Author: admin

So, this one day, I called the housing office at lunchtime from my job.  All I got to say was something like, ‘How’s the apartment coming along?’ when the lady at the other end, said, “Oh, you can come in and pick up the keys.”  I asked if she was talking to me or someone else in the background.  It was to me, she said. I told her it must be a mistake because I had hardly spoken yet.  But she knew my voice, and the place was ours for the taking!  Does God know your voice?  Do you speak to him often enough for Him to know you?  Even if you call on Him just once, he’ll know you.  Try today, especially during this Christmas Season.  And once you’re His, He’ll know your voice like the rest of His sheep do.

   The agent told us that if we took the available and assigned apartment we’d be overcrowded already.  However, if we could wait another 3-4 months, we’d get three bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms, a linen closet, and a pantry on the first floor, on Central Ave!  What a relief to know it wasn’t the iced tea!  My wife was right-again! 

  Meanwhile, back at our ‘luxury’ hotel, my wife gave birth to our third and final child.  Three days later she was home and the temperature was five degrees outside, and just as cold inside.  We all had to sleep in the living room next to the kitchen.  My wife boiled water early in the morning so the vapors could keep us warm.  We immediately called the hotline to report our landlord again.  He came in raging mad because we had dared to do that.  I believe we quenched the excitement of his recent trip to Puerto Rico.  How sad.  We definitely couldn’t wait to cross over to the Promised Land. 

   God promised Israel they’d inherit the land that flowed with milk and honey, but they forfeited it because they listened to the naysayers instead of trusting Him.  Listen to God and you won’t have to wander in the wilderness of your life for forty years; not unless that’s His plan for you.  Reap God’s blessings by yielding to Him; by obeying Him and His Word.  Most of the time, God’s blessings simply refer to His approval of things, not riches, lotteries, jackpots, abundance of goods, great relationships, sex appeal, and definitely, not prosperity.  He is your all in all (Colossians 3:11).

One day, my wife said to me, “God told me we would be getting three bedrooms, more than one bathroom, and a linen closet on the first floor, on Central Ave.” Are you sure? I asked. “Yep,” was her response.  Months later, we were headed to a ‘housing meeting to see if we’d been considered & what we’d get.  On our way, I asked my wife what she’d think if we were asked to wait a few months longer.  She wasn’t happy with the thought.  When the agent saw my wife, she said, “Oh gosh, when are you due with that baby?  “Last week,” my wife answered.  To which the agent said, “Well don’t have it here!” She proceeded to show us the place we would be getting: Two bedrooms, one bathroom, no linen closet, on the third floor, on Palmetto St. just across from Central Ave.  What had happened?  Was God wrong???  Had God really said such words?  Had my wife been hitting the ice tea again???

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God (Yahweh Elohim) had made and said to the woman, ‘Yea, but hath not God said you may eat of every tree in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1).  Whose voice(s) are you listening to?

Raising a family always gave me reasons to thank God: the sounds of laughter amongst the kids, my wife teaching each little one to cook or bake cake. Watching the kids want to lick the chocolate frosting or batter that was left over from the cakes they just helped bake, listening to the pitter-patter of little feet shuffling along the floors letting us know they were up, and just having a family to spend time with.

Trials were ever-present, and still are.  I think they’ve graduated to a higher level of difficulty!  They’re pretty much like my timers when I’m cooking and doing the laundry: the microwave beeps signifying something’s ready, the stove timer goes off when set and food is ready, and our washer ‘sings’ letting me know the wash is done.  Sometimes before one trial is over, another one is at its heels.  We sometimes manage around those timers and need to do the same with trials.

I read the news almost every day.  Tragic news is everywhere; but if you’re alive, you’ve got reasons to be thankful for.  If no one’s reading about you having lost your life, then you’re alive.  It’s best to learn to take the good with the bad and ask God for direction on the road ahead.  Many people have lost their homes and cars in recent fires, others have lost their jobs, still others may have lost friends and dear loved ones confirming to the world that sin is all around us.

If we keep our sight on the Author and Finisher of our lives, with each bit of bad we get a better view of what lies ahead in the New Jerusalem, the New Heavens, and in our eternal abode with the One who holds the key to our lives and our hearts: Jesus.

Lord, we’re grateful for all you’ve done for us; for sacrificing your sinless life for our guilty ones and declaring us free of sin.  Thank you for preparing a place for us in your home, your heart, and in the Father’s presence.  Amen

As our son grew our growing daughter didn’t want to stay behind.  My parents bought them a set of bunk beds.  Our son slept on top so we took the crib apart and used the side rails to close in the sides of the bottom bunk for our daughter since sleeping in the crib was out of the question for her.  She managed to get out all the time.  She’d also climb halfway up the bed ladder and then cry for help.  We’d toss her back in bed and she’d do it over and over. We even sealed the entire bed like a small child prison and placed her on a mat.  Next morning, she was still on her mat but she had slid under one of the ladder rungs and landed intact on the floor!  Would she grow up to be an escape artist?  Only God knew.  For now we were glad to know they were both growing and she’d soon be out of her prison.

