I Have Moved...

to...

www.QuinaIsHidden.com 

:) 

#Colossians 3:3 #Matthew5:14

Taken from Monica's blog...

"...And how could we endure to live and let time pass if we were always crying for one day or one year to come back- if we do not know that everyday in a life fills the whole life with expectation and memory and that these are that day?"
- Out of the Silent Planet

Merry Christmas from the Sistren at 4110!

Roomie Christmas Photo Album 

We thought, "Hey, we cook for each other, live in the same house, love and serve the same Father, love each other...we're a family! Why not take Christmas photos like a real family? ;) So Kayla Hayes Photography offered its wonderful service to us for free, and these pics are what transpired. These are just a few from a load that our sister in Christ, Kayla Hayes, took of us at the University of Tampa recently. Merry Christmas from The Sistren at 4110 (Jenna, Joanna Titus, Sarah Jo, Gina, & Quina)! :)

"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." - John 13:35

When I visited Grandma Myrtle & Grandpa Bill last weekend...

Oh, that moment when
strivings reach some peak
and I've cried inaudibly
day and night
with groans
that You'd
take away
this indwelling madness
and pitiful misery,
     thorns poking
     from my dead idolatry
     and unbelief,
and You faithfully
let me see
what it looks like
to face death's eminence
     daily deteriorating
     a man's flesh
     and his wife's heart,
     both failing,
     yet
will praise You
through this
downcast season
     even his last,
     even her last
     with him.
And I sang with her
a few lines
of, "Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go"
and asked them
what You are teaching them
through this storm,
and they told me,
"To accept what He has for us right now."
And she confessed
at times she
questions and doubts
Your wisdom,
"But I'm still a sinner."
she said.
And she had resolved
to thank You
in the midst
of this test.

It makes me
want to run
to You
want to fall
before You
until You are my vision
and I see no other
worldly attachment
sinful entanglement
or despair's closeness,
until my heart
is convinced
that
You are my portion. 

"The triumph of the saint over death is the calm and confident prayer, 'Jesus, receive my spirit.' (Acts 7:59). It is as though you are dying in a small cabin in the woods. The door is death and you are moving toward it inch by inch. As it opens, there is a huge, ravenous wolf with bared fangs and furious eyes. At first you are terrified. But then the Holy Spirit opens your eyes, and behind the wolf you see Jesus shining like the sun. He is standing with his arm extended to you and his face smiling. And hanging tight in his other hand there is a brass chain that leads to an iron collar on the wolf's neck. You hesitate for a moment. But then the Spirit gives you strength, and as you put your foot in the threshold and the mouth of the wolf opens, Jesus flings him with a mighty jerk clear out of sight, and you enter into the presence of the Lord of glory. [...] the Spirit makes death serve the saint [...] it's a doorway to be with him forever."
- John Piper, "He Called Death Sweet Names", an adapted essay from his sermon "The Death of a Spirit-Filled Man"

FriNiteKids: An Ornament of Grace

AN ORNAMENT OF GRACE

by: gina rodriguez

#FriNiteKids

This past Friday night, before receiving a hug and greeting from Coco, I was met with a huge smile as she came up to me and said, “Miss Gina! I have something to tell you!” Unfortunately, I had to start class soon, so I told her that I was excited to hear all about what she had to tell me, and that we could talk all about it together after class. She smiled, gave me a hug hello and agreed.

After prayer requests, I was excited to begin to start our study for the next couple of weeks on a new Bible verse, Romans 3:23. I was super encouraged by one of the new little girls to the Bible Study named Hailey (6 yrs old). It was her first time ever hearing about the word sin, so she had many (great) questions! It amazes me how children so young can quickly understand what sin is… I didn’t have to go over every single sin, but simply define sin as: Anything we think, say, or do that offends God, and she started naming multiple sins! lol… No one can tell me that children are too young to comprehend these things. We finished by teaching them motions to go along with the Bible verse so that they can memorize it.

After Bible Study, I’d gone outside to wait for the Older Children’s class to end. (This is usually the hour I get to simply sit and talk to Coco, answer all of her questions about God, laugh and watch her do gymnastics — it’s hard to say, but this time is probably my most favorite part of the Friday Night Bible Study). The questions came, I got to read her a chapter from her Jesus StoryBook Bible, and from time to time she’d allude to the thing she wanted to share with me, but the other children made it hard for me to be alone with her to listen.

The sun had already gone down now, the older kids had come outside, and there were a couple of us still hanging around talking afterwards. I felt a tug on my side, to look down and see Coco there, her head tilted to the side, with that same smile she met me with earlier. “I have to tell you Miss Ginaaaaa!”, she said.

