I guess it's pretty common to start the story with where I was born, Dallas, TX on March 6, 1992. Since then I've lived a pretty simple life but the simplicity of my life does not take away from the uniqueness it brings to who I am.
Let's start with my parents; after all, our parent's stories set the base for our own. I was born to two illegal immigrant parents. My mother, who was from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, left her home country in search of a better life (as most immigrants do) along with my eldest brother, Alex. They arrived and my mother decided to settle in Dallas, TX due to the fact that she had family and friends already in the area. After some time she met my father, who is from Managua, Nicaragua and a product of the Nicaraguan Revolution. My father left his home country also in search of a better life but also in fear for his life (long story.) Needless to say, they met and eventually got hitched.
After my brother Alex, came the next oldest, James, myself and finally our youngest brother Albert. Although there are 4 brothers mentioned only 3 of us grew up together. Alex, Albert, and myself were raised together and it wasn't until 2006 that we found out about our long-lost brother, James.
This event marks one of the two most impacting moments of my life. Meeting our brother James came first and was definitely something scary but also pretty exciting. I mean I grew up not being able to get along very well with my other brothers and now I would either 1) have to put up with another one I couldn't stand or 2) get along with him the best. We met James the summer of 2006 and although we were raised very differently it didn't take long to feel as if he had always been there. It has now (2013) been 7 years of knowing our long, lost brother and I think we can all agree that we're glad he came back into our lives. To James, no more giving you away. (Inside-joke)
The second life-changing occurrence came only a year after we had met my brother James. At this point James had spent days and weeks sleeping over as we tried to make up for lost time. This included sleepless nights, stupid adventures, idiotic dares, but most importantly the gelling of siblings to the point that yes, we fought. As all this was still being constructed it wasn't even a year later that my mother was diagnosed with Leukemia. This was a pretty terrifying moment for my family and I. Personally, I felt that all belief and all faith I had in God was immediately broken. My mother along with many other people (who meant well) told me to have faith and assured me that my mom would be home soon. The doctors and nurses that handled my mom agreed that we shouldn't be discouraged because my mom was doing great in her chemotherapy sessions and overall. All this hope and reassurance just made July 30, 2007 that much harder, the day my mother passed away.
This marked the moment of my life that I would stop leeching off of my mother's great faith and God would take me down a path where I would personally have an experience with Him. See, I grew up in church and knew many bible stories but the reality of it was that had I been able to make the choice myself I would not have gone to church. I would have done as many things as I could've done that went against what the pastors preached. My heart was absent where my body had spent so much time. However, despite the chaos and lack of sincerity towards my relationship with Jesus Christ, God was in control the whole way through.
Fast Forward to today and I am now Youth Pastoring at a new church plant (Casa De Adoracion/ House of Worship) and I sometimes sit in awe of how God was at work the whole time from my moments of rebellion to the times when I was on board with whatever God asked me to do. Since the death of my mother God has lead me to serve under the direct supervision and leadership of my now, Senior Pastor: Angel Chavarria. This man spent hours upon hours dealing with my mess and pushing me to grow into a maturing and progressive relationship with Jesus Christ. As great as this all sounds the story would've been even greater, on my part at least, if I had not thrown tantrums and prideful trips but along the way I slipped and fell (maybe by my own accord...okay it was my fault) and my pastor was patient with me the whole way through. Let me take this moment to thank him and his incredible wife for all the patience, grace, and mercy they've shown me despite the resistance they met. He taught me how to become an exceptional leader by walking out the faith and not just through speaking it.
