Greatest Gift of All

Well it’s that time of year again when people say things like Jesus is the reason for the season and they shop and bake and are usually nicer than other times during the year. It can be the happiest and saddest time of the year.

A few years ago the Holy Spirit gave me a challenge. He said if I really wanted to celebrate Chirst birth to do it without partaking in all the worldly stuff like wreaths, trees and gifts.
I agreed and as you can imagine took major crap from people about my personal challenge, but that’s another jewel.
It was hard at first as I was a major decorator during the Christmas season and I loved doing it. I have lots of ornaments the kids have made over the years that I treasure. I loved the tradition of placing them on the tree and savored every memory that came with it.  

As you know I’m not big on cooking but we always made a birthday cake for Jesus and sang to Him Christmas morning.

In spite of all the good feelings for me I would take this personal challenge.

Gems it was a very eye opening season for me on so many levels and 7 years later I continue to celebrate without all the fixins.

This is not an “atta girl Gena” jewel or a "you should do this too jewel," it’s just me sharing with you my little world.

I sat on my couch one day clicking through the channels on TV and was overwhelmed by the amount of commercials trying to get us to buy their perfect holiday gift. I remarked to the Lord how crazy it all was.

I wondered, what kind of gift can you actually give Jesus if that’s who you’re really celebrating?  Without skipping a beat the Holy Spirit answered me.

Its funny because it was more of a thought than a question. Not something I was waiting on an answer for.  How many questions do we ask intentionally that seem to take forever to get an answer to?

Yet the Holy Spirit challenged me once again. He said there is a gift you can give Jesus that He always really wants yet seldom receives. He would love the soul of the lost. He said it’s the only gift He came to give and the only gift we can help give back.

The Holy Spirit challenged me to look back over all the years of tree trimming and birthday cakes and see how many people I actually shared the good news of Jesus with.

I am ashamed to tell you that the number was very small. I didn't wake up each morning thinking who can I share Jesus with, I woke up thinking who else do I need to have a gift for. And then there were the spare gifts I kept just in case I forgot someone. When all the while I had the most precious gift, the gift of salvation.

Maybe the best gift I could have given any one was the opportunity to go with me to the mall or anywhere people were and ask someone, anyone, do you know Jesus. Helping someone including myself to obey God’s COMMAND!
Mark 16:15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

Gems this is a command not a suggestion. The Holy Spirit said to me “Gena if you really want to do something for the so called Jesus Season how about doing what He commanded.” He said there is nothing more special than sharing Christ with someone and seeing them give their heart to Christ for Christmas.

OUCH…

It doesn't say expect them to come to church because besides Easter it’s the next best day. Jesus said for us to go and find them.

I’m not slamming inviting people to church. After we share the gospel sure, invite them to church but we have to stop waiting for the lost to show up where we are.

I was really convicted and felt it my Christian duty to convict you too J All in love brothers and sisters.
I challenged myself that the next day I would talk to at least one person and ask if they knew Jesus.

Frances Chan gave a great example. He said imagine you’re at a football game and your favorite team gets into the huddle, goes over the plays, slaps each other on the butt then goes back and sits on the bench. They never actually do the plays they have practiced. Can you imagine if game after game they did this?

He said church can be like that. We come week after week, hearing a great message, getting filled up but never doing anything with what we learned. Then we show up again the next week ready for more plays we won’t use. Frances said it way better but you catch my drift.

Gems we were, are and will continue to be the tool God chose to use to share the gospel.
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven Luke 1:76-78

Gems I’m not telling you how to celebrate the birth of Christ or change your Christmas traditions but we have to ask ourselves, why are we so committed to our traditions yet willing to sit on the bench to His commands?
So my gift to you is the same challenge, make sharing the greatest gift of all with someone this week because

                  


My dear friend Evelyn wrote this poem and I wanted to share it with you.

Reminder: Jesus Is the Reason for the Season!

Twas the night before SK Christmas, when all through CFM,

All the volunteers were ready to give their embrace.
The bags of hope were placed on the tables with care,
In hopes that are guests will soon all be there.

The children came running in hope of some toys,
As Paula and Lisa laid out clothing overjoyed.
While Lyn and Mark prepared for the night,
Our volunteers and leaders were full of delight.

When out on the darkness there arose such a clatter,
We all turned our heads to see what was the matter.
Away to the sidewalk we flew in a flash,
As David and Kevin arrived with the stash.

