Father Federico

Federico is Alex’s best friend. Many people don’t know but Alex studied 9 years in seminary. While studying in Santo Domingo in seminary, he met his best friend, Federico. Alex is always talking about his years studying and living with Federico. Great news is that Federico finished his thesis and will complete his 14th year at seminary in the middle of May. In June there will be a big celebration of the priesthood. Federico will most likely be a priest or serve as a director at a seminary in the Dominican Republic. This is a really big accomplishment and we are both so very excited for him! He’s been a blessing to us throughout this process as we talk to him every 2 days. He has had a big impact on Alex’s life and I see how he’s grown so much through his accountability and relationship with Federico. As Alex and I approach our life together as a married couple, Federico’s prayer and study with us has come out of Ephesians 5… Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Faith.

Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see. –Hebrews 11:1
This has been my theme verse for so many different chapters of my life and I return to it once again as the anchor of hope in my heart. I LOVE this pic of Alex and I fishing out in Corcran because I have NO PATIENCE and kept casting out my line every few minutes. I'd move, walk around, cast, pace back and forth, just imagine ME! Alex kept telling me to just be still and stop moving around so much. The moment I finally gave up trying so hard and the moment I became still was the moment I caught my first (and only) fish that evening. Faith and Patience. God is really stretching Alex and I in this area and I couldn’t help but blog about it this morning. Alex came to the US and left his job as a professor in his local town. He has 8 years of education under his belt, tall, strong, legal, hardworking guy, very determined. So, finding a job should be easy, yeah? Nope. With the economy and the situation that the Country/State is in, everyone is struggling. When he first got here he was offered a job and was told to wait at 7 AM for the guys to meet up. 7 AM rolled around and he was stood up. This morning he woke up at 4 AM for another job offer and was told to be waiting at 5:15 AM. Stood up once again. We were both feeling frustrated, angry, sad, confused, and tested (especially me, since I woke up at 4 AM to make breakfast and lunch… those of you who know me know that I’m NOT a cheerful heart in the morning!). We sat and watched the sun come up and kept telling one another that God knows what is going on. At that moment Alex told me that we had to do our daily devotion from 40 Days of Purpose. Today was on Faith. “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” –Hebrews 11:13-16 The verse couldn't fit our situation any better! Not only could Alex relate with this verse in a literal sense, but he also knew that God was testing, stretching and reminding us to keep our eyes on HIM and what HE is doing. Our prayer this morning was that we would not lose focus and that we would live our life out loud today remembering that what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. God is faithful!

We're home!

We are in California! Alex and I got back into the US about 4 weeks ago and have been adjusting to good ol’ California! Many people might not have known but we had been in a process for well over a year of debating whether or not I’d move there so that we could finally start our life together without so much traveling… or whether or not we’d leave everything in the Dominican Republic and make a life here in Tulare. Obviously we chose option #2 and we’re very thankful. God has been SO GOOD to us throughout this process. We’ve been together going on 3 years and it feels good to be able to finally be together and have things stable. My parents made a small little apartment thing goin' on for him over at their house and I'm rocking my dad's office until we get married and get on our feet to have our own place. Alex has been a huge blessing in my family and has helped my parents and family out in more ways than I can describe through a blog. This has brought my family closer and I’ve seen where God has really shown so much grace, truth, and love throughout these 3 years… but especially throughout these last 5 months. We’ve been in the talks over the last year about getting married and with the blessing of our family and our parents (both in Tulare and in Jarabacoa), we have decided to get married. This Friday night we will have a simple ceremony with close friends and family and celebrate a dinner afterwards. We are SO EXCITED! We are saving up our money so that in a year or two we can go back to Jarabacoa and have a ceremony with his family. His best friend, Federico, will officiate the ceremony back in his hometown. In the meantime, we’re gonna enjoy this next chapter that the Lord has set before us!

Como la flor

My best friend is amazing. I was having a "not so great" night and decided to go and visit him in Los Angeles. It was a quick trip, but a blast. When I arrived, lo and behold, he bought me this BEAUTIFUL plant with flowers. He also bought me a few fun other things and I cannot tell you how special this was for me. Isn't it funny how the Lord really shows his love for us through other people? I brought it home and the first thing I told my parents was that I didn't want it to die so I was gonna try to take care of it. When I got home from work my dad had already planted it in the front of our yard in our flower bed. It makes me smile every morning and reminds me that I am loved, not only by my best friend, but by my Father in Heaven. But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. -Psalm 59:16