Jesus came to set captives at liberty; to give them deliverance.  Are you free today?  If you haven’t rendered or surrendered your life to Him, you’re not free.  Complete freedom comes with giving our very selves to Him.  All prison chains fall off.  What types of chains, you ask?  Chains of blame; of blaming others for all that’s wrong in your life or all that’s befallen you.  There are chains of anger, chains of hate, chains of indifference to others or to their needs.  Maybe you have chains of irresponsibility.  We all need to take credit for what we’ve done, or haven’t done.  Once set free, we become escape artists (from Satan’s grip).  We can then climb the ladder of spiritual growth that leads to the Father.  Leave your prison today!  Bask in the comfort and promises of God’s words of hope.  Read the words of Isaiah, chapter 61, verses 1-3: “The Spirit (Ruach) of the Lord is upon me: because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he has sent me to bind the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound: To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD (Yaweh), and the day of vengeance of our God (Elohim); to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD (Yaweh), that he might be glorified.”

We were living at our Bushwick Ave. apartment for three years before applying for housing.  Although my wife had taken a photograph of a huge dead rat that had died in our one-and-only half bath, and our son had been playing with it, we believed God to be in control of everything; even the rat.  Would you like to see the picture??  I’m dying to post it!!!  Wife won’t let me 🙁 We referred to our bathroom as a half bath because one half was on one side of the kitchen holding the tub and vanity, and right across the room was a small closet housing the toilet…strange!

We were interested in new housing units being built near our place. At a meeting for new potential homeowners, we were told we ‘might’ get in to the system.   We were also informed that there were at least a thousand families ahead of us.  However, we knew God could work through that list & move us ahead.  Immediately, faith kicked in: since I worked at a warehouse, I began taking home unwanted, empty boxes and began packing for our journey to the promised land.  As we awaited our exodus, we continued our plight.

It was freezing in our unit!  My next-door neighbor and best friend, Ray, thought it strange that we would call the heating hotline number to report the landlord.  After all, we were Christians.  I told him, “Then the landlord should be behaving like one.”  Ray believed we needed to be good Christians and endure the pain, suffering, and the freezing.   We didn’t share those beliefs.                   We really needed a ticket out of there. Part of that ticket would be God’s answer to prayer; the other part was on its way in the form of another child!     Life goes on…another lesson in patience.  Psalm 40:1 reads: “I waited patiently for the LORD (Yaweh); and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.” Amen!

At my old job, the workers kidded that we were hidden in the basement; kept away from the public.  Above us was a showroom of highly expensive decorating fabrics where customers went and requested samples or clippings of fabrics that ‘tickled their fancy.’  Sometimes they placed their orders on the spot.  Meanwhile, we had to climb on ladders or go up shelving that were over ten feet high to fulfill orders.  It was a lot of work, especially when other workers would hide so as not to do their share.  When large orders arrived of 3-5 pages long, some workers decided it was time for their 15 min. break, leaving the load on others.

We always felt the manager was one with a whip chasing us up & down the aisles and shelves to hurry up and get our work done.  There was definitely no preferential treatment there.  We’d hope some ‘big shot’ in the showroom would come down and see who really did all the dirty work.   Never happened

We had a guy, Pete, who memorized almost every single piece of fabric we housed. Each piece had a five-digit number.  If we’d say, I need number 12395, he’d be able to tell you how many were in the same line, what colors they came in, their price, and how many inches before the pattern repeated itself again, etc.  What’s more amazing is that a few years down the line, a larger company merged their line with ours, bringing in 10,000 to 15,000 new fabrics and within weeks, Pete was memorizing them all!

Being out of the spotlight also meant getting paid as if living in the dark.  After paying our tithes and our bills, I’d stay with $2.00 for the next two weeks.  Having to get along with three kids and a wife wasn’t easy with two bucks.  To save (!), I’d ride my bike about 12 miles to work from Brooklyn to Manhattan.  I’d cross the Pulaski Bridge and then the 59^th St. bridge-even in frigid weather.  For lunch, since Pete only had a sip of his soda and threw out the rest, I’d ask for some before he drank.  I’d pour some into a cup and have it with some snack.  I felt as if I had a hole in both pockets.  But Jehovah Jireh, our provider, always came through.  I remember we had had a grand total of $157.00 stashed in our bank account for years.  I believe it went down to about $8.00 and we never looked at it cause we knew it couldn’t help us pay for anything basic.  I’m thankful to God I had a happy and understanding wife and three young kids for whom riches meant dad coming home, and that’s all that mattered.  I’d enter the door and one would grab me on the left leg, the other on my right leg, and the youngest I’d pick up.  I’d walk like Frankenstein pulling along two twerps and carrying a munchkin.

Where are your riches?  Although ‘Money answers all things’ (Eccl. 10:19), true treasures are to be established in heaven so that when this world is over, or we go to Him, we’ll have treasures to ‘bank’ on (Matt. 6:20).  Our prayers are deposited in heaven, our good deeds (because of our salvation), will be acknowledged by God.  Together, they form our bank accounts.