The prayer team prepared by the glittering lights,
As Maureen and Wendy registered on site.
When, what to our wondering eyes should appear,
Bill Collier and Deacon Mark spreading some cheer.

With a microphone ready, so lively and skilled,
We knew in a moment it must be our Bill.
More rapid than eagles our guests came,
As he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Brian! now, Nancy! now, Larry and Lee!
On, Susie! On, Les! on, Tony and James!
To your feet all at once! Together they shouted!
Together in Jesus let us all be United!"

As we handed out pizza, hot cocoa and cake,
We watch in amazement and were there to partake.
As our Christmas Celebration began to unfold,
Pastor Steve watched in contentment, oh bless his soul.

And then, in a twinkling, we felt through the night,
The presence of the holy Spirit right here at our site.
As we praise our Lord, and were turning around,
We could feel the love of Jesus so very profound.

There before us stood a man dressed in rags,
Dirt from head to toes and carrying a bag.
His clothes were all tarnished, smelly and with holes,
As if someone had beat him and ripped off his clothes.
A bundle of his belongings he had flung on his back,
And he looked destitute, as he stopped in his track.

He looked tired and longing for some sleep,
As he looked to see if we had something to eat.
His skin badly burned from sleeping outside,
His garment with blood drawn down from the side.
The beard on his face was prickly and long,
Made him look years older and completely withdrawn.

The sandals he wore on his feet were so worn,
His feet were all dirty and slightly deformed.
He had hands of a carpenter, so rough and so tough,
Let us to believe he was experienced and knew his stuff.

He was skinny and tall, a once handsome man,
Down on his luck, and in need of a plan.
A look in his eye and our faith in the Lord,
Soon gave us the feeling that his heart he implored.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to a seat,
And filled his belly with all the food he could eat.
And as we watched him leave our site,
He gave a nod of thanks, a glance of delight.
We knew we had done everything right!

As he sprang to the street, and vanished into the night,
We were sure we had served our Savior tonight.
But we heard him exclaim, as he walked out of sight,
"Blessed Christmas my Servants, and to all a blessed-night!"

Written by His Servant for Life,

Lyn

Corner of Cross & Hope

^{Words are so powerful and how we use them have more impact on people than we sometimes realize.
This is such a story and we find it in John 5.}Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda^[ and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. ⁵ One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

 

OK so Jesus tells this guy to pick up his mat and walk and he does and he’s healed. This may be a familiar story for many of you and like me you may feel thankful that after 38 years this guy is finally healed. You may even find it interesting that Jesus didn’t put him in the pool, he told him to get up so he had to do something as part of the healing. But this isn’t the part I want to talk about.

After he is healed the Jewish leaders find out about him and as usual are trying to get Jesus in trouble for breaking the law. Here is the part that struck me. They ask the guy what’s the name of the man who healed you and the guy has NO IDEA!

¹³ The man who was healed had no idea who it was

That Gems is pretty crazy. He wasn’t healed because he knew who Jesus was or because he had great faith in him it was because Jesus told him to pick up his mat and walk.

There was something in what Jesus said this man needed to hear.  Jesus saw something in this man he didn’t see in himself.

I’ll give you an example of something that happened just the other day. My Bible study group went to visit one of our sisters who is battling cancer, we will call her Betty. She was having a really bad day both physically and emotionally. Our friend Beverly told her she needed to come to an event with her that night and she would pick her up.

Now I gotta be honest here. I thought to myself  there is NO WAY Betty is going to be able to go. What is my friend thinking? Does she not see how sick and frail she is? I even tried to help Betty out by interrupting, how unlike me, and telling Beverly to call first and see if she is up to it. Obviously Beverly needed my help evaluating this situation......

Well to my surprise Betty did go with her. Not only did she go she drover herself!

I went to see Betty the next day and she said something really profound to me. She told me that when Beverly first invited her she said no but as Beverly persisted, she does that, Betty thought to herself “if Beverly thinks I can do this than maybe I can.”

And with that she got dressed and drove herself! Why? Because someone believed she could! That paralyzed man got up because someone said he could.

Gems I'm writing this jewel as a reminder for all of us to invest ourselves in those around us. In whatever community God has placed us in, find out who needs cheering and do it. 

