Anna M. Aquino

  For my American readers this week marks Thanksgiving; for my Canadian ones sorry I know it was in October and for the other ones around the world humor me for a moment.   I’m an American girl (grin).   In the US, Thanksgiving kicks off a month of holiday fun and parties that leads into CHRISTmas (oh yes, I said it, grin) into the New Year.   This means a month of twinkling lights, Church specials, indulging a tad too much, and a load of gatherings that most likely will at least make you want to smack a few people once or twice (I always say family can bring out the best and worst in people).   I will only be writing one blog this week.   Enjoy your Thanksgiving.   However,   I must add a couple disclaimers here before I proceed in this blog: 1)   No we don’t celebrate Santa Clause in my house (ie the picture) it’s a personal choice and I really don’t need a dozen emails disagreeing with this picture that was very fitting to this topic, and 2) In talking about difficult family s

I’m going to write a little bit off the cuff today.   This is about some things I’ve been feeling in my family’s lives as well as the season we are in the body of Christ.   Honestly Dan and I have faced some of the most intense seasons I’ve ever faced in ministry and life to date.   It wasn’t just about the move from our old home.   There are a lot of long awaited transitions happening that I’ll talk about in the coming days.   It’s been a season where God has spoken some very specific things to our heart and the pieces have yet come together.   I’ll admit my attitude hasn’t been the greatest about this pace that has felt like a skipping record stuck on repeat.   “Come on God,” I’ve wanted to yell, “I know you see me.   I know you have better plans, so let’s get this party started.   I want to run!” I know I’m not alone in this.   There are many in the body of Christ in similar situations.   God has spoken some things, and it feels as if the pressure has been turned up to

Over eight years ago when my husband and I purchased a house closer to his work and our church, right away I dubbed it the ‘Pink House’.   I had never been a huge fan of pink but the lady who had the home before us certainly was.   It had brand new carpet that was a Pepto pink, countertops all pink, vertical blinds pink, the outside had pink accents, and even the tile had pink wisps next to the white.   As a joke once we bought it we began ‘Operation Depinking’.   Over the years we’d managed to either work with the pink, or change a lot of it.   We put a lot of work into that house.   It’s odd how homes can almost become like members of the family.   The pink grew on me. For a whole list of reasons, that at the moment I’m not going to publicly go into, Dan and I had felt we needed to sell the pink house.   Simply put the time had come to move forward into a new season of our lives, and while we loved our home, in order to go to the next season the house needed to be sold.   Hones

  A few days ago our dog Mojo came in from the outside while we were finishing dinner. Right away something smelled off.   It smelled rank.   Right away the Northern Woods Girl came out of me and I wondered how did this dog get around a skunk?   I found myself beginning to wonder if we had enough tomato juice for a skunk smell to clean him up.   We opted by started to give him a bath.   The smell was atrocious and my eyes almost began to water as I reached down to his collar to take it off.   As I did, my finger gooed in what I knew right away was poop.   I think Mojo had rolled in it, got it wedged in his collar, and now permeated the odor all through my house.   In the end he had to be scrubbed at least three times, all my surfaces cleaned, and I’m still not sure he was 100% clean. People in general can be like this in life.   You know something doesn’t seem quite right with them.   You try to help them out by helping them out, lending an ear, speaking the Word of God

Many of you have heard me tell the story time and time again how 13 years ago today, Dan and I left my parents driveway in Ohio to head to Florida.   Dan and I had been living in Pittsburgh, PA for him to finish out his 2 nd AA degree.   We were seeking the Lord as to where He wanted us to move.   I knew it wasn’t just for a job, but for the right church.   It was for God to put Dan and I  to be under a ministry to help us grow up in the things of God and to prepare us for what He had for us in ministry.   While driving home from work one day in the Pittsburgh hills I heard the Lord say to me, “You’re going to Orlando and Dan is going to work at ***** company.”   I remember going home to Dan and telling him this.   I remember his response, “That would be great but ***** company hasn’t hired me yet.”   So we went on our quest to continue to try to figure out what God was doing and what he wanted.   Several job possibilities came and went in that season. Dan graduated, our lease wa

I’ve mentioned before about my first car.   It was a 1979 Cutlass Oldsmobile.   We once fit nine people in it.   I do believe the periscope attachment came with a separate kit that I never received (insert sarcasm here).   All in all it was the perfect car to learn how to drive in.   I think I had a dent in it (some minor and some not so much) for every week I drove those few years I had the car.   Rocko (Its name) was a car of first car stories, which live in infamy within my family lore. This story is one that I will probably never live down, though I’ve tried.   I’m guessing I’d only been driving about a year.   My parents were super awesome to bless me with the car, and every time I turned around it seemed that someone was checking the oil.   I didn’t know how to check oil, so I just assumed that all would be fine.   Until that fateful day when I drove the tank back from town and I saw smoke coming out of the engine, it never occurred to me that I would need to learn to c

Anyone with kids or pets know, those moments right when you return home and your child or your pet sees you it’s like a long lost reunion.   Our dog Mojo is no different.   No matter how short or how long we’ve been away he gets so excited to see us.   He waits by the door almost and in the instant we walk through it he jumps and wags his little tail. He’s a miniature dachshund so he practically folds his body in half and wags his tail so fast I think it could power a small city.     It is like all is right with the universe again because his people are home.     Last week right before Dan came in from work Mojo thought he heard him coming home.   He went nuts.   He started whining and pacing by the door.   He started setting there waiting and waiting for that one moment when the door would open.   Here are two pictures I got of him.   He was so excited to see Dan return there was no way I was going to distract him from the door.   He was anticipating the moment when Dan would