GOD SHOWS UP IN THE CAR WITH MY SONS TODAY

So, dropping them off at school is one job I can’t delegate to anyone. This morning, Joshie was upset that he needed a NEW BATTERY for his cell phone, and I was giving him a hard time about replacing it (tough-loving momma here!). This is our sacred time where we have our appointments with God reading from their kid’s devotionals, calling my husband in Nigeria, who prays with us, and we also listen to our God influencer, Ceri. Can you believe God used that situation to reveal His presence there with us, when of all things for Joshie to read out of 365 daily devotionals, this randomly showed up:

“But I (God) have much better gifts for you. Gifts of supernatural proportions! They are My Presence and My Peace. These gifts never get holes in them. They never need NEW BATTERIES (Wink! Wink!). And they never go out of style.” – Jesus Calling Devotional For Kids

That “NEW BATTERIES” showing up there within a minute of us discussing getting a new battery for Joshie’s phone was all lining up extremely too perfectly to be some random coincidence. IT WAS GOD HIMSELF MAKING US AWARE OF HIS INVISIBLE PRESENCE THAT IS ALWAYS WITH US.

Yesterday, I was again blown away by how God showed up in my little home office. I love listening to Rich Roll’s podcasts, and that morning I stayed in bed for the longest time enjoying his interview with Dan Buettner. So fast forward to that afternoon and sitting down and waiting for my laptop to boot up, I opened Rich Roll’s book called Voices of Change, and of all pages, I directly went to his essay about, of all his guests, Dan Buettner. God Himself was just there saying, “NIK, I AM WITH YOU! I AM WITH YOU! I AM WITH YOU!”

Out of a book of like 300 pages, THIS AGAIN WAS NO COINCIDENCE. God had me go directly there just to remind me of His Presence with me. I want us all focused on this awareness of His Presence so that we can have the peace the book Jesus Calling spoke about with the boys. THAT THERE IS NEVER ONE MOMENT WHEN GOD IS NOT WITH US. Not only is He with us, He is there to support and help us once we welcome Him to be a part of our lives. I loved this message from Ceri today:

“That is one of the most important things with your relationship with God to understand. That you are made perfectly. You are perfectly and wonderfully made. God has made you in his creation. He has made you. You are not flawed, you’re flawless. You don’t have disabilities you have God’s ability. He is in you. He’s around you (even in my little home office!) and everything that you do, when you don’t have the confidence to do it just remember what he told Moses: “I will instruct you what to say.” And meaning that if you were supposed to say it, and it was supposed to come out of your mouth, what you ain’t had nothing to do with the creation of, He is going to help you along with it.”

This reminds me of one of the toughest situations I ever had to handle. I held on to God’s hands super tight, spoke what I felt God would have me to say, and then I was silent when I felt it was time to stop speaking. Everything went way better than I had expected! God stood strong with me! My new challenge, however, is to take that moment into my entire life. Just walking step by step with the Holy Spirit (God’s voice) and asking continually what God would have me to say, where to go and what to do.

I want this rolling with God to become the lifestyle of the entire world where we are all focused on God’s leading and His direction. He knows everything, and He always knows best in every situation. Honestly, knowing that I don’t have to handle my life alone and that I have God with me in every circumstance, every relationship, and every decision, makes me extremely happy and at peace. Do yourself a favor, and tap into God’s strength, wisdom, and abilities! Tell Him you want to roll with Him in every moment! I say there is no more me, only WE – me and God, as I tackle every moment of my life BRAVELY with Him by my side!

THE PUNCHES GET HARDER AND HARDER TO TAKE

I tell God NOT to go easy on me because I want to learn the harsh lessons He would have me learn and pass them on to you guys. And let me tell ya, the most important one: DON’T PLAY AROUND WITH YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD; WE NEED HIM!!!

Today, I called my sweetie pie sister, Verona, to thank her for what she taught me one day: “You take your whippings, and you keep it skipping!” I now add in: “Joyously, peacefully, and courageously skipping knowing God Himself is with you all the way!”

