Christ Un-barred - Sunday Service - Mother's Day 2026

Lord this morning. Come on. Thank you, Precious Father. Let everything that has praise. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let everything that has breath. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise on the mountain. I'll praise when I'm sure. Praise when I'm doubting. I'll praise when I'm numbered. Praise when surrounded. Cause praise is the waters my enemies drowning. As long as I'm breathing. I've got a reason to. Praise the Lord. Oh my soul. Praise the Lord. Oh my soul. I'll praise when I feel it. I'll praise when I don't. I'll praise cause I know. You're still in control. Cause my praise is a weapon. It's more than a sound. My praise is the shout. That rings tearing you down. As long as I'm breathing. I've got a reason to. Praise the Lord. Oh my soul. Praise the Lord. Oh my soul. I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I'll praise cause you're sovereign. Praise cause you reign. Praise cause you rose and defeated the grave. I'll praise cause you're faithful. Praise cause you're true. Praise cause there's nobody greater than you. I'll praise cause you're sovereign. Praise cause you reign. Praise cause you rose and defeated the grave. I'll praise cause you're faithful. Praise cause you're true. Praise cause there's nobody greater than you. Praise the Lord, all my soul. Praise the Lord, all my soul. Praise the Lord, all my soul.

Praise the Lord, all my soul. I won't be quiet if my God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet if my God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet if my God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet if my God is alive. How could I keep it inside? Praise the Lord, all my soul. Praise the Lord, all my soul. Let everything that has bread. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Let everything that has bread. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Let everything that has bread. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Let everything that has bread. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Amen, amen guys, it is my honor to welcome you to another service here at the House of Rest Church. If this is your first time here, we're so glad you guys decided to join us today. What to expect? We're going to get right back into our time of worship and after worship, we're going to have a word from the Lord. So the altar is open guys, you're more than welcome to come up. Let's praise the Lord. Amen. Hallelujah, we thank you precious Father. Thank you Lord.

I just want to speak the name of Jesus. Over every heart and every mind. Cause I know there is peace within your presence. I speak Jesus. Thank you precious Lord. I just want to speak the name of Jesus. Till every dark addiction starts to break. Declaring there is hope and there is freedom. I speak Jesus. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. Thank you Lord. I just want to speak the name of Jesus. Over fear and dull anxiety. To every soul held captive by depression. I speak Jesus. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life. Break every stronghold.

Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. Shout it to the mountains. Shout Jesus from the mountains. Jesus in the streets. Jesus in the darkness. Over every enemy. Jesus for my family. I speak the holy name. Jesus. Sing it again. Shout Jesus from the mountains. Jesus in the streets. Jesus in the darkness. Over every enemy. Jesus for my family. I speak the holy name. Jesus. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire.

I just want to speak the name of Jesus. Over every heart and every mind Cause I know there is peace within your presence I speak Jesus Thank you Lord God he's so good isn't he? He's so amazing We're so sorry Lord We just want to praise you precious heavenly father Yes there's power in the name of Jesus Shout Jesus from the mountains Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness Over every enemy Jesus for my family I speak the holy name Jesus Shout Jesus from the mountains Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness Over every enemy Jesus for my family I speak the holy name Jesus Shout Jesus from the mountains Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness Over every enemy Jesus for my family I speak the holy name

Jesus I've tried so hard to see it It took me so long to believe it That you chose someone like me To carry your victory Perfection can never end You give what we don't deserve You take the broken things And raise them to glory You are my champion Giants fall when you stand undefeated Every battle you've won I am who you say I am You crowned me with confidence I am seated in the heavenly place Undefeated You're the one who has conquered it all Now I can finally see it You're teaching me how to receive it Let all the strivings end This is my victory You are my champion Giants fall when you stand undefeated Every battle you've won I am who you say I am You crowned me with confidence I am seated in the heavenly place Undefeated You're the one who has conquered it all Conquered it all

Conquered it all Conquered it all When I lift my voice and shout, every wall comes crashing down. I have the authority Jesus has given me. When I open up my mouth, miracles start breaking out. I have the authority Jesus has given me. When I lift my voice and shout, every wall comes crashing down. I have the authority Jesus has given me. When I open up my mouth, miracles start breaking out. I have the authority Jesus has given me. You are my champion. You are my champion. Giants fall when you stand undefeated. Every battle you won. I am who you say I am. You crown me with confidence, I am seated. In a heavenly place, I am seated. By the one who has conquered it all. Conquered it all. Conquered it all. Conquered it all. You are my champion. Giants fall when you stand undefeated. I am who you say I am. I am who you say I am. You crown me with confidence, I am seated. In a heavenly place, I am seated. By the one who has conquered it all. Conquered it all. Conquered it all, precious Lord. We just praise you, precious Father. When I lift my voice up. When I lift my voice and shout, every wall comes crashing down. I have the authority Jesus has given me.

When I open up my mouth, miracles start breaking out. I have the authority Jesus has given me. When I lift my voice and shout, every wall comes crashing down. I have the authority Jesus has given me. When I open up my mouth, miracles start breaking out. I have the authority Jesus has given me. You are my champion. Giants fall when you stand undefeated. Every battle you won. I am who you say I am. You crown me with confidence, I am seated. In the heavenly place undefeated, by the one who has conquered it all, conquered it all, conquered it all. Thank you, Precious Father. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. Welcome to our Sunday service here at the House of Rust, where Jesus is a senior pastor. We have a seat with your name on it. We appreciate you for spending your Sunday morning with us. Established in 2011 and still going strong, all in the name of Jesus. Here is our QR code, where you can find out everything you need to know about us. Our schedule, giving, events, Bible school and services. The QR code is posted everywhere in the church's lobby and other rooms. Make sure to check often. There is always something to do. Thank you for joining us at House of Rust Church Modesto. We are a Grace International Church with over 5,000 churches worldwide. Welcome home. We are so excited to announce that our House of Rust Church online discipleship community is now live. If you go to www.houseofrustchurch.com and fill out the form, we will send you a link to sign up today.

Whether you attend locally or watch from afar, we can finally come together as one big family. Classes, Bible studies, leadership talks and connecting on live Zoom calls. If you are ready to grow in your walk with Jesus, now is the time. It is a $20 a month commitment, but for now, the first seven days are free. Come and be a part of this exciting journey. New classes will be added weekly. Do something different and let's learn together. Good morning, church. How's everybody doing today? Can we give it up for our worship team one more time, please? You know something? The faces may change up here over the years, but the Spirit of God is going to forever remain on this ministry, because we exalt Jesus and Jesus alone. And when we continue to worship him in spirit and truth, he will raise up a Hollis. He will raise up the kids. Thank you, Lord, for our worship team. Just announcements, guys, for those of you that are new or looking to get involved, those of you that have been here for a while, just a reminder, we have youth every Wednesday, 645, ages 7th through 12th grade. So if you know a youth within that age range, please get them in here. We encourage you guys. We want to get them involved and to support the things of God into them. We do not have discipleship class today. For those of you, we're going to continue in two weeks, next week. We're going to continue next week, guys. So the QR code is there if you guys want to get signed up now. And I think that is it for today, guys. If you guys want to take about 30 seconds to meet and greet each other while Pastor David makes his way up. Thank you. Thank you.