As the apostle Paul said, “I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound in all things; I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” (Philippians 4:12).  Not having money meant no need to worry on overspending when shopping since we simply didn’t shop except for groceries.  The one thing there was always an abundance of was laughter in our home. If you have the chance someday, read the great poem Laughter In the  Walls by Bob Benson.  It has definitely enriched our lives and has shown a truth relative to happy lives within happy walls.

Now that the storm of all storms is over, we can head back to ‘the ranch’ and to our stories about our growing family and our hectic lives in Bushwick.  But wait!!!

I’d first like to revisit an in-between- event.  Before sharing how God led us to the promised land, this date, October 27, 1984, was very special, and sad too.  It was fall and my parents had finally decided to move back to their homeland, Puerto Rico.  On this date, we drove them and my youngest brother to the airport.  We had always been together as a family and they were crazy about our kids ages 4,  2, and, 10 months.

My dad also left behind all seven of his sons and their families.  According to my mom he didn’t say one single word during the entire flight.  My parents had been living in New York for 29 years.  Now retired, my father was tired of the cold weather outside as well as inside.  There was hardly ever heat or hot water, so we agreed they should leave.

Though it was a good idea, it was now a sad and lonely time for us.  We missed them and they missed us. The kids wanted to see them, which of course, made it hard on us to explain.

A month before they left I had stayed without a job.  All five of us were home together while we waited on God and pursued Him for our future, which at the time, was pretty bleak.  God, however, was our ‘Very present help in (times) of trouble’ Psalm 46:1.  What happened next, is another chapter in our lives! Tune in for the great adventures of Sam & Viv’s family !

We felt sorry for the cops having to work ten to twelve-hour shifts standing in the sun directing traffic. Their chiefs/captains wouldn’t bring them water or food.  What food and drinks they received was provided by passing motorists who would stop to hand them water bottles, burgers, and chicken, etc.  God was providing for their needs

The government received seven million dollars for those cops for their ‘beyond duty’ work, but the money ‘disappeared’ before anyone saw it. That caused all the cops to go on strike and not show up to work for several months. We agreed with their decision; however, that meant no one manning the traffic lights, or fighting crime, which of course, was on the rise.  Driving during this period of time was the worst ever.

As we contemplate on what befell us, we really did pull together.  For one thing, our spiritual lives suffered due to the loss of our church-rented site; our pastors went to the states for some months, listening to encouraging messages or music was impossible with only one radio station in operation and only sharing news updates, etc. We ended up reaching out to our ex-pastor’s wife, Donna, (from N.Y.) who now lives in Florida. She would send encouraging thoughts & prayers via email. We would read devotionals and try to encourage each other.

On the streets and in neighborhoods, people continued pooling together cleaning their trash, removing debris, and doing just about everything that the government and town majors wouldn’t touch with “a ten-foot pole.” This enabled us to see how a tiny mustard seed was sprouting into a huge tree. Working together showed us the bright side and victory over the devastation Satan thought to utterly cover us all with.

One incident that affected us greatly, occurred early one very dark morning.  While driving my wife to meet up with a coworker, we wound up literally rear-ending a huge, brown cow that suddenly appeared right in front of us!  Thankfully, we didn’t get hurt, but were shaken up.  It would be months before we could laugh at that incident.

Yes, the blanket of gloom was being lifted in town after town.   On April 7^th, we received our electricity!  Seven tough months had passed since the storms, and although it would be more than two additional months before we’d move back home, I was now able to wash clothing & dry them at home as well as see any damages that we couldn’t see before.

Bottom line: life for us had been intensely difficult staying at someone else’s home for a full nine months plus not having power at our home for 219 days, 10 hours.

As June drew to a close, Viv was able to start her summer vacation and we moved home for a week. We then headed to Florida to see our kids!

Although we still need new roofs on our home and two other out buildings, the storm was finally over after nine months.  We could now get back to our ‘normal’ lives…our longest winter, like fallen snow, was finally fading away.

And so, we pray, ‘Thank you, Lord, for holding us near Your heart all these months. We never would have made it without You and Your help’.

January 2018

“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily does beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

The new year would hold more blessings in disguise; unfortunately, trials too!

On one very dark morning I commented to my wife that the one light that was usually on near a food vendor, was out.  That was the only light in a three-mile stretch.  Three minutes after having said that, a mother who would accompany her daughter to school to keep her safe, was run-down.  Both were hit, but the mom died and the girl was in critical condition. I saw both bodies on the ground. So sad.

Maria continued to impact us; one of our dogs died and we lost our goat.  God has promised to be there for us and with us through the storms of life.

One of our dearest blessings and one that would bring us hope every week as well as keep us going, came in the form of pictures, videos, and phone calls. Whenever we would receive pictures of our granddaughter, Elianah, our lives were renewed. We anticipated going to Florida for the summer to see our kids and that was light at the end of the tunnel for us.

“Children’s children are the crown of old men…Proverbs 17:6.”

 

No more buckets of water to be emptied in our bedroom!