Anna M. Aquino

Last year just before the New Year I had the opportunity to share a word that God had given me for 2010. I was at Marion Christian Center and the Lord had spoken to me often about 2010 being a year that would be “better than it’s been.” After I shared that message to that congregation and sat down, I heard the Lord very clearly say to me, “2011 You’ll be able to accomplish more than you could in 7!” As 2010 played out I held onto these words often. For Dan and I this last year had it’s triumphs and challenges I can truly say as the days of 2010 are drawing to a close that 2010 has been better than it had been. When I get these things from heaven like this they aren’t just for me and my family but I believe for the body of Christ as a whole. As 2010 draws to a close and we begin to step into 2011, I am really excited. This is a really awesome time in the body of Christ. Not only have I heard the words that we’d be able to accomplish more in this year than we could in 7, about a ...

If you read my blogs often you’ve probably heard me often say in this season how I believe these are exciting times to be alive. I believe God is doing awesome things in the church and there are a lot of things getting ready to take place in both a corporate body of Christ and in the lives of individuals as well. A few nights ago I had a very vivid dream/vision. I saw what appeared to be dark glass and it looked as if there was a powerful light source behind it. That glass was breaking and through the breaks one could see the other side. After getting up and praying for a few moments I went back to sleep to have a dream that I was at a checkout line just about there. I believe both of these were relating that same thing. That both corporately and individually so many of us are so close to the breakthroughs that God has continued to promise us. You’ve also heard me quote Pastor Arthur on numerous times that, “suddenlies are never suddenly. It may be suddenly people see the thi...

When I was in college, I remember having it down to a science how many times I could hit the snooze button before I had to wake up. Lingering in that place of half asleep half-awake, I became master at procrastination and I will get up later. Often times we can find concepts that exist in the physical and transfer them to have meaning in the spiritual. I am not going to say if you are a snooze button hitter in the physical that you have gone to sleep spiritually, but there is a concept here in which I feel that the Holy Spirit is leading me to address. Matthew 25:5 (Amp) While the bridegroom lingered and was slow in coming, they all began nodding their heads, and they fell asleep. The above scripture is taken from the parable of the virgins. Where only half were prepared with enough oil and the other half ran out. When the bridegroom finally did come, the half that did not prepare had gone and gotten more oil only to come back and find that had missed their bridegroom. Their procrasti...

Is the Real You In Hiding? I have often found myself talking about how when I reached a certain age I had a shifting in the way I viewed others and myself. I had always been the type of person that never wanted to upset people. I was a constant “peacemaker” that was trying to keep the waters smooth at the detriment of myself at times. I remember one silly instance when I did not want to confess that I hated donuts. I mean really that’s a food that is revered in the junk food culture there must be something wrong with me I thought so I’ll keep telling myself that I like them. It did not work. I still hate donuts. Finally, one day I stopped trying to hide who I was. It had gotten old, and all I felt was cheated out of being me. The experience was very freeing to me. Being empowered to be who you are in Christ is a gift. Psalm 139:13 (Message) Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb. I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking! Body and soul,...

This is the week that we always talk about being thankful. We should talk about having an attitude of Thanksgiving, but our attitude of being grateful in our lives doesn’t need to always just be in November every year. WE should always have an attitude of thanksgiving. I won’t keep you long this morning, many of you if you live in the US are going to be traveling today, baking pies and visiting family in preparation of the Thanksgiving holiday. I wanted though to encourage you all to make a list whether it is mental or physical. Write down all the things for which you’re thankful. Sometimes it can be easy to focus in life on the few things that annoy you, but when you begin to list off all the things you can see in your life, you realize you have been blessed. Keep an attitude of thanksgiving. Let it not just be empty words that you recite because it’s that time of the year, but let it bubble up on the inside of you. You are blessed. 1 Chronicles 16:34 Give thanks to the LORD, for he i...

Many of you have heard the story about how I starting writing. I’d been 16 and I watched the movie Forrest Gump. I saw those scenes with him in Vietnam and I couldn’t shake them. I wanted to tell my dad’s story about his tour. Little by little I began to realize that it was my God given destiny to tell stories. I didn’t really start writing until six years later. In the ten years since I started trying to get published I’d write a book, and send it out only to be turned down over and over again. God has taught me a lot in these years. While patience is something that I constantly have to work on, I’ve realized what the phrase, “The ark wasn’t built overnight” really means. The words patience and perseverance have become words tattooed in the fabric of my spirit. Back in the spring of last year I had a vision. This vision had a lot of parts to it that I’m not going to publicly share but at the end, I was led to walk through two doors back to back. I have just stepped through the second ...

On Monday I was setting down with Dan watching Sid Roth’s show “It’s Supernatural.” I confess I love that show, and suddenly I felt the spirit of God ask me a question. “Why do you want to go forward in your destiny so much?” My first response to this question was to get a little annoyed. I mean the Holy Spirit has asked me that question at various times throughout my walk and I thought immediately, “Haven’t we been through checking my motives several times before? How am I off?” “Why do you want to go forward?” I felt I heard it again. “Ok, fine. God I want to go forward because I just want to fulfill what you’ve called me to do.” Easy answer. . . However what the Lord began to download to me will change the way I view things forever. I will not be able to give you the word for word conversation, but I do feel led to download the just of what the Lord began to show me. Our motivation to move forward cannot include our own comfort. It can’t be all about us. What the Lor...

Dan and I have been married for over 10 years now, and in all the years we’ve never really decorated for Christmas. We had a small couple foot tree that we bought our first year in FL but it was hardly what one would call a tree, but resembled more of the Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree. For various reasons that I won’t go into publicly we just never really got into the habit of decorating. But this year is different. I inherited my grandmother’s tree and many of her Christmas decorations and this year we decided we were going to decorate. Many of these items are very sentimental to me because the ornaments are like bits of my childhood. I can remember my grandmother painting several of them. We’d agreed that we were going to take the time Saturday to decorate. I’m not a person that likes to set around waiting for things. In fact, I get a little claustrophobic. I sometimes feel like a Mexican jumping bean in a two inch by inch hole. I want to do what has to be done, and I hate waiting o...

There are days I just want to be normal! There are days that I look at my life and the accomplishments of those around me and think, “Why can’t I just be normal maybe be just the type of person that would blend into the world around me?” Why didn’t I do x, y and z with my life instead of what I chose? I mean x, y and z isn’t a normal ambition for those people, but why would it have been for me? I remember in Sunday School class in my tween years. I would usually know the answer to the teacher’s question and wanted not only to answer the question but also to then get in a discussion as to the Biblical foundation of it. I can remember constantly holding myself back from speaking because I didn’t want to be “that girl” in the class. I just wanted to be normal. While I still have these moments, somewhere in past I realized something very important. God created me for a plan and purpose and I am who I am because God created me to be like that. Psalm 139:13 For you created my inmost being; y...

If you have read my blogs and/or have known me for any length of time, you have probably heard this story. Somehow it never gets old to me, though you cannot live spiritually off the things you did in the past, always have my own way of remembrance of this day in our lives. Ten years ago, we choose to step out in faith even when it seemed crazy. Ten years ago, we choose to leave everything known and familiar to step out on the water. In the spring of 2000, we had been living in Pittsburgh PA and God spoke to me that we were going to move to Central FL and Dan was going to work for one particular company. However, that company was not hiring. So we moved briefly back to Ohio to stay with my parents that summer until we figured out what we were doing. We we had only been married a few months. We began looking and praying about jobs all over the countries. Options would begin to materialize at the last moment only for a door to shut. We were frustrated and did not know what to do. Days me...

When I was a kid in Ohio, Cedar Point in Sandusky was the place to go. This amusement park nestled beside Lake Erie is world renown for its rides. When I was in school, we probably traveled there once to twice a summer. There was one ride that I do not know if it’s even still there called the “Corkscrew”. Complete with several upside down twists and turns it made good on it’s name. One year I was up there with a bunch of friends and someone had told me that if one spit at the height of the upside down loop then it was supposed to hit you when you hit the bottom. I don’t know what I was thinking. Strangely I justified trying this in my mind. Therefore, when me and a bunch of friends boarded the ride that day, I had a plan. I tried it. However, nothing happened to my knowledge. When my friends and I gathered after the ride one friend of mine who’d been setting directly behind me says, “It must be starting to rain. I felt a drop while we were on the ride.” I looked up to the clear blue sk...

Most people are unaware of where the term, “It’s raining cats and dogs” came. The most common answer is that in the Middle Ages in Europe the roofs of most homes were thatch and animals would get up in the roofs and hide. No one knew they were there. Until one of the animals lost their footing and came crashing down to the floor of the house. I don’t know about you but the thought of a mouse or a cat flying from my roof in the middle of the night doesn’t seem like a nice way to wake up. Thus the phrase, “It’s raining cats and dogs” got started. I could just imagine having dinner guests over and right as people were ready to eat their dinner a rat fell in the center of the table. I’m sure it wasn’t a pretty sight. Often times we in our Christian lives can think that everything is okay. We can think that someone looks fine on the outside and assume that all is well with them. Or sometimes we can think we can gloss over some areas in our lives, that we know we need help in, and think we c...

Introducing Doveagle Ministries Greetings, I am very excited to get to finally announce the official birthing of Doveagle Ministries Inc. Dan and I have felt for sometime that this day would finally arrive. After a lot of prayer and wise council from our Pastor, we are launching out into a traveling ministry from our church. ~Excerpts taken from the webpage “Doveagle Ministries is a prophetic voice in this generation. We are a non-profit ministry organization that goes in as guest ministers “bringing freedom through the power of the word“. We are founded on the word of God. It is our heart cry to make ‘Jesus as famous as possible‘. We are a ministry reaching out to our community, nation, and world by the word of God and the supernatural power of God. We see ourselves like a bold voice in the world declaring that we His church rise up and “prepare the way of the Lord.” “Doveagle Ministries was officially founded in 2010 by Dan and Anna Aquino. However it’s roots go back many years. God ...

As a whole, our society is suffering from a shortage of compassion. Sadly, we have just stopped caring about each other anymore. I do not know when it started. Maybe it is because there is just so much need in the world. Maybe it is because we are so saturated in the media of issues that we have become desensitized to the world around us. However, to take it one-step farther it is not only that we are on a compassion shortage. We have just really stopped seeing the world around us. Every day we go throughout our lives not really seeing the people who are next to us. We see a tear streaked woman at the bus station and we are more concerned about our nails then helping her. We do not stop to realize that the homeless man on the street may just be desperate for a touch of Jesus, or the lady who rings up our groceries just needs a smile and an encouraging word. We have to stop being so caught up in our own lives and start seeing the world around us. I am not perfect in this. I am telling o...

Expectancy vs. Manipulation When I was a little girl, my grandmother had several wind up toys that we used to play with. I can remember spending hours trying to get the toys to go in the water where I wanted them to go. I have begun to see that in the body of Christ more and more there are people trying to get the five-fold ministry gifts to go where they want it to go and do, just like I did with the wind up toys. For those of you who are not familiar with the term “five-fold ministry” term here is the scripture in which the term is taken from. Ephesians 4:10-12 (Amplified Bible) 10He Who descended is the [very] same as He Who also has ascended high above all the heavens, that He [His presence] might fill all things (the whole universe, from the lowest to the highest). 11And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling mi...

This morning I was praying and I kept seeing a vision of Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park erupting. It wasn’t one time I saw this but over and over again. Though I’ve never seen it erupt in person, I did see it over and over again in this vision. I believe the Lord was trying to teach/remind me of some things through this vision and I felt that in today’s blog it would be a great time to share. According to Wikipedia, Old Faithful erupts every 45 minutes to 125 minutes. While they are never 100% when it’ll erupt they always know it will. The signs are always there. It always happens. Seeking God and His promises can sometimes feel that way. You can never be sure exactly when and how it’ll appear on the surface but eventually it will. Because underneath the surface the water is boiling and the land is moving and suddenly this thing that you know God has been speaking to you about appears. We as followers of Christ so often get funny about believing for the things of God. We wai...

I was watching Joyce Meyer yesterday, and I thought I’d share something she brought up. She used a verse in Colossians to define faith, I’d never heard it defined that way before, and it got me thinking. Colossians 1:4a in the amplified Bible [the leaning of your entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness]. I like that definition. Many of us have heard the definition of faith as: Hebrews 11:1 (Amp) NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. Whichever verse you want to use one thing that is always constant is that Faith is consistent. It’s not here one day and gone the next. Faith is not a fleeing thing, but it’s stable and constant. I often use the concept that faith is like constant water. Changes in the rocks might be gradual but i...

Yesterday I was thinking about some things and all of a sudden this phrase popped into my mind. We often have this thought that just because we’re Christians then life should be easy and we should never have to face any kind of trial. But that’s not true. Life can be difficult sometimes. It can feel as if we’ve been handed a lot of doo doo. But the good news is that you are an overcoming through Christ Jesus! John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Even though you may go through times where you feel there is more doo doo than you can bear, God has given you the victory. You are on the winning team!! You don’t have to wonder whose going to win this battle. You are because Jesus already did. We have to realize that our testimony is a powerful thing. Though you may go through trials God can turn that mess into a powerful testimony for His glory. We can turn the do...

After God got the Israelites out of Egypt and Moses brought them towards the promise land, there were spies sent out in Numbers 14 to check it out. All this time the Israelites had this concept that when they got to the promise land there would be big neon signs and a paved road. They were all expecting for this land flowing with milk and honey to be unoccupied and ready for them to take over. But if you’re familiar with the story, you know that wasn’t the case. All the spies minus two came back freaking out that there were big guys who appeared to be giants in the land, and their fear kept them out of where God wanted them to be blessed. They all testified to the bounty, but fear stopped them from grabbing what God told them was theirs. Caleb and Joshua were the only two that were bold and full of faith. They kept declaring it didn’t matter that there were giants in the land, God wanted them to have the land and they were going forward. God got annoyed with the Israelites. I...

I’m guessing around 20 years ago my sister heard a message taught by TD Jakes at World Harvest in Columbus, Ohio and came home telling me that I needed to hear this message. I totally brushed off the comment and was like okay whatever and ignored it. So I went through my life forgetting about it. Probably 7 years ago she was getting rid of some old tapes and came across that tape of TD’s message and told me to take it. I smiled politely and said sure. Thinking I’m never going to listen to this and threw it in a box. Then about 5 years later I was surfing through the channels and the Christian channels was showing older messages and guess what? It was that same message my sister had been trying to get me to hear all those years earlier. You’d think I’d have paid attention, but I brushed it off. The next day the message was on again, and I was like “OK! I get the point, I’ll watch this teaching.” As the teaching unfolded it was revelation to me that I needed to hear. This word ...

Let’s face it, we’ve all been in hard situations before when we wondered what God was thinking. We had the entire scene worked out in out heads prior to the event and when it doesn’t happen quite like you think you should how do you react? I remember I had a turndown probably four months ago that really upset me. I’ve been turned down so many times before rarely do they get to me, but this one in particular did. I sat out on the back porch bawling. When the tears subsided, and the questions faded away I kept hearing God tell me, “Anna you don’t see the entire picture.” As a result of that turn down, God steered me to write a couple of books that I would have never usually thought of writing. As a result I was moved into a place of destiny. Many of you have heard be quote Corrie Ten Boom on numerous occasions, but I’ve always loved her ministry on this earth. She talks about your life being a tapestry and from the underside we cannot see how things will ever come together, but God looks...

Almost ten years ago when Dan and I found out that we were expecting our first child, I wish I could tell you thoughts of motherly pride welled in my soul and I sang to a musical sound track in my mind, but that wasn’t the case. We’d been unemployed living with my parents until we knew for sure where God wanted us to move. We’d been married just six months and weren’t even sure if we had insurance. Singing a motherly musical was far from our minds. We were scared. When we were sure we were to move to FL I always joke about me puking in the car all the way here. I also remember joking that we’d have to find a giant piece of Tupperware for this kid to sleep in because we had very little in the way of finances. We saw God provide for the situation time and time again. Today I tell my oldest daughter often, that while she didn’t arrive in a time that we thought we needed her, God knew we did. She was on time in His timing, and I often say that she made me grow up. God knew what He was doin...

As I mentioned in the last blog, my family and I spent a few days in the Tallahassee area last week. We got to visit Wakulla State Park which is a beautiful preserve. It once was the film location for two Tarzan movies and “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” We saw manatees, alligators (which I’ve learned to be okay with as long as I’m in a boat and their not), various birds, and fish on our boat tour. As we listened to our tour guide we came across this tree. I got a good picture of it, and that’s the one that is above. I thought it was an interesting shot. This tree looks like it’s going to fall down in the water at any moment. If you could imagine it as a person, it’s almost as if it’s standing on one leg. As I began to reflect upon that tree I saw how so often we’ve all gone through out lives like that tree. We’ve been weathered, felt as if we’ve been beaten down, and feel as if we’re barely standing. Life can be like that sometimes. We have to allow ourselves to have times when God ...

Florescent Green is Everywhere! This weekend I was blessed to have some much needed and rare extended family time. My mom who lives in Ohio flew down and took my family to visit Tallahassee. My aunt who lives in Saudi Arabia flew to Tally to visit my cousin who lives there and recently had a new blessed addition to her family. It was a very nice weekend visit. My aunt had rented a beautiful house that is nestled out in the woods of North Florida. It was one of those octagon homes where it was obvious the house was designed to show off its surroundings. It was decorated very tastefully by its owner, except for one of the bathrooms. I am not sure what the owner was thinking. They chose to paint this one bathroom florescent green. But it was not just florescent green walls but the ceiling was even this same color. The color was so overwhelming that if you stayed in the bathroom too long the white tub began appearing to be green. The color was so overpowering I began seeing this green colo...

Mark 5:25-34 (The Message) 25-29A woman who had suffered a condition of hemorrhaging for twelve years—a long succession of physicians had treated her, and treated her badly, taking all her money and leaving her worse off than before—had heard about Jesus. She slipped in from behind and touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, "If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well." The moment she did it, the flow of blood dried up. She could feel the change and knew her plague was over and done with. 30At the same moment, Jesus felt energy discharging from him. He turned around to the crowd and asked, "Who touched my robe?" 31His disciples said, "What are you talking about? With this crowd pushing and jostling you, you're asking, 'Who touched me?' Dozens have touched you!" 32-33But he went on asking, looking around to see who had done it. The woman, knowing what had happened, knowing she was the one, stepped up in fear and trembling, knelt b...

This afternoon when I was putting my youngest daughter down for her nap, I had another God parenting moment. Her clothes are something we battle about quite a bit. I go in there and organize them. Then she looks for something to wear and those clothes end up in piles all over her room. It’s a constant teaching cycle that I am always finding myself working with her in. This afternoon I went to go pray with her to take a nap and those clothes were in a pile beside the bed. She’d taken one of her baskets and scattered the clothes. Frustration began to set in. “Young lady,” I found myself saying, “Your grandmother is flying down this week. We cannot have clothes everywhere. You are going to have to do something about these clothes.” “But mommy,” she looked up to me and batted her eyelashes, “It’s okay we can just keep the door shut.” Her reaction surprised me. But as I dealt with her I began to realize that’s how we often respond to messes or sin in our lives. We think we can just shut the...

I have two kids ages 9 and 4. My oldest goes to school and my youngest is still being home schooled for pre-K. We walk most days to pick up my oldest from school, and most days that moment when my youngest is searching the crowd for my oldest to come through the gate is one of the most exciting moments of her day. She waits anticipating the moment that she sees her older sister. She can’t wait to tell her about her day. On Tuesday I saw my oldest from a distance make her way from the gate. However my youngest did not. “There she is!” I thought out loud. “But mommy I can’t see her!” My youngest questioned. “She’s on her way.” I said “But I don’t see her!” My youngest started to whine. “Trust me, I can see her.” “But mommy I can’t see her!” My youngest was starting to get sad. Patience rarely comes easily for a 4 year old. “You’re going to have to trust me.” I finally replied. Finally my oldest came toward us, and as hugs were exchanged I realized that I’d just experienced another God pa...

Last week I found myself slipping back into some old mindsets in my thinking. As I thought about how I taught last week about people in the body suffering from prophetic dyslexia I realized that also many including myself at times have fallen in to the trap of prophetic amnesia. It becomes so severe at times it’s almost as if we’ve developed prophetic Alzheimer’s disease in the spirit realm or in our thought life. What do I mean by that? Well many of us have received prophetic word after prophetic word regarding certain matters in our lives. Maybe you don’t hear a prophetic word through someone else about something, but maybe God has spoken to you on the matter, or maybe you can open up the Bible and read scripture after scripture about a particular instance you’re facing. Hearing from God is exciting! But then how do you react when you don’t see the circumstances change overnight? What if the circumstance is still there for days, weeks, or even years? How then do you react? ...

This afternoon as I sat to read my Bible I felt this bubble up inside of me and as much as I tried to put it off to write it down tomorrow I really felt I had to do it today. Therefore, I pray it blesses someone. Hearing the voice of God is completely normal! God created humanity to be able to talk to and spend time with Him. Sadly, the concept of God speaking to us as people has been really twisted in these days, but the Bible is clear on the matter. John 10:27 (NIV) My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I always say that all the prophetic is: is being able to hear the voice of God whether it is for your life or someone else’s. Dyslexia is defined by the World English Dictionary as, “impaired ability to understand written language: a learning disorder marked by a severe difficulty in recognizing and understanding written language, leading to spelling and writing problems. It is not caused by low intelligence or brain damage.” It seems to me that there ...

Last week while in prayer I felt the Lord say to me “It’s time to move from sustaining to obtaining.” That day some things happened in my life, and as things are made final I’ll share more. But I began to think about this term and have decided today would be a good day to share my thoughts. Many of you have heard me say time and time again that I’ve heard prophetic voice after prophetic voice say that these are days of change and new beginnings. I believe that this is the time and season we’re in as a church whole. While the Israelites were in captivity they spent generations believing that one day they would be freed. When Moses showed up and the plagues began they had to have known that change was soon coming. God was doing miracles, signs and wonders in their midst and they knew this time things were going to be different. Simeon and Anna (I’ve always been a little partial to faithful Anna Luke 2:21-39) waited at the temple every day they were growing older and older. They believed ...

I recently saw Carol Burnett interviewed and she relayed a story that I’d heard her say before but it reminded me of something this time. If you don’t know who Carol Burnett is, she is a famous American comedian and actress. Before she was famous she was working as an usher in a movie cinema right off Hollywood Blvd. This usher uniform she had to wear, I guess she relays was hideous and had epilates on the shoulders. Then anyone could come in at anytime during the movie and no matter where it was in the movie set down and soon the movie would start again. She says that one particular day this movie was in it’s last minutes and these people came up demanding they’d be seated right away. She was working at the aisle two door. She asked for them to wait five minutes because the movie was almost done, and I guess they went to get the manager. That manager stormed over to her and ripped off her epilates. He demanded she leave the building at once. “You’re fired!” he roared. I’m s...