Have you reached your Potential?

While I was loading the container today, I experienced the result of react, instead of act. I start passing the boxes to a friend who was helping me, and at some point we piled up the boxes on the Dolly to take it to the container, when we saw it, we just laugh about our common sense. Some times in life we are so busy doing what we have to do, that we are unable to apply common sense, that is no other than stop for a second, think and execute… so act not react.. My little ones were really helpful and we had the opportunity to experience collaboration, thinking and fun. This moving story will continue… soon!

It's funny, I started my day with Romans 12 , later on my pastor had a meeting with the lead team sharing the same chapter, and two people more called me today about the same scripture... Is God talking to me? I think so. I’m on the middle of a complex moving process, so I have to store all my stuff, and in a few days I'll be moving in to a new place. It is really complex to move out! Why? We carry a lot of things in life, and many times unnecessary objects. At this point I and my beloved are reevaluating what to keep and what to discard, and Paul said on Romans 12:2 that we have to renew our understanding, discarding what is useless, keeping the functional and opening space for what is coming new.  If we keep a bunch of unnecessary possessions, at some point we'll be with no capability to acquire new something, you name it. I needed to have a POD (Portable on Demand Storage) to move out, and to store my furniture while I'm able to move in onto a new place. I'll ta...

There is a lot of fun on outside camping when you are a kid. All you need is a tent, some grass, and a lot of imagination. Sol and Sarai, decided to camp outside tonight to enjoy the open sky and to see the stars, the Orion Belt and other constellations. They got a couple of quilts, some cushions and we all lay down to watch the sky... Looking at the Universe I cannot understand how some one can believe all of that it was an accident, just a Big Bang and Kaboom! Everything was created in perfect harmony. All I can do is to thank God for all of its creation, for my family, for my life.

At Flamingo Road Churc h we encourage our staff and volunteers to live accordingly to FRC Ethos: Diversity : Is there someone not like me? Movement : Which direction am I going? Collaboration : Who am I doing life with? Potential : Is this the best that I can do? Environment : How does it make me feel? Thinking : Where am I thinking? God created us with a great potential, the problem is that very often we are unable to reach ours, just because lack of direction. Working for Flamingo Road Church has helping me to understand the importance of this rules in my life and my pastor, Troy Gramling has given us great direction on how to do life together. Living accordingly this ethos is not enough, because I believe I have to teach my little ones about it, I started late in my life to take care of my body, so it has been not easy for me to get in shape, start eating healthy etc... and I'm not there yet... as my friend Heredes said, "The best is yet to come", and now my beloved ...

Today I got a lunch invitation from a very special and beloved person, I´m talking about Sarai , my littlest one, she also invited her sister Sol and we were able to have lunch together. I'm glad I can have this opportunity often, I really enjoy having lunch together :) The time never stops and every minute you lost, is gone forever, you cannot do anything to recover it. Pictures are little reminders of what you did and what you don´t. Do not procrastinate your family time... it will never get back. Give always quality time as well as quantity time.

History is being written every day and today it was a historical day. Barack Obama protested as the 44th president of the United States. Competition concluded, now is time to work. Democrat or Republican, the competition is done. 2009 it is a challenging year and as I watched the new president of USA gave his first speech as ruler of the most powerful country in the world, I was thinking on the responsibility that every one who lives on US has; being less critical and more proactive. No matter how big or small is our roll on this country. This is the time to give our best effort to continue writing today, what will be history tomorrow.

Thanks to Martin Luther King, we had today some extra family time, so we went to Makham park to have some delicious Tostadas of Shrimp Ceviche made by my beloved. The girls were running and having fun and we enjoy the time together. We wanted to rent some boat but there was no service there today. We played volleyball , took some pictures and rescued our lost ball from the lake... a lot of fun. There is no more valuable time that the time you expend with your family. It will never be a lost of time. Family is the root, not only of society but also of success. God is my priority number 1, My beloved my number 2, and my family number 3. After that, you can name any other priorities. A strong family is the foundation of any great dream, vision or project.

Some of my friends believe I’m a genius, but the truth is that no, I’m not. I’m just persistent; once I have an objective, I refuse to give up, and that is what makes a difference. A friend of mine has this poster on his office and I really like the clearness of the concept, so I got a picture of it and here is it. Why I'm telling you this, because I’m working on a really ambitious new project and I was discussing this venture with my son Alejandro and he reminded me how persistent am I. He inherited that determination and I’m sure he will accomplish whatever goal he set in front. Life is challenging all time, and when you give up you are missing the battle without fighting. One of the rules to reach your God’s potential is being persistent. What do you procrastinate that is holding you to reach your goals? What are you thinking to quit? Don't quit now... keep on it and you'll reach your dream.

Yesterday I went with Sol and Sarai to get her Hair cutted, and first they complained that they don't wanted their hair cutted... "I love my hair", Sol said, "I want it long", Sarai complained, but after I explained the advantages of having shorter hair, finally they both agreed... then today it was the time for me. So, I went to Prime Cut, with my friend Jack, that he always does a great job and help me to have, not only a hair cut, but also to look contemporary. Changes came from the strengt of leaving behind our "Old Hair" and accepting the posibility of something diferent in our lifes. If we don't accept the changes, then we became rusty. Today, me and my girls look great, with shorter hair and longer ideas! :)

The higher you’ll set your expectations the biggest your disappointment will be. Some times I’m getting confused between a dream and an expectation. The true is that the line in between is really blurred. The dictionary said that an expectation “is eager anticipation, is what is considered the most likely to happen. An expectation, which is a belief that is centered on the future, may or may not be realistic. A less advantageous result gives the rise of our expectation, and then it turns in to a surprise” Wow… so all dreamers are condemned to the disappointment? Do we have to be so realistic that our dreams never hurt us? I believe that the difference between a dream and an expectation is Vision. The Bible said that where is no vision, people perish and a vision must be part of the dream.

