Category: Inspiration

Friendship, Inspiration, Life, love, Short Stories

Unconditional Love

California, August 17, 2019 – Massachusetts, August 17, 2024

Yesterday, I attended the last night of a mental health series talk in Providence, RI. The topic was “Love.” One of the questions asked was “are you willing to die for someone you love?” Because essentially that will prove that you love that person unconditionally. This act of love is written in John 15:13: Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. This is perhaps one of the most beautiful love acts written by John, whose friend ‘Jesus’ died to save him, and all of us. John experienced receiving unconditional love firsthand.

Love is what we yearn for, and desire to give, but really struggle with.
I remember questioning at a young age, how can two people like each other? and what is the possibility that this person finds that person at this specific time, and they like each other, it just can’t be that easy. I was probably 6 or 7, and at such young age I was already questioning the possibility of likeness and love, impossible I thought! There has to be something more! Well, thank God I grew up, and experienced the impossible scenario of attraction, it was real! The first time I was introduced to a guy that wanted to meet me, I froze. Then I understood why he always seemed to randomly appear. It is a great feeling to be liked, but it is the easiest stage of what could develop into love. Liking someone doesn’t mean much unless there is commitment.

Unconditional love is supernatural, as much as we think we “love,” we are very incapable to perfectly or unconditionally love. Last night’s summary was that love can only come from above because “God is love.” But that is just being aware of it, because in order to have unconditional love you must first experience it yourself, so said John. There was a time when I believed heartedly that I had experienced unconditional love, I had prayed that God will take years from my life so that this one friend would use them in case he needed them (I really thought he needed the extra years). The following year I was fearful to even talk to other guys, because I thought that my life was going to be cut short, literally. Now you may laugh about this, I find it comical myself, but what I was truly experiencing after that prayer was fear. Fear is completely contrary to love!

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love (1 John 4:18). I understand unconditional love today, but because I am loved, not because I have loved unconditionally. I have experienced it by understanding who God is – knowing and feeling his presence emotionally, physically, spiritually, and mentally. Just today, at the turning of my 5th baptism year, as I walked and talked with Jesus, a goose landed on the lawn nearby, so I asked Him, can “she” see you? He said, oh yes! So, I stopped to wait for Him and imaged Him running to the goose and petting it. Later he said, everywhere you look (nature), you can see me, I’ve never left you, and I’m here, I will always be here. Now that, that is not romantic cheap love, those are the most beautiful words you can hear from a friend. Friendships require time and dedication, the more time you spend with God, the freer you will be to learn how to love unconditionally, it is a lifetime commitment.

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:11-13).

Your friend that loves you,
Melody

PS. Thank you for helping me understand love, in the purest of form, it is true: “what a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ my King!
He didn’t want heaven without us, so Jesus, you brought heaven down… my sin was great, your love was greater, so what can separate us now?”

Inspiration, Life, love, Music, Short Stories, Work

Gratitude

There is a beautiful song, called “Gratitude,” that simply and faithfully describes that one has nothing to offer to God “except for a heart singing halleluiah.” So simple an act, yet sometimes our life is filled with work and activities that we miss out on thanking God for faithfully guiding us through it all. Missing out is rather harmful to us, research shows that the more grateful one is the healthier, resilient, and happy we are. “A merry heart doeth good like medicine…” indeed!

A few weeks ago, it felt like work and activities were piling up all through the week. On Sunday, I purposed to finish drafting a sermon and get a head start on work. It was around 8:30 in the evening, and I had drafted the sermon and had enough bible verses and quotes, so I switch computers and started to work for only an hour or two. I left the office and felt the New England cold air, turned on the car and waited for it to warm so that the frozen windshield could melt. It was cold but I felt so happy, the window looked pretty with ice crystals and light shining through from the light post.
There is great joy when we think and believe in the goodness of God. As I was writing earlier, I felt so encouraged to do, and keep going, and continue doing. The bible truly gives life, strength, and even time. I had prayed that morning for strength for the week ahead, and God gave strength and peace. I thanked God for helping me, for making a way light and enjoyable.

