Inspiration from My Baby Cousin

My younger cousin Kristi, whom I mentioned in a past post, got to guest blog on Kelsey Timmerman's blog about why she is going on a mission trip to Peru. So exciting!

She writes:

A month would have changed me enough. Six months would have changed me a lot. But a year will change me in an uncomfortable way that will affect everything I do from that year on. If it were up to me, I would stay in my comfortable life in Southern California. I would stay close to the family and friends who are easy for me to relate to and love. Those who hardly offend me and are cut from the same middle-class American cloth I was cut from. But there is Jesus Christ, who’s been telling me to go where I will not be comfortable all the time. He has called me to discomfort. He’s given me the grace to obey and do what He calls me to. To be bold in the broken places of a child’s heart, who I don’t have much in common with save for being a broken human myself.

Wow! She literally brought a tear to my eye with what she wrote. It really tugs at my heart and inspires me to want to heed Christ's call and take myself out of my comfort zone too. Maybe one day, once I'm free from this financial bondage, I'll be able to go off and do the same thing. In the meantime, I really need to focus on what I CAN do right now.

Lord, point me towards a place where I can be used right now. Make my comfort uncomfortable...


BTW, if you would like to donate to Kristi's trip, you can do so via PayPal here. I believe she has only raised about $1,000 of the $5,000 she needs. She has until late July to come up with the whole amount. Please help her if you can. Even if it's only $10, like Kelsey. =) Thanks!

Period!

It's a good thing that when I get to Heaven I'll be a way nicer, well all-around better, version of myself....

Because if I weren't, upon arrival, I might have had to hunt down Eve and tell her off for screwing up and thus causing all of the rest of us chicks to have to put up with a period every month! Thanks a lot, Eve. Thanks....

=)

UPDATE: Wedding Master Plan

Operation Wedding Master Plan has now commenced.

I just got an email back from Juan. We are good to go on the wedding plans. He had a few stipulations, but we can work with them. I'm so excited!

I'm even more excited about the surprise that Sandy is in store for. I wish I could be there when she pulls up to David's Bridal and to see her trying on dresses. It brings a tear to my eye thinking about it.

Hmmm... maybe they can plan it for a Friday and then we can surprise her by being there waiting for her when she arrives. That would be so amazing. =) We'll see....

Thank you, Lord. You are so good!

Wedding Master Plan

So my sister Sandy has been engaged to her "baby daddy" Juan (lol) now since May of 2007. That's pretty much 3 years and no wedding. We know Juan loves Sandy and wants to marry her, but in the last 3 years they have 1) had a baby and 2) taken on a mortgage. So they haven't really been able to afford a wedding and it's been put on the back burner.

Well, this last Friday, Sandy had a little bit of a medical issue and needed to see a doctor, but unfortunately she isn't covered under Juan's medical insurance. Apparently, his company doesn't pay for domestic partnership coverage either (which I sort of agree with, but that's my conservative side talking). Anyway, this has re-sparked a discussion amongst both us and Juan's family that they really need to get married already.

Mom and I were talking about it and we got to scheming. Why don't we surprise Sandy with an appointment at David's Bridal? Once she gets some of those dresses on, she'll start getting excited and that will lead to wanting to do this already! =)

Sneaky, right? Muahaha....

We got to thinking, we all have the connections and resources to pull this off if we really wanted to, as long as we kept it small and intimate--family and close friends only--and did a lot of the stuff ourselves (which we all know I can do). We decide that we gotta get this ball rolling. I know Juan's family would be in agreement on this. Sandy had told me that she found an email from Juan's sister urging him to marry Sandy already because of the whole no-medical-coverage issue. So we know they would be on-board.

Then we thought that maybe we should run this by Juan first. Hahaha... Right? So today I sent him a super long email (to his work email account, of course... don't want her hacking in and finding out.. LOL) explaining our plans and letting him know that we wanted him to be okay with it before we get the ball rolling. I haven't heard back from him, but I'm praying that he'll be on-board too.

I know we can make this happen and I know it's the best thing for both of them...


Lord, soften up Juan's heart to be receptive to this. I know You don't want them to continue on living in the situation they are in right now. Amen!

Alexis' Big Scare

So, I've been meaning to write about the ordeal my family went through last Tuesday evening.

