So it's safe to say life has been pretty busy and hectic recently, hence why I haven't had time to write any blogs! Ideas have been running through my mind all the time, yet I can't seem to just stop and write. I've been thinking a lot about who I was when I was still living at home with my parents as opposed to who I am today. The one thing that has not changed is how blunt I am. 80% of the time I just say whatever I am thinking and sometimes I get in trouble or it just confirms how I feel. I had a good friend tell me something that I hadn't really noticed about myself and that is that I am the same person no matter where I go. More importantly, I am the same person both in Church and out of Church.
In high school I rarely went to Church and now that I am on my own and in college I go to Church all the time. Some people around me probably think I go way too much and I've even had people call me out for it. I can understand where they are coming from and so I don't take it personally. The one thing that did upset me was the fact that people think that it's kind of pointless to go to Church if you're still going to have problems. Well last night as I was praying it was revealed to me why it's so important for me to stand firm in my believes. For me (and I can only speak for myself) going to Church does not mean I am perfect, I don't have problems, and I don't worry, but it does mean that I have hope in my heart & I have a new perspective to be able to face all of those difficulties. And the true reason I continue to go to Church is because God has obviously done so much in MY life and I feel I am forever connected to Him. I see Him at work all the time and some people just choose to ignore what is so crystal clear.
So you've read it, I am NOT perfect: I like to go out dancing, I still say a few bad words here & there (not on purpose), I like to have a drink here and there, sometimes I am not too nice, I am extremely stubborn, & if you keep complaining about problems you have I'm going to tell you "don't complain unless you're willing to fix it." That is who Gaby is, take it or leave it; God chose to take it so He could take care of me! That's why I know it is never too late to go to Church; no matter what we do God is always there with arms wide open.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
I am not cheating...with your husband!
In my last post, I shared my Rock the Universe experience; however, there is something that happened to me on the trip that I don’t think I will ever forget. Let me begin by saying that most of the times that I pray, I always ask God to use me to expand his Kingdom and to use me to be able to help people. On this trip God most definitely used me to be a helping voice.
The first night on the trip, I had asked the bus driver’s wife to give me her cell phone number so that I could communicate to her at what time and where we would be meeting after the concert was over. Well it turns out that I accidently wrote a 3 instead of a 2 in the last digit of the phone number. By the end of the night I had called the wrong phone number (which I did not know it was incorrect) about 5 times and I had sent a text message saying: “we will meet at the entrance of Universal at 1am.” I never received a respond, so I guessed that she would see the text and all would be good.
The next morning, I get a phone call from the phone number and it was a different woman, so then I realized it was the wrong phone number. I apologized to the woman and said I had the wrong number and then she says:” Are you sure? I think that you know my husband.” Immediately I thought that the woman was implying that her husband is cheating on her with me! Well I told her once again that I had the wrong phone number and we hung up. A few minutes later, she calls once again from a different number and she starts yelling at me telling me that I can have her husband because he is an alcoholic and that he has made her life miserable. I had to commend the situation to God because the woman kept calling and calling, until the point that I became annoyed and I yelled at her. I did not realize at that moment that here was my opportunity to help this woman through this problem; I let the enemy take over.
After calming down, I explained to her that she was wrong in accusing me of such things because she does not know who I am and then she began to vent all of their marital problems. She then apologized for the mix-up and I told her that I can imagine why she is feeling so paranoid. I continued by saying that she needs to rest her life in God’s hands and that she does not deserve to be treated in such ways. She told me she is a Christian woman who believes in Jesus Christ, but at the moment she is hurting a lot and does not know what to do anymore and she asked me to pray for her.
Even Christians go through suffering they can’t escape because at times it is easier to let the problems continue, instead of taking them to Christ. And a lot of times, people do not take the time to listen to others who have problems. I think that God put me in that situation for a reason; I mean seriously, who else does something like this happen to! I missed one digit in the entire ten digit phone number and it so happened to be the phone number of a hurting woman whose husband is a chronic alcoholic and she is a Christian! Coincidence? I think not.
