The Sun ALWAYS Comes Out after a Storm!

Why does it take a storm of hurricane Irma’s magnitude for our country to get on our knees and pray to God for mercy? I found myself asking God, “Why don’t you just dissolve the storm? You’re God. You can do this.” Then right after I asked God that question in prayer (and almost with an attitude of entitlement), I received a picture from a friend of a beach in Florida that was filled with people—on Good Friday. The picture next to it was of a church filled with people praying, today, asking God to have mercy on them. I’m not excluding myself from this behavior. I grew up going to the beach on Holy Week in Nicaragua—all week. Even growing up as Christians, going to the beach house during this week off was the thing to do, instead of praising God for the amazing gift of salvation. It seems like we, humans, forget we need God in the good times too. Those are our best opportunities to get on our knees and thank God for everything that He’s done for us—most importantly for sending Jesus to die for us on the cross so we could have eternal life.

Then I remembered this Scripture on Isaiah 55: 8-9 (NLT):

8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

You see, I was only focusing on the natural, the huge storm coming our way to destroy the homes and cities of the loved ones who live there. But I wasn’t thinking of the bigger picture. What the devil intends for bad (for destruction), God can turn it for good (for people coming in unity and praying together for each other). For some of us, it takes a natural storm in life, like a natural disaster, or a devastating event in our lives (like a death in the family, an illness, or a divorce) for us to give our lives to Jesus.

I remembered the Scriptures that promise us that God will never leave us nor forsake us, regardless of whatever is going on in our lives—whether that is a natural disaster or a life event. God told Joshua these words after Moses died, in Joshua 1:5 (NLT), “For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.” I was also reminded that we are to praise the Lord during the storms in life. Acts 16:25 (NLT) says, 25Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. “Midnight” is always representative of our darkest hour and, during that time, when Paul and Silas were in prison (being innocent) they were praising God. Then there was an earthquake and the prison doors opened and their chains came undone. God does indeed work in mysterious ways. God asks us to pray and praise Him at all times—the good times and the worst times in our lives—because He knows we need to. We need Him.

Psalm 34:17-18 (NLT) gives us this promise, 17The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. 18The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Wow, what amazing promises these are for all of us.

Lastly, let’s not forget to reach out to our loved ones in the good times too. We shouldn’t have to wait for a storm to threaten their lives to call them or text them to tell them we’re thinking of them. That’s a practice I started doing a long time ago. Whenever I think of a friend or relative, in that very moment, I send them a text, or leave them a voice message or email. I let them know I’m thinking of them or praying for them. I always get a response from that person so appreciative of that special touch. Most of the time, they needed prayers or encouragement at that time.

Today, in the midst of the natural storms, let’s continue to pray together as a nation for God to have mercy on our country and for God to protect our friends and families in the States that are affected. Let’s not forget the people in Houston who are still dealing with the devastating effects of hurricane Harvey and also for all the little islands that are destroyed. We are all always at risk of potential tragedy. But our God is a big, sovereign God and He knows all things. When we don’t understand why things happen in the natural, God always has a higher way. He has a reason and a purpose that goes beyond our understanding. Just as with natural storms, the sun always comes out after it, and it will again after all of these hurricanes. Let’s not lose hope and believe that God is in control.

Do You Have the Holy Spirit within You?

Today I want to share with you about the message I heard from Eagle Brook Church as part of the series “I Don’t Get It.” As Christians and “believers” as we call ourselves, we often talk about God and Jesus. But I have noticed that a lot of Christians don’t know the third person of the Trinity—the Holy Spirit. This message is about why Jesus left us the Holy Spirit when He left earth. There are many mysteries we will never understand with the human mind but we need to believe by faith. The Holy Spirit is one of those mysteries and thus the title for their message, “I Don’t Get It.”

As human beings we were created in God’s image, with a spirit. Therefore, God uses His Holy Spirit to communicate with us—from spirit to spirit. Jesus said in John 16:7 (NLT), “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.” The Advocate is the Holy Spirit. Jesus had to go away because, as a human being here on earth, he could only be with a few people. The Holy Spirit can be with all of us, at the same time, and forever.

In this message the pastor shared that the Holy Spirit provides us with three things:

1. Guidance. John 16:13 (NLT) says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” The Holy Spirit guides us in three ways. First, the inner promptings that we feel often is the Holy Spirit telling us what to do or what not to do. But many times we ignore those promptings and the more we ignore it the less we hear that still small voice. On the other hand, the more we carefully listen to that voice, the better we get at it and the more sensitive we become. Second, the Holy Spirit guides us through other people in our lives. Many times, He uses people we trust to tell us the direction we need to go. But again, often we disregard those people and even cut them off of our lives. The third way the Holy Spirit guides us is through the Word, the Bible. The Holy Spirit will never contradict the Word of God because they are One.

2. Protection. Romans 8:26 (NLT) says, “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” The Holy Spirit prays for us in a special way and He protects us on a daily basis. Some people pray in other tongues that we don’t understand but the Holy Spirit does.

3. Empowerment. The Holy Spirit empowers us. Acts 1:8 (NLT) says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” In addition, Romans 8:11 (NLT) says, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” Did you get that? The same power—the Holy Spirit—that raised Jesus from the dead lives within us!!

So today, I want to encourage you to ask God to give you His Holy Spirit and to fill you up with it so you can get his guidance, protection, and empowerment. Without the Holy Spirit, your walk as a Christian is not complete and you’re missing on the amazing benefits you can get from Him.

A Tribute to My Best “Doggie Friend” Barney Kalupa

Twelve years ago I met Barney, my personal trainer’s (Theresa Kalupa) dog. Back then he was less than one year old, still a puppy. Those first few times I saw him I was a little apprehensive of touching him because I was afraid of dogs—all dogs. You see, when I was only ten years old, I was bitten by a bulldog on my leg. And ever since I became terrified of dogs, little and big dogs. Every time I came to the house to train, Barney was the first one to greet me at the door waggling his tale and offering me his little paw so I could shake his hand and pet him on the head. He loved wearing his bandana and felt strong and confident when his hair was long—even though we could barely see his little eyes. When he got a haircut and looked like a skinny little thing, I was careful to not tell him that because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. I could tell he didn’t feel as self-confident and acted a little shy and even embarrassed when his hair was so short. But I still petted him and made a big deal every time I saw him too. I remember Andy telling Barney, “Go get her Barney!” and he would bark as if he meant it. I looked forward to my workouts with Theresa for sure, but I also always looked forward to my encounter with Barney.

I believe God created dogs for us to enjoy and to love us through them. They are truly the best creatures to show us what “unconditional love” really means. They love us no matter what. The last dog I had was when I was thirteen years old and I had to leave him behind when we fled Nicaragua because of the war. I remember my dog was cuddling next to me on the floor as if he knew we would never see each other again—and we didn’t. And since then, I’ve never owned a dog. Therefore, I adopted Barney as my personal doggie friend—and he became my best doggie friend ever!

I know that we can get a new dog but I believe each dog is, like each human being, irreplaceable and unique. They each leave a mark in our hearts and a hole when they leave us. So today, I want to write my blog as a tribute to my little friend, Barney. I will never forget you and will forever be thankful to you for taking the fear of dogs away for good. I’m no longer afraid of dogs. The next time I see a dog, I’ll remember your sweetness, your kindness, and your friendliness, and I know that will help me to not be afraid.

Thank you to my great friends, the Kalupa family (Andy, Theresa, Olivia and AJ) for letting me share the love that Barney brought to your home. You all and Barney made me feel part of your family and I will always appreciate that. If you get a new puppy, I’ll be there each week to love on him or her too! You can count on that!

