Anna M. Aquino

Anytime Charisma Publishes an article of mine it's an honor.  This one is so needed in the church as a whole today! https://www.charismamag.com/spirit/spiritual-growth/41771-are-you-wearing-a-spiritual-mask-without-realizing-it?fbclid=IwAR2FYUdU5fNs9ztQbM3MoT2Pxe7OqlauBflkN-BrmV1FubJaN4NAST9OJOA Remember God has awesome plans for your life.  Get excited!

Hello All, I am very excited to let you know that Charisma just published another article of mine!  I am overwhelmed that this door has opened.  God is so faithful! Check it out! http://www.charismamag.com/spirit/spiritual-growth/32272-keep-these-truths-in-mind-when-dealing-with-heart-wrenching-offense   Remember God has awesome plans for your life.  Get excited! Super Smiles!

            Picture it, it’s Sunday Morning and you have got to get to church on time because there are people depending on you.  Your spouse is half asleep lollygagging around. Your children have this crazy obsession with finding the one shirt in their closet that doesn’t fit and has holes to wear.  You have to get your make up on and will have to do so in the car.  You are running around trying to finish your hair routine but you realize you’ve been walking around with the mousse sprayed with a perfect peak on the top of your head.  The dog gets out and takes off, and then you and your spouse end up in a stupid fight over a topic you won’t remember in two days.  Your kids are now crying, and you enter the church doors in near tears; all the while knowing that you are about to slap on a fake smile, and pretend that your morning was fabulous.          ...

            A few weeks ago I was reading the Bible and feeling a tad sorry for myself.  We’ve all had those moments.  God specifically led me to a story about Jesus that can be found in Luke 7:11-17 I’ll paraphrase what happened.  Basically Jesus is led to go into a city called Nain.  Jesus goes in and encounters a widow and the parade of people going by him because they are leaving the town to bury her son.  Jesus prays and the boy is resurrected.  It’s an awesome story, and quite frankly signs, wonders and miracles always make me excited.  However when I read this story that day, I really felt the Holy Spirit empress upon me to look up what the word or city “Nain” means.  I’d like to confess here that I’m always so very obedient as soon as the Holy Spirit tells me to do something.  Sadly I’ll admit here I was like, “Really God? What does it matter what Nain means”.  Reluc...

            When I was a little girl I was notorious for thinking the world stopped on my birthday.  Really, in my mind, it should be a national holiday.  Perhaps one day it will be in the future (Grin).  I used to think that it should be one big day of party for me and my special day. I thought everyone I knew and love should stop what they were doing and throw a parade for me equipped with parades of helium balloons and giant cakes with people popping out of them. I remember however the day that all changed.  It was the year that my oldest daughter was born.  Her birthday is just a few days before mine.  I didn’t get a birthday cake and a serenade until much later that year.  I think Dan and I had gotten into a small argument, and most of our energy was spent on trying to be young parents.  It’s amazing how having children humbled me quickly.       ...

            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 night God downloaded a really awesome book idea to me. It’s not a completely unusual occurrence. I like anyone who starts to step into their gifting will learn once you use that gift you start realizing you can do it, and thus God gives you more to use that gifting on. Usually I have about five book ideas roaming around in my head. Easily I could be one of those Einstein esk hermit like people who don’t do anything other than work and come out on occasion in a hair frazzled afro doo (Seriously I do have the hair for it), and only stop working when I have to. I used to say I’d never write another book again after I finish one, but I’m done saying that now. I’m working on number 17. It becomes an addiction. This is why one of the many reasons God, my friends, and family are such a blessing. They help me learn balance. A little over a month ago Hank Kunneman had given me a prophetic word about a book God was giving to me to write. It’s funny though, I’m working on one book and ha...

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...

Very little is known about Jesus’ early and adolescent years. Many often wonder did he always know what his destiny was, or when did he figure it out? I have always joked that being one of Jesus’ siblings wouldn’t have been easy. I wonder if they ever heard, “You should act just like your older brother?” It makes you wonder what he was like as a teenager, and like many boys he grew up with the goal he wanted to be just like is His Father. As he spent his early adult life as a carpenter and while the Bible isn’t clear on specifics we know that he was a man and like every man he was a man with human emotions. He wasn’t a robot. Jesus was sent to the earth with a purpose and He had purpose. Despite whatever he went through in life, we know through His ministry He never lost sight of that. He always kept his vision focused. If you think about it, whatever the measure He knew His future, His destiny was to die for the sins of the world. But I bet the death & burial part ...

Before I get into the blog for today, I am very glad that I FINALLY get to post this link. http://youtu.be/OlNZWbmO5i0 This was a TV interview I did in Ohio back in June. I know it took us forever to get it online…sigh, I could go into all the technical pitfalls and the 8 hours it took to upload just today, but Thank you Jesus its up! ~~~ On Friday, I went to do my typical grocery shopping. My kids are still out of school and I had a friend of mine’s son as well for a few days. Grocery shopping with three kids is a challenge. But I have this thing where I go to a different fruit & vegetable store, a different meat store, and Wal-Mart. Add to that my stack of coupons and this wall of crazy Florida heat and it can all be a tad stressful. When I got to my first store I was trying to watch the kids in the parking lot and ran the shopping car over my toe and bruised my toe. The heat was already getting to me. Then I went to Wal-Mart and they didn’t have any 2% milk in ...

Last week my daughters were playing with the Nativity Set when I heard a shriek from my youngest, “Mom! I lost baby Jesus!” Knowing my girls and understanding they have a flair for the dramatics without looking up from the book I was reading, I responded, “You can’t loose baby Jesus. He’s there whether you see him or not!” So the search continued. The cries and screams of frustration came from my youngest like an emergency siren. She began looking on the branches of the tree, around the bottom on the skirt, and anywhere she could think of looking for the tiny figurine. She was practically in tears. Perhaps had I been more observant I would have heard my oldest daughter smirking at this point. But since the oldest was appearing to look too I didn’t notice her suppressing giggles. It took about ten minutes before the oldest broke her silence and when she did, she told me through her laughter that she’d been the one that had hid the baby Jesus. The youngest didn’t appreciate the joke, but...