The Reason for Hope

1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."

So it was my turn to lead Bible Study on Friday at the Hernandez' house. The catch: it was all in Spanish. I have a very "grengo" style spanish that I'm happy Angel can understand. He has just gotten used to it and rarely corrects me. I'd much rather translate in the medical setting anytime, before leading a Bible study in spanish. I'm pretty sure everyone followed what I was saying though. I thought I'd share what was on my heart (don't worrie, in English!):

Easter's over. Back to work. Back to school. Back into the routine of life. What does that look like for you? What would it look like if Christ is the center of your life? What changes would you have to make? Who would notice? What's stopping you from making these changes?

When Jesus left the earth, he sent his diciples to the ends of the earth. This is also a command for us to follow.

Looking back over my life, there is so much that I am thankful for. However, when I was younger, I didn't always see it that way. I didn't realize how fortunate I was to be raised in a Christian home where Christ was the center of the family. At an early age, I accepted Christ in my heart and had a desire to learn more about him. As I got older I felt like I was "doing all the right things." I was going to church, I went to a Christian school, I was very involved in youth group, bible studies, prayer groups, Evangelism Explosion(EE), Touring Choir, I had Christian friends etc. However, I didn't understand the power God had in my life. Even though these things helped me grow, I was trusting in my own actions. I wanted to share his love with others, but I didn't even know how deep his love is for me.

With my desire to grow in the Lord, also came a desire of wanting to please others. My parents would express their proud feelings of how great I was doing. This made me want to please them all the more, along with my teachers, siblings, friends, and other people. I was failing. I realized this was impossible. I kept faling at my large task of pleasing everyone in my life. The Lord brought be through times where I knew something was missing.

I admired people who had strong testimonies. People that hit rock bottom and the Lord turned their life around. That didn't happen to me. I didn't appreciate how the Lord had protected me from things of this world. But the Lord continued to give me a desperate need for him.

Through my husband, I have learned to appreciate things the Lord has protected me from. I feel like through Angel, I understand that the Lord spared me from great hardships as a child and most of all I can see where he always held me in his grip. He is my strength and is working in my life every day. Part of Angel's testimoney has what mine doesn't, where people in his family can see that he is a different person now because of God in his life. This reason for our hope has brought us together to share His name among the nations. And we are still praying for God's timing and guidance of where this may take our family.

I want to challenge you to share your story. Change people's lives. Change your life. This is part of what it looks like to make Christ the center of your life. Make changes. People will notice. God commands it. Maybe you don't feel like you have a testimoney or maybe you aren't sure how to put it into words. Or maybe you don't see the power of the work the Lord is doing in your life.

One thing that I've started doing, is looking at each day as a testimoney. We serve a living God who is always perfecting the work in us. What is the Lord doing right now that is pointing us to him? How can we use our daily stories and daily walk with the Lord as a testimoney for Him? What are some miracles that has happened this week? Think. Write them down. Save them. Share them.

It's much easier to go into your testimoney if you are already sharing a daily testimoney. People will want to know the rest of the story. If this is something you're having a hard time with, look at Paul's example when he shares his story in Acts 26. There are many other examples in scripture.

It was neat to close the time with everyone sharing what the Lord has been doing in their lives over the past few weeks. We go to church together and worship together, but don't always have a chance to share these things together.

Psalm 96:3

"Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples."

Where do they get this stuff from?

Caleb and Alisia are so very different.
Alisia:
-will usually do anything to please us.
-will say what is on her heart in sometimes a very convicting way.
-will take the lead when playing with other kids.
-will spend the night with Grammy any time. She'd live there if we let her!
Caleb:
-will do anything to get out of obeying. He's really good at this and has a lot of excuses.
-will copy phrases he hears so we really have to be careful what we say and what he watches.
-will follow others when playing with other kids.
-will not spend the night with Grammy unless there's a good reason to (bribe!).

