This site was designed with the
.com
website builder. Create your website today.
Start Now
  • BLOG

  • ABOUT ME

  • JOIN ME IN THE CLOUDS

  • More

    Use tab to navigate through the menu items.

    NIKI FLORICA

    The Quiet Quill

    Books, Blessings, & Quiet Contemplations 

    • All Posts
    • Reviews
    • Mon. Musings
    • Tues. Truths
    • Wed. Wisdom
    • Thankful Thurs.
    • Fri. Faves
    • Sat. Spotlight
    • WRITER LIFE
    Search
    And the Walls Came A-Tumbling Down
    nikiflorica
    • Nov 26, 2021
    • 3 min

    And the Walls Came A-Tumbling Down

    For the past few weeks, sitting down to blog has felt like staring at a solid wall and trying to see through it. And no, I'm not referring to writer's block, though I've certainly experienced enough of that. The wall I have in mind is worse—taller, thicker, uglier, and stationed squarely between me and God. We often think of Satan as a master destroyer, but in many ways, he's a master craftsman as well. He carves beautiful idols for us to worship, forges weapons to use agains
    26 views3 comments
    The War for Time
    nikiflorica
    • Sep 16, 2021
    • 2 min

    The War for Time

    Crazy week, folks. Craaaazy week. Second-year has just begun and already there just aren't enough hours in the day; writing and AuthorTube and the blog are still vying for attention; my TBR is rapidly growing and my time for pleasure-reading is rapidly shrinking, and you know what the worst part is? My God-time is under attack. I'm probably not the only one fighting this constant battle against busyness in which God-time is usually one of the first casualties. I dedicate the
    24 views0 comments
    Let's Talk About My Most Epic Failure Ever
    nikiflorica
    • Aug 26, 2021
    • 3 min

    Let's Talk About My Most Epic Failure Ever

    I bombed my first driver's test. And, no, before you say, "Oh, I failed, too!" believe me when I say that mine was probably worse. In fact, I'm almost 100% sure. It's okay, I've accepted it . . . mostly. Failure was not something I was overly accustomed to, and I don't say that with any kind of arrogance or conceit whatsoever! Academically speaking, I just always worked hard and saw good results, and generally speaking, I don't spend much free time doing things I'm not okayis
    32 views0 comments
    Bad Dreams Are Good for Something
    nikiflorica
    • Aug 12, 2021
    • 2 min

    Bad Dreams Are Good for Something

    Imagine this. You have a dream about something you've been dreading. It goes badly. You screw up, or the whole shebang goes south in the most drastic way. It's a worst-case scenario as it can only be in dreams. Then you wake up and realize—DEEP BREATH—it was just a dream. Maybe you've already done the dreaded thing, or maybe circumstances have changed and spared you from that fate. Either way, what follows is that inevitable feeling of gratitude flooding every sense and tingl
    23 views0 comments
    Here's an Idea.
    nikiflorica
    • Jul 22, 2021
    • 3 min

    Here's an Idea.

    Ideas. Why is that such a scary word? Don't get any ideas. She's been filling her head with ideas. I think sometimes we forget that life is a process—a never-ending progression of ideas—and that living in this world means exposure to all kinds of them, just as living with Christ means being changed by the ideas he brought into the world when he came. I've lived most of my Christian life on the defensive. I knew what I believed and when I came against something that contradict
    10 views0 comments
    When the Stakes Are High—Smile!
    nikiflorica
    • Jun 17, 2021
    • 2 min

    When the Stakes Are High—Smile!

    I'm usually pretty good at laughing at myself. You know, when the stakes are low. When things get stressful, though, and nobody else is laughing? Yeah, that kills my good humour. The past couple of months have marked a struggle to build competence in what I do. New tasks are always daunting, but new tasks along with the weight of dozens of people's expectations are crippling for someone like me. I wish I could say I'm a cauldron of confidence, but that would be a bald-faced l
    8 views0 comments
    Legend of the Lemon Squares—Why Job Training Is Straight From Heaven
    nikiflorica
    • May 13, 2021
    • 2 min

    Legend of the Lemon Squares—Why Job Training Is Straight From Heaven

    Job training is no one's idea of a good time. All the uncertainty and awkwardness, the stupid mistakes, the overlooked details, the insecurity of comparing ourselves to the seasoned workers around us, the waking up at seven a.m. thinking about those lemon squares you left in the fridge last night without dating them . . . As first-world problems go, it's got to be a top contender. On a small scale, it's a glimpse into a mechanism God uses to grow us in life. It's a time of de
    19 views0 comments
    Let's Talk Toast... and Jesus
    nikiflorica
    • Feb 25, 2021
    • 2 min

    Let's Talk Toast... and Jesus

    Funny thing about toast—when you smell it, you want it. Ever notice that? I mean, there was a time when I would sooner eat dirt than toast, and I still can't deny its magical property of being appetizing in any and every context. It's just one of those things. Innately appealing, we need only to experience a whiff of it to crave it. Something in us just wants toast. What if I told you that Jesus and toast have a lot in common? See, the Word of God calls us to follow Jesus, bu
    11 views0 comments
    The Squirrel Mentality (and Why We Need It)
    nikiflorica
    • Jan 21, 2021
    • 2 min

