Niki’s Thoughts

  Memorial Day. To some, it's just another Monday. To many, it's part of a coveted three-day weekend.  To anyone who has loved and lost one of our great servicemen or servicewomen, Memorial Day is a time of remembrance.  Etiquette dictates that on Armed Forces Day (earlier this month), we honor those currently serving. In November, on Veteran's Day, we honor and remember our U.S. Military Veterans. Memorial Day is set aside to remember those who never made it out of their uniform. The reason it is important to differentiate these holidays is that they each honor a separate category of a big family.  Since the late 1700's, when we declared our independence from tyranny, our country has lost countless men, and women, in the ongoing battle for freedom. Theirs is no small sacrifice. The Book of John said it best, "greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." There is a great love for God, country, and the people closest to t...

  “Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.” Mark 16 : 2 NKJV “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3 : 22 - 23 ESV I had a thought, about sunsets and sunrises, a few weeks ago. I jotted it down, knowing when the time was right that God would place on my heart the rest of what I should say… You know how sin is sin and we should not compare one sin to another? I think the same probably applies to God’s blessings and mercies. That being said, I am human and I tend to partial one over the other when it comes to sunsets versus sunrises. Shocking, I know!   I have always been a bigger fan of sunrises than of sunsets. I love them both, don’t get me wrong! But sunrises just feel closer to my heart. I never analyzed it much. Then I read a line in a devotion I was reading (I can’t remember the line, or the name o...

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ ‭ I have been battling anxiety HARD this year. I had such high hopes for 2023. Very little has gone as expected.  On the days when it’s at its worst, it feels like no matter how often - or how hard - I pray, no matter how many devotions I read, no matter how much time I spend in God’s Word, I still end up defeated. I have cried more this year than I did in the six months from fall 2021 to spring 2022 when so many loved ones died so close together. I have begged God to take this cup from me…if it is His will.  I’m determined that no matter how beat down I get, I am submitting to Him. This year, this season, the rest of this life I’m living on this earth. It’s all His. It’s His time, ...