Author Archives: Becky Pliego

About Becky Pliego

I am grateful because God, in His grace, called me out of darkness and into his admirable light. When I did not look for Him, He found me. When I was in a pit of sin, He rescued me. I am not walking this road alone, my family is always with me, and we love Him, because He loved us first.

Jesus’ Prayer to the Father

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Grace Foretold by Makoto Fujimura

 

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
since you have given him authority over all flesh,
to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
And this is eternal life,
that they know you the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
I glorified you on earth,
having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
And now, Father,
glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you
before the world existed.

 

 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world.
Yours they were,
and you gave them to me,
and they have kept your word.
Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.
For I have given them the words that you gave me,
and they have received them
and have come to know in truth that I came from you;
and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them.
I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me,
for they are yours.
All mine are yours, and yours are mine,
and I am glorified in them.
And I am no longer in the world,
but they are in the world,
and I am coming to you.
Holy Father,
keep them in your name,
which you have given me,
that they may be one,
 even as we are one.
While I was with them,
I kept them in your name,
which you have given me.
I have guarded them,
and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction,
that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
But now I am coming to you,
and these things I speak in the world,
that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
I have given them your word,
and the world has hated them because they are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world,
but that you keep them from the evil one.
They are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them in the truth;
your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world,
so I have sent them into the world.
And for their sake I consecrate myself,
that they also may be sanctified in truth.

 

“I do not ask for these only,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
that they may all be one,
just as you,
Father, are in me,
and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
The glory that you have given me I have given to them,
that they may be one even as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may become perfectly one,
so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Father, I desire that they also,
whom you have given me, may be with me where I am,
to see my glory that you have given me
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
O Righteous Father,
even though the world does not know you,
I know you, and these know that you have sent me.
I made known to them your name,
and I will continue to make it known,
that the love with which you have loved me may be in them,
and I in them.”
 John 17:1-26



Father, O Righteous and Holy Father, I thank you for Jesus, for his prayers, for his unceasing intercession for us.


I love you, Abba Father.

Amen.

Becky

Wherein I Narrate How I Watched a Movie and Cried

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Setting: A handful of young men, my daughter and I, some pizza, wine and a good conversation.

Movies were being discussed and let me tell you that these guys know what a good story is, they love good stories, and especially those that carry the message of Redemption. They said I should watch Blood Diamond. So we did. It was not an easy movie to watch because it is definitely “gritty, gruesome, brutal, and cold.” But I kept on watching while my son would say, “Mom, you just have to wait.” And one of the other young men, a good friend,  insisted, “The scene, the powerful scene that encompasses the gospel message is coming.”

And it did come.

It was powerful.

Unexpected.

The Father. The Son.

Hatred. Love.

Redemption.

We all cried.

Now it is my turn to recommend this movie to you. Again, it is not an easy to movie to watch. Endure the hell of the first part (it is essential to understand the redemptive story) and have some Kleenex ready for the second half. It is powerful.

You can read a more extensive review of Blood Diamond at The Film Dissectors (know that you’ll find some spoilers though).

Grateful for the Father’s love.

 

Becky

Hello June -Status Report-

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Gennine D. Zlatkis artist

There are a few very exciting things going on in our lives this month, so I’ve decided to share a bit of what is happening in this little corner of the world doing a status report as some of my friends do.

Sitting… in my room, catching up with some emails, grading, blogging.

Drinking… yes, you guessed: Coffee, black.

Realizing… how much my son has grown this past year. Having him back for the summer after his year  in college is amazing. I love seeing the man he has become.

Loving… seeing him playing with his little sister.

Enjoying… having a full house. We will have a full house this summer, and that is one of my favorite things in this world!

Waiting… for Ink Slinger. He will be arriving in a few hours and we are very excited about that!

Unpacking… from our yearly trip to Lancaster, PA. Spending 10 days with amazing friends and beautiful families is definitely a highlight of our year.

Missing… my sister and all the wonderful friends that God has brought to my life, but live far away. I really miss them all!

Packing… we will leave in two days to the beach. Mexican beaches are magical, did you know that?

Planning… how to feed hungry several young men.