This evening, Angel was at worship practice and it was one of those nights of balancing supper, homework, baths and bedtime. At supper, after Caleb ate a little bit of his food, he said he was done eating and asked me if he could play his game. I told him he needs to finnish eating. A few minutes later, I noticed he still hadn’t touched any more of his food. Yes, I’m one of those mothers, the kids have to eat their food...or at least make an attempt to. At this point I just wanted him to obey and told him again, “Caleb please eat your food.” He looked at me with a very serious face and said, “I gotta use the pot, woman.” I tried as hard as I could to keep a serious face, but I couldn’t. I lost it. I think I just really needed to laugh, and that did it. I couldn’t stop laughing. But then, he just kept saying it over and over and thought he was so funny! And he would laugh at himself. “What has he been watching?” I thought to myself. Then Alisia says, “Mommy, he gets that from you!”
Finally, I could tell he ate most of his food and I asked him to start getting ready for a bath. I went into the bathroom to start the water. He started taking off his clothes, but then stopped looked at me with his sweet, innocent, big brown eyes and said, “But Mommy, I didn’t finnish my food.” I said nothing, pulled off his shirt and pants, and sat him in the bath.

As I was laying him down to bed, I asked him to lay down quietly while I pray with Alisia since she didn’t feel well. He was bouncing on his bed saying “I’m sick too! Pray with me first.”

Ok, so I’ve heard kids become mirrors of their parents. If you have kids, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about (or you'll find out soon). It slips out of their mouth or they do something and you know exactly where it must have come from. But why can’t he pick up the “good stuff”? I do know that he does have a very sensitive heart and loves learning about God and His Word. Maybe I do use words like “pot.” But do I really try to come up with excuses not to obey my heavenly father? Do I try to put it off till later? When the Lord calls me to obedience, what stands in the way of me obeying his call? I can be an example by falling to my knees.

I'm reminded of the Hymn I grew-up singing:

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.



Just look at these sweet,
innocent, big brown eyes!
They get me every time!
In this picture he's only 2!

Easter Happenings

This Easter we enjoyed spending time with our family as well as our church body. Here's some pictures of our Easter Celebration.

We made it the sunrise service on time at 6am and my parents joined us! It was a treat having them there to worship with us so early on Easter morning. Then we headed to the Hernandez' for breakfast with the congregation.
Breakfast: Tamales, Ensalada de Fruita and Pan (Friut Salad, Bread). Yummy!

Alisia looking beautiful with a touch of Mexican spice.

Angel teaching Caleb and Alisia to appreciate their Mexican roots. Eeeyyeee!

Caleb and Junior. Caleb enjoys hanging with la raza (the gang).

Here's Danny (Angel's cousin) with some church friends. He's very involved with church and has been here for two years now. Also photoed: Paige, Danny, Sandita, Andrea, Joanna, Erica, (me)

On Saturday, we enjoyed the evening with family- my parents, Mommom and Poppop, Jarrod and Stephanie, Joe, Teresa and Eston, Jim and Brenda, Dan and Rae.

Easter Egg Hunts:

Ping Pong:

Decorating Easter Eggs:














humm...I wonder what that egg says!

 

Be careful Caleb, The eggs aren't superheros.

Too late! Sorry Darth Vader.

(some of) The final product: Some very cool Star Wars eggs!

The Lord reminded me that despite our sinful nature, he is faithful to draw us back to himself. I have a tendency to overly focus on what's going on and our activities instead of focusing on the reason we are celebrating. I have to realize that it is OK if things don't go exactly as planned and let things play out. I usually consider myself a very flexible person, but lately God has been teaching me to be flexible in His timing, not my own. I am thankful to have a husband who continues to love me and gently point me back to God.

Proverbs 16:9
A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.

Amazing Love

John 1:29
"...Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

Have a blessed Easter celebrating the Resurrection and serving the living God.


