Category: #spiritualwarfare

#edificandotucasa, #raisingchildren, #raisingteens, #runthegoodrace, #spiritualwarfare, mujer virtuosa, Uncategorized

Bridge Builders… These are the shoulders my generations stand on

Osen de Leon

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There are those in our lives that become way makers, bridge builders, wall breakers, gate openers, and destiny markers. My grandfather Humberto is one on them. Born and raised in a small village in Mexico he came to the United States pursuing the hope of finding a job to feed and provide for his family. He climbed on the back of a pick-up truck with my grandmother and their children to head to “El Norte” in hopes of finding fields to work on. It is unthinkable the sacrifice they made as a family to pursue a better life. My grandparents dream was to come to the US to work, perhaps save a little and purchase a home, and hopefully the younger kids could go to school. They dreamed of a better life for the next generation. Simple but not easy.  My grandfather accomplished this task through hard work and determination. At the end of his years, his hands were calloused from hard work, his eyes were tired but still had a vision for his children and great grand-children, his feet were slow but determined to climb as long as there was life in him and his heart was weaker but still overflowed with love for his generations.

A few weeks before my oldest graduated from high school my grandfather sat up on his hospital bed. I brought my boys to him and told him they were going to study and work hard like him. He smiled from ear to ear. He blessed them. His eyes were filled with peace knowing poverty was now just a memory, hunger would visit no more, and the work fields would not trap the next generations. Crossing the border decades ago had proven to be worth it. For days, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren visited with him. He had touched and influenced so many lives. Two days later my grandfather crossed his last border. He crossed over into heaven.

Today, these boys will not be climbing in the back of a pickup truck, but they will be boarding a plane with laptops and backpacks. Dreams of “EL NORTE”fill their hearts. They dream that the soles of their feet will be treading the hallways of prestigious universities in the North East, they dream of crossing social borders, cultural borders, and stepping into  new dimensions. My grandfather left a legacy of being a “border crosser”… crossing over borders of poverty, illiteracy, social barriers, racism, and discrimination. He built bridges over these obstacles. These bridges were built with a dream in his heart, hard work, and determination. He wouldn’t  allow them to limit him nor his family. Let’s teach our children to not only cross over limitations but dissolve them once and for all for the sake of the generations that follow. Let us show them how to be bridge builders so others may follow. #hispanics #buildingamerica

#runthegoodrace, #spiritualwarfare

“Hell” runs! They appear more often than I would like to admit!!!

Osen de Leon

I have been running for twelve years now. Athletic running, that is. If you live here in Texas you know that summer runs can be excruciating and ruthlessly hot. A few years ago I had an insane urge to go for a run in the middle of July and close to 11 in the morning. By then, it was close to 100 degrees. For some crazy reason, I took off. Needless to say, the heat beat me to a pulp. I swore I was going insane and I vowed to never do it again. Strangely,  the next day I had a crazy psychotic urge to do it again. Before I knew it, I ran the “hell run” for a week straight. Those who found out lectured me and warned me about everything imaginable… I was told my brain would fry, that I would go crazy, that I would get physically sick, and so many possible crazy theories .

One day, God spoke to me and said, “I am training you to run through the tough spots in life, what you can conquer in the natural you will conquer in the spiritual”. Whoa! The sunny spots on the road are the toughest, especially the ones towards the end of your run.  It is tough to discipline the mind on a hot run. The pain in your body has to be ignored if I wanted to get home quick. There is no room for rest stops, your thoughts of quitting must be silenced, even if you can’t breathe, you run and you keep moving! Before I knew it, my mind and body were trained to withstand the heat, to take the beating, and keep running to make it home. Then, I started with my two older boys. They joined me on my “hell” runs not knowing what to expect. Before they knew it, they were also training for life. The image in this post is the actual “fire alley” at the last leg of our trail. We usually huddle in the shady spot before, we catch our breath, I set my “beat song on my playlist”, set our eyes on the other side and we GO! Don’t focus on the pain in the fiery trials, don’t lick your wounds, silence the voice that tells you to quit, make sure you look out for stumbling stones, yes,  it hurts, but whatever you do…DO NOT stop.~~~ “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Isaiah 43:2. It’s the same way in life. When you are going through trial, pain, and desperation keep your eyes upward.
No, I no longer do “hell” runs, but I know I can do it. As for my children, I made sure they know what it feels like to push through the pain, to ignore the voices that tell them they can’t do it, to ignore the distractions, keep their eyes on the target… on Jesus!

“Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!”
Hebrews 12:2 the Message