Shout out to all those that are watching through their screens on YouTube, Facebook, Edovo, Pando. God bless each and every one of you. God bless you. Happy Mother's Day to all those women that are watching through their screens. Appreciate you spending your time with us. Amen. Good morning, everyone. Happy Mother's Day to the mothers, not the guys. Happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to my mom, to my wife, to Leanna, my daughter, who keeps giving me grandchildren. Amen. It's so good to see all of you here and appreciate each and every one of you. Oh, a bunch of other things on this morning, but you chose to be here with us, and we truly, truly appreciate it. You know, thankful to every person, ushers, greeters, media, worship, the kids. Did they do amazing? Amen. We have a, it's a mixed service. We have the Spanish congregation in here also, and we're just excited about what we're gonna do today. It's a little something different, but before we get into that, I just want to remind you that Pastor Thomas will be coming on May 24th. Yes, Pastor Thomas from Nigeria will be here May 24th, and he's been coming for many, many years,

and it's gonna be a huge, huge blessing. I want to remind you that usually we do missions, $3 a person, $3 a week, and we split them up amongst the different ministries, but up until the 24th, whatever missions we pick up from last week, this week, all the way till he comes is going to go toward Pastor Thomas for what he's doing over there in Nigeria, so if you give $3, I mean, just let's just go above and beyond. We want to be able to give him a huge blessing when he's here, and I find when we do that, when we pick up missions for that specific person the month before, it just makes things a lot, lot better for them, and so just keep that in mind. Also, the offering and tithing. I know we have Sister Sandra's here with envelopes. Jennifer has envelopes. If you need an envelope, all you gotta do is raise your hand. If you have one already, they can bring it up for you, or you can bring it up yourself. If there's ways to give online, that's on the screen also. We just appreciate every single one of you. We want this house to be special. We want it to be special. We don't want to follow trends.

We don't want to try to be like anyone else but ourselves, and maybe if you came, and maybe you've been attending church, and you're just like, this is different. I hope that's what you say, and hopefully it's different in a good way. You know, we are not trying to be polished. Thank God, because I can't be polished. At the same time, we try. We try our best to have a great service, and the presence of God move, you know? And we just love all of you. We appreciate all of you, and hopefully that you can continue to be a part of this family and what God is doing. I am convinced that this is just the beginning. This is just the beginning of what God is gonna do, and I don't know what that is, and it's okay. I don't have to know, because he's the one driving. You know, we just got in from LA halfway. Well, we drove halfway yesterday. Yesterday we spent Mother's Day in Los Angeles with Sharon's mom, and not only that, but it was your brother's first birthday since 19 years of being in prison. It was his first birthday with the family, so we went, you know, and spent time over there. Oh, yeah, and we dropped off Abraham. He's in Houston right now. He started, as soon as he got there,

he went straight to a wedding, and then he got busy, and so they got him working. He sent me a picture this morning. He was behind the board over there at the main church, you know, and, but as I was driving over here, and we drove halfway and stayed south of Fresno, and then drove the rest of the way, I noticed that Sharon doesn't preoccupy herself with the directions or anything, because she knows that I'm gonna get her here, and in the same way with the Lord. We need to quit taking the steering wheel from God, and allow the Lord to take us where He's gonna take us, because He's not gonna take you somewhere unsafe. He's not gonna take, He's gonna take you the place you need to go, and He's gonna get you from point A to point B in a safe way, and sometimes I don't know what God has in store for House of Rest. I've been asking that question since the basement. Sometimes He gives me glimpses of just vision of what He's going to do, and sometimes I don't see, but either way, I'm just like, Lord, I'm just following after you, because whatever it is that you are doing, whatever it is that you want. Is clearly the best thing for us, you know, and so I just want to thank you if you're a part of this family if you're not Then we invite you to be a part of this family

Let's bow our heads Lord God. We thank you so much We give you all honor. We give you all glory. We pray for the missions We pray for the tithe and the offering We pray Lord God not only for house of rest, but all the churches in this area We pray for all the families and we pray for all the mothers Lord God all the mothers the aunts the grandmothers Lord God the great Grandmothers, we just thank you Lord God because none of us would be here if it wasn't for our mother and we just give You all honor and we honor the mothers Lord God We thank you Lord God, and if somebody's here and you didn't have a good mother Well, how about that you become the good mother for your children in the name of Jesus Lord God I thank you in Jesus name Amen I'm depressed You are making In the soil Now surrender You are breaking So I yield to you And to you When I trust you So make me Make me an offering Make me whatever You want me to be You All you have given me You are breaking Yeah Now You are breaking You are break

Me Make me whatever you want me to be I came here with nothing But all you have given me Jesus bring new wine out of me Jesus bring new wine out of me Jesus bring new wine out of me There's where there's new wine There's where new power There's where new freedom The kingdom is here I laid down my own blade To carry a new fire today There's where there's new wine There's where new power There's where new freedom The kingdom is here I laid down my own blade To carry a new fire today So make me a vessel Make me an offering Make me whatever you want me to be I came here with nothing But all you have given me Jesus, bring new one out of me. Jesus, bring new one out of me. Jesus, bring new one out of me. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, precious Father. Make me a vessel.

Make me an offering. Make me whatever you want me to be. I came here with nothing. All you have given me. Jesus, bring new one out of me. Jesus, make me a vessel. Make me an offering. Make me whatever you want me to be. I came here with nothing. All you have given me. Jesus, bring new one out of me. Jesus, bring new one out of me. Jesus, bring new one out of me. Jesus, bring new one out of me. Jesus, bring new one out of me. Jesus, bring new one out of me. Jesus, bring new one out of me. Jesus, bring new one out of me. Let's wear the new one. There's a new power. Amen. Let's stand up and give Him praise. There's endless freedom. Give Him praise. The kingdom is here. He is worthy. He is worthy. There's no doubt in faith. Jesus. To carry the new fire today.

Thank you, Jesus. Let's wear the new one. Glory. There's a new power. There's a new freedom. Yes. The kingdom is here. I lay down my own faith. To carry the new fire today. Yes, Lord. Lord, we thank you. We give you all honor. We give you all glory, Lord God. We exalt you, Lord. You alone sit on the throne. You are worthy. You are worthy. You are worthy, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Bless this place. Let your presence be felt, Lord God. From the lobby all the way to the stage, Lord God. We honor you, Lord God. We thank you. We love you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord.

Let's give the Lord a hand. Amen. Amen. All right. We can have a seat. This is going to be before we get into the service. A few weeks ago we gave lapel pins and certificates for those that completed the six classes. We have a whole other list now. I know Angel and Diana, you guys want to come up and help us? Pastor Al and Lydia, if you guys can come up. Where is Armando? And Lorena? He's translating? He can translate from up here. He's not talking to himself, guys. He's translating. No estoy hablando a mi mismo. Amen. All right. I know the translate from up here is weird. It's all right. All right, Sharon, where you at? Oh, are you the youth pastor? What? Oh. All right, well, first of all, um, we, as you guys know, we have discipleship classes, uh, usually after service. We're not today. And, um, after, we feel it important that these six classes give many people a foundation.

