Happy Father's Day

I hope you have a happy father's day if you are a dad and if you are not, well you are a potential one so read this.

Your ultimate model of how to be a father should be God Himself. He is the father to whom we cry out "Abba, Father". He is the "Father of the fatherless". The following are some thoughts by Roy Lessin.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
1 John 3:1

These are just some important areas to consider:

1. Leadership - a father has been called by God to instruct and teach his children. He has to direct them on how to live their lives. He is a child's spiritual leader. A child needs to see from a father good words, wise counsel, how to make good decisions and how to discover his worth, his value, what he can do if he sets his mind to it. Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

2. Care - every child needs to be cared for and have his or hers needs met. One of the main responsibilities of a father is to care and provide for his children. A man?s work is a God given way for a father to care for his family. No work is small or insignificant in the eyes of God. A man?s work is honorable and is a doorway through which a father helps to express his love and care for his children in practical ways.

3. Time - Every child has a need to spend time with his father. Being a father is about being together with your child to share life?s joys and God?s blessings. Every moment a father spends with his child is another opportunity for good to happen in a child?s life. A father needs to value and guard his time with his children. Time is a precious gift that a father can give his children and it will have far greater value than any material gift he could ever buy for them.

4. Himself ? Even greater than a father giving his child the gift of time is when a father gives his child the gift of himself. When a father gives the gift of himself, he is saying to his child, ?I am not only spending this time with you, but you have my complete attention. My eyes are upon you, my watch-care is over you, my thoughts are with you, and my love is around you. When God spoke to Abram, God gave him this precious promise, 'Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.' GENESIS 15:1.

So enjoy a Happy Father's Day!

Ruins of Old Panama City

RUINS OF OLD PANAMA - these are ruins of the old Panama City, way back when the spaniards came here.

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Bridge of the Americas

BRIDGE OF THE AMERICAS - This bridge was built by the americans over the Panama Canal. It unites the city with our countryside and basically you can also say that it unites South America with Central and North America. Panama is called "bridge of the world, heart of the universe". Recently another bridge was built over the Panama Canal but it's not being used yet.

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Panama City

PANAMA CITY - this is where I live. In my country we have the privilege of being able to go from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean in less than 2 hours. The city bay is on the Pacific side.


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Panama City at night, Balboa Avenue

Panama in pictures...Bocas del Toro

I found this really cool page with photographs of Panama. If you want to check it out you can go to Jose Angel Murillo/Stock & Assignment Photographer. He has excellent pictures of my country and note that all the pictures I am posting here, he is the one that has all the rights. I asked for his permission to share some of the pictures here in my blog and he was so kind to allow it. I would like to take the opportunity to thank him...thanks Jose Angel. It was difficult to choose which ones I wanted to post here as there were so many pictures, but this is what I came up with. I hope you like them and get to know a little bit of Panama through the pictures.

I'll start with one of my favorite places in Panama. I think I may have mentioned this before...this place is really close to my heart as my parents lived there like for 15 years and I lived there until I was like 3. I enjoy going back there a lot. In the last few years tourism in the area has increased tremendously.

BOCAS DEL TORO - this province is located in our border with Costa Rica. Atlantic Ocean.



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Bocas del Toro



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Dolphins in Bocas del Toro

There were some pictures that for some reason I couldn't display here so I'll just give you the links so that you can check them out. In order to be able to see these links you will have to register, it's free, you just have to create a username and password and you are in.

Birds Island - it's called this way because on the beach you can see all kinds of birds, this would be paradise for someone who likes bird watching.
Punta Caracol Acqua Lodge
Beach in Bocas del Toro
Beach in Bocas del Toro

To learn more about Bocas del Toro you can check http://www.bocas.com

Audio scripturelet of Psalm 23

Psalm 23

Bible verses

Some Bible verses to meditate on:

Nehemiah 8:9-10

And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Psalms 118:24

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Galatians 5:22-24

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Always remember that the joy of the Lord is your strength. No matter what situation you are going through, do not let the joy of the Lord depart from you. It will give you the strength necessary to keep on going. Remember that everyday its the day that God has given you as his gift to you. Let us ask God to be able to bear the fruit of his Spirit. Satan and his rulers and authorities don't want us to have the fruit of the Spirit in our lives but we know that "he who is in me is greater than he who is in the world". Don't let the circumstances, the situation, that person, satan, or anything else steal from you the joy that God has given you. It is yours to keep, because you are not just anyone, you are a son and a daughter of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

There are sometimes when we wonder why is this happening to me? Why if I am a son or daughter of God I am going through this? How come those that do not fear him are prospering and I am having so much trouble? or how come that friend who is such a good person and a good christian is going through that and me, that I am far from perfect, I am doing so well? I have learned in my walk with God that whatever happens in my life is for my good. In my humanity at first I could see it as something bad for me, but when I talk to God and meditate in His word, I always realize that God can see the total picture while I am just seeing maybe the beginning of it. God can see how it is going to end, while I am just seeing how it's starting. As the Bible says in Romans 8:28...."And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose". Not just some things work together for good, but ALL things. And I have been called, not just by anyone, or by a great prophet, or by a miracle worker (He is all that but so much more) but by the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the Prince of peace, the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.

Ecclesiastes 9:1-2

But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As is the good, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath.

Mathew 5:45

For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

The same events happen to the believer as the unbeliever. But we as believers know that we are in the hand of God. That whatever might be happening here on the natural world, what we might be seeing with our natural eyes....God is still sitting on his throne, God is still in control, He is still all powerful God, He does not change. As it says in Jeremiah 32:27....."Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?". There is nothing, nothing at all too hard for Him. And that is so good to know. I am and you are in the hand of God.