It doesn’t take much for her to make me smile…or for her to have my attention. I was all ears. As we sat on the trunk of my car, she ventured to tell me that there had been a girl at school that she was mad at for some time now. “She used to be so mean to me Miss Gina, but I prayed, and I forgave her! Now we’re friends again!”

I couldn’t help but give her a huge hug and say, “Wow! Praise God Coco! You see, God helps us to forgive, because we can’t do it on our own!”

While driving home that night, I couldn’t stop myself from almost breaking down in tears praising God for the work that He is doing in her. Not only did she tell me Friday night about how she forgave, but she also was super excited to share with me that one of her prayers had been answered (again), she would be starting Gymnastics soon! (If anyone knows Coco, you would know that Gymnastics is her favorite sport…it’s not hard to guess that when she’s running around doing Cartwheels and interpretive dances in the parking lot).

The love I have for her is inexpressible, but the love that Christ has for Coco is far deeper, fuller, richer, purer, and better than the love I could ever love her with. I praise God for opening her eyes, and bringing her in to participate in the love that is shared between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. She is His forever, and she will always be an ornament of grace that He’s granted to me to decorate the walls of my life. The theme, His glory.

Gold: "Hægt, kemur ljósið" by Ólafur Arnalds

"The hope of the righteous brings joy..." - Proverbs 10:28A

Poems about Felicitous

6.30.12
Felicitous (on a Saturday afternoon)
I am hidden
somewhere in Tampa
phone in borrowed car 
with doors locked
and I'm 
in the corner 
of a coffee house
sipping dirty chai, iced
behind my Bible
plugged up by massive
headphones
and I 
feel a rush,
like I escaped
and am missing. 
Now, 
to meet with the 
all-seeing Eye...

11.3.12
As We Left Off
Dear Felicitous, 
Thanks for welcoming me
back 
to your corners
and crevices
where I feel 
hidden.
Feels
like I've much 
to share with you
3 or 4 months
is it? 
And much can
change in 
that many days!
But to sit in your 
dimly-lit gaze 
and bury my face
in pages
while sipping
your sweet 
drinks--
spiced chai latte, iced
this time--
this, 
this just seems 
right
and I refrain
from
my long explanation
of where, how, why
I've been 
gone for so long. 
We just 
embrace
and pick up
as we left off.

"Help My Unbelief" by John Newton

I know the Lord is nigh,
And would but cannot pray,
For Satan meets me when I try,
And frights my soul away,
And frights my soul away.

I would but can’t repent,
Though I endeavor oft;
This stony heart can never relent
Till Jesus makes it soft,
Till Jesus makes it soft.

Help my unbelief.
Help my unbelief.
Help my unbelief.
My help must come from Thee.

I would but cannot love,
Though wooed by love divine;
No arguments have power to move
A soul as base as mine.
A soul so base as mine.

I would but cannot rest,
In God’s most holy will;
I know what He appoints is best,
And murmur at it still.
I murmur at it still.

Help my unbelief.
Help my unbelief.
Help my unbelief.
My help must come from Thee.

#Honduras2012 - Karla's Baptism

Karla sharing her testimony

I praise God for the privilege of calling my friend Karla (in Siguatepeque, Honduras) my SISTER in Christ! What a privilege it was to meet with her this summer to study the Word, pray, and to witness Christ capture her heart. Meeting with her was my favorite part of that trip. And now that she is His, she has joyfully obeyed her Lord by being baptized. Wish I could have been there to praise God with her for His gracious work of salvation! I'm rejoicing just like my Daddy :D (Luke 15:10). Soli Deo Gloria!

Pastor Melvin baptizing Karla

JOY!

Worth Listening To #Voting2012

http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-448/abortion-and-the-campaign-for-immorality

Gold: Distorted Joy_Theory Hazit

"I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages." 
- Charles Spurgeon

"When I speak of growth in grace, I only mean increase in the degree, size, strength, vigour, and power of the graces which the Holy Spirit plants in a believer’s heart. I hold that every one of those graces admits of growth, progress and increase. I hold that repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, zeal, courage, and the like may be little or great, strong or weak, vigorous or feeble and may vary greatly in the same man at different periods of his life. When I speak of a man growing in grace, I mean simply this: that his sense of sin is becoming deeper, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, his love more extensive, his spiritual mindedness more marked. He feels more of the power of godliness in his own heart; he manifests more of it in his life; he is going on from strength to strength, from faith to faith, and from grace to grace. I leave it to others to describe such a man’s condition by any words they please. For myself, I think the truest and best account of him is this: he is growing in grace."
- Chris Wall 

FriNiteKids: Update & PR's 10.5.12

#FriNiteKids

Update / Praise God: 

Eric: "So, is Jesus coming back?"
Gina: "Yes." Eric: "YESSS!!!"

