I asked my son, Emmie, at the barbershop when he was distraught with me for taking him to get a haircut. Hey, a momma got to do what a momma got to do! He surprisingly answered, “That’s what I want to know!” Like, yes, why didn’t you die! Hehehe! That’s how angry he was!

So, today, in a little hugging session, I told him what God has been teaching me about venting all my frustrations to Him, but to others, I should learn to practice silence. I know he doesn’t want me dead, but sometimes you can’t take back words. I said this has been super tough for his momma, but when I withhold words from others, when I’m all angry and upset, and instead vent them to God, it’s an act of love that I do for the other person and for God. He didn’t quite believe me, so I ended up showing him a picture from my appointment with God, just last night:

“The LORD will fight for you, AND YOU ONLY HAVE TO BE SILENT.” – Exodus 14:14

A few minutes later, I asked Emmie to have alone time with God with me. He picked number 120 from our Purpose Driven Life Devotional for Kids, and look what incredibly showed up:

“When you don’t understand something that God or your parents ask you to do (like going to the barber!), TALK IT OVER WITH GOD. VENT YOUR FRUSTRATIONS. DON’T HOLD IT IN…”

Can you believe our exact conversation showed up in this 365-page devotional? Emmie picked 120 because apparently, that’s how many Fortnite points he has. That was another one of my God winks when, out of the blue, everything lines up a little bit too perfect to be considered some random coincidence. It was God’s sweet way of letting me know that He is intimately involved in every aspect of my life (including parenting) and every moment.

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 is teaching me to control my emotions and 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 once we do this, He is in the background of our lives fighting battles on our behalf. 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?

“I will say to the Lord, “You are my place of safety and protection. You are my God and I trust you.” – Psalm 91:2

WEROLLWITHGOD.COM

“I DON’T THINK THEY SHOULD BE FRIENDS ANYMORE”

I felt so hurt hearing this from the mother of one of my kid’s friends on Saturday. Ouch! Who wouldn’t want their child to be friends with my wonderful child? I wanted to say something like, “Bruh! It ain’t all that! Don’t you think there is enough hatred in the world?” But, hey, everyone is different, and we all see things from a different perspective. However, I used it as an experience to share with my children what God has been TRYING to teach me about love:

“Let us be very sincere in our dealings with each other and have the courage to accept each other as we are. Do not be surprised at or become occupied with each other’s failure; rather see and find the good in each other, for each one of is created in the image of God.” – Mother Teresa

“Dear Human: You’ve got it all wrong. You didn’t come here to master unconditional love. That is where you came from and where you’ll return. You came here to learn personal love. Universal love. MESSY love. Sweaty love. Crazy love. Broken love. Whole love. Infused with divinity.”

If you’re looking for perfect relationships, you can FORGET ABOUT IT – they are pretty complicated and can get pretty messy. I feel like God’s guinea pig in that He throws me in these challenging situations that He wants me to respond to from His GOD IS LOVE perspective. THIS HAS NOT BEEN EASY, but I feel this is where He wants us all going the extra mile in love, forgiveness, humility, faithfulness, loyalty, and kindness.

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” – 1 John 4:16

As a family, we’re staying on the high road with God. That is what I teach my kids. We’re relying on the love God has for us that we keep asking, ‘God, what would make You happy here?’ When others go low, we can go high knowing that everything is between God and us, not between us and anyone else. Our eyes are on the prize and the beautiful life God had planned out for us before we were even born.

God, what should I do here? The priority is to skillfully maneuver through every moment of life, leaning on God’s wisdom and direction. And learning His voice and being obedient to Him because this is how He guides us on the best paths with Him. Even with my sickness lately, I’m thanking Him. He truly knows the experiences we need to become our best selves. He is a specialist in turning all our bad into such good when we trust Him to guide us with His wisdom.

But back to this messy love. It takes a lot of ignoring and pretending you don’t see what you see, but you do it for God. He told me the other day in an appointment with Him that not everything is a lesson to be learned. Sometimes it’s just an act of love. To forgive, overlook, ignore, focusing on the good in others and not their failings is an act of love, all for the glory of God.

