Blind Cave Fish

Blind Cave Fish Can Grow Eyes....
The other day as I walked around the house and listened to TV, I heard about this fish born blind because it was born in complete darkness deep inside in the caves off the coast of Mexico. His name, Astyanax mexicanus.
The first time I heard it I thought it was very interesting, then it stayed in my mind and kept coming over and over again until I had to find more information about it.
It made me think of all the people who don't know about Christ. Fathers, mothers, who live in darkness and therefore raise their children in the darkness. Blind to the light of Christ...
Somehow this is something I am still thinking about....
Apparently, researchers have gone out of their way to find out if it's possible grow eyes in the fish because when they are still eggs their eyes degenerate so they are born with no eyes. However, other fish who live in the surface, where there is light, have eyes.
So, researchers found out they can indeed grow eyes on them by implanting a lens from a surface dwelling fish, cousin of the cave fish. Amazing!
I keep going back to the fish born blind because their habitat is in complete darkness.
How many people are out there living in complete darkness? Whether it is because they choose to, or because they don't know any better...the thing is, it doesn't stay with them, their descendants will live in darkness, too.
The darkness of sin, of loneliness, of living a life with no hope and comfort. Not a life free from troubles. But as we have a experienced, a life that still has trouble and is sustained by God's Spirit. A life with eyes that see it's helper coming from the hills, the Maker of heaven and earth.

But how can we stop this growing darkness?

1 Peter 2:9 came to my mind then:

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him
who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

Blind to the light of God, living in such darkness, in such oppression and ignorance, is death to our souls, separation from God.

Oh, that we who once lived in darkness could declare the praises of him who brought us into his wonderful light. That we may stop the darkness from extending. That we may have compassion on those children born blind to the light of Him who is worthy of our praises.
That they may become part of this royal priesthood, of this holy nation, that they may belong to God.
We have this power, given to us by Jesus Christ to proclaim the Good News, to make disciples, to shine His light. Let us not hide behind our shyness, let us not hide behind political correction or whatever it is that closes our mouths and stops our tongues.
Don't we long to see the world having eyes to see Christ? Don't we long to see our friends and family having eyes to see the light of Christ?
Why do we go out of our way getting fish to be able to see? Yes, this will help sight problems and research...shouldn't we be concerned all the time about the future of the souls that live in darkness, too?
Dive deep inside into the caves where they are and shine the light of Christ. At school, at the gym, at the mall, at the grocery store, at the gas station...wherever we are.

^{John 1:1-5}

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
²He was with God in the beginning. ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

May the Lord help us take advantage of each opportunity that arises to shine His light not just in words but through our lifestyle. Amen.

I am going to bed, now.

5k + 15 Mile Bikeathon= A Milestone

So, today was THE day. A day of challenge. I ran 5k and biked 15 miles at the Tour de Oink.
Why did I do that? I am not really sure. I just know I like the challenge and feeling afterwards. I think it encourages me to keep on exercising and set fitness goals for myself.
Before I turned 30 I had this thing about getting into an exercising rutine so that by the time I was 30 I had some kind of discipline.
Well, I have had my ups and downs. And, now I wonder how would it be the day I get a job how will I keep my exercise rutine? I don't know, I will figure it out.
This morning's run was interesting since we didn't finish the 5k training program we started because of abc reasons. If it wasn't for Sara I wouldn't have kept training. She has kept me excited and going. Thanks, Sara!
Alicia, who could have run the 5k in the blink of an eye, ran at our pace and kept us going. Thanks, Alicia, you are so sweet!
So, the run was very hilly. We had to walk the big hills. But we made it.
Then, Alicia went onto bike the 40 miles and I went to bike the 14.

I had a hard time changing gears and finding one that worked right. It seems like I was pushing really hard to move. Maybe it was just that I was tired from the run. I don't know. But we made it.

Back to the why I did it? Again, I don't know. I have never been very interested in athletics or sports. Therefore, I was never really fit. I think I am tired of feeling like a loser. I want to be fit, healthy and look good. It may take me a long time but hopefully we will get there.

Now to sleep.

Coming up, on my next post I want to talk about Born Blind A Fish. It's an interesting thing.

Potty Training...

So, about two days ago we started potty training my two year old son. He will be three in October. *Sigh*

He is very cute and sweet. He started using the undies mommy Doshi got for him. He just loved them and didn't want to wear a diaper anymore. We had to go shopping for some more cute undies. We found some Thomas the Train ones and that's all he wants to wear.

Today, day 3, has been not a very good day. Only three times he went pe pe in the bathroom, the rest of the times (including pooping) he did not want to sit in the toilette...uh!

I know is just day 3, hopefully tomorrow will be better...he wants to wear his undies so bad and I feel so tempted to delay it more and go back to the diapers...

Some days, some months, some years, things just don't go the way we want, the way we imagine or expect...and we discover things about ourselves that maybe we didn't see before, that were buried or just hidden...the point is we discover that there is so much in us that needs to change. I realize more and more I am a miserable sinner with no hope whatsoever. Only Christ can mold me, change me and make me acceptable, aproved for himself. And I am thankful for His patience and love.

I will be running a 5k this sat. and biking 14 miles afterwards. I have never done this before. I have never been an athletic person. Now it is as if a rush for exercising and challenging myself had hit me.I am surprised...

Now, I have got to get some rest. It's late.

Cerca de Ti (Near to You)

"Cerca de Ti", a song by on of my favorite Christian Musicians, Jesus Adrian Romero, has been lately in my mind. So, I want to share it with you. Enjoy.