That week I worked 53 hours, including a long Wednesday with departure of 12:15 am …twas cold. On Friday the entire set plotted smoothly with a completion time of 2:15 pm. I was so thankful, what at first seemed hard to complete on time, was done, the week had run smoothly. There was a lot of work to do but it wasn’t burdensome. I left the office and went to pick up groceries from the store, prepared something to eat at home, and continued studying for the sermon. Upon my parents’ arrival, my dad mentioned that if I wanted, I could give the sermon in English. I told him that I had already prepared it in Spanish and that it would be ok to deliver it in Spanish. The last time I had ”preached” in Spanish was 13 years ago, so I was concerned about the outcome, and my sister shared the concern with my parents. After fellowship with them I continued studying and again went to sleep around midnight. The following morning as I stood up, the popular line “it is time” ran in my head. “Father, it is time for you to speak.” I had been asking people to please pray for me, especially because I had to deliver the message in Spanish. Near the end, I was so moved that tears ran down my face. I had to catch my breath, I could see people also wiping their eyes, my mom especially. The Holy Spirit touched my heart so deeply, that I sensed such need to receive, and give a double fold of the joy that Christ gave me.

What a blessing to share the love of God, the mission of Jesus Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit with believers. The message, based on 2 Timothy 2:4, has been ringing in my ears since March 2022, and I have grown to love and desire to dedicate my life as such, that nothing will separate me from the father and that all my decisions are made to please Him. “El Soldado del Futuro” or The Soldier of the Future is indeed the Jesus Christ in us and through us. The passion to serve can only come from above.
As we pulled out of the Hispanic church in Brockton, MA that Sabbath afternoon, I turned to my sister and said, now unto “The Lord’s Prayer,” we both laughed.

Two weeks before that Sunday, one of the sisters from our church asked me to sing at a wedding. Me? I said in my mind, at a wedding!?
Oh sure, I said – do you have a specific song that you would like me to sing? The Lord’s Prayer, she said… Oh! …That’s a beautiful song that I’ve dreamed about one day singing but I don’t really have the voice for it, I told her. She was kind with her feedback, and went on to say, but if you think of any other song just let me know. Well, the day arrived, and I had barely practiced the song, at 3:45 pm I was getting ready when I get a call. Melody, where are you? Hello, I’m getting ready will be heading out soon, are you already at church? Yes, we are waiting for you because you are first in the program after the pastor prays. Yes, I said, is the program starting at 4:30? I asked. No, it’s at 4 o’clock and it’s very short so we can’t start without you, she said.
Oh! Well, let me get out quickly. Arriving at 4:07, the sister told me that I almost gave her a heart attack, thankfully she didn’t get one. I walked up to the front and waited for my turn. The wedding began, oh I wanted to be at peace and enjoy it, but it was hard. The pastor introduced me, I stood and waited for the track to play. I really couldn’t believe that I was about to butcher such a beautiful song. I finished singing and sat down. The nephew of the bride, who walked her down the isle, was crying while I was singing “The Lord’s Prayer. It was so warm to see him react to it, deep feelings of joy warmed my heart. God is good, this is all I can say, and I really believe, that God tunes people’s ears to hear of his true beauty, it just can’t be our voices.

Gratitude coats the heart with pure joy, elevates our spirits like birds freely flying in the sky, molds and builds our characters to cherish the love of God. You too can experience freedom and joy, test and see that the Lord is good, for His mercy endures forever…. I am so grateful for what God has done, is doing, and will continue to do in my life. All that we live through has a lesson, whether it is suffering or joy, God uses it all to show us the way, the truth, and the life. Thank you for being the most wonderful Father, best friend, and savior of all time, in the name of Jesus thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

“So come on, my soul
Oh, don’t you get shy on me
Lift up your song
‘Cause you’ve got a lion inside of those lungs
Get up and praise the Lord“
…
“And I know it’s not much
But I’ve nothing else fit for a King
Except for a heart singing hallelujah“

Friendship, Inspiration, Life, love

Living in Crisis with Hope III

This is a three-part series, please refer to the previous two blog posts for context. The following chapter talks about the hope we receive through Jesus Christ and how by belonging to Him, our desire to serve Him starts by bringing hope to others.