WEWROLLWITHGOD.COM

I’m going to be the fun mom!!!” That was me to my son, Joshie, the other day, agreeing to go swimming with him. We had such a fantastic time with me teaching him how to swim stronger. After a while, I got out of the pool, though, and left him inside to practice alone, with me sitting nearby trying to come up with a caption for my blog’s picture of the day. Joshie helped me to come up with this: “Pray all day. Every day.” Meaning to get God involved in every aspect of your life!

Later on, we’re telling his dad about our time swimming, and he says something like we’re enjoying him because he is the one working hard to pay the bills. Joshie cutely responded, “Daddy, we’re enjoying you all day. Every day!” So, the next day when my hubby said something again about him working hard for us, I stole Joshie’s line, “Hon, we’re enjoying you all day. Every day.”

Maybe ten minutes after the conversation with my husband, I go to Joshie’s bedroom to say I missed our swimming and how much I enjoyed our little date in the pool the day before. Exactly where he was watching a Youtube video, the person incredibly says, “Every day. All day” (Wink! Wink!)

That was again one of my God winks where everything lined up a little bit too perfect to be considered some ordinary coincidence. It was God’s way of revealing His invisible Presence with us. For me to go into Joshie’s room exactly where this person is repeating what Joshie and I came up with from the day before out by the pool for the caption of that picture, to our conversation with his dad, to me talking again to my husband with the same words again a few minutes before, was God confirming, ‘Nik, wherever you go my Presence goes with you.”

This sweet awareness of God’s Presence in our lives is where I want us all. Yesterday, I took this pic out on the run with my daughter, Julie. At a certain point, I felt God saying to me in my spirit that if they call me from the office about a customer, I should tell them I would be there in 20 minutes. Less than 2 minutes later, they called saying there was a customer, and I said exactly what my spirit had told me, I can be there in 20 minutes.

I ended up meeting with this customer, but I couldn’t sell him a car, but I left a changed person. He is going through a messy divorce after a neighbor recorded a video and showed him his wife cheating on him. Apparently, the wife is sadly addicted to drugs and depression pills. After feeling lately like my life has been off track, I left there thanking God for being the guard rails of my life, helping me to make some pretty great decisions – drug and alcohol-free. Thank you, Jesus!

So, this awareness of God’s Presence is what helps me to make some pretty hard choices, but some pretty awesome ones that have led my life on a gorgeous path. God knows what’s best for us when we look to Him for help and guidance. We’re not going through life alone. God is there. It’s just for us to learn His voice, like Him telling me on that run if they were to call me to say I’ll be right there.

Meeting that customer has changed me. Instead of running to alcohol or drugs, I’ve wisely learned to run to God, and that has paid off immensely for me. I left there motivated more than ever to spread this great news that we don’t have to handle our lives alone; God is ready, willing, and able to help us make the best decisions when we seek Him. LIFE IS HARD AND WE NEED GOD WHO IS AN EXPERT IN EVERYTHING.

I’m feeling so close to Him now, and I want us to pray to Him all day. Every day. Allowing Him to be the guide and center of our lives. Today, He is nudging me to get back on my discipline game after I’ve been in such a rut. God, anything to please You, let me learn. God, I’m enjoying You all day. Every day! There is fullness of joy in God’s Presence! (HUGE SMILE) Don’t miss out!

WEROLLWITHGOD.COM

“WHAT KIND OF A MOTHER DO YOU THINK I AM?!?”

That was me having some fun with my son, Joshie, today when he said he was hungry and wanted REAL food. Usually, my daughters handle the cooking, but today I had to step up and take charge. And can you believe even that is a God story? My sickness has taught me such a GIGANTIC lesson: I lean on God in my weaknesses. Cooking is definitely NOT my strong point, but I took on the challenge from Joshie, and I got God involved. ‘God, help Your girl out here!’ Then I listened to Him in my spirit as to the cooking technique, the seasoning to use, and what ingredients to add in. Like totally following God’s guidance in my spirit, and, surprise, surprise, my picky eating sons loved it! Heehaw!

