A Picture Paints A Thousand Words

September 8, 2014September 8, 2014 / simplynikkicat / 8 Comments

“The best part of the day…When you and me become We” ~ Winnie the Pooh

I am thinker. As I sit down and write a blog I often think through my words very carefully, over and over again. But some days a post is just meant to be simple. The message is simple, the thought not complicated, just a simple truth. The picture for this post is like so many we have seen; a young couple embarking on the journey of marriage. In a wedding picture you see love, adoration, a deep connection…we see a “happily ever after” beginning before our very eyes. The romantic in us gushes at all the blissful implications of the wedding photo. From this moment our happy little couple will go on a fabulous honeymoon, buy a house with a white picket fence, have beautiful babies, and they will all grow to be successful and happy. Ahhhhh…that is exactly how it will go…right?!?!

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps nor record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with truth, It always protects, always, trusts, always hopes, always, perseveres.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Fourteen years ago this picture was taken. A dreamy-eyed 24-year-old girl married her 26-year-old Prince Charming. As the danced together so close they dreamed of what their future would hold. The sky was the limit and they were ready to soar to the top…together! They were on the fast track to their happily ever after and nothing could stop them. How could they have ever known that the future they envisioned and the reality that lay ahead would meet like two cars in a head on collision.

It happens to every marriage. The moment when the fairytale imagined up by the Grimm Brothers, Walt Disney, and Hollywood movie producers meet face to face with the reality called life. It usually doesn’t take a couple long to realize that marriage is hard…really hard. It requires a lot of patience, forgiveness, grace, understanding, compromise, and the list goes on and on. In fact as you begin to realize the full complexity of marriage you begin to understand why so many couples who have just longed for a fairytale end up in divorce court…marriage turns out to be way more complicated than what they signed up for. All they wanted was a happily ever after and what they got was a lot of hard work. Marriage is, in fact, the greatest example of why something created and ordained by God should never be rewritten by man. Man inevitably screws it up and creates it be something God never intended.

Seven and half years into our marriage Matt and I had completely lost any ounce of the illusion called fairytale left in us. In less than a decade our marriage had dealt with unemployment, an autism diagnosis, and the death of a child. Now before you go and feel all bad for us…don’t…there were a lot of amazing things that happened in that action packed seven and half years too. God blessed us with three beautiful children, we had been blessed with a home, Matt found some great employment opportunities, but most of all we truly discovered what it meant to be dependent on God. You see in that first seven and half years of our marriage while the illusion of fairytale combusted God’s intent for our marriage, the words of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, came alive. We began to understand that our marriage was so much bigger than us falling in love and choosing each other; in fact we didn’t choose each other at all, God had brought us together. Our life together is so much more than a happily ever after; our life together is about fulfilling the mission and purpose that God ordained for us long before we ever even knew “Matt and Nikki” existed. How beautifully the Apostle Paul articulates the message of love in the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians. You see it always comes back to the fact that God is love and when we love God, His love abounds and comes alive in us and in our marriage. God designed love to be patient and kind, not to be arrogant or prideful, to be shared and not hoarded, to be giving and not selfish, to have a heart of praise when life is going great and the strength to persevere when soul crushing heartbreak threatens to take you down. God has given us everything we need to succeed in our life together. He has given us everything we need, not so that we can just have a mere happily ever after; no God thinks much bigger than that, God gives us everything we need to have a joy and a peace in our marriage that surpasses all understanding. And the greatest gift is knowing that our joy is never dependent on our circumstances but always present because of God’s place in our lives.

“Now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story no one on earth has ever read, which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.” ~ C.S. Lewis

Today its been fourteen years since the picture on this post was taken. Fourteen years full of happiness and heartbreak, ups and downs, mountain tops and valley’s and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. There is not a single moment of my life as Mrs. Matt Catherincchia that I would trade for the world. It is as his wife that I discovered everything that matters most…true love. Love for my Savior, love for my husband, love for my children, and love for all those around me. It is as his wife that God has given me my true purpose in this life, my true ministry and together we will travel down the road ahead. Whatever is in store good, bad, happy or sad; the next chapter will better than the last because God has ordained our union for something far greater than happily ever after, God has ordained our union for a purpose that will be everlasting.

A picture does tell a thousand words. It shows a connection, it shows bond. It illustrates a union created by the very One who is love. It highlights love that endures regardless of circumstances because it has been woven together by the Savior and lover of our souls. It shows two very flawed people who have been brought together by a perfect God to live out a mission far greater than themselves and in accepting that mission God has given us the sweetest most sacred love for each other. This picture shows the world the love of my life fourteen years ago, today, and always.

I Love You Matt! Happy Anniversary.

Carpe Diem

September 2, 2014September 3, 2014 / simplynikkicat / Leave a comment

Is it odd that I often see September as the month of new beginnings rather than January? September always feels like a fresh start. While January has a bitter, cold, dreary demeanor, at least here in Michigan, September is the best of all of worlds. Days are still warm enough to feel like summer and nights start to have just enough nip in the air to stir the excitement of all that autumn has to offer. It’s the kind of chill that prompts you to envelope yourself in your favorite old sweater. You know, the one that you long to be reunited with every fall. You start to itch for trips to the cider mill, pumpkin spiced lattes, the beautiful colors of changing leaves, and fantasy football…LOL…not so much on the last one but that will make my husband happy. Yes, September is a month full of promise, full of new beginnings.

“You’re off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting so…Get on your way!” ~ Dr. Seuess

Remember those “night before the first day of school jitters” you used to get as a kid? It was the same feeling you got the night before you embarked on any new adventure. The excitement and anticipation would course through your veins and manifest in an all consuming fluttering that left you feeling like a whole colony of butterflies had taken up residence deep in your stomach. It made you giddy, it made you anxious, you were so ready for the new adventure that it made sleep nearly impossible. This was my oldest son’s reality last night. Today was his day, the first day of middle school. All summer long he has been anxiously awaiting this new adventure. He has been so ready to tackle the new opportunities that being a big 7th grader will offer him. Honestly, I am amazed at what a deep thinker he is at times. He has told me many times that the start of middle school is a fresh start, a time to really come into his own. Wow…what 12 year old boy thinks like that? He definitely doesn’t get that from his mama. When I was starting middle school my biggest concern, I hate to admit this, was whether the cool kids would like me or not. Today he faced his mountain, Mt. Richards Middle School. Like a climber getting ready to conquer Everest he made sure he was prepared. Checked off all his supplies, made sure all forms were signed, practiced his locker combination, and roamed the school to get a feel for this uncharted territory. He was ready. At 6:00am the alarm went off and he was up, today was his day. The bus doesn’t pick him up til 7:40 so we had plenty of time to chat and double-check that he had all he needed. About 20 minutes before his bus came I saw the first sign of something other than excitement in his face, nervousness was settling in. He looked at me and said “mom will you pray over me?” My heart soared. For the last few minutes I had with him this morning we spent time in God’s word together and then I prayed over him. Somewhere along the way my little boy turned into a young man who knows that when you face the unknown mountains of life you seek after God’s presence in prayer and then you get going on your way. “You don’t need to know everything about the mountain ahead to take the next step.” This morning those words of Pastor Louie Giglio echoed in my head as I witnessed my son preparing to take the next steps on an unknown mountain climb.

