Tag: God

Perfect = BORING!

I enjoyed the following video so much I had to share it with you today. It is so important to embrace our kids for the person that God made them. I have 4 kids and each one is  distinct . That means when it came down to disciplining them when they were younger, I had to take that fact into account and deal with each one of them differently.

I often tell my kids that I don’t have a favorite because choosing a favorite child leads to all kinds of discord in any family. What I tell them is that I love each one of them differently- according to each unique personality. I love how God can put 6 completely different personalities each with their own unique temperaments in one single home and bond them together for life. Hug each one of your kids today and let them know that you value them for their uniqueness! Celebrate the diversity in your family this holiday season and throughout the rest of the year.

Do “the clothes REALLY makes the man?” Let’s explore this with our knowledge of HEBREW…

The word for clothing in HEBRW is בגד/BEH-GED and it comes from the word לבגד/LIV-GOAD, which means “to betray.” Our choice of clothing and the way we dress can expresses our inner self. If we dress solely by the latest fashion and what’s “in”, our clothing is betraying our own essence, and we are not allowing our body to freely express itself. The appropriate clothing, however, can bring out our beauty and inner glow, and really make us who we are!

KESHER/קשר is the word for “knot” in HEBREW. It is also the word for “bond” or “connection.” If one merits to have a special and truly deep relationship with someone in their lives, it is as if they are tied together in a knot, inseparable and totally intertwined. They can become so close that they are like one unit. Amazing!

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 28

Day 28 Question 28: What do you remember most about your first Christmas as a mom or dad?

Answer: Looking back now that we have 4 kids and our oldest is 17, I had to really pause and think on this question.  At that time I chose to be a full time stay at home mom and our finances were cut in half. When Christmas came around all I cared about was that I had a family of my own. We put up a tree and decorated our home as usual. My husband kept apologizing because he felt bad since he couldn’t buy us  any presents. I really didn’t care, I had a 4 month old baby girl in my arms and that’s all that mattered.

God sends people to bless us and when He does, we can’t act foolish or proud and not receive their blessing. Did you know that when someone is trying to bless you and you refuse them;  you are robbing that person of their blessing? I learned about that in those days. Sometimes you have to humble yourself and receive.

That same year we had some friends who were struggling financially too. They had a baby girl who was a few months older than mine and 2 older boys. When Martin called my husband a couple of days before Christmas and told him they had no food we  moved to help. I looked in my pantry and fridge and thanked God that they were full.

My husband had a collection of vinyl records back then. It was his dream to open a store and he had amassed enough to do so. Whenever we were short on cash, he would sell his records to tie us over until his next pay check. He took some records and sold them. When he returned he was so happy because he was able to give some of his earning to our friends in need. When we showed up at their home with a check in hand, our friends were so happy. That made OUR Christmas.

On Christmas Day we went to church. Our friends Jan & Alan were asking us about our Christmas.  We both joked that we were so broke, we had passed on giving ourselves any presents this year. Then My husband shared about how we had helped our other friends the day before. After church we were driving away and Jan & Alan were right behind us. They motioned us to pull over and we did. Jan told me to open my hand and when I did, she pressed a fresh new $100 bill into my gloved hand and wished us both a Merry Christmas. Before I could even say thanks, they had sped away. I cried that morning and I think I saw a couple of tears on my husband’s face too. Ok, I just had to stop and wipe my eyes just now too :,)

When you are good to others, God never overlooks it. When you give out of the little  that you have, it makes God smile. God’s goodness never gets old. I would love to hear some of your stories, so please feel free to comment and share. I hope you are enjoying this season!

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 22

Please refer back to my earlier posts and read what this challenge is about so that the later posts make sense :)

Day 22 Question #22: If you could choose only one famous quote that you would want your children to always remember, which one would it be?

Answer: This answer comes from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet: “Above all: To thine own self be true.” That is such an important and profound quote. We live in an age where our children are bombarded by the media to be everything else but who they really are. Children are sent to public school to learn to conform and fit the mold in order to further an elitist agenda that disregards the unique, amazing individuals that God created.