As background, my 16-month-old niece Alexis has developed somewhat of a bad temper, which she inherited from both her mom AND dad. As a result, she tends to throw little tantrums when she doesn't get her way. Unfortunately, some of her tantrums (mostly with mommy and daddy) have involved her crying so hard she stops breathing for a few seconds, but she usually snaps out of it.

Well, last Tuesday evening, she threw a tantrum when her dad went to change her diaper. She cried, her eyes rolled back into her head and she stopped breathing. Except this time she passed out completely and my brother-in-law (BIL) couldn't get her to wake up. He ran her across the street to the neighbors' house where they called 9-1-1. None of them could arouse her. All the while she had very shallow and sporadic breathing. The paramedicas showed up and they too could not get her to wake up. So, they called in the air lift team.

Next thing you know, my BIL is jumping into a hellicopter, on his way to Children's Hospital in L.A. Thankfully, in the middle of the ride, Alexis came to and was right back to her stubborn self, fighting the medic the whole way. lol

Cut to me at home in the kitchen, preparing dinner for myself. I see that I have a missed call and voicemail from my mom. I reluctantly listen (because this woman leaves 5-minute long messages about nothing, most of the time lol). Not good news. According to her, Alexis stopped breathing, was being air-lifted to the hospital, and who knows for how long this child was not breathing. I call my mom and we are both crying. Is she breathing now? Did anyone even attempt CPR on her? Etc.

I hang up and start texting my other sisters to let them know what's going on and friends to ask that they start praying. I cry out to God. All I can think of is, "Help us, God." I pack up a bag, thinking I may very well be spending the whole week there if this kid winds up in Intensive Care or something crazy like that. I jump into the car, headed for Children's Hospital. Two-thirds of the way there, I get a call from my mom. She's fine.

Thank you, Lord.

I continue to the hospital and there is the whole family (minus Dad, who knew everything was fine). Alexis is running around, being a little brat, like nothing ever happened. My BIL tells us the REAL story, since my Mom, once again, blew things way out of porportion.

So, we had a ginormous scare, but it all turned out fine. It definitely put things into perspective. I know that things could always be much worse. The Lord has really spared us from so much heartache and I'm thankful to Him for that.

When I was on my way to the hospital, I realized one thing: the Devil was trying to attack us because my sister and I had just gotten back from Retreat, and she's really trying to walk with the Lord. In that very moment I stopped my pleas to the Lord and I started saying something like, "Lord, You are so good. Your love and mercy endure forever. We will not turn away from You. If you take this child, we will not turn away from You. We will continue to love you."

Even though nothing happened, I still mean that. No matter what, I will cling to the Cross...

Thank you, Lord. You are too good to us. You are too good to me. Bless Your name, Lord.

"A day which will live in infamy..."

03/21/2010. The day our government turned against us.

Last night, the Obama Healthcare Bill was approved by the House of Representatives (as it's so ironically named, since they don't represent us at all!). Soon it will be signed by Obama and it will be LAW.... despite the fact that most of America has loudly and strongly objected to it. You and I will now be strong armed... er... forced... er... mandated to purchase health care, which will most likely be substandard to the healthcare most of us already have.

They didn't care and they don't care. According to those elistist snobs, we don't know what we are talking about. We are too stupid to decide for ourselves. They know what's good for us.

Yeah, except this socialism that they are trying to intruduce us to has NEVER WORKED. It's not going to work! All it's ever brought about is death and destruction at worst, and horrible quality of care at best. If it worked, then why are top-ranking Canadian politicians who tout their own socialist medical system still coming to American for "better and faster" healthcare? If it worked than why are old people in Cuba dying in assylums of malnutrition and starvation and young people not having access to even over-the-counter medication for a cold?

All I know is come 11/2/2010, a lot of Democrats are going to be losing their jobs (as in voted out of office), but unfortunately, as satisfying as that will be, that still may not stop the stuff from hitting the fan. Pray hard, people. Pray hard.

At least we know that ultimately God is in control....

All things...

I almost forgot to mention Women's Retreat, which was the weekend before last. Kim and I had a great and BLESSED time. I was so glad that she came. The Holy Spirit was really moving there, especially on Saturday night.

