Learning to fully EMBRACE!

C.S Lewis "You are NEVER  too old to set another goal , or to dream a new dream ." There is a part of my counselor brain that lights up when I read this quote. In therapy we have our clients set goals as a part of their treatment plan. The therapist and client work together on developing the goals. The therapist then walks along side the client as they make strides to get from point A to point B. While many of us would love for it to be a straight line and easy to obtain, that's not reality.  The second part that lights up my brain as I read this quote is the word dream . For this blog we are going to use this definition of dream - cherished aspiration, ambition, ideal. We all have an idea of how we would like life to go. I believe we all have aspirations and ambitions as well. Now some might lack motivation or struggle to visualize these aspirations or ambitions as possibilities but we can't argue that we all have an "ideal". So it's fair to say ...

At time's I've been known to be a neat freak. Although I don't think my mother would agree. There were always arguments growing up between my sister and I of whose clothing or belongings were on the floor in the room or who made the mess in the bedroom we shared. We have since laughed about this and I still often say "Cristina is the messy one". She is a mom who goes to bed with dirty dishes in the sink, laundry coming out of the baskets, unmade beds etc. And as a single young adult there was part of me that didn't understand this. You see I have some OCD tendencies that I think are learned behaviors. I struggle to go to bed at night without making sure all the dishes are in the dish washer or are clean. I try but often fail to make sure the house is picked up and I use to be able to clean my entire house in just a few hours so never really understood why my sister didn't constantly have laundry going and why she had dishes in the dishwasher. You see t...

A million thoughts race through my head as my fingers press the keys on the keyboard. I never thought I would make it to this place.   I thought this place was for so many others but not for me. I tried to get here before just to mess up and fall right back down which led to such a deep feeling of shame. I remember telling myself so many times “why even bother”!   At the age of 9 years old I discovered purging. I didn’t know that’s what it was called and I had no idea what path it would lead me down. It was later in life that I would learn to restrict my food intake. No one knew the battle that I was facing as I put on the mask each day and smiled and let others think I was okay. When in reality I was in a very dark lonely place of counting calories, working out to the point of exhaustion and sometimes blacking out.   I was finally able to share my struggle with a close friend at the time she was my youth pastor.   She helped me through so much, she prayed with m...

Crashing waves seem fun until they take you under. Earlier this year I went to Puerta Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. I love the ocean because it reminds me how BIG God really is and when you take the size of the ocean versus the size of teeny tiny size of sand sometimes thats how small I feel in such a big world but God loves me the same. While sitting on the beach taking in the sun I decided to go out and get in the ocean it was nice and refreshing that is until a wave came up over my head and knocked my feet out from underneath me. Not to mention it caused me to loose my sunglasses :( but God is faithful even in the small things and 20 mins later a guy found my sunglasses on the bottom of the ocean! How many times have you been faced with an obstacle that appear to be like this wave. You are enjoying life living it the fullest and then SWOOSH you have your feet knocked out from underneath you and your left with millions of questions. Questions like "why now?" or if you are ...