Novica's Nuggets of Faith

I had the honor and privilege to speak at my very first youth conference and believe me when I tell you I have never felt so relevant to young people than I did that day.  It reminded me that just because I am 42, I still had a lot to offer young people and they were eager to listen.   I usually shy away from middle school and teens because they get on my last nerve, and they trigger me in many ways, because of my childhood dealing with sexual abuse and being a teen mom.  I think they remind me of the time I did not have the luxury to be just a kid.  So when I see them doing and making stupid kid decisions, I can't handle it.  Notice I said "kid decisions".  That's what they get to do, and it's perfectly acceptable, but for me, I just cannot deal, call me a hater.  I'm okay with that...lol Speaking to these young adults inspired me more, because they have some adult experiences that I can easily relate and get to them on their level.  H...

3  For everything there is a season, and a time for every  [ a ] purpose under heaven:  2  a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;  3  a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;  4  a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  5  a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;  6  a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;  7  a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;  8  a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 We have all been forewarned that there is an end to everything.  I am reminded of my own life, and all of the endings I endured....

You are Not Alone ...As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.                                                                                                                          Joshua 1:5 Joshua was charged with bringing God's people into the promise land after his predecessor Moses and all the Generation before them had passed. Joshua was with Moses during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, he was with Moses through battles and triumphs, through failures and progress.  However, he wasn't in the position Moses was in as the leader. But now, it was Joshua's turn to lead the people of God, I can't imagine the stress h...

Hi Friends, We often look at the coming of a new year as a chance to start fresh, to start something new and of course lay down those proverbial lists of resolutions.  No one is immune from it's hypnotizing promises of change, the start of a new year is no doubt one of the most hope-filled moments of our lives.  But, I challenge you to keep track of how long your "new leaf" mode will last before you go right back to your old ways.  I heard somewhere that if you do something for 30 days, it is supposed to become a habit.  Dare I beg to differ in this thinking!  I think if your attitude has not changed while mindlessly doing the task at hand for 30-days your efforts are going to be in vain.  So, what do I think we should do in this new season? The Apostle Paul writes this in Romans 12:1-3 (MSG) "So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it b...

I  know it has been a minute, but it appears that God's timing has come to past.  I am so happy to announce that I completed my first book "Against All Odds" and it was published by Covenant Books this past November.  Those of you who know me, know that I have been trying to write this book for years.  I realized that I was allowing fear to keep me from accomplishing what God had called me to do.  Fear is a powerful state of mind and it is amazing how much fear keeps us from changing the world, our communities and our families. It took some coaching and counseling to get me through the book writing process and a lot of encouragement and discipline.  So many of us set lofty goals or have such big dreams about things we want to accomplish, but how many of us truly count up the cost (i.e sacrifice) of what it will take to make that dream a reality.  You may have to sacrifice time from family.  You will have to say no to things that you want to do...

Hello Friends, It is so good to be able to come back on this page and express my thoughts and dreams.  This past year has had it's challenges.  The Women's group attendance slowly dwindled in the fall. I evaluated my approach and realize that there needs to be more creativity in my lessons,  and the onset of the frigid weather caused many to hold tight to their warm homes. So I suspended the meetings and good thing because we had THE worst winter ever! Subzero temperatures  dominated the winter season and almost record snow falls.  It was absolutely the craziest winter that I can recall.  Cabin fever was really setting in and during that time my husband and I decided to start making marriage vlogs.   We have 5 episodes so far and we have been having so much fun  making the videos and coming up with subjects.  So tune into our "Marriage Matters" episodes and let me know what you think.  If you have any ideas for an episode...

There is nothing that I could give to God except the one thing that he desires and that Is my life. Everyday I am reminded of how pitiful I am without Him in my life.  So many times I feel like what is the use, Lord I feel so inadequate to do your will, but all along he gave me everything I needed to give him my all.  I am his workmanship and he is marveling over what he put in me.  The problem is me,  I realize that the one thing that I have to give to God is my life.  It is all that I have to give, It is all you have to give, so give it all to him, heart, mind body and soul!  I have nothing else to bring to the table but that of the one thing he granted me and that is life.  My prayer is that we all realize that we are his workmanship,  we once were lost, without order and our lives were Godless, but he loved us so much that he adopted us into His royal family that we too have the opportunity to have fellowship with God, that we to have the...

It is really something how I end up coming  back to my blog each year only to post 1 or 2 blogs.  It is my determination to do more blogging and Videos, I am looking to get a better laptop and get to work.  I have a few engagements this year and I am also working on a manuscript that I hope to complete within the next year.  I solicit every one's prayers and ask that you follow me in this process as I go forth. upcoming events Feb 3, 2013   @ 3pm     Step into your Place Through Faith                                               Grace Family Worship Center                     ...

I truly believe that this year is going to be a year like no other, changes are already on the way and though the process seems quite scary, just like Joseph, no matter what comes in my life I am going to hold on to the vision that God has given me and my husband.  I realize that although certain things that happen in my life, never were truly made to keep me down, (although the devil meant it for evil) God has a plan for my life and everything that happened from now to my past has been a set up for my latter greatness, not for me to get the glory but for God to have all the glory.   Many people have so many ideas of what it means to be holy and righteous, but they forget about the relationship  they are supposed to have with Jesus and begin to live in their own traditions and mindset that totally excludes battered and imperfect people like you and I.  I no doubt feel that there are certain fruits that come from having a relationship with God (Galatians 5:19-...

Many people ask me what my hairstyle of choice is. If you have been with me from the beginning of my Natural hair journal which started June of 2010 then you would know that I absolutely love 2 strand twists. I love to spend 8 hours twisting my hair just so that I can have a couple of weeks of virtually maintenance free hair care. the 8 hours fly by with a couple of movies and of course I break in between to feed my belly, but it's relaxing to me and knowing that my hair is rewarding me for not assaulting it with the flatiron on a daily basis by growing healthy and strong is enough for me. So with that said I have compiled some pictures of my natural 2 strand twist journey in the last two years, enjoy!

