I’ve been following with interest what is happening with our presidential contenders. I won’t disclose who I’ve voted for in the past or what my party affiliation is but I will say, I’m ready for something different…if there can be such a thing in politics.The audience was a who’s who of Hollywood actors, directors, and the like. Ugly Betty actress America Ferrera wore a Hillary button.Some of the highlights for me tonight were:

• Someone emailed a question to Politico.com which asked “How would you address unemployment and low wages for African Americans related to immigrant labor?” Ok, the question elevated my blood pressure but Obama’s answer got me to stand up out of my comfy armchair!  He said that the problem of low wages and unemployment in the African American community was already a problem and the suggestion that immigrants are the ones that are causing the problem is a scapegoat. THANK YOU OBAMA!
• Most unfair moment: When Hillary was asked how she thought she could control the White House if she can’t even control her husband. Come on people! His absence at the debate was glaring though. But back to the point, everyone is an adult making their own choices, and he’s her husband he wants Hillary in his old chair…Obama’s wife looks like she would go at it for her husband too but should they be judged or called incompetent because of who they are married too? I am not so convinced, I would hate to be judged for what my husband has done, is, or was. As Chris Rock would say, “That ain’t right!”
• Best quotes of the evening:
  • CLINTON: In answer to a Politico.com question that a 38 year old woman sent stating she has seen a Clinton or Bush in the White House or Ballot for years, how would electing Hillary be the change the country needs. Hillary responded, “It took a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush, it may take another Clinton to clean after the second Bush!”
  • OBAMA: Referencing a discussion about Hillary’s Iraq war vote and her platform claim that she’s the one with the most (and best) experience which she would walk into the White House with on Day 1.  Obama countered with “It’s important to be right on Day 1” insinuating its more important than having experience alone since that experience didn’t help Hillary much when faced with the decision on whether or not to give Bush the power to go to war.

Today’s Democratic debate at the Kodak Theatre was refreshing for me. I think this country is going to go Democratic in a big way, today’s debate just displayed how the party can actually be united after the nominee is announced. They did mention the buzz about a dream ticket didn’t they, a Clinton/Obama or Obama/Clinton ticket! That would be interesting indeed.Overall, the debate was a great conversation (not necessarily a debate) but as Hillary said, their differences pale in comparison to the Republicans. One thing I do know, there was an African American and WOMAN on the platform fighting for the Democratic nomination, that my friends is historic and I am glad I saw that in my lifetime.  One last thing, I opened in prayer for Senator Clinton at a Hispanic Heritage month event once, my friend forgot to bring the camera (she left it in the car) so I have no proof but she embraced me, said thanks and said she liked my shoes!

I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward. (Charlotte Bronte)

I think what holds people down, what keeps people from achieving anything in life is their inability to look upward…instead there is a natural human tendency to look backwards or forward. My thinking and what I’d like to share with you is, “I can whine about how tough things are, or I can celebrate every time I have a victory.” Don’t you think celebrating sounds like more fun? I’ve learned that that looking for the best is more fun. Ironically I may have been my most hopeful when I was going through major drama in my life like the premature birth of my son and his subsequent hospitalizations, the up and down life I lead as a parent of a medically fragile child, the time when I almost lost my marriage due to the incredibly dark place men retire to when going through major life drama with their children (documented and statistically proven). In the midst of all that,  I believed that I would triumph, and I did. No, I don’t always come out a winner in life as you already know since my last dream didn’t work out the way I had hoped, but I know I stand a better chance of being a winner if I believe I can win going in. The only way to keep our hope alive is to keep looking upward to God, believing that his Jeremiah 29:11 promise is for us and is and will always be operational in our lives.

I had recently posted that 2008 was a year of new beginnings, will it still is, even if what I thought I would be beginning was different! My husband and I found are looking for a church that we believe will be our resting place for now. After three years as church planters, seventeen years of ministry in various capacities, it was good to be ministered to and not be doing the main leaders but just helpers. Thank God we already know that there is no perfect church but we looked up to God in hopes that He would lead us to a place that satisfies our desire for a great worship experience while being close to home. 2008 is still young so we continue to look upward.

