Feb. 2nd, 2011: Guatemala in My Blood

I just finished reading a fabulous book called, Guatemala In My Blood: How Nursing in Remote Jungle Villages Revolutionized my Life. The book was given to me by a nurse who comes to visit Mike & I weekly to give us, as first time parents, education on prenatal care and will meet with us weekly until Sofia is three years old, continuing our education on raising a child. It's an amazing program for both Mike & I because we have a lot of questions and it's wonderful to have the extra medical support, free of charge. Anyone can enroll in this program, regardless of socio-economic status and regardless of having or not having health insurance. http://www.stjosephnm.org/ I would recommend this program to any first time parents in the Albuquerque area! Our nurse, Sarah, is also an amazing person. She volunteered through the Peace Corps in Morocco, North Africa, where she did community health education (what my mom did in my hometown). And prior to that experience, Sarah, graduated from a Jesuit school in Washington. Anyway, Mike & I feel a connection to Sarah due to her international scope on life. She gave me the book, Guatemala in my Blood, because she knows about my fascination and love of Guatemalan people, we well as Mike's and my desire to, someday, do international missionary work.

The book is set in rural Guatemala in the late 1970s. Liz, a nurse, left her home in Washington, to volunteer with the Maryknoll Missionaries in 1977. She spent most of her time in a small town called Poptun. Liz was actually one of the first lay missionaries to join Maryknoll Missionaries. Prior to this time the only Maryknoll Missionaries were religious sisters, priests, or brothers. Therefore, due to this change in the Maryknoll system of missionary work Liz experienced a lot of challenges as a pioneer in Maryknoll's lay missionary program. Some of the problems she faced were in community life. She lived with several people, mainly priests, in a rectory. In their time as priests these men had not lived with a woman. This created inherit challenges. Another thing that Liz struggled with was the notion that people in the town of Poptun, and surrounding areas, at first would not give her as much clout/authority as a priest. Sadly, in my opinion, this perception of lay ministry is still very prominent across the world. It takes a strong lay person, especially a woman, to work within the Catholic Church, where there is a lot of "putting priests on pedestals", clericalism, and the lack of catechetical education of all practicing Catholics that we are all called to be prophet, priest, and king.

The book seems to give a "real" experience, and not a glorified one, of life in a third world country. It talks about community life, its challenges and its graces. The main focus of Liz's work in Guatemala was with helping establish a health care education program where she and a cohort trained people in Guatemala to be educators of health themselves. These people would train more people to be health care educators. It was created with the idea for it to both be self sustaining and educational for the people of Guatemala on things such as cleanliness, using a latrine, wearing shoes so that parasites could cease to spread, etc. Successfully, through all of the challenges, this program was created and is still flourishing. Guatemala in My Blood, educates the reader on how the program started and continues to live. Lastly, the most profound thing for me, was how Liz feel in love with the Guatemalen culture and people so much to the point that it still is ingrained in her heart. Guatemala and her people are in Liz's heart and are carried out in her actions now in the United States. Now in the United States, she continues to support the people of Poptun in different ways, such as praying for them and sending medical supplies to them. Most profoundly she adopted a young girl, whom now is a young woman, Maria, from Guatemala, whom she loves dearly. Overall, for those interested in Guatemala, missionary work, or a easy good read, I would recommend Guatemala in My Blood as a must read.

Feb. 1st, 2011: A Mother's Sacrifice

I had a tad of an idea, before I got pregnant, about the sacrifices that mothers take the moment they find out they are with child. As many people know mothers give up things such as caffeine, including coffee and soda, alcohol, and artificial sweeteners so that while their baby is in utero s/he will stay healthy. To give these things up for me have been miniscule.

For me, the most challenging portion of this pregnancy has been the dichotomy between taking care of your body to the best of your ability while letting go of what your body does. By letting go of your body I don't mean driving through the McDonalds drive in every day....or stopping to work out. By letting go of your body I mean allowing the natural course of pregnancy upon your body take place without much resistance. There are many things that happen to ones body while one is pregnant that I had no clue about, such as, leg cramps (many times in one night), getting a bloody nose, nausea, less energy, shortness of breath due to the baby and all of your organs pushing up on your lungs, waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep, and naturally, gaining weight. All of these things that occur during pregnancy you have little to no control over. Again, the dichotomy of taking care of your body yet allowing your body to take its natural course during pregnancy is a sacrifice, yet one that I know will be worth it once our baby Sofia is born.

