Written By La Luz
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2
Have you ever felt like you are born into this world, and you simply don’t have enough? Or maybe you feel that you have some things, but you have too much waste. Or you may have even lost a loved one and you inherited alot of things and now you have a little bit of a mess on your hands. I can relate to all of them.
What I can really relate to the most is being a caregiver to a child during a tough period in my life and not having any money. As a person that grew up with a few privileges in life, I quickly learned that starting a family on my own was not the same as being part of one. Even more challenging for the types of individuals that live in the moment, is thinking about the future. That’s understandable because it’s the future and the future can seem so far off. But, what happens when the future knocks at your door early. That is what happened to me when I my first child was diagnosed with Autism. I had to leave my career for a moment and take care of him. That initial birth was wrought with problems and issues. We had nights filled with NICU visits and what would go on to be days of therapies. As a new mom, you can imagine the fear and anxiety it brings. Not to mention the failure.
I went on to have another child right after that. Even though my first birth was not ideal, I had another child because I believed in family. That also ended up with a daughter in the NICU for a brief stint and a nurse feeling concern for all of the poking and prodding that was being done to her. She said she was praying for us. Thankfully her prayers worked, and my daughter Calais was let out. However, 2.5 years later, she was diagnosed with a stage four brain tumor. Talk about devastation–I was in complete and total shock. I had just accepted a job that I felt I had to quit because she was not going to be around. She passed away at the age of five. Her life was supposed to be even shorter than it was. She was supposed to be stuck in the hospital, but through God’s grace and the intercession of many of my friends and the saints, she was mainly home with us.
One of the things that pained me the most was not having enough money during that time. I somehow was able to be extremely resourceful. We took trips and did activities and through the charitable donations of many pediatric cancer organizations we received so many gifts. We also received meals, toys, and home visits from our Catholic community. During this time, I learned about the power of faith and prayer. So many strangers drove out of town to spend time with my daughter as we traveled to various states in order to save her life. It was a miracle.
As I type this today, I know not only am I on my right path, but that she is with me. This is a community about transformation. This is about using your resources to design your home environment. This is change from the inside out–this is a ministry of home. Without a strong spiritual foundation, we cannot lead ourselves or accept information and opportunity presented around us. Together we can change that.
It has taken me seven years to finally begin to share this story and how I was transformed through this journey. Now I am an entrepreneur, I am an even better mother (hoping to grow my family!), I am very abundant and looking to hire my first employee. All of this, after having a negative bank account, walking out of several stores thinking I had money and I didn’t, and the list goes on. But, my daughter never complained. She suffered, but like all of those brave kiddos, she was always smiling. She is my superhero. Life is tough, but when you pay attention to the people that are really great in this world, they have been through it—they just kept going. We can too. We will. As long as you never give up, you will not only win, but you will also thrive. Never stop learning and never stop believing. God is going to show you a beautiful gift of life.
The House of Maryam Creative Center 