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!
KEEP CALM—YOU’RE ROLLING WITH GOD
WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO US? (REPOST)
Last night, I wanted to do some work, but after my computer was taking such a long time to boot up, I took it as God wanting me to spend some alone time with Him. I believe He had me to watch an interview with Pastor Dan Hall, the person who really brought me closer to Him. I’m here crying as I type this because my fav Pastor is now paralyzed from the neck down, and I am questioning God as to why He allowed such a terrible thing to happen. But like Pastor Hall explained, life is about how you RESPOND when bad things happen:
“How am I going to respond to being in this chair? I am going to pray that Christ (God) be exalted (glorified). That somehow in this chair, somehow in my responses and interactions, I am glorifying Him. I’m pointing people to Him.”
That’s me! I say my life is a movie that everyone is watching, and I hope that they see God in me. That even in my sad times I can brag about my God winks and how God showed up to comfort me. That in my most challenging times, He will have the perfect people to show up to assist me, or He would give me the clarity as to what direction to take to resolve it. That even when I’m down to nothing and feel my most wretched and awful self, and He sweetly says, “Give me your nothingness. Didn’t I create the entire world from nothing?” Even in my failings, he gently says, “Just do better next time.” No guilt, no condemnation, no love lost.
Even our business that I’m trying to get back on track (A HUGE CHALLENGE that has stressed me out ALOT), God has been showing up to help us. In a conversation with our manager, yesterday, I said, “We’re dancing with our Partner – God.” And he texted me back, “The DJ.” Fast forward to yesterday evening, I decided to have an appointment with God reading a page on our family’s website, werollwithgod.com. I looked around for a number to determine what page to read out of 53 pages, and saw the number 28. I go to page 28 and incredibly read this,
“… and said to God that He was my DJ (Wink! Wink!).”
That was AGAIN God’s sweet and FUN way of revealing His Presence with me when everything lined up a little bit too perfect to be some ordinary coincident. HE IS IN THE FIRES WITH US!!! This is why I’m learning that we can indeed be joyful and at peace when we go through hard times because these are the times we’re learning to RELY on God (OUR GREATEST FRIEND!). And, let me tell ya, He doesn’t disappoint!
“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 that even when bad things happen, I know that its from the hands of a loving God who knows what’s best for us.
That was a conversation I had yesterday with my sweetie pie daughter, Julie. There are lots of people depending on me to be my best and strongest self. When the crazy lady wants to show up, that’s where my days of discipline come in, and I MUST say, “Cra Cra lady AND DEVIL, GO AWAY! That was last year’s drama, not this year’s!” I must IMMEDIATELY shake off whatever disappointment or frustration trying to get me off my groove and keep my eyes fixed on God asking what He would have me to do INSTEAD.
AND THAT’S WHERE I WANT US ALL, CONTINUOUSLY SEEKING GOD IN ALL OUR MOMENTS AS TO WHAT HE WOULD HAVE US TO DO!!! This life is too hard to do it on our own!!! I was so happy when Julie and I spoke about having courage, and at that point, she became my teacher. She said something like, “It’s just about living life knowing you have God’s Presence continually with you protecting you, guiding you, and helping you. That you’re never alone.” She told me even about how she feels His invisible Presence with her when she goes on her runs. That she looks at the clouds and the trees and it feels so unreal, and she says, ‘God I know Your Presence is here with me.’
That conversation truly made the God maniac mom here super happy! When I discussed some of the attributes that seem to come so easy for her, like having a strong work ethic, discipline, and focus, she said she’s working on being more optimistic about situations, thinking best-case scenarios and not worst-case, knowing that God is helping her.
And this gift of faith that my husband and I have passed on to our kids is the best thing we can ever give them. To have this confidence that God Himself goes with you and stands with you through life’s stresses and difficulties is PRICELESS. WE NEED HIM! Make God your priority by seeking Him in every moment, asking what He would have you to do. This will take learning His voice by spending quality time with Him, learning His character and the person He is calling you to be in the world.
I have many meditation books that I read, but I highly recommend Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. I had alarms on my phone set to have appointments with God reading this book every day. Not one minute I spent seeking God was ever wasted. HE GIVES ME COURAGE that I can bravely and confidently take on life! What time will your appointments with Him be?
This God wink started on Saturday when I had a conversation with my sister, Juanita, in the Bahamas from Nigeria. I LOVE being the big sister and sharing some of my crucial lessons from God that I feel would benefit her. God’s ways are not anything like our human ways!!! Like that very day, I felt Him saying through a Mother Teresa quote that I should love until it hurts because eventually, it will become all love, no hurt. Feeling that’s PRECISELY what God has been teaching me, lately, filled with love for everyone despite their faults and failings, focused on their positives and not their negatives.