Listening… mostly to the guitar (the piano too). There is always some one playing it and singing. Gotta to love having live concerts in your living room all day long!

Grateful… for the body of Christ.  How much we need each other. I pray I will never forget this.

Gotta go, but I promise to post pictures and not to disappear these coming weeks.

Much love!

Becky

Christmas in May

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Photography by Kalle Gustafsson -source-

I am reading a wonderful book, Heaven Misplaced by Douglas Wilson. It is a short book about Eschatology, and more specifically about postmillennialism -or “historical optimism”-. And no matter what your beliefs are on this matter, if you are uncertain on what exactly postmillennialism is and would like to study it, this is the book you need to read. Wilson does a fantastic work in explaining a difficult topic in such a way that you find yourself inside the narrative, immersed in it. And in a moment you find yourself saying, “Wouldn’t it be glorious if this really were true?” 


I would love to share with you some quotes from chapter seven, What the Angels Said; Goodwill Toward Men,  that have found its way deep into my heart:

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:8-14

 

“Think of this book as a small effort to get Christians to believe their Christmas carols year-round.
We have trouble with this because Christmas is about grace, and grace is one of the most difficult things in the world for sinners to grasp. And as soon as we realize that it is difficult, we turn the “grasping of it” into a contest, giving those with the “right answer” a “best in show” award. But grace doesn’t follow our rules. Grace means that some who have the wrong answers will be saved and others who have the right answers won’t be.”

 

“We have trouble with something as straightforward as “goodwill toward men.” We are afraid of grace getting carried away, and so we want to slap some conditions on it.”

 

“Grace has a backbone and knows how to define itself. Grace is not the word that we use as the “open, sesame” of the Church. Grace is not something we do. Grace is not something we can control. Grace is not something that we can manage. And this means that we in the Church need to recognize that the guardians of grace are frequently its most dangerous enemies. Grace is God’s declared intention of favor for the whole world, whether we like it or not.”

 

“We know our Bibles well enough to know that grace, properly understood, does not lead to a life of moral outrage. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (Rom.6:1). Of course not. We know the Scriptures in this, but I am afraid that we do not know our own hearts. God’s grace is a tsunami that will carry us away and deposit us in places we would not have anticipated -and all of it good. We analyze this carefully and say that  we want our grace to be true and pure water, just like the tsunami, but we want it to be a placid pond on a summer day that we can inch across gingerly, always keeping one pointed toe on what we think is the bottom of our own do-gooding morality. “

“Christ was born at night, and His birth was the arrival of the morning star.”

Waiting in Him,

 

Becky

Spinning in the Fog

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Annie Pliego Photography

It is a foggy day, just the way days have been lately.  The sun-rays come and go through the clouds, but most of the time there is fog.

She puts on her pretty dress, the one that swirls beautifully when she spins around.

Over and over again, she dances.

She spins with wide open arms in the fog. 

She stops. 

All is moving inside of her, outside her, all is unstable. At least that is the way it seems to be. 

And I look from the window, standing where the sun rays appear and disappear behind the clouds, the fog. All is moving, all is swirling inside my head, my heart. Thoughts. This, that. The next. The book, the girl, the man.

The fog won’t rise.

The girl is spinning again.

What matters, what doesn’t? What fights should I fight and which ones are not for me? All is swirling. This, that. Poetry. Calvin. Luther. Chesterton. Analogies. Fog. Love. Unity. Division.

She stops. 

Her legs are firm in the ground.

Her arms still opened wide. 

I stop. I press my Bible to my chest. Hard. I feel a hard lump in my throat. Words are hidden in the fog.

A sun ray shines on her and she starts spinning again.

All these terms, these theological questions. This, that. The passion for one or the other. The songs we sing. The books we read. The words we write. The conversations we have. The lives we live in the open. In the secret.  They all matter. They do. Even when the fog won’t rise and all is moving inside us. It matters. It does matter. I am what I believe.

She spins.

It matters what I believe.

It determines how I will respond…

In the days of darkness.

In the days of joy.

In the days of trouble.

In the days of health.

In the days of sickness.

In the days of trials.

In the days of peace.

She still spinning.

All the days I will live

Under the sun,

Under the fog.