“Carpe Diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It’s later than you think.” ~ Horace

“It’s later than you think.” How ominously true those words are. One thing I know for certain is that life is short. Not one of us is guaranteed a tomorrow yet we live as if we have all the time in the world. Sunday as I sat in church our pastor spoke about creating margin in our lives. It was the final week of a sermon series about creating margin. What is margin? It is the amount of time, the amount of ourselves, that is available beyond what is necessary. Most of us have no margin because we live in a culture that celebrates busyness. One of the single greatest weapons the enemy uses against us is our schedule. We are so busy doing what is seemingly important that we fail to give time and attention to what is truly important. I just read a quote the other day that simply said “If you didn’t have time to pray or read Scripture today you are busier than God intended you to be.” I LOVE THAT!!! God created us to have margins, some of the best things in life happen in the margins. It’s in the margin that we are intentional, thoughtful, compassionate, and obedient. It is in the margin that we become more intimately acquainted with our heavenly Father. It is in the margin that we exercise the idea of carpe diem.

“The stakes are too high to die with a small vision.” ~ Pastor Louie Giglio

What if we all went to bed every night with the very same anticipation that kids do on the eve of back to school? Or think about a small child on Christmas Eve, their eyes illuminated with hope, their smiles give away the all-consuming excitement in which they eagerly await all that Christmas morning has in store. Just conjuring up that image brings a smile to my face and a flood of memories of that euphoric feeling. But maybe, just maybe, the key to carpe diem is wrapped up in the carefree example that our children set for us. An emotional connection to an eagerly anticipated event. What if the very way we live out carpe diem is dependent on our attitude, our sense of urgency, and an overwhelming desire to be used by God every day? What if we adopted the Dr. Seuss attitude that everyday is our day to shine…shine brightly for the One who created us. Embracing that the mountain that lies before us is the very thing that God will use to bring glory to His name if we would only trust that He will give us the tools to climb it. What if we treated every day like an Everest climbing experience? Eagerly anticipating the adrenaline rush of conquering something new. Today is brand new…nobody has been here before and no one will be here ever again. What you do with today is unique to today but its outcome could have a ripple effect that reaches beyond generations. But we MUST start every day fully prepared for the climb. Immersed in God’s presence by spending time with Him and in His word. Approaching the day with a heart of thanksgiving. Why? Because a heart of thanksgiving is a life full of joy. The joyful climber will not waver if the conditions get rough. The joyful climber understands that their joy flows from the One guiding them rather than the circumstances of the climb. Carpe diem, seizing the day, is not only possible but it should be pursued by everyone who has heart for people and a heart to serve Jesus. Seizing the day starts with recognizing that every day is precious. Seizing the day means approaching every day with anticipation and excitement. Seizing the day starts when we realize that everyday God desires to use us. Seizing the day starts with a heart of gratitude…gratitude for what you have and generous spirit to share it with others. Seizing the day starts with seizing the One who created the day…everyday! God doesn’t want us to merely survive this life, He wants us to thrive on the adventure of sharing His love.

“This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” ~ Psalm 118:24

September is the month of new beginnings. One season changes into the next, a new school year launches, and new mountains are meant to be climbed. Is there any greater way to start anew than to rejoice in the day the Lord has made? A day made so that we could be in His presence and experience His love. A day made so that we would have that the honor and the opportunity to share His love with others. My new beginning is to live a life of carpe diem…I will seize the day because every day is a gift from the One who ordained me to be a part of it so that I may serve and glorify Him.

Holy Discontent

August 14, 2014August 16, 2014 / simplynikkicat / 3 Comments

Nobody told us 8 1/2 years ago when our youngest son was diagnosed with autism just how dramatically our lives would change. How could they? How can you ever explain the unknown? Sure we had an amazing doctor who clued us in on the uphill battle we were about to face but nobody could have ever warned us what the day-to-day living in the trenches of the war zone called Autism would be like that. That is what autism is, a constant battle. You fight for recovery, you fight for understanding, you fight for least restrictive environments, you fight for acceptance, you fight to overcome sensory issues, you fight, you fight, you FIGHT!!!! Sometimes you get some good punches in and sometimes you are pummeled to the ground a mere second away from tapping out. My husband often tells me that I cannot expect people to understand what they do not live. Therefore there is always a portion of my life that few people really get. In the beginning even if I had wanted to explain I was often too battered and too tired to take the extra energy to open my mouth. I have now come to realize if I want people to even remotely understand, accept, and embrace my son then I must speak up about the reality of living with autism. I must use the voice God has given me to be the loudest advocate for autism awareness. Why? Because no one understands autism better than those who battle with it on a daily basis. Every day I watch my brave little solider carry on regardless of what that day holds for him. The least I can do is speak the truth of his journey, to be the voice that autism has robbed him of.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” ~ Matthew 11:28

God’s faithfulness abounds, this I know full well. The Sunday after our son was diagnosed with autism my husband and I attended a new church. We were so fragile…so close to breaking. I wonder if the people we encountered that blustery, cold January morning in 2006 had any clue just how close we were to falling over the edge? Our world was crumbling around us yet we were trying so desperately to hang on to the only thing that made sense, God. From the moment we stepped foot into this church…a church I had driven by hundreds of times in my life but never once gave it a passing thought…I knew God had led us there. His love enveloped us the second we walked in the door. I’ll never forget the lead pastor immediately walking up to us, recognizing that we were new to his congregation. There was something in his greeting, in the worship, and in the smiling faces that told us we were home. We instinctively knew that this was where God would heal the wounds of crushed dreams and lost expectations. This was where God would birth the new creation He was forming our family to be. This was going to be our family in Christ and even though nothing made sense we knew that in the arms of our Father we would find rest. We knew God was a preparing a way for our son’s journey and that He was making sure His presence was all around us.