The Beach – My Place for Rest and Relaxation. What Is Your Place?

Living in Minnesota we are surrounded by beautiful lakes. In fact, they call Minnesota, the “land with 10,000 lakes” but there are actually 11,842 lakes! For many people, going to a lake and spending the day on the water or looking at the lake from the dock is their place of rest – a place where they find peace and quiet to be able to relax. For some people like my Minnesotan husband, a lake brings childhood memories with loved ones like his grandparents. But growing up at a lake was not my experience. I grew up going to the beach house in Nicaragua.

I remember watching my mom pack tons of food and load up the station wagon with food, toys, six kids, and even our maid! Some of my best memories from my childhood are from the years I spent at the beach with my family before the war happened and we had to leave it all behind.

My favorite activity was to walk along the wide, volcanic black sand beaches picking up all sorts of shells. I remember forgetting to put on sunblock to protect my skin and as a consequence my body got full of freckles. At first, I didn’t like freckles because my parents’ priest told me once that I laid in the sun with a strainer on my face. Since then my siblings made fun of me as I was the only one of six children to have freckles.

Who would have thought that in Minnesota I would fit in well with almost every person having freckles! When my son was little and was exposed to the sun he too started getting little, adorable freckles. So I started calling him “pequitas” an endearment term for “little freckles” in Spanish. I wanted to make sure he never felt bad for having freckles. And he did. In fact, one day he didn’t want to eat a banana because it had little dark dots. So I told him the banana was okay to eat. It just had “little freckles just like him.” That was it. He ate the banana happily.

After leaving Nicaragua because of the war and for the next almost seven years, my family lived in the Dominican Republic – a beautiful island where I could see the ocean at least a few times each week. I remember as a teenager, we used to celebrate New Year’s Eve at the George Washington Ave. in the capital of Santo Domingo, which is where we lived. The long road is built along the cliffs of this part of the island and they also built scenic overlooks along the way where we would welcome the New Year with our friends. I will never forget watching the sunrise and feel the hope and excitement that a new year brings. But even when living in an island, visiting the beach didn’t happen often because, just as with every place, you have to own a beach house (or know someone who owns one) in order to enjoy the ocean. Visiting the public beaches was not an option for us as those beaches were heavily populated.

Then I moved to Minnesota in January, 1986 and have been in Minnesota for the past 31 years with no plans to move. Needless to say, I miss the ocean terribly. The lakes simply don’t do it for me. Through the 29 years of my marriage, I always throw the “beach vacation” idea as a top priority on my list. Even though I have been back to Nicaragua, I still have not returned to “El Velero,” the beach where I grew up and what was a big part of my life, since 1979. And I may never be able to return. When my father returned to try to recover his properties over ten years later, he found what was left of our little beach house… the land. People had stolen everything—including the toilets were yanked out of the bathrooms! So he sold the land and the skeleton of the house for a fraction of what he had invested.

My husband and I have visited several beaches through the years – some in Nicaragua like Montelimar, Pochomil, and the famous Poneloya in the city of Leon. We also have gone back to the Dominican Republic to celebrate our daughter’s high school graduation and visited La Romana and Punta Cana. I have not been back to Puerto Plata which is on the north of the island though. A couple of years ago we vacationed in Cozumel, Mexico. That was our first time visiting Mexico and we’ll have to go again to other beaches. When our son graduated from high school it was his turn to choose a place for vacation and he chose a Caribbean Cruise. So we went and experienced a tour of the Virgin Islands, Grand Turk, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas. Within the U.S. we have visited Coco Beach – where the first time we went I was burnt to a crisp. I don’t think I have ever experienced such a sunburn in my entire life. It all happened within minutes when I was putting on sunblock on my kids but forgot to do it on myself. We also have visited Daytona Beach in FL, and Pebble Beach in CA.

This week, my husband and I took the opportunity to spend the week at Pelican Beach in Destin, FL, after a speaking engagement I had at a bankers’ conference. I am enjoying every moment of this vacation – the walks along the white, sugar-like, sandy beach, picking up little white shells, and bathing in the sun and absorbing lots of vitamin D. We even enjoyed walking in the rain the other day. It was the very first time we experienced getting drenched in the rain walking on the coast with our feet getting hit by the small waves. It was perfect. There was no thunderstorm and the rain went away later allowing us to still enjoy the rest of the day hanging out at the beach.

I am soaking in the salty smell of the ocean, listening in and storing memories in my brain of the ocean waves breaking on the shore, and enjoying watching people parasailing – something my husband and I will probably not try. We both feel safer on land watching up!

I have taken this opportunity to reflect, refresh, brainstorm, share dreams with my husband, and learn about his too. I don’t know what tomorrow brings so I’m purposed to enjoy every second of my beach experience with the man I deeply love. So that’s my “beach story.” The ocean is the place where I find rest and relaxation… What is your place?

Afraid of Failure… or of Success?

In my new work life as an entrepreneur I think I’ve experienced both types of fears since I decided to start my consulting business and launch my career as a professional speaker almost three years ago. At first, I experienced the loneliness that entrepreneurs go through when you leave your team behind and start your company—on your own. There is no assistant to help you with the administrative duties and there is no senior leadership team to bounce ideas off of. There is the fear of not producing enough money to meet your financial needs and there is also the fear of rejection. You wonder, “What if no one needs me?” “What is nobody cares about what I do?” and “What if no one sees the value I offer with my services and experience?”

As time goes by, I will forever be grateful to the first few customers who believed in me and gave me the opportunity to be of service. When you fast forward to several months down the road and you see the fruit of your labor realized, it boosts your self-esteem as an entrepreneur. You start having positive thoughts like, “Maybe this will work.” “I think they found me valuable.” “I think this business idea is finally working!” “I think my audience really enjoyed having me.” Now I find myself transitioning from having fear of failure to experiencing the fear of success. My new thoughts are now, “What is this business actually takes off and I’ll be so busy that I won’t know what to do?” “What if I lose my life balance I’ve worked so hard to achieve?” What if I get so stressed out that I lose my peace?”

From the spiritual perspective, I fear not having enough time to spend with the Lord. I fear not being able to give of my time to ministries that need my help. I’m fearful of missing opportunities to spend time with my husband and the rest of my family because there is too much work to get done. I’ve experienced all these things before when I had “a job” and “a career” that was so demanding of my time, energy, and brain power. Each day after an entire day of working at the bank I would come home completely depleted of everything. I had nothing left to give. Many days I couldn’t even make a simple decision as to what to have for dinner so I wouldn’t eat. I was “decision-ed out,” if you can say it that way. I was emotionally exhausted from working in Corporate America. Don’t take me wrong. I truly enjoyed my entire banking career and the five years I worked in ministry. I experienced joyful years and felt fulfilled as an executive and as a leader. Nevertheless, all of that came with a price—lack of time with family, physical exhaustion, and emotional stress.

I think it’s interesting that both failure and success can actually have similar consequences in your life. You can lose your relationships, your marriage, your home, and even your relationship with God in both cases. Both failure and success have the power to destroy your life. It is, therefore, your choice on how you will handle either as you may experience both situations throughout the course of your life. But when you choose to walk your journey along with God, you will experience a peace that surpasses all understanding and you can choose life as the Bible tells us to do.

Philippians 4:7 (NLT) Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Deuteronomy 39:19 (NLT) Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!