Hope

Hope is Our purpose and Our mission

The reason for Jesus to abide among us was to bring “good tidings” to all especially to the poor in spirit, to the brokenhearted, and them ‘us’ that dwell in darkness and ignorance of who God is. Jesus is our source and strength and the provider of our lives – this is not easily understood by all, but through experience alone can one excel to realize it’s importance. Every breath we take is orchestrated by God through the symphony and marching band of great witnesses we know as our angels. Without Jesus life is gray and undeserving. The most heavenly exalted of all had to become flesh (as a human agent) and represent royalty (a heavenly prince – the son of God) in the lowest of forms while nailed to a cross to abolish the disease of sin.

David quotes in Psalm 8:4-8, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas…” In this text, David praises God for caring, creating, and placing dominion in our human hands for the Godly things He created: the earth and its existing beings, including humanity. We were created “a little lower than the angels” and though we are at fault for constantly sinning with our thoughts and actions, God is still mindful and forever compassionate and loving towards us. This is true love, that though we may forget Him, He still loves us, there is nothing that can separate us from His love, not even death.

Jesus visited the earth to be fully “us.” This implies everything you are: 1) your mental process, including positive and negative feelings, desires, decisions, etc., 2) physical needs: food and shelter, etc., 3) spiritual needs: the desire to worship something or someone, and it may very well fit to mention: how we understand our purpose of stewardship and belonging to a greater cause, but mainly our nature to worship God, and what that requires – faith, hope, and love, and how much of each we possess. Jesus experienced everything a human does, both the joys and sorrows, the only difference is that the magnitude of the suffering He carried led Him to His death. This action was the only solution to save humanity from extinction, so His life and focus always centered in saving you and me. Jesus taught us the way (living with direction), the truth (living with a tangible purpose), and the life (I cannot call this anything else other than the holy spirit). Jesus’s purpose was to bring hope to a hurting and dying world. His mission was nothing less than to save us unto eternal life and make us partakers in this mission. Stewardship runs in our blood and is engraved in our brains to be exercised. The command to love our neighbor as ourselves gives us access to the heart of God. You and I are alive to bring ‘good tidings’ and love one another.  

1 King 3:7-10 quotes Solomon asking God for wisdom to lead people as the new ordained king instead of his Father David, who is nearing his death. “And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.”
We are all like little children running to and from not knowing how to face life, nevertheless, as soon as we ask God to lead us and help us to lead others, He will – no doubt, focus to tailor our lives in a way that others may see Him. We are uncapable to lead others righteously, we are uncapable to change anyone, we are uncapable to give love freely, and very uncapable to conduct ourselves like children of God. It is only God who pours out His life, strength, love, compassion, trust, through us that others may experience our love for them.

Jesus’ life and legacy is to save and redeem humanity. He lays this treasure on us because it is the only way for us to be Christ like, to be called children of God. This task requires the most out of us, and it is the reason of why having a strong mind and body is important – we are in a universal war zone. Every time you give up self, you allow Jesus to fight within you. When Jesus was on the cross “the joy set before him” allowed him to endure the cross. The joy is you, there is only one you, and only one of each one of us. When we see others, no matter what their appearance or lifestyle is, we ought to see Christ in them. This is the supernatural power of love. To love the unlovable and to win their trust by helping them believe that they are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God.

You are loved with an everlasting love! 2 Philippians 2:1-4 reads, “Thou therefore, my son [your name], be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” You are a soldier for the kingdom of God, and our call is to serve Him out of pure love and allegiance, faithfully believing that He who began a good work in us, shall be able to complete it. When we serve God, there is no fear but confidence and mighty strength, there is no doubt but a desire to do everything He would want us to do. When we serve God, we don’t compromise our lives to be approved of men but only of God. When we serve God, we live fully & freely in love. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18.

We were not created to suffer, but when we do we are never doing it alone, but Jesus carries the suffering and us, the sufferers. We were not created to hate, but when we do Jesus is immediately interceding on our behalf to the Father “Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
We were not created to die, but when we feel at lost, misunderstood, like we have miserably failed, Jesus tells you and me, there is nothing you can do that will ever stop me from loving you.
We were created to be soldiers of Jesus Christ and win each battle in His name!