I am drawn back to Mary, the mother of Jesus. She had the ultimate sacrifice, she had to let go of her son, while he was working in ministry and ultimately when he died on the cross. This reflection makes me put into perspective my own sacrifices for Sofia. These small physical changes will pass. The leg cramps will go away. My energy will come back. I will loose the weight. I also reflect upon my own mother. She has told me that when I went to Annunciation House, when she dropped me off, she gave me to God more fully. She knew that the year would be a huge challenge for me and she also knew that the environment on the border (El Paso/Juarez in August 2003) was a bit unruly. She paralleled herself to being Mary and me as Jesus. New life came of the experience of Annunciation House for both my mother and I. My mom has always trusted in God's strength and love but from my perspective it seems as if my Annunciation House experience deepened her relationship with God. For me, Annunciation House taught me many things...but I think the biggest thing I learned while I was there was that life is about a continual cycle of life, death and resurrection. Sometimes life is wonderful, sometimes challenging, sometimes non-eventful....all of these times we must treasure; we must treasure the wonderful times for God's graces during these periods, the challenging times for the opportunity to grow closer to Christ, and the non-eventful times for helping us see God in all things. Death is something we as humans cannot avoid. It happens when something we planned does not occur, it happens when a goal we thought we were going to reach is not within reach, it happens when a loved one dies. These things are not the end...we are resurrection people. We believe that all of these things have a deeper meaning. We believe that if something we planned does not occur its because there is a bigger purpose. We believe that when a loved one dies they are with God, they are now with us in a new way, and we will see them again. Where there is life and death, there is resurrection. Mary learned and knew this. The little crosses I am baring, they too shall pass.

I am also aware that at some point in Sofia's life I will have to give up Sofia to where God is calling her. Maybe she'll have a deep desire to be a missionary in a foreign country (like her mother and father). While both Mike and I would love to raise a daughter who feels compelled to travel the world, help people in need, and be an advocate for social justice, having her leave for a few years to a foreign country would be difficult. We would support her; but having her away for so long would not be easy. Currently this is something that is hard to think about since I am in the beginning stages of being her mother. The point I am trying to make is that a mother's sacrifice is cyclical. There is life, death, and resurrection occurring throughout the intertwined lives of a mother and child. I believe the way to live through these cycles is to remember that God is in control, is with us through every stage, and that there are abundant graces present at every stage, we've just got to recognize God in all things and at all times.

Jan. 31st, 2011: Weddings...weddings...weddings...

This last week I found out about three engagements! This summer, not including the three engagements, my cousin is getting married, a good family friend is getting married, and four former students (2 other weddings) I worked with are getting married! Weddings, for me, if the couple has discerned their relationship thoughtfully and prayerfully, are one of the most exciting and grace-filled moments one can experience in their lifetime.

Honestly, I feel so blessed to have married Mike. He and I both dated some great people in our past...but none of them had everything that God had envisioned for us. There was always something within those relationships that left us both wanting more; something within us that was left untapped. We had to be patient and set aside our time lines to allow God to work within our lives. When we met in person, after a month of long emails and 2-3 hour phone conversations, we both knew that God had helped us to build a solid foundation for a deep faith-filled relationship. Our wedding day was a solidification of God's plan for our future. And the amazing part for me was that I felt God's presence that entire weekend very strongly, whether it was through the prayers stated at the wedding ceremony itself, my friends, family, or Mike. The wedding was simple; it focused on God, one another, our family and friends. In a consumerist society where a wedding day is not necessarily about God, I found myself at my wedding thinking about God constantly.

I hope and pray that the marriages that I will witness this summer will be as grace-filled as ours. Finding the person whom God created for you is a blessing. For those of you who feel called to married life but have not found the right person, yet, don't loose hope. God would not place that deep desire, vocation, in your heart, without someone in mind for you. You just need to be patient and wait for God's timing. I honestly can say I grew impatient at points in my life, waiting for God to introduce me to Mike, almost to the point of growing jaded. I always thought, well I have a MDiv, I am seeped in my faith and my family, there is no way in this world I am going to find my match...I'll have to settle for someone who is not as thrilled about their faith, or someone who cannot have a theological conversation with me, or someone who is not as passionate about social justice as myself. I thought that my standards were too high. But I am thrilled I waited for God to place the right person in my life at the right time. Nothing is impossible for God. Let us close this blog entry with a blessing for engaged couples, especially for the seven engaged couples I know, from the Catholic book of blessings.

"Lord God, the source of all love, the wise plan of your providence has brought these young people together. As they prepare themselves for the sacrament of marriage and pray for your grace, grant that, strengthened by your blessing, they may grow in their respect for one another and cherish each other with a sincere love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen."

January 17th, 2011: I am Pregnant!

Twelve week ultrasound of
Sofia Rose

Hello!! Besides the last post on my Titi Rosie, it has been months since I have blogged! I apologize to my fans. Teehee. As many of you know I am 27 weeks pregnant today. The first trimester I was tired and nauseated all of the time. I had little energy to do anything but work, workout, cook, and sleep. The second trimester has been a lot better, health wise, but I found no time to blog due to the holidays. Now we are at the end of our second trimester...one more week until our third trimester...and I am finally finding time to blog.

