Nicki's Blog

Hi friends – There are times when I read scripture and I think to myself….how awesome is God that He reveals truth to us that we can use each day.

Let’s take a look at Hebrews 13:2: Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

We truly have no idea what God is up to when we use thoughtfulness to bless others or strangers. The Lord is always up to something. It is difficult to understand what God could be up to when we are kind to a stranger. When you take a walk, smile at a stranger and simply say “I hope you the rest of your walk/day.” If you are at the grocery store and end your conversation with the clerk by simply saying “Thank you and have a great day”. Connecting with a medical professional and letting them know how much you appreciate all that they do. I believe the impact is great in a world when we are thoughtful. When many of us are looking at phones or devices, I challenge you to look at the world to see who God wants you to impact.

The impact could be small or great but it is still an impact. Check out Hebrews 13:2 again and remember you could be entertaining angles. Just something to think about.

Until next time my friends, remember you are known and loved by God. Blessings!

Hi friends – There is so much to learn about God our Creator when you journey through the Psalms. One of the verses is asking you to think about heaven and the work of His hands. This verse allows us to think about our Creator and His creation. We are His beautiful, amazing and unique creations.

Review – Read through Psalm 8: 1-4.

Receive – Many of these verses highlight the power of God and His creation. There is something so wonderful about remembering that God is our Creator and heavenly Father. He cares even more about you because He made us in His image (Genesis 1:27).

Respond in prayer – Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you that you are the creator of all things. You also created me in a unique and amazing way. I am thankful for your creation. Amen

¹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
    in the heavens.
² Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.
³ When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?^[c]

Hi friends – As we journey through the summer months I thought we could spend some time discovering and reviewing the names of God. There are many of them and I will highlight several over the summer. My prayer is that every week you will discover a truth about God, who He is and His love for you. The more you understand the different meanings of God I believe you will see how much God wants to connect with you.

Review – Take a look at Romans 8:15.

Receive – At the end of this verse it says that when we received the Lord Jesus into our heart, we become a child of the Most High God. We can call out to Him – Abba Father. The word Abba means God as father. Some of you may not have a strong connection to your earthly father. Always remember when you need love, connection and care God your heavenly Father is waiting to hear from you.

Respond in prayer – Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you that you are a loving, caring heavenly Father that wants to spend time with me. Amen.

“So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15)

Until next time my friends, remember you are known and loved by God. Blessings!

Hi friends – I recently had the joy of visiting with my extended family. My mom was celebrating a milestone birthday and her family (my aunts and uncle) came to visit from overseas. My heart is still full knowing that her brother and sisters saw the value in coming to celebrate with her. My family showed such thoughtfulness and care for my mom knowing that they believed she should be celebrated.

Thoughtfulness goes a long way.

The word thoughtfulness means to consider the needs of others. To break it down even more, the word thought means an idea or opinion produced by a way of thinking. When we make a point of putting others first and being thoughtful on purpose (following through with those ideas that God puts in our head), it is amazing what God can do. Our world needs thoughtfulness. It will change our world and have a great impact.

Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind to one another, tenderhearted…

Until next time my friends, remember you are known and loved by God. Blessings!

Hi friends – As we continue to journey through the book of Psalms we will discover that the Lord is a loving, caring God who is not distant but very personal. God knows us inside and out and He knows what we need. He hears our prayers and requests we place before Him.

Review – Let’s take a look at Psalm 5:1-3.

Receive – If there is something I have learned over my faith journey is God is always listening. This is a beautiful scripture about God’s listening ear and how we can lay our requests before Him. As verse 3 says you can lay requests before God in the morning and you can expect to hear something. God wants to spend time with us.

Respond in prayer – Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for always listening to us and being available. It is such a blessing that you hear every prayer we pray. Amen

¹ Listen to my words, Lord,
    consider my lament.
² Hear my cry for help,
    my King and my God,
    for to you I pray.

³ In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
    in the morning I lay my requests before you
    and wait expectantly.

Until one next time my friends remember you are known and loved by God. Blessing!

Hi friends – When was the last time you anticipated something was coming or going to happen. I love the weekend and the thought of the weekend motivates me to work even harder at what I am doing. Anticipating great results from a productive week allows me to enjoy the weekend. I believe most of us look forward or anticipate holidays or summer vacations. It is a great feeling to know there is some rest and relaxation ahead.