Ephesias 2:11-18 reads, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints…”

You are chosen for mission!

“Angels of God will cooperate with those who are engaged in the mission work, who make every effort to save perishing souls, to give them opportunities which many have never had. There is no other way in reaching them but in Christ’s way. He ever worked to relieve suffering and teach righteousness.” Welfare Ministry, p.250.

God’s people have a mighty work before them, a work that must continually rise to greater prominence. Our efforts in missionary lines must become far more extensive. A more decided work than has been done must be done prior to the second appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Testimonies for the Church

“The church of Christ on earth was organized for missionary purposes, and the Lord desires to see the entire church devising ways and means whereby high and low, rich and poor, may hear the message of truth.” The church of Christ is you and me, the church of Christ is not a building is the body of anyone who makes allegiance to Jesus Christ in love! “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal the land. 2 Chr 7:14.

Jude 20-25 reads,

But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen!

Friendship, Inspiration, Life

Our Friend

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
John 15:13-17

In the paragraph above, Jesus speaks the supernatural language of love once again to His friends. He is about to partake in a human’s penultimate earthly act. Up to this point, Jesus does not know death, He ‘the all living’ is about to experience not existing. Later, as He cries out to His Father to “pass the cup from Him according to His will” the very image and love of His Father serves and strengthens His inner most soul. The very same friends He’s spent joys, sorrows, and marvelous experiences with are not by His side, neither are they praying for His pierced soul. Jesus requested beforehand to His friends to pray with Him before the last hours of His death, but its imperative understanding of the request is not within them. As His words were: Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. John 16:32

Alone, didn’t frighten the Son of God… alone meant a devoted time of surrender to His Father. Our sins on His shoulders causing the separation from His Father was ultimately what killed Jesus.
As a young child, I spent moments “alone” submerged in the creation of God, on top of a tree or staring at the sunset and singing. Alone meant, an exclusive and required “you and I.” I don’t recall being afraid of the darkness or walking alone through darkness. This ideal ‘not feeling alone when we are physically alone’ has helped me reach high levels of joy. It has created in me the image of the best friend one can always count on: Jesus, the Son of God, our friend.

Jesus, the ultimate cheer leader, team’s captain, and supporter of all times can be a best friend to the friendless, selfish, and unlovable: each one of us. Speaking to His friends he says, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33.” That summary of separation from the Father is about to be heart-felt by His disciples prior to and after His death on the cross, yet He clearly notes “but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Meaning you no longer have to experience what I am going through, you no longer need to experience separation from the Father but have complete access to Him through me. There are no longer any sacrificial rituals for you to follow, but the same access that I have to my father, you now have. This is the peace that He refers to when He says “that in me ye might have peace,” ultimately death is about to be conquered by His life. Jesus’s death experienced all of the suffering and pain combined in earth’s entire history: the past, present, and future. All the suffering that we have experienced has already been experienced by Him. What this means is that Jesus already died and paid the ransom for our wrong doings, and what someone else has wronged us with, in order for us to live eternally. In a practical level, we don’t need to pay to stay alive, we are commanded to live it fully by “loving each other.”

The task that Jesus commands us with is supernatural and impossible to do without His character. This is the reason why the Godhead sends the comforter ‘The Holy Spirit’ after Jesus’s return to Our Father. The Holy Spirit’s role is to live in each one of our hearts, and guide our minds with wisdom from above. The Holy Spirit convicts us each time we feel guilt of some sort for what we are about to do. Our Father and Friend have the solution for us to experience love and life the way it was supposed to, free from sin, and full of everlasting joy. Each one of us is called to have an excellent spirit, the character of Jesus Christ. We ought not to fall short, for he has created us a little lower than the angels! As David’s praise reads: When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; that is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Psalm 6:3-5.

We are Our Father’s workmanship, created with His standards engraved and portrayed through His Son’s life in our hearts and sealed in our minds through His excellent Spirit. The Father as much as The Son cherish to spend eternity with you and I. As Jesus revealed to His disciples then, we are not called His servants but His friends. Being a friend of God is life-saving. Obtaining such understanding is the only way to experience no fear, but peace, joy, and love.