Just think for a moment, if God wanted us all to be cookie cutter forms of one another why did He create such a diverse human race? Clearly God celebrates individuality while we live in a society that tries to get everyone to fit in the box of conformity. Our young men and women watch TV shows Like CELEBRITY LOOK ALIKE where they pick someone to get a head to toe  makeover so they can look  like one of the famous Hollywood celebrities. Personally, I have always liked how I look and I’m not at all interested in looking like anyone else.  Let’s turn that idea around and have a celebrity do a make over show where they look like the “Average Joe” or “Ms. Plain Jane” I guess that much reality would cause their precious  TV ratings to plummet.

To thine own self be true: Thank you Mr. Shakespeare for having penned your words for a generation of people who are willing to sell out just so they can fit in with the crowd. It takes great courage to be yourself in a culture where uniqueness tends to be scorned. That’s one quote my kids have heard for quite some time and I hope they embrace it through out their lives.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 21

Please refer back to my earlier posts and read what this challenge is about so that the later posts make sense 🙂

Day 21 Question #21: What is the greatest lesson your children have ever taught you?

Answer: The one thing  I have learned after all these years of raising kids is how amazingly resilient their spirits are. When something bad happens they shrug it off more readily and easily than adults. I have asked my kids through the years to think back about when we were going through a rough spot, as a family or in my marriage to their dad. Their answers amaze me because I used to think that they would remember all the bad stuff in detail. Their answers that reflect that even though they knew times were bad, they took the good memories and cling to them. With the not so good things, they talk about it candidly and even laugh about some of the outlandish things they’ve seen.

A child’s bounce back ability is so amazing to me. I have seen each of my kids go through a terrible disappointment and be completely heart-broken and frustrated, only to shrug it off the next day. They move on quickly where adults linger in things that ought be discarded. That’s one of the biggest things I have learned from my kids. If things don’t happen like I thought they were going to, I follow their example; cry, shrug and move on.

Day of Acknowledgment

Thanksgiving Day,
a day to give thanks,
should not just be a holiday,
but also a lifestyle,
with an attitude,
of gratitude.
Let’s never forget
why it is we truly celebrate,
or else we’ll only be feasting for naught-
having forgotten
the very ones who fought
so we could partake
in this amazing gift,
a treasure from heaven:
our FREEDOM.
That we seem to daily
take for granted.
Let our thanks be deliberate,
as we sit down with family to celebrate.
Oh, please America,
let us never stop our thanks,
let us always keep giving,
not only today on Thanksgiving.
America: Once one of the ten
lepers they were needing cleansing..
they reached out to be healed,
an then heaven touched them.
At once all ten were restored.

Healed and Restored

Nine of the ten ran off,
to live their lives without looking back.
Except for the one, America,
she came back on her knees in appreciation
to The One who healed,saved and restored.
Then she was blessed as a nation,
and she never ever since forgot
any of those who fought
for her freedom.
There are many who hate
gnashing their teeth everyday,
as they lay in wait
to see America fall on her face.
To see her crumble from outer space.
What they don’t realize,
is that America is great
because The One on His Throne,
sees her enemies and laughs,
and one day they’ll all be turned
from powder into stone.
Although America does stumble,
she was not made to break.
America is far from perfect,
if she was, she would be boring.
She is good…  being made better.
Oh let us never forget!
We must never turn our backs
on those who have fought.
Our freedom was blood bought,
to make America great.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY AMERICA!!

Eva Santiago
Copyright 2009

Fall Foliage

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http://jlue.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/who-will-you-thank-on-thanksgiving/

THANK YOU!

I came to the USA,
33 years ago
Although I love my country of birth,
the place of my ancestors,
is still in my heart…
BUT I’ve lived in this great land,
for most of my life.
As a girl I ran on the sand
of her finest beaches.