One of the guest speakers, June Hesterly (I think that was her name), really had the room captivated with her testimony. Then at the end she really got moved by the Holy Spirit and just started praying for random people in the room that the Lord was putting it on her heart to address. It was crazy. All kinds of women just started breaking down and crying loudly because they were the ones she was addressing. At the end of it, Kim had gone forward to re-dedicate her life to the Lord. It really was awesome!

I've been praying that the movement that God made in Kim's heart will last. I know He had many messages for the both of us that weekend, but the main one was in line with the theme of the Retreat: ALL THINGS are possible with God.

For Kim that could mean healing in her marriage.

For me that meant that even when things seem to point no where, He IS working for my good and He does want to bless me with a husband.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you for continuing to remind us that I can do ALL THINGS through You and that with You ALL THINGS are possible. Amen!

Sick thoughts...

I'm sick right now, so what do I do? Start re-thinking things. lol

I agreed to help throw my goddaughter's 10th birthday. Its an Alice in Wonderland theme and of course my mind started running wild with all these thoughts, but now all of a sudden I'm just wanting to do a simple little party in the park. I really don't want to shell out money or time on a big extravagant party.

Don't get me wrong, I want to give her an awesome party, but I don't want to have to take out a loan to do it or spend all this time and energy on elements of the party that people will probably mostly not even notice or remember when it's all said and done. Does that make sense?

Maybe I'm just thinking in tired, sickly terms rigt now.... *sigh*

The truth about sin...

So, I'm reading Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. REALLY good book. I don't think Francis Chan's book, Crazy Love, convicted me as much as this one does.

Anyway, in the chapter titled, "Lies Women Believe... About Sin," I was blown away by the following story/analogy:

"When the Romeros first got Sally as a family pet, she was only one foot long. Eight years later, she had grown to eleven-and-a-half feet and weighed eighty pounds. Then on July 20, 1993, Sally, a Burmese python, attacked fifteen-year-old Dereck, strangling the teenager until he suffocated to death.

In one fatal moment, the creature that had seemed so docile and harmless was exposed as a deadly beast. The “pet” the unsuspecting family had brought into their home, cared for, and nurtured turned on them and proved to be a destroyer. In a sense, no one should have been surprised at the turn of events, for in the end, the python merely did what was its nature to do.

So it is with sin. Though it may entertain us, play with us, sleep with us, and amuse us, its nature never changes. Inevitably, it will always rise up to bite and devour those who befriend it."

This is SO true. We think we can handle a little sin in our lives because it's "harmless" or "feels good" or [insert seemingly good excuse here], but in reality NONE of it is good. It's ALL dangerous. We must do what the Bible says and flee all sin (Jeremiah 51:6; 1 Corinthians 6:18). It's the only way to remain safe.

Alex Malcolm Monroy, the picture...

My goodness, what a journey to see this kid (traffic, missing work, etc.), but it was well worth it. He is too darn cute and I think I'm in love. I'm already being called one of his pseudo-tias (pseudo-aunts). =)

I love this kid and I already can't wait to see him again!

God bless Baby Alex and God bless his mommy and daddy!

Alex Malcolm Monroy

Last night, at around 9:45 p.m. my friend, Mike, became a father. Yay! I'm so excited for him and his wife, Alycia. Baby Alex came via C-section, and was a little over 8 pounds and about 20 inches long. (I'll post a pic as soon as I can get my hands on one. )

Mike has been a friend of mine almost since my first week in the Entertainment Department at Six Flags. It's going to be 8 years now--although it seems much longer. We've had our ups and downs. We've had some adventures. We've had some periods of not speaking. lol. But through it all we've remained pretty good friends and almost family to each other. I was even told by daddy that this is like me having my first nephew. My resonse: "I'll take it!" =)

Mike still has a lot of growing up to do (and I know that the Lord is doing something in his life right now), but I have to say that I am SO proud of Mike. I think he is going to turn out to be a great, loving, and attentive father and I can't wait to see it.

I also can't wait to see this child and to provide hours and hours of free babysitting now that I'm moving back to the Valley and a house that is literally down the street from the Monroy family.

Oh happy day!!!

God bless this family and especially Baby A-Mon: future Dodger All-star. =) According to his daddy, at least.... May the Lord use this child to give these two new parents a glimpse of the extent of His awesome and enduring love for them. Hallelujah! Amen!