Good evening, Family!🙇🏻
This week, we praise God for:🥳
• The Suri Family and their good news! Baby Boy Suri is growing healthy and his parents are about to close on his first home! May God keep working in their lives! 🏡
• Armando's miraculous healing and for every day he is well and not in the hospital. Keep praying for a complete healing from his cancer. 🔬
• The many ways God has taken care of the Vega Family! John and Pat are so thankful for their daughter, Angelica, and how she is taking care of her parents during this difficult time. 💝
• Both Gladys and Darlene, for whom Vasthi had requested prayer, and are doing much better! ☝🏽
• The Romano Family's care. The grandma is very weak and recovering slowly, but praise God, everyone is negative! Also, maternal grandma, Robin, has seen a steady improvement in her platelet numbers! 🩸
• For the positive changes happening in Skylar. 🥰 There is still a need for prayer, but we acknowledge God for His goodness! ✝️
This week, we are praying for:🙏🏽
• Our brother, Vishal, as he is about to make some work decisions, and he is seeking God's guidance and direction throughout the process.☝🏽Let's keep Vishal and this process in prayer!
• Our Beloved Guzman Family, as they walk through the grieving process. May each of them see, hear, smell, feel and taste the presence of the Lord as He walks with them every minute, because we know He is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those whose Spirit is crushed.💔 Let's claim that promise on their behalf!
• Our little brother, Alex. May the Lord assign him a heavenly security detail on the road. 🚙 May He also help Alex to surrender every worry and anxiety to Him. 🧎🏽
• Charen's cousin, Elkie, who is battling cancer. May God infuse her body with His healing and surround her with His presence! 🕊
• Traveling mercies for our sister, Maria, while in Aruba and as she travels back. ✈️
• Virginia and Erick, their marriage, and their children. May the Lord help them to draw closer to Him and each other, and may they see real change in their family. 🏠
• Awilda, Peter's mom, throughout her recovery. Please keep her in prayer. 💗
• Our beloved SETH, that God would continue to shield and protect him while at school. Keep praying for his legs and for the braces he needs to wear; may the Lord work out this issue for him. 🦵
• Jordan Gonzalez while he's away from home pursuing his ⚾️ career.
• Michael, Angelica's boyfriend, that the Lord will help him to find a job.
• Connor's grandmother, who fell in her yard and is in the hospital. May everything continue to go well as far as her tests and may she fully recover from her injury. 🏥
• All of the families who are grieving, including: Wanda's family, Mr. Bouchard and his family, Timmy's family, John's family.😢
• Lynn, as she bravely battles stage 4 cancer. Cancer treatment #44 is underway! 🥺
• Antoinette, also diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. May the Lord intervene on her behalf and extend a miracle, if it is His will. 🧎🏻♀️
• Skylar. We continue to ask the Lord for a healing of heart and mind, that she may come to accept and believe in the love God has for her and offers her through family. In that vein, keep her family in your prayers: Doris, Jackie, Heaven Lee, Amanda, Dorian, Zaire and Amir.🧎🏻♀️
• Nelson's son, Santi, and his family as he seeks the Lord and His influence in their lives. 👨👩👦
• Carole. She's been fighting this custody battle the only way she can: on her knees. May God strengthen her as she continues to lead her family in prayer for her grandson, Elijah, and his custody battle. May He also bless Baby Brianna! 🎀
Today's propitious Devotional, submitted by Matthew, serves to encourage us to understand that God's promises come with a role for us to play. 🤝 it is ALWAYS advantageous for us to trust and submit to His will!☝🏽 Thank you, baby boy, for sharing this experience. We are so proud of you! 😊 💙
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
While all of us have heard this verse many times in our lives, it may just go right over our heads. Personally, this verse was just another one of the verses I’ve heard repeated my entire life. It wasn’t until recently that this verse took on a whole new meaning in my life.
Throughout much of my life, I’d learned to trust in the Lord. I learned to pray to Him in the bad times and the good times, but especially the bad. I’ve learned that no matter what I ask God for, He would give me an answer. As a young child and even as a young adult, I turned to God to solve all of my problems. I prayed and always received an answer. As a young adult in church and in a religious school, I was always reminded that God would provide and He would answer our prayers. I have been blessed to have heard countless miracle stories throughout my life. Even more blessed to have been a witness to incredible miracles in the midst of adversities.
Yet, somehow I did not pay much attention to the warning: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your OWN understanding.” Throughout my life I had become accustomed to calling out to God and receiving an answered prayer. I could trace these answered prayers and miracles all the way back to my very own birth, which was considered extremely high risk, fraught with scary scenarios and almost hopeless. Here I am at 21, healthy and strong my entire life.
However, I had one small issue, COMPLETELY trusting in the Lord’s timing. Whenever I prayed for something, I usually expected a quick answer; a miracle. I trusted in the Lord when it was easy to trust. I trusted in the Lord when the timing was right and it suited my needs. However, when it wasn’t easy and when the timing wasn’t right for me, I gave up and moved on.
In February of last year, I applied for a security job which multiple sources told me I would “get right in.” This job was one of the best jobs for a young adult male pursuing a career in criminal justice. It was a stepping stone for many local police officers who were still in college or not yet on the hiring list for the police department. The salary and benefits were great, and the schedule was fantastic. I completed the application along with my resume, listing all of my highest achievements and accomplishments thus far. I said a prayer and I submitted the application with the utmost confidence I would be hired within a few weeks. As I said, I trusted in the Lord but sadly, I was leaning on my own understanding of the timeline.
A few weeks went by, weeks became a month, and a month became a few months. By summer of last year, I had already accepted an internship with Wegmans and had nearly forgotten about the application. I had asked God to help me secure this position, and when it didn't happen, I moved on, thinking His answer was no. I moved on.
In August, seven months later, I was finally and was offered a part-time position, as a substitute security officer for the entire district. The lesser hours allowed me to focus on my studies, I was gaining a vast amount of experience in safety and security, and I truly loved the job, but in my heart, I still longed for a full time position. I kept praying and tried something new: leaning less on my own understanding for the timing. My family reminded me often that God is never early or late, so I kept showing up and left the timing in God's hands.
In January 2020, I was made aware of a full-time position that had just opened up. But, up until this point it was nearly unheard of for a part-time officer getting hired to a full-time position with any less than six months of experience. I applied for the position and told God I would trust Him, even with the timing. I submitted to His will and his timeline, deciding that when and where I was hired had to be His will alone.
The first week of March came and the shutdowns due to COVID-19 were looming. At the time, the severity of the disease was unknown. All hiring seemed to be frozen and all planned school business for the year was brought to grinding halt. However, on March 9th, 2020, I received a call from human resources advising me that the recommendation to hire me as a full-time employee was being voted on that week. I was confused; wasn’t all hiring frozen? Why would they be hiring when they don’t even know if schools would be open next week? I didn't worry. It was in God's hands.
On Friday, March 13th, I was hired with an effective start day of March 16th, 2020. On that very day, my first day reporting to work as a full-time employee, Governor Murphy ordered that all government buildings, including schools and public offices would be closed due to the pandemic. On March 16, 2020 instead of being laid off as a part-time employee, I became a full-time employee, working on a contracted salary with benefits. Just in time to become a husband in June.
Lighthouse Family, I can only hope that this story serves as a reminder for you to truly take in the full declaration of Proverbs 3:5-6:
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Lean not on your own understanding OR TIMELINE, Family; but submit to Him in everything. God never fails...and He is never early or late! ⌚️💯
May God continue to bless each of you! 🙏🏽
🎉🎉❤️