    The Squirrel Mentality (and Why We Need It)

    Squirrels get a bad rap. I know from experience—watching my family's ongoing bird-feeder vs. squirrel feud of feuds—but I can't help admiring their tenacity. Take my family's furry rival, for example. The bird food has switched branches, seen branches removed, been strung from the clothesline, from fishing wire, from the eaves, and the squirrel has always prevailed. Annoying as it is for those in my family who are not squirrel sympathizers, I happen to find it kind of awesome
    93 views0 comments
    How Was Your Productive-in-Its-Own-Way Thursday?
    nikiflorica
    • Jan 15, 2021
    • 2 min

    How Was Your Productive-in-Its-Own-Way Thursday?

    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
    10 views0 comments
    Snowmen Smiles
    nikiflorica
    • Dec 17, 2020
    • 2 min

    Snowmen Smiles

    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
    19 views0 comments
    And Bob's Your Uncle
    nikiflorica
    • Nov 12, 2020
    • 2 min

    And Bob's Your Uncle

    I do not have a spontaneous bone in my body. I mean that in the most literal sense. I am not impulsive. I hate making decisions and usually go out of my way to leave the big ones up to other people, and most of my life happens within a comfortable status quo that I have no problem with 90% of the time. When the idea of a bob haircut first struck me, it was almost laughable. Inspired by one of my favourite characters from Marissa Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles, and later by anot
    62 views0 comments
    How Great is Our God
    nikiflorica
    • Oct 29, 2020
    • 2 min

    How Great is Our God

    In our effort to have a relationship with God, to know Him and His Son on an intimate, personal level, I think there is a pitfall we often fall into—the trap of squeezing God into a little, buddy-shaped box. I'm no expert, but from where I'm standing, contemporary Christianity places a ton of emphasis on Jesus the Savior and Friend, but less on God the Righteous and Just Judge of the Universe. We have no problem going to Jesus with all our daily problems, or claiming him as o
    19 views0 comments
    Unsinkable
    nikiflorica
    • Oct 8, 2020
    • 2 min

    Unsinkable

    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
    10 views0 comments
    Time Keeps on Slippin'
    nikiflorica
    • Sep 10, 2020
    • 2 min

    Time Keeps on Slippin'

    I feel like I've spent way too much of my life watching the clock. Despite my early enthusiasm for it, I realized quickly as a six-year-old that school was not my favourite place to be, and as soon as I learned to tell time, I imagine I spent a lot of classes doing just that. Watching that minute hand tick slowly, slowly toward the next period, the next bell, the next end of the day. It's a nasty habit that's followed me through all of elementary and high school, and now with
    13 views0 comments
    Life is Joy—And What To Do About It
    nikiflorica
    • Aug 13, 2020
    • 3 min

    Life is Joy—And What To Do About It

    Earlier this week, I blogged about the inevitable reality that life is pain, and that we have only two options in that regard: to suffer, or to suffer with Christ. It's as true now as it was days ago, as it was months ago, as it was two thousand years ago . . . but that doesn't mean there aren't other facts of life that are equally true as well. Life is joy, for example. A contradiction? I think not. It's the kind of paradox that can only exist within the infinity that is God
    12 views0 comments
    Looking for Clean Fantasy? You and Me Both.
    nikiflorica
    • Jul 23, 2020
    • 2 min

    Looking for Clean Fantasy? You and Me Both.

    As someone who is constantly on the hunt for clean fantasy, there's nothing quite like those "Eureka!" moments when I stumble on a gem. 2020 has been a fantastic year for reading, not only because I've had more time, but because I've been more deliberate in narrowing my search. In the past, my strategy has been to pick up popular fantasy titles, start reading, then abort when they failed to meet any kind of clean standard. A flawed system—not only because I was expecting a tr
    12 views0 comments
    Because Prayer Works
    nikiflorica
    • Jul 9, 2020
    • 2 min

    Because Prayer Works

    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
    11 views0 comments
    A Very Fond Furwell
    nikiflorica
    • Jun 18, 2020
    • 2 min

    A Very Fond Furwell

    I must have been three, maybe four years old when I went with my grandparents to pick this adorable pup from its litter mates. Since that day, Cody was the dog I never had—the smiling face that met me on my grandparents' front porch, the ecstatic bark when we arrived for visits and the frantic one when we left. My grandparents' yearly vacation was a highlight of back-to-school time, when Cody would move in as a temporary resident and for one whole week, I could pretend that t
    11 views0 comments
    60 Seconds of Solid Gratitude—GO!
    nikiflorica
    • Jun 11, 2020
    • 1 min

    60 Seconds of Solid Gratitude—GO!

    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
    14 views0 comments
    1
    2

    We all need to put our heads in the clouds sometimes . . .

    Subscribe for one monthly blessing from yours truly, straight from my clouds to your inbox.

    © 2023 by The Book Lover. Proudly created with Wix.com