I don’t normally ask for prayer for myself. My thought is that people are dying and struggling to live a little discomfort isn’t too bad. Why burden others but this week was the second time in a couple of months that the digestive issues were unbearable. I am now feeling better. Its not completely gone but God is good and his reasons are justice and timing is perfect. After I posted for prayer I suffered through it and went to work. The sheet of paper with the bike rental information was missing since the place is across the street i figured I would muster the strength and walk there. As I was waiting at the crosswalk a butterfly landed on my leg. I felt better the pain was gone. I have stopped eating Flamin hot cheetos or flamin anything but its been a month and still no difference. I want to be healthier so I creating another blog just to hold myself accountable it will be have what i am eating pictures descriptions. Once every couple of weeks I’ll even post a recipe on my You tube.

A couple of days ago I had something really cool happen too. Since our breakfast is suspended the birds haven’t been able to eat the crumbs. My manager has bought bread for Bob the Seagull. Seeds for the small birds (I call them Sparrows) and the crows eat whats left, He lectured me that I am not feeding chickens the seed needs to be in piles. So the other day I went to feed the birds and one was by the stairs saw the seed bag in my hand and started walking next to me. I thought that was cool. I went to spread the seed and remembered my manager saying to create piles. I bend down open my hand the bird starts eating from my hand. Totally awesome. Did I mention i am scared of birds??

Our current beach waves at night. Pretty cool. Unfortunately during the day the Red Tide looks brown and ugly at night. Its gorgeous. Side effect of the red tide is it depletes the oxygen in the ocean and kills the fish which stinks. Have a Great Blessed Day.

What a busy couple of weeks. From not feeling 100 because of allergies and being asthmatic along with the daily stuff to feeling great at 2 am and getting things accomplished. I have come to the realization that I can not read the bible daily and do 2 different studies and be successful at all, But what I can do is read my bible, do 1 study and pray. I can focus and do the other one on my days off It may even be better that way so I can focus on the verses. My church is reading through the bible in a year together. I use you version bible so I do a bible study there (I have 30 on my future list) then I decide that my Proverbs 31 woman i will fo weekly instead of daily, I have done a lot of online ordering lately and most of it arrived today.

A great opportunity for my mom to see some of the stuff available. So here is what I ordered and codes if you are interested. And a description of what they offer.
Thrive Market: http://thrv.me/yivQPx <—— Referral link
Thrive is a healthy online market. The prices are comparable to that of the local grocery store on most items. It took only 2 days from order to delivery but the site says it can take up to 10. The con is you do pay a access fee and can’t see items until you pay. My Order and prices: Nutritional Yeast Flakes Shaker $4.69
Crunchy Coated Pumpkin Seeds, $3.99
Superfood Popcorn, Tandoori Turmeric $4.49
Veggie Pop, Sour Cream & Onion $3.99
Organic Oat Beverage, Original $2.99 Oat Milk,
Unsweetened Barista Blend $3.75
Monkfruit Sweetener, Classic $4.79
Cauliflower Crackers, Cheddar$3.99
Nacho Bean and Rice Chips $2.99
Oat milk is a new discovery and i am loving it. I have been a fan of nutritional yeast on my popcorn for years. I haven’t tried the monk fruit sugar. I had one OMG this is good 1 its ok and one fail. The fail was the Nacho encrusted pumpkin seeds but my mom liked them. The meh (OK) was veggie pops. They were smaller than expected (The bag) The taste was ok I didn’t realized it had cashew thats not my fave nut. The surprise hit was the popcorn. I will reorder 1 more time before I make a decision on renewing.

Produce 89 is a local produce company. There weekly box is full of fruit and its a great price. Plus I was able to order 24oz of fresh local honey.

Another place I get food from is imperfect foods. I love this because I can customize before I pay . I know whats coming and if the box will be worth it. http://imprfct.us/v/angelica_605 <— is my referral link you get 10 dollars off and I get a 10 credit.

So those are ways that I keep my fridge and pantry stocked it is especially great now that we are under stay home orders. I have been using Imperfect produce for about a year. I used to order from brandless but they no longer carried food so I am hoping that thrive is a good replacement. My goal with thrive is to eat healthier and gradually substitute items ie cane sugar with healthier alternatives monk sugar,

So that was food I also ordered new bed stuff from Bed Bath and Beyond. This all came in today. I am not trying to brag or show off Let me get to the meat of this blog. Whats that God will provide.

My Dad is furloughed my hours are cut yet we always have enough for food and a little extra. He provide enough that when a person in the community needed food we were able to assist. I love being behind the scenes helping making my world better.

I have started and stopped blogging, yes that even includes vlogging (@gel619 if your interested) time and time again. I seem to do a little better with video but oddly I prefer writing. Wow what a turn. Tbh I forgot about this but will continue to try to keep up. As the world is changing its important to document and process.

So let me start us off by resharing a post I made on facebook then I will update. God is moving through this COVID when was the last time a pastor was asked for a biblical response? When was the last time a news station aired a prayer? When was the last time public officials went to a church to get information out? We have a 12pm service being broadcast. After the short (10 mins) message. Mayor and health and humane services will speak. If you are not religious you may still find useful info in that portion.

I made this post on March 15. Since then my Pastor Miles McPherson has been asked to pray on tv several more times. We are fixing, the bands have deteriorated, 300,000 masks for the city. We have a ministry making cloth masks, we have our grocery (food distribution) out giving food. I say we but God is using us. He is using the churches. Just because we can not gather does not mean we can not be used by God. The church is not the building that the community supports. We are called to support and take care of our community. My Favorite thing, other than all the amazing people helping each other, that I have seen and read is this. “The Church is not empty, it has been deployed”

So after hearing about Cielo Vista I wrote this blog but didn’t publish so today its changed.