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'” ~ Matthew 25: 40

95%. Yeah, I know the rule of grammar that states all numbers at the beginning of a sentence should be spelled out, but I don’t want to. I want you all to see…95%. That’s the percentage of parents of special needs children that do NOT attend church. I’ll never forget the day I first read that statistic, my jaw hit the ground. Why do they not attend church? Because most churches cannot accommodate them or they have had such horrible experiences at churches in the past that the attempt to go is, quiet honestly, not worth it. Can you ever imagine being in a place where you feel like you can’t go to church? I can! Yes, you read that right, I can. As much as I love my church family and I know my church loves my family, I still get nervous when my son comes to church with us. I say when he comes because usually he stays home with his aide while we attend church as a family of three…always slightly incomplete. It’s funny, as a kid I hated when my parents forced us to go to church together on a weekly basis; today I would give anything to be able to have my whole family sitting together Sunday after Sunday but that just isn’t our reality. On the Sunday’s we do bring our son I always walk in a bit on edge. Not because people don’t love and adore him but because there’s always a possibly of a meltdown, always the swaying and fidgeting, always the talking “3 more songs THEN all done.”, and always the fear that he’ll make a run for the stage (I won’t be surprised if he’s in a praise band one day). As active as we are in our church these fears still creep in. What if a visitor sits by us? Will he be a distraction? These are all the scenarios that run through my head. I cannot imagine how it must feel for that family that knows no one…the family that is so beat up and worn out by the battle that all they want is a place to find hope only to discover that the one place that should offer them hope doesn’t know what to do with them. Lack of resources for the special needs community is a silent epidemic in the church. Until recently nobody even really talked about it. It is the elephant in the sanctuary. There is a whole demographic of people not being reached and yet the church has been awfully slow in its response. If you want a mission field I just handed you one…95% of special needs families do not attend church. I can guarantee that figure breaks the heart of God.
In 2009 my husband and I sat in the Global Leadership Summit hosted by Willow Creek Church out of Chicago. Every August the WCA hosts a world-class leadership conference that, quite honestly, everyone should attend. Christian or not, these are two of the most motivating and challenging days of the year. However at this particular Summit Bill Hybels, Lead Pastor at Willow, spoke about having a “Holy Discontent”. A Holy Discontent is something you can no longer stay quiet or inactive about. A Holy Discontent is a wrong, an injustice, or inactivity that needs a champion. A Holy Discontent stirs a passion in you to move forward to make a change. A Holy Discontent says “enough!” A Holy Discontent screams “what is unacceptable to God is unacceptable to me!” It will come as no shock that my husband and I both walked out of that session shaken…our world rocked to the core. God’s Spirit stirred in both of our hearts. Out of that session we both knew that 95% statistic was our Holy Discontent. The church had left a whole community of people behind and that is simply not okay. It’s not okay to us and it is certainly not okay to God.

“The local church is the hope of the world” ~ Bill Hybels

My husband and I walked out of that Summit forever changed. That year God whispered a vision into both of us. His vision was for us to gather a team of people to run in the Detroit Free Press Marathon to raise Autism Awareness. This team has grown from one member to almost 100 members in five years. It is very safe to say that God has placed some pretty amazing people around this team. Runners, Walkers, Supporters, and Prayers…Santino’s Voice has it all and His hand is on us all. Our team was initially started to raise money for our son, Santino’s, many therapies. But God’s vision for this team is so much bigger. Our real goal is to be a non-profit charity that raises money that will be used to give scholarships to churches to help start special needs ministries. It is our belief that special needs ministries should be a non-negotiable for all churches. Every church desiring to reach all people must be able to accommodate all people.
Today right before my eyes a miracle took place. As a sat watching this year’s Global Leadership Summit it happened. Bill Hybels used his global platform to highlight the special needs ministry at Willow Creek Church. Picture after picture of these precious children of God caused my throat to choke up and my eyes to mist. Then the music started, Katy Perry’s “Roar”. On the screen these true champions “Roared” all the way to the Summit stage.

“You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, your hear that sound
Like thunder, gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up
Get ready ’cause I had enough
I see it all, I see it now
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter
Dancing through the fire
‘Cause I am a champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
‘Cause I am a champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar!” ~ Katy Perry

What a perfect song. A song of resilience, a song that speaks to the spirit of this community. They get up over and over again. The challenges they overcome on a daily basis would bring most of us to our knees but here they where, right before our eyes, pure joy illuminating from their smiles. I sat there, tears freely running down my cheeks…yep, it was the full on ugly cry. These we tears of a mama that was thankful that God’s forgotten children were forgotten no more. Bill Hybel’s just put them on display for the whole world to see. In that singular act he illustrated that we are all “beautifully and wonderfully made”, created by the God who loves us and desires for ALL of us to know His love and the hope that is found in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Today was a game changer. There is no going back. It is time to step up and fulfill the promise that “the local church is the hope of the world.” The hope is birthed when we leave no one unreached. It is our job, we have been commissioned, to bring the name and the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people, in all nations, to the ends of the earth. ALL people…no one is forgotten, no is left behind. Starting doesn’t need to be complicated; simply ask God to allow you to see all people the way He sees them, to love people the way He loves them.

The Art of Friendship

August 11, 2014August 11, 2014 / simplynikkicat / 4 Comments

Steel Magnolias…just typing this brings a smile to my face. This cinema classic from 1989 introduced the world to M’ Lynn, Truvy, Clairee, Ouiser, Shelby, and Annelle; the colorful sextet from Chinquapin Parrish, Louisiana. This movie is the South! From the southern drawl, to the ladies chatting and bickering in the beauty shop, the “giant armadilla groom’s cake”, the reference to the local Piggly Wiggly, and even the impeccable church outfits which included hats and all…this movie brought to life everything I had imagined southern life to be. Stereotype? Probably, but I loved every minute of it. However, Steel Magnolias is so much more than your average chick flick. What makes this movie earn the title of a “classic” is that you actually fall in love with the characters…you take them with you long after the closing credits roll. They make you laugh, they make you cry, and in the end they have you laughing and crying at the same time. The true genius of this film lies beyond the stereotypes and the antics…the true genius of this film is the simple theme of friendship. These six eclectic women have a bond of friendship that transcends age, position, wealth, and stage of life. The beauty of true friendship is showcased in and through them. Friendship based on loyalty and love; friendship that celebrates the mountaintops and walks through the valleys; friendship that brings the ray of sunshine and hope when the world seems dark and cold. The deep impact of this movie comes because it touches at the heart of something we all desire, true friendship; we all long for people in our lives who will love us exactly as we are.

“Friend”: noun 1) a person who you like and enjoy being with 2) a person who helps or supports someone or something 3) one attached to another by affection or esteem. ~ Merriam-Webster Dictionary

I love that definition. What I love even more is friendship. When we are younger our friends are our world but as we move into adulthood careers, marriage children, etc. distract us away from many of our relationships. It can be argued that as we get older and life gets busier it becomes more difficult to maintain deep lasting friendships. Over the last few weeks I have been very reflective about the friendships in my life. Maybe because I feel like 2014 will go down as the year of friends for me; old friends, new friends, and lifelong friends. I am coming to place in my life where I value all the people who have entered and exited my world under the banner of friendship. It has been an eclectic group of people who have touched me deeply and I have learned something from all of them. I look back at no former friendship with regrets, instead I choose to take with me life lessons. You see, there is something so beautiful about friendship, so much can be learned. Whether it lasts a lifetime, a season, or a moment friendship always adds value to our lives. But like any relationship, with friendship comes risk. Friends can hurt you and betray your trust. But how does the old cliché go? “With great risk comes great reward.” There could never be enough words to convey the rewards I have reaped through the friends that God has placed in my life over the years.