Later on that afternoon, at exactly 20 minutes past the hour, I go to have an appointment with God on our family’s website, werollwithgod.com, reading page 20. I felt an old post there was God’s response to me and my sister’s conversation:
“‘GOD, WHAT SHOULD I SAY HERE?’
That was me looking to Him as to how to respond to a question my husband had asked. Trust me, I had LOTS to say, but with one glimpse in God’s direction, I knew He would have me to hold back those words and be kind. Nik, say anything you want to Me, but to others, practice silence. This morning, when I asked Him about it again, like God, why can’t I address this issue, I feel He had this to say:
“DO NOT EXPECT to be treated fairly in this life. People will say and do hurtful things to you, things you don’t deserve. When someone mistreats you, try to view it as an opportunity to grow in grace. See how quickly you can forgive the one who has wounded you. DON’T BE CONCERNED ABOUT SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT. Instead of obsessing about other people’s opinions of you, KEEP YOUR FOCUS ON ME. Ultimately, it is my view of you that counts…
When others treat you unfairly, remember that My ways with you are much better than fair. My ways are Peace and Love, which I have poured out into your heart by My Spirit.” – Jesus Calling”
I didn’t get a chance to send it to Juanita, though, until the next day. At exactly 3:32 pm, I sent her a message in our family’s group chat that I sent her what I felt was God’s response to our talk. Right after that, I had to quickly dress to go out with my Emmanuels (husband and sons) but said I would quickly have an appointment with God first, reading the same Jesus Calling meditation book. Can you guys believe that in this vast 700-page devotional, I opened up exactly to the page that I had quoted in that old post I sent to Juanita? The freaky thing about it was it felt like some invisible hand just took over, searching for that page until it stopped specifically there. It was crazy, y’all! Not even 30 minutes after sending that message to Juanita, God found a way to confirm it as it saying, ‘Yes, Nik, that was a message from Me!’ Wow! Wow! Wow! God is pretty talkative, let me tell ya!
I’ll never get over how intimately He is involved in our lives! From a conversation with my baby sister on Saturday, to me firmly believing that this old post was a message from Him to her, for Him to go to the trouble of actually confirming it in that devotional, just shows His deep love for us all. That all lined up immensely TOO perfectly to be considered some coincidence.
Are you getting to know God better? I promise you, no other love compares! That’s why I want us to have these appointments/alone times with God for ourselves! That quote from Mother Teresa about loving until it hurts was such a contradiction to what the world teaches, but when we stick with God’s ways (although sometimes extremely difficult!), this is how He guides us on the beautiful paths He has planned out for us. I don’t know about you, but I’m sticking with God! The message He had for me on page 20 was, ‘Relax, I got you!’ And there is nothing sweeter than going through life feeling God is my personal Security, Advisor, Partner, and FIRST LOVE. Wink! Wink!
WEROLLWITHGOD.COM
‘GOD, I NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU!!!’ (REPOST)
That was me waking up super early this morning to Him. No shame in my game, I have my difficult moments that I NEED His help to get me through. Those times when I MUST hold onto His hands SUPER SUPER TIGHT, continually reminding myself that I’m with Him, I’m with Him, I’m with Him.
And can you believe He answered that prayer? I was texting my sister in the Bahamas and said, ‘Enough texting, let me call her!’ We ended up having one of our sacred conversations, and I told her that we have to go both with the PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL in dealing with problems – We do our best in the physical realm and leave God to do what He has to do in the spiritual because He knows how to tweak situations in our favor. Kk?!?
I ended up handing my phone over to my mom and left them talking. When I went back to get my phone from my mom, though, she asked if I could charge her phone for her, and the quickest way was just to plug it into the TV. I remember thinking, ‘God, forgive me for wasting electricity in using this big TV to charge my mom’s little phone.’ Like one minute later, on the very station I turned the TV on to, an announcer says something concerning some orphan kids, “We take care of both their PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL needs.” WINK! WINK! And just like that, God shows up to say, ‘Nik, RELAX, I got you!’
That’s was another one of my God winks where once again, out of the blue, everything lines up EXTREMELY too perfectly to be a regular coincident. It was God sweetly revealing His invisible Presence with me.
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.”
After she prayed, the congregation was invited to “come forward for prayer, come forward to confess things, come forward to ask for healing.” Will you go to God now with anything You need His help with? He hears our heart prayers.