At the end of the day, it is not for me to take credit; I just give thanks to God for using me to be someone else’s way to turn back to Him. And I will take this experience as a lesson that you never know when God is using your life and your circumstances to help someone else. You also never know when the enemy is using you to hurt others and to make you stay away from God. The first night on the trip, I had asked the bus driver’s wife to give me her cell phone number so that I could communicate to her at what time and where we would be meeting after the concert was over. Well it turns out that I accidently wrote a 3 instead of a 2 in the last digit of the phone number. By the end of the night I had called the wrong phone number (which I did not know it was incorrect) about 5 times and I had sent a text message saying: “we will meet at the entrance of Universal at 1am.” I never received a respond, so I guessed that she would see the text and all would be good.
The next morning, I get a phone call from the phone number and it was a different woman, so then I realized it was the wrong phone number. I apologized to the woman and said I had the wrong number and then she says:” Are you sure? I think that you know my husband.” Immediately I thought that the woman was implying that her husband is cheating on her with me! Well I told her once again that I had the wrong phone number and we hung up. A few minutes later, she calls once again from a different number and she starts yelling at me telling me that I can have her husband because he is an alcoholic and that he has made her life miserable. I had to commend the situation to God because the woman kept calling and calling, until the point that I became annoyed and I yelled at her. I did not realize at that moment that here was my opportunity to help this woman through this problem; I let the enemy take over.
After calming down, I explained to her that she was wrong in accusing me of such things because she does not know who I am and then she began to vent all of their marital problems. She then apologized for the mix-up and I told her that I can imagine why she is feeling so paranoid. I continued by saying that she needs to rest her life in God’s hands and that she does not deserve to be treated in such ways. She told me she is a Christian woman who believes in Jesus Christ, but at the moment she is hurting a lot and does not know what to do anymore and she asked me to pray for her.
Even Christians go through suffering they can’t escape because at times it is easier to let the problems continue, instead of taking them to Christ. And a lot of times, people do not take the time to listen to others who have problems. I think that God put me in that situation for a reason; I mean seriously, who else does something like this happen to! I missed one digit in the entire ten digit phone number and it so happened to be the phone number of a hurting woman whose husband is a chronic alcoholic and she is a Christian! Coincidence? I think not.
Never in a million years did I imagine something like this happening and it came up in the most unexpected time. “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” –Matthew 5:13-16 We must always remember to be the salt and the light in the world, “for when you put salt into something it changes and when you light up a dark room there is no way it will not be seen.”
~Thank You Lord for allowing me to be a testimony for others~
Going All In
Hey everyone, reading my blog! I haven’t written in a little while, mainly because I’ve been busy, but nonetheless, my blog has been on my mind. So many things have occurred since last time I wrote. For one, I turned twenty-two, which is still hard to believe because I don’t feel a day older. It’s true when they say “age is nothing but a number”, it is mainly how you feel. For my birthday I escaped to “Paradise” and rested the whole weekend. Happy birthday to all the fellow Virgos’!
This past weekend I had the pleasure of being a chaperone for Rock the Universe. Rock the Universe is a Christian event at Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure that has been around since 1998. Different Christian bands are featured at different stages through Universal Studios and at the same time all of the rides are open. It was amazing to see so many people there for one cause and to see how much people love Jesus Christ. It’s easy to get caught up in your local church life, so events like this remind you that there are so many other people worshipping the Lord and spreading His Word. The first night we listened to “Switchfoot”, which is one of my favorites, and they played “This Is Your Life”, which is an inspiring song because it teaches you to forget about the past and focus on today.
The second night we watched “Third Day” and “Casting Crowns”. Two amazing bands with unbelievably rocking praise music. Casting Crowns played “Praise You in the Storm”, which many people know and relate to because we all have those storms in our lives. Finally, on the last day, we attended the worship service and the message was about “going all in with your faith.” The speaker compared it to when a guy asks the father of his girlfriend for her hand in marriage and the father’s only question was: “Are you going to go all in: are you going to stay by my daughter’s side until death do you part, are you willing to give your all to my daughter, are you going to build a strong relationship with her?” The guy answered, “I guess so…” Well as you can guess, the father was not thrilled, because the guy was not going all in. The same relates to our relationship with Christ. Most days our respond, attitude, and actions say “I guess I will have a relationship with Christ.”