I don’t care how poor a man is; if he has family, he’s rich.  ~Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, “Identity Crisis,” M*A*S*H 

I had family here this past week and it seems almost every other month. I am still waiting for my sister and her kids (all 4) to make it down here but something wonderful happens when family is around. First, we talk and talk and talk. It’s amazing how much you don’t know about each other’s quirks and likes/dislikes until you are in close proximity for an extended period of time.What’s my best part? Sharing dreams and ideas!  Although I come from a small family of two (me and my sis), my husband comes from a large family and I always wanted a large family so I get to experience  what that’s like with his family. I also have to count my very close friends Marcy, Betsy and Edna as family. I love those girls who are so vastly different yet they contribute something to my life in ways that not many have. I thank God for my family and because of this I know I’m indeed a rich gal!

Paz.

Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of Heaven.
John Lubbock
This is NO postcard, it’s the view from my backyard. Thank you God for this blessing. [Courtesy of Hubby’s Iphone]

I will be heading back to NYC a few times between now and May. Why? To  help out my old boss and my old friends get everything ready to host the Brian McClaren Everything Must Change Tour. Since I know all the parties involved its a great thrill to be able to do this. It was a Kairos moment because I’m actually “able” to have the time to do this. Thanks Susan and Dave for thinking of me!

But this brings me to my next point…We NEED VOLUNTEERS to help with all the logistics of making this one great NYC event on May 2-3, 2008. Volunteers are needed for:

• Security
• Greeters
• Runners
• Altar Workers
• Prayer Team
• Hospitality
• Promoters for Five Boroughs
• Transport Team
• Product Sales Team
• Set up/Tear Down Team
• Audio-Visual Team
• WOW team (ask me what this is!!)

Yes, volunteers do get a discount to the event but you have to have the secret “code” for the registration site :-). If  you have read Brian’s books, like what his message is about or maybe don’t like the message and want to hear him out some more, come on out to the event, volunteer and help make something happen.

Email me at latinaliz@aol.com if you want to find out more about each position. Volunteer descriptions are available.

Paz people!

I guess I do believe this in a way. But I have a little slant on it. One door closes, another opens EVENTUALLY. That word means “an undetermined time in the future”. Most of us don’t like future, especially a future we can’t see or be prepared for.  I much rather “learn from the past, accept the present and create the future” as I once heard said. Many doors have closed on me but many have opened as well. Usually,  unexpected in most cases. Such is life.  I think survival in life, how one manages to wake up in the morning and face the world (with a smile or a frown) is about perspective.

We choose everyday the type of perspective we will have on life. When I am in a funk and having a “bad day” and my husband tries to snap me out of it, I usually tell him, I can have an off day! Why? Because being a thriver as opposed to a survivor, which I consider myself to be, means that everyday I have to choose to have a faith-full perspective on life. I have to choose to believe that God is at work in me, through me and for me. I have to determine that nothing I face in that day will cause me to walk away from God. That usually takes work because our sinful nature just wants to say the heck with this, doesn’t it? We could love the Lord, we could know without a shadow of a doubt that God has been there for us or else we would have certainly been in a seriously worse situation than anything we find ourselves in right now but still…that kind of determined thinking takes work and well, sometimes you just get tired.  So again I say, I feel entitled to my “off” day when I am pouting, crying or seriously doubting a lot of things I think I believe. In our lifetime many doors will close and we’ll wonder if it was us, if we are loved, does anyone care, do we have “skills” like Napoleon Dynamite or were we just plain off?

Many doors will open as well and we’ll wonder, do we deserve this kind of attention, why did they pick me, I must be a token Hispanic, I must be a token female, I must be both!, is this a God door or a good door?  What am I getting at? I’m suggesting that whether doors close or open, we always wonder about something. So the real lesson and truth is not in the opening and closing but in the learning of both and the choice we make to continue in the journey throughout the unexpected openings and closings of life. 