If you know me for longer than 10 minutes you know that I spent a lot of my childhood in El Paso. Many of my best qualities come from my time in El Paso. My Nana and Tata loved this town and so do I. From Ascarate park aka Western playland to the zoo. Every part of el paso holds a memory that i will always cherish. On the surface El Paso is your average military town. Its a desert town on the between Mexico and New Mexico. What wins you over is the people.

I grew up in North East El Paso. The people in El Paso give all they can to help each other out. I had the opportunity to attend an amazing church. The members didn’t have a lot. The pastor was always available. That is one of the things that stands out. The friends I made there are my family. My love with outreach ministries began here, From building a church in Zaragoza and handing out hot dogs to being a founding member of NETWORK (Northeast El paso Together Working to Optimize Resources and Knowledge) I remember spending Saturdays handing out tracts and in our neighborhood, Inviting people to church. Helping out with other ministries. Being there for the community,

The events of Saturday hit close to home. All the Saturdays that were spent at Cielo Vista mall. All the time I spend at wal mart. The family, the friends. The events of Sunday in Ohio saddens me.
I don’t want to politicize any of this. I have seen the posts that the el paso shooter was rep. and that he changed his affiliation before the shootings, I have read the conspiracy theories. I have read the call for stricter laws and how other countries did it and the shootings decrease and have seen the post from other countries saying that the stricter laws did nothing. Truth be told. I DO NOT CARE. This is not the time. This is the time to check on your neighbor. We do not heal by placing blame. How has the blame game helped during the last shooting. How has it help these tragic victims. It hasn’t. What has helped is the line of El Paso residents standing in line to donate blood. Businesses donating service to help the families focus on healing and not on finances. You may not believe that prayer helps. But this shows it does. For those who do believe its a call to action get on your knees and listen to how God to use you. It maybe being the ear to someone with no judgments. Making a meal so they don’t have to think. Letting them know that they are loved.

Where is God? Well God is there, He is sending people to comfort. He is calling on us to show compassion to our neighbors. God always provides and even in our pain our darkness moments God will still provide, He will still be there.

Why did he let this happen? Well that I don’t know. What I believe is its not a punishment. I believe that it is a call to action. I have to trust in what I know of God and the absolute truth. God is good all the time.

Lets not blame. Lets not condemn. Lets left each other up. Lets be there for each other no question asked. Lets unite and show the politicians, the haters and dividers. THEY WILL NOT WIN. WE ARE ONE.

Sorry so long between these posts. As important as these are too me. I got busy, then sick and just getting back to the swing of things. So here it is This weeks Non Profit Group that I want to introduce you to is Promises 2 Kids.

About Promises2Kids From their website https://promises2kids.org
Promises2Kids is a leading nonprofit organization originally founded over 35 years ago as the Child Abuse Prevention Foundation of San Diego County. Since 1981, Promises2Kids has responded to the needs of foster children and provided support to children removed from their home due to abuse and neglect.
Promises2Kids annually provides over 3,000 current and former foster youth in San Diego County with the tools, opportunities, and guidance they need to address the circumstances that brought them into foster care, overcome the difficulties of their past, and grow into healthy, happy and successful adults.

This is important to me because kids are our future. I believe in the it takes a village mentality of raising kids. These kids for no reason of their own need extra love. They need to be given every opportunity to be successful contributing members to society. You can help. I am linking the donation site. You will can make a difference.
https://promises2kids.org/donate/

I am one that likes to solve problems, try to keep the peace but what ends up happening is a tangled web and its just worse. I am stressed and angry then others are upset at me for the thing i was trying to fix. You know what they say about good intentions right?? I am learning instead of opening my mouth to back away. If there is a misunderstanding instead of trying to fix it right away let the chatter quite down. Breath, rest and let God guide. Let him speak. There is a poem I used to have hanging in my room as a teen called Listen:
Listening to your heart, finding our who you are, is not simple. It takes time for the chatter to quiet down. In the silence of “not doing” we begin to know what we feel. If we listen and hear what is being offered, then anything in life can be our guide. Listen.
I looked at the words for years and they still hold a truth. Everything comes from God if we stop and be quiet and LISTEN to Him for Him. We will become what he wants. He will lead you on how to resolve the situation. The hardest part though is sometimes its not you (ME). Sometimes you are too close to the situation. Sometimes you are not ready.

This could be said with everything. I am learning to STOP and Let God. It doesn’t mean I don’t care. It doesn’t mean it won’t get solved. It means I am done trying to be what I am not I am done being in control.I am done doing it my way. When I let God things turn out the way he wanted. I am learning to change my fix it instinct to Pray it.

I planned on writing everyday but in reality its not going to happen. Just like me my blog and future youtube channel will be spontaneous with only one preplanned topic. Fund day Friday. Community is important to me and these organizations help our world and communities. So my blog on Promises to Kids will be up on Friday.

I am getting use to my new work schedule with summer the job is busier than ever, ok than the last 2 months. I have been getting busier with Outreach ministry director. That one is my fault. As I feel that the church needs to serve the community. To accomplish that the community needs to know that the church is there what we provide. So I a big Rock Your City Event (RYCE) THIS SATURDAY. Gave myself two weeks to get volunteers. Yeah i am crazy. Toys for Joys is coming. I want us to march in the Chula Vista Christmas parade especially since its 1 week before. Then I want to start working on the RYCE for Next year. Between then we need another. Also looking for donations and funding for our Toys for Joys. Did I mention Toys for Joys is my favorite event we do. So i am always looking for things to help it.

I am also planning my trip to Guanjuato. Its just over 30 days away. How awesome is that. I am beyond ready. So thats the quick update. Until next time . Chat at you later.