“We didn’t realize we were making memories we just knew we were having fun…” ~ Anonymous

TWENTY YEARS!!!! It’s been twenty years since I have graduated high school. How is that even possible?!?! Whether I can believe it or not, twenty years have gone by since I walked the halls of Center Line High School. At one point in my life that school and the friendships I had formed there were my whole world. Friendships that hinged on the code of teenagers; don’t ever date the person I like or have ever liked, don’t ever talk to the people who I don’t like, only take the classes the cool people will be in (or the boys we like), and the silly list goes on and on. It’s so funny when you really start to think about school age friendships and what they are based on…it’s a wonder that any of them survive beyond the school years. In February I had the chance to stroll down memory lane at my class reunion. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, twenty years is a long time and people change, or not. Luckily for me, my graduating class was so small that we combined our reunion with the grade older than mine which happened to be my husband graduating class…how’s that for strategic planning. So with the security of my husband and the few friends I still keep in contact with I anxiously awaited for what the night would hold. In the end, my nerves were for nothing. It was a wonderful evening. Nobody cared who hung out with who in school we were all there to have a great night and that we did. We laughed over old stories and wondered how in the world we got away with half the stuff that we did. There was a collective sigh of gratitude among the crowd that night…grateful that social media wasn’t around back in the day. The night was like looking back at photos with fond memories. I treasure the snapshots, but the people in them have now changed and carried on with their lives. While we once had promised to be B.F.F.’s (yes, such a thing existed in 1994), the reality is that forever was a lot shorter than we ever anticipated.

“Vulnerable”: adjective 1) Open to attack, harm or damage 2) capable of being physically or emotionally wounded. ~ Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Friendship can be a very scary thing. Odd statement? I don’t think so. I actually think more people would agree with me than not. You see the difference between childhood friendship and adult friendship is one really terrifying word, “vulnerability.” There is a reason why Jesus calls us to have faith like a child…children are naturally trusting. Trust is simple and it is easily given. As we become adults the cynicism of the world settles in. Old hurts and betrayals make us weary and gun-shy from putting ourselves out there. Many of us walk through our adult lives holding people at arm’s length. We have friendships but they aren’t deep, we keep them on the surface where things are nice and safe. Unfortunately when we live in the safe zone we rob ourselves of the true joys of friendship. You can never go very deep with anyone if you only allow so much of yourself to be exposed. Sometimes you just need to let go…with great risk comes great reward.

“But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.” ~ Ruth 1:16

So why the long dissertation on friendship? First, because it is my greatest prayer that anyone who may read this will understand that God ordained friendship. It was never His intention for anyone to walk through this life alone. He wanted us to experience the blessing of friendship, companionship, and camaraderie. He is after all a relational God and we are created in His image. Throughout Scripture He gives us illustrations of special relationships forming so that we may see that He has given us the gift of friendship. Naomi and Ruth, David and Jonathan, Jesus and the Apostles, Paul and Timothy; these are just a few examples. I encourage you in your own quiet time to study these friendships. It has taken me a long time to understand the art of true friendship, but when you have it it’s a beautiful thing. However, you must let your guard down and let people in to form these kinds of relationships. That means being vulnerable and letting people get close to the real you. I know that very thought makes some of you break out in a cold sweat, but just remember regardless of where today finds you, in the realm of friendship you are never alone. God treasures you my dear friends…never forget that. He is your best friend, first and foremost. When earthly friends let us down and are nowhere to be found…God is there. Friendship is all about love, grace, honesty, commitment, loyalty, fun, and, forgiveness. Does that not perfectly describe the relationship God desires to have with us?

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” ~ Ghandi

My second purpose for writing this is for change. With age and maturity I have learned much about friendship. Friendship for women can be very difficult. Most guys will read that sentence and laugh, but it is actually a true statement. The art of true friendship is hard because, in general, we fail to teach the attributes of true friendship. Somewhere along the way we have forgotten that God created the concept of relationships and therefore His attributes should govern how we live out our relationships. Unfortunately, God’s attributes have been overshadowed by what the world has deemed as acceptable behavior in friendship; cattiness, jealousy, disrespect, and gossip are the ingredients the world puts into the recipe of friendship. Don’t believe me, tune into Bravo and watch any one of their Real Housewives of… installments. All these women claim to be “friends” yet all of those ingredients are present in their relationships. Whoever coined the term “frenemies” was, sadly, a genius because that is exactly what many friendships look like today. It breaks my heart that girls of all ages and even grown women operate in a world where these traits are not only acceptable but expected in friendship. I caution you all to remember that when cattiness, jealousy, gossip, and disrespect are present true friendship ceases to exist. My heart burns with a passion for us to change the culture for the next generation of girls. We need to proactively teach our daughters, our nieces, our cousins, our neighbors what true friendship looks like. What if we taught our girls to extend grace, show kindness, be compassionate, have self-respect, and honor friendship? Instead of being in competition with each other what if we taught our girls to cheer each other on? And what if adult women modeled this very same behavior for them? It would surely be a great day if we could all learn the attributes of godly friendship and then modeled it for our children. How happy would the day be if the words “catty”, “diva”, “drama”, and “gossipy” were the exception and not the rule. I believe all things are possible through Christ who strengthens me. When we operate with the mind of Christ the fruits of the Spirit come alive in us; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still gently allows you to grow.” ~ William Shakespeare

Last night was a warm summer evening. The Super Moon hung proudly in the sky for all to see. Its unique, bright, orangish hue illuminated the sky and I was once again reminded of how awesome the creative hand of God is. I shared the sight of the beautiful moon with fourteen amazing ladies that God has placed in my life. There we stood sipping on lattes and tea, snacking on baked goods and froyo while the fragrant aroma of freshly brewed Starbucks coffee filled the air along with the sound of laughter and chatter as we all stood around in a circle and enjoyed each others company. Our friendship has been uniquely knitted together by our Creator who created us to desire fellowship and relationship with one another. He brought us together to pour into each other and support one another. The sisterhood we share transcends age, position, wealth, and stage of life. It is based on the truth and love of God that we all stand firm in. Last night reminded me of how thankful I am for friendship. At 38 years of age I can honestly say I finally know what true friendship is. True friends are the people who have seen me in all my brokeness yet they still love me. They are the ones who give me awkward hugs to cheer me up. They are the ones who can see the truth behind the “I’m fine” and know when I am anything but. They are the ones who have cried with me and wiped away my tears. They are the ones that know the darkness of my journey and choose to hold me up when I cannot stand. They believe in me. They know how my mind works and get me back on track when I veer off. True friends take crazy road trips to get me to a conference that they know God has called me to. True friends make me laugh til I cry. True friends understand that my life gets difficult and complicated from time to time. They hold me accountable. They pour God’s truth into me. They pray for me. They honor our friendship and don’t gossip about me and they protect me when others try to. True friends are my safe people…they know me pretty, ugly, confident, unsure, insecure, passionate, crazy, broken, over dramatic, silly, sarcastic, and funny…they know ME and yet they still love me.

One of the greatest investments we can make in this life is friendship. When we choose to pour into others and allow them to pour into us only then can we experience the beauty of true friendship. You could call this post an ode, of sorts, to all of the fabulous friends that God has placed in my life; old friends, new friends, and lifelong friends…God has used you all to shape me into who He has created me to be. There are few gifts more precious than that. I have often wished that I was a card writer. Some of my sweetest friends write and send out the most beautiful and thoughtful cards. It is something I always mean to do but then times slips away and I forget. However, one thing I do often is tell my friends how much I love them. I want them to always know how much I cherish them and what a special treasure they are to me. Friendship is intentional behavior…intentionally making room in your life for other people, being vulnerable and real, and expressing gratitude for who they are and the value they add to your life. Will you accept the gift that God has given you? Will you embrace the gift of godly friendship? Like most things in life, friendship doesn’t just happen…you must choose it!

