My name is Nikola and I was born in the Philippines to a tough Filipina mom and a strong Russian dad. Having said that, I am both a tough and a strong puppy.
At the age of 15 I ran to my dad for help with physical appearance as he used to run a small gym in a big city and trained people for a living. He had given me a workout program I thought was rather heavy. I followed that program anyway, and just after a month of “working out” he tells me the big news - I was ready to compete. He had been secretly training me to become a powerlifter the whole time! That said, I was both thrilled and set back. Lifting weights as a sport had almost never been my initial choice, but I was all for finishing what I started. And so I began to compete with other women in the same weight category as I was.
Looking back to that moment of recognizing my strength, I could without a doubt say that it has a similar touch to how our Heavenly Father raises us as His children while on Earth. God leads us to obstacles where we have a 100% chance of learning a lesson or two… or more. We may often think He must be neglecting us when in reality, He’s giving us the chance to hone on our strengths by simply overcoming those obstacles. It sounds complicated, but the concept is simply put this way: He will never give us challenges that we can’t face. My dad took the opportunity to shape me into what he already saw in me since we got to know each other better, a strong young lady. I’m talking physical aspect. Now going by that logic, our Heavenly Father is the same. He knows our potential, and He will stop at nothing to help us become it. All we have to do is have faith in Him, and trust that everything happens for a reason. And that reason is often everything Divine. God has mapped out everything for us, He has set out all the guidelines and our job is to follow. Although I only was a powerlifter for two years before I had to fly to Cyprus, I would never second guess getting back in shape soon. Lifting weights may not have been my first choice, it was and is nonetheless my best one yet.