Devotion: The Edge of Miraculous

mi·rac·u·lous  

/məˈrakyələs/

Adjective

1. Occurring through divine or supernatural intervention. 

It was 3am on a Monday morning when I got the call. The one I've been waiting for, for what seemed like forever. Only it was only 9 months. I rushed around the house like a caffeinated zombie, gathering and packing. By 5am, my mother, my little sister, my baby and I were headed up North. We were going to have a new family member!

It was about 8:15 when we pulled up to Littleton Hospital in New Hampshire. When we had called the hospital before arriving to check in on the status of this exciting situation, we had been told that my middle sister and her fiance were busy. To us, that was code for she is pushing! Ah! By the time my mother scooted into the delivery room, less than 15 minutes later my beautiful nephew was welcomed into this world...

Later on that day, after spending a few hours enjoying our new little red-headed bundle, my youngest sis and I sat down at the kitchen table in my middle sister's apartment. A couple of unopened Chinese fortune cookies were staring at us in the face. I mean, who just leaves those things there? No, we don't EAT the cookies, silly...but we HAVE to read what the fortunes are, duhhhh! Am I right?

Though I don't advocate going by those fortunes {we don't want to go by anyone else's predictions about the future except for true prophecy in God's Holy Word and His own Voice}, I was a bit intrigued by my sister's cookie message. It read:

"We live at the edge of the miraculous."

She then asked me "What does that mean?" Not gonna lie, I had no clue. I liked it though and told her that I will find out. That got this Christian mind thinking. What is "the edge of the miraculous?"

The very definition of miraculous is something that occurs through a divine intervention. 

Let's break these definitions down:

Divine = anything from or of God

Intervention = interference

The miraculous is God bringing forth something wonderful that interferes with our lives.  

What we had experienced that day WAS definitely something miraculous! Pure, beautiful life!

It is a miracle how God can create and breath a new soul into this world. What is more is how He can form us from inside of the womb and delegate a specific plan for us, before we even utter our first cry. Everything God says and does is nothing short of miraculous!

We are at the edge of it every day. Whenever we wake up, laugh, shed tears, walk, talk, love and even work...we are at the edge of miraculous. To us, these have become mundane things. We take everything for granted because they seem to just happen on cue. But it had to start somewhere and God started it all! He made us, gave us life and has a plan for us all.

We don't have to think of something farfetched or out of this world when we think of the word "miraculous". The divinity of the Lord is showcased in every small thing, even cells and amoebas.

One atom showcases His Almighty power just as much as the very universe Earth rotates in! 

Today, take one minute. Seriously, time yourself. Look around you, open a window, take a deep breath. Observe. Reflect. Pray. Meditate. You are a miracle. Your life is miraculous. God is divinely intervening all the time and every single day. Be still and enjoy sitting at the edge of it.  

 

Count it All Joy {Even When You Don't Want To}

So life is looking a little sad right now.
Sad as in awful as in horrible.

Actually, I'm being super dramatic. Life is, well, life right now. Bad things happen, what can I expect? Do I think, just because I'm a child of God, bad things can't happen to me?
Don't we all think this sometimes! I don't know what Bible we are reading because every story about God's chosen people showcases them falling on hard times, whether it be before, during, or after their ministry.

Most of you know, I'm going through a financial desert. Out of respect for my husband and family, I don't like posting too much details. Another main reason is I don't want to waste my time talking about it...I'd rather pray about it!

You wanna know a fun fact? Okay maybe not that fun. I've had/have people actually get mad at me because I'm so positive during a storm! What the junk, right?
Here's how I see it: How is worrying going to change my circumstances? It's not!!
Trust me, I'm not perfect and am not a robot. That would be pretty sweet though.
My emotions boil over a lot and sometimes I foam at the mouth, and I have all my shots.
But time and time again, when I worry, I end up making my situations worse because I take the focus off of the One who is working in my life, and put it on the problem.

Worrying puts focus on the issue rather than the Healer!!