Panama City Beach

I grew up eating
Georgia’s delectable peaches. 
I’ve seen the sunrise in the east,
to watch it descend
in the far west. 
My eyes have seen a feast,
but the sun setting where I live,
is always the finest,the absolute best.
All of my blessings
have been given to me here,
in this wonderful place.
Where God has given me favor,
and showed me His face.
I never give acknowledgement once a year.
For all that I have,
a life rich with flavor.
I look into the eyes of my loved ones…
daily I see,
daily I hear,
daily I know,
and daily I am aware of whom I’m indebted to.
Because I am rich without measure,
I look all around,
in my home, so MUCH treasure!
I appreciate you God,
for bringing me here,
I say it to you today and through out the rest of the year!!

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all of my family,friends and readers!

Eva Santiago copyright 2009

Fall in the Desert

 

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 19

Please refer back to my earlier posts and read what this challenge is about so that the later posts make sense 🙂

Day 19 Question #19: What is one of the super unique aspects of your own family today?

Answer: I had to think hard on this one because there are several dynamics that make my family stand out in a crowd. I believe a key aspect though is the fact that my husband is twenty years my senior. That has played a major role in our evolving as a family unit. I have been told by close friends that the way we are rasing our kids, resembles something more out of the 1950’s  landscape than 2011. We are one of those rare modern families that with God‘s favor and grace, can live on a single income which allows me to stay home so I can educate our kids. Yes, it’s tough at times going without some of the extra things we THINK might make us happy. But in the end stuff has to take a back seat to nurturing and educating our future. 

Another interesting side note is that my husband’s “old school” morals and mine came from two different places. His came from the era he was raised in . Mine came from having been born in another country and having been raised by two people who kept the traditions of our country of origin and instilled them in me  in a new culture and society.

Secondly the 20 year difference in our marriage enhances our kid’s education in ways I’d never imagine. They are exposed to several very different time periods; being that my husband is a baby boomer, our kids are more  familiar with  the culture that he grew up in than  their peers. Just for an example, ask my kids  about Red Skelton,  Nat King Cole, I Love Lucy, and a lot of the music and pop culture of the ’60’s and they can tell you in detail.Most kids their age, draw a complete blank. I was a product of the 1980’s culture so they are thoroughly familiar with a lot of the fashions, music and pop culture of that era too.

So the bridging the gap between two very different and unique eras has helped to shape and mold our family into who we are today.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 17

Please refer back to my earlier posts and read what this challenge is about so that the later posts make sense. :)

Day 17 Question #17:  What is the kindest thing a stranger has ever done for you?

Answer:  I read this and my mind immediately went to when I was in Bible College. I had come up with the tuition money for that semester but I was having a hard time coming up with the money for the required books. I went to the registrar to see what I could do about it and she said that my books were paid for. I was thrilled! I asked her how and she said that someone had paid for my books earlier that week. When I asked her who because I wanted to thank them personally, she said she had promised this individual complete anonymity.  My eyes got a little misty and I thanked God for coming through for me through the kindness of a stranger.

Melting Pot

We are a nation of immigrants. I’m proud to say that I’m an immigrant as well. I came to The USA in 1976 and I thank God everyday for bringing me here. My aunt Blanca came here in the 1960’s and established herself with a job as a secretary in Chicago; once she was settled in she began to work on helping  many of her brothers and sisters come here with their families. My aunt Blanca is one of my one personal heroes because if it wasn’t for her starting the whole process, I don’t know if I would be here today.

Another personal hero of mine is my uncle in whose house I grew up. He came to the USA in 1968 with his new wife. He was a young doctor in Colombia and he gave it all up to come live here. He followed his sister Blanca to Chicago; his first winter here was rough; coming from a tropical climate like Colombia, he had to endure the great Chicago blizzard of ’68. Not only that, he had to really start over career wise; he would go to night school to learn English and in the day time he had to work hard to pass his tests in order to get his MD licence so he could practice medicine here in the US.

My uncle had made a very comfortable life for himself by the time I came to live with him and his family. 2 years after I arrived, he joined the Air Force. THAT was so amazing to me. He chose to give back to this great country of ours by serving in the armed forces and I have always been very proud of him for that. I don’t know of too many people who would give up their comfortable life style, an established medical private practice and all if its accoutrements  to serve in the military like this special man did. He gave back to a country that gave him almost everything.