PTMPATTG

Hi everyone! I know, this is a shame before the good Lord. I have not posted much on my blog and I so apologize.  I have been active working for the Lord, but just to update everyone, the Spirit of Deborah Conference has been rescheduled to March, I will let you know what date as soon as I hear back from Dr. Johnston. Until then, Hopefully I will be posting some things before then.  Oh I have also been going through a natural hair journey it has been great and I am digging the progress!

I will am scheduled to attend the Spirit of Deborah Conference again!  Those of you who went last year know it was a great conference with some anointed women of God!  I hope you all can save the date- January 28, 2012 where we will do it all over again.  This conference is coordinated by Dr. Niama Johnston Bush.  Please take a minute to stop by her blog page or look her up on YouTube.com she is a gifted women of God and very accomplished psalmist and writer and a dear friend. More info to come on the location and time of conference.  God Bless

Today I read the prayer of Jabez 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 and also watched Jentezen Franklin I just got back from a much deserved 2 week vacation and I am so glad to have a home to come back to! I have had moments of re-evaluation through out this trip and I must confess that I have come away with more "to dos" than  "have dones" on this trip.  I certainly have a lot of work to do, but the one thing that I know is it's going to take a lot of faith.  More faith than I realized.  And to top it all off, the first sermon that I hear when I come back is on the prayer of Jabez.  Just reading the prayer made me feel unworthy.  I know God wants to bless me, but I feel unworthy to ask him. I know that he will open up doors for me to travel and deliver his word, I just don't know how, and I feel awkward asking him to bless me and enlarger my territory,  I am not looking to be rich and famous, I just want to influence peoples lives through my testimony, and the wo...

The title says it all!  You can make a list of things right now that you do and probably cross off 3/4 of it as unnecessary clutter that keeps you from doing the few things God called you to do well. We had our Nuggets of Faith Women's group this past Tuesday and we discussed setting priorities.  first off the Bible tells us to "love the Lord your God with all your heart ans with all your soul and with all your strength"   Deuteronomy 6:5 God is supposed to come first, all of our heart, soul, and strength should be committed to loving God, making him the first priority, the first one we consult.  The Bible also states, " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and every thing else will be added"   Matthew 6:33 Most of the time we are busy trying to make a good life for ourselves and neglect our relationship with our Father.  Setting priorities means that we don't have to work ourselves into total insanity, the simple formula? Seek G...

This past week I attended the 87th annual HYPU convention.  Every year I have attended this event, it is always the same as any other conference or assembly we have always had.  Not much room is really given to the young people.  I mean we sing the same songs and don't incorporate anything new.  A refreshing moment was when two young people stood up during testimony service and sang Kirk Franklin's song "Smile" but even then the support was vague.  I would love to see the National board support a week long HYPU camp for our young people.  With workshops, concerts and services  that address the issues of young Christians today.  I am sure that there are things in the works, it's just that change is long overdue.  Anyhoo, The word was good and my favorite was Pastor Michael McCreary he did an awesome job!  Dr. Cummings showed us a few things and I got his message. However, sometimes I feel like preachers don't think they preached well unle...

Hey everyone! My how I've missed my blog page!  I am sorry I haven't put a single post on here in May, but I was taking my last class before graduating and I needed total concentration on the task at hand.  Not that ministry ever stopped as those of you know me and were either at the small group back in May or at Church service on Sunday.  I am still about my Father's business and I have finished class with an A and I an now done with school completely!  How about all this rain!  WOW! It is scary to see so much devastation going on from the weather, my heart and prayers go out to all who have been  affected.  One more sign that let's us know that Jesus will be coming for his church and I don't know about you, but I don't want to be all lip service, but I  want my walk to stand before me when Jesus comes back.  I will post the next Nuggets of Faith small group meeting time and place shortly, but I just wanted to say I'VE MISSED YOU!...

Hello everyone! I have just posted a new video blog on the Church of God MPGT community facebook page.  Go over there and check it out.  Once I get really good at posting and keeping my videos under 10 mins I will be posting them to You tube and sharing them to this page.  I wanted to encourage you all to press toward the mark.  Philippians 3:13-14 Paul writes to the Philippian church:  "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:  but this one thing I do, Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Paul knew how he persecuted the Church he was quite aware of his faults and mistakes, however, because he was sure of the new creature he was in Christ, having a greater purpose in spreading the Gospel, he did not let his past keep him from doing what God called for him to do.  We too cannot let guilt from past mist...

I am preparing for the women's group tonight but I didn't want you to think that I forgot about my bloggies. The discussion topic is : living a spirit filled life I am going to post the worksheet I composed for this session and you can view, save and print it off if you find it useful.  I will also do a video blog and make it accessible (hopefully) on this page...pray for me!  lol Anyways, sorry I haven't posted anything in a while, but believe me when I say God is good and he is always on time when it comes to meeting our needs.  God Bless and I love you guys.

I just finished up studying with my husband, who was preparing to teach the Sunday School lesson.  The lesson subject is "Living a changed life".  It was coming out of Romans 6:1-13 and 22,23.  But I wanted to read the chapters leading up to chapter 6, so as I was going throught he chapters, two verses that stood out to me were from Chapter 1: 16-17.  Paul declares "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. Just as it is written, "The righteous will live by faith." This scripture spoke to me, we as believers and followers of Christ, should never be ashamed of such a powerful gospel.  This gospel holds the power for us to be saved.  But this is only true to those that have faith in the gospel of grace.  Grace is Gods power to help us to live a righteous life, i...