Have you reached your Potential?

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.

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.

Memorial day was a perfect opportunity to have some family time at the Beach, so I planned a trip to the Cays, depart @ 6:00 a.m., drive, have fun, and so for... but... everyone wanted to sleep a little more... so my older princess were awake almost at noon... so instead of the Cays we went to Las Olas and anyway we had a great family time... a little time at the beach, a little time walking, a little time having fun a nice dinner, even our brand new dog Missy had fun with us… Even we started the day late, we did not waste the morning. At this point, for them the Idea of a nice rest day is to wake up late and avoid any complex activity, but I believe we can change that. One of the values we live at Flamingo and we are learning as family is: Potential. Is this the best I can do? Going early to the Gym is one way to reach our physical potential, help us to create endorphins, to be on better shape and weight... so I Dora and I went to the YMCA to sign in as family and during Summer time ...

Last Night we had a small Group Meeting for Couples at my house. This is the third week on a row we are doing that. We meet and we are following a series called the I-Marriage, and on a very effective way is touching some fundamentals on marriage today. Based on Dreams, Ilusions and expectations, how it turns from a "And they lived happy for ever" in to a nightmare relation. We are broadcasting this meeting from our Internet Campus every wednesday at 8:00 p.m. eastern standard time.

Well, it has been a long time since my last post, but here I am updating my blog... there have been a lot of things happening... Meetings, projects, friends leaving... so... I have many things to write about... but something that really is moving my world around is... a new family member... Let me introduce you to Missy... a Siberian Husky bissextile dog... yes... believe it or not, Missy was born on 2-29-08, that means her next birthday will be... in 2-29-12! That's odd... so next year we will have to discuss when to celebrate it... if on the 28th of February or the 1st of March... anyway will be a great celebration... with confetti, balloons and treats included! Well, long story short… My daughters were asking for a dog for almost three years, since we had Bruno, (A noble Boxer Dog) that we had to gave when we moved to our current apartment… finally, after several discussions about it, commitments and resources, we went to a Pet store to search for it… Tania made about a thousand...

Walt Disney created many famous characters and for several generations, the Mouse and his gang have been entertaining people all over the world. Today I went with my beloved to see Disney on Ice, with my little ones and guess what... with my teen agers too! The whole family :) We laugh and enjoy two hours of fun, ice skating, music, special effects, even fire over the ice... The wow factor was there. I believe that every one of us have a inner child who likes cartoons, tales, histories, to play and enjoy the life... in fact I believe that the difference between Kids and Adults is.... the price of Toys :)

Technology is great to be in contact with our beloved ones, few years ago, our family was divided by the distance, but thanks to messengers, chats and videoconference programs we have been in contact... but two days ago, I had the opportunity to meet with my sisters Tony, Paty and Martha and my brother Jose Antonio in the Family Ranch "La Sarana" on the middle of the mountains that surround Mexico City. We were there with no wifes, sons or friends... just the five of us. It was the first time that we were together since fifteen years ago ... wow... it was an incredible night. We were in the ranch having a great time full of memories, forgiveness, love, food, medical exams and fun. The seed of love and unity that our mother Sol planted many years ago in us, was giving us plenty of fruit. The experience to be together again, is somethng that we are planning to repeat as soon as we find another opportunity.

Family, Values, Love, Respect, Patience, Forgiveness, Protection, Care, Compassion, Understanding, are some of the most important things in life... What is the right desition? To do what is inside of your own values...

9 years ago, I was having the most difficult time in my entire life. After a complete breakdown, I was ready to take my life on my own hands and God showed me his mercy and I knew for sure there was a real God. I remember my first kind of prayer was “All right, I understood. You want me to stay… I’ll stay here, but I don’t know what to do with my life… please show me the way, because I’m lost. Show me the path you want me to follow and I’ll do it. You want me to stay on this life, please, show me the way”. That was my first prayer… and the answer came to me. Few days later, He sent me an Angel on a shape of a woman. Some one with great patience, love and understanding that took care of that task and wisely she guided me to Christ, not inviting me to church or talking to me about Jesus, or judging me for my past actions… she just accepted me like I was… and prayed for me. Instead, she showed me Jesus on her daily actions, until finally I found Christ! My life was completely changed, tra...

Some weekends I expended with my grandma Martha, she told me few of the Aesop's Fables, and I particularly remember a short one; The Ants and the Grasshopper. The ants were spending a fine winter's day drying grain collected in the summertime. A Grasshopper, perishing with famine, passed by and earnestly begged for a little food. The Ants inquired of him, "Why did you not treasure up food during the summer?' He replied, "I had not leisure enough. I passed the days in singing." They then said in derision: "If you were foolish enough to sing all the summer, you must dance supperless to bed in the winter." I always thought: “Those are mean ants”, but the true is that we have to be awake in order to reach our God’s potential. The entire series of Antology where based on a Bible Verse: Proverbs 6: 9-11 ESV 9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? 10 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to ...

Today, Sol was jumping on her sister’s bed and she was hurt with a small cut on the leg. She didn’t wanted anyone to touch the cut, but I explained about the cuts, the infections and how the bacteria can causes more pain, and after the long explanation, she agreed to allow me help her to clean herself and to put a band aid to protect the cut. Some times we are also hurt by some situation in our life and we don’t want to be toched by anybody, even when we need assistance, because the pain is so big that we believe than there is nothing to release the pain, and we keep it on that way… We need to clean our wounds to start the healing process, and the one who can clean us and heal us is Jesus. Today is a good day to recall anything that can be causing pain in your live and allow our savior to clean and heal you.

Today I review my “to do” list at home and there was some pending tasks to be done. Paulina’s bed was broken and I needed to replace the base wood to fix it, also one of the kitchen drawers required some work, My daughters room needed a ceiling light, one of the baths needed some towel hangers… so “Labor Day” was a good day to take my to do list, and tackle it. I took some measures, I needed a large piece of 39 x 78 inches, and a small piece of 12 ½ by 4 ¾. I choose a panel and I took it to the cutting area, I gave the measures to the man who was doing the cuts and once I got my pieces, I’m used to check the measures and for my surprise, the small one it was 12 ¾ by 4 ¾ instead of 12 ½ I went back to the cutter, and he explained that it was close of the measure I requested, and he suggested me to use it just like that, I just laugh, and I just told him, sorry, but I’ll need this piece 12 ½ , no 12 ¾ . Then he told me “We are not allowed to do cuts smaller than 12 inches… I laugh again ...

After the first two weeks of school, I decided to give a break to Sol and Sarai, and I wanted to expend some quality time with them, so we went to Butterfly World at Coconut Creek, Fl. after school. During our 40 minutes journey, we where playing and joking starting with the traditional “Are we there yet” the minute we left the school… When we arrived, I was surprised when we walked in to a big cage and there were butterflies all over the place… Thanks God I brought my camera and I got some great shots. We explored the place, observed the worms, and some different stages on a Butterfly’s live. We learned some about the Lepidoptera (Scientific name for butterfly) and some other insects like the spiders, cockroaches, and other species on some museum. After that, we where to the mall and we got some food, jokes and fun at the Sawgrass Mills Mall and in our way home, we stop at the park to close a perfect day with my two little ones. I was amazed by the perfection in all the creation by G...