We learned over time that a lot of people, many of you have been saved for a long time. Some of you don't know anything. You're just learning about the Lord now. Okay. She has to experience it. Sister Lydia got 86. It's messed up. Actually you earned, you're going to earn your pin. So she wants you to experience the whole thing. So we have, um, six classes that we ask you to come to. It helps you give an establishment and your walk, especially if you're new to the Lord. And not only that, but it gives you, um, a clear view of, of what it is that our vision is here. And a few weeks ago, uh, we gave certificates and lapel pins to these cool ones here. Like Pastor Angel forgot his, but these cool ones, sorry. You're going to get me back when you preach, huh? Two Sundays in a row. Okay. But we want to call these, we need some beat. Where's it? I'm ready. I need some beat. I'm a drop a verse and I just play. No, I'm joking. Especially not to this beat. Get a glow stick. All right, let's stand up. We want to congratulate all the people that have, uh, got earned their certificate and their lapel. We want them to walk up here and then give them high fives as they make their way down. They got to go down and come back up this way. Okay. You're ready for name number one. I know sister Lydia. Come on. Oh, I five. Keep it going. Keep it moving sister. Oh yeah.

Give her a pen. Her pen. She gots it. Joseph Rodriguez. Where are you at? Keep going. High five. Everyone. High fiver. Joseph Rodriguez. Where are you at? All right. Marina. Marina Lundy. There she is. All right. Congratulations. I see that you brought two up here. Felix. Where are you at brother? Felix. All right. It seems like they're all working. Francis Allen. All right. There you are. Sierra Lloyd. Is she here? Tammy Salcido. Oh, there's Felix. All right. Teresa Willoughby. Enrique Gomez. All right, Jose Santillan, come on down. Dolores Cardenas. Dallas Hicks. And last but not least, Lisa Carrillo. All right, guys. So I just want to thank every one of you, every single person. Let's stop that beat before... I forgot I was at church. Say something. We still got people coming around. Y'all don't know how...

You're the one that stopped the music. Come on. Woo! There you go. You go, Dallas. But I do got to say, you guys don't know how to follow instructions. None of you guys. Who heard the instructions? What were they supposed to do? And come stand, right? That way we could have gotten a picture of y'all. Seriously. Man, I've been wanting a picture of the graduates for the longest time, and you guys just don't know how to follow... Maybe next month's group will follow instructions. Now I have to wait a whole month. You need to add a class number seven. Why? Follow instructions. Oh, he's going to add a class number seven, follow instructions. Good job, babe. All right. All right, I just want to... All of you, congratulations, those who got your certificate. You got your pin. Make sure you wear your pin. If somebody asks you, hey, where'd you get that pin? Just be like, I took the classes, man, I took the classes. There's a... Is it up there?

See that QR code? You can sign in and join the classes. It's fun, man. Besides the fact that you get to run up here with that cool song on, you get to learn some stuff, you know, and it's a blessing. So let's give a hand to everybody that got the certificate. Amen. All right. Let's proceed. You guys can put it down there. All right, so we got a video to show you guys, and God bless you. To the mothers and all the women who've cared for us. To the grandmothers, the spiritual mothers, and the waiting mothers. To the foster moms, the single moms, and the stepmoms. To the mentors, friends, guardians, and guides. To those who loved us, taught us, and showed us the way. To those who carried us, held our hand, and watched us grow. To those who experienced blessing this year, and to those who went through loss. To the heroic women all around us, we want to say, thank you. Thank you for your courage, your kindness, and your faith in God. Thank you for shaping us, nurturing us, and helping us. Thank you for shaping us, nurturing us, and walking with us through life. Thank you for showing us what it looks like to love and follow Jesus. Thank you for your prayers, your wisdom, and for never giving up on us. Thank you for boldly stepping into this high and holy calling. Thank you for the long nights, and the short years, and for the incredible joy. Whether this is a day of reflection, rejoicing, or remembering. We acknowledge you. We honor you. And we thank you today. Happy Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day. Hello? Hello? Sit down. Test, test. One, two, three. You are here, moving in our midst. I worship you. I worship you. You are here, working in this place. I worship you. I worship you. You are here, moving in our midst. I worship you. I worship you. You are here, working in this place. I worship you. I worship you. You are way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. You are way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. You are here, touching every heart. I worship you. I worship you. You are here, healing every heart. I worship you. I worship you. You are here, turning lives around. I worship you. I worship you. You are here, lifting every heart. I worship you. I worship you. You are way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. You are way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. You are way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper,

light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. You are way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. That is who you are. You are, that is who you are, that is who you are, that is who you are, that is who you are, that is who you are, that is who you are, that is who you are, that that you are, that is who you are. Waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are, you are. Waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. You never stop. You never stop working. Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working.

You never stop. You never stop working. You never stop. You never stop working. You are a way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper. Light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. You are a way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper. Light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. You are a way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper. Light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. You are a way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper. Light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. You are a way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper. Light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. Thank you. Amen. We're going to get some chairs set up here. Like I said, it's going to be a little different. Yeah. Thank you. Is that your phone? If you could get the pulpit off too.

Thank you. I'll get that microphone. All right, ladies. We have a special Mother's Day service, and we wanted to do a panel. Something different, and I think you're going to enjoy it. I'm really excited about it. So we have my wife, Sharon, Lorena, Jessica, Sister Lydia, and Diana, all right, and myself. How's everybody doing? Good? All right. So like I said, we wanted to do something different, something special. But let me start off by saying this, is that being a dad is compared to being a backup quarterback in the NFL. You're on a team, but you're rarely the main focus, especially on Mother's Day. Why is a computer so smart? Because it listens to its motherboard. What did the baby corn say to the mama corn? Where's popcorn? And nothing's really lost until mom can't find it. That's true, right? What did the panda give his mommy? A bear hug. Aw. And what did the Egyptian kid say when it got lost? I want my mommy. I want to read to you before, I have some questions for these ladies, but before that, I want to read to you what the Bible says about a woman who fears the Lord. Can I do that? In Proverbs 31, verse 10, it says an excellent wife who can find. She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm all the days of her life.

She seeks wool and flax and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant and brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it. With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. She put her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. She makes bed coverings for herself, and her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them. She delivers sashes to the merchant. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praises her. Many women have done excellently, but you surpassed them all. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates. I think every, this is, amen. I think every woman should read this, and if your mother was not this, then I say what if you become this for your children? So, I had some questions that I wanted to talk to these ladies about, and we're just going to, we have mics, yeah? Make sure all these mics are working. I don't know if Ben needs to know which mics they are. Test, test, test. All right.

So, I've never done a panel like this. Grace International does them all the time, and I've really, I've always enjoyed them, because you get so many different words of wisdom. That's mic seven. That's mic seven. There it is. All right. So, this is a question I want to ask. all of you ladies, what is one habit or phrase you caught yourself saying that made you realize, oh no, I'm turning into my mother? You can go ahead and start. Well, I kind of thought about that one because everybody would say that my closet's turning into my mom's closet, but then when I was just at my mom's the other day, I was in her bathroom and I don't understand. I look at, she has the toilet paper spindle and she has toilet paper on her spindle and do you know how those standing toilet paper, you know when you put toilet paper on those little toilet paper standing spindle ones? She has that one filled also with toilet paper on it and I'm like, why does she need a standing toilet paper spindle and she has the one that's attached to the wall and I always say that. I did that at home too. I have one standing with toilet paper and I have the one attached to the wall and I was like, oh no, I'm turning into my mom. I realized that I did the exact same thing and I'm like, it's the little things, the little details that sometimes we don't realize that we're turning into our mom, but I also have a closet like hers where I've taken over the entire and it's a walk-in closet and I've actually taken over and here's the weird thing is that it's a lot of the clothes that my mom, I'm inheriting her clothes. She gives me, I go shopping at my mom's closet and I bring it home and now I filled up her clothes with my clothes. So yeah, I'm turning into my mom. Okay, for me it would be like, and I realize that a lot, but I can't stop. When my husband's driving, I'm always telling him, go here, go there, park here. No, don't go there, go this way and my mom does the exact same thing, but I can't stop.

