear!
Fast forward to this morning, I go to have an appointment with Him on our family’s website, and this old post showed up:
“I told you these things so that you can have peace in me (God). In this world YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE but be brave! I have defeated the world.” – John 16:33
I always imagine God winking at me when I read this verse! HIS LOVE CASTS AWAY ALL MY FEARS (Wink! Wink!) that even when bad things happen, I know that it’s from the hands of a loving God who knows what’s best for us.”
After reading that, I quickly remembered that my husband was waiting for us to have an appointment with God together. I grabbed Jesus Calling, a meditation book of over 700 pages, and prayed, “God, what do You have to say to my husband and me today?” I randomly opened to this, written as if God was speaking directly to us:
“LET MY LOVE seep into the inner recesses of your being. Do not close off any part of yourself from Me. I know you inside and out, so do not try to present a “cleaned-up” self to Me. Wounds that you shut away from the Light of My Love will fester and become wormy. Secret sins that you “hide” from Me can split off and develop lives of their own, controlling you without your realizing it.
Open yourself fully to My transforming Presence. Let My brilliant Love-Light search out and destroy hidden fears. This process requires time alone with Me, as My Love soaks into your innermost being. ENJOY MY PERFECT LOVE, WHICH EXPELS EVERY TRACE OF FEAR. (Wink! Wink!)”
This lined up too perfectly to be some ordinary coincidence IN THIS 700 PAGE DEVOTIONAL!!! From my appointment with Him yesterday on Tumblr, to our website, to five minutes later, this meditation book, was all God revealing His invisible Presence, reminding me of His deep love that drives away all fear. I got goosebumps all over, showing them to my husband in excitement, ‘God is with us, sweetie!!!”
And He is with you, too! Please take some time to seek Him and see what He has to say to you! I love Tumblr.com where I search for posts tagged “God” and He speaks directly to me!
That was me to my daughters yesterday! I turned into crazy mom to get them to clean their rooms and study. “It’s about having discipline!” is what I told them. And you don’t go far in life without discipline! The hardest thing we have to do is to conquer ourselves and be the people we know we’re capable of being. In fact, I’ve dedicated this entire year to be a more disciplined person. So far, I’m thrilled with the results! I’ve even cut out alcohol altogether. I found that it was only slowing me down. Now I wake up at 5:30 am, excited, feeling like I’m on a personal mission from God, not lazy and hung over.
Being disciplined in our THINKING is another tough one to conquer! Unnecessary thoughts will bounce back and forth all day long if we’re not careful. Today is another fasting day because I’ve noticed that these days are teaching me to focus on what’s essential and to most importantly keep my eyes fixed on God.
When the thoughts tell me to worry, to dwell on the past, to feel guilty, to be irritated by trivial matters, to be sad, I beat my mind with a stick to focus on things that are relevant to my dreams, goals, and aspirations, and my decision to celebrate everyday like a birthday, while still seeking to be the best wife, mother and person possible.
My meditation book had the best advice for me yesterday, a message from God:
“MY CHILD, there are many matters of which it is well for you to be ignorant, and consider yourself as one who is dead upon the earth and to whom the whole world is crucified. There are many things, too, which is well to pass by with a deaf ear, thinking, instead, of what is more to your peace. It is more profitable to turn away from things which displease you and leave to every man his own opinion than to take part in quarrelsome talk. If you stand well with God and look to His judgment, you will more easily bear being worsted (defeated).”
Such great advice! Sometimes we really have to pretend as if we’re ignorant and deaf. Otherwise, we waste precious time and energy fighting useless battles. That’s where this discipline comes in. Someone says or does something offensive to us, and we must DISCIPLINE ourselves to be SILENT and leave them with their own opinion. We must look to please God in every moment and what He thinks of us. Forget other people and what they think, do, or say and keep looking to GOD and seek to always please Him. Trust me, His ways are best!