With the thirty one years of working experience that I now have under my belt, I finally understand what people mean when they say, “I’ve been around the block.” I feel I have been around the block at least once if not twice. I now know the dangerous of working so hard as well as the positive consequences. I now know the positives and negative feelings of working alone. But most importantly, I now know how crucial it is to hang on to God regardless of my work situation. He is my provider. He is my comforter. He is my companion. He walks with me daily as I make my decisions. I depend on Him completely to send me the right customers and the right speaking engagements where I will make an impact in people’s lives. I also depend on my husband and consult with him on all my business decisions because it is our business. He is very wise and God uses my husband to give me guidance and also to help me balance my life.

I know I can be very successful and I will not hold back anymore. I will let God guide me every step of the way. I know that when we have a thankful heart, God protects us from becoming prideful because we remember that we are nothing without God. I know that when we give out of our abundance—and even out of sacrifice—we don’t develop an attachment to material possessions. I know that when we have our priorities straight putting God first, then our families, and then our work, God helps us to live a more balanced life. I will follow my own teachings and what I know is right. I will let God use me for His purposes and will be set free. I will not hold back. It will be an amazing journey to see what God has in store for me in all areas of my life. I trust Him with all my heart.

I will leave you with this Scripture today:

II Timothy 1:7 (NLT) For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

Only One Lightbulb to Finish High School

This past week I read an annual report from Opportunity International about their accomplishments in Nicaragua working with the poor. I love and support this Christian nonprofit organization because they are teaching the poor how to become self-sustainable by co-investing with them and providing micro loans for their small businesses. In addition, they are teaching their clients business principles and the Bible. Opportunity International also has a school called “Emprendedora” which means “The Entrepreneurship” School.

One of the stories in the annual report was about a girl who graduated in the very first graduating class of the Emprendedora School in 2016 and she was also the very first person in her entire family to graduate from high school. She graduated with honors and also with the additional agriculture technical certificate offered by the same school. Even though her accomplishment of graduating from high school plus doing it with honors, in addition to being the first one in generations to finish high school was an amazing achievement, what touched my heart the most about the story is that she studied under “only one lightbulb” throughout high school. Her entire house had only one lightbulb!

I shared the story with my husband as we looked around our kitchen and dining room lighting. At that moment, there were fifteen lightbulbs on! The kitchen recessed lights (6) plus the little lights under the cupboards (3) plus the chandelier over the dining room table (5). This girl, not only had to share a very small house and bedroom with her family but studied under only one lightbulb for years. She was so thankful and happy to go to school that one lightbulb was a minor obstacle only. She was also so thankful that her dad made a bicycle (out of used parts) for her to ride to school so the trip now took her fifteen minutes versus the one hour walk each way, that she didn't complain about the lack of lighting in her house.

For a moment I felt guilt but mostly I felt gratefulness in my heart for what God has provided for my family. My husband and I have worked extremely hard to have the material things we now enjoy so we should not feel guilty. Even though I don’t consider ourselves to be rich, I recognize that by any other country’s standards many of us here in America are considered rich and that we live in abundance. I am thankful to God for our work, for our education, and for all the gifts and talents He has entrusted us with. I’m also thankful that we learned the concept of stewardship early in our lives so we could treat all the resources we’re entrusted with appropriately.

Being a good steward is a big responsibility. Stewardship is knowing that what we have is not ours but God’s—including all our talents He deposited in us. When we are entrusted with material possessions, including money, we are to share it with the world—especially for the Gospel to be preached around the world. That is the main purpose for us to have riches in this world.

I challenge you today to look around your house and see how many lightbulbs you have. Then thank God for each lightbulb and for the gift of light in your home. Thank God for every single thing you have in your life, for your children, for your spouse, for your friends, for your family, your work, and your education. But most importantly, thank God for His Light, Jesus, who shines in your home and illuminates your heart with His love and truth. Then share Jesus with others—He is indeed the only lightbulb we need in our homes!

Temptations Come Our Way in the Bad Times AND in the Good Times

I was meditating today on Matthew 4:1-11 when Jesus went to the desert to fast and pray for forty days. At the very end, on the fortieth day, when Jesus was hungry, exhausted, and the most vulnerable is when Satan showed up to tempt him. Part of Jesus’ mission on earth was precisely to become human and live a life as human as possible so that’s why he went to the wilderness. Imagine the monumental temptation to convert the rocks into bread right there and then. We experience terrible hunger after only one or two days of fasting. We are weak! The hunger after forty days must be unbearable. But Jesus abstained from using his power. He quoted the Bible to Satan and told him “It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then Satan tempted him with power when he asked Jesus to throw himself off the cliff and have angels rescue him. Then Jesus responded by saying, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Lastly, Satan tempted Jesus a third time when he asked Jesus to worship him and then he would give Jesus all the worldly possessions and power. And Jesus rebuked Satan yet once more and said, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

As I shared in previous blogs, I’m doing an in-depth study of the Bible using the Life Application Study Bible. In the explanation of these verses, the study Bible says that “The devil often temps us when we are vulnerable—when we are under physical or emotional stress (for example, lonely, tired, weighing big decisions, or faced with uncertainty” (p. 1533). Isn’t this absolutely true in your life? It is in mine. It is in those times when I feel the most vulnerable that Satan always tempts me with negative thoughts of defeat, doubt, and fear. But the Bible also says that we must not feel dirty when confronted with temptation because that is not a sin. “We sin when we give in and disobey God.”

In the same manner, in the good times, when everything is going well, Satan shows up too. This time he temps us with other things—possessions, power, and pride. When everything seems to be going great in our lives, there are no illnesses, the job is going good, relationships are awesome, and when we feel we’re on top of the world—that is the perfect opportunity for Satan to tempt us. Without knowing, we are as vulnerable during these times as we are when we are at the bottom of the pit. The Study Bible says that “he also likes to tempt us through our strengths, where we are most susceptible to pride” (p. 1533). The Study Bible summarizes it in three key areas that the devil tempts us: 1) physical needs and desires, 2) possessions and power, and 3) pride.

When we are tempted in any of these areas—whether we are vulnerable because we are at the bottom or at the top—we must seek God with all our hearts and drive our strength to resist temptation from Him. Knowing the Word of God well and where these powerful verses are in the Bible is a huge weapon against the enemy of our soul. The Word of God is like a sword and we must use it to destroy the enemy. But we must practice and learn how to use it well so in those vulnerable moments we are ready to fight—and win!

There is nothing wrong with having physical desires (we are human) or being successful in business, which can include having possessions and power. It’s a matter of the heart. We need to remain humble in the bad times and in the good times. In the bad times, it’s easier to recognize the need for God in our lives but still some people refuse to run to God and don’t give him a chance to help them. In the good times, it’s easy to feel as if we don’t need God because money and power can buy anything we need in the world—except true happiness and eternal life. By recognizing that it is God who gives us the power to create wealth to begin with and knowing that He gave us all the talents we possess, we stay humble. Also by having a thankful heart and attitude we keep our hearts free of pride and close to God. Lastly, by giving out of our abundance and also when in need, our hearts remain humble. Matthew 6:33 says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

I hope today’s blog encourages you to not give up believing in God if you are going through difficult times in your life. I also hope that this blog inspires you to stay close to God during times of prosperity as you remember that this world can take everything away in a split second. God is our eternal source of strength. I will end with what the Study Bible says, “When temptations seem especially strong, or when you think you can rationalize giving in, consider whether Satan may be trying to block God’s purposes for your life or for someone else’s life.” Be strong in the Lord and resist temptation!

How Do You Incorporate Your Faith in the Workplace – When Your Workplace Is the Stage?