Going all in means you will leave your past behind and commit to what being a Christian means. It means facing your bad habits, it means turning away from the evil in your life, and it means you will become a new creation in its entirety. Sure it’s not easy, but it’s not impossible.
It takes one step: spending time with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I’m going all in!
This past weekend I had the pleasure of being a chaperone for Rock the Universe. Rock the Universe is a Christian event at Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure that has been around since 1998. Different Christian bands are featured at different stages through Universal Studios and at the same time all of the rides are open. It was amazing to see so many people there for one cause and to see how much people love Jesus Christ. It’s easy to get caught up in your local church life, so events like this remind you that there are so many other people worshipping the Lord and spreading His Word. The first night we listened to “Switchfoot”, which is one of my favorites, and they played “This Is Your Life”, which is an inspiring song because it teaches you to forget about the past and focus on today.
The second night we watched “Third Day” and “Casting Crowns”. Two amazing bands with unbelievably rocking praise music. Casting Crowns played “Praise You in the Storm”, which many people know and relate to because we all have those storms in our lives. Finally, on the last day, we attended the worship service and the message was about “going all in with your faith.” The speaker compared it to when a guy asks the father of his girlfriend for her hand in marriage and the father’s only question was: “Are you going to go all in: are you going to stay by my daughter’s side until death do you part, are you willing to give your all to my daughter, are you going to build a strong relationship with her?” The guy answered, “I guess so…” Well as you can guess, the father was not thrilled, because the guy was not going all in. The same relates to our relationship with Christ. Most days our respond, attitude, and actions say “I guess I will have a relationship with Christ.”
Going all in means you will leave your past behind and commit to what being a Christian means. It means facing your bad habits, it means turning away from the evil in your life, and it means you will become a new creation in its entirety. Sure it’s not easy, but it’s not impossible.
It takes one step: spending time with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I’m going all in!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Who Are You?
This has been a busy, stressful week (as usual) and during these types of weeks I find it more difficult to stay on top of my priorities. Usually at work there are various personalities and people who just think very differently from me. I can imagine this happens at everyone’s work place and in every profession. It’s hard to be Godly when you want to scream or when it seems like you just can’t get through to a person. Granted every aspect of our lives have stress factors and we can either dwell in these negative feelings or we move on. Lately I’ve been pondering on the subject of why we as human beings can’t seem to brush certain things off and why let such small petty things affect us. Then I wondered why is it that some people’s lives seem so much simpler, as opposed to my crazy hectic life. These are just a few questions that tend to run through all of the lobes in my brain! I’ve argued all the reasoning and all of the “answers” in my head, but nothing seemed to satisfy my curiosity until I was listening to someone tell me that I wasn’t really free.
Freedom is what we think of when Fourth of July roles around or when we think of Martin Luther King Jr., never do we associate it with our daily lives. It was told to me that the reason I worry and stress so much is because I have not felt True freedom in life. My reaction was, “what does that mean!” After reflecting on it, I found the answer in my heart: When you know who you are, you are truly free!
What I mean with knowing who you are, I mean being aware of all aspects of your life. For example, I am a Christian woman who pretty much goes to church every Sunday. Let me dissect that sentence for you: “I am a Christian woman”, why am I a Christian? Because I believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and He is my Savior. “Who pretty much goes to church every Sunday”, why do I pretty much go to church every Sunday? Because I feel that God has called me to serve for His Kingdom and to spread His Word. What I am trying to channel is the fact that the more I know what drives my actions, the more I learn about who I truly am. By knowing who I truly am, will lead to me standing firm on my beliefs and not let anyone distract me from my path. When someone wants to insult what I believe in, I will be prepared and not let that person upset me, because knowing the Truth will set you free!