Unrush Me (take 2)

July 30, 2014July 31, 2014 / simplynikkicat / 2 Comments

Unrush me. What a novel concept in a world that has made us all believe that life is a one hundred yard dash rather than a marathon. Unrush me. Even though my plate is overflowing to the point that I cannot even imagine it ever being half full let alone empty. Unrush me. I cannot remember the last time my mind came to full state of relaxation because all my “yeses” have made my world so busy that even when I sleep my thoughts race. Unrush me. Because the hectic pace of life is overwhelming and it clouds my vision. In this sea of stress I miss the beauty that God has placed all around me. I cannot slow down long enough to notice or appreciate it. Unrush me Lord, so that I may be all that you have created me to be.

“When we live in the rhythm of rush the worst of who we are comes front and center”~ Lysa TerKeurst

I was only one in a crowd of eight hundred women but when those words left Lysa’s lips I knew she was talking to me. How did she know? It was almost like a “big brother is watching you” moment. I had just spent weeks living in the rhythm of rush and the consequences where evident. I couldn’t sleep, my nerves were on edge, I hadn’t been listening to my husband or my children when they spoke to me, I was irritable and frantic…the worst of who I was emerged, front and center. As I sat in the opening session of the She Speaks Conference I realized that while Lysa was speaking in the context of herself, she was really describing me. The doer in me rushed so much that I often forgot to look for God in my days…I rushed right passed Him. With every word spoken more wisdom poured out of Lysa TerKeurst’s mouth and God used every single word, every single story, every single scripture to remind me that He does not set the pace of our lives to rhythm of rush. In fact, the Bible points out that, by nature, God is not one to rush at all. I’m not sure how you do it (I’m actually hoping Lysa answers that question in her new book The Best Yes) all I know is I want to live unrushed…I want to be present and focused so that I can see God more clearly.

“Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these…and He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.” ~ Mark 10: 14, 16

One thing that has always fascinated me in Scripture is the time that Jesus spent with people. I mean, His ministry started at 30 years of age and by 33 He was dead. Time was not on His side and He knew it…He is God after all. He knew how limited and precious His time was, yet throughout the Gospel’s we see stories of Jesus with people. He had friendships, Lazarus; He took the time to speak with people, the woman at the well; He dined with people, Matthew the tax collector turned apostle; He engaged with the misfits or the unwanted, the woman with the alabaster jar. He didn’t rush right by these people because He was too busy…no, He took the time to simply be with them in the moment, He was intentional and because of that people knew they mattered to Him. In His actions He was setting an example for us all to live by.

“Be still and know that I am God” ~ Psalm 46:10

It’s so funny. When I left Charlotte on Sunday morning I was bubbling over with blog ideas. The She Speaks Conference had poured so much of God’s truth into me that I couldn’t wait to come home to pour it out in my blog. However, somewhere between Charlotte and Detroit God had answered my prayers. Immediately upon waking up on Monday morning I was ready to fall back into the habit of rush. With bills to pay, a blog to write, ministry work to do…I woke with the need to go. But my go was soon halted. A horrible storm the night before had kicked all AT&T customers offline. For almost two days I couldn’t get on my computer. Instead of losing my mind over this loss, and believe me part of me wanted to, I decided to embrace what God might want to show me through this silly first world problem called an internet outage. In the still of being disconnected, God unrushed me. He showed me that when I am still, when I am focused on Him…I can be the best of who He created me to be. I hate to admit this, but for the first time in weeks I was fully engaged in my conversations, my mind wasn’t wandering, and I wasn’t thinking about all that I had to do.

Today I woke up feeling like I had been given a fresh pair of eyes. Eyes to see more clearly. Eyes to see that being a busy doer doesn’t make me more qualified for God’s calling on my life, in fact it’s often a source of distraction. Eyes to know that true fulfillment comes from being intentional in my relationships, with God and with people.

There is so much I want to share with you all from my experience at She Speaks but for now I’ll bask in this truth, God did not create us to be rushed. He created us to love one another, to take care of each other, and to share His love and grace through His Son Jesus Christ with the world. When we live at an unrushed pace we become more present in our relationships, more intentional in our interactions, and more focused on finding God in every moment of our day. When we live life at an unrushed pace we can live more fully for Him rather than being so focused on ourselves.

Keeping it Real…Bonus Thought

July 22, 2014July 22, 2014 / simplynikkicat / 2 Comments

In light of yesterday’s post, I needed to share my devotion from this morning. As I opened the page and discovered this passage my heart was checked and then it soared. My God has seen my struggle and He pours His truth into me. He reminds me of who He is and who He has created me to be. We all long to know the purpose for our lives. The simplicity of this devotion reveals what our hearts long to know; we were created to glorify and serve Him. It’s not about our agendas or others people’s expectations; quite simply it is all about HIM!!
My greatest desire with this blog is to be authentic and transparent about my journey. I want to keep it real. This morning I was once again reminded that as long as I remain in Him it is impossible to be anything other than real. For our God is the most real and authentic part of who we are and who we will become.
If you are looking for a great devotional I highly recommend Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. Each day brings a new nugget of wisdom and truth that reminds me continually that our God is good, He is faithful, and His grace showers down upon us. Each morning brings a new opportunity to see the beauty of His handprint all around us. We just need to open our eyes and our hearts to Him. Can you think of a more beautiful way to start your day than at the feet of Jesus? I know I can’t. He always knows exactly what we need for the journey that lays ahead.

Keeping It Real

July 21, 2014July 21, 2014 / simplynikkicat / 3 Comments

“Confession is good for the soul”

My name is Nikki and I am a recovering control freak.

In the Nikki Game of Life, I like to be in control and I like things to be completed exactly how I have envisioned them in my head. Isn’t that how everyone lives?!?! Okay, maybe not, but this how I lived for a long time. Then about four years ago I discovered that this control thing I had going on…yeah, it’s called sin. Oops…just lost a few of you. Stay with me, I promise I will explain.

You see, from the time I was about 18 I struggled with intense fear and anxiety. I even went through a period of my life where it was so debilitating that it paralyzed me in many aspects of my life. But I’m not getting into that today, that’s a three-part blog all on its own. The point is, this had been an intense battle in my life for almost two decades before the root of the issue was revealed. My fear and anxiety was not the result of any kind of phobia disorder, they were manifestations of a lack of trust. Often over the last several years I would pray that God would reveal anything in my life that kept me separated from Him. I wanted to know if there was any sin in my life that I was not recognizing, sin that was hindering my relationship with Him, sin that was holding me back from all that He had planned for my life. One day God answered that prayer.

God: “Yes Nikki, there is a sin issue we need to deal with. You don’t trust me.”

Me: “No God…I do trust you.”

God: “If you truly trusted me you would not live in the prison of fear and anxiety. You would know that the “what ifs” of life will only hold you back from all that I have prepared for you.

Me: “No God…I do trust you. I only have fear and anxiety about the big things in life; protection, safety, and security.”

God: “Oh so you trust me, just not with the big stuff. If you don’t trust me with the big stuff you don’t really trust me at all.”

Me: “But what if something doesn’t go well or what if something bad happens?”

