Jackie's Journey "Lest We Forget..."

Things to Remember as we face this new year:

The value of time.

The success of perseverance.

The pleasure of working.

The dignity of simplicity.

The worth of character.

The influence of example.

The obligation of duty.

The wisdom of economy.

The virtue of patience.

The improvement of talent.

The joy of originating.

The power of kindness.

 Whether you are a mother with active little ones or a grandmother facing life more simply; maybe you are a graduate student standing on the threshold of life or a seasoned adult facing life’s issues head on;  these resolutions resonate and summon the calling to value and give thanks for where we’ve been, what we learned and where we are headed. 

 Did you make any New Year’s resolutions?  You know, those hopes, dreams and aspirations projected into this future year?   I am reminded of what Tozer said, “Keep your feet on the ground, but let your heart soar as high as it will.  Refuse to be average or to surrender to the chill of your spiritual environment.” 

 What we do on some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are; and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline and a habit of making right choices that are in harmony with the will of God.  God has a plan for our lives this year.  “To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge! To do the will of God is the greatest achievement!” G.Christian Weiss

 This year holds the possibilities and opportunities that will define us.  We are stewards of this life entrusted to us. “Life is a stewardship, not an ownership.  It’s a trust, not a gift.  With a gift you can do with whatever you please, but, with a trust…you must give an account!”

Let’s make this year count…

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "It's My Choice!"

“I CHOOSE”

 It’s quiet.  It’s early.  My coffee is hot.

The sky is still black.  The world is still asleep.

The day is coming.  In a few moments the day will arrive.

It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun.

The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day.

The calm of the solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace

Of the human race.

The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met…agendas and schedules…

For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands. 

It is NOW that I must make a choice.

And so, I choose.

 I CHOOSE LOVE…

No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness.  Hatred means to love less.  I will give love freely with my motive to receive NOTHING in return.  I choose love.  Today I will love God and what HE loves. (I Cor. 13:3)

 I CHOOSE JOY…

I receive JOY when I give Love away.  Joyfulness is the spontaneous enthusiasm of my spirit when I am in fellowship with God. I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance.  I will see interruptions as opportunities in all the chaos around me.  I will refuse the temptation to be cynical…the tool of the lazy thinker.  I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God.  I will refuse to see any problem or situation as anything less than an opportunity to see God. I choose to get in harmony with HIM and HIS will.  (Psa. 16:11)

 I CHOOSE PEACE…

I will live forgiven.  I will forgive so that I may live.  I will allow peace to govern me today. Great peace has those who love His law and NOTHING will offend them. (Psa. 119: 165)

 I CHOOSE PATIENCE…

I will overlook the inconveniences and conflicts the day presents.  I will accept any difficult situation from GOD without giving Him a deadline to remove it.  Rather than complaining that the wait is too long or chafing at an unexpected response from someone, I will thank God for a moment to pause and for a reminder to pray.  Instead of clinching my fist at my current obligations, I will face them with gratefulness and courage. (Rom. 5:3-4)

 I CHOOSE KINDNESS…

I will be kind to the unkind because HE was treated unkindly and I deserve no less.  I will be kind to the poor because they are alone.  I will be kind to the rich because they are afraid.  I will invest whatever is necessary to heal the hurt of others. Kindness is an act. (! Jn. 3: 17)

 I CHOOSE GENTLENESS…

Nothing is won by force or coercion.  I choose to show personal care and concern in meeting the needs of others.  If I raise my voice, may it be only praise.  If I clench my fist, may it be only a prayer.  If I make a demand, may it be only of myself. Gentleness is an attitude or manner. (I Thess. 2: 7)

 I CHOOSE GOODNESS…

I will see the goodness in others when it is hard to find.  I will confess before I accuse. I will walk in humility, which is the gas tank for the other qualities.

 I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS…

Today I will keep my promises.  My spouse will not question my loyalty.  My children will never fear that their mom will not be there for them.  I will visualize God’s future in each life.  I will use difficult times to demonstrate my commitment to God and to those HE has called me to serve.  (Jn. 15:13)

 I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL…

I am a spiritual being.  After this body is dead, my spirit will soar.  I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal.  I choose to be instantly obedient to the initial promptings of God’ Spirit.  I choose God-control. (Gal. 5: 24-25)

 To this I commit my day…understanding that my choice indicates that either I have ALL of them or that I have NONE of them. This is not a smorgasbord!  If I succeed, I will praise HIS Name and give thanks.  If I fail, I will seek God’s face in repentance, with the reminder to keep shorter accounts with HIM.