So, this is another one of my silly stories with real deep meaning: PRAY WITHOUT CEASING!!! Get God involved in every aspect of your life. I loved this message I received this morning: “Thank you, sister Nikki. I have learned through your message to ask God to guide me through the situation I am in. I had forgotten that He is God Almighty, and although I prayed about it, I was dealing with it my way forgetting to ask for His guidance. Thank you so much.”

Sorry to sound like a broken record, but leaning on God in the 1,000 decisions we make every day is where I want us all. Doing our best with whatever He asks us to do and leaving the rest with Him. In this life, WE WILL have sorrows and trials, but we also have God’s guidance and direction to help us through anything that comes our way. Every circumstance. Every decision. Every relationship.

I want us waking up every day to an appointment with God, though. As we take time to be with Him, we learn His voice, and what He is saying directly to us regarding our unique situations and the people He is calling us to be in the world. Sometimes I wake up feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, but within 5 minutes of some quiet time with God, I’m back on track, reminded that GOD HIMSELF is with me and for me. MY help comes from the LORD! He is lovingly waiting in the background to help us. Even with cooking for some hard-to-please sons! (HUGE SMILE)

WEROLLWITHGOD.COM

“I LIKE YOU GAL IN PARTICULA!”

That was, believe it or not, God singing to me out on my morning run with Him! Notice the beautiful backdrop of where I go on my jogs. I’m living the dream, the best life with God, baby! That’s why I can confidently tell you that God loves me a bit more than He loves the rest of you guys (HUGE SMILE). The love He shows me is absolutely indescribable, and I want everyone here with me to feel that God loves you in particular, too. Wink! Wink!

That’s my special assignment from Him. To live my best life with Him to hopefully inspire you to do the same. Again, I’m agreeing with David, who wrote this 3,000 years ago:

“The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” – Psalm 32:8

God has been the guide of my fabulous adventure with Him as my Partner, Friend, Father, Counselor, Teacher, Protector, Adviser, Strategist, Planner, and Friend. And don’t get it twisted; it’s not that I have a perfect life. Like on that run, I jog through a patch of duck poop, but it’s my reminder about what God taught me through a Pit Bull song years ago, ‘Ain’t nothing perfect, girl.’

So, life is taking the duck poop (the negative and unpretty stuff we have to deal with) and make the best out of YOUR life with it. Like my brother, Kevin, perfectly advised me, ‘Neeks, I want you working on being wise.’ For me, that means LEANING even more on God than ever before, asking what He would have me to do, say, and even where to go. I consult with Him as the battles to choose and the ones to professionally ignore. I got HUGE, GIGANTIC goosebumps today opening the mail seeing a flyer from the university in New York that gave my daughter Ember a $30,000 scholarship now sending a special invitation to my other daughter Julie for a special tour. I’m so thrilled by the top-level US colleges sending brochures to my daughters. To God be the glory!

That’s what happens when you walk with God. He guides you on unimaginable paths where He exceeds your expectations. It’s just for us to learn His voice and obediently follow where He guides us. Don’t miss out. Say, this prayer with me, ‘God, I want an even closer walk with You! Amen!

WEROLLWITHGOD.COM

“I JUST WANT TO BE WITH YOU”

That was me to my great friend, Marcela. Life gets so hectic, and we’re planning some time together. Relationships are what make life sweet. We need each other because life is too hard to do on our own. And I STRONGLY believe God is behind the scenes connecting us with the people He knows would be good. Like Marcela and her husband Carlos. No doubt whatsoever, they were hand-picked by God for us.

I’ll never forget a dinner with Marcela at The Cheesecake Factory where she pinpointed precisely where I was going wrong with my weight issues. I had reached a low state with my weight frustrations, feeling as if I was losing my mind where I was so miserable, and it’s like God Himself planned that dinner date with Marcela. She correctly explained that I was going to extremes from starvation/deprivation diets one minute to eating whatever I wanted the next. She said I needed to become more balanced, make healthy living a lifestyle, and stop all the yo-yo dieting. I did. Let me tell you, God is the ultimate game changer! A Nikki so fiercer left that restaurant with new ammunition to live my best life. Thanks, Marcela!