God: “Ahhhhh…I understand. You don’t trust me to get it right.”

With that truth I felt like a knife had pierced my heart and then sliced me into a thousand pieces. My need to always been in control was really a lack of trust in God. I didn’t trust God to get it right. I didn’t trust Him to do things the way I thought they should be done. Before I go any further, because I know some of you are wondering, no, this was not an audible conversation between God and myself. This was the process of revelation, an innate understanding of the truth God wanted me to know. In my quiet time of prayer He gave me the answers I had been seeking and I was faced with the grim reality that I did not fully trust the God I love. As difficult as that was to discover, I like to think of that moment as my own personal Independence Day. The truth had set me free, the chains of sin were falling off; I was on the road to freedom. One by one my fears and anxieties began to dwindle as I fully surrender my life to God. He was in control and I finally learned what living in the fullness of my salvation meant.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devils schemes…Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” ~ Ephesians 6: 10,11, 14-17

The history nerd in me cannot help but equate freedom with our own country’s fight for independence. The colonists did not risk their lives to free themselves from England only to have momentary lapses of judgement where they would allow the British to rule over them again. When Patrick Henry cried “Give me liberty or give me death” he meant it. He was saying that death was preferrable to living under the tyranny of the British monarchy. When the Declaration of Independence was signed and the war was won there was no turning back. Their freedom came at a high cost so they treasured and protected it. When Jesus died on the cross He did so to set us free from the oppression of sin. God wanted to be reconciled with humanity and His Son’s death and resurrection were the means by which he accomplished it. God did not saves us so that we would continue to live in the bondage of sin. He saved us so we could be free…free to live the life He created us for. So why do we turn back? Why do we let the very things that God set us free from creep back in like a long-lost friend? Our freedom from sin came at the highest cost should we not treasure and protect it?

I have a big week ahead of me which has involved intense preparations over the last several weeks. As last week came to an end God gave me the clarity and calm to know that I was fully prepared. There is such a peace in knowing all outcomes are in His hands, I need only be obedient. However, this morning I woke up a first class passenger on the hot mess express. How’s that for waxing poetically? Seriously, somewhere between church yesterday morning and the moment when the 2 x 4 hit me over the head several hours ago, the Nikki Show commenced. Like a bolt of lightning out of nowhere yesterday evening, control freak Nikki reared her ugly head. The work God had given me a peace about now seemed lacking or missing something. Frantically I sat at my keyboard typing just a little more to make it complete. Writing and rewriting my words to feed that beast of perfectionism. Reluctantly forcing myself to bed at midnight only to wake up and 7:00 am to immediately resume my writing. I didn’t even pray, I didn’t even invite God into the work I was doing for Him. In those moments I had lost my mind, I had gone back in time; it wasn’t about God it was all about me being in control. When Matt tried to check me last night I politely told him I was all good and I would stop soon. But I was so lost in control land that all I really wanted to say was “shut up and leave me alone, I have work that I need to finish.” The final straw was at 7:30 this morning, I needed clothes to get to the dry cleaners stat because they have to be done tomorrow. In my typing frenzy I couldn’t bear the thought of walking away from my computer. “Matt what are you doing?” I am such a genius, my husband is home, he can go for me. Yeah, not so much. Matt’s reply was that he needed to get a run in before starting his work day. Get a run in…WHAT?!?!?! I don’t have time for this. I am leaving for my conference in two days you’re not running your marathon till October. Let’s get our priorities straight. Of course this whole dialogue occurred in my head. My actual reply to Matt was a simple “fine.” Men, if you don’t already know this, when your wife says the word “fine” the situation is really far from fine. As my husband left for is run I begrudgingly gave him a kiss…didn’t he know he just bumped my control-freak happy. I was preparing to shut my computer down and head to the dry cleaners when a moment of clarity hit me. The words “what are you doing” flashed through my mind. I stop dead in my tracks. What was I doing? I was frantic and frustrated, my thoughts were chaotic and all over the place. In an instant I knew I had let the enemy enter the scene. Immediately I stopped and prayed.

There is a reason why Paul tells us to put on the armor of God. We have an enemy that wants to sidetrack us, derail us, and ultimately destroy us. He drags us into a battle that is far greater than our circumstances in order to hurt God by hurting us. Satan knows how this battle ends…he loses and God wins. Not a fan of this ending, Satan’s lashes out his anger at God on all of humanity. But the enemy has no power or authority over us. In his desperate attempt to trip us up he whispers lies and uses deception as a manipulator. However, when we belong to Jesus Christ we have all authority and power to shut the enemy down. In Jesus name we have been given the right to cast the enemy out of any situation. When we put our armor on daily…when we walk in truth, live in God’s ways, trust in faith, and live in and spread the peace of the Gospel …then we are prepared for the battles that lay ahead.

The moment the scales fell off my eyes this morning the deception was over. The enemy had attacked and I walked right into it. As I recollect my whole weekend I realize the attack had been brewing. So many thoughts were swimming in my head that I couldn’t focus. God had already told me I was done but I felt like I needed to do more. In my quest to do more, I opened the door for the enemy to visit and he brought my old pal control with him. In my brain, in my thoughts, that is where they camped yesterday and clearly we had a slumber party because they were still here when I woke up this morning. Pushing me to do more because what I had completed was not “good enough” yet. There it was, the lie I believed. My work is not good enough; even though God had already told me it was, I didn’t believe Him, I didn’t trust Him. Ouch…talk about the worst case of the Monday’s…EVER!!!!

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind me and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 3: 12-14

Paul’s words remind me this morning of a very valuable lesson that we would all do well to remember…we have not arrived. In this journey through life we are a work in progress. We will never get it right all the time; God doesn’t expect us to. As long as we are human we will stumble and sometimes we even fall. The beauty of our God is that, in His infinite grace, He picks us up and He dusts us off. He doesn’t hold our mistakes against us and he doesn’t want us to dwell in them either. When we fall short, all God desires is confession and repentance. We must recognize our mistakes for two reasons; 1) so that we may demonstrate an understanding that certain behaviors and attitudes are unpleasing to God and 2) so that we do not repeat them. Confession is good for the soul because it is our key to freedom. When we confess our sins to Almighty God they are gone, it is as if they never existed. That my friends is forgiveness. God forgives those who confess with a repentant heart and He grants us the freedom to continue forward. Never once does He make us turn around and look back at our mistakes. As far as He is concerned they are gone. The instant that I confessed my disobedience to God this morning it disappeared from His memory. The moment I hit “publish” on this blog I will move forward from it too, moving onward toward my goal which is heavenward.