Today, tomorrow,

The time in between.

They all matter.

It does matter!

She stops. She grabs her dress as if by holding unto it she won’t fall. 

I am still holding my Bible. Tight. I do not want to fall.

The sun rays are now coming back through the glass, this time shining on me. All is moving inside of me and tears have found a way to escape through my eyes. I have tried to hold them back but they won’t stay in.

She is tired of spinning. Dizziness has overcome her.

I look at my Bible. The Word of God. It has never been moved. It will always remain. Firm. It never changes. Every word in it has been spoken by the Author of Life. The Alpha, The Omega, the Great I Am. I press it hard to my chest.

O how I love the Word that sustains my life in the midst of all the fog!

Oh how I love the Word of God!

He spoke and all was created.

He spoke and darkness was removed.

He spoke and the Devil did not overcome.

He spoke my name and I lived.

She is holding her dress and playing with it. 

She is content in the fog, and dizzy no more.

I try to smile, to remember what I have learned. How to be content. What I believe. Who am I. I know what it takes not to faint. It is not what I can defend with logic and arguments that sustains me when I am dizzy. No!

It is not that.

It is deeper than that.

It goes beyond that.

It is not what I believe in my head,

but in my heart that keeps me going,

and keeps me still.

It is His love burning in me.

How can I explain with logic and rhetoric, in English or Spanish, this, that, éso, aquéllo?  It is His love that captivates my heart, that sustains my life. It His light shinning through the fog, through tears, and the uncertainties of life that holds my life tight.

To be loved by the Great I Am.

To be known by name.

To be able to respond to that amazing love.

The Spirit  within me,

My cry: Abba Father!

The song He has put in my heart.

That He rejoices over me with singing.

All that undeserved grace.

All that has been forgiven.

How can you possible explain this, that?

And yet that is what sustains me.

That is what strengthens me when all seems to be spinning around.

I come out and hold her hands.

We smile and spin together.


And then we stop.


All is moving inside of us, outside of us, all is unstable. 

At least that is the way it seems to be.

 

Becky

Praying the Psalms -Psalm 77-

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©Katie Lloyd Photography -used with permission-

 

I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and he will hear me.
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out
without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.
When I remember God, I moan;
when I meditate, my spirit faints.
Selah

You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
I consider the days of old,
the years long ago.
I said, “Let me remember my song
in the night;
let me meditate in my heart.”
Then my spirit made a diligent search:
“Will the Lord spurn forever,
and never again be favorable?
Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”
Selah

Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.
You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph.
Selah

When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were
afraid;
indeed, the deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
the skies gave forth thunder;
your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lighted up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Father in Heaven, there are times when some memories hunt me at night, times in which my soul grows weary to the point of refusing to be comforted. Some days as I lie on my bed, I remember and the pain pierces me still. I cannot speak, Father, in times like those I don’t know what to say, how to pray. I just ask questions in my heart, my face hidden in the pillow.

But you O God, always Merciful to your own, visit me at night. You remind me of all your goodness and steadfast love. You comfort me in the middle of those hard nights, and when the sobs are quieted, and I start to see more clearly, I only have eyes to see your mercies.

And as I open my eyes, I say,

I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.
You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph.

Yes, Lord, yes. I want to remember this. Help me not to forget! How you have worked wonders in my life even through the hardest providences. How the sins of my youth broke me in pieces and then you pulled all those pieces together and made me whole again. Who else could do something like that? There is no other one like You!

I will remember how it pleased you to made your ways known to me. O how you stretched your arms on the cross to redeem me!

When the waters that were trying to drawn me saw you, they feared you and retreated. In the midst of the hardest trials, You were there. I could not see your arrows going against my enemies because I was hidden under your wings. I couldn’t see beyond my pain and fears but you never left me. O God, my Shepherd, you have led me through all those hard trials to a place of quiet, a place of green pastures. I am grateful, so grateful, God.

Let me drink and eat from you now that the waters are low and the sky is clear blue, so that I will be prepared for the next storm. Let my heart be strengthen in you. Let me be established in your Word. Let me never forget that You alone are the God who works wonders.

Father, I love  you. I love you, Oh God of my Salvation.

Amen

Becky