Anna M. Aquino

              I think I probably tell this story once every few years but given all the drama in the election there were some things that were brought up, and again I found myself needing to share our story again.             I grew up in a small Ohio town in what is considered the heart of Ohio.   I don’t remember ever thinking about Canada much as a kid, nor realizing that the Southern border was 3 hours north of my childhood home.   I do remember my father going up there once on business and bring back money that looked fake and thinking how cool it was.             Many of you have heard the funny story of how I met my amazing super awesome husband.   It’s really a long story but to make it short: I was dating a different man in college at OSU, he decided to move to Pittsburgh t...

  So it’s Monday morning, and I have some confessions to make.   Sometimes, I’m not as bold with my faith as I’d like to be.   Sometimes I am so caught up in my own stuff that I avoid contact with people I don’t know especially in public places.   Sometimes I can fit the stereotype of a writer/hermit.   Sometimes while I think people who are bold with their faith are awesome secretly I would rather hide.   Don’t get me wrong, when I’m behind a pulpit I am a bold person.   I would pray with anyone, and declare Jesus in their lives and their 2 nd cousins named Bob…grin…   However, when I’m in Wal-Mart and God gives me a prophetic word for a complete stranger, my reaction can be a bit different.   Sometimes I’ve been known to be disobedient, and sometime I have stepped out in faith.   I have an old friend who used to joke with me that for every convert people bring in they get a set of steak knives.   It’s a joke, but it i...

My youngest daughter has wanted to be a paleontologist for several years.   At only age 7 I expect that she’ll change her mind several times over and that’s fine.   We want to give her the freedom to choose and be whatever she feels God is leading her in life.   We’ve tried to encourage her love of dinosaurs through various ways; even by last years ‘Dinosaur Dig Birthday Party.’   So when she came home several months ago suddenly declaring she wanted to be a ‘Jewelry Designer’, I was a little bit sad that the paleontology phase of her life had ended.   I didn’t question it much, but tried to think of ways I could encourage her in this. It’s amazing what parents can learn about their children in long car rides.   On our way up to Windsor Canada from Central Ohio a few weeks ago, somehow the conversation got shifted to my daughter and this sudden shift to ‘Jewelry Designer’. “Mom, it’s my choice.” “Sweetie, I’m not saying you can’t do this. ...

            Greetings,             I hope you all had an amazing last few weeks.   I am back near internet and a computer though I am still in traveling mode.   In fact if you’re in the Ohio area I’ll be preaching in Marion on Sunday at Celebration Christian Church on Smeltzer Road.   I’d love to see you.               I wanted to write a bit today about this scripture. Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord , and he will give you the desires of your heart I hear it quoted quite often.   It seems to me that we always are looking for God to grant our heart’s desires in the bigger things by a house, job, or dream coming forth.   But we forget to thank Him when he grants us our heart’s desires in the small things.            ...

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...