My mom always had the ability to know when I was gonna get sick. Immediately the vapor rub would come out whenever I was getting sniffly and now I find myself with many jars of vapor up all over the house. I'm like, pump the vapor up right now. Amen. So I'm thinking of two things. I'm thinking of the clothing part. My mom loved beautiful clothes and I took after her in regards to that. My closet is scandalous and it just didn't stop at the clothes. It went into the jewelry, it went into the purses, and it went into the shoes. And sometimes I have to send my husband in that closet because I'm not gonna go in there. It's just, I love clothes. I love to dress, you know, and that's a blessing. My mom was always, you know, together. And just one more thing, real quick. I think I got my mama's voice in the sense of, I started hearing myself sound like her when I started hollering and screaming around the house. And I said, oh my god, that's my mom. And I hated that but, you know, I ended up doing it, so. All right, so this is a bad habit that I picked up from my mom. So let's say me and Angel were in the kitchen, the kids are in the kitchen, right, and they get a cup of water or they get a butter knife. They say we're doing toast bread, right, so they'll get the knife, they'll put their, they'll get the butter on the knife, and then they'll set it down. And what I do is I'll grab the butter knife and then I'll put it in the dishwasher. Or my son will get a cup, because it's out, right, and you just assume his mother's like, okay, we got to put that away, we got to clean up. And that's something that I picked up from my mom and I was like, oh man, this is, I remember my mom doing this. And it was so irritating because you would just clean it up and Angel would get, gets upset with me because he's like, I just had a butter knife. And I'm like, and I forgot that I put it in the dishwasher, and I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about. I forget, but that's something that I know I picked up from my mom because she's a clean freak, so she wants everything clean and I've picked that up. I want, I want clutter, I don't like clutter. My counters have to be nice and clean, no clutter whatsoever.

So that's something I picked up from my mom. But yeah, that's it. Hold on, since you're, we're gonna just go backwards now. Since you're talking about kitchen and butter knives, what is the one signature dish or smell from your childhood kitchen that you're like, oh, I feel at home right now? Okay, so my dad worked a lot. So every Saturday morning was something special in our family. Because the smell of food for breakfast. It was papas and eggs and chorizo and frijoles. Man, Saturday mornings were amazing in my house. So, and pancakes. So the smell of pancakes, that right now triggers, my mom is the best pancake maker. Nobody makes pancakes like her. And even the kids, my sons, there's no dish like grandma's, ita's pancakes. So that was the best for me, Saturday mornings, all that, just breakfast, all that that I dad mentioned a little bit ago was amazing. Yeah. How come I never got invited to these pancakes? How long have I been in this family? Well, you have been in a... Yeah. He just might drop without a mic. For me, it's hands down. Our tradition has been like, as long as I can remember,

hands down enchiladas, flower enchiladas that every Christmas, sometimes other holidays, but mostly Christmas, no matter what was brought to the table, everyone would say, where are the enchiladas? My brother will witness to that. Oh, you got one, yeah. I would have to say that smelling any soup cooking on the stove, I love the smell of soup. I can just smell when the onions hit the grill, you can hear them kind of saute and then she just always puts it in her soup. Whether it be a bondiga or it be chicken soup, that was always a signature dish for my mom. The other smell that I would say that would bring me back home was whenever she would cook salsa and that just choked you out wherever you were in the house. You can be in your room across the entire house and you would still be choked out from the smell of Chila's cooking. For me, it would have to be, my mom's a really good cook. She cooks really good. She would always make a lot of food and she will go sell food, but the one that I really like that she made and I love when she makes it is barbacoa. So when she makes it and I smell that, it's like I just love it. Gosh, there's so much my mom loves to cook.

The one thing we never went without, obviously I'm from Centro America, so from Honduras, they make their rice a little bit different when they make their rice, they make their rice with a lot of green pepper, the green peppers and everything inside the onions and everything. So it has such an amazing smell when they make their rice, but there was always a pot of beans, a fresh pot of beans, a lot of the black beans on the stove and that rice. That was the one thing that she always had on the stove, but it smells so amazing when you have a fresh pot of beans and rice on that stove and we never went without that. Every day, every day, you guys, we had rice and beans. I'm not kidding, but right, right? But you know what's so amazing is that we always had something to eat, no matter how hard times got. She always made sure that we had that as hard as she worked, but it was beautiful because my mom talks like this and David makes fun of her a lot of the times, it's cute the way that she always mimics her and he says, mis huevitos, mis arrocitos, or mis huevitos, what does she say? Mis frijolitos, mis huevitos, mis dos huevitos, because that's the way she talks, but she always makes sure that rice is what I remember every time.

And I can't make it quite as her as much as I love to cook, but she does something special with that rice. That's the rice for me. Everybody's hungry now. We're all going to your mother's houses. Here's a deeper question. How do you practically maintain your connection with God in the middle of long days and daily chaos of being a mom, of just being a mom? How do you maintain your connection with God? You can. Start and then we'll go that way. I think our schedule, well, first of all, I never seen my life before the way it is now. I think 13 years ago I stepped into, I stepped into something that I never thought that I would be in, being a pastor's wife. So it became very chaotic pretty quick. And we have very busy schedules and everything, but I still myself and I have to intentionally do that. I have to still myself and I find myself in worship a lot. For me, I have to intentionally place myself in a place of worship and I'm a worshiper for me. Some people can sit down and they go into their war room or some people can actually find themselves in a different way where they set themselves into a quiet place or they go into their word or they do that. But for me, worship quiets my soul

and it really helps me go into a deeper place with the Lord. And I think that that's what helps me. I'm constantly in a place of worship. That's what gets me in a deeper connection with the Lord on a daily basis. So I would say in a place of worship, daily, constantly, it really helps me with all the chaos and all the noise and it helps me quiet myself. Like for me, my kids are grown now, but what I would do, I'm gonna go back like when they were little, because some of you might have little kids. And when it was really chaotic, then they were little and there was a lot of things going on in our house. I had two kids that needed medical attention. So it was really chaotic going to the hospital, coming back and everything. But what I would do in the morning, it was always reading the word. And if they were there and they weren't going to school or it was later, we would sit at the table, read our Bible. That was the first thing we would do. And then, you know, after school, whatever they had to do. And when they would go to school, I would be in worship. I would be in prayer or watching videos on YouTube. And that would be like my whole morning and I'm thankful to God. Just like when we're reading these questions that we're gonna come and do, it really took me back

and I was reflecting, man, God is so good. He's been so good. Like I didn't have to work during that time. And I had the privilege and the honor and the blessing that God gave me that I didn't have to work during that time when they were little. But I had that opportunity to spend so much time with God. And I will take the opportunity. Even now us, we have opportunity when we're in our car, when we're, you know, and that's what I do now. As my car and I'm driving, I take that opportunity. I listen to a lot of videos, the Bible, the worship, whatever I can, you know, that's what I do when I'm by myself, that's what I do. But when they were little, that's what I would do. And they would come home and we were always involved in church. My kids were part of the church all the time. So that's what kept me connected to God. When the doors were open for church, we were there with every time, whatever there was going on, we were there. And that's what kept me and my children connected to God. So I would say my day would always have to start with just waking up and being in prayer, thanking the Lord for another day, another day with air in my lungs. And I just tell him, Lord strengthen me today for whatever is to come.

