ALL Things

All is a small word but a powerful word all the same. It can, in one fell swoop, be used to both include everything your speaking of and exclude everything contrary to what your speaking of.

Here is an example...

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

This passage of scripture uses the phrase "ALL things" meaning ALL situations and ALL circumstances in our life whether good or bad will work together for good. This scripture does not leave room for any other variation or variable. It does not only mean the fun things, or the mundane things, or the Sunday morning things...it really does mean all things.

This is good news.

This means we can rest and know that God is GOD and is always working and moving on our behalf. Even in the times of our lives that we seem to be the most down and out, HE is working out everything for good.

The past couple of months have been great but also a little bit stressful. Don't get me wrong, God has blessed Danielle and I more than I could have imagined. Even still, in the midst of all of the blessing we have had some situations I know could have been setbacks if it were not for us holding onto HIS promises.

Danielle and I this year have had.... my truck broken into(twice)with my car stereo stolen, Danielle's bike stolen, Her car's timing belt went out causing over $1200 worth of repairs, her two front tires were running on their last layer, and then last week my truck died..

The reason I run down this list of "bad" situations is not to say what a terrible year we had...in fact it is to say that I see this as our best year ever!

Here is how GOD used ALL of those things for the Good of Danielle and I...

The insurance paid not only for the break in of my truck but also a brand new stereo, a brand new dash board and a brand new window, two individuals completely paid for Danielle's car repairs one of them was someone we had never even met, we received two brand new tires for her car which we didn't pay a cent for, and just this week someone called and said that they were able to help pay for our truck as well.

Above all else we have been blessed with knowing that we will be welcoming our daughter Madison Saige into the world with ALL God has for her in the coming year. 

We are more than blessed and more than just provided for. It is a great feeling having ALL that we need and knowing that God is using ALL the things in our life for good.

I would like to challenge you to take inventory of this past year and really ask yourself how did GOD use the ALL in your life.

You will be excited to see His signature on your life and you might just be surprised at just how GOOD things are!

Javier Mendoza

UnSilenced: Our Responsibility

I find it to be very disturbing that 1 in 4 women will experience Domestic Violence in their lives and yet there is still little to no personal responsibility taken by the rest of us to help. In this era of having access to quick information, being "connected" 24/7 to our friends, and super fast travel of online "support" for the myriad of "good Causes" it is a shame for us to not be just as eager to share support for the "cause" of Ending Domestic Violence.

I guess for us to properly call for an end to Domestic Violence we would first have to admit there is a problem. Hundreds of thousands of us have yet to admit that Domestic Violence IS a problem and that only adds to the problem. We decide to believe that it is not real and that it does not happen or worse yet that it does not affect ME.

Domestic Violence is real and it is happening.

As you read this a women, maybe even someone you know, is becoming a victim of Domestic Violence. In fact, a woman is beaten every 15 seconds here in the United States.
So often we ignore or choose not to understand what Domestic Violence really is. I guess that is why we have allowed this type of behavior to become so "normal". We have even begin blaming the victims by saying, "Well, if it is that bad she should just leave, " or "What did she do to deserve that,". Why are we so judgmental towards the victims for "not leaving"? As if it is the victims fault for getting beat.

We need to stand in the way of Domestic Violence and stand up for the millions of victims that dont have anyone else. Victims are many times separated and alienated from their family and friends and anyone else who should be in a position to help. That is why it is up to ALL OF US!

A few ways we can help the victims by getting the word out.
They need to know that they are not alone and that we will not stand by and watch while they are victimized over and over. We need to make every effort to research ways to get involved in our community. We can find out ways to aide in writing and enforcing stronger penalties for abusers and higher quality help for victims. We can honor the survivors who have broken the silence and encourage others to do the same.

There are many things we can do to support those affected by domestic violence but the best thing we can do is not turn our back any longer.

To immediately report abuse call the National Domestic Violence Hotline
800-799-7233

Today's Names of Texas women who were murdered by their intimate partner in 2008

Brenda Yelton, 46 Pearland d. 4-25-08
Brenda Lee Nunez, 17 Brownsville d. 02-09-08
Jaime Dawn Meyer, 41 Clay Co. d. 09-19-08
Mary Sue Doyle, 54 Altoga d. 4-22-2008
Amanda Jo Earheart-Savell, 30 Plano d. 6/05/08
Jennifer McCallum McKinney d. 04/09/08
Suanne Childress, 48 New Braunfels d. 12/30/08
Nancy Shields, 53 New Braunfels d. 7/17 08
Joy Tomerlin, New Braunfels d. 7/30/2008
Denise Banks, 59 Bangs d. 8-20-08
Norma De la Rosa, 38 Cameron Co. d. 8-11-08
Maura Marroquin, 23 Harlingen d. 1-01-08

UnSilenced: A Lesson To Our Children

Children are affected by Domestic Violence in both direct and non direct ways. Domestic Violence rarely happens in a home without a child witnessing it take place.

Each year an estimated 3.3 million children are exposed to violence. Almost 50% of the men who abuse their wives also abuse their children, and male children growing up in an abusive home are more likely to become abusers when they are grown. Children exposed to any type of family violence are also at a higher risk to become addicted to drugs and alcohol.

We owe it to the next generation to help set them on the right path now. We need to become active in recognizing abuse in our homes, our communities and our workplaces. We need to break the cycle of Domestic Violence by putting an end to the abuse that has grown rampant in America.

If we won't stand up against the violence today, then what lesson are we teaching our children?