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    NIKI FLORICA

    The Quiet Quill

    Books, Blessings, & Quiet Contemplations 

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    • Mon. Musings
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    So What's the Deal with Me?
    nikiflorica
    • Nov 15, 2021
    • 3 min

    So What's the Deal with Me?

    I don't normally let more than a week slide by between posts, but I don't normally let myself off the hook in general, so this could be a good thing, couldn't it? It's been a busy few weeks and, aside from a pile of assignments, the pressures of AuthorTube, work, my attempts at a social life (go, introverts!), and National Novel Writing Month, I've also reached a fork in the road. In many ways, I feel that God may be calling me to course-correct my post-secondary education, w
    48 views2 comments
    To Consult My Compass
    nikiflorica
    • Oct 12, 2021
    • 2 min

    To Consult My Compass

    Sometimes I feel like a Lost Girl. Like I took a wrong turn at the second star on the right and ended up a thousand miles from Neverland, in the middle of nowhere, trying to figure out if I'm where I'm supposed to be or if I'm supposed to course-correct and if so, where to? I've never heard God's voice giving me GPS directions. Some people have, and I think that's an incredible blessing, but it just hasn't been my experience. Looking back on the past few years, an outsider lo
    23 views0 comments
    A Tidbit for the Trodden Down
    nikiflorica
    • Sep 21, 2021
    • 2 min

    A Tidbit for the Trodden Down

    trodden: walked on . . . crush[ed] or flatten[ed] with the feet . . . pressed down into the ground. (Google) Who's feeling pressed down today? How about crushed? Flattened? Walked all over? Is your hand up? Hey, no shame. Mine is, too. Satan has been hard at work in me this week, stirring up struggles I just want to be done with but can't seem to shake, especially when I'm too tired to fight back. Relating? Jesus talks about the downtrodden in the parable of the sower, Luke 8
    22 views0 comments
    "Hurry Up and Wait"
    nikiflorica
    • Aug 9, 2021
    • 4 min

    "Hurry Up and Wait"

    Surprise—I'm still here! Although normally I try to post blogs even while I'm on vacation, this year, I decided to give myself a break for a week of rest and relaxation in Northern Ontario. The time away was such a blessing, y'all: I even scratched some new items off my never-done-before list, INCLUDING swimming in black, weedy water infested by living creatures. Be proud of me. There are a few topics I could delve into for this post, but one in particular stood out to me whi
    21 views0 comments
    When the Tyrant Comes for Tea
    nikiflorica
    • Jul 28, 2021
    • 3 min

    When the Tyrant Comes for Tea

    "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other." Matthew 7:24. I always thought this verse was a bit redundant—a case of saying the exact same thing twice. The message seems clear enough: only serve God. But why frame it this way? Why the repetition? One of my favourite things about the Word of God is how very alive it is. I've read this verse countless times in my life and never dug an
    9 views0 comments
    Say Yes.
    nikiflorica
    • Jul 5, 2021
    • 2 min

    Say Yes.

    I talked last week about the human will. Well, I'm still talking about it. In Luke 18, Jesus arrived in Jerusalem. It was near the end of his ministry and he knew what that meant as well as we do now. On his way, a blind man heard him coming and called out to him for mercy. Now, I'm sure that you and I could figure out what the blind man wanted from Jesus, let alone Jesus himself. Did he need to be told that the poor man wanted sight? Probably not. I don't think that's a stre
    14 views0 comments
    A More Excellent Way
    nikiflorica
    • Jun 29, 2021
    • 2 min

    A More Excellent Way

    Good ol' I Corinthians 13. Short and sweet and sharp as a dagger. Love is patient, love is kind, love doesn't envy, think highly of itself, think badly of others, seek its own welfare, misbehave, and here's the best part: every good work or spiritual skill is pretty much worthless without it. Let's be honest. It's a nice chapter and everything, but it's also a bit . . . overwhelming? I mean, who does all that? Who is patient and kind all the time, never envies or thinks highl
    17 views0 comments
    107, At Wit's End
    nikiflorica
    • Apr 19, 2021
    • 2 min

    107, At Wit's End

    Lost, chained, a fool, or at wit's end. Which one are you? Try finding yourself in the spectrum of Psalm 107's desperate people. Are you the lost soul wandering the wilderness, nowhere to go, hungry but not sure what for, craving a feeling of belonging? Are you the one who sits in deepest gloom, in chains of your own making? Are you the fool who turned your back on God, marched to the beat of your own drum, and now stand at death's door, crying out for help? Are you the sailo
    15 views0 comments
    Under the Fig Tree
    nikiflorica
    • Apr 14, 2021
    • 2 min

    Under the Fig Tree

    "This was done for you." Season 2, Episode 2, The Chosen. Nathaniel sits under a fig tree with a stack of failed dreams in his hands—plans for a synagogue he'll never get to build (to know why, watch the show. Seriously). He turns his gaze to the radiant sky and directs a broken-hearted prayer to heaven. But even as he recites words of faith, the tears streaking his face as he burns the designs say what he's truly thinking, what he's feeling. "This was done for you. . . . Do
    279 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 "Hammering Process:" Too Hard, Too Soft, or Just Right?
    nikiflorica
    • Jan 26, 2021
    • 3 min

    The "Hammering Process:" Too Hard, Too Soft, or Just Right?