Prepare For Takeoff

July 16, 2014July 16, 2014 / simplynikkicat / 5 Comments

Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta, Georgia is the busiest airport in the United States. Over 260,000 passengers pass through this airport…daily. Last week I told you that my blog was going to offer complete transparency so let’s be honest. You all know that air travel brings out the crazy in a lot of people. We rush to the airport three hours prior to departure in fear of long security lines, we rush to the gate just in case we miss something, when the flight attendant’s voice comes over the loud-speaker for boarding we rush to wait in line because we need to hurry on the plane. We even get frustrated when our “zone” doesn’t board first. My personal favorite is the look on people’s faces when the Sky Priority fliers, a.k.a. frequent fliers, waltz right up to their own separate, special line and board immediately. That really boils the blood of a novice traveler. I’m not going to lie…one of the perks of my husband traveling so much is that when I fly with him I get to be one of those special people…it really is a great feeling. But I digress. The point is that the airport experience for most people is rush, rush, rush just to sit and wait. I’ll never understand the people who are dying to board the plane first. If you’re at the gate on time the plane won’t leave without you, why sit on a cramped plane any longer than you have to. But still we rush to wait. We wait for everyone else to board, we wait for the cabin to be secure, we wait for the plane to roll away from the gate, and we wait for take off. Now because I live in the Metro Detroit area and Delta is a major carrier out of our airport we often have connecting flights through Atlanta, a Delta hub. At most other airports as you begin to approach the runway you know that any minute the wait will be over and soon you will be airborne. But not at Hartsfield. No, at Hartsfield you approach the runway and over the cabin speaker you hear this cheerful greeting “Good morning passengers, this is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard flight whatever the number. Service from Atlanta to wherever. We have sunny skies for our flight today and will be reaching a cruising altitude of 30,000 feet. We will be getting underway shortly. We are number 75 for take off. Thank you for flying Delta.” Whoa, did I just hear him right?!?! Did he say number 75?? Does that mean 75 other planes need to take off before we can go? This might be a slight over exaggeration but you get the point…again we wait.

“We may impress people with our strengths… But we connect with people through weaknesses.” ~ Craig Groeschel

I hate to wait. Impatience is one of my weaknesses. If something is going to happen I want it to happen now. If someone has news to share I want them to tell me now. If something needs to be done let’s do it now. That is me…I’m a doer. I take the bull by the horns and dive right in. Why wait?! There is plenty of work that needs to be done now! But what happens when God makes you wait? Where do you go when you’ve rushed, rushed, rushed and all of a sudden God slams on the emergency brake and brings you to a screeching halt? How does the impatient doer reconcile themselves to the season of waiting?

The land in between is a weird place to be. I should know, I have been living here since October. To the outside world it doesn’t look like your moving forward in fact it just looks like you’re standing still. I have a deep struggle with standing still. My husband will be the first to tell you I don’t know how to relax. I multi-task even in my down time. I mean I read a book and watch T.V. at the same time for goodness sakes. So entering this new season of my life, the waiting period, was beyond difficult. Self-doubt started to settle in, a lie that the enemy was all too happy to fuel and perpetuate. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me back the story up so you can understand a little better. Almost 4 years ago I felt God’s calling on my life. I had persevered through some trials and I felt that He wanted me to share my experiences in order to help others through life’s journey. I assumed He wanted me to be a counselor of some sort so back to school I went. Very quickly into my schooling God made it abundantly clear counseling was not His path for me. He had wired me with a heart that beats for discipleship and a passion to teach His truth. I knew that He wanted me to use my life experiences not as basis to counsel people but as a tool for discipling them. Having walked a deep valley becomes a great source of credibility when you are teaching Scripture like James 1 and telling people to rejoice in their trials. People want to know why they should believe that. When we can be vulnerable enough to share how God has worked in our lives His truth is no longer just words on a page…we become a living testament to His promises and faithfulness. So I refocused my energies to ministry…that is what God has called me to. I wasn’t really sure what that would look like but I knew that was where He was leading me. Of course the impatient doer in me was not going to do this school thing at a leisurely pace…there was kingdom work to be done and I had to get moving so I could join the game. Almost 3 years to the day that I started school, I finished it. October 11, 2013, my husband’s birthday. Believe me, my completing school was the BEST birthday gift I have ever given my husband. By then he was OVER it…he wanted his wife back. Interestingly enough I, like the impatient traveler, rushed only to wait. God didn’t roll out the red carpet on October 12th and send an angel to deliver my divine appointment. There was no ministry job awaiting me…in fact October 12th was just a typical, run of the mill Saturday at our house. The only unique thing that happened on that day was that I took up residence in the land in between. I was in between what had been accomplished and what was coming next. There was nothing left for me to do but wait. I was plane number 75 in line for take off…

“There is a big difference between waiting and trusting patiently by faith. One usually leaves you frustrated and upset; the other makes you feel closer to Jesus.” ~ Christine Caine

How true these words are. If I can be completely honest, my biggest struggle in the wait was not actually waiting. I knew with all my heart that God had stilled my forward momentum for a purpose. He wanted to pour into me. No, my problem with the wait was people and what they thought. I was a 37-year-old wife and mother who just spent three years in school and now I was doing nothing. No job and no real sense of direction. I began to dread the question “what are you going to do now?” The answer to that question was so complex yet so simple. “I am not going to do anything because God has told me to be still.” Every time I gave that answer I felt like I had to validate my call because in my mind I decided that everyone must have thought I was crazy. I mean, I had just gone to school for three years to do exactly what I had been doing before so what was the point. God had told me to be still and it didn’t matter if it made sense, I wanted to be obedient. But living in obedience didn’t make that truth any less difficult for the doer in me to embrace. With the difficulty came the comparison and the self-doubt. My mind was a battlefield that wrestled with ideas of being unworthy of God’s calling to thinking I was flat-out delusional to think God had called me in the first place. Who was I? I certainly wasn’t good enough to serve God in a life of ministry. But all of the self-doubt and comparisons were lies. Lies whispered by the enemy in an attempt to paralyze me. I thank God for the godly people in my life who helped me to see those lies for what they were. When I did, that was the moment when waiting turned into trusting patiently by faith. Just when I was on the brink of frustration Jesus pulled me away from the ledge and reminded me what this journey was all about. Tucked deep in my heart I knew what God had called me to, I just needed to be confident in it. I needed to understand that in kingdom work what I was doing only had to make sense to the One who had called me, not to the masses. That simple truth ushered in the understanding that this wasn’t a season of just waiting, this was season of maturing and pruning. This was the season where the apprentice learns to be more like the master so that the workmanship is of Him and not of me. Do you know how much freedom there is in that revelation? It’s not about me and what I am doing. It is about God and what He wants to do in and through me. All I need to do is be available and obedient. Ministry is not about getting a paycheck from a church. Ministry is about being the hands, the feet, the eyes, the mouth, and the heart of Jesus Christ to people who need Him and are longing for Him. The kingdom work that I rushed through school to start…I was already doing it.

“But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not be faint.” ~ Isaiah 40:31

What if we lived our lives focused on the truth of Isaiah’s words. Those who “wait upon the Lord.” Those who relinquish control, those who live a life of total surrender, those who are desperately dependent on God… will have the freedom to be all that God created them to be, will live a life of obedience even when obedience doesn’t make sense, will remember that regardless of what season of life they find themselves in God will use them for His kingdom right where they are, and they will remember that their worthiness comes not from a title or a position but rather by the fact that they are so precious to God the Father that He sent His Son to die for us. When we fully realize that… THEN we will soar, then we will be the best we can be.