As I write this blog I feel little Sofia Rose kicking and squirming. Today she kicked me ten times in less than three minutes! I have started another website just for Sofia. Primarily it will give occasional updates on how she is doing while she in my belly and it also has our registry information. The registry information at this point is not completed. We have three registries up and running but we have not finished sorting what we really need and comparing costs at all three locations. If you look at all of the sites now they are pretty sparse. Here is the website:
http://chineaandshawverbaby.ourbabychannel.com/

This particular blog is not merely about sharing the new site. The next few blogs will be about my thoughts and prayers since the start of this pregnancy.

How did we decide on Sofia Rose's name? Mike and I talked about names for pretty much the whole first trimester....some names he would "veto" others I would "veto". Then we came up with Sofia's name because of this: We like the name Sofia beacuse it means wisdom and is one of the names in the Bible that refers to the Holy Spirit. The spelling of Sofia is intentional...we like the Spanish spelling of her name. We like the middle name Rose because both of my grandmothers are named Rosa, my aunt Rose, and Mike's grandmother Rose.

The 2010 Advent season for me was particularly revealing. In the past I had thought and prayed about the vocation of motherhood but this year, since it is a reality, I am already a mother, Advent took on a whole new meaning. I am currently feeling all the baby movements that Mary also felt within her. I am also waiting in anticipation, a sense of awe, an unrelenting yes to my calling from God to be a mother, and also a sense of nervousness - which I am sure Mary felt even though it is not mentioned in the Gospels. (Every mother, no matter their age, race, religious background, no matter how ready she may feel, I believe has a sense of nervousness.)

One question I asked myself a lot in the first trimester was...am I truly ready to be a mother? On June 5th of this year Mike and I got married. It feels too quick for us to be parents. But at the same time I am 30 years old and Mike is 36. God has blessed both of us with full lives. We have both traveled, studied, made many friends, and loved our families deeply. We both have truly wanted a family, even before we met one another. Since we are older we feel a little more wisdom about life than we did when we were in our 20s. So, why not now? I reflected upon this during the Advent season. Did Mary truly feel ready? I think beyond Mary feeling ready she felt a deep sense of God calling her to be a mother. She let go of everything. She surrendered herself completely to God, including her pride and public image, to be the mother of Jesus. This is the type of love I want to embody. I want to surrender myself to God's will and allow God to use me in whatever way God sees fit. Even though I don't have as much to surrender to God as Mary did, as my circumstances are different, I not only feel the calling from God to be a mother but I am running towards God with open arms asking, what's next Lord?

Even though Advent is over, Mike and I, are still in the process of waiting. Day by day, hour by hour, Sofia is growing. These past few weeks I have felt her move more and more. What I am trying to stay with is the joy in the anticipation. Enjoying every moment of this pregnancy for me is of utmost importance. How many times in ones lifetime is one pregnant? I believe there is joy in learning, feeling, and loving every moment of the here and now.

Please, continue to pray for Sofia, Mike & I. Pray for Sofia's health and growth. Pray that as Mike and I prepare to become parents we stay healthy in mind, body, and soul so that we can be the parents that God has created us to be.

Jan. 16th, 2011: My Aunt Rosie

On Jan. 14th, 2011, a woman very dear to my heart and close to my life passed away, my Titi (aunt) Rosie. She was a woman of strength and filled with the Spirit of God. I am certain that at this stage in her journey she is with God.

Ever since I was young I have admired my Titi Rosie. She moved out to California when I was nine years old. Before she moved here I remember my mom talking to her on the phone, we were in my parents room and I was laying on my parents bed as my mother talked. She invited my Titi and my two cousins to move to California. My Titi said yes. She and my two cousins, Carmen and Jason, lived with my family for six months as the resettled in their new home in California. She created a sense of safeness and deep love from the first moment I met her. I remember her singing to me in the car. Since I was a hyper child, she sang fun songs to keep me calm during long car rides. One specific song I remember was about the Titanic. I remember her editing my English papers and teaching me how to write properly. I remember playing cards with her. If we beat her she would get mad. I remember watching movies with her, specifically Real Women Have Curves and Catch Me If You Can in her bedroom. All of these memories I will hold on for a lifetime. I knew, not only through words, that my aunt loved me with all of her heart.

Last night we had a celebration of her life service. My husband, Mike, led the service that he and I prepared. It was a powerful service about my aunt. Many people felt the love that I felt from my aunt. Her faith, wisdom, integrity, will power, passion, English writing skills, her eloquence, her ability to say what was on her mind in a non-confrontational way, and her deep compassion for all people she met was a true devotion to whom Christ created her to be.

