Stupid Small in 2011

It's a New Year (Thank the Good Lord!) and this naturally causes us to reflect.  Even if you're not so into New Year's Resolutions, it seems like those first few bars of Auld Lang Syne, cause one to think back (with regret or nostalgia) of the year gone by.  You just can't help but think of what you would like to do differently in the New Year or what things you really hope to see.  When the clock strikes 12 and you're standing there with your glass of bubbly, the inner optimist finds expression in that New Year's kiss.

As you look at your goals for 2011 and if you make any New Year's Resolutions, I think a major key is to not over complicate things.  I came across a blog today that said it so well, that I won't try to reiterate it.  I'll just share it with you:

Here's a taste:

Repeat after me: “The way to scary-good is through stupid-small.”

It sounds silly, but it’s true.

Being silly also helps you from being afraid of it.

Stupid-small is the way to go.

When my wife and I were at our lowest point together, we applied this idea without even knowing it.

We both knew we wanted something better, but it seemed so far off. So we started small. We cleared some things off our calendars, we went to counseling, we talked and spent time together.

We didn’t achieve a better marriage overnight, but we began the journey – and that’s the point.

We did it – so can you.

We are also planning for what will unfold in 2011 – step one was to start stupid small.

You will want to read the rest!!  Visit Simple Marriage!
 
God bless you and your marriage in 2011!
 
"It was rather splendid to be wearing a blade made in Gondolin for the goblin-wars of which so many songs had sung....Go back, he thought. No good at all. Go sideways? Impossible. Go forward? Only thing to do! ON WE GO! So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and pitter." (The Hobbit)

May 10: It's National Wear Your Apron Day!

I'm wearing my apron.

It's about more than keeping clean while cooking dinner.  It's a subtle celebration of womanhood. 

It's claiming (or reclaiming) a domain almost lost in our society.  This domain--home, we call it--has been surrendered piece by piece to fast food joints, social clubs, satellite TV, internet, smart phones, and a million little devices and appliances that claim to to make our lives easier.  And yet the hub of all life--the home, has been whittled away.  It's scarce these days for families to sit around a table eating a home cooked meal, having engaging conversation, and priceless bonding.  Table linens and the good china are brought out only on special occassions and sometimes not even then.  Where are the cosy little nooks where mother and child snuggle together with a good book?  Where are the lazy afternoons laying on the lawn together, looking at the clouds?  Where do the young people go when they need a good cry?  Do they bury their faces in Mama's apron and know somehow that everything will be OK?

I wear my apron with pride.  It's my way of saying it's OK--in fact, it's more than OK, it's great!--to be "just a housewife."  I get to wipe the tears and bind up broken hearts.  I get to make messes in the kitchen and clean them up.  I get to wipe up spills and sweep crumb-covered floors.  I get to clean up after some fantastic little people who are worthy of all my hard work.  They are princes and priests and I am sowing seeds into the harvest of their greatness.  I am blessed to be able to have a place that is mine--to express myself in all the details, all the nooks and crannies.  A vase of flowers here.  A piece of homemade art there. 

This apron is my uniform.  It says that I am on duty.

What other profession in the world allows one the freedom of full expression?  What other profession lets you change directions in the middle of a project?  Let's put away the math books and bake some cookies.  What other profession pays you in the early morning warmth of a cuddly child who smells so sweet?  Can anything be compared to a child reaching into your apron pocket looking for a toy, a piece of gum, or a sticker and then looking up to you with eyes that say, "Thanks Mom" even if his lips don't?

I am a woman. 

I am a housewife. 

I am a cultural revoluationary. 

I am ready and on duty. 

When I put on my apron I feel empowered. 

Not all superheroes wear capes.  Some wear aprons.

Good Friday Event!

Please join us tomorrow, GOOD FRIDAY, 7pm at Ambassador Auditorium, Fire Carpet!

We will be showing The Passion of the Christ, remembering together what makes Good Friday SO GOOD!

There will be activities and a separate movie for children--along with worship and a snack!  So bring the whole family!

Tis The Season To Be Joyful?