Someone might say that they are fully aware of whom they are and they don’t like who they’ve become. We hear people saying all the time: I am fat, I am lazy, I am not good enough; but what you hardly hear people saying is: I am fat but I am going to work out every day, I am lazy but I will set a goal of being more productive, I am not good enough but I am good enough for my Lord and for Him I will rise above the negativity that consumes me! It goes back to the principles of “life transformation is rooted in mind transformation.” It takes knowing who you are to help us grow in life and to help us de-clutter from all the stress. I know it’s not an easy task and it’s one I personally struggle with from the time I wake up until the time I lay down. People say that you never really finish getting to know someone, well that is also true for knowing yourself and for knowing Jesus. I am encouraging myself and you to spend more time reflecting on who you truly are, whether it’s through a journal or maybe even a blog; analyze your life and see what is missing. Maybe Jesus is missing from your picture; I know that for me, the deep relationship with Him is what I am missing. Now that I am aware of the issue hindering me to be stress free, I vow to spend more time just Jesus and I. I read in an article that there is nothing more precious than the pure silence and peace that Jesus brings while you spend time with Him. Well I sure want that peace! And hope you too can experience it.
This week my husband started his second semester of “bible college” and I am so proud of him because he has found who he truly is and because of that he is happier and not as stressed as in the past. God always leads you to the things that are important; it’s just up to us to walk through those doors and to be free!
Friday, August 12, 2011
I Hit the Re-Set Button Today
Not too many people are aware of the fact that since a very young age I've had a passion for writing and my mother has always told me I should write a book or I should become a writer. I was always hesitant to do so because my first language is not English and the fear of being grammatically incorrect sunk in every time I did write. However, lately I’ve felt this calling to go back to what I love to do and to also incorporate my other two passions: God and science. So here we are my first official post on my blog! My hope for this blog is to have an impact on myself and for it to be a source of encouragement to others. Being a 21 year old woman who is working on building a relationship with God and at the same studying for a career in the science department sometimes don’t go so well hand in hand. Simply living a day to day life and having to learn the art of balancing responsibilities is challenging enough.
This morning my good friend went through the trouble of printing a motivational sign for me to post somewhere in my office as a reminder of what should really be important in our lives.
“Life transformation is rooted in mind transformation”, this is what the sign says. This made me think of the fact that I struggle so much with accepting certain situations in my life, but the main reason is that I do not change my way of thinking. How powerful would it be if I changed the way I treat people, the way I handle situations, and the way I interact with God if I only transform the way I think. This applies to the following: I struggle deeply with my workout regimen, because I see it as a sacrifice I have to make every day in order to look or feel the way I want to. It is no secret that working out is more of a life-style as opposed to a sacrifice. Now I see working out as something God wants me to do because he gave me this body, he gave me my heart, my stomach, my lungs and so the least I can do for Him is to keep this body in good conditions. Now that I’ve transformed my mind, my actions will start to change my life.
“Therefore, it’s imperative that you set your minds on things above, not earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2) It is important to remember that we are on this earth for a very short time and we must make every day valuable. My mind has been automatically set on things from above, so that all my actions here on earth are to give glory and praise to God. When you change your perspective and focus your life for God, then rest is a piece of cake! Working out is no longer sacrificial…Eating healthy becomes more appetizing…Having a healthy mind-set becomes your lifestyle. So hit the re-set button on your mind to be focused on all Godly things!
This morning my good friend went through the trouble of printing a motivational sign for me to post somewhere in my office as a reminder of what should really be important in our lives.
“Life transformation is rooted in mind transformation”, this is what the sign says. This made me think of the fact that I struggle so much with accepting certain situations in my life, but the main reason is that I do not change my way of thinking. How powerful would it be if I changed the way I treat people, the way I handle situations, and the way I interact with God if I only transform the way I think. This applies to the following: I struggle deeply with my workout regimen, because I see it as a sacrifice I have to make every day in order to look or feel the way I want to. It is no secret that working out is more of a life-style as opposed to a sacrifice. Now I see working out as something God wants me to do because he gave me this body, he gave me my heart, my stomach, my lungs and so the least I can do for Him is to keep this body in good conditions. Now that I’ve transformed my mind, my actions will start to change my life.
“Therefore, it’s imperative that you set your minds on things above, not earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2) It is important to remember that we are on this earth for a very short time and we must make every day valuable. My mind has been automatically set on things from above, so that all my actions here on earth are to give glory and praise to God. When you change your perspective and focus your life for God, then rest is a piece of cake! Working out is no longer sacrificial…Eating healthy becomes more appetizing…Having a healthy mind-set becomes your lifestyle. So hit the re-set button on your mind to be focused on all Godly things!
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