There are two ways of looking at your life: 1. As if nothing is a miracle. 2. As if everything is a miracle. I see through door number two as if everything is a miracle, all arranged by God personally for me on my behalf. That dinner date with Marcela was all God. That’s the love I feel from Him. That was truly God coming to my rescue so many years ago with my weight dilemmas through Marcela.

“I have proof that God Himself connected us!” That was me to Marcela’s husband, Carlos, yesterday. They’ve been helping us with an essential aspect of our business for so many years now. I always write how when I see 11 and 7 together, it’s a sign from God that His invisible Presence is with me. Can you believe the address of their business begins 11700? The thing is, we met them at when they were at another location, and they ended up moving to our zip code, minutes away from us, perfectly positioned to wonderfully assist us. Again, all orchestrated by God. “Thanks for helping us feed our family,” I said to Carlos yesterday.

Really great people God has connected us with. Loyalty and faithfulness people don’t believe in much these days, but these values taught to us by God are working for our family. We stay loyal and committed to our relationship with Carlos and Marcela. Like any relationship, though, we may have our issues, but we always seem to come through them with even more love and respect for them. Then, when we look at the big picture and all the good, we can easily overlook the minor hiccups here and there. God Himself repays our loyalty.

But most importantly, I want us all to stay loyal to God. Making Him the center of our lives. We don’t go wrong with Him! I was telling Carlos how I’m thankful for this time I’ve been sick. It has really taught me to lean even more on God. This morning, I woke up early to review some vehicles I considered purchasing as inventory for our business. It was God doing it together and me. Doubt meant don’t from Him. I was left with only one, but that sense of peace and excitement is what I felt from Him about it. I want us to invite God into everything we do. Not rushing, but taking our time to ask what He would have us to do, acknowledging and honoring Him in all our ways. My prayer for us all:

“Oh how much fear we’d overcome, enemies we’d defeat, brokenness we’d restore, wounds we’d heal, peace we’d find, and battles we’d win if only we started our day with prayer, and did not stop until the day was through.” – Tumblr.com via lovechangeseverythang

WEROLLWITHGOD.COM

“I WAS CALLING TO SEE IF YOU WERE STILL ALIVE!”

That was Madam Faithful Junior, my daughter, Julie, calling to check on me yesterday after she and my Ember left me alone with my sons for the entire day. The horror! We had special guests, my nephew, Taurel, and his wonderful sons from the Bahamas (them in the pic!). I enjoyed every moment! And I have no doubt that it was a day planned out by God Himself to get me out of the awful, wretched state I’ve been in lately. That’s life, we go up, we go down! But God stands with me and gives me strength that even at my lowest, I’m praising Him.

So, to give my nephew and his wife some alone time together, I agreed to keep the boys and make it a day to bond with their cousins. My sons (game addicts!), of course, didn’t want to leave the house, but when I saw my nephews coming in with faces already glued to their gadgets, I immediately asked them if we can take a vote as to whether to stay home and play games or have an adventure day outside leaving all gadgets at the house. We outvoted my sons, and off we went on a day just going with the flow, without anything special planned. My youngest nephew, Drew, AKA “The Boss”, only four years old, ending up setting the plan saying, ‘Let’s go to the pizza shop next to the barbershop.” After getting our food, he then says, “Let’s eat at the clubhouse.” And we did exactly that! He was a real little boss!!

While the older kids played basketball, Drew and I ended up going to the kids’ playground, and God figured out a sweet way to let me know that His invisible Presence was there with us. It was two days before that when I was at a store, and the person helping me was named “Bella.” I remember thinking to myself how much I love the name because it means beautiful. It was a reminder that life is beautiful. I thought if I were to have a daughter, in a next life or something, I would love for her name to be Bella. Can you believe some other kids showed up at the playground with a little girl, of all the names in the world, named “Bella?” I got goosebumps all over, feeling I was exactly where God had planned for me to be at that very moment. No way this Bella just showed up by accident! It was God saying to me, ‘Life is beautiful, Nik! You should enjoy yourself and stop being so sad.’ His love is too much!