I don’t know about you, this shopping stuff around Christmas time can be dangerous. I got to admit, I really don’t enjoy going to malls anytime of the year especially during Christmas time. . The other day I went out with my wife and my two daughters’. We were honked at repeatedly, yelled at, almost run over by an impatient driver, was pushed and shoved, cut off by another shopping cart, and watched someone give another person the high sign. What a day we had. It got to the point I just had to laugh or other wise I might have joined the people with some holiday cheer of my own. It all made me just reflect on what Christmas is really about. I thanked God for loving us so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross for us. In years past I would have lost my temper and acted just like everyone else. I realize I must set an example to my family and to other’s. I can’t talk about patience, love, kindness, and the joy that Jesus fills me with, then go out and do the opposite. During this time of running around, being yelled at, honked at, cursed at, cut off, pushed, shoved, and almost run over, let’s remember who we represent. We represent our Savoir Jesus Christ who Christmas is all about. It is a true test of who we really are when we respond in love, kindness, patience, and a joy in our heart. This is who we should be all year round, not just during Christmas time. Remember a smile or an act of kindness can make a difference in someone else’s life. So let’s not be like the rest of the world. Let the light of Jesus shine through you during this busy holiday season. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mark Soto

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years... Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart. - George Mathhew Adams

The Sotos

Mark and Raquel

Andrew, Ana, Samantha and Mikaila

The Gombojavs

Gana and Daja

Meg, Israel, Luc, Captain, Belgee, and Saraa

May your home be filled

with love and peace this Christmas!

This Whole Christmas Thing

(I do not know who wrote this, but it's definitely worth sharing!)

A woman was out Christmas shopping with her two children. After many hours of looking at row after row of toys and everything else imaginable, and after hours of hearing both her children asking for everything they saw on those many shelves, she finally made it to the elevator with her two kids. She was feeling what so many of us feel during the holiday season, overwhelming pressure to go to every party, every housewarming, taste all the holiday food and treats, get that perfect gift for every single person on our shopping list, make sure we don't forget anyone on our card list, and the pressure of making sure we respond to everyone who sent us a card.

Finally the elevator doors opened, and there was already a crowd in the elevator. She pushed her way in and dragged her two kids in with her and all the shopping bags. When the doors closed, she couldn't take it anymore and stated, "Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be found, strung up, and shot." From the back, everyone heard a quiet, calm voice respond, "Don't worry. We already crucified him." For the rest of the trip down the elevator, it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

Don't forget this year to keep the one who started this whole Christmas thing in your every thought, deed, purchase, and word. If we all did it, just think how different this whole world would be.

--Author Unknown

Get A Jump On Christmas!

One more present to buy. Buy wrapping paper. Wrap gifts. Where did I hide that particular present? Oops, forgot to get a present for the mailman. Make cookies. Eat too many. School Christmas party. Gotta get a gift for the teacher. Address Christmas cards. Lost address book. Call grandmother for addresses. Stand in line at the post office and smile at the grumpy old man behind me. Maybe I should let him go in front of me. Go to the grocery store. How could they be out of currants? Go to another grocery store. Plan holiday meals. Fall into bed, exhausted.

In all your running around this final week before Christmas, don't forget to ENJOY the season! This season of great joy, because God put on flesh. We behold His glory. The only begotten of the Father. Grace. Truth.

Simplify the season. The first Christmas was rather simple. A man. A woman. A manger. And yet the Glory of God filled the place. The Messiah wrapped in swaddling clothes. Come and adore Him.

Take time for joy this week. Take time to let the reason of the season thrill you to your core. You just might feel the urge to jump.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'm More In Love Today!

I love my wife Raquel more today than I ever have before. It is my wife’s birthday tomorrow. I have been doing a lot of thinking, praying about all the things I am thankful for. Of course yesterday was Thanksgiving. I am truly a blessed man to have my beautiful wife Raquel in my life. She has definitely made me a better man. We have been together for 18 years. I can’t say that all those years were the best of times, but for all that we have been through I would not change a thing. I thank God that He took a marriage on the verge of divorce and is now using us to minister into other couples marriages. How good of a Father do we serve! There was a time when my wife told me that she did not love me anymore. She actually told me that I disgusted her. But when we allow God to work in our circumstances and hand it over to Him, we allow God to create miracles. And a miracle He did in our marriage. When I look back at all that my wife and I have been through, it brings a smile to my face to see how far God has brought the both of us. My love for her grows every day. It’s not that we don’t have our moments when we irritate or get on each others nerves, we do, but it's that God has shown me to look past those areas of our marriage and see the beautiful bride He has blessed me with. My wife is truly a godly woman. She walks it every day of her life. She is an example to our daughters of what a godly woman looks like. Thank you babe for passing on a gift like that to our precious girls. She is more beautiful today than the day I met her. We were not Christians when we first met. When I met her she was smoking hot. Not only is she smoking hot today, but she radiates the beauty of God. I could honestly say, she has got the whole package. She loves the Lord with all her heart, mind, body, and soul. She is a wonderful wife who truly makes me feel like the luckiest guy in the world. God really loves me! She is the sweetest mother to our two girls, our son and our daughter-in-law. And she is going to be the hottest grandma around. So babe, thank you for loving me as I am. I love you too much to not try and become that godly man that God commands me to be. You deserve the best that I have to offer. Even though I am not perfect and will make mistakes, I will continue to allow God to show me where I need to grow. Thank you for all the hard work you do to serve us. I know your job as a mother never ends. You are an amazing woman. I look forward to the years ahead. So, Happy Birthday Babe, I love you more and more every day.