May your understanding of His love free you from human expectations and embark you to live fully! Jesus has chosen you, it is up to you to choose Him back.

Friendship, Inspiration, Life

Our Father

The wonder of love can only be tied to the extreme suffering of Jesus on the cross. His sacrifice, the ultimate escape from death, pierced His Father.

Back on March 2019, as the preacher spoke about the death of Christ and said, “and darkness filled the earth… at that moment as Jesus exclaims, Father, Father, why have you forsaken me? … is when His Father was the closest to His son.” He continued to explain, “there was complete darkness, and when the lighting from the sky broke the curtains in the temple, life spread through the earth.” This is actually biblical and can be found in Matthew 27, people resurrected after Jesus died. What was most revealing was quoting Psalm 18:8-12:

Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

The Father leaves heaven during the darkest day of earth’s history to be by the cross next to His son. This darkness camouflages the holiest and most high, Our Father.

Often, when life gets rough is when we may be the closest to the Father, because the battle between good and evil is literally playing in our minds over and over, and over.
Whenever a human being is under attack, Michael – the warrior name for Jesus – is fighting for each of His father’s children. Supreme love is beyond our understanding, and yet it is present and expressed to and for each one of us.

Evil continues attacking the image of a loving father because by doing so a detachment from understanding the minimal portion of His pure love is under attack. The essence of God’s love is sufficient for a human being to fight to live, and Satan, the chief of evil, knows that. So he attacks the image of the Father by lying about His character. From the moment Lucifer desires to be equal to God, His character is altered and deficient of love, His desire for equality is turned into slavery, rebellion, and extreme hate towards the human race. This has been the most complex yet simple revelations of biblical awakenings in my life. From a young age, I believed and trusted that Our Father loved me – but the understanding of ultimate love has been revealed and will continue to be reveal in adulthood. This understanding is the glue to Christianity. What holds each person together is knowing that He or She is loved – not through merit, but through grace and the purest and only love. And this grace relationship could have only be attained by giving the most precious, Jesus ‘the Son,’ as a ransom for the human race.

Our Father and Social Thought

Satan has continuously glued his character in the minds of influential people that more may suffer the consequences of his defeat. Satan cannot attack God so he attacks what is most precious to Him, His children. While Jesus was on this earth, Satan attempts to destroy Jesus through persecution and temptations from His birth. As the child Jesus is protected by his earthly parents, so God wants His children ‘the stewards of the earth’ to protect His children, nevertheless, as the Father did with his son Jesus, He never left Him alone, and neither did Jesus separate himself from Our Father. Our society presents life as a cycle of events, God presents life as continuous and eternal. God’s intend for His children was never to be governed by us as leaders of human thought and love. We are very incapable to lead unselfishly. God’s intent for us was to endure life and conquer love with Him and through Him.

While Satan fights for our attention to deviate us from the love of Our Father, Jesus intercedes for our lives and conquers death, conquers time and re-assures our adoption as His Father’s children. The act of love in its purest form is the death of the Son of God. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). One of the most beautiful words that I’ve taken to heart through my childhood and adulthood is the word “friend.” A friendship is developed without any interest but once it is established there is no obligation to remain in it. Why did Jesus call us friends? As John 15:15 reads: I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

I’m thrilled to continue writing on this topic for the next post. Be encouraged that Our Father, not only wants you to be entitled His child, but He wants you to remember that He is your friend through your personal decision in the quest for true love.

Inspiration, Life, Short Stories

With Love, Brittany

2020 felt like a roller coaster for most of us. There was repeated joy followed by sadness and mixed emotions in between. “We” wish we could count it all joy but it was hard to at times.

January 2020 was partially a delightful month, I was able to work remotely in Boston, MA and stayed with my sister, it had been about 17 years since we were roommates.