It is funny to have the same quote from two different sources on the same day. Today on the morning, I got from a Latin music forum a post quoting Scott Adams, and later on, from my pastor, the same quote… “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep”, then I had a conversation with my beloved about Maria Montessori, about mistakes. Error and trial; that’s the way we learn; a child is not seeking for mistakes, but part of the learning process it to miss the bulls eye and learn from it. That is where the “Guide” or teacher has to be observing the children, not to do what he has to do, but to letting the children have the good side of the mistake. It is very important that the teacher evaluates what kind of lesson the kid can do to allow the experience to be a learning one instead of a frustrating one. We as adults some times we miss the point, we want to play “safe”, making no mistakes, staying on our own security zone, or we go to the other extre...

On 1984 I started working with a very successful man in Mexico. He was a very wealthy man and he was always easy, humble and a great friend. I asked him what he tough it was his key for success, and he answered me: “I’ll tell you on one sentence: I am a loser”… I got surprised with that answer, because to my eyes he looks like a successful man, then he told me… I cannot tell you how many times I failed on some project, or idea, or business, but I can tell you that just few of my projects succeeded, and that’s where I got my current assets. That answer really made an impact in my life and made me believe that I want to be that kind of loser. I believe life is not about success, is about being disciplined and persistent. That is what can lead you to a better stage on your existence. How many times have you failed on an attempt to reach your goals, your dreams?

Difficulties are always challenging. On my quiet time I was praying for the health of people near to me. One of my sisters in law has been at hospital since the 27th of December due to a meningitis problem. Also one of my friends is at hospital with pneumonia; the stepmother of another friend is at the Intensive Care Unit, after a difficult surgery… I was praying for all of them, and others, and during my prayer I just remembered that this is not our final destination. This is just a sand grain on the eternity that God has for us. We are so attached to this life forgetting that this is just a stop on our way. All I can do is to pray and thank God for all I have now. That’s why we have to live our life full of giving. Giving our best today… because may be tomorrow we’ll continue our journey.

Last night I was thinking about the true and real meaning of friendship. Being a friend is no just to know some one and hang out with him/her, but it is a good start. It is not just some one who listens to you; It is not just some one who laughs with you, cries with you, and encourage you when you are experiencing bad times… I believe that friendship it is the opposite… don’t think me wrong, but friendship it is not about my needs but his/her needs… Being a friend, it is about of care for him/her, it is some one to listen to, to laugh with him/her, to cry and encourage him/her on those moments when everybody else looks to be missing… and I believe that a good leader, is someone who knows how to be to be a good friend, because when you can care about of someone besides yourself, naturally you are going to be able to lead them with respect. What kind of friend do you think you are?

Here is chapter 11 on my personal history. It has been a while since I completed chapter 10, so if you want to check previous chapters, click here  After I completed the fifth grade, on summer time, I went with mom to the Military Hospital, and it looks like she got something serious... for the first weeks she was every day getting treatment, she never told me what she got, and every session was about one and a half hour, so she also arranged for me to have an appointment with the dentist, and I believe I had a lot of cavities because I got the doctor working on my mouth for several weeks... I never got engaged with kids my age, but I always was able to talk with the adults, and being every day at that hospital area it was a great opportunity for me to talk with the doctor and nurses... after few days, I started helping the doctor putting the instrumental on the sterilizer, cleaning the floor and I also helped preparing the folder for the next appointments to the nurse... I loved to b...

Have you walked near to a panaderia (bakery) while they are sweltering bread? It smell so good that invites us to walk in and get some recently baked bread; Or have you been at a restaurant where they bake their own bread? The aroma is delicious, the texture and the flavor, incomparable and with that starter, melting some butter on the yet hot bread, will make a great food experience. Once the bread it is cold, it looses its aroma and some of its flavor and texture. One of the reasons I love Flamingo Road Church is because its worship. What is this related with the bread? Because it is like a bakery on duty. This weekend we got a breathtaking worship concert… not once, but five times, and every time, it was like that fresh baked bread… At Flamingo Road Church the excellence level of the worship band it is amazing. Every detail, the lights, the sound, the arrangements, the chorus, the voices, the instruments… all together melted like the perfect recipe for bread… and its aroma was sprea...

This is me 10 years ago, and now… I was checking some of my old pictures; every one is a memory, a moment in my life... It is good to look to your past, and get some nice memories; it is also good to remember what helped you, on the past, as well as what refrained you from achieving some goal, to pursuit some dream, in one sentence… to reach your God’s potential... Why am I talking about this? Because I’m been thinking on the current situation, worldwide… and this is a challenging moment for everyone… you can see this as a problem, or you can see it as an opportunity. When everything is good, I can relax, I can be on my comfort zone, but when difficulties come, I prefer to stand and fight for my family, for my beliefs, seizing the opportunity that will come and getting ready for that moment… that’s why your past has a great value. It is called “Experience” so this is not a time to relax and enjoy our memories, it is time for action. Difficulties help us to hoist our creativity, so get ...