If you are a Christian who works in the marketplace but you also feel the need, the pull to serve God, you may be wondering, “Should I leave my job, the workplace, and go work for a ministry? Or should I go work for a nonprofit that helps people and brings the Gospel to the lost?” I believe most of us who are believers working in the marketplace—or any place other than in ministry, missions or a church—battle with these thoughts. How can God use me here, at work? Where is “my mission field”? Where does God need ME?”

Well, search no more. God needs YOU right where you are—in the marketplace. That’s exactly where He placed you and that is your mission field where the laborers are truly few and the harvest is plenty and ready. Working people need God the same as people in remote areas of the world. When I left my job at the church where I worked (and where God trained me in ministry) I told the senior Pastor, “You know how God sends some people to distant lands like Asia, Africa, or South America? Well, God is calling me to Corporate America. That’s my mission field. That’s where God needs ME so that’s where I’m going. I’m going to start a bank with my previous boss and work in the banking industry again.”

The financial services industry needs God. Isn’t that evident these days? The corporate executives, the wealthy customers, board directors—they all need God, so that’s where I felt God called me to go. I started my career in banking and after thirteen years, God took out completely and brought me to ministry, to a church. While I was there for five years, I not only gained new work skills and experience in IT, HR, and Finance. I also learned nonprofit corporate governance as the Secretary of the Board in addition to learning what it means to work in a ministry, “doing the work of God on a daily basis.”

While I was there, however, God showed that we can do the work of God daily—in the workplace—wherever our workplace is. Some believers are called to nonprofits that are not Christian. Others are called to work in government and politics. God calls others to be entrepreneurs and start businesses. Yet others will work with the wealthiest in America and bring them the good news of the Gospel. The harvest is indeed plenty and God is looking for believers who are willing to work in this mission field, and sometimes even risk their careers, for the sake of the Gospel.

Two and one half years ago (after ten years with the new bank) I left the comfort of my banking executive job to fulfill the calling in my life—to go where I had never gone before, to go deeper into the marketplace and expand my territory beyond just one small bank. God always has bigger plans for us. And His plans for you and me are bigger than we think. So now my workplace is the stage! As a professional speaker I have now a bigger opportunity, and thus responsibility, to influence my audience. So my new question was, how do I bring my faith to my new workplace—the stage?

When I started public speaking about seventeen years ago I told God, “You open doors and I promise you I will mention your name at least once.” And He continues to open new doors. I go speak wherever there is an open door—both in the secular arena as well as the faith based. In the faith based events it’s very easy to talk about God and even Jesus. I can mention “Christ” as my Savior. That’s easy and I love it.

But when I’m asked to speak on a technical banking topic at a banking conference, that’s a little more challenging. How do I incorporate God into my speech or educational topic? Well, it’s actually easy. I share a little bit of my life and background and somehow, there is always someone who asks me a question that leads me to share about my faith—and I go for it. The fulfillment I get from sharing at least one word—God—during my speech is so amazing. I come away satisfied and knowing I just planted the little seed of God’s Word in someone’s heart. Now I pray that someone else can water that seed so the Word of God can start growing in that person’s heart.

If you are a Christian public speaker, ask God to show you a way to incorporate Him into your speech wherever you go, whatever the topic. God is God and He will give you the opportunity. I’ve noticed people actually welcome the idea that the speaker's faith has helped him or her throughout his or her life. Audiences usually accept the words “faith” and “God” and many people have told me afterwards that they appreciated that I had the courage to share about my faith. They connected now at the spiritual level. That is the best way you, as a speaker, can influence your audience—with the encouragement that being a believer in the workplace is ok. That’s how I incorporate my faith now in my new workplace—the stage. What a great opportunity and great responsibility. You can do it too!

A Baby or a Warrior? Reflections on How God Chose to Send Jesus…

I started reading a new Bible—Life Application Study Bible (New International Version) to learn more about the history that went on during the time that Jesus came to earth. I decided to start reading Matthew and purposed myself to read all the explanations from the study Bible as I go along. One of the things I learned today, for example, is that in the 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament, when God remained silent, He was actually preparing the perfect time and place for Jesus’ arrival. This reminded me that when we are waiting on God (for what seems an eternity) for a prayer to be answered is precisely because God is preparing the perfect time and place to answer our prayer. This makes complete sense yet it’s so hard for us to wait on His promises. But we must not lose hope and continue to have faith.

The other thing I learned today is that Matthew wrote the Gospel originally for the Jews only. They were his intended audience and the purpose was solely to prove that Jesus was the true Messiah—the One they had been waiting for. He started by proving that Jesus came from the royal line of God’s chosen people—from Abraham, the father of all Jews, all the way to Joseph, the husband of Mary. On the other hand, Luke wrote the Gospel directed to the Gentiles to prove that Jesus came to save all humankind—Jews, Gentiles, men, and women.

The third thing I already knew but that caused me to ponder on today was the fact that all the Jews that continued to believe during that time that God was sending the Messiah—a Savior to save them from oppression, from punishment from their sins, and that would rule in a new Kingdom—were expecting a warrior. And instead, God sends them a little baby who was born in a manger, in some little town called Bethlehem. Isn’t God amazing? He has the ability to surprise us and His plans are definitely not our plans and His ways higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Why did God do this? Why did God not just send a warrior that came down directly from heaven to show the world that He is King—powerful, majestic, conqueror, and invincible? Well, the thing is Jesus IS all of those things. God simply chose for Jesus to come into this world just like every other human being because He is and had to be part human in order to be here with us and fulfill the bigger plan of God.

Jesus came to earth directly from heaven because of God’s unending love for us. Jesus knew His mission and fulfilled it completely, to the very last minute. He started His ministry at around 30 years of age and worked in His ministry for three years and, at the end, He died on the cross. He fulfilled all the prophesies from the Old Testament. But the story doesn’t end with Jesus dead. The story ends with a new beginning—with Jesus conquering death and evil once and for all. He rose from the dead. And it begins with the proposal for each of us to choose life eternally with Jesus in heaven. So in the end, which was the beginning for us, Jesus IS a warrior—He fought evil and He won. Jesus’ Kingdom will never end unlike all the earthly kingdoms that do end. Jesus is powerful, majestic, conqueror, and indeed invincible. He conquered death. He has the power of the Holy Spirit, which is the same power He left for us to use as His followers. He is majestic for He is in His glory right now, waiting for us to get there when our turn comes. He is forever our Lord and King of Kings!

Follow Jesus. Make Him your Lord and never let go of Him. And if you are already a follower, then continue Jesus’ work by making disciples of all nations!

Can It be My Birthday Today Again?

I love birthdays! Yesterday was my special day. Some people don’t celebrate birthdays and say it’s just one more day or hate getting old. But I disagree. Your birthday is special. It’s the day God chose for you to be born into this world. And it’s the day we get to celebrate YOU! We get to tell you how loved you are, how much we care about you, and get to wish good things upon your life.

I celebrate my birthday because I celebrate one more year of my life, one more year that I got to be with my family, with all my friends, and simply enjoyed being alive! On my birthday I celebrate life itself. I celebrate with thankfulness in my heart that Jesus chose ME! I celebrate that God cared so much for me that He sent Jesus to die for me on the cross so I could have eternal life—birthdays forever! It doesn’t have to be Thanksgiving to remember the good things in our lives. Yes, I also don’t like getting old but, on the positive side, I don’t mind the years of life experience that I attain with each passing year. I take care of my body and health to the best of my ability and I leave the rest to God to take care of me. And when I had a bad year (because we can all have those), then I celebrate it's over and now I can look forward to a new year in my life.