Once in California, the weekends continued to be full of laughter as our friends gathered to play games and eat pop-corn. On January 22, while driving back from work, I received a message telling us that our beloved friend had been diagnosed with cancer. I began to sob uncontrollably, at that moment hope and faith became foreign after receiving the news. The Bible speaks of “counting it all joy” when we are tempted, nevertheless, at a time like this some of us may realize how weak our faith can turn.

Out of all the women I’ve known, the one I picture and desired to see raising children was Brittany. Brittany and her husband were my oldest niece’s adult best friends. I used to tell Brittany that she would be a wonderful mother, to which she would say, “I don’t think we’re ready” and smiled.

The same week after receiving the news about Brittany, I visited her. My mind was strengthened from praying so much and I chose to believe that Brittany would recover. I packed boiled beets, and sang all the way to Reno, it was Friday after 6pm. On the way, I missed a few speed limit signs and got pulled over for driving over the speed limit. The police officer asked if there was an emergency, so I mentioned that my friend was sick. He followed to say he was sorry and asked where I was driving from and heading to, “Irvine to Reno.” He was kind and asked me to be cautious as the speed limit signs changed rapidly in that section of the town I was driving through. He also said, “I will pray for your friend.” This was like an encounter with God himself… for his forgiveness and for caring for someone he didn’t even know. It was around 2 am when Brittany’s dad welcomed me at Brittany’s and told me where I would be staying. It was on that day where hoping for a miracle was the only answer to our prayers. Brittany’s diagnosis was seating on the desk where I was staying and I read it. It was stage-4 cancer, I looked up the rest of the medical description and laid to sleep, crying. Emotionally, I could hardly imagine the pain that each one of her family members had. If this had been such a painful time for me as a friend, how much more would her family suffer. On Tuesday afternoon, Brittany walked around the neighborhood without any help. She would begin chemotherapy and fight for her life.

Brittany made people feel special. She loved to have fun and laugh. On one occasion, after watching a musical and eating cucumber sandwiches at my school, rain started to pour on us, so we started to ran and laugh so loud in the parking lot. It was a rain party! On Friday, April 17 2020, Brittany called me from the hospital. She called me to wish me “Happy Birthday, Melo!” she sounded lovely as usual. Her family and friends had been visiting and staying at her house every weekend since the news of her diagnosis. On Sunday April 26, a few friends and I drove up to see Brittany. We played music by her bedside and prayed. On one of those days as I walked into the room, she asked her mom for her hat. I told her, “you look beautiful Brittz,” to which her husband agreed and went on to kiss her forehead. She did look beautiful, even without her hair. Brittany remained pretty even after her body had lost most of her body mass. During that visit, I witnessed (like the old days in the east coast) the deep love that she and her husband shared with each other.

In May, we drove up to Reno to see Brittany again, this time I joined her dad, brother and brother’s wife. It was May 15, a Friday, at this point Brittany’s pain had gotten worse. The pain was unbearable and we would constantly hear her screaming with pain. On May 18, she was taken to the hospital screaming from pain in her lower back. That was the last time I saw Brittz. Brittany had surgery the following day. Her body was too weak to take chemo, so she had to wait to recover from surgery before receiving more chemo. She had grown tired of the pain, and as she mentioned getting hospice care, I said, “you won’t need it Brittz!” I truly believed that she would recover. Brittz had a successful surgery and was recovering from it, “she ate all your beans,” her husband said after returning from the hospital, it was Wednesday.

I left Reno on Thursday, May 21. The surgery was successful but recovery would take time. I believe that every one of us who suffered seeing Brittany experience so much pain tried to the best of our abilities to remain positive that she would recover. Our prayers never seized, “may your will be done, but please take her pain away.” Even if that meant rescuing her from suffering so much. And God answered, as her pain was removed on Sunday morning, June 7. She laid to rest surrounded by her family, and the love of her life. Brittany’s love for David never changed, she loved him dearly. She looked up to him from the moment they met. She never gave him any hints of her interest for him before dating, but she always prayed for him as her one. She mentioned to me, “I cried for David even while dating a person after him.” She made a mistake, she said, but inside she always had the slightest hope to reunite with David. And they did, they married and lived together for the last 10 years of her life!