    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
    43 views0 comments
    Ahikam's Lead
    nikiflorica
    • Dec 15, 2020
    • 3 min

    Ahikam's Lead

    Jeremiah—what a book. I mean, really, what a story. Like so many of God's prophets, he was thrown into a role he felt ill-equipped for, only withstanding the hostility and depravity of his people by God's supernatural provision. I can't imagine being given a job knowing that 90% of it will feel like a waste of time. To be tasked with proclaiming a message daily that no one (almost literally) will listen to. Jeremiah was known as the Weeping Prophet. Considering the emotional
    13 views0 comments
    Glorify Thy Name
    nikiflorica
    • Nov 25, 2020
    • 2 min

    Glorify Thy Name

    I had a beautiful weekend. My brother gave his life to Christ, my other brother from a couple of provinces away was here to witness it, and God is always and ever good. One line from the sermon clung like a burr, though, a blog post waiting to happen. "God is glorifying Himself today." If I step out of my upbringing and personal relationship with Christ, I can see how words like these might send a confusing message to those who don't know God. I mean, among human beings, glor
    30 views0 comments
    Problems, Prophets, and Progress
    nikiflorica
    • Nov 17, 2020
    • 2 min

    Problems, Prophets, and Progress

    We think of progress as something linear—an arrow from present to future, improving all the time, always a step ahead of where we were before. We think of progress as the "new" and regress as the "old." And in the world's eyes, that paints a bad picture for the Word of God. I mean, how many times have we heard Christianity pegged as something "old-fashioned?" Something that worked for the pioneers, maybe—but society has moved past that now. We've grown. We've improved. We don
    16 views0 comments
    Floating
    nikiflorica
    • Sep 22, 2020
    • 2 min

    Floating

    Sometimes we prefer our messages minced—into soft little bite-sized pieces that go down without much thought or pain or conviction. Painless. Isn't that just the human way? To crave the sense of virtue that comes from hearing the Word preached, but shy from any obligation to be changed by it? To be convicted? This world and Satan have a grip on us, even if we're free of their condemning chains. This world and Satan nurture a love of the wrong things in us, an aversion to the
    11 views0 comments
    100% His—Reaching for the Next Level
    nikiflorica
    • Aug 18, 2020
    • 3 min

    100% His—Reaching for the Next Level

    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
    13 views0 comments
    Life is Pain—And What to Do About It
    nikiflorica
    • Aug 10, 2020
    • 3 min

    Life is Pain—And What to Do About It

    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
    15 views0 comments
    Need a Reason to Rejoice? Keep Reading.
    nikiflorica
    • Jul 13, 2020
    • 2 min

    Need a Reason to Rejoice? Keep Reading.

    Tackling new or overwhelming undertakings in our lives can be exciting, but it can also be laden with baggage—fear and uncertainty, doubt an
    6 views0 comments
    Counted With the Stars, by Connilyn Cosette: Review
    nikiflorica
    • Jul 4, 2020
    • 2 min

    Counted With the Stars, by Connilyn Cosette: Review

    Sold into servitude to cover her family's financial disgrace, Kiya's life of Egyptian luxury is replaced by enslaved humiliation. When plagues begin to ravage Egypt at the hand of the Hebrews' mysterious God, Kiya has a slave's-eye-view . . . and if joining the Hebrews will save her older brother from death, so be it. Thrust into the Exodus alongside a people that despise her and a God she does not understand, Kiya is caught between loyalty to her family, her feelings for the
    5 views0 comments
    Wait for It, Wait for It . . .
    nikiflorica
    • May 26, 2020
    • 2 min

    Wait for It, Wait for It . . .

    "Waiting" carries so many connotations—tension, expectation, worry, time, patience, impatience, hope, fear—but if we're being completely honest with ourselves, it usually isn't a discipline that comes easily or enjoyably to us. It's true that waiting, at times, can make the final product sweeter: waiting for a wedding day, for example, or waiting for the ability to go to the grocery store and take as much time as you need to get whatever you need whenever you need. In that wa
    15 views0 comments
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