"True Christian Motherhood"-- Soon to be Released!

Hey everyone! My mom, June Fuentes, wrote an ebook entitled "True Christian Motherhood" and it's going to be released real soon! Keep an eye out for it in the next couple weeks...

This ebook on Christian Motherhood will give you life-changing vision that will change the way you view motherhood, your life, and the way you engage with children forever.

Women everywhere are looking for guidance, encouragement, and vision. This book will help provide it for grandmothers, moms, and girls not yet married. I encourage you to buy it when it comes out, read it, and then apply it! :)

Make sure to "like" the FB page- True Christian Motherhood- and join the discussion page-  True Christian Motherhood Discussion Group!

Jesus Wants The Rose- Matt Chandler

My family loves Matt Chandler. He is an excellent pastor who tries his best in doing what God wants him to do. Senior pastor of The Village Church; he has an amazing faith in God despite everything he's been through. He's been a huge inspiration to everyone who has kept up with him or just heard of him.

This is a clip of one of his past sermons that he did a while ago- I really encourage you to watch it!

It Gets Hard Sometimes. . .

"So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, 

always enthusiastic about the Lord's work for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless."

-1 Corinthians 15:58

I really feel the urge to encourage all of you today....

Keep serving the Lord with a joyful attitude even when it gets hard and things get in your way or aren't going the way you planned. Sometimes it gets hard when we're in the certain positions that we're in. I very often find it hard being the oldest child in my family...I end up thinking or saying things like, "I did not sign up for this!", "Why didn't God let me choose which "number" I got to be in my family?" (FYI, I probably would've picked the youngest! =), "Why is it that I set the example for all my siblings?". I'm sure for all of you that aren't the oldest wonder why you aren't because you could do so much better and get all the things first and tell your younger siblings what to do and everyone will notice you more, etc., am I right? =)

But you know what? If we could see how God planned all the the facts and all the little details and how He put us in exactly the position we're in and how everything will turn out by the end of our lives...We wouldn't change one thing that's going on right now.

Stay strong not only for yourself but for your family, for us that are praying for you, the non-Christians because they are always watching us, and all the rest of your friends and family in your life! Keep in mind that you are helping to change lives for eternity...Which is a huge job that was entrusted to us by the most powerful king there ever was, is, or yet to come!

Little by little; 

 step by step; 

feeling like you're falling then rising; 

feeling like you're failing then conquering;

we can do this together but it takes every player of the team in order for everyone to win.

Stay steady and keep walking with Jesus!

Hope you all have a great and blessed week!

"Carry the cross patiently with perfect submission 

and in the end it shall carry you."
-Thomas á Kempis

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Tomorrow Is NOT Promised!

My 19 year old cousin, Alan Oliva Jr., was out from a party on Sunday morning (5/30/10 at 1 am) in Chicago with a friend and while they were walking on the streets he and his friend were hit on the backs with bats by three gangsters. The friend got away but Alan didn't. He was stabbed twice in the back and was rushed to the ER but died six hours later. You can read more, here.

This is my first personal loss of someone that I knew and it's just incomprehensible. I mean it feels so unreal. It's hard when things like this happen but I'm finding I just need to trust God and that "all things work together for the good of those that love Him."

Hopefully when things like this happen that we read in the paper or watch on the news or personally experience, we'll be drawn closer to Him and learn to trust in Him more. We need to trust that when God says not to do things (like "thou shall not murder" ), we shouldn't do them. There are other commands in the Bible that to many people don't make sense or they just don't care or purposefully don't obey so they end up basically ruining their own lives if not others.


Alot of times, we think we have our whole lives in front of us (especially us teens) but really only God knows how much longer we have. Alan probably thought we was going to spend his memorial day weekend with his family and friends. I understand he wanted to be a cop. He probably felt he could take on the world. But God had other plans. Now through this, I'm praying many more of my family members and Alan's friends (and, yes, it's hard but even his murderer) will hear of the love and grace and saving power of Jesus Christ and be added to the family of God.

Tomorrow is NOT promised. Cherish the people in your life. Be kind and love your siblings. Honor your parents. Treat everyone with respect. Live everyday as if it were your last. Because really, you don't know if it is. Or someone else's.

Some events can really put things back into perspective.

