NIKI FLORICA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Failure is one of the most unpleasant phenomenons to grip our world since Adam and Eve's fall in the Garden of Eden. Whether magnanimous or minute, the feelings of worthlessness, disappointment, grief, pain, and guilt that so often accompany failure can be crippling . . . and damaging to our spiritual mindset. Failure has the power to distort. It can shrink the grand scope of life and inflate the tiny speck of one mistake, until all we see is the task we couldn't fulfill. Som

In the past, I've been pretty quick to judge the disciples for their lack of faith throughout the gospels. I mean, as Christians of today, we haven't seen Jesus in the flesh; we haven't witnessed his miracles or looked into his eyes or heard his voice speak our names, but the disciples had. Their relationship with Christ was tangible, visible, measurable. And yet, they still despaired and lost hope. Take the crucifixion for example. Jesus had warned the disciples on more than

"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

Like it or not, our society is saturated with the concept of romance. In February especially, we tend to be bombarded with commercialized amour in the forms of roses and candy-grams tied up with red velvet bows. It's become so normalized that we seldom stop to think of the societal value that's been shoved down our throats like a heart-shaped box of chocolate—the idea that a life without romance is a life waiting to be complete. We've put so much emphasis on finding love that

The world outside my window this morning was blanketed in peace—gentle snow falling in heavy, silent flakes, a crisp white drapery over every branch and sprig, the air itself muffled by quiet. There was a stillness to it that demanded attention. Peace is one of the many spiritual gifts that Jesus offers to those who follow him. He said, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you." Not just any peace, but his. The peace of Jesus, given as no one in the world can give—in

Yesterday I spent my Christmas morning at the vet clinic, saying goodbye to my well-beloved and precious little guinea pig, Truffle. It was a rough morning. Lots of tears. We brought our piggy home in a box, indisputably a pretty awful Christmas present, but since it's Thankful Thursday I thought I would endeavour to count some of the blessings Truffle brought us. My personal first and only pet, Truffle/Buba was perfect for my family—a vanilla piggy with chocolate-dipped chee

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

One temptation that seems prevalent in our luxury-cushioned first-world is the urge to dwell on ourselves. Whether it's that nagging cold, or that way-too-early morning, or that hurtful word we just can’t seem to smooth from our memories—how much time do we spend, do we waste, looking inwards, at our own troubles, instead of looking out? It’s not an easy concept—forgetting ourselves. It’s true and authentic selflessness. But when we do step out of the grey cloud of our proble