ENCOURAGE - EQUIP - EMPOWER
IT STARTS HERE.
Growing up in a Puerto Rican household I could count on several things to happen when family came to visit. There would be a lot of food, it would be loud, and the women would inevitably end up gathered together, aware of, and in tuned to, only each other. I found my mom and aunts fascinating. Their conversations would flow from English to Spanish back to English effortlessly, sometimes comprised of laughter, sometimes tears, sometimes looks I knew not to interrupt. Often all of the above.
Of all the things God is none of it matters as much to me as His faithfulness. If He is love, but not consistently love, He is less than perfect. If He is just but not always just, that is terrifying. If He gives grace but is not forever gracious, my relationship with Him will be based on fear and self-righteousness. In all these things, His faithfulness is the thread that binds them all together for His glory and our good.
When I first saw that the Fruit of the Spirit I was to write about was ‘kindness,’ I inwardly groaned. Kindness is such a generic word, like ‘nice.’ It gets used all the time, but it’s not specific. On the other hand, if it’s listed in the Fruit of the Spirit, it must be important. So over the last few weeks as I’ve pondered what to write about, I was reminded of the many times I have been the recipient of kindness and how it made all the difference in the world.
Love is one of those polarizing words. It can seem simple or complex. It can be obvious or evasive. It conjures up feelings of hurt or feelings of healing. It can be easily said or awkwardly unsaid. So how can a simple blog post attempt to grasp “love?” Well, it can’t, and I can’t. So I’ll just speak about what God says about love.
This past Memorial Day weekend marked 16 years since “the accident.” A horrific car accident that would change the trajectory of my life in a myriad of ways. Physically, spiritually, mentally, and relationally. Recovering in the hospital, the only change my mind could focus on centered on the changes to my body. Severe injuries sustained by my right leg led to the need for an above the knee amputation, and a few months down the line the addition of a prosthetic leg.
I’m about desperate for a visit. No one has come over to my house in what feels like forever. If you came over to my house, I’d let you choose one of my special teas, and I’d steep it in my glass teapot over my tea warmer and pour us each a cup. Then I’d tell you this story of what God did for me during the pandemic.
Before beginning my fellowship with International Justice Mission, I was a mental health therapist for seven years. Working with children who had behavior and mental health concerns, my roles included outpatient therapist, mobile therapist, behavior specialist consultant, and meetings facilitator. I had been trained in different evidence-based therapies. I was a professional.
May is Foster Care Awareness Month. There are almost 500,000 children nationwide in need of foster homes. The church is an integral part of this system. Many in the church are involved as foster parents, and others are on the sidelines supporting these families. I thought I could provide some insight on what it’s like to be a foster parent, as well as share what your role could be in the process.
Music, unlike anything else in my life, has always been a way for me to process and express emotions. As an 8 on the Enneagram and an ENTJ on Myers Briggs, (if you’re not familiar, basically I’m the heartless ruthless type. Kidding…or am I?) expressing my emotions doesn’t come easily, so music has been vital to me throughout life …
In matters of theology and science, I often consider myself “the dumb it down expert.” Give me something complex, and I’ll try to make it easy for you to understand. It’s National Mental Health Awareness Month, and so I want to bring this “expertise” to bear on a complicated concept that straddles both theology and science: depression.
