WELCOME TO THE FAMILY

It was near the end of the ceremony when they recognized the children of the graduates. I saw my father raise my son into the air. He seemed so small in the mass audience that filled the convention center as I was in the front 3 rows and he was in the back. Curled up in a ball in his little blue vest and khaki pants, I saw the reason why I was sitting there in my cap and gown. The speaker shared that children will be beneficiaries of such accomplishment. My son will benefit with my progress. I want that for him. I couldn't have done it without my family especially my wife, Janette. I would talk with my students about the cap decorations. What should I choose? Ultimately, I decided to use the mantra of the composers Bach and Handel that they would mark on the manuscripts of their masterworks when a composition was dedicated to the worship of God. "Soli Deo Gloria" which is Latin for "Glory to God alone." I'm glad my son's first graduation experience began with me crossing that stage tonight. God is good. - Fabian

It was November 17. It was the coldest bash of the year! Pastors Annie and Noe joined us today. We were glad to have some extra help. I ended up teaming with Annie and guess what!? This horse walked up right to her to find out what we were doing. He was just curious though. He stared for a while. So we got to capture this beauty. Fabian got to pet the horse. It was so fun. Annie and her new stallion friend. Clouds were overcast and it was about 54 degrees. After some tacos and our morning brief, we prayed and headed to our signs. The floods from this fall season had brought in some more trash than normal. It was the most amount of trash we have had to pick up but our team members were doing a great job. They kept at it. We had veteran volunteers like Kassy and Priscilla but we also had some new folks like Rocio too. We always like to invite more fine people to join our bashes and along came these two amazing girls from their college group Arise. Lily and Andrea taking a break before the next mile. Needless to say it was another successful bash for everyone here at Sueños Realizados. 7 full bags and 11 volunteers. Keeping the Valley clean. Thanks guys! See you in January!

In the Christian world, we have many official documents on which to build the foundation of our faith. One of those is the Bible. It teaches us how to live. But we have another document. A legal document. A God inspired book. You want to know what it is? The Book of Life. This book shows us we have a life to live. Without death, you will never become a beneficiary. Death must happen first. You don’t have the authority to name yourself the beneficiary. You must be chosen by the one who dies. Usually you are chosen as a beneficiary because of two things. You are loved or you are trusted or maybe both. But how is it proven that you are the beneficiary? Your name is listed on a legal document. Then you’re allowed the authority over all the listed resources and responsibilities of the one who died. But there is a condition. Here is the condition. You must accept the inheritance. The Book of Life guarantees life in Heaven. The Bible guarantees life on Earth. “We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 Jesus chose us and so he came to the cross. He named us as beneficiaries. Our names are listed in the Book of Life. That means we have an eternal life waiting for us in Heaven. So we have access to the resources of Heaven. But at the same time, we inherit the responsibilities that Jesus had on earth. We love what He loves and reject what He rejects. We love the vulnerable and we pray for the sick because that is what Jesus did. We show the way because He is the Way. We speak the truth because He is the Truth. And when someone reaches out to us, they are reaching for Jesus in us. The amazing thing about that is that God trusts us enough to do that. I’m excited about the possibilities. You know what happens when you reject the inheritance? Because people do that. They don’t like the responsibilities that come with the inheritance. In many states, the law will view you as dead and the inheritance will be passed down to your children. If you are dead, I don’t mean physical death. I mean legal death. As in, you rejected the inheritance. You cannot be in the Book of Life. This is especially important to young people. What does this mean? Maybe your parents made mistakes and didn’t do everything right. But you will still have a choice. You still have the opportunity to get what your parents never got. To do what your family never did before. You can do it. You can choose to follow God with your whole heart. You can choose to accept your inheritance.