39 years ago, she would have never envisioned her life as it is today….

She was married to a man who wasn’t in love with her. He was hardly home and wasn’t an active husband or father. Her hopes of having a family man had vanished a long time ago. She didn’t work outside the home, didn’t even drive, and yet she just knew she needed a way out for her and her 4 kids, ages 10, 8, 4 and just under 2. She was seeking a new life and wanted nothing to do with my dad. Just 5 days earlier, they had gone to church and he had told her of the decision he had made to give his life to God. She had seen the change in him the last few days. But she just couldn’t believe it was real and that it was permanent. She felt like it was a desperate attempt to keep her and the kids at home a little longer. No matter what change he thought he had experienced, she was still determined to leave him.

With all the stress of her situation, she had developed a golf-ball size ball of nerves on her neck. It was very painful and wouldn’t go away. She was experiencing anxiety and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The church that they went to the week before had a prayer meeting on Monday evenings. So that evening, my dad convinced her to at least go to the prayer meeting because of the pain she was feeling.

Well that night turned into the most powerful night of her life. That night, she just laid it all out for God. She surrendered her life to Him and asked Him to change her life and her situation. There was an immediate physical transformation, as she no longer had the ball at her neck. It was completely gone! She felt the peace and the joy that my dad experienced just 5 days before. Her life changed dramatically in just a matter of days. I still remember my parents pouring out all the alcohol bottles in the house. Our house suddenly became a home full of love and full of God. We had numerous faith-based pictures in our home after that. Every room had some type of symbol of our newfound faith and relationship with God.

We often joke around about the saying “Be careful what you wish for” because God did such a big transformation in my dad’s life that now he was all about telling people of his life change. He would talk to anyone who would listen. He is now a pastor, and we tend to focus on him so much because of how enormous of a change that took place in his life. But ultimately, my mom was the strong one. She put up with him for 15 years and raised us 4 kids practically by herself before that day. And once he became a Christian, my mom has always been his backbone. She has been the spiritual mom to so many people. She has opened their home and cooked for tons of people. She has always made people feel loved. She has a magical hug that just brings instant comfort and peace. I am so blessed to have the mother that I have. She is such a unique person with a loving spirit. I thank God for changing her heart and for her giving my dad another chance. I think she would agree that it was worth it! 

She is the protector of our family as well, and she will defend any one of her children and grandchildren. She has grown a thick skin to endure the heartaches of being a pastor’s wife, and she has had to display humility and dignity, even in the most difficult and hurtful situations. She has carried the burdens that are too much to share publicly, and she has wept tears when people have hurt her husband, children and grandchildren. She has remained strong and a faithful servant to God, and she is definitely the Wind Beneath Our Wings.

Author: Monica Robles-Lopez

January 20, 1982 is a very significant day for my whole family because it is the day that changed the entire direction and destiny of our lives. It is the day that my dad said YES and gave his life to Jesus Christ.

I remember that year so vividly.  You see, at this time in 1982, I had just turned 8 years old and was halfway through 2nd grade. Life was simple for me on the surface with my older 10-year old brother, my 4 year old sister, and my baby brother who would turn 2 in just 2 more days. I had good parents who I knew loved me. But as you dug deeper, you would see there was a whole lot more to the bigger picture. My family was actually falling apart. My dad was about to lose his career, his wife, his kids, most likely even his home through divorce.   There was so much brokenness in my family. My family was crumbling, and I was most likely going to lose my dad for good. He wasn’t the type of person who I could see being in our lives much if they had gotten divorced. I later found out that he was also about to lose his job. His life was quickly spiraling downhill.

He was raised in a Christian home with very God-fearing and humble parents. Dad was the rebellious one who went his own path once he was able to. But he learned none of his bad habits from his parents. Even in this darkest moment in his life, he remembered what he had been taught at home and decided to give God a chance.

On that Wednesday, January 20, he made a last resort attempt and tried out church. We all went to church that night….I still remember the little pink building and the smell when walking in. No one knew we were going to be there that night, yet every song and every word spoken in the sermon seemed to be directed at my dad. It was a divine appointment made by God, and that night, as he knelt by the pew at church(he didn’t even make it to the altar), he surrendered his broken life to Jesus Christ, and he was forever changed!