Here's how God puts it:
"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." James 1:2-4

Humans are weird. We want to be rescued but a small part of us likes to suffer. We do! We become familiar in our worried thoughts, our negative attitudes and our sour mood. Then when someone has an answer or just a word of encouragement, we delight in bashing them. How dare they try and make me smile?! Psh... {ya'll know what I mean.}

But God doesn't want us to do that! He never said it will be easy but He did say He will never leave us, nor forsake us. Being positive is not being naive or blind to the problems...being positive is counting it all joy, even when we don't want to!!

I know each one of you has a trial right now. If you don't, you will soon. That's life! It's not about the problems, those are a given...it's about HOW you deal with them.

So choose. Do you want to make things worse by having a negative mindset? Or will you rather count it all joy, so that God's perfect work can take root in your heart? Me? I will count it all joy, even if people scowl at my rejoicing! Besides...it's kinda funny to see them get mad that I'm not mad...pretty ironic...

If you have a storm right now, I'd love to pray for you. Comment below xoxo

Celebration of a Life {My Grandpa, Mi Abuelo, Mi 'Welo"}

"Welo" & my beautiful mother on her wedding day

I knew I'd have to write about this at some point but I really didn't know what to say. I kinda still don't, truth be told. So if you'd excuse me for getting vulnerable & transparent, I'd like to talk about my grandfather...

He passed away a couple of days ago and it still hasn't hit me yet. I'm not sure if it's pregnancy hormones all outta whack or what...I actually expected myself to be really sensitive. Though I am in a way, I feel like God has been preparing me for this moment. I am extremely sad of course but I can't help but feel the Lord's peace in my heart.

I cried in the shower yesterday morning but haven't since. I almost feel like God wants me to focus more on celebrating my grandfather's life and all the fun memories I have, and not focus on the negative. Like when he would put together model cars and color them with nail polish. Or how he would get solicited letters in the mail from the lottery and he would get so excited. He kept a wall display of fake million dollar bills and swore he'd win the lottery someday. The way he mastered Donald Duck's voice and thought it was hilarious. We kids thought it was too, but I always knew my grandpa seemed to enjoy it more because he was so proud of himself for sounding like Donald haha

I remember him sitting me in front on the TV, where I would watch Reading Rainbow, Wheel of Fortune and my favorite, Bob Ross. I would doodle and draw on scrap paper he'd give me, fascinated and mesmerized by Bob's painting skills. That's where I think my love for painting started. At my grandpa's house. That's also where I think the oldest ever gold fishes lived...he had about three in this small tank. They were like some sort of magical, prehistoric aquatic animal that lived forever. They always looked full grown, even throughout the years as we grew...I always wondered what he fed them or what he put in the water!

My prayers these last few days have been ones of restoration and healing. For my beautiful family to celebrate his life, even though we have to deal with death. For no regrets to harbor in their hearts because truthfully, we cannot change the past. We can however be changed by the now, so that we can be better people in the future.

So, I don't want to talk about sorrow and pain. That's not how I remember my grandpa so I will celebrate his life because he was full of life. He was full of humor, laughs, silly voices, tickles, those moments when profanity slipped from his lips and we kids gasped because our parents had taught us not to say them, and yet grandpa just did! The way he didn't need to demand respect because we kids were so stinkin' scared of him sometimes, when he was mad at something we did, we stopped in our tracks and practically lost our bowels. He wasn't mean; he just had a belt handy at all times and it did NOT feel good!

Those moments when we would sit around the dining room table and his asthmatic dog Nosy would bite our toes. Those moments when I'd sit on grandpa's bed, overlooking the city streets, and daydreaming about doing something great one day. Those moments where I watched Sesame Street while eating a big bowl of Spanish rice.

Those are the moments I want to celebrate. Yes, we have to grieve and mourn. It's natural and I guess every person has their own way of doing that. I choose to address my emotions by focusing on the good memories. I choose to celebrate life...his life. 
Angel Luciano, I just want to thank you for making me laugh all those years. For showing me what it really means to be child-like at heart, to keep smiling and to always be bold about who you are no matter what people think or say. You left your stamp on this world and you will never be forgotten. I love you <3

Click here to view the official obituary from The Hartford Courant about this army veteran, a truly great man.