So today I salute my family members who have served and are  still serving in the military: Uncle Frank, Mireya (sister), Diego (brother), Kelli, Tracy (brother-in-law), Frank (cousin), Joe (father- in- law, deceased), Kristina (Niece), Larry (brother-in-law), David, Don Sr. ( deceased ).

I also salute and thank all of my friends who are currently serving and who have served this great land of ours in the past. I can’t name them all because they are too numerous to name..you know who you are! Thank you for being the brave men and women that you are who keep this country free from the claws of oppression. God bless you and your families always!

The Evil of Fatalism

 

Dear Warriors,

Reflection and foresight assure success and freedom. Therefore it is important for me to reflect on our days gone by and their lessons, but also to apply prophetic foresight in order to lead us in the right direction. I understand the importance and value of contrasts. Let the one who is excessive join with the one who is conservative, the impulsive with the restrained, and the intemperate with the rational. Contrasts make the world beautiful and if they bring such harmony in the physical world, they will accomplish greater harmony in the moral and spiritual world. As a prophet, I have availed myself to such contrasts by my choice of friends and associates because through the meeting of these extremes there may emerge a meaningful path of untold possibilities. The one thing that I face being a prophetic voice is the accusation of being a lunatic. Maybe for a period of time I am seemingly crazy because of the word that I give in season, but the true lunatics are the voices of those who cannot budge from their stand on the judgment of God…The fatalists; the determinists.

The force that is connected to this religious “luna” is the spirit of materialism, which we can observe by simply watching certain “Christian” shows. The Christian is quite free to believe that there is a considerable amount of settled order and inevitable development in the universe. The materialist is not allowed to admit into his spotless machine the slightest speck of spiritualism. The materialistic person is sure that history has been simply and solely a chain of causation.

Of course there is some truth to this, but what about destiny and our choices to make history? I’m going to use a word that I kept thinking about during my time in Israel, as God was dealing with me about the future – that word is determinism. I looked up the definition and this is what it means. Determinism is the doctrine that all facts and events exemplify natural laws. It’s the idea that human actions and choices are fully determined by preceding events and so freedom of choice is illusory or misleading. In theology it means “lack of free will.” The word “determine” simply means to come to an end and to settle, and from the Latin word “determinare.” Let’s break it down:

DE – OFF
TERMINARE – LIMIT
OFF LIMIT, LIMITED.

We are all acquainted with the word terminate. One of the greatest enemies to the prophetic is predetermination. What is this? Predetermination is the belief that something was decided in advance, and in the case of the many prophetic words being spewed out against our nation, the belief that God ordained sorrow, death, sickness and such for an individual/nation in advance and nothing we say or do can change that. This is a lie.

Determinism leads to fatalism. Fatalism is the acceptance of all things and events as inevitable. An example, “Her fatalism helped her to face death with stoic calm.” In other words, all events are predetermined so that man is powerless to alter his destiny, which ultimately causes a lack of effort or action in the FACE OF DIFFICULTY.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE IS THEREFORE REDUNDANT, AS THIS WILL NOT CHANGE ANYTHING.

The determinists come to bind, not to loose. These people do not believe in appealing to the will, but they believe in “changing the environment.” They will say to the sinner, “Go and sin no more,” because the sinner cannot help it, but then they will put the sinner in boiling oil because boiling oil is an “environment.” So many of today’s prophets believe that God is creating an environment so that the sinner will sin no more. This environment comes in the form of hurricanes, earthquakes, famines, droughts, pestilence, etc. So let me state categorically that this particular method of “environment” isNOT in fact causing the sinner to sin no more. America has been troubled with hurricanes, earthquakes, etc., and yet I see no sign, not even a glimpse, of acknowledgment of sin (from the sinners and rulers) and only the church is screaming at the world demanding them to change their ways, and threatening even more judgment.

