I want to share with you a very personal story about one of my favorite Aunts. I have a huge family although it doesn’t seem so. I have cousins, aunts and uncles that I have not met and probably never will that’s how big my family is. We’re just not one of those close families, but if we decided to do a family reunion, we sure would need a stadium to hold it.
This particular aunt and my mother kept a close relationship telephonically as we were geographically ways apart. It was more than ten years ago and I was going through a very rough time and I needed to go away. I was at my mother’s house and she was talking to my aunt, to whom I had never spoken before and whom I had never seen before. I grabbed the phone and jokingly said, “I’m coming over”. She became excited and told me I was more than welcome to come. To make a long story short, I did make arrangements and went there.
It was funny when she went to pick me up at the airport, we had never seen each other, so we got on our cell phones until we were finally face to face. Although it was the first time we saw each other, I was home. I spent a week with her. She spoiled me rotten. After that week we kept in touch and she became the person I would go to when I needed encouragement. Even at a distance she became a second mom.
This past July I was supposed to come over to see her, but miscommunication made us miss the date and then I got so busy with the things around my new book that I never got around to make the arrangements to spend some time with her again. I had planned that this year I was going to make it there because I miss her, now its too late. She passed away this last Friday.
I do regret not having made a bigger effort to make that trip happen earlier. I do thank God for having given me the gift of knowing her and the love she gave me the time I had her.
Rest in peace, Juliana!
aware of what is done on our behalf behind the scenes. I have family who have been in the military, to my knowledge nobody active right now. So even when I’m very grateful to the armed forces, I admit that I don’t think about it all the time because I don’t have people around me who are in active duty.
Sadly it was brought to the forefront this week when 30 of our finest where lost in the line of duty during a mission. This was the biggest loss since this senseless war started. Regardless of our feelings for our government and our war, the reality is that they are willing to go and fight for us day by day. As we are fortunate to have vacations, go shopping, watch television, speak our mind, practice our faith and go about our business these men and women are risking their lives for us to enjoy that freedom.
contribution to the problem is. These new children did not ask to come into this world, but they did and they have a divine purpose. God knitted them too in their 
As we mature in life we have an idea of who we want to become or better yet what is God’s purpose in our lives. How to we achieve those goals has a lot to do with our decisions.
You may think that as a parent or child caregiver you have no control over your environment; it’s the total opposite. It is the responsibility of parents and caregivers to watch over their children. Children can present limitations to the things that can be done, but if you’re really honest with yourself the way you handle parenting can also affect that relationship on how enjoyable or not it becomes. The parenting experience could include the child in achieving God’s goals in your life and in creating a learning experience for the child of how to achieve their own goals throughout their lives.
like there’s not enough time, not enough energy, not enough resources, but the reality is that sometimes our decision making process drags us through a path of many steps with little resources.
With all new diseases and syndromes coming out on the media, it must be concerning to discover that you may have PLMS. However PLMS is a very old condition,as old as humankind itself. So what is PLMS? Poor Little Me Syndrome. It’s the root of jealousy and selfishness when the subject (meaning us) feeling sorry for themselves and comparing themselves to others. Let’s study this syndrome a little closer.
WordPress gave us a prompt some time this weekend, Where did your name come from? (or something to that effect). My full name is Natividad. People tend to think that I was born around Christmas as it sounds very close to the word Navidad, which is Christmas in Spanish. Ironically my birthday is in July. I’ve been sang “Feliz Navidad” many times at the sound of my name.
I’ll be honest and say she was not the first in my mind, but this is a mother that deserves a lot of credit. Everyone remembers Eve just for what she did wrong. Granted, she messed it up for all of us, but Jesus fixed it so time to forgive and forget. She had to experience it all alone. There was no girlfriends to call when Adam was giving her a hard time or someone to show her the secrets of childrearing. To top it off she had to endure the murder of one of her children all by herself. She deserves some credit for the mother she was.
out of nowhere; and that when he makes a promise, he will come through no matter when it comes to fruition. I can only imagine this woman pregnant so late in her life and having to take care of a baby, running around with him. Not forgetting that after she gave her maid to Abraham to have a baby, the little brat had an attitude towards her. Too much drama for your later part of your life.
Hannah had begged for a child for years and promises God that if he gives her a son she will give him back to him. So God gives her a son and so she did. Can you imagine dealing with years of fertility problems and then giving your son up? 
from God in a time where adultery was punished with death. Mary didn’t belong to the “but social club” and she should have lead it. Yes, the club of us who every time God tells us that he wants us to do something we go but God… and I’m not saying she didn’t ask questions, but she did what she was asked. The “but social club” is for those who set up the excuse and don’t do. Then she had to give birth in a manger. No Pitocin, Lamaze; not even a clean room. For the first few years when a mother is enjoying her baby, she was running around like a fugitive trying to protect him from being killed.
I’m not talking about Mary’s mother and this one is not in the bible. I’m talking about my own mother. She did the best she could with what she had. She sacrificed her life as a single mother working really hard to give her children what she felt was the most important things: The fear and love for God and a good education. Although our worship has changed paths, she taught me that without God there’s nothing in life and that we are to be grateful for all our blessings. She taught me good work ethics and to pursue my dreams. She supported me through the rough patches and bragged about my accomplishments. She too deserves credit for all of them!