Your only Son No sin to hide
But You have sent Him, From Your side
To walk upon this guilty sod
And to become the Lamb of God

Your gift of Love They crucified
They laughed and scorned him as he died
The humble King They named a fraud
And sacrificed the Lamb of God

Oh Lamb of God, Sweet lamb of God
I love the Holy Lamb of God
Oh wash me in His precious Blood
My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God

I was so lost I should have died
But You have brought me to Your side
To be led by Your staff and rod
And to be call a lamb of God

Lamb of God by Twila Paris 1985

Holy Week

Monday: Home Group at the Shank's
Tuesday: MOPS Meeting
Wednesday: Worship Practice
Thursday: 6:30pm Worship and Prayer Vigil Covenant
7pm Cordero de Dios (Lamb of God) Play
Friday: 4pm Egg Hunt
7pm Alianza Studia Biblica our house
Saturday: Easter Dinner with the Puffenbarger's
Sunday: 6am Sunrise Service
8:30 am Breakfast at the Hernandez'
11am Easter Service

humm...These are all great activities we have going on this week, but somethings gotta go. I want to stay focused on Christ and still be sane by the time Easter Service gets here. Lord, bring us closer to you this week in all our activities. Let our hearts rejoice for the reason you came into this world.

Luke 19:38-39
"Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”


P.S. Genine and Dan just got back from Israel. Click on the link to view some of their pictures of their trip.

Sowing Seeds

Alisia has been learning about seeds in Science class and she made a beautiful seed collection display. However, it is obvious that we don't live on a farm, and we don't garden.

We were eating popcorn after school for snack and I noticed Alisia picking out all the seeds.

Me: "What are you doing?"

Alisia (with a big smile): "I'm going to plant a popcorn tree."

Me: "Alisia, think about the word popcorn, where do you think the seeds come from?"

Alisia: "POPCORN...oh! Corn! Then I'll plant a corn tree!"

Hummm..I'll definately be planting something this year! It'll be our project. Now we just have to think of what we want to grow! Maybe a corntree? Any ideas on something the kids can help with?

Luke 8:15

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Faith of a Child

Tuesday I found out that my license plates were stolen off my car. Both the front and back. I don't know where it happened, but I called the police and made a report. He wasn't alarmed and informed me that this was rather normal. I dreaded going to DMV, they are always so busy!

On my way home from work, I noticed that someone spray painted "REPENT" on the side of a church on our street right down from our house.

When I picked up Caleb from Daycare his eyes were watery and he looked sick, but said he felt fine and was in good spirits. Right when we sat down for dinner, he grabed his mouth and threw-up. Anyone wanna know what he had for lunch? I cleaned him up and laid him on the couch, noticing he was very warm. I went get the Tylenol and thermometer, but he was already asleep when I came back to give it to him. I wondered how long this bug was going to last!

That night I was exhausted and knew that tomorrow was going to be a long day! As Angel took Caleb up to bed, I went to pray with Alisia. Tired, and ready to go to bed, I prayed first. Then I listened to Alisia as she prayed for each of these things that happened during the day.

-She prayed that God would help me tomorrow get new license plates.

-She prayed that the church would be easy to paint over.

-She prayed for whoever stole my license plate and whoever painted the church that they would repent.

-She prayed for Caleb that he would sleep good through the night and feel better.

-She prayed that no one else in our family would get sick.

-She prayed that we would all be able to sleep well and have a good day.

"Thankyou, Alisia," I said giving her a kiss on the head and covering her up tightly.

"Mommy don't worry," she said "God will take care of our family."

The next day (yesterday), Caleb woke up around 7. He had 13 hours of sleep. I asked him how he was feeling and he said "I'm not sick any more. I'm hungary." I made him some breakfast, we got ready, and he seemed his normal self. After I dropped him off at daycare, I went straight to DMV. They weren't busy and it only took me about 10 minutes to get new plates for my car. Work went well, and on my way home, I noticed someone cleaning the spray paint off the church.