God found a sweet way to reveal Himself to me today through Verona! She said, “Nik, I don’t hear you talk any more about working on your next book…I want you to SHINE BRIGHT.” I told her about a God wink this week where the song ‘Shine Bright Like a Diamond’ was playing on the radio one morning. I then went to a mechanic shop, and the alarm for my appointment with God went off at noon. I looked around for a number and went to that number’s page on our family’s website. There was a video of me from 2 years ago playing that exact song. I went as far as to tell her that I was even wearing a bracelet that says, ‘Shine Bright like a Diamond!’

A few minutes later, I go to my God tree and stop to see what He has to say. I picked a random page number, and look what incredibly showed up minutes after telling Verona about this bracelet:

‘Then, a week ago, I purchased a wristband from this store saying, “SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND.” Fast forward to today, I’m searching for a message from God through my YouTuber Stargirl, who always has special messages from God for me. I ended up listening to a prediction for my zodiac sign, and look what Stargirl says to me:

“Spirit (God) is showing me you are becoming your dream self. You are starting to look and act like the person you have always wanted to be. You are SHINING LIKE A DIAMOND (Wink! Wink!) more than ever…”

In this huge store, for me to pick this specific bracelet out of hundreds, there, was just the set-up from God to this beautiful wink from Him.”

THAT WAS NO COINCIDENCE!!! For me to tell Verona about this bracelet I wear every day and minutes later for the story to show up under my God tree was again everything lining up extremely too perfectly. That was AGAIN God revealing His invisible Presence with me (and you!) under that tree! So know with all your heart that God’s Presence is ALWAYS with us. I ended up having THE BEST DAY WITH MY SONS feeling so thrilled that God would reveal His Presence with me. We went to an open-air market, and I found a DJ playing music, and your girl had the best time dancing. I was happy that my sons got to see me happy. (HUGE SMILE)

Those punches I take may knock me down for a little bit, but by the grace of God, I keep getting back up and I KEEP MOVING FORWARD, closer to God. They’re good for me as I needed them to push me closer to God’s heart, where He is helping me to become wiser, bolder, and more confident in Him.

He also told me under that tree that I should let Him be the one to love me and to stop looking for love and approval from others. Yes, Boss! Verona, I’ll continue to take my whippings and keep it skipping, rising again whenever necessary, not by my own strength, though, by God’s grace and mercy on my life where I know that He is by my side through everything that comes my way:

“I CAN DO EVERYTHING THROUGH HIM WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH”

But the crazy part is that the punches are not only making me stronger but also softer as I look to God in every moment, asking what He would have me do. If He says, ‘Nik, I need you to take the punches and keep silent, I do that, pretending I don’t see what I see or hear what I hear, going the extra mile in gentleness, patience, love, humility, kindness, faithfulness, and mercy, all for the glory of God. Anything God asks of me, I reply, ‘Yes, Sir!” My prayer is that we all come to learn His voice as we make rolling with God a lifestyle where we are living our best lives with Him, following His leading in every decision.

And don’t think you have to be all perfect to roll with God, either. Kevin joked that he doesn’t know anyone who cusses more than me and will take me to church to wash my mouth with Holy Water. LOL! God loves us all UNCONDITIONALLY!!! Make your relationship with Him a priority! We need His wisdom, strength, guidance, help, love, favor, and support to live our best lives with Him as He lovingly guides us on the best paths.

“I’M DISAPPOINTED, MAN!”