Yesterday, all of your thoughts, good wishes, prayers, and blessings that you sent my way made me feel so special. I truly enjoyed being remembered and I appreciated each one of your messages. I don’t visit Facebook every day because it can be a distraction from my work. However, I do check my notifications almost daily to ensure I don’t miss anyone’s birthday. I always like to send at least those two words, “Happy Birthday!” I may have missed a few in the past but I try to wish all my friends a happy day on their special day.

But I was pondering on this concept of wishing our loved ones well and telling them how much we love them, and asked myself. Why do we only say those things to our friends and family on their birthday? Why is it that we usually only reach out to others when we hear they’re not doing well? Why not reach out just because? When our friends and family are healthy and happy? Why not take advantage of life and enjoy our relationships every day? That's why whenever I think of someone or feel the urge to pray for that person, I send them a short text, email, or sometimes even a voice mail. Those unexpected messages go such a long way to the person receiving it. You mean, getting a love message out of the blue, just because? Wow! We’re not used to getting those. We’re all too busy and disregard those little nudges that I believe is God telling us to reach out.

Yesterday, I got messages from my friends from Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Kenya, Armenia, Mexico, Philippines, and of course from many different states in the U.S. I loved it! With technology these days, there is really no excuse to not stay connected with the people we love and appreciate.

Today, I encourage you to reach out. Stay connected with the people you love. Reach out—in the good times—when you can still enjoy life together. Enjoy each relationship and thank God for it, for each friend is a gift from God to YOU!

Happy Birthday everyone! Every day is your special day in my calendar!

The Silence of God…And His Promise

Each year on Easter weekend I read one chapter of the book “The Case for Christ” by Lee Strobel. This chapter is called “The Medical Evidence” and the purpose is to explain the medical reasons of how Jesus died on the cross. It’s a step by step medical explanation of what Jesus went through from the moment he went to pray all night and sweat blood to the moment he had his last breath and said, “It is finished.”

I read this chapter each year to remind myself the horrible death that Jesus went through—all because He loves ME—all because of LOVE! That was his only mission on earth, his purpose—to die on the cross for each one of us. Wow! And we get scared when we discover God’s purpose for our lives. We get sometimes overwhelmed by our calling as if it was anywhere close to the calling Jesus had.

I also attended the Good Friday service at my church last night. They shared the various statements that Jesus said right before and up to his death. The one that stuck with me was when Jesus said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46 NKJV). Imagine, even Jesus, the Son of God, thought and felt as if God had forsaken him. How can that be? Didn’t Jesus know that very soon He was going to be with the Father again? Didn’t He know that this was part of the plan from the beginning and that He had to go through this horrible pain in order to get the victory—a victory that would be eternal? But I think it was the human side of Jesus who spoke at that moment and asked God “why have you forsaken me”? Other versions say, “Why have you abandoned me?”

This brings me to address two points: First, even Jesus had to wait for God’s timing. He had to wait for God’s power to manifest in His life—for the promise. In this instance, Jesus had to wait for God to resurrect Him from the dead. He had to wait three days! Many times we feel forsaken and abandoned by God but the Bible also tells us that God “never leaves nor forsakes us” (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8, Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5 NKJV). We simply need to wait and not give up on our faith. Second, even Jesus, the Son of God, received silence from God. God cannot be in the presence of sin so He turned His back on Jesus. That was the only reason (and the only time) God was silent and turn away from Jesus for three days as Jesus visited hell on our behalf so we don’t have to spend eternity there separated from God. What a mission! What a promise!

Before Jesus came to earth, in between the Old Testament and the New Testament, 400 years passed where God was silent to the Israelites! 400 years! That’s so many generations that passed and they never heard a word from God. People were born and died and never heard from God. They never experienced the promise here on earth. They had to believe by faith and never saw the promise of the Messiah realized during their entire lives on earth.

I thank God daily that I was born in these times. Even though these times seem full of hatred and evil, Jesus left us with the Holy Spirit so we CAN communicate with God daily! We don’t have to wait years and our entire lives for the promise to come true. It already did! All we have to do is believe and accept the free gift of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He already paid the prize for our sins. He already came and fulfilled His mission—He died on the cross, went to hell for us, and resurrected from the dead. He’s already sitting at the right hand of the Father. All we have to do is say, “Yes, Lord. I accept your invitation. I believe in you. I repent of my sins. I want to go to heaven and be with you for eternity.”

I know we are all waiting on God for something. We continue to pray and wait (sometimes patiently and other times very impatiently) but we wait until God’s promises in our lives come true. Let’s just keep the eternal perspective knowing that the biggest promise that God gave His people (all of us) already came true. Now you have to appropriate that promise and make it a reality in your life. The worldly things we wait on are not important in the eternal perspective. Only the conversion of those we love is of that importance. So let’s not get weary in our prayers and believing for those who don’t yet know Christ. Let’s never quit praying for the lost souls who have not yet heard the promise and for our loved ones who have heard and are resisting to believe. Let’s pray they accept the free gift of salvation so we can all be together in eternity. Truly, the “happily ever after” idea can happen to all of us in heaven.

Give your life to Christ today. Don’t waste another day of your life without God in it.

Merge Twin Cities – Let’s Bring the Gospel to Our Immigrants in the Twin Cities

This morning I attended a Hispanic Pastors Conference hosted by Bethel University. I was invited to attend with Reverend and Evangelist Sammy Wanyonyi, founder of Shine in the World Ministries. Sammy is the person who invited me to go with his team to Kigali, Rwanda, last August on my very first mission trip. He was invited to speak to the group of Hispanic Pastors today for a few minutes about a new initiative, a movement that God has put in his heart called Merge Twin Cities. The purpose of Merge is to unite the Twin Cities by bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the almost one million immigrants that live here. Of those, 90% are unchurched.

There are over $220 thousand Hispanics in the Twin Cities and I was invited because I now serve on the Board of Shine as well as Chair of the Merge movement to represent the Hispanic population. I feel very inadequate serving in this position but Sammy asked me and I said yes in faith. All of us Board members are believing together that God will move right here in our own Twin Cities and will bring churches together for the same purpose—to bring the message of Christ to the immigrants. So my next mission trip may be right in my back yard!

This morning we were only able to attend the first class that was part of the conference. Dr. Juan, who taught the class, is an excellent teacher of the Word. I learned today so much about the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). I learned that each Gospel was written with a purpose and that God instructed the writers of each Gospel to use facts, stories, history, parables, teachings, theology, and deep explanations of certain parts of the Gospels so we (all of us today) could learn—learn everything we could from the Scriptures without making the Scriptures (the Bible in itself) an idol.

Each Gospel is different and even though Matthew, Mark, and Luke cover some of the same stories, they are each unique in the way they are written and in the order of which some stories are told. Also, some books have more chapters than others (Matthew has 28 versus Mark that has only 16) but it’s for a reason. Matthew and Luke, for example, include Jesus’ genealogy and talk about His family while the others don’t. The Gospel of John, for example, is the only one who describes Jesus as the “Lamb of God” right away in Chapter 1. Everything I learned today sparked the learner in me and now I want to start studying the Bible in a more serious way, not just read a passage here and there as I usually do.

I encourage you today to dig deeper into the Scriptures and learn, learn—learn all you can about the life of Jesus. Get to know Him as a person. It’s a never ending journey of learning and the deeper you get, the more you find out how much there is to learn about the things of God. The more you learn about the person of God, the more you will fall in love with Him and the more you will feel His amazing, abundant love for you!