Love Always,
Mark (your hubby)

Choose An Attitude For Gratitude

Where has your attitude been ? Has it been an attitude of thankfulness/gratefulness or of complaining? Ephesians 5:20- “Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Thanksgiving is just a few days away. How great is it to live in a country that dedicates a day to give thanks to God. It is truly a time when family gathers together and gives thanks and enjoys good food and watches some football. Unfortunately in today’s society we often go through our daily lives without giving thanks to God. We are a society of the me attitude. It’s about what have you done for me lately as to what can I do for you. Our default response to difficulties in life is to complain, whine, grumble, or blame. We complain about our situation, our self, our marriage, our kids, our finances, and everything else that doesn’t go our way. I am talking about Christians and non-Christians alike. I even include myself in this category of complainers. I thank God that He has really been working on me in this area. If we were to be more thankful in all things as Christians, maybe our divorce rate would not equal or surpass the divorce rate of the secular world.
Romans 8:28- “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Can we see the good in bad? Can we look past our circumstances to see God at work on the other end? I work as a firefighter and over the years I have seen some horrendous things. I recently responded on a traffic accident on the freeway one early Sunday morning. An suv with a family of five crashed into the back of a parked big rig truck on the side of the freeway. A mother and father and there 14 year old son were killed in the crash. There 9 year old daughter and 11 year old son were able to escape out a window before the suv caught fire. Thank God the two young children were not injured in the accident. A passerby stopped and put the children into the back of his pickup truck. When I got on scene I was told that we would be treating the two children that survived. A captain explained to me that both there parents and 14 year old brother were killed and that they did not know yet. My partner and I carried the two children from the truck to the back of our ambulance. My heart was torn for them. I’ll be honest, at first I didn’t even know how to act. Knowing they just lost there family. They were beautiful children. When I started talking to them I found out that they were headed to their grandparent’s house in Oregon to celebrate Thanksgiving. The 11 year old boy then asked me if his parents and brother were dead. It really hit me; I told them that I didn’t know, that we were there to take care of them. I knew they had a sense that they might be dead, but they had some hope at that point. We transported them to the hospital. I gave them both a big hug and they both thanked me for being so kind to them. As I walked out of the hospital I began to cry for them. I can honestly say it is the first time I cried as a firefighter. I don’t have a problem with crying; just ask my wife and kids. They actually call me a big sensitive baby. I’m proud that God has softened my heart to that point.


It was on my way home that morning when I got off my shift that I felt convicted. It really put life into perspective of how we take for granted things in life. I kept thinking of those two children who just lost there family. The pain and suffering they will go through. He convicted me of the things I complain about. When a car drives to slow in front of me when I’m in a hurry. Standing in a checkout line at the market when all the other lines are moving faster. When the last person in the bathroom doesn’t change the toilet paper roll when it only has two little squares left on it. It could be when our phone is ringing all day, or having to go somewhere when all you want to do is stay home and relax. I thought to myself, how pitiful it is to complain about these meaningless things. Once again I thought about those two children and there loss. Someone just lost a son, a daughter, and a grandson.
We all go through trials and sufferings in life. Dr. Jerry Sitzer wrote a book called, “A Grace Disguised” after losing his wife, 4 year old daughter, and mother in a tragic car accident. In the book he states, “It’s not so much what happens to you that matters, it’s how you respond to it.” Is your circumstance going to drive you away from God, or is it going to drive you closer to God. When we respond in faith, we can look beyond our circumstance and see God at work in it. It is then we can give thanks to God in our circumstance no matter how difficult it may seem or be. Paul says in Philippians 4:11- “For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstance.” Not only does this bring joy in our lives, but we also model thankfulness, contentment, gratitude, and a faith in God to our children. We teach them how to handle the storms of life that will come. That they must be rooted in Christ Jesus first. Our children learn by our example. 1 Thessalonians 5:16- “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.” I don’t know about you, but I want to live this will that God has for us in my life, my marriage, and see it in my children’s life. How can we not be thankful knowing Jesus died on the cross for us? Remember we were bought at a price.