I heard a wonderful analogy the other day about community using eggs as an example. The writer said community shouldn’t be like boiled eggs. Eggs in the same pot but still have a hard shell on so they are still sheltered from one another. He said we should be like fried eggs.

When several eggs are in the pan the whites overlap each other. The yoke stays because we are all individuals but as a community we should be touching each other's lives. Was that great or what!
Wish I would have thought of it.

The day I found that sign I was with my new friend
Jenny. It was God's sense of humor. She was
sharing her life with me and I was cheering her on
as we drove in my car. When we parked I told her we needed to read the street sign so we could find my car when we wanted to leave. I think we joked that God would give us a sign.... 

Gems sometimes in life we come to the corner of Cross and Hope in our lives. We can have hope because of what Christ did on the cross. We can also gain hope when our brothers and sisters rally around us and ask, do you want to do this? Do you want to be healed, forgiven, reunited, validated you fill in the blank. Sometimes we need someone to firmly tell us to take up whatever is on our mat and walk.
To not only be in the same pan but be a part of it.
So to whatever Gem needs to hear that word today here it is
YOU CAN DO IT!!!!! I believe in you, I have faith in you. Carry your cross and find hope!

Reflect-son

I don’t know about you Gems but living my life to reflect God’s son is a constant battle. I like most of you have struggled with the age old question “Lord what is your will for my life today?”

The Lord gave me a new answer when I asked the question AGAIN this past weekend.
He started by asking me what my reflection looked like. He then told me “my will is that you reflect me in whatever you do.”
Colossians 3:  ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Huh? Whatever I do…. Did you just “whatever” me?

I realized that in each new thing I do my reflection isn't always the same.  Sometimes when I begin a new adventure I can’t see Jesus in me to clearly. You know what I mean?

But why don’t I see Him clearly? Is it because I’m being self-centered? Am I looking through the eyes of doubt? Am I basing my results on my promises to God instead of God’s promises to me?

After seeing the verse in Colossians it appeared to me God might be more interested in the how I do than the what I do.
Is this what your saying God?  This thinking seemed to bring more clarity to my reflection?

I’ll give you my latest example:
My car was falling apart and needed a lot of work.  After getting a quote I realized I would be paying way more to fix the the car than it was worth. This of course raised the question should I get a newer car? I have not had a car payment or any monthly payments in years and the thought of having one was not appealing to me at all. 
I started praying about the car situation and felt like the Holy Spirit said to lease a car. He also sent my friend Cynthia to see me who had just leased a car. She said she felt like God told her to tell me to lease a car.
Mind you I had not told anyone what I was praying about.

I reminded the Holy Spirit that leasing still required a payment,

 as if He needed that information.

You would have thought at this point things were pretty clear right? But nooooo! I asked my Spiritual Guru Jessica, my 18 year old daughter what she thought, her response “why are you still praying about something God already said yes too?”

After a couple more days of praying I finally met with my friend Evelyn’s husband Rob who works at a car dealership to talk about my options. I decided I would put out a fleece for confirmation. If I got approved for the loan with a part time job income it was definitely God saying yes. 
Really spiritual I know.

The night before our meeting I prayed AGAIN to God for clarity and this is what He said “Gena you can have the car and I will provide IF you can accept my provision without bringing it up over and over each month when the payment is due. If you can’t, then don’t get the car.”
Being the level headed Christian I am, I said back to the Lord what I thought He said to me. I decided to use part of Colossians just to be on the safe side. I just wanted to be clear, I learned this in a communication class :)

"So what you’re saying is if I’m doing whatever I’m doing in the name of the Lord, in this case leasing a car, then I would automatically be doing your will so it’s your will for me to get a car."

Are you confused? Welcome to my world….

Gems this may shock you but I don’t think God is too concerned with what car I was going to drive.

What He was concerned with was that I was going to believe that He said He would provide.
This may not have been a great example but it’s what I was dealing with.
The bottom line is as time went on I started reflecting more and more on what God was saying to me.
I was like the picture of this lake. You only see part of the sky in the reflection because clouds covered the rest.  Sometimes things look cloudy to us when we are asking God questions and we're not sure of the answer because of our own doubts about God's answer.

The thing is Gems maybe we keep asking God over and over for something He has already answered yes to. Maybe we are cloudy because of our doubt to His word or in my case  I didn't think I deserved what He wanted to bless me with. 

