Have you ever been involved in so many ministries and organizations that your calendar is full?
Your servant’s heart longs to be it’s best in all of them. Each ministry shares a part of your passion and you want to do them all justice. Many times you have promised yourself you would not say yes to one more as your heart speaks loudly. Your heart wants to keep serving.
I love to serve, love to help others, I pray that I can serve as a career. I pray that God will allow me in the future to be free to serve full time. Is having a calendar full of service to others a good problem to have ? I don’t know?
Even though I said my calendar was full I added one more to my list. My heart has longed to make a difference in the lives of orphaned children. This year I have committed to helping my church organize an event for Orphan Sunday. This event includes a 5k, speaking, helping with advertising, a meal and much more. When we feel that tug in our heart we should respond. I have experienced so many blessings from answering the tugs.
Before Sergio and I answered the call to adopt two little boys ages 4 and 5 I never understood the true meaning of the word orphan. Most of us know that an orphan is a parentless child. In my life an orphan has not been only parentless. An orphaned child is abandoned, mistreated, malnourished, beaten, and left with many scares. In my daily life it takes a different kind of love for my children to believe that I chose them until God calls me home. I promised them the kind of love that will fight for their need to grow and heal. I will help them recover from wounds created by the loss of their bio parents.
Years later we answered the adoption call again. She was 2 and I prayed that the scars would be few. Again God taught me that each child is unique not only in personality but in recovering from loss. With her I have learned compassion and communication. She has a longing to understand the hard question of why. I have learned to rely on my heavenly father to answer her tough questions. Most days I don’t understand why, but I know that I can attempt to answer any question with lots of love.
An orphan is NOT just a parentless child. An orphans is a child that needs a special kind of love that we all can give. They are our children. God’s children.
In preparation for Orphan Sunday we will be sharing our adoption story as well as other stories on adoption. Please continue to ROLL with us. Our Prayer is for you in some way to come alongside and help these children. We pray for other churches to set time aside on November 8th (this year’s Orphan Sunday) to pray for the children who are orphaned. Visit the Orphan Sunday website to find out how you and your church can help.
When life gives you the opportunity to serve keep serving. Your work will not go unnoticed. If you’ve touched one person you have made a difference. Your willingness to serve makes our world a better place. My calendar is full, but so is my heart.
When thinking about someone’s past it may be easy to point out what they might regret or dwell on. For Sergio this may seem easy, but
It’s Not the Wheelchair.
I was reminded this week that no matter how strong Sergio has become and no matter how many years have passed, he still has moments when he looks down the road of regret.
He is human.
I thank God that he doesn’t pitch a tent and stay there, instead he looks down the tough terrain and reflects on how it could have been different. I am so proud of his willingness to share his true self and to be transparent. That takes an even deeper kind of strength
I wasn’t prepared for the emotions that flowed from within me when Sergio shared in church that he was struggling. He hadn’t warned me of what subject he would share during devotions. He opened up about how at times certain situations stir memories of his painful childhood. He wasn’t sharing about losing his ability to ever walk again. I would think that getting shot and being confined to a wheelchair would have been his greatest obstacles.The loss of his childhood out weights the loss of his legs.
He has overcome being in a wheelchair much faster. The loss of a “normal” childhood has always stuck with him and he fights for our family and loved ones to never have to feel that way.
The wheelchair is just how he rolls.
When these memories attempt to slow him down, they cannot because God has been and will always guide and use a person’s struggles for good. We may take a quick look over our shoulder and ponder why these events have happened, but God’s will for us is powerful enough to move mountains.
The beauty in witnessing the rocky terrain that he looks back at is that I get to watch how he quickly turns and heads forward again. I see him refocus and set new goals to help others overcome some of the same pains. I watch and listen on how he plans to seek someone new to encourage. I see that with every new trip he packs lighter and lighter. God is teaching he and I how to let go of the extra baggage we have collected over the years. I smile each time he opens up to someone and exchanges pain for hope.
Watching Sergio encourage others to keep rolling on gives me the power to keep rolling on.
Is there something in your past that can still haunt you to this day? Is there a way that you can let it go? Do you fight for your loved ones not to experience the same things you have?
After a 13 hour hike and long ride home I was exhausted to the point where I could’ve fallen asleep standing up. All I could think about was a warm shower and my bed. In the back seat of the car my youngest complained that she was hungry and we had just eaten two hours prior. I didn’t want to take the time to stop and I didn’t want to smell food. Good ol daddy quickly pulled into the closest drive thru to save time and to keep a mommy and a daughter happy.
Once those big brown eyes saw the golden arches and had a bite of a chicken nugget was in her mouth she was happy. I began to relax in the car again and from the back seat I hear her tell her daddy that his slogan is on the red box that once held the nuggets. She was so excited that on one side of the box were the words rolling on.
Sergio and I both smiled that at her age she understands what that means and what we want to share with the world.
Keep Rolling On
I sat the rest of the ride home remembering why I journeyed this hike. Why I pushed my body my mind and my soul to conquer many obstacles. I thought of what my main purpose is.
I want to be a good example to others when it comes to overcoming obstacles. I want to encourage others not to give up. I want to share how my husband continues to push through despite the trauma he faced at a young age. To share how he encourages me by doing the simple everyday routine of getting up for work to provide for his family.
I now see it as simple while others would see it as complicated. He made the choice years ago to work instead of collecting a disability check. He made the choice to push forward to live life to the fullest. Watching him do tasks that are more challenging make me challenge myself. I have watched him build a deck that included a ramp that leads to a paved patio from a seated position. I have witnessed him tear things down and build them up.
