Anna M. Aquino

Last weekend we took the girls to Ormond Beach. We wanted to stop at Peggy’s Wholefoods (Which is one of the best places on the planet for Health food/ supplements and vitamin items. I’ve done book signings there. They are amazing! www.peggyswholefoods.co ) We even had lunch there. The plan was to go there and then go to the beach for a little while. We weren’t sure where we were going, and as we drove near a park we saw they were having some kind of Native American Festival. On a whim we decided to find a parking spot and go check it out. After negotiating a small parking lot Dan was able to get us a spot and we walked to go make our way to the entrance. We didn’t know where we were going so we found ourselves walking around a gate and dropping down into the festival a few feet. Honestly I didn’t think a thing of it. “You can’t do that!” We saw a guard yelling at us. “We can’t do what?” We didn’t know what he was talking to us. “You have to pay to get in. You can’t sneak i...

Among the many things I am doing these days, Dan and I are in the process of opening up a chain of bookstores in churches. It’s kind of a long story how we’ve gotten thrown into all of this. I’m partners with Dr. Webb in our film company (Tri Legacy Films International https://www.facebook.com/TriLegacyFilmsInternational ). He is helping start Bible Colleges in churches all over the globe and as a result these same churches are in need of bookstores. This is where Dan and I are coming in. It’s been a learning process. I have been in want of a small Bible based skin care line. So I did some Google searching and came across a line that I thought had some great potential for the stores. I actually got a little excited when I saw their products. However when I called the phone number they had listed on their website, no one answered. I didn’t even get a voicemail. The recording said that they hadn’t recorded a voice mail yet. Call me a tad business hardcore, but my interest is done. I...

Several months ago Dan and I got into a fairly heated argument. Really now the argument seems silly but at the time we were both pretty mad. He wanted to start going grocery shopping with me. I know that it sounds odd that I had such an issue with it. But in my head, I saw it differently. I don’t work a typical 9-5 job, I could go when he was at work and it wasn’t something he needed to be bothered with. I have my couponing, stores, and products down to a science. I didn’t want him coming in and messing with my system. My system works so why mess with something so efficient? I argued my point, and got nowhere. Dan wasn’t moving from his desire to come with me, and I finally had to yield. Many struggle with this scripture. Ephesians 5:21 (ESV)21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Sure I could have argued my point for hours, and to be honest I probably argued a bit too long over this. This scripture doesn’t mean you become a doormat. It doesn’t mean you don’t do an...

As many of you know my family and I travel to Canada about twice a year. In the 14 years now that I’ve been visiting my in-laws; Dan and I have collected a variety of funny border stories. There was the time when Dan and I were dating and the American Border Guard asked Dan essentially “what his intentions were” with me as an American. There was the time that we’d forgotten the birth certificate of my oldest daughter when she was about four and made her keep rehearsing “I’m an American from Florida” in the car. Or there was the time where I kept trying to explain to the guard that the “homemade coppicollo” was for our private consumption and it was really okay for us to cross with it. My list of funny stories could go on. We always drive up there borrowing a vehicle from my parents. This summer my parents purchased a brand new luxury vehicle. For years my mother used to put in a note that stated I could borrow her car, and we stopped doing it because in all the years no one ever ask...

A few weeks ago when my family and I were in Windsor Canada, Dan and I went to the Tecumseh Mall. Like any mall just days before Christmas, it was crowded. The hustle and bustle of commercialization clung to the walls and lights everywhere. There wasn’t a line up to see Santa and even though I thought it would be fun for Dan and I to take a picture with Santa he did not. The foot court smelled of greasy French fries and like moths to a flame those Canadians love their Tim Horton’s. I carried my Acer Tablet with me in the mall because I didn’t want to leave it in the car. I didn’t want to chance my mom’s car getting broken into, so I thought it would be safer for me to carry it in. Dan and I looked around some stores and then met the girls and my in-laws in the food court. However when we got up, unbeknownst to me, I let the tablet. I was more worried about the couple dollar store items we’d bought, getting out to the parking lot, and getting the kids hustled off and I totally forgot...

My family knows that I always joke that “This momma is not doing emergency room visits especially when we are out of the country!” We travel to Canada a few times a year to see my in-laws and kids are kids and have their share of accidents. We’ve had a couple times where I thought we’d end up in a Canadian ER but haven’t yet. Not that I wouldn’t go if we really needed it but going would create piles of paperwork that I would rather avoid if possible. This year however I was the one that I thought may end up in the Canadian ER. All women who read this will laugh in understanding of my clumsiness. I needed to shave my legs in the shower. It gets slippery in there. Put someone… anyone in a small space with slick surfaces that are being covered in water and give them a razor, there is bound to be accidents. I stood in the shower that morning with one leg resting on the wall at about chest level, and using the other one to support my weight. Water poured down all over me, and just for...

Before Christmas this year I got the opportunity to preach at two Lutheran churches in Ohio. It was a real honor. If you’ve read my book, or been around me a lot you’ll know I talk a lot about us learning in the church to come together as one body. I was raised as a Lutheran girl and getting to go back into two churches like I did to me was like coming full circle a bit. I desire to go and preach wherever the Lord is leading in any denomination, and this was one of those times. The pastor of both churches is a dear friend of mine, and as I write this I’ll ask you to keep her in prayer. My friend had to ask and prepare the council for me coming. I am an ordained pastor, but not a Lutheran one. I don’t know what exactly she said to all those people. She’d been printing various blogs of mine in newsletters for years. I went out of my way in both services to be rather tame. If God would have told me to prophesy to all of them, I might have questioned it but I would have, but He didn’t. ...

****This is not post for or against any president or for any political party. . . just a commentary on the office as it is in modern times. . . call it a random rant if you will***** George Washington was voted as our first president. It wasn't based on how his Jay Leno appearances went or what tie he wore. He became president because of his ability to lead a country as a General. He'd willingly staked his own life for the land and the cause of a greater good. He'd put everything on the line. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Adams...our founding fathers were men who led a nation. It wasn't about a power suit but freedoms do or die. Maybe idealistic, but I want this country to be a nation again where the media is not the ultimate driving force; a place where people of honor and integrity can run for office and not just ones with a billion or two to loose. Historically FDR has been heralded as one of our best presidents, but a man who was wheelchair bound w/polio...

My family and I returned from our trip from the North a few days ago. Like always we had a very good trip and it was difficult for us to return and leave our family in the colder states. While this trip was to spend time with family over the holidays, this year I preached at a few different events. One of these events was a woman’s conference at The Gathering Place in Marion. I had been asked to teach a writer’s workshop before preaching and in between services a woman who I never met to my knowledge came up to me. She began the conversation by asking me if I was related to my grandmother. I’m from a fairly small town so I smiled and nodded my head. True I didn’t know who this woman was but my grandmother had a way with knowing most of the town. My grandmother moved in with Jesus several years ago. Her impact on my life is unmistakable and it has always been a regret of mine that she never lived to see me published or ordained. The picture above was the two of us at my high schoo...