I read this passage and I will take for myself. For my own battles.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles." 2 Chronicles 32:7-8

Again that "be strong and courageous". I will not be afraid or dismayed because even though the enemy wants to kill me, and he has a horde backing him up...there are more with me than with him. He might have an arm of flesh but with me is the Lord my God. God is going to help me and He will fight my battles. I am not alone. Since the day I accepted Jesus into my heart I was also accepting my daily fight against many enemies. My flesh, satan, the world, rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. But I also know that Jesus didn't leave me alone, He cancelled the record of debt that stood against me with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him(Colossians 2:14-15).

When I started writing this, I didn't even know what I was going to develop. But the words just came to my mind and they are for me as much as they might also be for you, that I do not know. But I know they are for me. Because when you read the word of God, you can't remain the same. The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). I love his word. It gives me direction, a path to follow. That is why whenever I get the chance I include it here, because if just one person reads this, and by reading it he or she gets curious and starts reading the word of God and if then the Spirit convicts that person concerning sin and righteousness and judgment...it's worth it. And if a fellow brother or sister in the faith is encouraged or challenged by the word...then it's also worth it.

Some calls

There are some calls are work that just leave you kind of exhausted. You feel drained after you finish the interpreting and some can be pretty awkward too. I think I have explained before that we service all kinds of calls...911, medical, financial, insurance, technical, utilities, you name it. Now that I am receiving the medical calls everything is much more personal. Before it was just utility bills, bank accounts, auto insurance, things like that...but now is the person who is sick and terminally ill, the mother whose baby has stopped breathing, the old man who needs an MRI to see if he has a tumor, it is on a much more personal level, and the interpreter as a human being can't help but sympathize, at least me.

There are calls that can be very draining...I had one this week. As soon as the nurse got on the line she told me it was going to be a difficult call as we were calling a mom whose almost full term baby had been stillborn. When she told me that, I took a deep breath and asked God to prepare myself for the call. Mom was very upset, and she kind of wanted to tell you every detail. Just by talking about it I think it helped her and it shared a little bit of the burden to me and the nurse, who were listening to mom. At the end of the call I thought mom was very strong, her voice cracked a little bit some times, but she did not break down. I couldn't help but wonder what a difficult situation it was. For mom, for dad, for the whole family.

I've had to call spouses, whose partner has died and give them the facility condolences, and if there is anyway they call help them, any comfort they can give. These calls are very exhausting. I had one a few days ago of a mom calling 911, whose 11 month old baby was having seizures. She was screaming at the top of her lungs..."please, please help me....my baby is not breathing, please, please.......my baby....my baby". Since she was screaming I couldn't hear the dispatchers instructions. Very difficult call, because we as interpreters can't take over the call, we have to follow the instructions, imagine when you are straining to hear the instructions but you can't because of the other persons screams. I had to kind of shout back and tell her that we were not going to be able to help her if she didn't calm down. The first thing you need is the address to be able to dispatch help, but when the person is not listening to you over their own screaming it creates a very tense situation. And you know that help needs to be sent as soon as possible.

There are also calls that are a little bit awkward. This happens specially when is somebody from the opposite sex. We have to interpret calls in 1st person. So it is as if we were the ones talking. I've had two calls like this so far. In which the patients were male and they had problems having an erection. I have to interpret everything like if it is me. Something like "I haven't been able to have intercourse with my wife since the surgery and it has been 3 months that I can't get it up" (or something like that) in my voice. There are times when providers just crack up laughing they can't help it, and then they apologize. But the guys (interpreters) have to do it all the time. Because for some reason men don't go to doctors as much, but women do. And guys have to interpret calls saying things like "well, my last menstrual period was in march and this is my 3rd pregnancy, one of my babies was born vaginally and the other one through a c-section". I am telling you... Doctors and nurses have the time of their lives listening to us interpreters sometimes.

I had a call this week in which a couple was receiving in-vitro fertilization. But they didn't bring the semen sample. So the nurses were both female, I was female...so that man uttered like 3 words during the 20 minute call. The nurses were telling them that they needed the sample, and that timing was everything to fertilize the egg, and that they had a special room for them to go and get the sample. Then the lady said that her husband gets nervous and he can't do anything, if there was something they could give him to help him. So he was going to receive viagra and then they were going to try to get the sample. I thought the call was going to end there, but when the nurses asked them if they had any questions, the lady asked how could they get the sample. I thought..."this is personal". Then the nurses started explaining they could have intercourse but he needed to withdraw before ejaculating and he needed to ejaculate into the cup. Or she could stimulate him manually or orally, but if she did it orally no saliva could get into the sample in the cup, because it could kill the sperms. I could just feel through the line how uncomfortable the gentleman was, so it was a little awkward.

But at the end you feel good, because you were able to help these people bridge a language barrier. Not only for the people who speak spanish but for our clients as well.

Still a little shaky

Things are still a little shaky in my country. The government already approved the reforms last night, everything was done in less than a month, the issue was taken to what we could compare to the senate on May 18 and last night they were already approved (like 40 in favor, 30 against), even though the people don't agree. Everything was done really fast for this type of decision.

Today people were on the streets again. This is bad for our economy, tourism, everything. And when you are traveling in your vehicle on the streets, you never know if you are going to run into the people that are blocking the roads and if they might do something to your car, so you try to avoid them as much as possible.

If you can pray for my country I would really appreciate it. For peace and stability.