I am here and finally submitting my first set of ideas.
I’m just a woman sitting here at her laptop, hoping to inspire, challenge, and encourage others to get up....to stop looking at the top of the barrel from the bottom, and to work toward their own journey of healing.
I definitely don’t pretend to know what I’m talking about...but my hope is that my life experiences will help me navigate this life and maybe help someone else along the way.
So...here we go. Hi. I’m Nickole. I am the wife to an incredible, honorable, sexy, creative, compassionate, loving, gracious, merciful, and loyal man. I am mama to an amazingly talented, witty, hilarious, wildly handsome, and athletic boy and a hilarious, stunning, artistic, and incredible girl. I don't deserve this life I’ve been given, and should statistics always hold true, I would be in a completely different boat, living a completely different life. But here I am. And here is where I am most grateful.
I hope to write and encourage others to stand up for themselves, to find power in telling their stories, and to take steps forward in healing. I believe there is SO MUCH POWER in story telling and learning to find our voices. I felt for so long that I could not speak my story because it would be hurting those in it; those who used their positions in my life to cause harm. But what I found was that by suppressing it and holding it in, I was just moving from trigger to trigger, reacting to every single situation that arose, instead of working through it as an element of healing. I grew up in a toxic environment and have had a lot to UNlearn, but I never would have been able to move in a forward direction had I not trusted people in my community who would listen without judgment, showing empathy and mercy, and being willing to ask hard questions to help me navigate, learn the value of truth telling, and take the first steps toward wholeness. Ultimately, my strength and courage come from Jesus, who has very clearly shown me that my life is not to remain stagnant....that despite my feelings of worthlessness and guilt and shame, He has grabbed my hand and told me to get up. “Talitha Koum.” Those words resonate loud and clear. “Little girl, I say to you, ‘Get up.’” I am rising. Sometimes I fall, but I am rising. There is a life of wonder and a God of all things holy who longs to show me the adventure and life He has promised to me.
Let’s do this. Let’s navigate our truth and learn to speak it.
