I can laugh at myself!

Alicia is hosting Friday Photo Flashback, over at More than Words, which is a way to have an excuse to browse through all your old non digital photos and bring back old, and not so old memories, scan them and share them with everyone. I am really enjoying this meme!

Now, why do I want to do this to myself? (I am the one all the way to the left of the photo). Well we were just having fun.

Why would I allow someone to take a photo of me doing that? Well, I was already engaged hehe ;)

Why would I post this photo in the web for the world to see? Because as soon as I found this photo I knew it would be a fun one to share. Also, because I do can laugh at myself.

This was taken summer 1999, just a short 4 months before I was to get married. I was in Spain fixing all the paperwork for the fiancee visa and my sister in law (the beautiful blond :)) came to spend a couple of months with me.

After church we went over Veronica´s house, a lady from the church. She is crazy and she is so much fun. It was her idea!

Can you laugh at yourself? Try it! It is fun!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!! I know we will; my sister, husband and two daugthers are coming from Madrid tonight to spend a few days with us.

Word Filled Wednesday

Word Filled Wednesday is a meme I love to be a part of on wednesdays hosted by 160 Acre Woods .

The purpose is to share God´s Word (not any famous quote) through photo and Bible verse.

Of course I am not one that likes to keep things simple, so I always like to explain why I chose that verse. Usually I pick a verse that God has used recently to talk to my heart. Last week I shared with your 2 Timothy 2:13 and told you how God was using it and the lesson I was learning. Click here if you want to read it, but make sure you come back here again.

Today I wanted to do the same and let you know how God has brought me back to the basics to answer a prayer request. Not the answer I was looking for, but God works in misterious ways and His ways are always wiser than mine.

Eph 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

So many things I could talk about with those verses, but..... I know, I will stick at what brought me to share these verses.

Like you have been reading the last few weeks, and as I was telling you again last week, I have been praying to God to show me something. When we came to Spain as missionaries we were excited, we couldn´t wait to see what God was going to do. Now that we are in Granada, and by ourselves, sometimes that "magic" and excitement of being a missionary, goes away. No, I am not descouraged of working for the Lord, but being human, loneliness and a lack of seeing responses from the people, sometimes takes the best of me.

Now, not too many missionaries or ladies whose husbands are in the ministry will admit to that, after all, aren´t we suppossed to be those strong christians willing to give up our dreams always with the best of the attitudes? Well, sometimes (not too often ;)) we are not like that. Because not too many would admit that, it leaves some of us feeling like we are not made for this, and many would quit because of that. So I want to be as real as I can, even of that means that I need to show my not so perfect self, to help others realize that those feelings are more normal that we care to admit, and that with prayer, human help, and especially God´s help we can look up and make the devil flee from tempting us.

Now, how that Bible verse goes with all this?. Bear with me :)

So sometimes the devil would start wispering in my ear "Maybe you are not doing God´s will". "Maybe this is not the place you need to be". Because I knew it came from the devil, I was praying to God that He would show me with a verse, with something clear enough that I would know without a doubt that it came from Him, that this was the place we needed to be. So then, next time the devil would come to me I could answer back to him with the Word of God.

I would not hear God (not that He wasn´t talking to me, but I guess not the way I was hoping) so I would go and ask my husband if he knew for sure this was the place. He would tell me yes, and tell me once again why (poor him).

Problem, I wanted my own assurance and I wanted it clear!

Problem with my questioning?. God set my husband to be the head of the home. He is to lead and I am to follow. God can give me assurance of this being the place if He wanted to and the same way He gave it to my husband. But He gave assurance to my husband and reminded me that I was just to follow.

He didn´t reveal to me through a Bible verse that this was the place. Instead He gave me Eph. 5:22-24. I mean really, can a Bible verse get more clear than that?

So now I have something to answer myself and the devil when I question where we are to be. My husband believes this is the place God wants us to be, and I follow him.

Have a wonderful wednesday everyone!

And now she is 3

Days are going by quick and now those little hands are growing.

Those little feet that couldn´t walk yet are getting ready to go to school.