For the last few weeks, Gina and I have been explaining the gospel using Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Gina, who teaches the younger kids, has used some great visual illustrations (drawing pictures on the white board; using a golden string for eternal life and a black string for eternal death; creating a song out of Romans 6:23; using a dartboard analogy to explain sin and substitution). I've been teaching the older kids mainly by using "the Bridge" illustration and breaking down the gospel in a bad news / good news format. Today I had the privilege of explaining the gospel to a couple of teenage girls from the neighborhood who admitted to having almost no understanding of the Bible. And Gina has had numerous talks about the gospel in and out of her class time. 

Gina praying with her kids at
the end of one of her lessons

"The Bridge" illustration 

Aric drawing some of the kids'
 names and Bible verses 

Tonight Aric Diaz from Texas came by to help with the Bible study. He is gifted in graffiti art, and he spent time with the kids afterward, drawing their names and Bible verses on pieces of paper. One boy told Aric, "I want to be just like you." Aric responded, "Noooo! You should want to be like Jesus!" Praise God for the many opportunities we have had to proclaim His gospel to these children on Fridays! 

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray that the children will have a clearer understanding of the gospel and that their hearts will cling to the truth of the gospel.
• Please pray for male laborers to come mentor the neighborhood boys. 
• Please pray for wisdom, creativity, and diligence as Gina and I consider where to go next with our lessons. 
• Please pray for unity between Gina and I as we serve together in the gospel.

Always practicing bboy moves :) 

Happy 17th Birthday, Luis!

http://theartofrhyme.wordpress.com/

Poem: Autumn

"Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;

You have established the heavenly lights and the sun.

You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; 

You have made summer and winter."

- Psalm 74:16-17

Autumn (Psalm 74:16-17)

By: Quina

Autumn comes

and I

     think

          I’m

               falling.

My

shadow stretches

depravity stalks me

groaning until this

Fall is lifted

and as I

through long nights

wait

I am struggling

wanting to take flight

away

from this chill

feeling I’m

dry and dying

but I

            can’t ignore these colors all around me

            orange, yellow, brown, red

            dead leaves

            remind me

            of Your determination of grace:

            the beautification of my mortification.

            Daily dying is not in vain.

And I know

Winter’s freeze has lost its sting

from its clutch I will thus Spring

to even brighter beams

of light and color

but

Autumn is when

You prepare me.

Creative Response: Cosmic Love

Original song: "Cosmic Love" by Florence and the Machine

Creative Response: "The Light They So Despise (Cosmic Love)" by Quina

Commentary: I did a rough draft recording of this piece as spoken word mixed with a remix of "Cosmic Love" on my computer, but I don't know how to upload it on here. Oh well. 

The purpose of this creative response wasn't so much to challenge what the original song's lyrics are communicating. Instead, I took the themes of light/darkness, vision/eyes, the heart, and living to contrast the blinding, deadening effect of the heart's depravity with the coming of the Light and the Life, Christ. From Him the majority of humanity hid, and hides, because of the darkness of our own hearts, the evil of our deeds. We even go so far as to demand further proof for the existence of God and the deity of Jesus. But this is like asking for proof that the sun is out when it is midday. Christ rightly said, “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” (John 3:19-20). The prayer of my poem is that God, who alone can shine “in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2Corinthians 4:6), would so shine in the dark shadows of unbelieving hearts.

"Cosmic Love"
by Florence and the Machine

A falling star fell from your heartAnd landed in my eyesI screamed aloud, as it tore through themAnd now it's left me blind
The stars, the moon, they have all been blown outYou left me in the darkNo dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilightIn the shadow of your heart
And in the dark, I can hear your heartbeatI tried to find the soundBut then it stopped and I was in the darknessSo darkness I became
The stars, the moon, they have all been blown outYou left me in the darkNo dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilightIn the shadow of your heart
I took the stars from my eyes and then I made a mapAnd knew that somehow I could find my way backThen I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness tooSo I stayed in the darkness with you
The stars, the moon, they have all been blown outYou left me in the darkNo dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilightIn the shadow of your heart
The stars, the moon, they have all been blown outYou left me in the darkNo dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilightIn the shadow of your heart


"The Light They So Despise (Cosmic Love)" 
by Quina

Prove the sun is out?

Need you such obvious testimony?

When it is shining in all its beauty?

Do you not see golden beams?

Shadows cast by trees?

Do you not feel the heat?

How do you believe you are living, breathing?