My Struggle

I think everyone has something that they struggle with that takes battling it out day in and day out. For me, food has always been something that I've dealt with. When life goes wrong? Eat In-N-Out. Bored? Flaming hot Cheetos. Anxious? Down a big slam of Pepsi. Depressed? The Hostess donuts in the kitchen don't sound too bad. I think snacking is ok, but when it's a continual battle of meeting emotions with food, it really starts to impact the heart (not just physically, but spiritually and emotionally as well). Back in 2006 I got to a point where I hated looking at my own pictures. I'd hate to take a picture with someone and then have to look at it afterwards. I'd try to numb myself by glancing at the aftershot. There were 3 pics that impacted me and it resulted in a type of self-hatred. A pic from my cousin's wedding while we were dancing; a pic from a trip to Mexico with Pastor Panchita; then finally, a pic with my best friend in New York. I started to wear clothes heavier and heavier to try and hide my weight. If you know what it means to be uncomfortable in your own skin, that's exactly what it was like. Finally, one day I decided that I would do something about it. It was hard, I knew it meant changing a lifestyle and having self-determination (THAT'S THE PROBLEM!!!). I wanted results from one day to the next, but I had to believe that it was something that needed to happen and that with God's strength it could happen. I realized that one day I wanted to have kids, be active, run, jump, and not get so tired after playing tag with my niece and nephew. I knew that I had ONE body in my lifetime, and what was I doing to take care of it? I remember starting off by going to the gym and looking at all of the pretty people on high-tech machines and feeling like a fat slob walking in and assuming that they were all thinkng, "let's see how long she lasts!" I was scared, nervous, and hurt, but it was something that had to start right there at Day 1. My good friend Amy Richmond helped push me, even though for most of the time it seemed like a joke. But, she'd help me, push me, and remind me (even on the days that we'd forget about our focus and go to Olive Garden lol) that when we mess up, we just start over the next day. I think that has been key in all of this. Somedays you'll put on a pound, one month you might put on 5. But, you don't just give in right there and then. You gotta keep going, keep pushing, and remember your focus and your goal. I had to keep reminding myself why I was doing this and that it WAS possible. Matthew 19:26 kept coming to my mind as I'd be jogging. I remembered Jesus' words when he said "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." It's been awhile now, and I feel great about myself. I don't cringe when I look at pics and I still try to keep to my goals. I've lost nearly 100 lbs and still would like to lose about 50 more. Please keep me in prayer as this is a battle every day Be blessed and let me know how I can pray for you.

Lance!

Today Lance Armstrong made his way through Visalia in his Amgen Tour of California! We allowed classrooms to take a break and come outside to cheer on Lance and the rest of the riders! It was like a big parade with all of our streets blocked off. They went straight by Redwood, so we have front row tickets to see this moment in history! Here's a shot that a teacher from Redwood got of Lance (yellow and black helmet). GO LANCE!

Pics that make me smile tonight...

For Douglas...

Doug and I live on the go, so our lives consist of quick convos here and there, a text every now and then, and our once-a-week "what's going on in my life" chats. I'm always laughing at stupid/crazy/funny memories. I love posting quick symbols or pics to bring back crazy memories or inside jokes. He better not forget what this one means...

Pico Duarte

This weekend Alex will climb Pico Duarte. That's over 10,000 FEET! For those of you who don't know anything about Pico Duarte, here ya go (thanks, Wikipedia.com): Pico Duarte is the highest peak in all the Caribbean islands, and for that matter, the tallest mountain in all of the Americas outside of the great western cordilleras. During the Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina regime, the tallest of the two was called Pico Trujillo, only to be renamed later, after the dictator's death, with its current name of Pico Duarte, in honor of Juan Pablo Duarte, one of the Dominican Republic's founding fathers. The easiest access is from the town of La Ciénega, near Jarabacoa. Something really neat is that Alex's uncle, Juan Canela, is known in the DR as the most famous tour guide to go up to Pico (artists like Johnny Ventura even re-did the childhood song written about him!). We've gone to visit him a few times, as his health is really going downhill, and it wasn't until recently that I was told how important his uncle is when learning about the history of Pico Duarte! How neat! The house he lives in is nothing too magnificent, and he lives in a campo outside of the city, in a house that the President built for him. Not the greatest conditions, but at least it's a roof over his head. Alex leaves Friday and will come back on Sunday evening. His family is from the Manabao/Cienega area, so he will enjoy passing through and seeing his family as he makes his way up to the peak of the Caribe! He will be accompanied by some of his co-workers and led by a good friend of his, a 70 year-old priest that he studied with during seminary. Looking forward to the fun stories!

Gozadera!

As soon as I got into San Juan, all of these people were crowded, some dancing, some eating, some taking videos and pics. There was a live band here today in Puerto Rico celebrating Christmas, Borricua style! Santa was out and they had free cookies, pan dulce, hot chocolate and cafe for everyone! Today I finally started getting excited about the Christmas season! Good music will do that to ya! Click on the video to have it play. Make sure to let it load all the way...which means until the red line goes all the way from left to right (MOM!).