Two of my friends just lost their 13 year old cousin (Sean Woods) this past weekend as well. After being missed for a couple hours at a party, they found he had been accidentally drowned.

So if you would please pray for my cousins (the Oliva's) and my friends, the Piekarski's, cousins (the Woods) to be comforted and experience the peace of God through these untimely deaths in both of our family's, we would really appreciate that.

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These events remind me alot of Kris Allen's song-
"Live Like We're Dying".

The Doll

I received this story in an email and was really touched by it. . .So I thought you would enjoy reading it, too--

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I was walking around in a Wal Mart store, when I saw a cashier

hand this little boy some money back.

The boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old..

The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have

enough money to buy this doll..'



Then the little boy turned to the

old woman next to him: ''Granny, are you sure I don't have enough money?''

The old lady replied:'You know that you don't have enough money to

buy this doll, my dear.''

Then she asked him to stay there

for just 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly..


The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand..


Finally, I walked toward him and

I asked him who he wished to give this doll to.


It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for Christmas.

She was sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her.'


I replied to him that maybe Santa

Claus would bring it to her after all, and not to worry.

But he replied to me sadly.


'No, Santa Claus can't bring it to her where she is

now. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can

give it to my sister when she goes there.'


His eyes were so sad while saying

this.. 'My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says

that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought

that she could take the doll with her to give it to my

sister.''


My heart nearly stopped..


The little boy looked up at me

and said: 'I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I

need her to wait until I come back

from the mall.'


Then he showed me a very nice

photo of himself. He was laughing.. He then told me 'I

want mommy to take my picture with her so she won't

forget me.'


'I love my mommy and I wish

she didn't have to leave me, but daddy says that she has

to go to be with my little sister.'


Then he looked again at the

doll with sad eyes, very quietly.


I quickly reached for my wallet

and said to the boy. 'Suppose we check again, just in

Case you do have enough money for the doll!''



OK' he said, 'I hope I do

have enough.' I added some of my money to his without

him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for

the doll and even some spare money..


The little boy said: 'Thank you God for giving me enough money!'



Then he looked at me and added,

'I asked last night

before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough

money to buy this doll, so that mommy could give it to my

sister. He heard me!''



'I also wanted to have enough

money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn't

dare to ask God for too much.. But He gave me enough to buy

the doll and a white rose.''



'My mommy loves white roses.'



A few minutes later, the old lady returned and I left with my basket.



I finished my shopping in a

totally different state of mind from when I started.




I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind.



Then I remembered a local news

paper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk man in a

truck, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl.



The little girl died right away,


and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had

to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining

machine, because the young woman would not be able to

recover from the coma.




Was this the family of the little boy?





Two days after this encounter


with the little boy, I read in the news paper that the young

woman had passed away.



I couldn't stop myself as I


bought a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home

where the body of the young woman was for people to see and

make last wishes before her burial.


She was there, in her coffin,


holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of

the little boy and the doll placed over her chest.


I left the place, teary-eyed,

feeling that my life had been changed for ever... The love


that the little boy had for his

mother and his sister is

still, to this day, hard to imagine.


And in a fraction of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him.







Now you have 2 choices:

1) Send this message to others,

or

2) Ignore it as if it never

touched your heart.



The quote of the month is by Jay

Leno: "With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control,

mud slides, flooding, severe

thunderstorms tearing up the

country from one end to the other, and with the threat of

swine flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we sure this is a

good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'"


For those who prefer to think

that God is not

Watching over us delete this, for the others ...


Pass it on!



God Bless!!!




Dear God:


The person reading this is beautiful and strong.

Help them live their life to the fullest.

Please promote them and cause

them to excel above their expectations.

Help them shine in the darkest

places where it is impossible to love.

Protect them at all times, lift

them up when they need you the most, and let them know

when they walk with you, they will always be safe.

"Healing Hand of God"- Jeremy Camp

I love this song and have found so much comfort in the words!

Brain Cancer Tests A Young Pastor's Faith

This is a very inspirational story of a young pastor (Matt Chandler, 35) in Dallas, Texas who last year ('09) on Thanksgiving Day came down with brain cancer. This article tells the story of how he handles being a pastor of over 6,000 people and living by faith and hope in a time of dramatic testing.

Brain cancer tests a young pastor's faith

(Matt Chandler taking a walk with his two children)