The truth is if we are walking our whatever in the guidelines of God's word than maybe we don't have to ask at all. He will give us our desires before we even bring them up. He will do this because His desires become our desires and that's the only way you can do things in the name of Jesus.

In other words just do whatever it is your gonna do the way Jesus would!

What questions are you asking the Lord right now? Maybe like me you are focusing on the what instead of the how. Maybe the Holy Spirit is asking you to focus your “whatever” in the name of the Lord and give thanks to God that in all things we have the ability to be a reflection of His son Jesus.

Just Say Yes

Y e s, 3 small letters that can change your world. Sometimes saying yes can feel like your jumping off a cliff with a blindfold on having no idea where you will land. That's pretty much what it felt like for me about 9 years ago.
It was yet another one of those times the Lord was setting me up for something larger than I could have imagined. He asked me to join a group of women that was starting a community Bible study and I said yes. What I didn't know was these women had been praying for years to also start a crisis pregnancy center for the community. Had I known that part I would have said NO. Why you ask? Because at that time in my life I had not been freed of my own abortion nor did anyone know about it. BUT God moved in my life in such a loving way that I FINALLY agreed. Having the sense of humor the Lord has not only was I a part of the founding board I was the President. And so Life's Choices Crisis Pregnancy Center of Lake County was born.

I'm telling this story, again for some of you, to express the power of your decision to say "yes" to something the Lord asks you to do no matter how difficult or out of your ability it is.


Luke 11:28  But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

This decision was made by 5 women whom the Lord hand picked and brought together. I only knew 1 of these women personally going in but I can tell you that all 4 of them were WAY more qualified to act as President.
This picture is of our marketing team, Suzan Jenkins and her son Jett.

Jett was also our IT guy. We were a humble group of women coming before the Lord with no clue what we were doing. The entire organization was 5 women, our children, and 1 very Big GOD.

My time with the board was short, I started when God said and ended when He said. During that time we prayed weekly together, 5 women seeking God's will for His Center. As time passed we began training. When the Lord told us we hired a Director, Marcia McNaney.

We traveled to Colorado for a huge convention with crisis pregnancy centers from all over the United States. All of us stepping out in faith for wisdom, direction and finances. 

I remember telling some friends I was going to Colorado having no idea where the money would come from and they advised me to wait until I had the money. But this was not how God asked any of us to do it.

Acts 5:29 “We must obey God rather than men."

I'm sharing this with you today because I was invited to the annual banquet for Life's Choices and for the first time since my position ended I was able to go. They were celebrating the 8th birthday of the Center!

8 years!!! Gems I had never really thought about the results of that decision until this past weekend. I never truly realized what God did with those small 3 letters of y e s from 5 women until I pulled into the parking lot of the reception hall where the banquet was hosted.
I was shocked at all the cars.
Was there another event happening tonight? I"m sure there will be a sign to where Life's Choices is meeting. These are the thoughts that were going through my head.
Why? Honestly I never thought about the end result of what God was doing. I was always so amazed at what God did with me and my dear sisters Kathy, Suzan, Donna and Dina I never thought about what he was doing with Life's Choices Pregnancy Center of Lake County. I was always focused on my unworthiness instead of God's worthiness.
I walked into the entrance and was brought to tears by the amount of people that were there to support the Center and God's command to choose life.

Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

Gems this jewel is not an "at a girl" to me or the women I served with, however, I was truly proud for the first time of what we had started. Proud that God took our small offering of obedience and multiplied the seed for His glory.I was honored that He used someone like me, completely guilty of the very thing Life's choices was fighting, killing the unborn. He used me in spite of my past to be a mouth piece for his unborn, slain babies. I am humbled to the point of weeping even as I write this. This jewel is about knowing
Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
isn't just a happy quote to make you feel better on an off day, it's a promise from God!

Genesis 4 "What have you done (Gena)? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground."

This was God speaking to Cain about his brothers death but I believe it's also God speaking to all of us about the unborn.
Blood has a voice, it cries and it's heard by God.

This jewel isn't necessarily about abortion although it's an important message, it's about obedience to God when you feel like you are the least likely to say yes.
During the banquet there was a large screen where they showed a live sonogram of a baby about 17 weeks old.

My very own grand baby is a little older than that inside of his/her mother's womb. Just as Vangie Berry, the Master of Ceremonies, said the womb was one of the most dangerous places for a baby that sweet baby lifted his/her hands together toward the sky and held his hands together as if she were praying. We were all in awe of God's ability to give us such a live visual.

Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

BUT the enemy was quick on the scene as well. As soon as I saw that precious moving baby he whispered to me "that could have been your baby but you killed it." Tears rolled down my face in sorrow and guilt BUT just as quickly I felt the presence of my sweet Jesus wrapping his arms around me and heard the Holy Spirit say "Gena I brought you here to see the fruit of your labor. To show you that I am serious when I tell you I can work ALL things out for good to those who love me."

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Gems I was called to His purpose and I said yes.  I cannot begin to tell you how good it feels to know I was part of a good thing for God. Marcia, the director, decided to recognize me that night as a founding board member and I was so proud to stand and be recognized. It was awesome hearing my name be mentioned with all the other people that are actively a part of the Life's Choices. But what will be far more rewarding to me is when I hear my Savior call out my name and say "well done good and faithful servant."

Gems I don't know what God is commanding you to do. It may be something you think is way too big or something you think is too small for it to be from God. You may be like I was and think mercy and love do not apply to your sin and therefore you can't possibly be the one.

Psalm 145:8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

I don't know what He's asking you or what your doing but I do know the sky is the limit in His strength. All He's looking for from you is one small answer to One big GOD!

http://www.lifeschoices.net/
Please support the Crisis Pregnancy Center near you.

This jewel is dedicated to Frank Victor Vasquez, III.

Jessica and I met Vic and Stacey, his mom, about 5 years ago at the local soup kitchen. Jess and I were new to Tampa and anxious to make new friends.

Stacey and I were both single moms with kids the same age who obviously had a heart for the homeless, and so began our friendship.

Vic is a big guy. I say is because I’m sure in Heaven he is still big, both in size and spirit! For some reason Stacey always has a 2 door car which may not seem like a big deal unless your Vic and have to climb in the back seat. 

Many times Stacey would pick Jess and I up for soup kitchen and without being asked Vic would climb in that small back seat. He literally looked like a giant in a match box car. I would laugh and say “Vic you can sit in the front” but he would always say no. This may seem like a small thing but it’s one of the many small things that made Vic so special.

He would serve food complete with a hair net, set up tables, chat with our guest, load chairs, whatever was asked of him with a smile that was contagious.

The thing I found the most wonderful about Vic was his relationship with his mother. It’s one thing for a mother/daughter relationship to be close but a mother son… I’m not talking about a mama’s boy, well OK yes I am, but in a masculine sense. When you said Stacey, you said Stacey and Vic because they truly did everything together.

Vic did stuff with Stacey like yard sailing, visiting family and friends, eating out, going to the beach, his mom’s favorite, or serving the community. 

Stacey attended ALL Vic’s sporting events and if Vic’s weren't enough she attended his friends too.

Vic was such an example of a young man that honored his mother. He was respectful, most of the times obedient, and just plain fun to be around. Adults would often comment on what a great relationship the two of them had.

I have learned so much from Stacey’s family. There is a lot of truth in knowing a believer of Jesus Christ by their actions.

To be honest when we first became friends I couldn't understand why almost every weekend Stacey and Vic went to her parent’s or brother’s house. Going to my family’s house on purpose was not a concept I understood. That is until I met them.

My daughters and I were blessed to be in their homes and saw a family that wasn't perfect but knew their roles. Yes family members have roles.

Bruce, Stacey’s father is such a man of God and a true leader of the household. Eric her brother, with a beautiful family of his own, still respected the decisions his father made. Mary, her mom works hard both in the home and outside of it. Proverbs 31 woman for sure. Bruce watches over his family with a love and protection he no doubt learned from His Heavenly Father.

My daughters and I were in awe of the dynamics of this family. I understood immediately where Vic learned to treat family. He had a great heritage.

I have to laugh thinking about the four of us in the early days. Stacey & Vic were rednecks me and Jess were girly girls. Vic was on the larger size Jess the smaller. They wanted to watch monster trucks, we wanted to go to the mall. With all our differences we found unity, support, a new family and best of all unconditional love.

Stacey and I would joke that Jess and Vic would marry when they grew up so Stacey and I could live in the mother-in law suit. They of course would have nothing to do with our plans and ignored our annoying comments, can’t blame a mom for trying.

