A Call To Prayer - Part 2

Some of you may remember back in November I posted the story about Carlos and Jenn and baby Elijah. Baby Elijah was a miracle since the day of his birth. He had many things going against him, but the chain of prayer and love was much stronger than his little body. Through prayer we all fought for him, for his life. We stood by and watched Jesus carry him through so much longer than science said he could. God is SO Good. But in faith, Carlos and Jenn have always known and believed that Elijah was Christ's first.

Today, Elijah is resting in the Arms of His Maker. We rejoice and thank God for allowing Elijah to spend several precious days with his parents and loved ones. We rejoice because today he is whole and healthy, he is no longer weak by the restrictions of his body.

I call you to prayer once more for this precious family. It will be a long journey of healing for Carlos and Jenn in the days that lie ahead. Pray for constant comfort for them in those moments when they feel the pain and weight of broken hearts. Pray that God will continue to carry them through as He has carried them and Elijah through this far. And especially pray that Elijah's story, and his life of faith, will reach many who have not heard of Christ's love and faithfulness. I truly believe that it will.

Carlos and Jenn, I know there are no words I can say and no way I could possibly understand what you're going through. But I will say this...
I love you guys.
I am here for you.
And well, I love you.

A Full Heart

I feel the need to apologize for my "absence" from writing here on my blog lately. I have mentioned before that I feel as though I have no words every time I sit down to write, while this is still true, it is only partially true...I think. I feel like I'm someone who, one way or another, will always have words. My hesitance has been rooted in the fear that I have nothing uplifting to say. The fact is this: we live in hard times and if the forecast proves to be correct, more difficult days lie ahead. What message of hope can I offer you when I, myself, feel without hope a lot of the time? Now I know that last statement can be easily refuted with the very obvious "My hope is in Christ" assurance. But I need to be real, while in the depths of my being I know that to be true, there are some days where I don't "feel" its truth. If that offended you...well I don't know what to say...its just how I feel sometimes...maybe I'm the only one (I really don't think I am though). No need to worry, I am not going to overwhelm you with the daily struggles I have, but I will tell you that I have bad days and on those days I tend to avoid coming on here...I'm going to try not to do that anymore. Maybe my inner dialogues will somehow resonate with you on your bad days. I hope so.

Here is my present state of being: I have empty pockets and a very full heart. I know so many people in America, and all over the world struggle with the empty pockets, but the tragedy is that so many have empty hearts as well. On those really bad days where I feel like I'm never going to "get my break", I remember that I have so much to live for. I don't always remember right away, in fact, sometimes I don't remember until several days later. The important thing is that I remember, I guess.

• My heart is filled with the love of a Heavenly Father who sacrificed his greatest love for me.

• My heart is filled with the promise that this Father is never going to leave me, even when my "gray Ziggy cloud" causes me feel like he already has.

• My heart is filled with the love and support of 2 grounded parents that remind me, by their very existence, that there is reason to continue pressing on.

• My heart is filled with the companionship of my brothers and sisters-in-law.

• My heart is filled (beyond belief) with the light of 2 little ones, Eliana and Joshua.

• My heart is filled with amazing friendships that most people go their entire lives without experiencing.

• My heart is filled with the hope that God will take an "impossible" (by my standards, not his) situation and work a miracle.

• My heart is filled with the promise of plans to prosper me, not to harm me.

• My heart is filled. Period.

What fills your heart?

A 9-Month Joshua

For your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures I took of Joshua last week when he turned 9 months. He's a pretty hilarious kid. Keeps me laughing. Anyway, not much needs to be said, the pictures speak volumes. Enjoy!

Lately, Joshua has discovered that he loves books.
He particularly likes this one with the flaps.
He just discovered how to look for the flaps himself. :)

I love to watch his little, chubby hands open the books and turn the pages.

And yes, his current reading is "Dirt is Delightful"

He hasn't quite figured out the crawling forward thing,
but is pretty good at going backward.

Anytime I forget to take the red-eye light off...this face happens.
I love it!

This is one of his many excited faces. Can you see his 2 bottom teeth? :)

He seriously is just cute all the time!
(Yes, I do realize I am totally biased)

Really can't say anything about this one.
This is Joshua with a face that says

"Hey! Have a good day!" :)

Hope you all are well and having a good week.

Bye Bye Berean

To My Berean Family:

As this chapter in our lives comes to an end and we prepare to begin a new one, I want you to know how much you mean to me. I think to a certain extent we all like to believe that what we do matters, that somehow at the end of the day our existence makes a difference. This has definitely been true of each one of you, you have greatly impacted my life. Anytime a chapter ends it is important that we look back and (hopefully) see that we've learned and grown, I know I have. I also know that you have all been a part of it, I know I am a better, stronger person for knowing you. No matter what I may have been going through in my life outside of work, you guys have always been a soft place to land...and as a plus you always make me laugh and smile. Thanks for that.

I believe that it is very rare for people to come across so many amazing individuals at one place and time. I consider myself to be extremely blessed to have crossed paths with each of you. I think that Berean couldn't end our store on a higher note...we seriously have the most amazing team! As sad as it is that the store has closed down, I have to admit I'm somewhat relieved that it happened the way that it did. I think in the weeks leading up to the announcement of the store's fate a lot of us were starting to feel the itch that it was time to move on. Had the store stayed open, our team would have slowly broken apart...this way, we got to have one last "adventure" together; and wow have the last 2 months been exactly that!

I honestly don't think I was prepared for the last couple of days, I kept thinking that saying goodbye would be easy. And while it was SO easy to say goodbye to those last customers as they asked "is this on sale?", "can you tell me the price?", "why are you closing?", "where are you moving?", "do you have another job lined up?" etc. it was a whole other thing entirely to say goodbye to you guys. I know that we will see each other and still get together and there's still a lot of fun to be had with each other, but something's different. There is a whole chunk of hours in my week that I have spent with you...and now...some weeks there will be zero hours. When I really stop to think about it...its a pretty big deal. But with the friendships and bonds that we share I'm not worried about losing you...but...I will miss seeing you everyday. So, as we journey into the changes that lie ahead of us, please know this - it has been an honor and privilege to work alongside you, to get to know you, to laugh with you, to form lasting friendships with you. Please know that I love each of you with all of my heart. I will miss seeing you everyday, but I look forward to the good times we will have. I pray that you each find true happiness in whatever is ahead... ...but first a look back at some good times.. ps you need to pause the music on the right side before you start the video ;)

Berean Store #11 - Memories from Leslie Lopez on Vimeo.