That little girl that would make strange noises to try to talk can speak not only one language, but two.

The little baby, the little one of the family is turning 3 today.

Happy birthday my sweet Noelia!

I remember the day she was born. She was my 3rd one, but I was still shaking thinking on the epidural needle, still thinking of it as a blessing (I know, I own it, but I can´t think about going natural, I am a wimp about pain). After a short few hours of induce labor the heartbeat of the baby started to act up. They change me to possitions but still wasn´t working. It was time to get her out.

God was showing me that His hand was there, and that, giving bith to a healthy child is not something to take for granted. I praise Him everything went well and after pushing for an hour I was able to hold in my arms my sweet new baby. Baby Noelia.

It was love at first sight. Not just for mommy but for daddy and sisters.

Now we have our goofy little girl, happy as can be and active as can be. My little alarm clock that always come to be "scratch" in the back by mommy for a few minutes when she first wake up. My little girl is not a baby but she will always be my baby, just like her other two sisters.

My girls, my blessings. I praise you God for three wonderful daughters. May I be the mom they deserve, the mom they need.

Happy Birthday Noelia

Another great one!

I stayed up until 3:30 am finishing the book I have been reading (it may have had to do also with the fact that I am not used to the time difference between the States and Spain). It is called "Healing Promises" by Amy Wallace and is the book 2 of the Defenders of Hope Series. Click here to read about the first one.

This one is another book that I will strongly recomend to you to read- It has to do with an FBI agent being diagnose with cancer and his fight to admit his illness and trust in God with the process he is to go through. Waiting in the Lord is not an easy thing to do for us especially when we think we need a miracle fast. Also when we want to be able to control the circunstances, admitting we can do it this time, is hard.

It also talks about Sara, his wife, and the struggle to praise God regardless the circunstances. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.

On top of that, for those that love adrenaline filled stories, you will see how they fight to track down a serial kidnapper.



For those that think I told the whole story, you are wrong, there is so much to this book. Not only are you being entertain by reading a good book, but also God can use so many lessons from that book to talk to your heart.


Lately I have been impress by God with the need of praising Him more. Not just when I feel like it but also when the storms are dark upon us. It is so easy to praise Him when you are being showered with blessings upon blessings. But how about when you find out you have an illness. How about when you get hit will bills after bills. How about when temptations are hitting you hard. How about when you are depressed and think you can´t go on.

How to get out of that dark pit. Look up to God and praise Him, because there is so much to thank Him about.

I am thinking about starting a meme called "I´ll praise Him" probably for tuesdays. But first I have to figure out how Mr. Linky works :) Any help?

So what do you think? Would you join me for tuesdays "I´ll praise Him"? Coming probably in a week.

Have a great one ladies. I am off for a search of a new apartment/house. Pray for us

Bad hair anyone?

It is friday and finally I can get back to one of my favorite memes, after 3 weeks away from home and old photos. Photo Friday Flashback is hosted by Alicia from More than Words.

"The grass is always greener on the other side" is a little mind set I have often. I know it is wrong but... I am guilty. I always look thinner in older photos, and it is funny because I remember being at those days when now I think I looked great, and remember thinking I didn´t look good. Girls, I can´t help it!

Shortly after I got married I found a photo from when I was a teen. My hair looked so good I thought. I had it really long and curly, with those loose curls that I liked so much (or at least that was the way I remembered, not really how it was). I had gotten tired of wearing it long and decided to cut it and keep it short (mid length bob) from age 18-19. When I was 20, some weird virus must had come to my brain and I decided to cut it shorter, like a guy really. Don´t ask me why, but I did it. And funny enough, I liked it. I thought it look good.

Well now, I look at photos back then, and believe me. I didn´t look good. Not many people can pull that off. No girl should try to pull it off. But I tried, didn´t succed though.

But now finally my hair had grown again, and it was long, so a perm was what I needed to do.... or so I thought (a perm is another look not everyone should try).