I know this sounds crazy to say that God arranged for Bella to show up there, but it was His way of letting me and, hopefully, you know that His Presence is always with us. Like He was saying, ‘Nik, I knew you were thinking about that name Bella the other day!’ That never one moment we are alone. Again, one of my God winks when, out of the blue, everything lines up extremely too perfectly to be considered an ordinary coincidence. But don’t take my word for it, David described God’s intimate involvement in our lives in the Bible:

“Lord, you know everything there is to know about me. You perceive every movement of my heart and soul, AND YOU UNDERSTAND MY EVERY THOUGHT BEFORE IT EVEN ENTERS MY MIND. YOU ARE SO INTIMATELY AWARE OF ME, LORD. You read my heart like an open book and you know all the words I’m about to speak before I even start a sentence! You know every step I will take before my journey even begins. You’ve gone into my future to prepare the way, and in kindness you follow behind me to spare me from the harm of my past. You have laid your hand on me! This is just too wonderful, deep, and incomprehensible! Your understanding of me brings me wonder and strength.” – Psalms 139:1-6 TPT

And this knowing that God is so intimately involved in my life down to every thought I think, just gives me the courage and strength to face my days confidently knowing that never for a moment I’m alone. God is there with His wisdom, guidance, help, support, love, and approval. Are you feeling His Presence with you? We can lean on Him as much as we want, not expecting encouragement, love or acceptance from anyone else. GOD IS ALL WE NEED. Forget coincidence; think instead, God wink! These perfect alignments are just His bella/beautiful way of letting us know that His invisible Presence is always with us. WE ARE NEVER ALONE. WE CAN BE HAPPY AT EVERY MOMENT!

WEROLLWITHGOD.COM

“EVEN AT MY LOWEST, I’M PRAISING GOD”

That was me yesterday in one of my YouTube videos, and where I want us all, praising and thanking God no matter what is going on in our lives. Yesterday, I was home alone feeling all sorry for myself, and I didn’t want to call my kids to let them know I was missing them. I was having one of my pity parties feeling down physically, mentally, and emotionally. I thought to instead have an appointment with God reading from my book that I’m currently NOT working on. This showed up:

“I cried yesterday listening to a freshman in high school, Madison, pray this prayer at Bel Air’s church in California:

“Dear Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for waking us up this morning. And thank You for everything You give us. I pray for us to help know Your BOLDNESS. That we will be able to move forward in our faith, in our prayer life, and in everything that we are doing. That you will be at the center of every move we make and KNOW THAT MISTAKES ARE OK. To know that we can move forward and that YOU ARE BY OUR SIDE THROUGH ALL OF IT. And that we will be able to prosper and have abundance and growth and help other people to grow as well through knowing you and knowing your faith and boldness… Amen.”

I smiled with God, feeling reminded that He was by my side through everything I go through, even the low moments. I see His loving hands in every aspect of my life. Yes, sometimes He asks some difficult stuff of me, but when I put them against all He is doing, I just have to say, ‘God, anything for You.’ In fact, I’ve made this my personal challenge from Him and phone’s screensaver:

“I’m challenging you to resist ALL evil with an even STRONGER commitment to love, goodness, and faithfulness.”

Can we all do that for God? Going the extra mile, all for His glory. Someone had really inspired me this week when He said that He sees God reflected in me by how I live my life. I mess up constantly, so that was a nice compliment. He also encouraged me to do a better job in my work for God because He sees how God shows up for us. The more beautiful we are, the more beautiful God looks! Let’s all be His angels in the world. He is increasing my capacity to forgive, overlook, and to be gentler in my interactions with others. Life is hard enough. We don’t need to make it harder for others or ourselves. Wink! Wink!

WEROLLWITHGOD.COM