This faith thing is hard to understand. Those who don’t have it, don’t understand it. Those who have it, can’t explain it. I have a female statute on my desk that says “put your big girl panties on and deal with it!” A biblical exhortation would mention Hebrews 10:36 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” And finally, a reminder that he knows the plans that He has for us, plans for good not evil, a future and hope (Jer 29:11). So whether doors open or close, we got to deal with it, endure it while we continue to walk in His will and know that even in the midst of our own confusion over our own plans for our lives (that we may have thought was HIS plans), God said he has a better plan. In that I put my trust and hope. I hope you do the same.

“I have one life and one chance to make it count for something . . . I’m free to choose what that something is, and the something I’ve chosen is my faith. Now, my faith goes beyond theology and religion and requires considerable work and effort. My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.” (Erwin McManus)

I am not where I expected to be at my age, after having worked hard and earning my degrees and getting my experiences. But I do find myself in a peaceful place knowing that where I am is exactly where God wants me to be. However, just as the quote above, although I am not where I wanted or expected to be, I still have an obligation to make a difference whereever I am with whatever I have. This is in spite of the fact that I have a medically-fragile special needs child, or a demanding 10 year old and the list goes on.

I was always very driven, wanting to go as high as the career ladder allowed. However, I find myself in a place where I just want to be home with my family, take care of them, cook, clean, do the things I didn’t feel to do before in this intensity. Perhaps its because I’ve almost lost my marriage once, or my youngest son on a Mother’s day. Perhaps its because I’ve seen and heard stories about people I know and how fast people forget to love those around them just for fame, glory or money.

I’m looking to continue to work from home because this allows me to use my brain and still be there for my family. I have about 8 or so years left before my oldest son goes off to college, I’ll never get those years back. So yes, I’m Dr. Liz Rios and no I didn’t get an education “just to be home” as someone I spoke to recently said over the phone BUT I’m also Mommy Liz Rios and Wife Liz Rios and precious moments with family can’t be recaptured…they’re like soap bubbles in the bathtub.

I’m grateful for those who believed in me so much that they’ve given me work to do from my home, so I can still make the donuts and still fulfill this yearning in my heart to be CEO of my home. Yet, with all this, I still know that because of my faith, because of my call, I am not supposed to fall into the Florida Frozen syndrome. It’s real easy now with a lakeview that’s almost an ocean. God is strategizing something, I feel it. I know the time is coming again when I will rise up to make a difference in this world by my contribution to it. But right now, I’m enjoying the lake

One of my favorite movies is Bronx Tale and one of my favorite quotes in the movie is when one of the main characters and mob guys tells “C” the young protege he took under his wing, that “The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.”  When Lorenzo finally died by a gunshot wound, “C” said “I learned to give love and get love unconditionally. You just have to accept people for what they are, and I learned the greatest gift of all. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent, and the choices that you make will shape your life forever. ”

Sometimes when things don’t turn out the way I dream they would, I feel sad (hello, who wouldn’t?!!) but I also realize that I still got so much inside me to give out to the world. Interestingly enough, while I may get into a funk and say I don’t ever want to do anything for anyone again, my soul tells me that the best is yet to come. Really, though, I know I don’t want to die with wasted talent.  None of us should. We are supposed to die spent (not the tired spent), the spent that means we’ve used everything God gave us to know Him and to make Him known.

In 2008, my efforts will be concentrated on CEFL and REBOUND. I also want to keep writing my book. I’d like to point you to someone who is using his God-given talent is my nephew, Matthew O. Rivera. Check out the rap group he started with a group of friends here.  The boy got talent!

Today is a sad day for us a dream for us died.  It’s a closed chapter but not the end of our story. However, my husband Hiram came to me and said he just heard a song that made him cry. I listened to it and well, I was bauling. Reminded me of “my moments” the ones where I’ve allowed God to use me, where I felt I was walking in His will, when life was going great. I think I am in a moment right now and while its a good one, its not the one I thought I would be in right now.

The song is called “Moments” by Emerson Drive. Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzriEXPJ1-k. The lyrics can be found here http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/emerson-drive/moments-18069.html

(Can someone tell me how to embed video in this wordpress nightmare!!)

I cried hard. But I smile right now to myself because although things haven’t turned out the way I dreamed they would have, I’ve had my moments.