That was me last night to a customer and friend of many years who told me that his divorce from his wife was in the final stage of becoming official. I asked him what happened, and he gave me one reason, and I replied, “That’s not good enough for you to leave your wife!” He then confessed he was just not happy in the marriage. I responded, “Happiness is overrated! As people who believe in God, it’s about being like Jesus, who asked, “…yet not as I will, but as You will.” Living from a God perspective and again going with Jesus taught us to love God and to love each other.” And like my God influencer, Ceri, is teaching me, that love is unconditional the way God loves us unconditionally. I shared this verse with him as to what God asks of us:

“Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty. Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart.” – Proverbs 3:3

Super tough? Yes! But I love this old post I wrote:

“Jason disagreed with me on some plans, but I explained to Him that I must be obedient to God. Even when He asks difficult things of me. I truly want to be EXTRA like Nora said in going the EXTRA mile in love, patience, kindness, loyalty, forgiveness, excellence, and being obedient to God and what He would have me do on a moment-by-moment basis. Kelly said to me, “Nikki, it is very clear that God has placed many angels around you to support you.” So, I want to be a walking billboard for this God who does EXTRA for me, reflecting His unconditional love by being His representative in the world, overcoming evil with LOTS OF GOOD, so help me God! I promise you, a life guided by God CANNOT fail.”

Our families are important to God. No matter the dark nights I may go through with my hubby, I feel my important role from God Himself is to be the glue that holds my family together. RIGHT OR WRONG, I’m more committed to my family than ever with the prayer that I can inspire you to do the same. Again, going the EXTRA mile in love, patience, kindness, loyalty, forgiveness, excellence, and being obedient to God and what He would have us do on a moment-by-moment basis. Let’s make God happy!!!

And once we do this, our reward is with Him. This is how He lovingly guides us on the best paths for our lives. With everything God does for us, I teach my kids not even to be on the high road with God, that we should be on the HIGHEST road seeking to lovingly say, ‘Yes, Father,’ in every moment of what He asks of us, taking life one step at a time.

I get to show up daily knowing God Himself is behind the scenes of my life, guiding, supporting, helping, protecting, and loving me. That I can think of best-case scenarios and things working out even better than I expect them, knowing nothing is too difficult for Him. That’s faith, baby! This verse has been showing up in so many places for me, as God’s message to us all:

“So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10

‘I’M SO INTO YOU!!!’

Believe it or not, this is not only God singing to me (and you!), but how He honestly makes me feel the way He continuously shows up for me. Incredible! This God wink started a while back when this Jac Ross remix of this song began playing on Instagram, and I immediately felt it was God singing to me:

‘With every passing moment
_ Thoughts of you run through My head
_ Everytime that I’m near you
_ I realize that you heaven sent
_ I think you’re truly something special
_ Just what My dreams are really made of
_ Let’s stay together You and Me girl
_ There’s no one like you around’_

Then I sing back to Him:

‘Cuz I really like, what You’ve done to me
I can’t really explain it
I’m so into You
Might be the way that You hold me
Could be the things that you say
Oh I’m not too sure what it is _
But I know I like feeling this way’ (HUGE SMILE)_

THE MOST LOVING FAIRY TALE OF MY LIFE WITH GOD CONTINUES, BABY! So, this song and the original version, performed by Fabolous, have become my SPECIAL reminders from God of how much HE IS INTO ME. God even arranged for a wink at me when I went to drop my daughter Julie off at university in New York. I sent her and Ember to Target while I used the restroom (TMI) in Starbucks. Can you believe, of all the songs in the entire world, they were playing this same song in those few minutes I was there? THAT WAS NO COINCIDENCE! Our God is very talkative! That was Him orchestrating that timing perfectly to let me know that He was there with me as I dropped my little sweetie off when my heart was so filled with emotions – happy and sad at the same time! Like God Himself was holding my hands!

HERE’S THE DEAL: GOD IS SO INTO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US!!! I’m only the God nerd here who pays attention so that I can tell you this important message: OUR GOD IS REAL, AND HE WANTS A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU. Make Him your first priority and focus!!! On that way to my God tree today to meet with Him, your girl here was so happy, dancing and singing like a crazy person. THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH. THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL LIVE BY THEIR FAITH. STAY WITH GOD EVERY MOMENT MAKING HIM the center of your life – every relationship, every decision, every circumstance. OUR GOD IS WITH US!!! Amen!!!