And then throughout the day, I just keep him connected with me. I laugh a lot because I see his sense of humor every day and everything that happens that I'm like, I wasn't expecting this, but the Lord knew that it was gonna happen and I'm here for it. And at the end of my day, I thank him for another good day and for him to give me the strength that he gave me to survive this day. And I'd say, okay, I will see you tomorrow. And that is the end of my prayer every night. Thank you. My morning starts with a cup of coffee for my husband. And I put on that Christian music. I don't think I can get off that bed without that Christian music going and loud all day long, you know, mostly in the place where I work at. I'm so blessed because I have coworkers that are all believers. And so we pray for each other all the time. And we also pray for the girls. You know, there's always prayer, you know, that's needed. You know, it's just kind of like an all day thing, all day. You know, if, you know, I'm not there with the coworkers, you know, I'm just thinking in my head, I'm talking to him. At nighttime, I've learned to basically write to him because I know he's gonna write me back. Sometimes, you know, when I get really scary

about maybe something is happening with me or my children or my husband or something, I get on that and I start writing him and I say, you got to answer me today, Lord, please. And you know, I'm so blessed because he will, he will. I have everything down on paper. I read it, you know, here and there, you know, just to encourage me. So I'm just like, you know, blessed with that because all day long, I'm thinking of him. Being quiet, I learned how to be quiet. Just shut up, Lydia, and just listen. And that has helped me, helped me so much. I'm really blessed with that. Oh, you got one. Testing, okay. Okay, here's the thing. What was the question one more time? The question is, how do you maintain your connection with God in the middle of long days and daily chaos of being a mom with an Ezra? That's what I was gonna say, okay? I have a very hard time. No, for real, for real. Okay, so I have been a mother in two seasons, right? I have a set of two boys that are 23 and 24 now, okay? So back at that time, I would drop them off at school and then I would have my time, right? Because there was nothing to do at the house. So I was like, all right, this is my time.

I'm gonna sit down, I'm gonna read the word. And I'm just gonna sit there and just, I want you to speak to me, talk to me. Then, 18 years later, Angel and I decided to try one more time. I'll tell you guys something. We were trying to have a girl because we have two boys and the Lord blessed us with another boy. But that's the reason my window was closing. I was like, I'm hitting 40, babe. Let's try. And so we ended up having Ezra and he just shook my whole life upside down. You guys, all the mothers, the young ones, with little kids, raise your hand. It's hard, right? It's hard to make time. And I was finding myself getting agitated and frustrated and I'm like, well, I haven't spent time in the Word. I haven't spent time with my father. I haven't been able to talk to him like I need to. And I haven't been able to hear him like I need to. So what I did, Angel had bought a calendar about a month and a half ago. And I saw him, he was color coordinating his week. And so he would have a pink highlighter, a yellow highlighter, a blue highlighter. And he was just looking at his whole week and every single thing he was doing was highlighted in different colors.

And so I was like, you know what? I got to do that also. So what I ended up doing, you have to purposely make an appointment with the Lord. Like for real, you have to put him in your calendar. So that's what I started doing about a month and a half ago, my pink highlighter, that is me with Jesus. And I don't move from that. I make sure that that is in my schedule on a daily basis. Aside from washing dishes and you're speaking to the Lord, right? Or when you're switching the laundry, you're speaking to the Lord, you're constantly speaking to the Lord all day long. But one thing for sure is putting him on your calendar. Something I just implemented that has, I haven't been as agitated. I haven't gotten flustered as quickly because I remember him. I remember our conversations and he helps me through that situation. So that's how I do it. Is there a specific, will you say something? Yeah, I love that you said that because that's where the intentionality comes in. We have to be intentional, especially when you live such a busy life or we're busy. We have to be intentional because if you are not intentional with things, other things are gonna distract you

and are gonna pull you because that's what life does to us. Life begins to pull you and you start, you get distracted. Like you can be here right now and you're probably thinking about other things that you gotta do and your mind will take you quickly, this quickly, but you have to be intentionally about everything that you do. Sorry, go ahead. Diana, so is there a specific verse or parable that really strengthened you in a difficult season of parenting? Something that stood out to you? A scripture or a parable, something? Okay, so I always wake up with the mindset of war, right? Because that's what we're in. I was telling the young people that on Wednesday, you know, there's two worlds. You got the seen world and you got the unseen world, right? Where are my young people at? Where are you guys at? Where are you guys at? Young people, where are you? What did I tell you on Wednesday? Can you stand up? Can you stand up? Please don't do this.

To me, what did I tell you on Wednesday? When I call you out, stand up. Give it up to the young people, man. They have been amazing, incredible. But what I was telling them on Wednesday is that we have two different worlds. The seen world, what we're seeing now, and the unseen world, right? And so the unseen world is the world that, man, we gotta, that is the one that we need to fight in the spirit. I was talking to them about fighting in the spirit. So I always wake up with war in my head. Like, war, okay, it's time for war because I, have you ever heard that? I fear God so that I don't fear no one else, right? The same thing with this. I wake up with the war mentality so that I have peace throughout my day. So my scripture is always that, behold, I have the power to tread on serpents and snakes and all that ugly stuff in the world of darkness. I have the power to stomp all over that. And nothing will hurt me. I'm always going to that scripture every morning. It's right there in my restroom, on my mirror, right there. Because I have to remind myself, I am at war and nothing is gonna hurt me, nada. And then I move on, brush my teeth. Oh, that's up, and I move forward.

That's mine. Thank you, that's good. Yeah. Sister Lydia? Well, I think the one thing that comes up to my mind is not to give up. There's so many things that happen in your daily life that sometimes, man, you wanna throw in the towel, but you know what? Then you think about the Lord and you think of his promises and you just hang on and you are dragging yourself around sometimes just holding on to that hymn. And I've shared this with all my children. I have four children. I have three daughters and one son. And they'll call me at times. I remember when my two girls were really little, I would do Bible studies with them. And of course, sometimes when they get older, they wanna move away a little bit. But I keep, when we talk, I keep talking to them. Have you prayed for your husband? Have you prayed for this? Have you prayed for that? I have to tell them over and over, please don't ever put anything before God. My thing is that they would relate that to their children because then it'll go to their children, their children, and their children.

The one scripture, there's a lot of them, but the one scripture that I truly love is Isaiah. And it's, oh, I just went blank on you. But those that wait on the Lord shall renew their mind. They shall walk and not fall, and they shall faint. You know, as they walk, I'm just getting it all, I'm paraphrasing for you guys, but it's the thing of just waiting on the Lord. And sometimes we have to wait a long time, but what I learned was that sometimes the Lord, he trusts you with that silence. He wants to see what you're gonna do if he doesn't jump up for you. But those that wait on the Lord shall renew their minds. They shall walk and not fall, and they shall run and not faint. And so that's what, you know, has held me on for years already with the Lord. Because I'm gonna wait on him until the day I die. Through the scriptures, I've read over and over and over and over and over again that the Lord is with you. He will never abandon you, and I stick to that every single day. He strengthens us throughout everything that we do. And that is something that I constantly, from the moment that I wake up to the end when I go to bed and I say, thank you, Lord, for the strength that you have given me. Because there's things that I just cannot see how I get over them, but yet the Lord has.