Vic taught me lessons I never had a chance to share with him. One in particular was learned at his wrestling match.

A few days prior I had an argument with my son Anthony, he’s a single dad and I was angry because I thought he was playing too rough with my grandsons.

Stacey invited me to an event Vic would be wrestling at and I initially said no.

It brought back memories of my high school days. My best friend Linda and I met some of the wrestlers at our school we thought were really cute SO we signed up to be mat girls. Having no idea what a mat girl was we showed up at the wrestling match, to our horror they wanted us to move the smelly sweaty mats around the room. Did I mention girly girl? We decided the boys weren't that cute after all and went home.

Stacey would not take no for an answer, did I mention she’s also hard headed? Must be that birds of a feather thing, so after some bantering I agreed. Little did I know God wanted to teach me something.

As I sat there on the bleachers in the smelly gym I was watching all the different matches that were going on. I also noticed men with their boys on the floor between the matches and of course they were all wrestling each other. I had never witnessed so many men/boys in one room attacking each other for fun….. 

It was all very barbaric and it was then the Lord whispered to me “I created men different than women, your son is treating his sons like dad’s treat their boys not moms.”

It shed a whole new light on my own son’s interaction with his boys. Apparently all boys wrestle.

Although I thought I wouldn't like watching Vic wrestle I instantly became one of the annoying parents cheering LOUDLY for their kid, even if he wasn't technically mine 

Thank you Vic for helping me understand the dynamics between men a little better and their need to slap each other around, go figure.

As much as I would like to say our kids were perfect, of course there not.

It was not uncommon for Stacey and I to call one another when we were administering a punishment to see if our restriction time fit the crime. We would go over the details of their deed, consider if it was a first offense, were they really sorry, how mad were we and then decide our punishment. It was nice to have someone to bounce that kind of stuff off of. There were nights we met and walked around the apartment complex when we needed to vent about something they were doing. We would start off angry and end up thankful we had them.

I had no idea our time with Vic would be so short…..

Vic was killed in a freak accident this past weekend. I am still in disbelief. I am thankful he knows Jesus and is in Heaven with his Heavenly Father. I’m just not able to wrap my mind around the fact that I won’t see him now. I look into my dear friend Stacey’s eyes and cannot begin to comprehend her pain. She is the most amazing woman I have ever met. Her strength this past week has been a true testimony of the power, comfort and strength of the Holy Spirit.

Last night we met at soup kitchen. Many of our original team was there to support Stacey. Her parents, brother and niece joined us for the first time to honor Victor. I was doing pretty well until I saw Vic’s grandfather standing behind the drink table. That was what Vic use to do.

 I literally stopped in my tracks and began to weep. In this moment I realized the younger man of the family was teaching the older how to serve in a new way. But what really caught my attention was the reaction when we announced to our guests of Vic’s tragic death. To see men crying over the loss of a servant spoke volumes. These were men that met Vic at a homeless soup kitchen site where they came for a meal. They got a meal and a great big teddy bear of a friend named Vic. He didn't just feed them food he fed them life. He befriended them, he cared about them, he invested his personal time in them, he was Jesus with skin on to them. He mattered to them the way they mattered to him. That Gems is a testimony!

I have met many of his friends from school and you can tell immediately they are quality friends. You have to be a quality friend to have quality friends. 

Vic was also an organ donor so even in his death lives will be saved. These are qualities of a selfless person.

Again Gems I’m not trying to make it sound like Vic was perfect or had no flaws because he did but I want to honor the fact that he loved his family, friends and most importantly Jesus Christ. Victor was saved by grace not by works but, he took that gift and gave back to God by demonstrating that faith with good works.

In my alone time with the Lord, as I was grieving my young friend’s departure, God showed me

Psalm 116 :¹⁵ Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.

God carefully chooses when He calls one of his own into His presence.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

God knew about this tragic accident and the outcome of it before Victor was born.

Psalm 139:15-16 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

What the enemy meant for harm God has already been using for good. His hand can be seen over and over by the testimonies given by those of us who have been left behind.

So I dedicate this jewel in honor of Frank Victor Vasquez III, his amazing mother Stacey Vasquez that I am honored to do life with

and her loving family.

V alued by those who love you

I nspires us to serve

C haritable to the end

T ank (ask his friends )

O ne of a kind

R eigning with Jesus!

May 11, 1996 - October 6, 2013