The other day I saw this ending tag, "Peace" at the end of one of my friends e-mail. He and his wife are in China as missionaries and they recounted about their new happenings. This tag, it took me back to my kid roots. I use to say peace back in the day when I hung the phone up with my closest friends. Then, it was more of a gangster kind of feeling that came with it. More of a, no real meaning behind it kind of thing. A cool thing to say! But now I'm realizing how profound it is to say Peace to someone as you end a conversation. I stopped saying that word such a long time ago and counted it off as a rubbish word. I didn't want to identify my self with that kind of gangster rubbish. I also used to say things like "That's Bad", in order to say that I liked a certain thing. Rubbish is all I can say to that sort of English. But the word peace is such an important word. "Peace" is important to God. God wants peace with in us. If we say to him here am I, choose my path for me, oh Lord. Then what ever he says to do we can know that it's going to be the best for us. So then peace brews up and contentedness is on our hearts because we know that God is good and he will always guide us in only that which is good for us. We don't have to be afraid of where the Lord leads us, do we.

So recently I've been taking on a new and more disciplined approach to prayer. It's been awesome!!! Mainly I wake up earlier every morning which allows for more time in prayer and more time in the word. I've added a new time in my prayer where all I do is sit still after my prayers and wait on the Lord. This giving him all my attention so that I give him a chance to speak.

God Speaks to us, All the time!!!
I have a hard time listening to God because I've noticed there is just to many other voices in my head. My own will, my friends voices, my families voices, The American media's voice, the voices in music. These can all be spiritual enemys. So being still and silent before the Lord is such an amazing thing. I'm begin to realize that he's always talking. I just can't hear him at times because he's been muffled out by all the other voices I allow in.

El Paso
About two months ago I went to El Paso. My home town. As I was taking a shower I was praying for my family individually by name. Then I said simply Lord please keep my family about your work. Guide them and give them your Love, peace, joy. That they would love you with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. Then an overwhelming conviction came upon me. "Why have you not done much to make sure they are doing these things? Now go and do so!" Wow what a call! So I decided then and their that I would start making steps to make sure my family is being discipled. My little sis is 17yrs old and my little bro is 7yrs old. They will be my main focus. At the time I didn't know how that would look. Since then it's become pretty evident that I belong with the family in El Paso. I'm being called to be a spiritual leader of the house. That I may teach them about the Lord and that they may be a people that are about his work, knowing him and his commands and loh, God will be with us till the end of the age. Amen.

PRAYING and Listening
The last two months I've been blessed with confirmation after confirmation about going to El Paso. As I made the decision to move to El Paso the resources all starting coming in. New funding from unlikely sources have materialized for my extended stay at CRYi. Blender Creative offered me a freelance Job even if I'm living in El Paso. The Lord is finding replacements for the freelance projects I'm responsible for. But above all, I'm just real at Peace even though it's going to be a hard thing to do. El Paso is not the best place for my trade(Art Direction) The university their is weak compared to ASU's top in the nation rankings. It's a faith thing. I don't have much in mind about how things look in El Paso but I'll continue to wait on the Lord continually he'll reveal what he wants from me and I'll conitnue to have peace about it because I know my God is Good. Psa 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Those things I just described about ASU and El Paso are just rubbish talk! What do I know about the grand view!!! "Follow me" Jesus says right! Mat 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Psalms 122:8 For my brothers and companions' sake I will say, "Peace be within you!"

Humberto Ontiveros

Peace!!!