He's won the victory already once, and I don't need to worry about it anymore. It's all in his hands. The scripture that came up for me from my children that I always say, because family members always say, oh, Lorena, your kid, you know, when I started telling them, because, you know, my kids were grown and they started doing their own things. And they'll be, oh, Lorena, your kids are so good. They're good kids and this and that. And I'll be, well, they're doing this and they're doing that. And, you know, as a parent, you'll be like, you don't want to say what your kids are doing. You'll be ashamed, you know, like, you don't want to say, oh, well, they're drinking or they're doing this or they're. doing that right because why can you raise them in the things of God and church and stuff like that but to me I was like no I'm going to say what they're doing but you know why because I know that they're not going to be like that they're going to change and God's going to change them and then there's where God's going to be exalted and they're going to see what God's going to do so my scripture was always train up is Proverbs 22 6 it says train up a child in the way he shall go and when he is old he will not depart from it and I'm I hold on to that all the time that is the scripture for my kids and then that's what brings me back every time and and I'll be like I don't worry you know I don't worry and I know I had one of my son my youngest son that went really really astray and everything and it's not so much I was worried but I was hurt you know because I couldn't understand what was happening to him he was really really deep into like drugs or pills or whatever he was into and it just took caught me off guard and everything and it was to a point I was like God what's going to happen with him I was just going to find them dead or something but it took me finally say you know what God you're the giver you're the taker

of life you know is he's in your hands and you know God God did the miracle now he's preaching now he's saved he's in church and everything and it's it's all glory to God and I believe God and I trust in God so you know and and there's nothing impossible for God so I just I believe and I'm waiting for my other two children you know and I know that God's going to do it so train up the child in the ways of the Lord and and he will do it you know amen for me I love Genesis 2050 because what the enemy meant for evil God meant for good amen because I I've always taken the story of Joseph and I've always said these four Ps and I remind myself of the four Ps you know because he was persecuted he persevered and he was being positioned for God's purpose and I always remind myself of that because you know I now see my children I the ones that I went to go see in Southern California you know for three months straight they've been watching us online and God is doing something in their lives I see my son Abraham here serving you know alongside with us and you know in the one the one son who at one point he used to call himself he used to call himself atheist at one point many years ago he used to be like I don't I don't I don't believe in that stuff mom or anything he would say amen every single time we'd pray over our food but you know he sent me a long message talking about how he wanted to send his blessings towards me and everything just yesterday and just saying how he just loved me and mom you know I pray you have a blessed day and everything the one that I never thought that would be really just speaking that way and everything I just see God moving in my children's lives because what the enemy thought that he was going to do to destroy me you know at such a young age by everything that I've gone through in my life and look at where I'm at you guys look at what God has done in my life he thought he was going to destroy me he thought he was going to to destroy the little girl that I was and he look at look at how amazing look at the family look at the look at the husband that he gave me look at the church family look at look at what he's done in my life I'm so thankful for the woman that I am today so yes that is my verse and I'm so thankful for that so praise God that's that's I think that there's women here young mothers here some are even watching through their screen some are gonna watch this incarcerated you know and they they want to finish their time so they can come home to their children so everything you ladies are saying is really good wisdom and

advice what is the one thing that you would wish someone had told you in the very beginning of mothering something that way we can drop nuggets to the young mothers or mothers-to-be we have some women here that are about to be mothers very soon so what's the one thing you wish someone had told you from the beginning I had to write that one down, because I wish somebody would have told me how much I was going to miss them once they'd grow up, to not take the time when they're young for granted, to be with them when they're young more. You know, we get so busy, guys. We get so busy. We get mad at our kids. We constantly want to be running around with your buddies, your friends, with your boyfriend or girlfriend, whatever it is, with your partners or doing other things. And we forget. We want to work too much. And you're not spending the time with your children. And then they grow up so fast. And then they leave. And then you miss. You miss those moments. You know, today on the drive here, I told David, today is the first time I've never really, I'm not spending my first Mother's Day without any of my kids. So I would say, do not miss those special days, those moments. Do not take your kids for granted.

Make those special days. Make those special moments. Even if it's a school project, homework, whatever it be, don't miss it. I used to take the time, even on Valentine's Day, you know, I used to, you know, this is a quick little thing. I would do a restaurant in my own house and I would make a menu for my kids. And I would slip it under their doors. And I'd be like, you're invited to mom's kitchen. And I would dress up and I would be like a waitress for my kids. And I would actually do a little menu for them and I'd make my little kitchen. I'd convert it into like a little restaurant for them. I'd treat them like if they were in a five-star restaurant for them. I would do stuff like that for my kids. And these are the things that they would remember. I would do crazy things like that for my kids. Do special things for your kids, even though it's corny or whatever it be, but do things that they can remember. Those are the things that I miss doing for my kids that I don't do anymore because that time's not here anymore. But do that. Maybe now I can do that for my grandchildren. And I wish that I could. You will not get time back. So do that for your children. I would agree.

In the beginning, I wish someone told me how fast everything went. I can't believe my son's going to be 18 in December. I'm going to have a full-grown adult. And that literally was in a blink of an eye. I would say to moms that are new, it's OK to be goofy. It's OK to be silly. Those are the times that your kids will remember the most. The memories that you build with them, the way you bond with them, sing with them, dance with them, do anything that you can. Show them that they can do anything in this world. My son, one of the memories that I absolutely love is that we would read every night. And his favorite book till this day, we still have it. It's all torn up. But we used to read Stone Soup every night before going to bed. We used to make pizza from scratch. I absolutely adore those memories. Those are the things that I would say you would have to make sure you do, that you spend those moments to create with your children. So I'm going to piggyback on what the sisters just said right now. My upbringing was pretty harsh growing up. I was told, the things that I was told about motherhood really didn't help me. It was more like a hard thing you needed to do with your kids. So I had to re-parent myself. I had to learn, through the help of the Lord, to re-parent and understand what that truly truly meant. I had a hard time, you know, with my mom for the longest time. But God changed that too.

