Ruth Nieves

What a transforming time was had this past Sunday @ the newly named "Transformation Church"! It was the party of all parties. With the unveiling of our new Cafe, the announcing of the amount raised for our Capital Campaign, the New Name announcement and of course, Ricardo Sanchez, here live and in person....wow! Ricardo brought a message of hope and healing to the 400 people that were in the building. It brought transformation to their lives because in their hopeless situation they found hope that day. Like a caterpillar metamorphisizes(this is not a word, looked it up in dictionary, couldn't find it, but just go with it) into a beautiful butterfly, so does our lives. But it doesn't become this beautiful creature with out a struggle. You see there once was a man who found a cocoon and brought it home. It must've fallen from a tree. He placed it on the table and saw this struggle occurring from inside of it. To try and help the poor little butterfly, he took a pa

One word...CONTENTMENT. I am just as guilty as the next person. Boy, have I found myself complaining and wishing and wanting...that is definitely not cultivating an attitude of gratitude. These two go hand in hand. Contentment and Gratitude. If you are content then you are grateful and thankful for what the Lord has provided for your life. I do believe that we are to live the "abundant" life that God has ordained for us to have. But abundant in what respect? Many will say that abundance in the physical and material. Somehow someone who has a lot isn't necessarily content, grateful of thankful....they only find themselves wanting more, wanting bigger and "better." Discontentment is more likely to be the case here. It seems that the more we have, the more we want and the less happy we are. You look at Hollywood and millionaires around the world, on TV and the news and you find these people in rehab (time after time), or on anti-depressants, searching and looking

I am going back to school!!!!!! Can you believe it? I simply cannot contain myself! It's funny how this all began. My dreams have been fulfilled in every respect when it comes to having an amazing husband, two great kids, serving in full-time ministry, and being in God's perfect will (there is nothing better than that). But for me education was always very important and still is (just ask my 10 year old...lol). I grew up in a family where I was the first to graduate High School and the first to go to college. They were hard working people but education was not an option at the time. They had to work to survive. I come from a family of master craftsmen, a family with strong work ethics. My grandfather still works his land in Puerto Rico, he is 80 years old and suffers from bad eye sight, but still gets up when the rooster crows and feeds himself and his family by the sweat of his brow and the food he grows. I wanted to go to college, always! It was away to not be a statistic. I

Just ask anyone on the street on any given day and if asked the question, "how have negative or positive  words impacted your life?", many will say that words have impacted their lives in a positive way or in a negative way, causing pain or great joy. Words have the power to destroy or heal. How often has a parent ,a boss or a teacher said a negative word that crushed you or your spirit? I have spoken to many people, men and women of all ages and in all stages of their lives who have carried baggage and hurts for years. One word crushed their hearts and spirits and left them devastated for years. One of the most important jobs I have in this world is not as counselor, pastor's wife or even friend. The most important job I have in this world is as parent, mom. Truly this job is not for the faint-hearted, for the weak, for wimps. It is a job that is hard and challenging. So many times you feel lost and alone and wondering if you are doing a good job. For no matter what, you

Today, I picked up a family member from a mental health facility. One thing I noticed, and it shocked me all at the same time, was the amount of young men and women, in their teens and young adult years, in these wards and facilities. I see it all around me as I minister and counsel people from all walks of life and ages. I see a trend of young adults and young people not being able to handle life. So many have lost hope and meaning that they try to end their lives or turn to drugs, sex, the streets, anything to help them stop thinking about life. As I tried to process what I saw. I became so clear and truly obvious. There is a common denominator missing here. GOD! They have no hope and lost all meaning because they don't know God. Whether it was that they weren't given that foundation at home or school. Whether they rebelled and ran from God. Regardless of the reason. They feel as if they have no hope. Again, I blame those that came before us, parents, churches, religious le

Lately, I have been reading articles and watching the news and noticing that there is a trend going on. I don't know if you have noticed it or not. You may even be experiencing it at work or in your own community. Last night I read an article about ABC wanting to pilot a show called, "Good Christian B****es." It is a show about women in the church and their depiction. It is similar to "Desperate Housewives" in a whole other form. When the periodical "Christianity Today" was contacted about how offensive the name and content of the show was to them, they chose not to fall for the trap. But someone did say in the same article, "I would highly doubt that you would see a show titled, "Good Muslim B****es" or "Good Jewish B****es." Why is it okay for Christians to be bashed and depicted in such a manner. I am not naive to think that we are perfect or gossip-free. I have been in ministry long enough to know that we struggle with the

I can exhale now...I feel as if a weight has been lifted and I can breathe! It feels so good. I've been running uphill for three weeks now and I have finally reached the top, the peak and I can finally, breathe...wow, what an amazing feeling! I read somewhere that life comes in waves...peaks and valleys. One minute you are soaring and the next you are gasping for air. I know that things might change tomorrow. I am not naive. But I will enjoy this moment. I will enjoy the freedom it brings...the freedom to laugh and sleep. When you are in the valley and finally reach your peak, all of the little things that used to bother you don't anymore. They don't matter. You see things differently. You laugh differently.You see your spouse differently, your children. The day is brighter. I have come to understand that the same God that is with me when I reach the top, the peak, is the same God that is with me in my valley experiences. I have learned that I am not alone when I feel alone

This week has been a week of intense emotion on many different levels. My husband was hospitalized after a misdiagnosis that could have been almost fatal had we not persisted in getting him to a different hospital. What should have been a minor procedure of removing a sick appendix turned out to be much worse because of the lapsed time between the misdiagnosis and the actual diagnosis. To see my husband, a strong and independent man, healthy and beautiful so drained and sick, made me sad and angry. I could not understand why this was happening, especially to him. During the surgery, I get a call from my mother that my youngest was sick with a fever. I was so torn and could not seem to take it anymore. My insides were a mess and all I wanted to do was scream, run and breakdown. I did cry, and thankfully, I had two really good friends by my side that encouraged me and really helped me along. My husband ended up staying in the hospital for an entire week, due to the infection and post-op

Dealing with the scary issues in our lives, well, it's just that....scary! I can attest that there have been many instances in my life where I would rather ignore major issues, struggles, worries, and fears for fear that it will not be pretty. Let's be honest, dealing with serious issues and wounds cause our hearts to race, forcing our minds to remember, in turn having the pain resurface. It was painful once, why  feel it again? Personally, when I had to deal with the abuse I experienced as a child, it was just plain bad. It was messy, physically, mentally and emotionally...not just for me but for those around me. There were a lot of tears...I call them "cleansing" tears. Many women have stuffed their emotions so far down that they can't remember exactly what, just that it was extremely painful. It's been 10, 15, 30 years and still the abandonment, abuse, neglect has not been dealt with by many of us. Because feeling it would make us remember and remembering

I am guessing that right about now you are wondering which battle am I referring to. Being that we battle so many of them on a daily basis. As a woman, as a mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend...we experience challenges and trials of all kinds and at different levels. I am struggling once again with this thing called "fear." Something I struggled with all of my life. Afraid of things that I have no control over. Not being able to sleep or relax, always being on alert. Having no peace or true joy. I find myself wondering why am I dealing with this again...after many years of freedom? As I sat last night asking God this very question, God softly and gently let me in on a little secret. What He revealed to me was a child walking with her father in a beautiful forest. He is pointing out some really beautiful things that he wants to share with her. After a little while, she begins to wander off, alone. She is distracted by a bird here and a beautiful butterfly over there...and slo