At dinner time, I told Angel, Alisia, and Caleb the good news from the day and how different everything turned out than I had imagined. Alisia said "I prayed for you today at school and so did my class." She didn't seem surprised at all. She knew that God had heard her prayers and he would answer them. That night she remembered to thank God for answering her prayers and taking care of our family.

Matthew 18:3

And Jesus said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Fun with Friends

Here are some pictures from a few weeks ago when we got together with Karina and Jacob.
It's fun having kids the same age. We went to eat first then went to see Beauty ant the Beast play at the High School.

A Cord of Three Strands

So when Angel told me that he asked someone from church if we could borrow they're cabin for the weekend, I was thrilled. I said "the kids will love it!"

"The kids? They'll be with Grammy" he said skeemishly.

I have to admit, my heart sank. They have become the joy of my life. "What are we going to do by ourselves the whole weekend? No Kids. No TV. No cell phone service. Friday. Saturday. Sunday."

He just smiled.

It was a good time away together. Just us two. Something that I'm not used to. I really thought we might actually be board without our kids and wouldn't have much to talk about. I was wrong. We needed to reconnect, enjoy being married, and strengthen our cord. At the end of the weekend I was really proud of him for making me feel so special! Gracias mi Amor! Thankyou Bakers for letting us retreat for the weekend at your place. Thanks Mom and Dad for watching the kids. Thankyou Lord for a cord of three strands.
Ecc 4:12
"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."


After church on Sunday, we met up with my mom who had the kids and she brought them out for the rest of the afternoon.

"Scoot over, I was sitting there first, give it back" shortly reminded me to be even more thankful for the time alone with my husband...as much as we missed the kids.



On our way home squeezed in more fun and drove up to the top of Massanutten Peak to see some beautiful views.



Then we checked out their new Water Park and stopped by the Arcade. This is a new birthday party idea that Alisia's thinking about and planning for July.

Back to life! Recharged and Ready.

Matthew 19:4-6
"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

Praise God Louder

It has already started off being a windy month! One Sunday recently we were at church and the wind was blowing hard. From inside, all you could see out the window were the tips of the trees rocking back and forth . Caleb pointed up to the window. I wispered to him "their praising God."

After the sermon, we sang another song and Caleb pointed again while we were singing. It looked like the trees were praising God and singing with us! Now, when we see the wind blowing, a beautiful sun set, or the stars shining brightly, we say "They're praising God."

The last night was a clear beautiful night with lots of bright shining stars. Caleb pointed up to the sky to a faint star and said "That star needs to praise God louder."

His comment made me realize I need to do the same thing. I need to praise God louder. I don't want to be like a faint star far in the night sky, but one that is shining brightly praising loudly--on good days the same as hard days. In the morning and at night. When God answers prayer, or when trials come--in all things, God give me a heart of praise.

We went inside and read this Psalm before bed. So I thought I'd share:

Psalm 148
1 Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies.
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.

6 He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.

7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,
10 will animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth,

12 yong men and maidens, old men and children.

13 Let them prise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

14 He has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the LORD.

Find the Time

With both of us working full time now, it is extremely important for us to take advantage of our time as a family. The problem is as life goes on- you have to find the time! Well, Saturday we took at trip to Roanoke to visit some friends, the Sink family. We had such a great time visiting and spending time together.

Cristen took us up to the Star which over-looks the city

While Alisia had fun reading to Kathryn, Caleb enjoyed her toys!

Then we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese

Caleb was excited about seeing this Batman Car in the parking lot. But we didn't see Batman inside though!

He did find Spiderman though!

Kathryn, Caleb, and Alisia

Alisia and Caleb counting tickets to pick out a prize!

The kids followed the Star as far as they could see it. The rest of the ride home was quiet! They sure were tired!

To Cristen's family, or anyone else wanting to try this trip in a day from the Harrisonburg area- it's Do-able! and worth it- they're great hosts and make sure you have fun!
Thanks Johnny, Cristen, and Kathryn!