But God, we waste so much time, you know, just like Pastor Sharon said, we waste so much time doing things, you know, trying to survive, I think it was. I was a young mommy, too, I think I just turned 17. You know, so I kind of grew up, you know, with my son, Gary. But I didn't understand it. I didn't know what it meant. I wish that my mom had told me, hey, there's going to be some hard times, but ooh, there's going to be some good times, too. And there was. And there is. I feel really blessed because I'm a grandma of five and a half. One's coming in a couple of months. But it's almost like, like I say, you know, I had to re-parent myself and understand what that really meant. But man, with my grandkids, I am so in love with them. And it's good. And I didn't get that at first. I didn't understand that part. You know, you're a parent. You give what you think is good wisdom, mostly now that I'm with the Lord. But it's okay to be friends, too. It's okay, you know, just to sit and maybe spend time, you know, with your grown kids, too, you know, and go do your nails together, go to a show, go to a restaurant, go eat something special, you know, go do something special. It's taken me a long time to understand that. And you know, it's just I feel really blessed that God gave me that second chance. Because at one time, I had my children taken from me. But God gave them back to me. And now I am close to every little child that I have, whether it be my grandchildren, just go over there sometimes, just go and lay down and go color with maybe my granddaughter or

whatever it is. Go buy some boxing gloves for my son, my grandson. I don't even call them grandkids. I call them my son or my daughters, because I feel that deep about them. But also, my grown kids. I absolutely am in love with them. And I didn't think I could ever do that, because that was not taught to me. But like I say, God changes everything. I mean, absolutely changes everything. Gave me enough love, you know, to give to the girls where I work, you know, they're like my kids. They know it. They know I treat them like my daughters. And I'm just, you know, I'm blessed that God changed my heart, where it was like a rock, he put it into flesh. And so I have all this love, and I believe it's the love of God. And I thank God for that. My sister Lydia, I can't wait to be a grandma. Can you talk five and a half, five and a half, that's awesome. Okay. You know, Sharon, you said, I wish somebody would have told me that it goes by very quick. It's not going quick enough for me. I still got my boys living with me. My house is always noisy. My house is always... Always a mess. It's one thing after another, after another, after another. So, yeah, it's going by. I think you texted me the other day, something, and I was like, no, my days go by.

Oh, yeah, you said something like, something going by fast, and I was like, no, man, my days go by super slow. Super slow. Yeah. Like, guys, I'm in a whole nother season still with just the little one. Okay, so what I wish somebody would have told me is this, that you don't have to be perfect. Like, being a mom, you just don't try to. You're gonna waste your time, you're gonna agitate yourself and those around you. You don't have to be perfect. I would get irritated because things weren't like A, B, or C, and when things were in order, I would, ah! And then I'm like, wait a minute, I think it was, you guys remember Sonia Smith? I hope, I don't know if she's watching. Sonia Smith, she's the one that mentioned that to me. You don't gotta be a perfect mom, Deanna. I was like, I don't? No, you don't. Your kids just have to remember the safe place you provide for them. Your kids have to remember your consistency that you give them and the structure that you present to them. That's what you need to know as a mom. You don't gotta be perfect. Right?

Right, right. Don't try to be, you're wasting your time. Thank you. I wish somebody would have spoke to me about God sooner. When I was going through so much, when I was younger with my kids. Because I feel like then, my life would have been different with my kids. But I just thank God, you know, that they were still young enough that they were raised in the things of God. But there's just one thing that I feel that I didn't know, you know, that how good God was then, you know? That's what I really wish someone would have told me. And that's why I feel it's so important to share God with people. Because there's so many people that don't know. And that was by myself, a single mom with three children. Two of them had medical needs, and I wasn't there. In the hospital with them, two hours away from home. There was darkness there, I remember, it was dark. Looking back, it was a dark time. And I look back and I say, how come nobody told me about God? How come nobody reached out? How come nobody don't share about God? That's what I wished for. That's why it hurts so much that, you know? And that's, you know, and I feel like

my daughter, she was my only girl. And I had my two boys, I had the medical condition. And my focus was on the two boys. And she was always so quiet, just sitting there looking. And I feel I didn't give her the attention. I didn't have the love of God then. The love that she needed. Because she didn't get the attention because I needed to give the attention to my boys every single day. I had to focus on them. But that's what I wish. I wish I had the love of God back then, and somebody would have shared with me, and would have told me about God. And I would have been free, and not in that darkness then. Thank you. I want to end with one more question. Thank you, Lorena, for sharing your heart, because that's what the – there's women here that need to hear that. The last question is this. When your children are adults and they look back at their childhood, whether you have adult children or young, what is the one truth about God you hope is burned into their hearts because of you? When your children are adults and look back. When my children are adults, I'm just going to keep it sweet and simple. I want them to see that I served until my last dying breath with everything, that I gave it all. That's it. That I gave it all.

That I gave it all. You know? That they said, you know what? Mom served Jesus with everything that she had, and we saw, we got to witness that until my last dying breath. That's what I want my kids to be able to see. And I want them to be proud, and I want them to be happy and feel joy about that. And I don't want them to be sad about it. That's what I want. And I want them to be all saved, all saved, all of them saved. And I just want them to see that, yeah. But I want my children to see, you know, when I'm no longer here, I want them to know and say, you know what? That God was faithful. That he was faithful through everything, and he did miracle after miracle, and he never failed. He always kept his word. He never failed. I would say for him to trust in the Lord and praise him with everything, no matter what the circumstance. You praise the Lord, whether it's going your way or not, you praise the Lord. So the legacy, you know, that I want to leave my children is no matter what you've gone through in life, no matter what has hit you and almost knocked you down, but you got up again, I want them to realize the miracle and see and remember the miracle that God put into my life so that nothing, nothing is impossible for God to work that into their lives. Amen. Amen. Okay. So how real God is.

How real God really is. He's so real. And moms, we got to talk to our kids about what God's done in our lives. Can you imagine if nobody wrote scripture back in the day, right? They never talked about it. How would their children, their children would have never known, right? So we got to keep doing the same thing. What God has done in your life, tell your kids what God has done in your life. Don't keep it quiet. Write it down. Journal. Pass away and your kids find your journals, entries of everything God has done for you. That's what I would like. All right. Amen. There's a, as we're coming to a close, there's something that I always remember my brother Angel would say, and it was true. He said that, uh, when a father and a mother are walking their child down the street and a wild dog comes to attack the child, the father will look for the nearest weapon. The mother will throw herself in front. And I believe that's true because I thought of it in my head and I'm like, if a dog came running at one of my kids or grandkids, I would look for a stick, a shovel, something. And I think of my mom. And I said, yeah, she would have threw herself in front. And I seen that played out myself in real life. Before Christ, I was in court, and the judge said 23 years to life, minimum mandatory to me. I was 32 years old, lived a life of crime. I was guilty of so much stuff and stuff that wasn't said in court.

And I'll never forget, because after that, I went to the visiting room that same day, and it was through glass in Sacramento County Jail. And I didn't want to face my dad. My dad has always worked hard, did not live an illegal lifestyle. The little we had, he worked hard for it. And I was ashamed to look at him. But as a dad, he wants to fix things, the same way when the dog comes and the dad wants to find a weapon or something to fix the problem. And he says, David, I can't save you out of this one. I can't. There's nothing I can do. And then my mom looks at me through the glass and says, I would trade places with you, and I'll do the 23 years. She wasn't saying this to a son that she said, oh, they're treating him wrong. They're treating him like my son is innocent. She knew I was as guilty as sin. And the one person that would have said that, that I would take serious, was her, because I know she would have done it, as guilty as I was. That's a mother. That's a mother. Instead of trying to find the weapon to get me out, or find the lawyer to get me out, she was willing to throw herself in the middle of it. You know, on this Mother's Day, some of you don't have your mothers.

Some of you do. Some of you, mom wasn't so great. But what I hope and pray is that the women here gave you vision, because a lot of these women, you have Sister Diana, who is my sister-in-law, Pastor Angel's wife, has been in our family for a long time. I think I met you, you were 17. And sometimes people don't get to hear your voice. Sister Lydia, who is, you're a grace international minister along with Pastor Al. Many of the people here don't get to hear your voice. Thank you for the wisdom. Jessica, you are the one teaching their children. Thank you. And they see you running around with your little clipboard, and they never get to hear your voice. Lorena, you, along with Armando, who graciously came and brought you tissue, our Spanish pastors, we're so proud of both of you, so proud of you. Thank you for letting them hear your voice. And my wife, Sharon, who is ordained along with me through grace, I told her when she first started flirting with me and wouldn't stop. And when I told her that I was an ex-convict and all this other stuff, she should have ran, I told her, and she didn't run. Then her kids started looking me up, and they're like, mom, do you know who this is? But she stuck it out. And now, you have helped make this church what it is.

