**While she is technically still on the path to her profession, I felt her story was worth telling. For some of it is more of a journey to find our place than for others.
“It was my goal in life to be beautiful,” she told me. Well my friend, I couldn’t help but think, you have reached your goal. Ericka Vega is a buddy that I’ve known for a couple of years now, and I wondered what she was up to these days. I messaged her on FaceBook and invited myself over for an interrogation… I mean an interview.
We sat in her backyard and relaxed as we talked. I asked her what work she was doing now and did I get an answer! She started off by telling me about her Mr. Dave. Years ago she started to clean his home a couple of times a month, for some extra income. That all changed when his physical needs changed. When he needed more of a caregiver, Ericka stepped up to the plate. “God is pretty amazing,” she told me. What started off as a cleaning job, had turned into much more for her. Since she grew up without a dad, she feels blessed to have in Mr. Dave in her life as a bit of a father figure. Now, she takes him to appointments at Stanford, and gets him out of the house. She also is getting him involved in another area of her life, weight training. Continue reading “A Study in Pink – Ericka”
I once had a dream where I was swinging a baseball bat. The problem? I wasn’t playing baseball. I was swinging away at things (I’m not even sure what?) just smashing objects at will. When I woke up and remembered my dream, I could still recall the anger and frustration I had felt. It was really weird to see myself that frustrated, even if it was in a dream. It was a bit scary to realize that this anger and frustration was buried in my sub conscious. Like I said, the first time I had the dream, I was dealing with teenage boys. I love my children and the men they are becoming, but there was a time that they were struggling badly. Really….it was hard! 
Is that really how we look at people, all good, or all bad? It seems that a lot of times we do. I think we can look into our own lives, and know that’s not that way it really is. Am I good, Am I bad, or maybe a bit of both? 
Once there was a woman, and she had gotten her feelings hurt. Nothing too bad, but the unkindness hit her especially hard at that time. Maybe she was feeling a little vulnerable. Anyway, the more she tried to analyze the situation, (sound like anyone you know?) she decided that the only thing she could really do was pray for them. She did that, not because she was so smart, but because the hurt was taking over her mind. She knew the person was probably tired, and under some stress. She also knew that the reaction she had received was not normal for them. It was then that she thought, better me than someone else who maybe wouldn’t be able to let go of the hurt. 
Fourth of July…. Independence day. While I am thankful to be an American, I am more
So every year I wind up writing scenes for VBA, or Vacation Bible Adventure. I take bible stories and I adapt them to these vignettes that we do one a day during the week.
Sunday morning. It is always interesting to see what happens on a Sunday, and as soon as I got to church, it started. One of the songs we sang had something to do with the “power in His name”. I actually don’t even remember what the song was, because I immediately started thinking. I wondered, because that is what I do, if I really believed in that power? I am still trying to wrap my mind around that whole “love your neighbor as yourself” thing again. Just then it hit me. The whole problem wasn’t with the loving, but with trusting.
Cheryl Mendoza 