I bug and bug my sister, who used to be a hairstylish into doing a perm to my hair. She didn´t want to. She could do it, she had done my hair before. But I guess she knew better, or knew me better. Or maybe she knew a perm was a mistake. She didn´t want to do it. But after weeks of nagging, she did. (Me nagging btw)


And this was the result.

It ended up coming out as a super tight curl, which gave me lots of volume...... not a good look for me believe me. Well, you don´t have to believe me, you can see for yourself.

But the bad hair didn´t end there. Right away I was unhappy. I always kept it held somehow because I didn´t like it. After a month or so I couldn´t handle it any longer.

I was looking for something to do and someone introduced me to curling irons. My mother in law had one so I asked her to make my straight. She did it to herself so I knew she had experience. If I liked it I would buy my own curling iron "pronto". Where was my flat iron back then? I wonder now....

So this happened.

I can´t believe I am sharing this photos with you. You will keep the secret right?

Don´t worry, I didn´t go anywhere. This happend in my in laws house, and there is where it ended. She did what she could. I felt bad to wash my hair, it wasn´t her fault after all. My hair had its own mind and there wasn´t much that I could do about it...... but there was. I went to a hair stylish and had that product put in that reverse the perm curls. A few dollars and a hair cut later, my hair was back to normal.

Hey, at least I didn´t do this.

A photo of my husband and a friend during college days. Thankfully my husband is the one giving the buzz and not the one receiving it. Youth.......


I know this post is already pretty long, but I didn´t want to close today without thanking Kim from Stuff could always be worse for giving me this award- It is such a blessing for me to know that anyone is bless with what I write. After all, HE is what is all about

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Good Books

If you know me a bit you know I love a good book. When I find a book I love, I always make sure to let you ladies know about it so you may receive a blessing through it as well.

A lot of times our hobbies, our likes, we make sure we pass on to our children. My love for books is something I always tried to pass on to my kids. I think is a great thing to do with you free time (if you have any :)), it encourages you to use your imagination... so many benefics to reading.

My girls have a million books, and since they were little, they were entertaint very easily with books. Lots of times I will find them sitting down in their room without toys, just browsing through their books, pretending to read them, making up stories. Now that my oldest one reads very well, she has a collection of books she loves to read and I always try to pick up a new one of that series whenever I find them.

Books are also what keeps them entertain while I go grocery shopping. Also grandma and grandpa´s favourite gift to the girls. When we went to the States, I think bookstores were the type of stores we visted the most. Lifeway probably knew my debit card number by heart ;)

In our last visit to Lifeway before we got back from the States this last time, we told the girls to pick up a book each. Noelia, my youngest one, picked up one, I am sure for the artwork (which is great!), that has turned into a favorite, and is the one that I am recomending today.

"What happens when I talk to God?" is a great kids book by Stormie Omartian. I am sure everyone knows who she is, but just in case, she is the writter of "The Power of Praying" books. It teaches the kids the importance of praying daily, how needed it is to have that communion with God, how to pray and why to pray. Also it teaches them what it does. What is great is that not only do they emplain it in an easy language that they can understand but is also very accurate in their teaching.



An example is when you read about prayer, it tells them how God delights in answering our prayers. But it tells them that those prayers have to be according to His will, and that those answers will come in His time.

This is a portion of the book. " My prayers are important to God... That´s why I talk to Him every day. God wants to hear what matters to you-- because you matter to Him!
When you pray, you get to know God like a friend. And even though you may be small, your prayers are important to Him. No matter when you pray or where you pray, He always hear you. Something always happens when you talk to God!"

It is good even for mommies, isn´t it?

He cannot deny Himself

It has been a long time since I have been able to enter my favourite memes. Today, I was looking forward to being a part of Word Filled Wednesday because it is a way to put out what is on my heart.

The Bible verse that I am sharing today has become a very important in my heart, one I remind myself of several times a day, and thankfully, God is giving me victory and every day I have to repeat it less and less.

As you, usual readers, now, I have been going through a little rough time lately. Emotionally I was pretty weary, and lots of times that comes from a spiritual problem. One that was not there in the beginning, but that, like my pastor has mention many times, I have gotten myself in ¨from thinking myself into a depression¨.