Will you join me?

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "Never Sacrifice the Permanent...!"

New Year’s Eve is tomorrow. This week brings in the New Year 2025!  Where does the time fly? I know this resonates with all of us as we attempt to fit in all the opportunities and new challenges we will be facing.  When quantifying time, there is always the “tyranny of the urgent”. 

 With “The  Princess Parables Series” and the exciting possibility of a new series for little boys around the corner, this year will be filled with time sensitive deadlines, expectations and hope for both, the present and future.

 I had never had a website, a Facebook page, Pinterest account or a Blog until January of 2015, when The Series was first released and I officially welcomed a new world of technological communication with the opening of all four at once!  With its availability came a huge responsibility to use them wisely…they can become time devouring!  

 “Our greatest danger in life is in permitting the urgent things to crowd out the important.”  Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say, “Never sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate.” 

 Everyone receives an equal supply of time.  The only difference between us is in the way we spend it.  Each week brings us 168 golden hours.  We spend approximately 56 hours for sleep and recuperation.  We spend approximately 28 hours for eating and personal duties.  We spend approximately 40-50 hours for earning a living.  We have 30-40 hours left to spend just as we wish.  But how do we spend them?  How many hours for recreation?  How many hours for family communication?  How many hours for the regular worship of God (devotion, fellowship, meditation, etc.)  How many hours for personal service in the name of Christ?  Will we rob God?  We can and we do! 

 Perhaps we may be very busy with good things, yet too busy for the best things.  The great question is:  Have we made wise use of our time as good stewards of Christ?

 Henry Clay Trumbull said, “Today is, for all that we know, the opportunity and occasion of our lives.  On what we do or say today may depend the success and completeness of our entire life struggle.  It is for us, therefore, to use every moment of today as if our very eternity were dependent on its words and deeds”…

 “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

making the best use of the time, because the days are evil”.  Eph. 5: 15-16

 Let’s make our time count…

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas"

In life we cannot anticipate what our future holds but we know who holds the future.  In the Princess Parable Series, in our seasonal book, “A Royal Christmas to Remember”, we find our 5 princesses and 5 young knights busily preparing for the upcoming Christmas festivities.

 Opening the castle doors over the holidays is a tradition that opens the hearts of the entire village to the message of Christmas.  In an instant all their plans are dashed when a message of imminent danger arrives at their front door! The King hastily leaves with his knights to protect their kingdom.  The real meaning of Christmas quickly comes into focus. The girls choose to seize the moment of turmoil, changing their destiny and bringing joy to their father and the whole kingdom.

 December has arrived here in California and the events and activities of the season are in full swing.   Having our “castle doors” open to family, neighbors and friends is a tradition we welcome each year. 

 ♫ It’s truly beginning to look a lot like Christmas. ♬  

 A few years ago, in the midst of our preparations and a very busy afternoon, I received an urgent call from Kim, my youngest daughter, who was teaching at an Elementary School a mile or so from our house.  The school had abruptly been put on “lock-down”!  There were policemen on campus and helicopters were swirling in circles overhead.   She was yet to be informed of the circumstances…but waited silently.  Was it a bomb threat, someone on campus with a gun, …what??

 Her daughter Megan Joy was in the classroom next door huddled down behind locked doors and desks!  The teachers and students had been in this imposed silence and been inaccessible for almost two hours!   Frantic, my mind immediately went to pictures of Columbine in Colorado…

 Now that… was a wake-up call!  In an instant my holiday plans took second place to the more important, as my priorities slipped back into a more realistic focus.  Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say, “Don’t sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate!”  No chance of that happening here. 

 As I watched and listened to the helicopters circling, hovering overhead, my curiosity overwhelmed me.   A song that comforted me in the jungles of Panama immediately came to mind. 