Watching him keep rolling on pushes me to keep rolling on. Life has no guarantees and we are not promised that we will be here tomorrow so I encourage you to push through whatever obstacles or goals you may have. Look them straight in the eye and roll right over them. If your slogan was in print how would it read? What would it represent? What is your purpose? Keep Rolling On
When Sergio lost the ability to walk we also lost the the ability to share certain activities as a couple.
This year as I was running up and down bleachers to prepare to make my fourth trip to the highest peak in the Rocky National Park I became saddened that Sergio couldn’t join me. Longs Peak was one of my greatest accomplishments and it is one of the few that I haven’t been able to share with my husband. I start to travel up this 14,000 foot mountain, at midnight, with only the light attached to my head as my guide. My way up takes me through hours and hours of timber lead by hours and hours of boulders. My fastest time 12 hours. A wheelchair could never travel any of this terrain. Oh how i wished it could. How I wished my biggest fan could see it. He cheers me on and encourages me to climb, even though he cannot.
Most hobbies we have in common. We are attached to each other, enough so that we drive our family members crazy with our unwillingness to be apart. It is hard for us to be away from each other but in the last six years I started to mark items off my bucket list. Some of the goals I had in mind had to be done without my husband. I had written down a list of activities that included obstacles that a wheelchair cannot overcome. I still find ways to include Sergio and always seek his blessing when I want to do something that he cannot do with me.
Sergio and I have overcome so many obstacles and we have experienced so many blessings.
This year as i prepare my legs to do what my husbands cannot I am a little emotional. I don’t usually let these things get to me, but it isn’t only the fact that he can’t do it with me but also about him not having the opportunity to see this mountain with his own eyes.
As I have these thoughts it makes me want to push towards. It takes me to a place of inner strength. It makes me go to fight mode. To fight to get though my bucket list but to also fight to help my husband see all that is beautiful in this world. I can now start to reflect in all the activities that by God’s Grace we are able to enjoy together. How Sergio’s life could have been taken but he is alive and well. I smile at all of our accomplishments, and at all the future has in store for us.
Maybe his wheelchair cannot go up the mountain but I will pave a way for it to go around.
Sergio and I will enjoy taking more walks and rolls together ( hand in hand if we so chose), we will enjoy, swimming, dancing, camping, fishing, DIY projects, dates and many many more dates.
Most import we will enjoying loving each other to the fullest.
Sergio may not get the opportunity to see Longs Peak with his own eyes but he will see it through mine. Yes, wheelchairs can climb mountains through the eyes of their loved ones.
I encourage you to take a long look at your bucket list. This year make a point to mark one item off of it. If it is a tough one to accomplish do it in honor of someone. As you prepare to conquer think of them and that will give you the strength to Keep Rolling On!
I was blessed to have the oppturnity to teach with Sergio and Ashley in the montains at a youth retreat. This was the first time I would serve for three days and hours from home. I was excited and anxious all at the same time. I wasn’t sure what I would teach and how to approach a room full of teen girls in a manner that would keep them engaged. As I pondered I knew that I wanted the girls to be connected with me enough that would feel safe to relax and take me in as one of their own.
After prayer and a little research I came across some old journaling I had done years ago. I realized how much I enjoyed reading entries from the different chapters in my life. I smiled and even cried at some of the written goals I has set for myself and met. Some of these entries I couldn’t recall even writing. This is my handwriting so it had to of been me behind the pen. It was such a soothing moment when I realized that God guided me to my journals. I searched more and more and read more and more out of different journals and came across my first prayer journal.
Thanks God. This is one of the subjects He wanted me to teach the girls. He wanted me to share with them how vital a personal relationship with Christ is, how we need to communicate through prayer, and how we can implement a prayer journal. In teaching the girls I wanted them the know how journaling is not just a way to communicate but also a way to reflect. I shared how going back through our journals will help us see the answered prayers, even when the answer may have been no. How we can go back and look at the struggles we have overcame and see then ones that we still need to work on. How we can go back on a bad day and read about the days that we could clearly see Gods blessing to help us get on the track of counting blessings again. As Ashley and I stared to pass out supplies the girls quickly started to design and cerate their prayer journal. Their body language started to relax and this allowed God to guide them. I could sense they were already thinking of the first words they would write. My heart began to fill at the thought.
In taking the time to teach about comunitacaton and journaling it made me long to stay this connect to not only to my heavenly father but to these girls. In taking time to share my feelings I had when I read my journaling it made want to read more of my writing. To go back to revisit the victories and to regroup to conquer the struggles that are alive on the pages. The pages of communication with my Maker and friend.
Take the time to start your own prayer journal. It’s amazing what you can find out about yourself if you write it down. It is amazing the relationship you can grow with God if you write down your prayers. You can decorate it like we did at the youth retreat, or you can buy one and simply fill the pages with your words. We have even created a page you can print off as many times as you’d like to write on. Start off small, print off one page and write on it, see how you feel and then print off another and continue to write. Don’t forget that prayers are not always for asking, they can be for praising, or even just telling God what’s on your mind. Enter your e-mail address below to get the Prayer Journal print outs.
When serving others you gain so much. You dig into places you may not of ventured down in awhile. When opening up to others you see the deeper parts of yourself that perhaps you hadn’t seen for some time. Share ways that you serve others and how that helps you stay connected.
Keep Rolling On. Keep Writing On. Keep Praying On!