I look at this place, and I'm like, if I was pastoring here alone, this building would look ugly. People say, man, it just looks so beautiful in here. I was like, that's all, Sharon. I would, I don't know, I'd have plastic fold-up chairs and music stand I'd preach off of, and she tells me when my tie doesn't match my shirt, and not in a nice way, she's like, that looks ugly, like, you look crazy. But I appreciate you, happy Mother's Day to all of you, to Sharon, to all of you, again to my mother, to all the mothers that are here. But here's the thing that, let's all stand, I'd like to call all the mothers up here, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, stepmothers, we want to pray for you, but in the same way, in the same way that a mother would throw herself in front of her children. My mom was willing to throw herself in, even though I was guilty of sin, and you know what? Jesus himself, knowing that we were guilty of sin, still chose the cross. He knows that we weren't innocent, he knows that we were not unblemished, but he chose to die for us, even like Diana said, that great advice, right, that you're never going to be a perfect mom, that's impossible. You cannot be a perfect woman, you cannot be a perfect mom, you cannot be a perfect wife, but you can serve a perfect God, because he is perfect, and he can change the hearts around, he can turn things around, maybe you heard something right now that was some kind of wisdom or something, take it, take it home, or take it to the Lord and say, Lord, I want to be like that. Some of you said, man, I have not been the greatest mom, but you know what? I'm going to choose Mother's Day 2026, and I'm going to turn it around, because I want my children to rise up and call me blessed. If there's anyone here, not just women, if you have not given your life to the Lord, if you came because mom is here, and you came on Mother's Day just to make her happy, you know what would really make her happy, is if you surrendered your life to Jesus today on Mother's Day. Today, there's no greater day to give your life to the Lord than right now, today's a

day of salvation, tomorrow's not promised. And if that is you, I just, I want to pray for the mothers, I want to pray for the women, but I got to do a salvation call. If there's anyone here, if you want to like to give your life to the Lord, I want you to repeat this prayer after me. It doesn't say it in the Bible to repeat, but it does say to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and you shall be saved. That's it. You just got to surrender. You ever had your child jump to you from the bed? That's what he's asking you. Jump from your life into my arms and trust me. And just repeat after me and say, Lord God, I repent of all my sins. I believe you died on the cross. And after three days, you rose in power. Take out my heart of stone and give me a brand new heart. Starting right now, in Jesus name, amen, amen, amen. Let's give the Lord a hand. If you prayed that prayer for the first time, I want to pray for you in the name of Jesus. I command chains to be broken. Any demonic oppression that has been over you, I command it to be broken. Any witchcraft, santeria, santa muerte, whatever it is in the name of Jesus, I command it to be broken. Not in my name, but the name of the one that sits on the throne. In the name of Jesus, where chains break, he's the chain breaker. He's the life giver. He's the one that'll change it. Lord, I pray, Lord God, that you give them a brand new direction, a brand new air in their lungs, Lord God, a brand new start, a brand new reset. Men, extend your arms out.

We're going to pray for these women in the name of Jesus. I pray for the mothers, the grandmothers, the aunts, the stepmoms, in the name of Jesus, Lord God, the mothers to be in the name of Jesus, Lord God, that you put your hand over Each and every one of them that you put your anointing over them that your presence be over them that you put a hedge of Protection around them Lord that and that angels encompass them Lord God I pray for patience Lord God with their children Lord I pray for patience with their household that you make away Lord God There's a special place in your heart Lord God for mothers Lord God because we know even at the cross as you were Suffering Lord God you were concerned about your mother Lord God And that is a something that an example is men that we need to do Lord God, I pray for each and every one of them Lord Yes, Lord God. We thank you in the name of Jesus. We thank you in the name of Jesus Angel can you pray for the women too? I say Father right now in the name of Jesus Father we just lift up every mother father every grandmother every and father right now in Jesus name Father we just bless them Lord God right now in the name of Jesus. We bless them with health. We bless them with peace We bless them with strength Lord God in their life right here right now Father we bless them Lord God for the decision that many of them made right now or those that are watching online Look God that as of today Lord God that they will serve you they will walk with you father We thank you. We bless them Lord God. We bless every household Lord God We bless Lord God all the fruit of their labor. We bless what their hands touch Lord God We bless Lord God their life their prayers Lord God as the psalmist said that you collect every tear Lord To yourself father, I thank you for every tear that you have collected. I thank you for every prayer that has been made Father we thank you. We bless you Lord God for every single one of these women Look God, I pray look God for our young girls that are watching Lord God their mothers up here or their grandmothers or their loved ones up here that those young girls Lord God and those young ladies Those children those young those children girls can see Lord God What the hand of God can do in the life of a young woman what the hand of God can do with the life of? A young mother father. We thank you. We bless you for legacy. We bless you Lord God for future

We bless you Lord God. We bless your name Father we thank you We thank you right now. We thank you for your love your grace your goodness in The name of Jesus in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus pastor Armando if you would come, please Let's close this out in Spanish prayer and as pastor Armando is coming ladies You are the color of this world you understand You bring color to our lives our wives our sisters our mothers and we thank you for that We thank you for that. We thank you for your prayers. We thank you for your encouragement We thank you for your strength. We thank you for your unsteadfast love We thank you so much and we bless you. We honor you Mom, thank you. To my wife, thank you. We bless you That's why I trust him That's why I trust him Father in the name of Jesus Christ We ask you Father Your blessing on every mother in this place Heavenly Father and those mothers who are watching behind the screen Father We ask you Father in the name of Jesus Christ May your glory shine upon their lives Heavenly Father May you give them more wisdom More understanding as mothers Heavenly Father May you always know my God May you always see my God All the effort you have made Heavenly Father And may you never stop

Doubt in your promises my God If they believe in you Jesus Christ Your house will be saved In the name of Jesus Father Those mothers who have children right now Separated from your path We ask you in the name of Jesus May those children Be able to see the example of their mothers May they serve you Lord Jesus Christ In the mighty name of Jesus Que tu bendición siempre esté sobre estas madres padre y que sepan señor que tú las escogiste para este tiempo señor que ellas mi Dios han hecho algo que muchas mujeres a veces no quieren hacer y es ser madres en el nombre poderoso de Jesucristo Oh I believe this place no I Just sing I As we close out amen I How many of you do not have your mom here anymore Those of you that still have mom look at the hands that went up Love your moms My dad has always said don't wait till your mom is gonna take her flowers take her flowers while she's alive Those of you that don't have your moms Our hearts go out to you. We pray that you have family around you that you have maybe children or Loved ones around you to embrace you

We want to honor our moms today our aunts our grandmas Don't take them for granted They are they mothers are a gift from God Mothers you are a gift you're a gift from God, so God bless you have an amazing Sunday a blessed day and Jesus loves you how many of you enjoyed today's service? Amen you know what that means that means you're gonna bring somebody next week right?