♫ He is my hiding place,

He always fills my heart with songs of deliverance

whenever I am afraid, I will trust in Him … ♫   Psalm 32:7   “

 God is our strength and power and makes our way perfect.”  2 Sam. 22:33   Our sovereign God was in control and He brought His “peace that passes understanding” in the turmoil.   Two days from today families will gather to rehearse and celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world.  Christians will pause to praise their blessed promise and hope fulfilled in a manger bed.  Many will kneel and pray together giving thanks for His coming, His life and His sacrificial death in our place and His glorious resurrection.

 Will you be one of these?

 Somehow… this particular Christmas

 was a singularly outstanding one for our family…

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "The Joy of Giving!"

Life is simply a stewardship, not an ownership; a trust, not a gift.  With a gift you may do as you please, but with a trust, you must give an account. (Eph. 2: 10) This is the beginning of the holiday season when we begin spending money on gifts and essentials that make this time of year delightful and challenging. Christmas, after-all, is in two weeks! 

 In The Princess Parable  Series, “The Royal Christmas to Remember” seasonal book finds our princesses pre-occupied and ecstatic about opening all their presents on Christmas morning.  Their frivolous chatter was checked by their father, the King, reminding them that giving and sharing is necessary to being a true princess. He would say, ”Be on guard against all kinds of greed, we are stewards of what we have been given”.

 John McArthur has a tape called “Mastery of Materialism”. He said, “16 out of 38 of Christs parables deal with money.  More is said in the New Testament about money than Heaven and Hell!  Five times more is said about money than prayer.  There are 500 plus verses on prayer and faith, but there are 2,000 verses dealing with money and possessions.”  Obviously, the point is the Bible has much to say about money management!

 There are four basic biblical principles of regarding money in Matthew 25: 14-30. The first is simple…God owns it all!  Hence, He has the right to whatever He wants, whenever He wants it. It’s all His and the Owner has rights and I, a steward, have only responsibility.

 A good example of this is when my daughter started driving my car.  I’m the owner; my daughter has only privilege, while I maintain all responsibility.  I can take it back for any reason, at any time. In the same way, every single possession that I have comes from His hand.  I possess much, but own nothing.

 Stewardship is the God-given resource for the accomplishment of God-given goals.  It is an active definition, not theoretical. It acknowledges God’s ownership over my possessions and His direction of my use of these resources. Not only is my “giving” decision a spiritual one, but “spending” decisions are also.  There is nothing more spiritual about giving than buying a car, taking a vacation, buying food, paying off a debt, paying taxes, paying for college…These are all uses of His resources.  The princesses learn that stewardship involves giving and it is far more rewarding than receiving!

 The second money management tenet is that God uses money as a tool to teach us, as a test of our trustworthiness and as a testimony to distinguish us from the world.  The third rule is not the amount we have but how we handle what God has entrusted to us and lastly, the fourth, is that stewardship requires faith and volitional action. “What is Christmas without sharing and giving?”, the King told his 5 princesses, as they packed up their decorations to carry them to the town to replace all that had been destroyed by a band of outlaws that Christmas Eve!

 My husband always said, “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it ahead”.  “Lay not up…treasures on earth, but lay up for yourselves in heaven…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 6: 19-21)   His point… invest in eternity! (Lu. 16: 1-9)

 There are only two weeks before Christmas!

 Our stewardship of His resources will come into full view…

 How are we doing?

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "Time Robbers!"

Did you enjoy your Thanksgiving week-end?

 These are busy days, are they not?  Friends and family gathered recently for Thanksgiving  and Christmas is just around the corner, lapping at our heels!  Preparation time, tree-decorating,  meal-planning, welcoming guests… is all-consuming.

  There is a thief that is also busy and focuses on robbing us of the best. In “The Royal Christmas to Remember” book, the five princesses are busy in the kitchen preparing for their Christmas celebration, when their activity is abruptly interrupted by circumstances beyond their control. Marauders had envaded their town and the thieves were now bursting into their kitchen! What could they do?

 As busy moms, time in the Word can be lost to the immediate demands of responsibility and the whirlwind of activity around us. The thief is at our front door! Finding a “War Room” where we can read and pray, uninterrupted, is imperative to maintaining our walk.  Little things can begin to bother us and when people “bump” us, we react selfishly or inconvenienced.