And from that day on, I never saw my dad the same again. He was born again and began a new life as a totally new creation.

My dad has become the most humble, most forgiving, most loving, most giving, and wisest man I know. He truly is my hero here on earth. And while I don’t uplift him, I do see Jesus living in him, and he is the closest that I will ever see of Jesus while we live here on earth. God completely and totally transformed his life. I was just so fortunate and blessed to be a part of this beautiful story. My life could have taken a totally different path. But by God’s grace and mercy, He changed the destiny of our family.

Last January 20, 2020, he preached a sermon that he had preached 8 years ago, and it was titled, “If This Was My Last Sermon.” It was so emotional as he addressed the different points of his life from before and after the dramatic transformation that took place in his life 38 years ago today. And what I love is that Dad is always very transparent about his failures as a father and a husband, even after becoming a Christian. He went from being negligent of his family because he was caught up with work, baseball, friends, and drinking….to now being caught up with church, church, church. Throughout the years, I resented how much time he spent at the church because I felt like they were more important to him than his family. Now as we are all fully grown, he has realized where he went wrong, and he does try to make up for it. Unfortunately, we can never gain that time back. But it taught me a big lesson – and that is my family is my first ministry. As much as I love serving Christ through church ministry, that will never come before my family. And for those who are actively in my life – you will know that when we have family time, actual steam comes out of my ears if my dad answers his phone LOL!! But seriously, my time with my parents is priceless and precious, because we had so little of that quality time growing up.

I am beyond blessed and thankful that my dad gave his life to Christ that day. Because of that decision, my parents didn’t get the divorce that was in process, and my dad became a changed man. Our lives were all changed, and now the legacy that he leaves behind has been altered. He has reached thousands of people and led them to the Kingdom of Jesus!

My family is a work in progress. Even with this amazing story, it doesn’t mean that our family is free from problems. In fact, the devil hits us even harder because he knows that my dad’s family is his kryptonite…his weakness…his unconditional love. But even through the struggles we face as a family, I am beyond grateful for the detour that our path took on that Wednesday, January 20, 1982. I know that my dad’s legacy is his family. And while we have all brought hurt and shame to my parents at some point in life, we have never forgotten our roots and our foundation of a Christ-centered home.

People in his past used to always want him to have their back because they knew they could trust him to defend them and put up a fight for them. Well now people want him to have their back because he can put up the best fight ever – on his knees in prayer!

What a blessed 39 years for you Dad! I pray there are still many more and that you haven’t preached your last sermon yet because I’m not ready to let you go.

Originally posted on December 31, 2020

Author: Monica Robles-Lopez

Finding Joy in Faith – this was shared on my social media pages in August 2015, when I was baptized for the second time in my life.

After we reconciled our marriage in late 2013, it had been on my heart to be baptized again. Even though I did it at the age of 8 years, I felt that so much has happened in my life that it has even more meaning now that I have recommitted my life to Christ. I really wanted to do this together for our anniversary last September 2014, but it just didn’t feel like the time was right, and I didn’t want to pressure Danny. Then a couple of months ago, I decided that I was going to do this, with or without Danny, no matter what. I felt that I needed to do this for myself between me and God. God gave me confirmation of my decision by opening the perfect doors, my dear friend and mentor, Allison. She had just recently moved into a home with a swimming pool. When she told me about it, I knew this was the right time, and she was the perfect person. When I told her of my desire to be baptized in her pool, she shared that she had been praying that her home would be used for ministry, specifically baptisms. So I knew in my heart, THIS WAS IT!! I only had one piece missing, and that was for Danny to say he wanted to do it too. But I was okay with doing it alone. Well just last week, Danny shared with me that he was ready to be baptized too. So we put this together with a very small amount of immediate family and close friends who we felt had been there for us through the darkest of times and now the best of times. Being baptized isn’t our ticket to heaven, and it surely doesn’t mean that we’re going to do everything right from this moment on. But it was a symbolic event for us that represents that the old has been made new….we have died to ourselves and put the past behind us, and we have been raised with Christ to live a new life together. We are so excited for this new chapter in our lives and to see the plans that God has for us. Thank you to each one of you who were present for this very special day in our lives!!