The scripture I want to focus on is Isaiah 43:19 which highlights anticipating great things. The Lord says can’t you not perceive it, I am doing a new thing. God’s word is meant to give us understanding, direction and perspective. We were never meant to do this life journey on our own. The word perspective means a particular attitude towards something or a way of looking at something. I believe God is giving us perspective so we can anticipate future events and navigate them well. Friends I would encourage each of you to anticipate great things and lean on God to navigate them well. No matter what is happening God will give perspective when you allow Him to guide and direct your path.

Until next time my friends remember you are known and loved by God. Blessings!

Hi friends – This post is a tough one but important. We all face trials to different degrees and in different seasons. You can’t get away from trials. You can’t stop them from happening but you can’t determine how you will face those trials.

The meaning of trial is dealing with something that is difficult or challenging. A trial is something that you need to navigate in a thoughtful, meaningful way because it is a unique situation that requires your attention. The other thing with trials is that they are often unexpected.

I believe we can all agree (especially since the world faced COVID), there is plenty of unexpected and unpredictable things happening in our life and world. There will always be trials. The book of James chapter one verse 2-4 says this: Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I am not saying that trials are easy, simple or painless. I would encourage you to focus on the ways we become stronger after those trials. I want to be a person who perseveres in future trials. I also want to be a person who is hopeful and able to encourage someone else through a difficult time. Just a few things to consider knowing you could be that person who helps someone through their trial. You never know how God could use you.

Until next time my friends, remember you are known and loved by God. Blessings!

Hi friends – To my Canadian friends Happy Canada Day! There are a variety of ways people celebrate Canada Day. I hope each of you enjoy your traditions knowing that we live in an amazing country that is worth celebrating. I can’t help but think of my dad. He served his country and community in a variety of roles. The highlight for me was him serving as a RCMP officer. People who knew him said he was a kind and gracious man. He served as an RCMP officer well and left a lasting impression on those he connected with.

The word gracious means to be kind, courteous and pleasant. The Greek word for grace is pleasing or charming. I believe that when my dad connected with people throughout his career he was able to be gracious and kind. He left people feeling appreciated and supported. It isn’t always about solving the problem but being gracious, kind and caring.

I love being Canadian and the diversity that our country represents. Let’s have connections with others that are filled with grace, kindness and care this weekend and always.

Dedicated to my dad – Thanks for being a great example of love, care and kindness.

Until next time my friends remember you are known and loved by God. Blessing!

Hi friends – Welcome to Teaching Tuesday. Psalms is a book of songs, poems and hymns which cover so many different emotions and feelings. It is a book of the Bible that relates and provides direction for many different seasons of life. I pray this time will be a blessing to you at the start of your week.

Review – Read through Psalm 3: 5-6. This psalm talks about sleep. Think about the importance of sleep and rest. We all work better with a good night’s sleep. God is the one who created us and He knows what we need.

Receive – The words sustain means to provide what we need to do our work/life. God knows what we need and rest is an important piece to navigating life.

Respond in prayer – Dear Lord Jesus, Thank you for helping me rest well and giving me the rest I need to navigate every day. Amen

⁵ I lie down and sleep;
    I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
⁶ I will not fear though tens of thousands
    assail me on every side.

Until next time my friends remember you are known and loved by God. Blessings!

Hi friends – As mentioned in my last post the importance of finding out the meaning of a word to gain a greater understanding of what you are reading is so important. The more we learn about the words I believe inspiration will be a part of our faith journey. The other thing I would encourage you to do is take time to inspire others. The book of Ephesians says that we are God’s masterpiece (chapter 2 verse 10). I believe when you inspire people they begin to receive this very important truth from scripture.

Every week during the school year I drive my nieces daughter to school. During these trips to school I tell her stories. It is the same story I told my son when he was a kid. The subject of the story changes and you use the child’s name that you are with to personalized the story but ultimately it is a story to inspire some creative thinking: Here is the story:

(Insert child name) woke up and said “Thank you Lord for this beautiful day. How can I serve and honour you today? (Insert child’s name) paused and prayed to see what God might put on her heart. Then she thought to herself I love to bake! How can I honour you God with my ability to bake. I know I will need to get mom or dad’s help but I believe I could bless someone who is feeling sad or upset with some baking. An opportunity to cheer them up.

The story goes into a few more details but ultimately I believe there is a level of inspiration my niece’s daughter receives in this 10 minute drive to school that has godly impact. She keeps asking to tell more stories and it is giving her opportunity to be creative.

I will end with a quote from Walt Disney – “If you can dream it you can do it.

Until next time my friends remember you are known and loved by God. Blessings!