In John 8, the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught in adultery. Jesus wonderfully deals with the hypocrites by challenging them with these words, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.” Once they had all left, HE ASKED HER IF SHE HAD ANY ACCUSERS LEFT TO CONDEMN HER. THEN HE SAYS, “NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU…Go and sin no more.” So, she DID have the power to make a change.

Another time in John 5, Jesus heals a man who had been crippled for 38 years, waiting for his miracle at a pool. Jesus heals him on the Sabbath and the Jews condemned him for carrying his bed on the Sabbath. Forget the fact that a miracle took place on the Sabbath. When Jesus finds him later in the temple, He said to him, “See, you have been made well. SIN NO MORE, LEST A WORSE THING COME UPON YOU.” So he DID have the power to make a change in his future. His choice of will would determine whether a better or worse thing would come upon him. Surely Jesus knew that there was a power of choice to do right that could be attained from within?

Gilbert K. Chesterton wrote, “It’s amusing to notice that many modern day mystics have taken as their sign an eastern symbol, which is the very symbol of a miserable mean infinity. It is a serpent with his tail in his mouth, eating away. The eternity of these material fatalists is indeed very well presented by a serpent eating his tail – a degraded animal that destroys even himself. The image of a very unsatisfactory meal.”

So what is it that many of these prophets of judgment have left out of their message? MYSTERY. Mysticism keeps men alive. As long as you have mystery you have health. When you destroy mystery, you CREATE MORBIDITY.

Let’s compare the church to the world. The ordinary non-religious man has always been a mystic. He has permitted twilight. He always had one foot in earth and the other in wonderland. He has always left himself free to DOUBT GOD, but also free to believe in God. The world’s spiritual sight is three-dimensional. The carnal man, one who is not influenced by religious fatalism, believes that there is such a thing as fate, but such a thing as free will as well. What I’m saying is that there is more openness on the part of a “sinner” than many saints. In John 4, Jesus gave the woman at the well an opportunity to see further than her fatalistic view, which caused indifference. She said, “A Jew shouldn’t be speaking to a Samaritan and especially a WOMAN.” She argued about where the correct place to worship was, whether in Jerusalem or on the mountain in Samaria. Jesus said to her, “If you knew (spiritually perceived) the gift of God and whom it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.” Even then she remained determined not to shift from her materialistic thinking and to entertain the mystery of living water. Chesterton writes, “The whole secret of mysticism is this, that man can understand everything by the help of what HE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND.”

As Christians we must permit free will to remain a sacred mystery. He continues to say, “Buddhism is centripetal, but Christianity is centrifugal: it breaks out.” Let me explain. ISLAM IS CENTRIPETAL – MOST RELIGIONS ARE CENTRIPETAL. Centripetal means, “developing from the outside toward the inside; developing inwardly not outwardly.” CHRISTIANITY IS CENTRIFUGAL. Centrifugal means, “moving outward from the center; developing outward from the center.” Another great definition is “developing or progressing outward from a center as in the growth of plant structures.” For example, in a centrifugal inflorescence such as cyme, the flowers in the center tip open first while those on the edge open LAST. IT BREAKS OUT!!

The fact is that organized religion, including dogmatic Christianity, is like the serpent eating its own tail. The meal is atrocious. And unfortunately it is a vicious circle of the church catching its own tail for a meal. Religion is a circle. The circle is perfect and infinite in its nature, but it is fixed forever in its size. It can never be larger or smaller. But the CROSS-, though it has at its heart a collision and a contradiction, can extend its four arms forever without altering its shape. Because it has a paradox in its center, it can grow without changing. The circle returns to itself and is bound. The cross opens its arms to the four winds and is a signpost for free travelers.

Isn’t that beautiful? I’ve been speaking about this subject on my From the Matrix teachings on Tuesday and Thursday nights on www.kimclement.tv and I hope it’s helping and freeing some of you. God has a promise for our nation and for us and it’s a promise of abundance, prosperity and breakthrough. We are His destiny. We are His future.