Let’s make a choice today to have an attitude for gratitude. I’m thankful to wake up every morning to another day of life. I’m thankful to be able to walk, talk, hold my wife and children, or even to have teeth to brush and hair to comb. I’m thankful for what God has in store for me and my family. So ask yourself, are you truly thankful for your wife/husband? If so, do you tell them how thankful you are for them? Do you thank your children for who they are? How about thanking janitors, bus boys in restaurants, house keepers in hotels, and the list can go on. As Christians, we should stand out from the rest of the world. So let’s learn to be thankful in all things. Let’s give our worries to the Lord. Let’s do things without complaining and allow the love of Christ to shine through us for the world to see.
Psalm 100:4-5- “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Mark Soto

Happy 4th of July!

Whatever you have planned--grilling out, bbq at the beach, fireworks, going to a parade or just laying low--enjoy being with your family this weekend!

And enjoy this hilarious commercial highlighting the differences between men and women--as if we didn't already know!

Family Time for Easter

We love family time. We love those little family traditions that make up our family's identity. These special days that are woven throughout the year help us to remember important events, but also teach us about the nature of God and the need for one another.

(For a great article on the importance of family traditions read Family Life Today's article entitled, "Why Traditions Matter?")

We have daily rituals (morning worship, family dinner and bedtime prayers). We have weekly rituals (Friday night family slumber party, Saturday morning cereal and cartoons, Sunday "Good Breakfast"). We observe birthdays, Mongolian holidays, American holidays and Christian holidays. Makes for lots of observances! It also gives our life a beautiful rhythm that keeps us grounded.

We have always celebrated Christmas in a big way. We begin with Advent four weeks before Christmas and end with Epiphany on January 6th. It's a six week long celebration of God-made-flesh around here! In recent years we've been increasingly impressed that we need to give at least equal, if not more, emphasis to Easter! After all, we are commanded to remember His death until He comes! (I Corinthians 11:26)

Because Easter is much less celebrated than Christmas, I thought I'd share some of the ways we add meaning to this time of year, have fun, and at the same time instill timeless truths to our children.

1. We've started to observe Lent. Neither of us are from particularly liturgical backgrounds, so we didn't know anything about Lent when we started. But, we felt the need to prepare our hearts for receiving the revelation about His resurrection. So, beginning on Ash Wednesday we begin to purposefully look forward to Easter.

I got an idea from this website about creating a road map to Easter. The little car stops each Sunday during Lent at a different spot on the homemade map. And we plan activities or crafts for the children to instill in them the virtues of giving thanks, forgiveness, abstaining, charity, prayer and faith.

Also during the Lenten season the children gather money (by asking obliging friends and relatives or doing extra chores) for the charity or ministry of their choice. They collect the money in "Thankfulness Jars."

2. On Good Friday we all dress in black to help us to be mindful of His passion and death. I also drape a black cloth on the pictures of Jesus and crosses throughout the house. Here we are worshipping this morning:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

3. On Easter morning before the kids wake up, we replace the black cloths with white! We spread a fresh white tablecloth on the table, set out fresh flowers, and all kinds of sweet treats for breakfast! Our first words to each other are, "He is Risen!"

4. On Easter we all wear something new. When money has been tight, this has sometimes just been a new handkerchief that I've embroidered with an Easter theme. In more abundant years, we get new outfits. And the children know that this isn't just to look pretty when going to church. They know that we do this to help us to remember that Jesus makes all things new! And we must choose to put on a new man, too!

5. Every year on either Good Friday or Saturday we watch The Passion of the Christ.

Here are some other things we have done in the past:

Resurrection Eggs by Family Life Today.
An amazing little resource that opens children's eyes to the true meaning and symbols of Easter! Really fun, too!

Resurrection Cookies, recipe here.
This is a great activity that incorporates Scripture into cookie baking! Your kids will remember this message!

Maybe it's too late to do everything you're inspired to do this Easter. But, look ahead to next Easter and to the next holiday your family observes. Be purposeful in planning it. As our children grow they will question these traditions. And the answers will take deep root in their hearts.

"Then your children will ask,

`What does all this mean?

What is this ceremony about?'

And you will reply,

`It is the celebration of the LORD's Passover,

for he passed over

the homes of the Israelites in Egypt.

And though he killed the Egyptians,

he spared our families and did not destroy us.'

" Then all the people bowed their heads and worshiped."

Exodus 12:26

Blessings on your family this Easter!

Gana and Daja