Anna M. Aquino

              As I began to pray about   2018 that is quickly approaching,   I kept having a vision of a child.   He was climbing up a steep hill. He got on a sled and laughed hysterically as he slid down the hill.   What I felt God was saying was, “This will be a year where many people will get to enjoy the things that I have already set into motion.”               On a personal level, I believe there have been many in the body of Christ who has spent the last several years climbing up that hill.   Some were so exhausted physically after they got to the top they had to take a moment and rest.   But, their steps were ordered of the Lord and they continued to move forward in what God had spoken to them to do.   Many did what God spoke.   While frustration had tried to set in, because they hadn’t seen the fullness o...

Hey fabulous people, Check out the latest Real Solutions video.  I was super stoked to do this one.  Apostle Kynan is an awesome man of God, and he also endorsed An Ember In Time. https://youtu.be/4tatSRezoUY Be sure to stay tuned because we have several exciting interviews planned!  

  As most of you know the story, when God put it on my heart to write my first book I honestly thought He’d gotten the wrong person. I was a kid who though has always had a gifting for creativity sorely lacks in grammatical correctness.   Ask me to diagram a sentence I might break down in tears.   (I have improved over the years.) In my heart I am a story teller, and being subjected to the laws of punctuation is a challenge.   I really cannot spell without spellcheck, and I’ve decided the boundaries of syntax in my work are subject to change.     I doubted me writing one book.   When that book initially didn’t go where I know it one day will.   God put it on my heart to write another and another, and another.   It gets to the point now where I typically have about four in my head at once while I’m working on one.   Though I have had some victories in the publishing industry I know that I will one day have more.   I do not b...

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...

My grandparent’s house growing up had a laundry chute. I can remember thinking that this was one of the coolest inventions ever. You could put the clothes in the chute and they went down to the basement where the washer and dryer was kept. I realize this seems like such a small thing, but it amazed me as a child. The chute was a straight shot to where the clothing had to go. My grandmother used to joke and call it the “magic chute” because the clothes when down dirty but came back clean. Grandma’s laundry chute was a way to have a straight shot to where the clothes needed to go. Likewise prayer is the same way with God. It’s all too often we whine and complain because we want and need the guidance from God and we just don’t seem to be getting it the way we think we need. But to address that question, how’s your “laundry chute” to God these days? Are you seeking his face in the matter or merely complaining about it? Is your chute a two way street or are you merely throwing all the d...

On Saturday Dan, myself, and the girls drove to St. Petersburg, FL. I had a book signing and Dan took the girls to the beach. The book store was cute, and the owner was very nice but my first reaction wasn’t one of excitement. I began to get a tad worried. After Dan took the girls, I realized there weren’t a whole lot of people coming in and out of this store. As I mentioned last week going into a Books-A-Million store, those are fun because you get a lot of traffic at your table and it’s a real chance to be in the marketplace ministering, but in this situation that wasn’t the case. So I walked around the store praying, I sat praying, and I kept thinking “Did I miss it God?” I was there for an hour and I don’t think I shared with anyone about my book, and I began to tell myself this wasn’t wasted time but a lesson well learned. That maybe I should have prayed more before putting my book tour together. I reasoned within myself that at least my family was having a fun afternoon...