Stephen De La Vega

  Some of us parents probably had ideas about how our baby’s birth would play out, especially moms. Or you might be looking forward to that day when you hold your firstborn in your arms, ready for a perfect entrance into the world. I’m honored to introduce you to Laura, a friend who had her own thoughts on her first birthing experience. Maybe it’s much like yours, or maybe it’s quite different. Either way, things didn’t go as planned…   Here is an interview with Laura about her delivery story with her husband Stephen (not me).   Hi Laura. Thank you for doing this interview with me and sharing your story on my blog. This is truly a pleasure for me and I’m excited to hear your story. Let’s first set the stage. Tell us about your birthing plans and how your pregnancy went before your precious baby came. Just before our 4th wedding anniversary in spring 2024, Stephen and I learned we were expecting our first baby, due in December, and we were overjoyed—praise God! My pregnanc...

  We often see the path we’re standing on, but not always the path around the corner. Sometimes it seems we’re on the wrong path because we don’t see what we hope to see or we’re walking farther than we wanted to walk. We question the decisions we’ve made along the way. We even question the published trail guide sometimes. Can we trust the guide? Of course we can. So, why do we question it? Sometimes we struggle to trust the truth. Sometimes we struggle to trust our Savior even though He is altogether trustworthy?   In our third and final visit with Jesus in this series, we join Him when He appeared to His disciples after He defeated death. Satan and his organized, world system could not keep Jesus and His truth locked away in a tomb . He rose from His grave just as He foretold and promised ( John 2:18-22 , Matthew 16:21 ). He told His disciples many times that He would rise on the third day. On one occasion, as we studied in Resolution 12 , the mother of James and John change...

  The Parthenon. Not the famous one in Greece, but “the world’s only exact-size replica of the original Parthenon in Athens” ( https://www.nashvilleparthenon.com/ ). You can visit it in Nashville, Tennessee. It seems like the one in Athens would’ve been a great place to exchange wisdom. It certainly looks like the perfect venue, but the Parthenon is not known for that. There is a place where wisdom and truth was taught at a temple where similar columns once stood. It’s called the Second Temple, a rebuilding of Solomon’s Temple. It’s also known as Herod’s Temple, and it’s where Jesus taught at times when He was in Jerusalem. There, at the Second Temple, Jesus shared His perfect wisdom with Jews and Gentiles alike, depending on where he was on any given day. He spoke about life as He expressed the truth of God to eager listeners ( Mark 12:41 , Mark 14:49 , John10:23 , Luke 19:47-48 ).   I’m pleased that we have the opportunity to hear from Jesus in a few resolutions begi...