Nikki Baines

Rooted in a century of family history and the hard-won lessons of survival, In God We Trust: Don’t Tread on Us is a deeply intimate memoir about transformation, truth-telling, and the fierce resilience of a family shaped by love, loss, faith, and generational strength.

Nicole “Nikki” Baines invites readers into her multigenerational story—one that spans addiction and recovery, spiritual questioning, childhood grief, parental reconciliation, and the unspoken experiences that shaped her identity. From the trauma of the 1980s crack epidemic and the quiet heroism of the elders who raised her, to the struggles of addiction, the weight of grief, and the awakening power of gratitude, Nikki pieces together the blessings hidden inside life’s most painful moments.

With transparency, humor, and unwavering faith, she illuminates her journey toward emotional healing and spiritual clarity. Every chapter echoes a universal message: no pain goes in vain, and every life—no matter how imperfect—carries divine purpose. This memoir is more than a testimony; it is an offering of compassion to anyone seeking freedom from the burdens of their past and the courage to reclaim their story.

A raw, redemptive, and deeply human narrative, In God We Trust: Don’t Tread on Us reminds us that God’s miracles often arrive disguised as obstacles—and that gratitude can turn even the heaviest truths into victory.

Compassion has always been humanity’s greatest strength—yet in today’s world, it’s easier than ever to lose sight of it.

In The Seven Compassion Distractions, Nikki Baines invites readers on a deeply personal journey, tracing the everyday forces that quietly pull us away from each other: our preferences, our access, our abilities, our identities, our intuition, our generational conditioning, and the roles society places on us.

Drawing from honest memories, cultural observation, and hard-earned wisdom, Nikki shows how these seven distractions shape the way we see, treat, and misunderstand one another.

This book is an offering—a reminder that compassion grows not from sameness, but from understanding. When we learn to honor our differences instead of fearing them, we reconnect to what makes us human.