Anna M. Aquino

When I first started to try to get published, I remember the night that I got my first turndown. I had gotten two in the same night. I was a crying wreck. Dan did his best to console me. I had never planned on the turndowns. I just figured that when you were doing what God called you to do it would work, and it would be easy. My naiveté makes me laugh now. I remember Dan’s words though. He said to me that one day I’ll be able to appreciate it so much more because of all I had to do in order to get to the place God had for me. Going through the process is hard. However, I believe that it will all be worth it! God called you to be in that place, and the struggle is worth it! In the movie “An Officer and A Gentleman”, there is this scene where the commanding officer is trying to get Richard Gere’s character to give up. He puts him through this very difficult weekend and finally Richard Gere looks at him and says, “I can’t quit because I’ve got no place else to go.” I’ve thou

As a kid growing up in Ohio, I grew up with an apple orchard not far from my house. Having an apple orchard around that region was common for we all knew that was where “Johnny Appleseed” once labored. Who surprisingly most people do not know, is that he did more than just plant apple trees, he was a missionary. Every year at this apple orchard, they would have an apple festival. Because I knew the owner’s, for two years I worked at this apple festival. What did I do you ask? Well I dressed up in a giant foam apple costume and got to dance around as I shake people’s hands. You would think dressing up like a giant fruit of a loom character as a young girl in high school among my peers would be traumatic, but it was a fun day job. I have always loved harvest time. Being able to see a harvest come in, and know all the labor and toil was worth it is a beautiful site. Jeff Ferguson (Voice of Freedom Ministries) taught an excellent message at Freedom Life last week about God shaking the chur

The summer after high school, I went to a leadership camp retreat with Lutheran Outdoor Ministries in Ohio, and then later in the summer was hired to be a fill-in camp counselor for a week. I had known for several weeks prior that I was going to be doing this week for them, but the days kept going by and it seemed as if they would never call. It was frustrating for me because I am not a patient person in the natural realm. I began to question if I was even supposed to go. A few days before I was to leave they still had not called me, and I felt the Lord tell me to go and pack my bags. Huh? “That’s silly,” I replied, “they haven’t called me yet and told me they’d hired me.” However, I felt the Holy Spirit was adamant. He wanted me to pack and to pack before they called for me. So I did. Feeling like an idiot, I packed my bags. They called me the next day. This is the reason for years I kept a packed suitcase in my closet “just in case” I was ever called out to minister I would be ready.

If you talk to anyone that grew up in the North you’ll hear stories of snow days. Snow days were when it was too icy and snowy for the buses to run and they have to cancel school for the day. I have fond memories of setting around the radio as a kid as the announcer would announce them, and cheering on my school’s name when I heard it or crying in defeat if I didn’t. It was always up to the superintendent of the school system to make the call weither school would be cancelled or not. I remember one particular year that a guy and I were talking at school. He confessed to me that a bunch of boys had gone out to the superintendent’s house one cold night and took buckets of water and threw the water all over his steps. The water froze in sheets on his porch. The guy told me that the next morning had been below freezing but all in all it had been a nice day, and school was cancelled. He laughed as he told me this story. It was quite the boyhood prank, but it had worked because we d

A few years ago my mom and my niece came down for a visit. We all went out to Weikwa Springs which is one of my favorite places. It’s a natural spring that reminds me so much of old Florida before commercialism took over. You drive back into a very wooded area to find an oasis. It would have been a place where native Americans would have visited for centuries. The water is so clear and refreshing that you can see straight to the bottom. On one side they have built it where people can go swimming. There is an animal gate so all the natural wildlife can’t come in and nibble at your toes. On the other side the part of the spring where you can rent canoes and go boating out on the water. On this side you will see all animals natural to the Florida wildlife. It was decided on that particular day that I would take my oldest daughter who was six at the time and my niece who was thirteen out on the canoe for a nice boat ride. As I sat in the back of the boat to steer I got a little nervous. Th

While we were visiting my mom and dad several weeks ago I was convinced to target shoot with both my dad and grandpa. Now this is not the first time I did this but it’s the first time as an adult I did. I’m certainly not opposed to gun rights, I believe their a constitutional one, however for myself I was not comfortable doing this. It was just too much power, and it freaked me out a bit. I was a lousy shot, because I’d get so nervous that secretly I closed my eyes every time I fired. The only time I ever actually made my target was when I used the gun with the laser pointer. This experience got me thinking. I think many people do the exact same thing in life. Their trying to go forward in their life, but have their eyes closed and they don’t know where their aiming. God has such special plans for your life. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) says, “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” I be

When I was in middle school, late one night I was diving for the phone hit my foot on the dresser and broke the side of my foot. If you haven’t figured it out by now they knew me by name as a kid in the orthopedic doctor’s office. When I did this my friends at the time laughed so hard about what I had done they kept repeating to me that I’d jumped for the bed and hit my foot on the phone. Yes that is funny. But when I got to the doctor’s office to explain to them how I broke my foot I repeated to the doctor the exact thing my friends had kept saying. My words got all twisted up. Now I’m not saying those people are bad. That’s not my point. My point is that you need to be careful whose words you allow in your thinking. The Bible says, in 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV) Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." Meaning when you hang around someone long enough sometimes you start acting like them. Are the people your opening your life too ones you want to emulate? If yo

We had this Christmas morning tradition at our house growing up. My mom and dad have a two story house and my sister and my bedroom was on the 2nd floor. On Christmas mornings we were not allowed to come down the stairs until my mom and dad had everything ready for us. My dad on Christmas morning often would have to snow plow the driveway. So until that was done we couldn’t come down the stairs. But my dad wouldn’t stop at just our driveway. He would often plow our next door neighbors and the next door neighbors. I can remember staring out the window in heated frustration, “Didn’t he understand it was Christmas morning?” He’ll tell you today he did this because the neighbors were elderly ladies who needed the help. That is true, but secretly I think he was just trying to mess with us. Our Christmas couldn’t start until he was ready. My mom and dad have pictures that will show the passage of time, year in and year out of my sister and I waiting at the top of the stairs. Often

I have always been a very determined individual. I’ll confess at times I’m even down right stubborn. I remember one particular instance when I was in the third grade. My dad, who at the time was so strong I remember him doing curls with his biceps while I sat on his hand, was playing with the dog with a belt. I honestly don’t remember at the time what started the fight, but somehow I had gotten on the other end of that belt and we were playing tug-o-war back and forth. Dad wanted me to let it go. I wasn’t going to yield. This went back a forth a few minutes and to get me to let it go. He twisted his arm to pull the belt around. Most kids would have let go at this point, but not me. I held onto that belt, and what resulted was me breaking my wrist. For years my dad felt bad for that, but it wasn’t my dad’s fault. It was me for not letting go when I should have. Often times, myself included, we do the exact thing to God. He is trying to get us to let go of certain things i