Si decidiera negar mi fe, y no confiar nunca mas en El,

No tengo a donde ir, no tengo a donde ir.

Si despreciare mi corazon la santa gracia que me salvo,

No tengo a donde ir, no tengo a donde ir.

Convencido estoy que sin Tu amor, se acabarian mis fuerzas

Y sin ti mi corazon sediento se muere, se seca...

Cerca de Ti, yo quiero estar

De Tu presencia no me quiero alejar

Cerca de Ti, Jesus, you quiero estar

De Tu presencia no me quiero alejar...

If I were to deny my faith and trust Him no more

I have nowhere to go, I have nowhere to go

If my heart were to lay aside the Sacred Grace that saved me

I have nowhere to go, I have nowhere to go

Convinced I am that without your love my strength would fail

And without you, my thirsty heart will die, will whither.

Near to You, I want to be,

from Your presence I don't want to grow apart

Near to You, Jesus, I want to be,

from Your presence I don't want to grow apart...

My Little Flower

My Little Flower, the world will never see you blooming.

Shiny, your sister called you

When she prayed for you and kissed my belly

And it is because you shined in our hearts

You put a sparkle in our eyes

Your siblings loved you, kissed you

and planned for you.

My Little Flower, my womb saw you blooming

but you have left now to be with our Maker,

Shiny, colorful, beautiful and whole.

There is no better place to be, my love

than the arms of our Maker

and the company of our loved ones amongst the Saints.

My Little Flower,

our nest was full of prayers, dreams and hopes

now it is empty and flooding with tears like my womb.

My Little Flower, you were so loved

even before your seed was planted.

Oh, my little flower

flesh of my flesh,

bone of my bones,

heart of my hearts,

I miss you deep inside.

Hear my lulaby, feel my caress

I am your mother, you know.

Your daddy loves you as much

with every fiber of his being and beyond...

Feel his strong arms surround you,

resting on his chest will make you secure,

hearing his voice will delight you.

Oh, we love you!

My dear child, my darling

I could never say Good-Bye

Being safe in the arms of our Maker

I trust I will see you later.

My Little Flower, I just wanted to say

I love you and more...

Enjoy a beautiful and eternal life

my bright star

You are forever in our hearts...

Do you love Me more than these?

John 21:15-17
¹⁵When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

¹⁶Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.

I imagine Peter kind of ashamed for what had happened. Waiting, hoping that at last the Lord that Peter heard has appeared to others, will consider Him worthy to seeing him. Maybe, the thought that the Lord didn't want to see him had crossed His mind. I imagine Peter longing for redemption, remembering the good old times, the first time he saw Jesus, the time he was called to be fisher of men, the time Jesus went fishing with Him and showed them where to throw their net. Then, Peter decided to go fishing and it happened again.
The way Peter jumped into the water as he heard "It's the Lord", moves me. Makes me think of a man desperate for reconciliation.
I imagine Peter thinking, "If I could only see Him again.." and then it happened...

I gained a new insight last weekend at Exploration 2009. Saturday night, the Bishop from Minnesota preached about the verse above. She had a new insight about the passage. What if the "these" meant, not the other disciples but the other things that have happened: Peter's bad experience, bitterness, anger at himself, disappointment, etc...
What is the "these" for me, for you? Anger, bitterness, deception, my own dreams of self-satisfaction, my own sense of what I must do, my desires, the world, my comfort, not knowing it all...
What stands between me, loving the Lord and feeding His sheep.
As Jesus asks Peter the third time, the same question, a deeper understanding of what the cost of following Jesus starts to sink in. It's not all rose color, it's not all shiny. Surrendering your rights to Jesus Christ is not easy, not having control is not easy, not having it all figured out is not easy, following although not understanding is not easy. If you know what I mean.
Now, that you understand better the cost, do you love Me?... Do you love Me?... Do you love Me?
Feed my sheep.

Sweet?

I have always wondered what I felt like to loose someone you love. Not that I wanted to experience that any time soon but I figured the time would come, it comes sooner or later for everyone...It seems like it came too soon for us....
We lost Mami Lali Sunday, August 30th, 2009. Her body lost the battle to Pancreatic Cancer. But her soul was as triumphant as it has ever been, until the last moment. The last time I talked to her- one day before she went to Jesus- she pulled strength from her soul and sang, with such beauty, "Victory in Jesus".
I think of her everyday, I know my whole family does. It's like a dream. I still feel if I am going to see her soon or at least that's the hope I had. Don't take me wrong. I know if we believe in Jesus Christ we have eternal life, and there's no doubt in my mind she is with Jesus. But, I won't see her on this earth. Next time we encounter, I will see the urn containing her ashes.
Oh, how has this happened? This sadness overwhelms my soul. There is such sweetness in my memories of her, and the tears that flow without ceasing remind me of how much I love her. There is a special sweetness and sadness in my heart when I think of her.
I meditate in what I could have done better in our relationship...she lived in France, we had 7 hours of difference. Sometimes, it was too late to call her.
She never failed at calling me. Trying to reach out to me. She is one of the few that truly understood how hard it is to be far away from all you know, all you understand, those you grew up with, those that hold your same values, even the food you like...
I am trying to think positively. I know she is not suffering anymore. However, this sadness is still there. This sense of loss is still there.
I will hold on to the sweetness of this tears, of this hurt because they are a sign of love. They remind me I love her and she loved me. And, love will never die.