I have been deeply affected by my aunts passing. She is the closest person in my life who has passed away. Sometimes I still think that she's around. The thing is...I know that my Titi is still with me. Her presence and her Spirit will be with me forever. I believe in the resurrection. She is with God. Having trust in God and in my aunt's presence with God helps me to feel consolation. Please pray for her soul, my family, and her close friends as we grieve the loss of her life here on earth, reflect and rejoice on her presence before she passed, and as we celebrate her presence with God.

Sept. 16th, 2010: Letter to the Mayor

This letter is written by a friend of mine, Rene Ronquillo, to Mayor Berry in Albuquerque. It highlights some of the issues that we in Albuquerque are facing. Feel free to comment. I know this is a hot button issue.


It could happen to anyone – all it takes is a small twist of fate.

A debilitating injury, an accident, a divorce, loss of a job…all of these could lead to homelessness.

The recent arrests of two men for feeding the homeless without a permit are terrible tragedies and a sad display of the priorities of our city and APD. Why would the honest giving of one person to another require a permit?

Poor and homeless people will always be a very real part of our society, and I know that if I ever became a person in need, I would be so grateful that someone cared enough to spend every Sunday afternoon for 4 years helping to make sure that my belly was full.

The police are claiming that feeding the homeless requires a permit and that that is why these men were arrested. Since when does kindness require a permit? Across all cultures worldwide, sharing a meal is one of the most basic examples of what makes a community.

APD and city officials are claiming that permits are required to protect the health of the homeless. But if the city were truly concerned about the health of the homeless, they would make public restrooms available. They would make public water fountains available. They would see that a man serving fresh fruit sure beats the health risks of dumpster-diving. In the 4 years that these volunteers have been serving the homeless, there has never been an incident of sickness. In fact, they do a public service by cleaning 4th Street after they serve and leaving it cleaner than it was when they arrived. I know this because I’ve seen it.

Let’s be real, Mayor Berry. These arrests were not about your concerns for the health of the homeless. They were about business and the bottom line – money! The easy (and callous) thing to do is to eliminate the sight of these homeless folks so that tourism and downtown business can thrive. Why else would Alfonso Hernandez, the man serving and caring for these people, be ordered to not come within 100 feet of 4th Street and be charged with criminal trespassing?? That’s not about a permit…that’s about keeping the homeless people away from downtown.

Stopping these volunteers from serving others is a violation of their constitutional and religious rights!

The hard thing to do…the Christian thing to do…the right thing to do is to try to educate the public and change the minds and hearts of those who avoid the downtown area because there are homeless folks down there. The homeless are not to be feared or shunned – they do not cause crime. I know because I’ve worked with them, and I know many of the folks who eat Alfonso’s meal every Sunday. I’ve seen more love and generosity from these people, who have nothing but the backpack on their backs, than from some people I meet in church or who have much to give and don’t.

Let’s invoke some commonsense. There are real criminals out there, after all – thieves, murderers, drug dealers, rapists…doesn’t Albuquerque’s finest (16 of them to be exact, who showed up on 4th Street this past Sunday the 12th) have better things to do and worry about than a man trying to serve his community by feeding the homeless and picking up garbage?

Homelessness can happen to ANYONE! How would you like to be treated if you were in their situation? What we need is more education, commonsense, solidarity, and compassion.

August 7th, 2010: Junk

In 2008-2009 I took my first JustFaith class at Risen Savior parish. At the end of that course one of my goals was to help the environment by stopping junk mail from arriving at my home. First, it is rare that I look through any of my junk mail. Secondly, the purpose of junk mail is primarily so people purchase what is being advertised. Well since I don't look through my junk mail I don't purposely purchase the things being advertised therefore defeating junk mails purpose. I do throw it into my paper recycle bin but what would be better for the environment would be to stop junk mail from coming to my house all together.

Did you know that: Each year in our country 4.5 million tons of junk mail is produced. It uses 100 million trees a year and wastes 28 billion gallons of water for paper processing each year. This is so sad considering there are places in our world that have difficulty finding drinking water. On average each person receives 1.5 personal letters each week compared to 10.8 pieces of junk mail. Then 44% of all junk mail is thrown in the trash, unopened and unread and $320 million of local taxes are used to dispose of unsolicited mail each year.

Here are the sites I found for you to navigate. Stop your junk mail from coming, save our environment, save trees, and water. Its an easy step towards justice.

http://www.donotmail.org/
http://www.ecocycle.org/junkmail/
http://www.stopjunkmailnow.com/

The process might take you a few hours but the environmental benefits will last a lifetime.