Thankful & Honored

I am thankful.  I am thankful for all the wonderful blessings that God has bestowed upon me. A wonderful husband.  A marvelous little boy.  Two of the best families united by marriage, and getting bigger as the years go by.   A Holy spirit filled, sanctified, worshiping, Jesus Name church.  I am thankful for that great salvation that was obtained through the sacrifice that Jesus made. 

I am  Honored. A girl who was so quiet that people thought she was mute.  Yes that was me.  What God saw in me then? I will never know but, I do know that he saw something in me that nobody else did. Now here I am. honored.  Honored that he chose me to carry the torch. I am Honored to know that He lives inside of me, and that I am chosen to Reflect his Glory. 

That is just how I feel.  Thankful and Honored. 

Thanks Jaz for styling and photographing. Luv ya sis!

Summer Adventures: African Lion Safari

If you live in Canada then you would know that we had one of the most horrible winters.  Very low temperatures and very frequent snow falls. Gosh, we thought it was never going to end. So when this summer started everyone got extremely happy, and we, Ruben and I, decided to take advantage of all the snow-less days we get.   

We do have two jobs. One of our jobs is only from 5-8 in the early morning, and our second job is being pastors.  Some may think that is not work but let me tell you that it is.  We do have good days where we get the time to study, pray and also spend time together.  We do however have days where they are so busy.   Sometimes our phone rings off the hook for prayer requests or other concerns/needs of the church people, family and even other ministers.  Someday we are our on the road visiting  people, or running other church errands. Despite what people may think, being a pastor is actually hard work, and if you don't make time for family, you will never get any.   We decided that one day a week we will take off completely, and have family day. Family day is important to me for two reasons.  One being that we actually get time off together, and the second is that my child will understand that he is a priority in our lives, and not grow up resenting the ministry.  

So last week we headed to African Lion Safari.  It's literally 20 mins from my home. It's actually shameful that I have never been. It was very much worth it though. Ruben and I had just as much fun as Benjamin did.  It was pretty exciting to see all these exotic animals. The biggest plus on our side was, of course, seeing Benji's face light up when he saw the different animals he recognized. 

Our Day

Last Friday I had the day off, and we Spontaneously decided to do something different. We had heard about a lake near to us but had no idea where it was, so we headed in search of this lake.  With the help of Ms. GPS  we found the lake, Just a mere 20 min away. It's a pretty big lake.  I don't know how we missed that.

When we got there, we saw that they rented boats there. Literally, Our eyes lit up, and after expressing our desire of renting a boat, we decided to do it.  It was fairly inexpensive, and it was also a very small motor boat. he he... but it was enough to take us into the lake.   It was so peaceful and beautiful.  In all honesty, it was one the best experiences ever.

I was a little scared that Benjamin would do something mischievous, go over board, or flip the boat but surprisingly he was very well behaved.  He just sat by my side enjoying the view, and then went over to his dad to learn how to fish.  We caught no fish, but it's ok.  We had a great time, just the three of us.

We stayed on the lake for about 3 hours.  We would have stayed another hour, if it wasn't for the cold front that decided to encounter us. We headed home happy, and enjoying a beautiful sunset on a open country road. :)  

(I did not take my camera for obvious reasons, only my Cell... in a little zip baggie. lol)

Ruben is one the coolest Dads I know.  Benjamin is very lucky! 

Selfie :) 

Best Day Ever!

Taking Stock

I saw This post, and thought I would give it a try. 

Making : Calender for the church. 
Cooking : nothing yet, but I will be making breakfast in a bit. 
Drinking :  Coffee, it's my one true love.  
Looking : water dripping down the window. 
Wishing : A veggie panini from the princess cafe. 
Enjoying : the beautiful rain falling from the sky. 
Waiting : For everyone to wake up. 
Liking : Minimalism 
Wondering : If I could learn Portuguese. 
Loving : Flowy skirts
Hoping : My son will grow to love God, more than I. 
Needing :  A girls night out. 
Smelling : Cinnamon Apple. 
Wearing : My long grandma sweater. 
Following : in my role models footsteps
Noticing : my hair gets super frizzy when it rains. meh. 
Knowing : My husband has unscheduled plans. 
Thinking : How amazing it is that music that is dedicated to God, moves everyone. 
Feeling : rested 
listening: Face2Face, and remembering. 
Bookmarking : Another blog.. hehe. 
Opening : nothing.  Just leaving all things closed right now. 
Giggling : A Benjamin holding on to the side of the table, swinging and yelling "wheeee"
Feeling :  Happy. 

He used my son to comfort me.

Last week was a hard week for us.  I have had a couple of bad weeks in the past few months, but last week was possibly the hardest week.  I found myself, one evening sitting on my bed talking with God.  I said to Him, "God, whenever anyone needs someone to talk to, or is upset; I am there for them.  When someone needs advice; I am there.  When someone needs encouragement; I am there.  When someone needs prayer; I am there... but what happens when I am the one who needs advice, encouragement, and prayer.  Who will be there for me?"  I felt like that clown that made all the sad people laugh, but when the clown was sad no one was there to make him laugh.  

I was just sitting there in silence staring at the blank wall, when all the of the sudden I felt these small little arms wrap around me, and a sweet little voice that said "It's Otay, mama"  Yes that was enough to make me cry like a baby.  I'm not sure if Benjamin understood why I was crying, but he just held on to me until I finally calmed down. 

I understood that God was telling me, that I could go to Him, that He would be there for me whenever I need Him.  He used my son to comfort me, and to let me know that He is with me, and I was reminded of God's promise in ISAIAH 41:10...

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
    Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
    I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

You know what, I'm ok now.  God knew what I needed.  He's amazing! 

I thank Benji for allowing himself to be used by God. 

 I know this little guy will a great man of God. 

My booster shot

Hello there,

I have a little testimony to tell.  I should actually have said this in church this weekend but due to unforeseen circumstances (no one ever knows when a child will get sick), I wasn't able to go.  Well when we moved to this area, I thought that it would be easy-peasy to find a job, considering my work experience from the states.

Well my job search began, and the Lord knows that I took job
searching super serious.  Had a couple of interviews, that in my mind I nailed, yet still nothing.  I even went to a couple of job agencies, and still nothing.  I got to the point where I was willing to work anywhere.  No one called me, nothing, absolutely nothing.

I finally got a call from a little part time job, which I thank the Lord for.  It's not my ideal job but it's been good to me this far.  Any day I request with time for church events, they give me off.  Which is great b/c church takes priority over this job.

this experience has really encouraged me to take to another step toward my future. I know that it is my fault for not having continued my education after high-school but  it's not to late to do so.  I applied to college about 3 months ago, and I hadn't heard back. I waited patiently but after a while i started to feel like maybe I wasn't good enough.  The devil tried to discouraged me with feelings of worthlessness.  I will be honest, I battled with this, and it wasn't until I completely confessed to God in prayer, exactly how I felt that I began to feel better.

About to two weeks ago, I got my acceptance letter. finally. I will be starting in September. Only God knows the amount of things that ran through my mind during the waiting process. I fell like I have just received a booster shot of patience and trust in God, from God himself.  He's pretty awesome.

Anyway, that's what I wanted to share. Now, I'm off to a conference to worship the Lord!

 

When I bored, I take selfies, and then I go through them and delete them all. 

I kept these and decided that I needed to do something with them. 

Why do kids grow up so fast?

He doesn't even call me mami anymore.  He calls me "MA" like a teenager!