Cuán Grande Es Nuestro Dios
Here I am at 22 years old, women's ministry is my career, and so much of who I am today is because of the warrior, faithful woman I have as a mom.
At our last ministry worship night, "Invited," they started playing, "How Great is Our God." And then halfway through the song, they threw in a verse in Spanish! Now, I grew up in a bilingual church with predominantly Spanish speakers, so it's not that I was so shocked at the intermingling of languages in worship - it was the crazy familiar feeling of, "Home," that it stirred in my heart. It's been a few years since I've attended a bilingual service, so the sound of, "Grande es nuestro Dios...Y todos verán cuán grande es nuestro Dios," brought a wave of joy over me.
It instantly brought to mind an image of my mom singing on the worship team at our old church. I could see her singing, her eyes closed, so full of emotion, with her hands lifted high.
Oh my goodness, did my mom LOVE to sing on that worship team! And not because she wanted a platform or because she wanted to be heard, but simply because of her passion for worship - the woman probably doesn't go a single day without singing.
Every Saturday morning she'd wake me up so we could both go practice with the worship team at church from 9 to 12. She'd drag my grumpy teenage self there week after week. Then, we'd show up on Sunday mornings at 8:15 and help lead worship for both the Spanish and English services. And we'd show up Sunday afternoons as well to serve for the evening bilingual service.
I'm not sharing this to say, "Wow, look how servant-hearted we were, sacrificing our weekend time for worship." No, honestly, about 80% of the time my flesh would have rather stayed in bed.
But through all those years, I learned so much from watching my mom pour her entire heart into worship. Half the time my mom started singing a worship song, she got tears in her eyes. Any time she wasn't on the stage with the worship team, she was still giving it her all from the pew. I recall many times when my mom could not stop crying through worship that she had to just get down on her knees behind the pew. I didn't really understand it at the time. I was too embarrassed to break down in worship - and how I wish I had known the beauty in that breakdown then!
(Here we are after a morning worship service with our cute little coordinated outfits <3 )
My mom has spent so much of her life praying for me, teaching me, encouraging me and pointing me to Scripture. And man, am I grateful for her.
Last Easter, I felt tears streaming down my cheeks in the middle of the church service. I was so moved by the Gospel story that I couldn't stop the tears from falling. Come worship at the end of the service, I was a WRECK. By the time we were walking out of the building, Zach had to just hug me as I wept.
As I wiped some tears away, I laughed and said, "Oh my goodness, I've become my mother!!"
I hope that someday I can be as courageous and as faith-driven as my mom is. She is strong and so, so beautiful! And I just love her so much.
Happy Birthday to my sweet mom <3
Te Quiero Mucho!!!