Nikki A.

Today, Nikki speaks to us about her resilience and finding church through an unexpected person, working on forgiveness and relationships and the importance of music in her life.

Tell us a bit about how you grew up and your childhood: I grew up in Miami. My family growing up was full and my parents went above and beyond to give me what I wanted. It was not a Christian household, but it was a full house, with 4 siblings total, me being the youngest, and the love was there. That came to a halt when my father passed when I was 10. It was sudden, and it turned my world upside down. From that moment on, I started to grow up too fast and got into drugs, wrong crowds. In my quest to fill that void, I ended up getting extraordinarily hurt by relationships and people. This ultimately led to me finding Christ at the age of 17 when I was invited to a church by a gang member. 

Inspiring biblical passage of the moment: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

Spiritual growth focus at the moment: Caring not about what people think but of what God says of me and using this as my confidence to persevere in my calling. 

Profession: Singer/Artist (new ep coming out soon); Realtor and Real Estate Paralegal! 

If you wrote a memoir, what would the title be? “From the Crisis in a Woman, to a Woman in Christ” – The Biography of Nikki Alvarado

When did you first encounter God and how did you encounter Him? When I was 17, in high school. I was desperate for change and God made a way in my mess. It was a gang member at the time who invited me to church. The rest is history. 

“It was a gang member at the time who invited me to church. The rest is history.”

How would you describe Jesus? What a healer! What a make-your-life-better God. Jesus is my breakthrough here on Earth every single day. We need His kingdom here on earth every day. 

How has your relationship with Him changed you? Having a relationship with Jesus has given me discernment to be able to see what is evil.  Once we are no longer blind and we differentiate between what is evil and what is life, we can choose the narrow path, because the rest is full of darkness.  

What has been the darkest time in your life, and how did you see God in it? Well, my teens were lots of fun but dark, as I previously mentioned. I was deeply wounded by relationships and that compounded on top of all the layers I had to deal with when my father died, but I ultimately reached the end of the rope when all that led to me getting pregnant at 20 and becoming a single mom. Single parenting was the hardest thing I had to encounter. It was the last straw for me to say, “I am not doing this my way anymore” (I knew Christ, at this point, but still walking my own way) It took this situation for me to fully surrender to Christ. My life has never been the same. At this point I became committed to my local church, became the worship lead singer (which I still am to this day, 9 years later). I met my husband at the church, and we now have 3 wonderful children together, a home, and a beautiful life together. The Lord settled me! – But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. – 1 Peter 5:10 – this is the verse I always think of when I remember what He has brought me out of. 

What has helped you grow spiritually in this season? Funny enough – Relationships! I think we are all broken people, yet we need each other so much. God created us to be in unity and what this means is that forgiveness has to be at our core every single day otherwise you will be one lonely soul! We need to forgive one another like Christ forgave us, operate in His kingdom and move forward. Love is the glue that holds it all together. 

“I think we are all broken people, yet we need each other so much.”

Just read/currently reading (and what has it taught you?): I love the Bible, but I love physcology and our mind and how we can couple the two to become strong confident children of God. Right now, I am reading Switch on your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health by Dr. Caroline Leaf.  It has really taught me what I already know, but even more profound – the renewal of the mind, daily. This is spiritual, but when you learn what physically happens in the brain when a new thought or memory is formed, it is empowering, and it helps us appreciate God’s creation even more. We truly have the power in Christ to change our lives, and it starts in the mind! Believe the word of God.  This literally changes our brain. A thought is literal energy in the brain, and God wants that spark to be His word !!

Top three essentials: Eh…. this is always changing but right now it’s soda water, this is so hard as I think about it, because I don’t really have essentials except for what I have in the shower 🙂  I guess right now I can say Soda Water, some essential oils to put in my tea for immunity, and my current night time routine, I am using Seaweed night cream and it’s doing wonders!. 

How did God speak to you recently? To not judge what others are going through because with the same measure you judge, you will be judged.  It’s best to be like a child when looking at others and comparing your life to theirs.  You need a child-like faith to enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Hobby: Creating music, hands down. This is what I do and is embedded in me. I can’t let it go! 

Top three practical tips for staying spiritually strong: 1) Humble yourselves and learn from others; 2) Surround yourself with like-minded people who support you; and 3) Read the Bible. 

Favorite person in scripture? I always refer to Rahab! Why? Because she lied and God blessed her! Yes, she lied to protect the whereabouts of the spies she was protecting from being caught by the king. The spies were Jews and needed a place to hide. Imagine if we close God in a box in a scenario like this. This is why we need to learn the character of God and have a relationship with him and not minimize Him to just religion and rules.  

What do you want people to learn about God when they look at you? Redemption. If God can change my life around, He can do it for you. 

How do you engage with your community? I am a worship lead singer at Kendall Church of God and am highly involved and committed here, but I love to simply express the goodness of God by example. Every get-together, in my local grocery store, at the restaurant, wherever I can represent the goodness and love of God, I will do that. 

A goal you have? Create more music and expand my music career. 

A special tradition you and your family engage in or keep: So instead of the tooth fairy around here, when my kids lose a tooth, we put $5 under their pillow and a note from “jesus” so they wake up and see what God thinks of them 🙂 They get so excited that they take their note from Jesus to school and show it to their teachers. I wonder what their teachers think! But hey, even this is an impact in the community. 

Question you will ask when you get to heaven? Hands down, Why did you take my dad so early? Biggest question mark of my life. 

Thing you want to raise awareness about: I want to raise awareness about the deception in our world. I want people to know the truth of God, so they can make the right decisions and have eyes to see and ears to hear. We are living in very deceptive times.  

“We are living in very deceptive times.”

What does your morning routine consist of? Morning face routine (currently using Mario Badescu products and they have been good to me), wake up everyone to get ready for school, school drop off, turn on my podcast, drive to the office, order starbucks, grab and go. Pretty basic, right ?

What is on your nightstand? Physical Bible and a diffuser and cup of water because I need to sleep with water next to me every night. 

Define Christianity in a sentence: The best decision. 

For more Nikki:

IG: @mrsnikkialvarado

Until next time, keep witnessing!

XX