God is still writing “My story” but as I walk my confidence and hope comes from the fact that God's will is what I seek to do with the rest of my life. "Many are the plans in the mind of man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." (Proverbs 19:21, ESV) I'm pretty young and I understand if you are hesitant to listen to what I have to say but one thing I can assure you is that my heart is one after the Lord's. I hope that you would peep in to not only see what's going on in my life but that through my writings you would be inspired to trust the Lord with your life and allow Him to do with you what He wills. Disclaimer: It's not always enjoyable but being in God's will is your fulfillment at it's finest (Philippians 2:13, ESV)
God bless and I'm looking forward to writing more often,
-Allan Guido
Let's start with my parents; after all, our parent's stories set the base for our own. I was born to two illegal immigrant parents. My mother, who was from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, left her home country in search of a better life (as most immigrants do) along with my eldest brother, Alex. They arrived and my mother decided to settle in Dallas, TX due to the fact that she had family and friends already in the area. After some time she met my father, who is from Managua, Nicaragua and a product of the Nicaraguan Revolution. My father left his home country also in search of a better life but also in fear for his life (long story.) Needless to say, they met and eventually got hitched.
After my brother Alex, came the next oldest, James, myself and finally our youngest brother Albert. Although there are 4 brothers mentioned only 3 of us grew up together. Alex, Albert, and myself were raised together and it wasn't until 2006 that we found out about our long-lost brother, James.
This event marks one of the two most impacting moments of my life. Meeting our brother James came first and was definitely something scary but also pretty exciting. I mean I grew up not being able to get along very well with my other brothers and now I would either 1) have to put up with another one I couldn't stand or 2) get along with him the best. We met James the summer of 2006 and although we were raised very differently it didn't take long to feel as if he had always been there. It has now (2013) been 7 years of knowing our long, lost brother and I think we can all agree that we're glad he came back into our lives. To James, no more giving you away. (Inside-joke)
The second life-changing occurrence came only a year after we had met my brother James. At this point James had spent days and weeks sleeping over as we tried to make up for lost time. This included sleepless nights, stupid adventures, idiotic dares, but most importantly the gelling of siblings to the point that yes, we fought. As all this was still being constructed it wasn't even a year later that my mother was diagnosed with Leukemia. This was a pretty terrifying moment for my family and I. Personally, I felt that all belief and all faith I had in God was immediately broken. My mother along with many other people (who meant well) told me to have faith and assured me that my mom would be home soon. The doctors and nurses that handled my mom agreed that we shouldn't be discouraged because my mom was doing great in her chemotherapy sessions and overall. All this hope and reassurance just made July 30, 2007 that much harder, the day my mother passed away.
This marked the moment of my life that I would stop leeching off of my mother's great faith and God would take me down a path where I would personally have an experience with Him. See, I grew up in church and knew many bible stories but the reality of it was that had I been able to make the choice myself I would not have gone to church. I would have done as many things as I could've done that went against what the pastors preached. My heart was absent where my body had spent so much time. However, despite the chaos and lack of sincerity towards my relationship with Jesus Christ, God was in control the whole way through.
Fast Forward to today and I am now Youth Pastoring at a new church plant (Casa De Adoracion/ House of Worship) and I sometimes sit in awe of how God was at work the whole time from my moments of rebellion to the times when I was on board with whatever God asked me to do. Since the death of my mother God has lead me to serve under the direct supervision and leadership of my now, Senior Pastor: Angel Chavarria. This man spent hours upon hours dealing with my mess and pushing me to grow into a maturing and progressive relationship with Jesus Christ. As great as this all sounds the story would've been even greater, on my part at least, if I had not thrown tantrums and prideful trips but along the way I slipped and fell (maybe by my own accord...okay it was my fault) and my pastor was patient with me the whole way through. Let me take this moment to thank him and his incredible wife for all the patience, grace, and mercy they've shown me despite the resistance they met. He taught me how to become an exceptional leader by walking out the faith and not just through speaking it.
God is still writing “My story” but as I walk my confidence and hope comes from the fact that God's will is what I seek to do with the rest of my life. "Many are the plans in the mind of man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." (Proverbs 19:21, ESV) I'm pretty young and I understand if you are hesitant to listen to what I have to say but one thing I can assure you is that my heart is one after the Lord's. I hope that you would peep in to not only see what's going on in my life but that through my writings you would be inspired to trust the Lord with your life and allow Him to do with you what He wills. Disclaimer: It's not always enjoyable but being in God's will is your fulfillment at it's finest (Philippians 2:13, ESV)
God bless and I'm looking forward to writing more often,
-Allan Guido