I Will Start Believing Again

Today I was meditating on the Scripture in James 4: 2 that says, “…And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it.” I have suffered from headaches and migraines for over thirty years now. Through those years I have believed that God can heal me and as the years passed, I stopped believing. Not that I don’t believe that God can heal others. I know He can and does. But the question is, will He heal me? Why hasn’t He healed me yet? What do I have to do to be healed?

Two years ago I started my quest to discover all my triggers—everything and anything that triggers my body to react by having a headache, which most times turns into migraines. In fact, one of the books I’m writing right now will be called “My Life as a Migraineur – My Life Living with Pain when No One Knew.” In this book, I share my stories throughout my life since I started suffering from headaches at age eighteen. The purpose of this book is to encourage others to discover their own triggers sooner than I did.

As of today, I have discovered 25 triggers that affect me. Many of those triggers such as being in a place that is too bright or too noisy, or not eating on time, not sleeping enough hours, and event my worst one—all preservatives, food additives, and artificial sweeteners, I have learned to control somewhat. However, there are other triggers like hormones and the barometric pressure changes in Minnesota that I absolutely cannot control.

After studying and researching all these triggers I have come to the realization that “It’s in my DNA” like a mean doctor once told me (which is, by the way, what inspired me to write the book). There is no more triggers to discover. I have learn to accept that “it is what it is.” I refuse to go on preventative medications because they all have terrible side effects that, in my opinion, are worse than enduring the pain of a migraine. Therefore, I only have one last thing to pursue in my quest for healing—believe in God’s healing again!

Even though I have asked God to heal me many times in the past thirty years, I have decided to renew my faith and to start the faith journey again in this area of my life. This is my prayer I wrote today in my personal journal that I will share with you so you can believe with me:

Lord, I have asked you to heal me and you haven’t. I’ve had faith and have lost it. Now I want to believe in your healing power again—your healing power to heal ME! Not just other people. I know you heal others, maybe not everyone who asks or who believes but those you choose to heal. How can I be one of those special people you choose to heal, Lord?

You say in James 4:2 “You do not have because you do not ask.” Well, I’m asking you again to heal me from headaches and migraines—forever. I want to share my testimony of healing with the world. I want to inspire people to believe again, to have faith in you again. I want to be a walking testimony of your love and healing power.

There is nothing else to discover, no more triggers to find out. It is in my DNA, like that mean doctor said. It is what it is. But you can change that reality, Lord. You are God. You created me. I’m not going to ask you anymore why you won’t heal me. I will simply believe. I choose to believe in your healing power.

For now, I will wait on you for the rest of my days until I receive my healing. I will not give up believing.

This is my prayer and I ask you that you believe with me. If there is something you are waiting on God to do for you, start by believing again. Have faith. And then wait on the Lord. We will wait together.

Why Is It so Hard to Wait on God?

I recently read an article on the topic of “Waiting on God” that resonated with me. It seems like most of us are waiting for something in our lives. And it seems to me that most of us also struggle in similar ways during the wait. Why is it so hard to wait on God? I think because our timing is not the same as His. It is also hard because sometimes we are asking God for something that we are not ready to receive in some way. Because we cannot see the future like God sees it, we don’t understand why He makes us wait so long—what seems to be often an eternity.

Other times we may be asking God for something that, if we were to receive it, may destroy our lives. We don’t know that, of course, but God does and that’s why He will not give us those particular requests. That’s when trusting God comes in. I believe in God and that He loves me. But trusting God with every aspect of my life is difficult. Some areas are easier to give up to God than others. For example, right now I’m believing God to increase my business. In the meantime, I continue to prepare, learn, educate myself, and network—sowing the seeds. But when I continue to plant and plant and the harvest takes what seems forever to come, I sometimes get discouraged. The reality is that businesses take a while to grow and I must be patient—a virtue I don’t possess. So when I ask God to teach me patience, He makes me wait. And many times I don’t recognize it that I’m in a waiting mode precisely because I asked God to teach me patience. It seems I have not learned yet!

Sometimes though when I reflect on my current prayer of increasing my business, I don’t realize the precious gift I currently have of having extra time. If God is giving me this extra time to pursue the rest of my calling in my life, then I must take this opportunity to do so. I need to continue sowing the seeds and simply wait until the right time comes when I can handle the increased business.

I love the fact that right now I can pursue my calling and do the three things I love—work with small community banks, speak about leadership and share God wherever I can, and also write my books. I’m writing three books right now but it’s not the pressure people think it is. I simply write on each book as I’m inspired.

I also have learned to ask God to put in my heart the desires He wants me to desire so when I want something, I know it’s from Him and He will grant me those desires—in His timing. I have learned to be content but need to continue to learn to wait for God to grant my prayers at the right time. I hope you will also work on waiting on God. Think of the areas where God is still working in your heart and also the other things you can do or take care of while you wait. Doing these things will help you wait until your prayers are answered or until you realize that God has other plans that are different than your prayers. Then you’ll need to accept His plan over yours and be content.

The point is for us to learn to be content with God’s plans for our lives and also to trust Him with every area of our lives. In the meantime, as you wait, know that almost every person is waiting for something. You are not alone.

Speakers’ Nightmares and “Daymares”

Last year I became a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and also the MN Chapter so I attended my first MN Chapter annual gala. The night was wonderful and I enjoyed getting to know other fellow speakers. One of the things I learned that night was that all speakers have “speakers’ nightmares.” I thought it was funny and, up to that point, I had not experienced any nightmares yet. Until the very next month, June, 2016. I had eleven speaking engagements within four weeks and I also had to deal with a death in the family. Of those eleven presentations, eight were on different topics and four of those were brand new topics I was just creating. One of the new topics was an all-day banking seminar that I was presenting for the first time at a banking association. These engagements included local travel in MN within three hours from home, two out of state conferences, one very early breakfast keynote meeting, one book club, and one new webinar.

My first nightmare was when I dreamt that my new Square Chip Reader got lost and I didn’t have it to sell my books at an event. In my dream, I had left it on the book table at a previous event. When I woke up, I immediately got up and looked for it. I found my little “Square thing” (as I call it) and was relieved to know it was only a dream.

The next night I was up late working on the one-day seminar so I fell asleep thinking about it. That night I woke up at 3:45 a.m. with a great idea on how to start the seminar with a special networking exercise using the attendee roster. I should have written the idea down right there at night. Instead, I kept thinking about it for a whole hour before I finally fell asleep again.

The worst nightmare I had that week though was that I had started the one-day seminar and I decided to run an errand during our first break. In my dream, my kids were all of the sudden little kids again and we were in an office building where I kept getting lost. My kids kept getting lost too so I spent hours, in my dream, looking for them, then looking for my car in the parking lot. When I was finally in my car, my GPS could not find the place to get me back to teach the seminar. I couldn’t get a hold of anyone at the event place until 5 p.m. and by then they had let everyone go because I didn’t show up to continue the class. I woke up almost in tears and with such anxiety! But I was, once again, relieved knowing it was only a dream—a speakers’ nightmare!

The first four events during these marathon of events went excellent, the book sales went great and my little “square chip reader” worked like a charm. Then the day of the seminar came on Tuesday, June 7. But the entire weekend before, my father-in-law, who had been ill for quite some time, suddenly became worse. His condition was deteriorating by the day and then by the hour. That Saturday afternoon on June 4, he was given two days left to live. So my husband and his sister decided to fly early on Sunday to be with their dad in Springfield, Missouri. That Saturday night, I called my father-in-law to say my goodbyes just in case I didn’t get to see him on Wednesday when we planned for me to fly out to MO.

