Anna M. Aquino

My grandmother was amazing.   She loved me so very much.   I can remember every time I went to her house I was made to feel so special.   I was thinking the other day about how she had a drawer dedicated in her kitchen just for me.   She knew I love natural fruit roll-ups.   So she’d buy them for me and leave them in the drawer.   I know that sounds like something so small and simple, but I knew she put thought into keeping that drawer filled for me, so whenever I was at her house I had my favorite snacks.                People seem to forget that God is like that too.   He knows us better than we know ourselves.   He knows the things we like and he wants to bless us.    He is not some meanie-headed God that doesn’t care about us, but he loves us all individually.   He knows us.   Luke 12:7 Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all number ed. Don’t ...

            I’m from a small town in Ohio.   I just did a Google search and it’s about 36,000 people.   When I was a kid I was known by name in the orthopedic office.   I was breaking something, twisting something, falling off something on a semi regular basis.   So much so I briefly considered a career path in sports medicine.               I don’t remember if I told this story yet or not, but I was just thinking about it.   One time I dove to get the phone that was on the headboard of the bed.   I was in my bedroom and my foot flung out and smashed into the dresser.   I landed with a plop on the waterbed, picked up the phone, and screamed because I knew I’d hurt myself.   As it turned out I did.   I broke the side of my foot.             My friends had a field da...

             I walk to pick up and drop off my daughters most days to and from school.   I’ve been in the process of trying to get Mojo to walk that with me more.   He’s cute.   He’s a puppy, of course all the kids come out of the school gate and scream and shriek over a puppy that is extremely social and friendly.   It’s a common occurrence for the parents to walk their dogs here.               About a week ago this lady stops me and said, quite snarky I might add, “Everybody like’s YOUR dog.”   She was leading her adult dog, and the way she said it I could tell she was so mad at me because these kids were gathering around my dog.                 “Oh well yes.”   I tried to smile at her.   I couldn’t figure out how she could be so upset and jealous over who...

            I am sure we are not the only person who had had problems with keeping a house clean.   What we used to do is expected everyone to do their part, but when they didn’t it would turn into huge fights.   The kids would get yelled at because their rooms were a mess.   Dan and I would turn snippy at each other because what we thought should get done wasn’t getting done, and it was all out chaos.   I get all people have to find their groove when it comes to family issues like this one, but for a long time it felt we had yet to find it.             A month ago everything changed.   I’m not sure who suggested it.   But out of desperation we listed all the household chores and assigned them.   I hate dusting, and others in my family don’t mind it so much.     Then I made a chart and printed it out.   What had been a...

            We are a house with a 10 week old puppy.   Mojo is a great addition to our family, but there are some training issues we are working on.   He loves to chew on people’s toes and pant legs.   The dog is only 4 lbs.; you would think that such a threat baby teeth or not, wouldn’t be something that causes so much drama in the house.   We’re learning to correct him, and to run quickly to our destination and get our feet up so he can’t reach them.   The mere threat of his little teeth causes us to change our behaviors in the house so that we can avoid the issue.               I thought about all of this last night.   Our little Mojo isn’t a demon, but how many times do we do the same things for other things in our life.   We know something awaits us . . . maybe a trap set by the enemy is ahead and instead of dealing with it ...

            Dan took this picture yesterday and while suppose you can say I have a habit of turning a Bible lesson out of just about everything …I couldn’t resist this one.  How many times in life to we find ourselves wrestling with something that seems to be so big in our mind.  We don’t move, fear tries to overtake us, and we’re convinced the situation or circumstance is so huge.  It’s the whole making a mountain out of a mole hill mentality.  However in all actuality if we could really see the situation from God’s view point we’d know that that mountain is really a mole hill.  That situation isn’t as big as we might think.   That circumstance would be nothing if we just sat up and took the authority God has given us.  But instead we stay down for the count and cry because things seem so grandiose.              The things th...

            Last weekend my family and I were blessed to get to go see the new DreamWorks Movie called The Croods .   My youngest had some unused AMC Movie Theatre Tickets and it seemed like a good family film.   I have to say that this movie has to be up there with one of my favorite animated films now.   It’s amazing how God can really speak to you in times like watching a movie or when you least expect it.               The basic premise of the film is that the family never leaves their cave.   They are always afraid of any kind of change or anything new.   Basically they have no choice but to leave the security of what they know in order to survive.   It’s got a lot of family humor, and at one touching point the lead character Eep says, “But I’m afraid.”             I have ...

              When my youngest daughter was about 2 years old she was running a high fever and in her sleep began speaking.   She kept tossing and turning saying, “I want a dog.   I want a dog.”   Today about five years later, It has become a family joke.   We always intended on the possibility of getting one, but there were several reasons why we held out.   As I mentioned in my last blog, we had since decided that the time had come, but for some wacky reason we kept facing challenges and challenges about getting the right dog.             Yesterday my family and I drove to Gainesville to meet the breeders of mini dauschunds.   We were supposed to exchange and had numerous texts back and forth, however they didn’t show up.   After everything we’d gone through Dan and I both started to panic.   It was like this must be som...