NIKI FLORICA

The 39 books of the Old Testament paint a picture of what C.S. Lewis calls the "hammering process—" centuries of God's hard-line training program to show Israel just what kind of God had chosen them and what He expected of them. "Hammering" seems like the right word. I mean, I'd be the first to admit that the Old Testament account, while bound together with the theme of God's tireless mercy and lovingkindness toward sinners, can also seem pretty, well . . . harsh. Those of us

Now, I typically don't write my Thankful Thursday posts at eight o'clock on Thursday night, but when life hands you lemons and a busy day, you make lemonade at your earliest convenience. So, here we are. I had a relatively unproductive 24 hours, all things considered—one of those days when every task seems to take an eternity and leaves you feeling utterly devoid of accomplishment. But in a way, I suppose that's just a matter of perspective. Our need to constantly operate at

A day or so ago, I entreated heaven for clarity. I've struggled for a long time with the desire to use my passions for the Lord, but my preconceived notions of what that should look like have been and are getting in the way. I prayed for God to speak to me, to show and tell me the path I should be following and how I should move forward—if I'm to move forward at all, or else wait on more specific direction. Clarity can come in a single overwhelming downpour. Other times, it c

Meet Dudley, Myrtle, and Rudy, the three happy snowmen mascots of this Thankful Thursday post. Technically, I should be studying for my final exam tomorrow, but thankfulness waits for no exam, and I think we could all use a reminder that there is always something to smile about, especially at this time of year. Christmas is in just over a week and I catch myself wondering how it's snuck up so fast. It doesn't feel like Christmas at all, and part of me is feeling that little p

It's National Novel Writing Month, and I'm a roiling blend of nerves and excitement and dreams of a finished product by the end of one month. And "dreams" is probably the right word—the chances of me actually writing a 50 000-word manuscript in 30 days are slim, but all the same, it's an exciting time of year, and my first time doing a November NaNoWriMo project. Over the past few months, writing has been difficult for me. My WIP series has hit some roadblocks I didn't antici

I've always known what it's like to have Someone in my life who would never let me down. You'd think after all this time I'd figure out that He's the only one. I'm not a fast learner. No matter how many times I allow my trust to drop an anchor in worldly seas—in a friendship, a hobby, a passion, a person—I'm always left floundering when that anchor doesn't hold and God reminds me, once again, that He is the only one I can really, truly rely on. Maybe I don't appreciate that f

God is so much bigger than I've always known, and He's beginning to show Himself to me in ways I hadn't imagined before. I and people in my life are seeing miracles, feeling true Spirit-filled convictions, hearing God's will with a clarity I'd only groped for before. God hasn't changed, so I know it must be me. My perception of God's power has grown, and the more I believe He can do, the more He does. Yesterday, I needed to make a choice—a choice between acting or waiting. I

The past couple years have been hard for me. I'm sure they've been hard for you, too. We're all going through something, hiding it behind "o

Prayer works. Not always in the ways we expect, not always in the cookie-cutter outcomes we may look for, but God and His Holy Spirit are co

We already know that getting through this life with our faith intact means eternal life, joy, and ecstasy in heaven. But God doesn't just da

Despite the mountain of bookish research I could be doing at present, I'm taking a brief respite to enjoy this fine Thankful Thursday morning, and to draw a deep breath of gratitude before plunging into the grind. Have a stressful day ahead? Feel free to join me! I promise, it'll only take a minute. This week, I know exactly what I'm thankful for: unexpected encouragement and guidance from a new friend God brought into my life days ago. At a time of stress and confusion in wh

Well, at 7:00pm today by my calendar, I would have been conducting a signing/reading/meet-and-greet at The Bookshelf in downtown Guelph . . . were it not for the current COVID-19 situation. I must confess, I'm pretty fortunate in that self-isolation has not (thus far) thrown many horrendous wrenches in my year. Others are suffering far more crushing disappointments as COVID-19 shuts down even the best-laid plans, but there is still a part of me that wishes I had waited, inste

I'm fascinated by the concept of ancient prophets. Men and women selected by God to be the mouthpieces of divine messages—often outcast from society, ignored or called foolish, feared or hated or both, and always sustained by the very hand of God. What would it have been like to experience that calling? To spend days spouting messages that you might never see manifested, that you might never understand? A sermon brought that to my attention recently, and it fascinated me all

"The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." (1 Cor. 10:13, NLT) I Corinthians 10:13 has often been an encouragement to me, especially the last half—the promise that we will never be tempted with more than we can resist, and that God will always see us through. In truth, I feel as if I've

"The Lord's gotten you this far, He'll take care of you the rest of the way." These words glowed from the page of Frank Peretti's, This Present Darkness, to warm me with a much-needed burst of spiritual strength. No matter what path we're on, no matter how difficult the road has been, there's no question that whatever progress we have made is due to God's strength and guidance. Hindsight shows us that each trial we endure can work good in the world and in our lives, and after

Writing The Heir of Ariad was a lesson in patience, awaiting God's inspiration in the steady, perfect doses that always came according to His timing, which (as an obvious aside) turned out to be perfect. Publishing The Heir of Ariad was a lesson in trust, facing uncertainty after uncertainty, stress after stress, and needing to learn the key to breathing deeply in the peace of God's presence. To putting everything into His hands and letting go. Marketing The Heir of Ariad is

I have lots of hopes and dreams for the year 2020, many of them (or rather, most of them) pertaining to The Heir of Ariad, The Ariad Series, or bookishness in general. At the top of that list until days ago was a very simple desire: to see The Heir in at least one physical, authentic bookstore, Lordwilling. CHECK! The Heir of Ariad is, as I type, a proud resident of The Bookshelf store in downtown Guelph. I popped in for a visit today and was just so delighted to see this lon

Sorry, folks, I know I haven't been overly active in the blogging/social media world this week, but exams have thrown a wrench in my Heir of Ariad plans and, well, I've been just a tad pre-occupied. Fortunately, though, having written my first exam today, I have a plethora of blessings to be thankful for! Yes, I know it's not Thursday, but perhaps you'd like to join me in counting just a few of the blessings I've found to be noteworthy this week. 1. Those who are in semestere

Exam week. Crunch time. An onslaught of assignments and summatives crammed into the same stressful, high-intensity seven days. Among other things, my history class was tasked on Thursday to write an essay worth a good chunk of our final mark, and until yesterday—Sunday—afternoon, I had no idea where to start. The thesis is always the hardest part. The jumping-off point without which nothing can be accomplished. So I needed a thesis. Simple, right? I had done work like this be

This past Saturday I had the pleasure and honour of attending a book signing hosted by a wonderful family friend. It was my first signing since The Heir of Ariad launch in August (oh, the memories!) and it couldn't have been more enjoyable! Chronic introvert that I am, putting myself out there at events like this calls for a serious venture out of the ol' comfort zone. But just like in August (check out my post-launch ponderings here) God used this opportunity to show me just