I had to stay behind because of my commitment that coming Tuesday. That night I barely slept thinking I needed to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to take my husband to the airport. I was also agonizing over the fact that I was not going to be with him during this time in his life. My husband left on Sunday and I was not able to focus on my seminar presentation for the rest of that day nor Monday. I decided at that point, I knew my material and it was in God’s hands as to how it would go.

Monday night my husband informed me that his dad may not make it for me to see him on Wed. The hospice care had told them it would be a matter of hours. And it was… My husband texted at 3 a.m. telling me his dad had passed away at 2:53 a.m. the morning of June 7. I had not only gone to bed late and couldn’t get to sleep but I couldn’t fall asleep for another hour after hearing the news. I only slept 3 or 4 hours when Tuesday morning came, the day of the whole-day seminar. I was exhausted!

As I left home on my way to the event, my road was completely at a stop so I decided to take another route. After about a mile on the new road, I came up to a sign “Road Closed.” So I decided to turn left and take yet a new route, when I encountered another sign, “Road Closed.” My GPS at this point was going crazy “recalculating” and “rerouting” me back to where I started. I couldn’t believe I was lost in my own neighborhood! So I decided, almost in tears, thinking that I was going to be late to my event, to zig-zag my way to the freeway. I figured I should end up there eventually. And I did. I got on the freeway finally. But when I got there, it was at a complete stop. My GPS now said I was to arrive at 8:47 a.m. and my event was to start right at 9 a.m.

I finally got there and went straight to connect my laptop. Of course, as it is expected on a day like that one, my laptop couldn’t recognize the projector so we turned it off. And of course, we couldn’t turn the projector back on for a few minutes until it finally turned on and my laptop recognized it. I said, in front of the class, “Yes! Success! I was nervous about the technology not working right not about speaking to you all.” And they all laughed. And remember the introduction exercise I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about? When I first got there, the seminar organizer informed me that she had not printed the rosters so I tried not to panic and asked politely to please make copies quick, which she did. We then distributed the rosters to the attendees right before the seminar started.

The event planner introduced me and we began the class. Everything turned out excellent. Because of this short networking exercise we did at the start, everyone felt free and comfortable to continue sharing and participating during the rest of the class. Everyone had a great time and learned a lot.

This day was not a nightmare… it was a “daymare” as one of my little nephews once told me. He said he had “nightmares and daymares.” After I laughed, I asked him, “Why do you call them “daymares”? He explained, “Because I have bad dreams sometimes when I take naps during the day.” Brilliant! I thought that was a great analogy of how we can, too—even as we’re awake—experience daymares.

I hope that by reading my stories of both nightmares and daymares you were inspired to remember that no matter what goes on, we, as professional speakers must go on and do a good job for our audience. That day, no one knew that my father-in-law had just passed away early in the morning. But also, remember that regardless of how wrong some things may go sometimes, everything turns out okay in the end.

A Journey to Discover Your Kingdom Calling

I have not written on my blog for a few weeks. It seems I’ve had something going on each weekend since Christmas and this is the time when I write. I hope you are having a great start to your New Year!

I’m not a writer as a profession. I’m a writer as a calling. Therefore, I don’t put pressure on myself to write unless I have something of value to say and/or when God puts something in my heart to share with you. I write when I’m inspired to write and not out of obligation. So today I’m enjoying my time with the Lord and writing to you as well. I have two things to share with you today.

First, God is good to us and He is faithful! He answers prayers and doesn’t leave us nor forsake us even when we’re going through dark times in our lives. I especially think God listens to the prayers of our friends and family—when we pray for each other. I have been praying for several people and for specific things in their lives and I’m starting to hear back about some prayers being answered already. Praise God!

The second thing I want to share with you is that this month I had the privilege to graduate the first group of women from The Master’s Program for Women, a three-year journey to find your Kingdom calling. These first eight amazing women who walked this journey with me have now a clearer understanding of their unique, individual callings. Identifying your calling is hard work. It’s not often when people know exactly what they’re called to do from a very young age. Usually it takes time to search your heart, much prayer, getting to know yourself as a person, discovering your talents, and choosing to use those talents for Kingdom purposes.

The Master’s Program for Women (TMPS) is the only curriculum I teach that is not my own. I chose to become a teacher/leader for TMPW because this program aligns with my personal calling which is to help working people be successful in every area of their lives. TMPW takes you into a journey of self-discovery. It guides you to focus inward first to get “your house” in order and then you can focus outward to fulfill the Kingdom calling in your life.

The first year focuses on your Personal Realm (the four aspects of your person): physical (body), intellect (mind), soul (relationships), and spirit (your spiritual life). We learn about Life Mastery, which is based on Bob Shank’s book called the same, Life Mastery. This concept is about mastering the various aspects of your life so you can serve God to the fullest—truly being the best that He created you to be!

The second year focuses on your Professional and Family Realms. You learn how to use your talents in your professional career, and how to improve your relationships with your spouse, children and your relationships with others in general. You also learn about your own relationship with (and to) money and finances. You learn concepts to put your financial realm into perspective and how God’s reward system is different than the world’s.

The third year we focus on the Kingdom Realm—your Kingdom calling. The main purpose of this journey is to take you from success to significance. During these sessions you learn to apply your talents to help others in the Kingdom and how to bring people into the Kingdom of God. You learn to discern how to spend your time wisely, how to say “no” to the things that are cluttering your life, and say “yes” to the things that have eternal impact.

I invite you to visit TMPW’s website so you can learn more about this program at www.themastersprogramforwomen.org. You can also always contact me if you want to learn more about this amazing journey of discovery and walk with God. My email is marcia@marciamalzahn.com. They also have this program for men and you can check it out at www.themastersprogram.org.

May God bless you and protect you this year so you can find your own Kingdom calling!

Let Me Tell You a Story! Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family! May you be blessed to be surrounded by those you love and also comforted by the peace of God if you’re missing someone you love.

Each year, many of us say goodbye to a loved one. There are no words to help us cope with the pain and suffering but the hope that we shall see them again in heaven is what comforts us—when we believe in the promise of the Gospel.

Today I want to share a story with you that happened on my way to Kigali, Rwanda this past August on my first mission trip:

On the plane ride from Boston to Amsterdam, an eight-hour flight, I sat next to a young man, native of Amsterdam, who had spent seven weeks in Boston doing an internship. If you have flown a trans-Atlantic flight, you may remember seeing the picture of the plane on the screen of the person’s seat in front of you showing the trajectory of your trip. After about an hour of friendly chatting with each other I noticed the little plane on the screen was crossing the middle of the Atlantic, and I made the comment to my new friend, “You know… if this plane goes down now, we’re for sure going down. We’re done… But that’s okay because I know where I’m going.” He replied, “Where are you going? Back to Nicaragua?” “No” I said. “Where do you think you’re going?” I asked again, he said, “To the bottom of the ocean?” “No” I said, “That’s where your body is going. As a Christian, I believe I’m going to heaven… What do you believe in?” He then said, “I believe in nothing… Besides, if there is a God, then He’s a bad guy. There is only evil in this world.”

In a calm way, I simply responded, “Oh, I’m so sad that you think that way. You think He’s bad because all you see is evil and you’re not seeing the other side of the equation, which is God.” “How is that?” he replied. I said, “Let me tell you a story. Would you believe with me, for a moment, that God created everything? That God is the creator of all, so I can tell you a story?” He agreed with a serious look in his face. “Okay” I said. “Once upon a time…” and I smiled, looked at him and he was also smiling. I said again, “Once upon a time, God created Adam and Eve… But even before that, God created angels, beautiful angels. And the most beautiful angel was named Lucifer. One day, Lucifer thought he was better than God and he became proud. In that very moment, God cast him into this earth and made it his territory. God kicked him out of heaven and sent him to earth. That’s why you only see evil in this earth. The devil, Satan, Lucifer, is within his own right to create evil in this world.” Then, I said, “God created Adam and Eve and it was Satan who deceived Eve into believing that she could have the knowledge of God by eating the forbidden fruit.” Then I stopped to make a little joke and said, “Yes, it was the woman who screwed up first. Sorry!” and he smiled again but continued listening attentively.