Today I have come to realize that it doesn’t matter if I am plane number 75 or plane number 1 in order for takeoff. What matters is that I am prepared to takeoff. As we walk through our journey with Christ we must make sure we are always ready to be used. Sometimes Christ does not use us simply because we do not make ourselves available to Him. We are distracted, discontented, disobedient, etc. and we miss the opportunities He lays before us. Sometimes along the way we need that gentle reminder that it is never about our satisfaction and always about His glory. When we forget that we take our eyes off of Him. In the briefest shifting of our eyes the circumstances of our lives begin to overwhelm us leading to frustration. Jesus is not likely to call on a frustrated servant and we find ourselves sidelined. Ahhhhh…but it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact God has given us, through the Holy Spirit, the tools not to live that way. Those tools are called the fruits of the spirit, Galatians 5:22-23 check them out. You see when we live life in total surrender to God we find that His Spirit begins to transform us to look more like our Savior, to take on His attributes. That is what the fruits of the Spirit are…attributes of Christ that can be manifested in us when we live according to God’s ways. And wouldn’t you know it, surprise surprise…patience is one of those attributes.

What is the value of living in the land in between? The value is the lessons God will teach you when you allow Him to stretch you beyond who you think you are and allow Him to mold and transform you into who He wants you to become. It’s about God chipping you away so that all that is left is the image of His Son in you. I’m not sure how long my stay in the land in between will last. It might be a few more days or it could last a few more years. Regardless, God’s call on my life has not changed, in that I remain confident. In my spirit I feel like God is starting to move and I have seen signs of forward momentum. But in the end I trust that God will move me when the time is perfect for Him. As long as my eyes stay focused on Him I will be ready when He says “all clear for takeoff.”

Master Class

July 9, 2014July 16, 2014 / simplynikkicat / 5 Comments

“Everybody has a story and there is something to be learned from every experience…use your life as a class.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

In my people pleasing head I can hear the collective gasps of the people who are shocked (some, even appalled) that I would choose to start my journey as a blogger with a quote from Oprah. Quite honestly, I am bit shocked myself. However, I must admit Oprah’s Master Class has quickly become my favorite show on television. Why? Because people fascinate me. Not just the ones that look like me, think like me, and believe like me…all people. If you have never watched the show let me give you a brief description. The premise is to simply use life as a class. To learn about the obstacles and opportunities others have faced on their pathway to success. These are transparent stories that speak to the good, the bad, and the ugly that we will all inevitably face on this journey called life. It is the ultimate showcase of the human experience. Of course everyone featured has risen to some form of celebrity status. Whether it is Condeleeza Rice, Diane Sawyer, Justin Timberlake, or Sydney Portier…it is a colorful collection of people sharing their talent, abilities, successes, victories, shortcomings, setbacks, weaknesses, tragedies, and failures. The show is best summarized by Jon Bon Jovi who states that “Each step along the way is just another life lesson.” Yes, people fascinate me and not just celebrities. Why? Because we all have a story to tell that is unique…every single one of our lives is a Master Class in progress. Every person has a story that might just help someone else on their journey. Little nuggets of knowledge to pass down that can educate and empower the next generation.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” ~ Genesis 1:27

Interestingly enough, Ms. Winfrey in all her media mogul genius is ultimately not the author or the originator of the Master Class concept. Not even close. No, this idea was born at the dawn of creation. As God began His creative mission the greatest story ever told began to unfold. In fact the colorful collection of people you can see showcased every Sunday night on the OWN Network remind me of another group of people…an underscored group of celebrities if you will. Some successful, some epic failures, all as equally human as the ones we see today. Just as susceptible to make bad choices in a moment of weakness and just as likely to rise above the circumstances of their lives in moments of strength and clarity. Of whom am I speaking? The Master Class: Ancient World Edition. This is not a Oprah production this is a God production. It is the greatest Master Class ever known. Shepherd’s become kings and slaves rise to power. Queen’s save their people and persecutors become saints. However, God’s Master Class is radically different from anything we see on television today. The Master Class that flows through the pages of the Bible is one that always points to one main ingredient…it is the key ingredient that takes a good story and turns it into a great story, an eternal story. God’s grace fully realized in Jesus Christ! Why do people fascinate me? Because we were all created in the image of God and I choose to look for God’s beauty in all that He has created. We were all created in the image of God and therefore we all have the opportunity to take our story from good one to a great one. That is never more evident than on the pages of the Bible.

“We are not meant to be perfect, we are meant to be whole.” ~ Jane Fonda

Ahhhh…good ole Jane. There is not much of Ms. Fonda’s platform that I personally agree with but I do love this quote. I think what draws me to it is that I actually find it to be both true and false. If we go all the way back to the beginning…Garden of Eden beginning…you will discover that her statement is actually false. We actually were meant to be perfect. We were meant to live in perfect communion with each other, all of Creation, and God Himself. However it only took Adam and Eve all of three chapters to royally mess that up. So from Genesis chapter 3 on her statement becomes true. When sin entered into the world we become separated from God. That very separation caused an emptiness…a longing in our soul for what is missing. Many will journey through this life never finding what their soul is longing for. So often times we try to fill that void with wealth, power, ambition, prestige, success, and material possessions. Ultimately none of those things will ever make us whole. The soul can never be satisfied with things of this world…we were created for far better things. If sin stole our wholeness by fracturing our relationship with God is Jane’s statement even possible? I am not sure even she realizes the enormity of her words but yes it is very possible. In fact the reason Jesus came to this earth was to make it possible. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them…” ~ 2 Corinthians 17-19 Wholeness for each person comes the very moment we fully surrender our lives to the One who created us and the One who died for us.

“We all have the ability to put forth the best of ourselves.” ~ Goldie Hawn

Why do people fascinate me? Because we are created in the image of God who has bestowed to us all gifts, talents, abilities, and resources. I find the wonders of God’s creative hand so evident in the genius and ingenuity of man. The way an artist can use his mind, hands, and paint to create a masterpiece leaves me in awe of what my God can do. The beautiful music and melodies that comes from the mouths of singers leaves me longing to hear the choir of angels in heaven. The way an athlete can push his body, or a mathematician can use his brain leaves me speechless at the attention to detail that God uses when He created each and every one of us uniquely. I am always interested to see how man chooses to use all that God has given to him. I agree with Goldie, we do have the ability to put forth the best of ourselves. I believe the best of ourselves always comes when we are walking in God’s ways and living in His will. Then and only then can we truly live out His purpose for our lives…to glorify Him in all that we say and do. This blog will be my opportunity to put forth the best of myself. It will be my Master Class if you will. A place to share my story and experiences as I continue on my journey home. This will not be a highlight reel but rather transparent behind the scenes. We have so much that we can we learn from each other…that is the very reason I look forward to Sunday evenings. I recognize that while my beliefs do not align with most of the people featured on the show Master Class there is still a commonality in the human experience that allows us to see people differently when we hear about their journey. Are we not called to love one another? How can we if we never listen to each other. Why do people fascinate me? Because I love God and He loves people. People matter to Him so they matter to me. Not just the people I like or the ones who look like me, think like me, or believe like me…He loves us all and desires for all to know His Son. My prayer is that the love, hope, and peace that is found in Christ will be evidenced in the words shared in this blog.

In His Love,

Nikki