 Sound familiar?

 One day away from the Word and I am aware of my desperate need and its crucial impact in my life.  Two days of letting the thief have my private time in the Word and not allowing it to dwell richly in me, and my family is intensely mindful of my desperate need! The princesses were quick to assess their priorities and act accordingly, bringing joy to their father the king. They were tested in the thickest of all that was happening around them and passed the test with flying colors.

 When tested… what is our response when:

·      We are evil spoken of

·      Our loyalty has been betrayed

·      Our will is crossed

·      We are forgotten or neglected

·      Our friends forsake us or

·      We find compromise more inviting than maintaining claimed convictions?

 Our response reveals the REAL us,

as it did our princesses.

When confronted with the “time robber”,

Are we women of conviction or double-minded ones?

(The definition of a “double-minded” person is the practice of one who is willfully in conflict with their soul (mind, will, emotions).

 Which are you?

 Choose carefully this holiday season.

Little prince and princesses are watching and learning…

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "Born to Soar!"

The Princess Parables Series was created to address the “Born to Soar” thought. What makes some people seem to soar, to take on one challenge after another and still be capable of more?  What makes a person so satisfied and enthusiastic about life that they want to share with everyone, and others listen because they know this person has something worth sharing?

 We are parents or the “parents-to-be” of a little prince or princess one day.  The question is, “How can we take our children to that place?”  For that matter, how do we, personally, get to that place?  We are not designed to exist in a state of distraction, always being entertained by our phone, music or social media…  God expects more from us.

 It starts early!  When my four little league grandson’s played soccer and they would win, the excitement was palpable!  Winners feel better than losers and God created us to win…not a contest with others, but in our struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil, against demons of doubt, ignorance and inaction. There is no joy apart from personal growth, fulfilling the desire to know that God instilled in us…a  drive to excel.

 Children’s success starts with you and me.  By sharing what we are learning, how God is teaching us and by communicated hopes and dreams translated through our struggles to overcome and grow, our children catch the vision, purpose and our willingness to believe God for something bigger than ourselves.

 We are known and read by these little ones coming after us.  We can’t fool them!  They are watching and learning and time is short.  Are you “a hands-on-mom”, taking every opportunity to live and speak truth into your little one? What are they seeing?  Most things are more easily caught than taught.  Living a life with vision and intention must be caught.

 How are your responses to life’s situations?

These are the shadowy corners where they watch and learn.

They are counting on us…

 They are counting on us…

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "The Fire of Offense!"

Seems to me that we are a people that are easily offended.  Have you attempted to talk to someone about the upcoming election?  The peaceful world of long ago has left us with angry and entitled people on every front.  We  see it in on the internet, the freeway, in our  homes, churches, on the street,  in grocery stores…

 It’s a great day…you walk into a public place , smiling and enthusiastic, and someone says, “What’s wrong with you?”  Maybe, it’s just California, but I don’t think so.  Verbal dissatisfaction and public controversies are common place.  Words are spoken unguarded.  We are women and we love words! One of the leading problems among women in maintaining relationships is the abuse of the tongue.

 “The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit.”  It’s, also, a source  of offense. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed on us by someone else! “Great peace have they that love your law and nothing will offend them.”Psa. 119: 165

 We are responsible for five areas of our life without excuse, rationalization or wrong response.

1.     Words

2.     Actions

3.     Attitudes

4.     Thoughts

5.     Motives – reveal our character; the why we do what we do.

 I am accountable before God for what I say.  If somebody offends me, it is my problem. They  are only reflecting a need in my life, if I respond wrongly.  When Christ, the great physician, applies a knife to my heart and there is  pain…there  is  evidence of live flesh!  My need to die to my flesh is exposed. God sees what I cannot see, and knows exactly where to place the knife.  He cuts away that which we are most reluctant to give up!  And how it hurts. 

 God does not attack in us that which is lifeless and unresponsive…It is the live flesh that must die.   There is only room for one of us to be alive and in control!  The remedy to my problem isn’t cure; it is to get out of  the way…it is death to my selfish expectations.

 “Great  peace have they that love my law and nothing will offend them.” Psa. 119: 165

 How easily are you offended?