What do I mean with that? Sometimes the devil puts a lie before you. The best thing to do is to fight it back as the Bible says in James 4:17 “ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.“

But sometimes you are feeling low, and you start validating that lie. That gives the devil a victory, and a ground to grow in. And more lies come, and more lies you believe.

Believing something and knowing something are two different things, I have come to learn the last few weeks. I know my God, I know who He is and what He promises, but believe….. I believed something different, and I was thinking about it so much that I was getting myself all depress. Do you understand what I mean now? Has anyone been there?

So what were the lies I believed? Well, I was praying about something (That was a fight in itself so I will let you know about that one in a different post), and the answer wasn´t coming. I was frustrated and didn´t understand what was going on. So the devil started whispering in my ear “God doesn´t answer your prayers”. Now, I should have known better, I should have known the devil was the one telling me, but I didn´t. Eventually, I believed it.

“God doesn´t care for you”

“What you are doing here is pointless”

“You have no power of God”

“God doesn´t love you”

Now, if you have told me you were the one feeling that way I would have told you of the verses were God promises all those things to His children. When I felt that way I went looking for those verses, but another lie sneak in “Those are not for you”. Now, I never doubted my salvation. I am one that believes that once you are saved, always saved. But somehow the devil had control over that, and I have believed him.

One night, at our Wednesday service in our home church in Alabama, pastor Allison preached, and that Bible verse stand out so strongly that the devil couldn´t convince me it wasn´t for me.


2Ti 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself

You see, even if I don´t believe God loves me, He does, because He tells us of His love towards us and He cannot deny Himself.

Even if I don´t believe God answers my prayers, He does, because He promises so and He cannot deny Himself.

Even if I believe God cannot do anything trough me, He can, because He promises He would do with those He calls, and He cannot deny Himself.

No matter what I believe, God cannot deny Himself.

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Maybe this will be a blessing to anyone and a help to many.

Back home

Hello everyone,

We are now back in Spain and back home. We have had quite a time though.

Our trip to the States was all we hoped it would be, and did what we hope it would do. A lot to ask from a trip, but God was merciful and gave it to us. In the next days and weeks I will put you up to date.

I am one that likes to keep things real. This is one of the reasons why I got into blogging. To know that you are not the only one going through certain trials was a blessing, and found so many of you that seem to go through the same things that I am/was going through and were open about it.... well, that is/was a blessing. I want to be used that same way, so if anyone can be blessed by the things I learn everyday, then Praise God. So I will let you know what God has shown me and is still doing in our lives.

One of the things that God used was a book that Alicia, from Confession of a Snowflake, sent to me. A while back she had a giveaway and I was blessed enough to win it. She was such a blessing, she sent me, in addition to the price, a book that she had read recently "Randsomed Dreams" by Amy Wallace. I do not usually read fiction, but I just loved that book. I couldn´t put it down until I finished it and right away I went to buy the second and third book of that series.

If you like a good book, make sure to check it out.

Well, I am off to finish doing landry and unpacking. I am so excitedd to get all my new books out and have time to start reading them.

See you ladies tomorrow.

Sneak Peak

It has been soooooo long!!!

I don't think I have ever taken such a long break on blogging. It is funny though because it hasn't been a planned break, but I have been enjoying our vacation and spending as much time as possible with family and friends.

Now the time is getting close and we just have a couple of days to enjoy, but once I go home, my break will be over and I will go back to my dear blogging.

There is one reason though worth me getting in here, my super cool photographer niece Arancha, and her husband Nate, took us yesterday to have a photo session with them. I am so excited to see all the photos, but she was sweet enough to get a couple of photos done to calm my excitement :). If you are in need of a photo session for your family make sure to book her, even if you are not in the AL area, I know they travel a lot for photo sessions. They are great photographers and so fun to be with. They are also future missionaries to Spain :)!!! That is a plus!!

So click here if you want to see a couple of the photos, and I'll see you gals in a few days when I get back to Spain.