The Quiet Quill

Feb 10
2 min

Jesus Laughed.

I can happily say that my new favourite show is officially The Chosen—not only marked by quality acting, sweet costumes, killer screenwriting, and loveable characters, but also featuring Jesus. Yeah, that's right. Jesus. Need I say more? As far as cinematic Jesus depictions go, The Chosen paints my favourite picture. Unlike in the original Ben-Hur film, he is not a faceless figure who floats through scenes on strings of otherworldly music. And, unlike in the film version of T

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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

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nikiflorica

Sep 14, 2020
3 min

"Going Nowhere" & the Real Adventure

While sifting through blog ideas this morning, I came across one line in my daily devotion and knew I had found my Monday Musing. "Although you may feel as if you are going nowhere in this world, your spiritual journey is another matter altogether, taking you along steep, treacherous paths of adventure." ~Sarah Young, Jesus Calling Interestingly enough, my thoughts were running along these lines at church yesterday, comparing my spiritual journey to my efforts as a writer, an

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nikiflorica

Sep 8, 2020
3 min

Applause for The Pilgrim's Progress

There are some stories we fancy we know so well that we don't bother to pick up the book—and for a long time, for me, that was The Pilgrim's Progress. It wasn't until a recent book thrifting excursion, when I found a stunning cloth-bound edition, that I finally set out to follow Christian on his pilgrimage to the Celestial City from beginning to end, once and for all! I'd been putting it off for years, and having experienced different versions of it (from storybook renditions

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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

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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

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nikiflorica

Aug 5, 2020
2 min

The First of Many Wonders

The past few months have taught me a lot about myself—for one thing, that I spend way, way too much time in my own head. Novel-writing is my passion, but it can be an all-consuming one, and once it reaches that point, I usually start to feel it. It's the same with any task, any undertaking. As long as my physical goals are kept in perspective and balanced with my spiritual life, things feel manageable. I have God's peace with me, His Presence beside me, and they keep my goals

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nikiflorica

Jul 7, 2020
2 min

Self-Hatred: That Dark Indulgence

To indulge, by definition, is to "allow oneself to enjoy the pleasure of" something. And it really can be anything. We tend to think of it in terms of chocolate or entertainment, but the rules are much broader than that. In fact, we can indulge in things that, on the surface, may seem completely unpleasant. Self-hatred is one of them. In a recent Sarah Young devotion on judging, I was struck hard with a warning against "indulg[ing] in self-hatred." It may seem counter-intuiti

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The Importance of Peace: Why Do We Need It?

nikiflorica

May 28, 2020
2 min

For Lack of Spare Minutes

When time slows down, it gives us a breath to slow down with it and savour our circumstances. To look at the little things and see what we may otherwise have glossed over for lack of spare minutes, or for lives packed to maximum capacity. When time slows down, suddenly we have minutes in abundance. Suddenly we can spend time together doing nothing but being together; we can climb a tree or lay in the grass and stare up at the sky just thinking and praying and feeling God's Pr

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nikiflorica

Nov 12, 2019
2 min

"I Am Making You a Watchman."

“Now, Son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them from me.” ~Ezekiel 33:7 Ezekiel was among the many people of Judah taken into captivity by the Babylonian Empire. I'd imagine he was in a pretty rough emotional place, lamenting the loss of his former life, the destruction of his homeland, and the enslavement of his people. But God had plans for Ezekiel, and chose him to receive something extremely valuable: th

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nikiflorica

Nov 6, 2019
2 min

Cutting Spiritual Clutter

Sometimes when the hectic pace of life kicks up a notch, it's the most fundamental things that get abandoned first. Take cleaning for example. Your bedroom may be a pristine sanctuary of cleanliness, or a jungle of clutter balanced precariously on the line between order and chaos. Either way, there are times (and we've all experienced it) that something so basic as cleaning gets pushed to the bottom of the proverbial priority list. Depending on what type of person you are, th

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nikiflorica

Oct 8, 2019
2 min

A Matter of Truth

Truth is such a tricky thing—at least, it has been since the world got a hold of it. Once upon a time it was really very simple. Someone could be lying, we’d say, “Tell the truth,” and they would know without question what we meant. The facts. The reality. Today, when one says, “Tell the truth,” the other can say, “Which truth? Yours or mine?” It’s a burden that’s rested heavily on me lately: the idea that this world has lost its truth. Not only are there thousands of confli

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nikiflorica

Sep 30, 2019
2 min

Peripheral Blessings

This weekend I heard the story of a courageous young woman who has battled unimaginable health issues for more than six years. Her story, though painful and riddled with periods of fear and doubt, is a triumphant testament to the goodness of God. In her words, “God is real, and He is good.” There were so many ways in which her testimony touched me, so many facets of her story that blew me away. How did she find courage when the pain seemed to have no end? How did she keep pra

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nikiflorica

Sep 18, 2019
2 min

An Invitation and a Promise

In class the other day, someone raised the point that the concept of a "personal Lord and Saviour" was relatively new, historically speaking. He alluded to the belief of certain groups, both past and present, that God is not present in the world around us, that He's not involved in our day-to-day lives, and that He has no interest in the problems we face as a result of living daily in a fallen world. FALSE! We know this is not in keeping with the Scriptures. The Bible is 2000

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nikiflorica

Mar 4, 2019
2 min

Monday, Motives and Mordecai

There are times when doing good feels easy. When going the extra mile is a pleasure, and brightening someone's day is an exciting mission that brightens our own in the process. When doing something good, thinking of someone else before ourselves, feels more like a privilege than a challenge and comes with a tidy blessing to top it off. Obviously, those times are great. I wish I could say it's always easy to put myself aside, but it's not. Sometimes when I'm faced with the opp

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NIKI FLORICA

Jesus Laughed.

And Bob's Your Uncle

"Going Nowhere" & the Real Adventure

Applause for The Pilgrim's Progress

Passion Is a Puppy

100% His—Reaching for the Next Level

Life is Joy—And What To Do About It

Life is Pain—And What to Do About It

The First of Many Wonders

Self-Hatred: That Dark Indulgence

Here in the Land of the Living

The Importance of Peace: Why Do We Need It?

For Lack of Spare Minutes

Tattered Scraps of Truth

"I Am Making You a Watchman."

Cutting Spiritual Clutter

A Matter of Truth

Peripheral Blessings

An Invitation and a Promise

Monday, Motives and Mordecai