Love suffereth long and is kind… One of the best lessons Brittany demonstrated to me was this “love suffereth long and is kind.” Her and David’s love story are inspiring because neither of them gave up for each other. Her love for her husband taught me that waiting, even when there seems to be no hope, is worth it. David loved Brittany so much as well, they were the best for each other.

This past holiday season while reading through the cards she wrote, I relived the experiences and lovely memories she leaves behind. Her encouragement and thoughtful words re-assure that she loved me and cared for our friendship, as she signed “With love, Brittany.” It was a blessing to have her in my life, as a sister-friend, as an advisor and teacher, and as a mentor in the quest for Love. Loving others is living for God, and living for God is living fully!

Education, Inspiration, Life, Short Stories

To Be Inspired

The wisest man on earth, Solomon, wrote these lines: What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Looking back at the years of my intellectual quest, I attest that education had a complete turn in my life when I finally understood Solomon’s awakening line “there is nothing new under the sun.”

Freedom obtained from above is not just knowing that God loves you; the implication of understanding that God loves you is knowing that there is nothing better than God loving you. Similarly, there is nothing better than loving God.

The gaps within my Christian conversion tie to education, and the inability to feel free. I was captive to human theory and self-exaltation or what could be referred to as Luciferian traits. As a child I understood that awards were only given to the “brightest children” or to the ones with good grades, so life was already complicated. I aspired to one day be amongst the brightest minds. School was my top priority but I didn’t get good grades by being the class-clown nor falling asleep while studying. I remember dreaming of having a photographic memory while walking on the streets of Lima. My mom was holding my hand while crossing the street and as I looked up to a road bridge I thought, “if I could only picture everything I read… I could ace a test; dear God ‘Diosito,’ could you please give me just that?” My dream expanded to the idea that one day I could read an entire book and quote each line by memory. Sadly, my dream was turning into a nightmare as I still couldn’t read properly at age thirteen! In order to avoid mistakes while reading in public, I counted the number of people in the circle before it got to my turn to practice the lines that I had to read. Apparently this technique helped, and people began to comment that I read very fast. In my mind reading out-loud was cruel and summarizing paragraphs was a waste of time of an already wasted time.

Moving forward to my early twenties, as I began attending college and taking classes I understood that “there is nothing new under the sun.” That history repeated itself, and that humanity was very self-destructive. I came across bored and empty intellectuals. Being somewhat heart broken from this illusion, I started to get closer to God and understand His love. Soon enough, my slavery to the intellectual quest turned into a passive search for truth and joy. Even though solving an equation brought joy to my life, the truth of “what is life?” gave deep meaning to my life as a servant, or as a Christian.

I can vividly remember the enlighten day. I was reading, and then everything stopped. My internal voice said, “you don’t have to be smart to enter the kingdom of God, that’s not a requirement, as a matter of fact, you don’t have to be anything to enter.” I felt quit ludicrous afterwards. This realization brought so much relief and joy that I started laughing and going up and down the stairs celebrating that “there is nothing new under the sun.”

From that day forward I understood that God wanted us to prepare intellectually to serve others fully. I also understood that all talents or skills that we have are His not ours, and that if He entrusted us with any talents, they were to be used for the missionary field that we live in.

The text below gives great instruction/aid for our struggling human minds:

As through Christ every human being has life, so also through Him every soul receives some ray of divine light. Not only intellectual but spiritual power, a perception of right, a desire for goodness, exists in every heart. But against these principles there is struggling an antagonistic power. The result of the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is manifest in every man’s experience. There is in his nature a bent to evil, a force which, unaided, he cannot resist. To withstand this force, to attain that ideal which in his inmost soul he accepts as alone worthy, he can find help in but one power. That power is Christ. Co-operation with that power is man’s greatest need. – E. White, Education, p.29.

The insecurities in each of our lives can be overcome by giving our lives to Christ. The quest for love is its understanding and the only reason of why we exist. We were created to love and be loved by the only God and creator of life. May God bring joy to you today as you ask Him to enlighten your days with the freedom found through His son! For God so loved you that He gave His only begotten son that by believing in Him, you would not perish but have everlasting life! (modified from John 3:16).