My Voice, My Heart, My Life

Juan Bautista de Anza was a Spanish explorer born in 1736.  He is recognized as one of the great western trailblazers of the 18th century. Though little is know of him among most Americans, his achievments as an explorer are equal to those of Lewis & Clark, John Fremont and Kit Carson.  Born and raised in Mexico, Anza joined the army at 17, rising to the position of Captain within 7 years. He was an exceptional military leader, known to have clever tactical strategies that were displayed in many battles with the Apache Indians. In 1772, Anza made his first major exploratory journey northwest to the Pacific Coast. This expedition was so successful that it provided the first workable connection between the Mexican State of Sonora and northern California. Because of such an impressive venture the Mexican viceroy appointed Anza to return to California and establish a permanent settlement along the Pacific Coast at San Francisco Bay. Side note - Spanish explorers had sai

Verbal Malpractice. I first heard this phrase from Charles Swindoll during one of his series messages titled "Encouragement Family Style." The series wasn't focus solely on the nuclear family but as the family/body of Christ.He was talking about how important it is to encourage each other.  It's part of being a family. "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." (1 Thessalonians 5:11)  It's unfortunate that the last part is not always true. There are times when our mouth is quicker than our brains and end up hurting someone. How many of us have used our words to damage, injury, and break down instead of heal, encourage and build up? How many of us have been guilty of Verbal Malpractice? All of us I believe at one time or another have been the deliverer and the receiver of such malpractice. It's so sad to see the family of God using their words as weapons. At times it's intentionally and

Today is world poetry day.  It was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999. The purpose of the day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world and, as the UNESCO session declaring the day says, to "give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional and international poetry movements". Poetry seems to be very under appreciated. People don't seem to understand the beauty of the word. It's not always straight forward and at times people think it means one thing while others may think it means another. I like to think of it as abstract art. With abstract art the meaning can be endless this is true with poetry. Not every piece will be that way but that's what people get hung up on. What people fail to see is that they speak poetry everyday. If you're singing a song; you're singing poetry. It may not sound like Emily Dickinson but it

 Welcome to the first day of spring. I have always been more of a fall and winter person. I like the cold and being all bundled up. Seeing as I live in the West Coast we don't get to experience seasons. The temperature changes of course but not to the extreme weather change others receive. So when spring comes it's a gentle transition. You still have a bit a chill in the air but with a ray of sunshine. I've learned to appreciate the wonder of this season. I love that this is the season of rebirth. All that had wither and died away comes back to life. The once brittle, dry, gray field now is a lush green meadow with perfectly accented colors. The trees that had lost their bountiful crowns soon begin to sprout new jewels while welcoming newly hatched life. The earth seems to have been brought back to life. It's colors has returned. The colors from flowers, grass, trees and fruits and vegetables. There is something so beautiful about spring vegetables. The dee