As it were, we

            have eyes, but do not see

            ears, but cannot hear

            lungs, but cannot breathe

            we dwell in the shadow

            of our cold hearts, dark

            alive, but not living

            alive, but not living

He needs no proof, the light

but humbly He set upon this twilight

and it tried, with violent screams,

but could not overcome

His cosmic love, bright beams

when He rose, rose in three

glorious, undeniably bright beams

Oh, rise in their hearts

that they might

step into the light they so despise,

the light they so despise

"Sanctification is worth all the pain on earth." 

- Gina's Poetical Books Professor

"...but when God comes with afflictions to the men or women who have studied their own hearts, they can say,'I would not have been without this affliction for anything in the world. God has so suited this affliction to my condition, and has come in such a way that if this affliction had not come I am afraid I should have fallen into sin.'"

- (saw this on Rachel's Facebook)

Fri.NiteKids: Gina & Coco

Gina and Coco, the little 7 year old disciple. #Fri.NiteKids

Here is a post that Gina wrote about the privilege she has to disciple Coco. Oh how I love this little sister in Christ! Yesterday when Gina taught about Hell, Coco began weeping. As I sat next to her, patting her back, I asked her, "Is it because she is talking about Hell?" She continued crying, then looked me in the eye and asked, "Have any of your friends gone to Hell?" Sobered by her question and convicted by her response to the reality of God's judgment of sin, I responded, "Yes, yes some of them have." 

After Bible study, Coco asks Gina questions and they usually spend more than an hour discussing the gospel, praying, and reading the Bible together. Praise God for giving Gina words to give a depiction of Coco and the glorious grace of God working in her. Below is taken from Gina's blog.

“I USED TO LOVE SINNING, BUT THEN YOU TOLD ME ABOUT JESUS.”

By: Gina

Her face shines brighter than the Sun whenever the opportunity arises to talk about Him. Her smile radiating from ear to ear, long black curls flowing in the wind as she pivots her foot, shifting all of her 53lbs to her right leg with her hand on her hip. The fullness of those seven long years of age and the wisdom they’ve acquired pour forth from her mouth to her younger cousin, testing her on what they’d just learned 10 minutes ago in Bible Study.

“Who’s the most important person, Raquel?”, said Coco.

“Umm…. God! I mean, Jesus! I mean….yeah!” Raquel replies, as she looks to Coco for affirmation.

I try not to burst out with loud shouts of praise, rejoicing from the pure joy bubbling up within me as I’m overwhelmed by the joy she is enthralled in by simply talking about Him. Jesus. Yes! This Holy God, yet loving friend, Righteous King and faithful Savior! It is Jesus that Coco is filled with excitement over!

After she quizzes her younger cousin, the three of us are distracted by the loud calls to worship that the sky proclaims. Bright neon-looking pinks mixed with soft oranges sitting on a background of indigo sky. After many questions and answers, Coco pulls out her Jesus Storybook Bible and begins to ask Raquel if she’d like to see what Heaven will look like. As she scrambles to find the page towards the end of the book, she re-adjusts all of the purple, plastic, bracelet pieces (used as book marks) to save the place of her most favorite stories and people in the Bible, one being Peter.

If ever I took the time to write down all of Coco’s questions about God, His Son and His Holy Spirit, I’m quite positive I could conclude my memories with a chapter-book. However, I’d still like to give you an idea of how deeply my life has been impacted by a child so young, and so eager to know God, that I am drawn to worship Christ every Friday evening because of what He is merely doing in her.

It baffles me to see how much understanding Christ has granted her at this extremely young age of seven. Not only does Coco hate her sin, but she weeps over it. Not only does she know the gospel, but she has been totally and radically transformed by it. Not only does she know that the gospel is true, but its truth resounds in her life so much so, that she weeps and prays, weekly, for her family’s salvation. Not only does she understand that hell is real, but she weeps in Bible Study for those who have gone there.

I never in my life could have ever expected to have such deep emotions and love for a child who is not my own. However, I have recently found myself identifying with the Apostle Paul when he addresses Timothy and Titus as his “true child” or “beloved child”(Ti.1:4, 1 Tim.1:2, 2 Tim.1:2). Marriage-less, husbandless, childless, I find myself given the gift of being a mother to children who’s real mom’s are in prison, or worse, are present yet have never told them about the one who could save them from the sin they’ve passed down to them.

I don’t know how long of a time the Lord will continue to grant me to be a part of their lives. However, during this sweet, sweet time, I will continue to find myself before His throne, worshipping Him for the opportunity to delight in Him in this way; Provoked by the challenge of loving and trusting my Savior like a little child (Lk.18:17).