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "Courage on Fire!"

GOD HONORS US MOST WHEN HE PUTS US WHERE WE WILL TRUST HIM MOST

 The closer we get to the fire, the more purified we will become.  God wants to draw us close to Himself.  We tend to fight and resist the very thing God uses with divine purpose to purify us…the inconvenience, turmoil, fears, trouble,  discomfort, distress and trials of many kinds.  The goal is “so that the tested genuineness of our faith- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to resort in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” I Pet. 1: 7

 ”Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.” Isa. 48: 10

 It really matters what seeds we are planting.  Courageous people find value and gratefulness in each struggle and they grow up! There is certainty found in God; not in their self-reliance.  His courage is manifested in us, as we make Him king and master in our life and not just a subtitle.

 There are 9 Points that mark people who are courageous:

1.     Pray constantly -in harmony with  God; others-focused, not self

2.     Embrace the greatness of God – practicing His presence

3.     Rely on daily bread (Him), not their own ability

4.     Invite accountability for the blind spots and wise counsel

5.     Live expectantly with their hope in God alone and when He says “go” or “do”; there is no delay; instant obedience

6.     Understands the divine purpose in the spiritual stretching Jas. 1: 2

7.     Are radically generous (with their time, giving, service…)

8.     Impart courage by staying in the fight – no excuse or rationalization, just example

9.     Fight fear with continual practice of gratitude

      Courage is fear under God’s protection – walk through that door of fear and it dissipates!

En-courage is helping someone else control their fear and doubt

Dis-courage is  fear controlling me

Despair is fear has conquered me.  Psa. 42: 5-11

 “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not,

nor be afraid; for the lord, your god,

he it is that goes before you, he will not fail or forsake you!”

Dueteronomy 31: 6

 Whether life grinds you down or polishes you depends on your courage.   Cynicism is the last resort of the coward. Disparagement or doubt in His faithfulness undermines the character of the courageous soul who confidently puts total trust in God.  Some give Him a place; some give Him prominence; but what Christ wants is pre-eminence…

 Courage is defined as grace under pressure!

Whatever you are facing today, choose Courage!

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "Buckle Up for the Ride!"

Do you ever feel like you just can’t go on?  A bit overwhelmed and stressed with the every-day’s demanding responsibilities, eventful family matters, disturbing health issues, wavering and unresolved relationships, weighty decisions that need to be made now, current world events make that global, conditions….?  

 Do you grow faint?  Are you “keeping on keeping on”, stumbling along the way?

 While living in the Darien jungle, we were not aware that for two years there was a plot to kill us!  We lived in a very remote area and the discovery of our bodies would have never been found.  Upon learning of the plan, my head began to spin.  I looked across the room at my two  beautiful little girls and reality came tumbling into my consciousness like a fast-approaching hurricane!  Fight or Flight…there was no escape…

 …Talk about growing faint!

 Jeremiah, “the weeping prophet”, faced a similar conspiracy and he wrote:

 “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out,

how can you compete with horses?

If you stumble in safe country,

how will you manage in the thickets by Jordan?”

 If we grow faint with lesser trials and feel like quitting, what will we do when the battle gets even harder?  The river Jordan in flood stage overflowed its banks into a plain that grew up into a dense thicket!  Pictured in this verse is their invaders overwhelming the land like a flood. We, like Jeremiah, need to be ready to deal with tougher times.  “If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!”  Prov. 10:24  He makes His strength perfect in our weakness.  We have to get out of the way and let Him take control!  Where is your confidence right now?

 Jeremiah knew the scheme the people of Anathoth had against him to kill him, because God had told him. Like many of us, he wanted to know “why the wicked escape for a time unscathed and appear to prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?” Jer. 12: 1

 Do you ever ask yourself that?  Why me?

 God’s answer was simply, “Buckle up, Jeremiah, your life, as a prophet of my truth, has yet to see my nature revealed!  I have the plan…albeit, a longsuffering one…I am forever looking for repentance and a yieldedness to My will, unlike the rebellious and defiant ones.” (Paraphrased)

 Our Challenge:

  “If we falter in times of trouble,

 how small is our strength!”

Prov. 10:24

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights.