Anna M. Aquino

I have often said that as a society we have become a different people than what we were 100 years ago or even 50 years ago. We used to be the type of people if we saw someone around us hurting then we would go out of our way to help them. If we were in the same boat together and the boat was sinking then we would go out of our way to start bailing water out of the boat because we were all in this together. However today as a whole that is totally different. If we find ourselves in a boat and the boat is sinking instead of working together to keep the boat afloat as a culture we tend to start throwing people out of the boat. We justify that they are holding us back and we need to float. What is so sad is I see this same mentality find itself in the modern day church. As a whole we don’t care if our brother and sister in the Lord is going through a rough time or a testing season. As long as it doesn’t affect ourselves and our own ministries then so be it. We’ve lost the sense o...

When I was in grade school my friend Becky and I went to an awesome Bible camp for a week. For two years we made the trek to Camp Patmos on Kelly’s Island. I’m not much of a camper by nature. Those that know me know that my idea of camping is a Holiday Inn. But Camp Patmos was different, it’s a Baptists camp in its affiliation and we were in chapel three times a day. Being that it was on Kelly’s Island which is in Lake Erie it was more of a water sports camp. In order to even get to the camp: we were dropped off in Sandusky, took a ferry, and then we driven across the island. We could go: swimming in the lake, they had motor boats we got to ride on, every year we’d have a camp wide shaving cream fight, and there was sail boating too. Every year we went we enjoyed ourselves. One year Becky and I decided that we really wanted to go sailing. The day was beautiful, and in order for them to let you take a sailboat you had to find an adult. So we started asking around to see if a...

I am so very excited to bring this word to all of you this afternoon. It is something that is fresh revelation to me, and its prophetic foresight to what is getting ready to happen in the body of Christ. On Friday, I sat down to study the Bible, and I felt the Lord tell me to go to the beginning of Luke 5. This is the story of Jesus calling his first disciples. Verses 1-11 in the Message Bible reads, “One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anyt...

When I was dating my husband and the man before him, I would travel back and forth from Columbus, OH to Pittsburgh, PA on a regular basis. Then when Dan and I were married I lived in Pittsburgh for about 4 months. I would always take I-70 E to I-79 North. If you ever get the chance to go this route, I highly recommend it. In order to get into Pittsburgh on I-79, the road will lead you through a tunnel in a mountain. Before going into that tunnel there isn’t much in the way of a city. But as you go through the mountain, you come out on the other end and Pittsburgh. It is nestled in the valley. All of a sudden the city sprawls out before you as if in a hidden secret city. I used to love going into the city at night. Coming out of that tunnel was like this majestic sign and wonder. The city was lit up, and just for a moment in time it took your breath away. It’s like you come through that tunnel and below you lays the city and it almost feels as if you’re hovering over it. As many times a...

Let’s admit it. We’ve all done it. We’ve all had conversations that took place not just in the text of what was said but in subtext. It’s what is behind the words that start arguments. How many of you have had this fight in your house? “Does this look okay on me?” You ask. You’re hopeful it’s taken you too long to find something to wear to the event and you confess you’re down to the bottom of your closet and you’re desperate. “It looks fine.” Your spouse replies, but they’ve hesitated. You definitely heard a hesitation so therefore it must look horrible. You can’t believe that you’re spouse thinks you look horrible. At least they should say, “No it isn’t flattering on you, but you’re beautiful.” Instead they think you look awful. “You hesitated. You don’t like it.” Then the fight starts. Before you know it you’re both arguing over something that neither one of you said. Or how about when it happens in the church, with your brother and sister in the Lord? “Hey, your hair looks really n...

Last year my husband and I decided it was time for us to get our youngest daughter a big girl bed. Therefore, we began our search. I have always harbored a desire to have bunk beds in the house. Eventually we found exactly what we wanted on Craigslist, and it turned out to be such a neat God story because the couple we bought them from desperately needed a reminder about Jesus. God used us to give it to them. So long, story short we have had these beds in my house now for close to a year. I would think that since my youngest has two beds to pick from she would have gladly chosen either one. That would be too easy. For the most part of that year, she has either slept in a basket on the floor, or on the floor itself. Just a few days ago, my husband convinced her that if she wanted to be warm in the middle of the night she had to sleep in one of them and she just started to do that. Watching this little girl for weeks and months insist on sleeping on the floor reminded me a lot about the ...

Lot’s wife has been a subject that for quite some time I have been searching a deeper revelation about. As I have said before often times when something in the word baffles me, it’s usually because eventually I’ll search it out/study it and will get a revelation on it. For years I’ve been pondering/searching/ and studying Lot’s wife off an on. I knew there had some prophetic revelation and application to her story and I knew eventually the Holy Spirit would reveal it to me. On Wednesday in church Pastor Greg talked about Lot’s wife for about five minutes and while he was speaking the Holy Spirit revealed to me the key about this story that I knew had to be in there. I felt that I had to teach it this morning despite the one I had plans to write. I pray that God will bless you in this revelation. There are so many things I could teach about this story but I’m going to try to focus on where I feel God wants me to go here. The story about Lot’s escape from Sodom and Gomorrah can be found ...

When I was younger I used to take gymnastic lessons. Then in high school as a cheerleader I took a lot of cheerleading gymnastic classes which is basically just floor work. The gym I used to go to had a rule. You were never allowed to say the words “I can’t.” We could not be asked to try a new stunt and respond, “I can’t do that.” We had to try no matter what. It’s funny how even in a secular atmosphere it can teach you Godly principles. Today, I have kept that rule in my house too. If my kids try to say, “I can’t do that!” My response is always Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” You can, now do it! It’s funny because my oldest will quote it to my youngest now. The words “I can’t” are no no words in my house. We limit ourselves and our abilities by our own speech. In Matthew 21:18-21 Jesus sees a fig tree that isn’t producing and He says to it that it’ll never bare fruit and the next day the disciples are shocked the tree has withered...

A few weeks ago we were traveling on 75 through Detroit, Michigan. The chaos in the car was beginning to simmer down after we crossed the Canada/America border. My family and I were beginning to settle down for our three hour car ride to Ohio. I was trying to take stock of coloring books, etch-a-sketches, and snacks for the kids, when suddenly I looked up and read a billboard. It said, “Recession 101, This is a test, Not a final.” I’ve been mulling on those words ever since. If you read the blog for 2010, you’ll know that I do feel that God is doing such new things in this year. I’m excited for them. I’ve gotten prophetic dreams to confirm all of this, and so has various ones around me. But the thing is, in the meantime I’m still physically right where I was at the end of 2009. If I allow myself to get bothered, this can get very frustrating. We all go through times like this. Where we know that God is doing something great in our lives and we have to trust that He is doing it despite ...