Then I asked him if he had heard of the concept of the Trinity and I think he said yes but I continued the story and said, “Well, then God, the Father, sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins, so we could have eternal life and so our relationship with God could be restored. When Jesus left this earth, He left us with His Holy Spirit so we could communicate with Him, because, as you know, we all have a spirit. When the Bible says that we are ‘created in His image’ is because we are spirit beings… So that’s it. That’s the whole story of salvation.  The gift of salvation is free and all we have to do is accept it. And that’s why I believe, as a Christian, that if I die right this moment, I will be in heaven immediately with Jesus, for eternity.”

He was still listening with a serious look on his face and then after a long pause he said, “Wow, no one has ever explained that to me. No one has ever told me that story.” And my heart broke. I thought to myself, “How can a young twenty-six year old man from Amsterdam have never heard the story of salvation?” We, Christians, are not doing our job in bringing the Gospel to the entire world. We have much work to do and the sense of urgency sunk in my heart more than ever. My job in this mission trip had just began and we weren’t even in Kigali yet. Wow! I was overwhelmed with the love of God for this young man. I told him he could be my son and that I would love to stay in touch. So we agreed to be friends on Facebook. When I arrived in Kigali, his Facebook request was awaiting me and I was so happy. I feel privileged to have sown the first seed of the Gospel in his heart and hope that others will water it so he can someday too enjoy the free gift of salvation and spend eternity with His creator. So even though I didn’t get one minute of sleep during this flight, that’s okay. It was totally worth it. This story is one of the highlights of my trip and I will never forget it.

So, today I encourage you to share the story of Jesus with others. The gift of Salvation is the ONE GIFT that we cannot keep to ourselves. Everyone deserves to hear the good news!

Merry Christmas!

Snow-A Little Reminder from Heaven

I know here in Minnesota most of us complain when the snow comes and fills our driveways and roads with its beautiful, fluffy whiteness, slippery self, while also creating dangerous driving conditions. Unfortunately, we only focus on the danger side and the inconvenience the snow brings to our lives. Today I want to challenge you to focus instead on the beautiful and refreshing hope that the rain and the snow bring to us. Besides, snow is simply a beautiful manifestation of nature.

Without water from heaven, our nature would die and we would eventually perish too. The Scripture that comes to mind for today is Isaiah 55:8-12:

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

"For you will go out with JOY and be lead forth in PEACE; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”

I encourage you to change your perspective. Every time it snows going forward, don’t think of the inconveniences or dangers that come with it. Of course, you have to be careful and take necessary precautions, just don’t make that your focus. Instead, focus on God’s Word. Imagine all the people that are hearing the Word of God for the very first time. Pray that those seeds get planted in their hearts and that others will come along and water the seed so it produces fruit. God’s Word promises us that His Word will NOT return to Him empty and that it will produce fruit in the lives of the people who will listen to it.

So if you’re wondering, how do I “plant” a seed into someone’s heart? You do that by sharing the Word of God with someone. How do others “water” that seed? Every time we share the Gospel with someone, pray that God sends another person to also share about Him so the enemy doesn’t steal and destroy that little seed. That’s why it’s important for us to encourage new believers to get connected to a church so they can continue to listen to God’s Word.

My prayer today for you is that you find opportunities to plant the seed—share the Word of God with someone. If you are the one who is a new believer, then my prayer for you is that God will send people to you to remind you of what you learned, of His love for you, and to help you grow in Christ.

Next time it snows, think of snow as "A Little Reminder from Heaven."

Merry Christmas!

Spend Time with God in Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving upon us and then Christmas, I was pondering on the concept of time. As we all know, we only have a certain amount of time each day. No matter what we do, there is no way to stretch the time and obtain more hours. It is simply not possible.

I am thankful for the time that I have in my life. I’m thankful for the time to be with my family, for the time to do work, and I treasure the time I have in private with the Lord. I pray each day throughout the day and lift up the people in my life that need prayer through the year. But each Saturday, I schedule at least one hour to be with God—just He and I—with no agenda, just a desire to be with Him, in His presence. I take this time sometimes to ask Him for a lot of things (relationships, people’s health, work, wisdom, etc.). Other days, I simply worship Him and say thanks for everything in my life—the people, the things He’s given me, my work, all the books He’s given me, all my talents, and for all the opportunities He’s given me in my life. Yet other times, I take this precious moment to pour out my heart to Him in desperation, despair, anger, or confusion, or sadness—whatever I have in my heart that day. And God never changes. He always receives me with the same love, grace, compassion, tenderness, and mercy. He makes me feel loved and accepted, always, regardless of my sinful nature. I always feel forgiven and as if He extends His hand of mercy towards me. I feel the warmth of His sweet love.

I want you to also feel God’s love because He loves you too. When we come to Him with a thankful and repentant heart, He melts. His grace and love and mercy just flows out of Him like a river. And we are bathed in these deep waters of pure love and compassion toward us. There is so much to be thankful for in our lives even when things are not going our way, even when we see no way out or no way for things to get better. God always has a way that is higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).

So during this Thanksgiving celebration, I encourage you to spend time with God—just you and Him alone. And you will experience His peace and love, and all the gifts His presence gives you. This Christmas, give God the gift of your time and keep giving Him that gift throughout next year. You will never regret it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

God Is in Control Regardless of Who Is President

This coming Tuesday, November 8, 2016 is Election Day. This is a very important day for all Americans to exercise their duty and privilege as an American citizen. What an amazing privilege it is to vote. Having lost my country of origin, Nicaragua, to communism during the years 1979-89 where citizens lost their right to vote, I don’t take this privilege for granted.

Unfortunately, this time, Americans are not only disappointed but also confused like never before as to who to vote for. A political science professor I heard speak recently at an event, said that this year Americans are “the most polarized ever,” meaning, they have become extreme Republicans or Democrats. There is no middle ground anymore and there are less than ever States that are considered “swing States.”

I am so sad to see that we have come to the two candidates we now have for each party. I’m even sadder to realize that if we had a true leader in the midst, someone who would be an amazing leader and president for this nation, he or she may not be able to run unless they are a billionaire or, at a minimum, a millionaire. Furthermore, even if she or he would be a billionaire and had the money to invest (and be willing to lose) in order to run, she or he may not want to expose herself/himself to the scrutiny that comes with running. He or she may not want to expose the family to the criticism and horrible attacks that come from all over the country—and the world.

But in the midst of the confusion we keep forgetting that God can work with and through anyone He chooses to work with and through. He can use whoever is in power to continue His plans for the world, this country, and for each of us. We, as Christians, have two major responsibilities: 1) VOTE, and 2) PRAY. Pray for our nation; pray for grace and forgiveness. Pray for our leaders at every level. Pray for wisdom to do the right thing and to vote for the right candidate. Once we fulfill our duty, then we need to TRUST God that He is in control. That’s all we can do.

So today, I encourage you to exercise your privilege and right to vote while you still have it. You still have the freedom to vote while others in other countries have lost that right. Do not allow the political views to divide your family, church, and friendships. That’s exactly what the enemy wants! Thank God for FREEDOM and go vote!

God bless you all!