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| One of the first pics of our move to LVNM |
My wife Leola and I just celebrated 13 years of marriage on June 21st. It has been amazing! Very difficult at times, but very simply, amazing. In 2013, we were residing in Trinidad, CO still when in June of that year, my pastor came home from Bible Conference with some news we were not ready for. They were going to go back home in Las Vegas, NM and close the church in Trinidad. We were blindsided! How can someone called of God to preach just call it quits? But in reality, my Pastor was burned out, tired from spinning out trying to build the church in a town that really wasn't producing fruit from our efforts in evangelism. Because I KNEW I was called into Pastoral ministry, I was now left without a plan or direction in fulfilling that calling. But thank God for His grace, because my pastor talked to his pastor in Las Vegas, NM and with his blessing, we were invited to join them in Las Vegas to complete our journey in ministry.
Now, this was a huge step for me. My wife on the other hand was ready to start packing! I had everything there in Trinidad: my friends, a great job, my oldest daughter. I thought I could survive the spiritual battlegrounds on my own. In truth, I was nowhere near spiritual stability. Somewhere between my last post here and that moment in June of 2013, I fell away from the path that God had laid for me. I wasn't completely backslidden, but I was close. I stopped praying, I stopped reading my bible, I lost the passion for evangelizing to people (and other things that were pulling me away). Why do any of that when I was so comfortable where I was at in my life? Leola and I were discussing the possibility of moving but I was stuck in my ways. I was ready to remain in Egypt while my wife was looking ahead to the Promised Land. She said, not in these exact words, "I am called to be a pastor's wife and I'm going to Las Vegas with or without you."
There it was! The goad I needed to make the change and in July of 2013 we moved. My boss hated losing me, my friends hated that we were moving, my daughter cried. But it was exactly what we needed.
Remember when I said I stopped praying, studying and evangelizing? Moving to Las Vegas taught me to do those things again, but not in a gentle way. God broke me. I needed to be broken so that way He could put me back together the way He wanted me to be. But He broke me. A few months into our move there, I lost my job, my marriage suffered almost to the point of separation, we lost our car, cell phones were shut off, we were threatened with litigation because we couldn't afford rent, and (this was the most humbling of it all) sins were exposed. Secret sins. I hated being there. I resented God for all of the trials we went through. Why would He have us move only to bring us down? On top of all of that, I started hating my new pastor and the people in the church. They were so spiritual...happy...blessed, while I was not spiritual...not happy...not blessed.
One day during a Sunday School lesson, a question was asked to the church. "What is the difference between the prayer of faith and the prayer of desperation?" Everyone gave their answers, which were all valid and applicable to the discussion, but deep down I knew the answer. I mean it was God speaking directly to me the answer. Up until that Sunday, my prayer life was a mess. "God, if you don't move in our situation RIGHT NOW, we are going to die out here. Why did You bring us here just to let us die?" But that Sunday, I raised me hand and I said, "the prayer of desperation is this: 'God if you don't move in our situation RIGHT NOW, we are going to die out here.' But the prayer of faith is opposite of this. It is praying, not knowing the outcome, but believing regardless of what is in front of us right now. It is, 'God, you know my situation is not good right now, but I trust you and I leave it in your hands.'" Right then is when everything began to change.
That next morning I went to prayer at the church and started to pray in faith. Well, I first repented of my unbelief and all the other junk that came with it, but I started praying in faith. Shortly after that I got a great job (I had been out of work for two months), we got a three bed, two bath apartment, and we were starting on the path to healing in our marriage. God really broke me, but I desperately needed to be broken.
Since that January in 2014, my wife and I have been saved and serving God for 13 years now, working on 14 now. We have welcomed into our home three more babies. Sofia was born in November 2014, Mateo came along in July 2017 and two years later on the same EXACT day, Zoe came into our lives in 2019. Ask me about those pregnancies one of these days...they were very difficult for my wife, but thank God for His healing!
In September of 2017 during our annual Bible Conference in Las Vegas, my wife and I were announced as pioneer Pastor into Lamar, CO. We have been here building God's church for four years now, and having the time of my life doing it! We are still a small work here, but we are seeing people saved and locking in. God is so good! I do not deserve it, but I am so grateful for the opportunity to do what He has called me to do!
I hope to update this blog every so often, as often as I can to keep whoever comes across this page updated and encouraged. Please pray for us in Lamar, CO. We so appreciate it!
By the way, if you need any prayer or would like us to pray for someone or anything, drop a comment down below. I will believe God along with you for a miracle in your situation!
For now, God bless and thank you for stopping by!
