Good Day
Living in the border region of west Texas and southern New Mexico provides a positive environment to grow and learn. We are blessed with beautiful weather, delicious food, kind people and unlimited opportunity. Many of the regions population are financially challenged or living in poverty however the transformative power of Jesus is alive and well and his blessings in the region are evident and flowing.
In 1992 my mother moved my 2 sisters and me with her to El Paso's west side when I was approximately 12 yrs old. I welcomed the new form of city life and access to large schools that I was not accustomed to in Sierra County NM. Unfortunately, rebellion and poor judgment was a constant embarrassment to my family, friends and my friends parents. El Paso didn't experience the financial success and economic growth much of the rest of the US experienced during the 90's and has been a regularly overlooked destination for middle class incomes when relocating.
As soon as I saved up enough money for a plane ticket, I moved to Kauai HI, with my brother, to flea what I saw as an impossible financial situation in El Paso. I came to find out finances are much more difficult to manage in Hawaii than I could have possible imagined in El Paso. Eventually I went without food for several days due to limited opportunity and I called out for help. My mom sent me enough money for a plane ticket and I unceremoniously left back to El Paso after about a year of struggling on the island.
Philippians 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus". I force my spirit to utter this verse when I notice doubt is creeping into my mind. Doubt is so difficult to identify, many times it enters our minds as something logical or normal and we then accept a lie from the enemy without actually acknowledging it. This is why the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ;".
A majority of the El Paso locals are generational immigrants to the region; recent census estimates are close to 90% Mexican/American population. Mexico, just a few miles from my doorstep, has a tumultuous past of large scale financial hardships and elitist corruption that leads many of the Mexico's poorest population to seek relief by traveling north and finding work in the USA. Historically El Paso has been a primary passage for millions of immigrants into America. The name El Paso is translated: the pass.
Nowhere else, besides California's San Joaquin Valley, is Gods laws of seed time and harvest more evident than right here in the Rio Grande Valley. All the way from Albuquerque down to Presidio, TX and eventually the gulf of Mexico, we unwittingly rely on the agricultural systems of farming and ranching to supplement the food and sustenance for millions of border dwellers. While I do find myself in awe of and appreciative of the vast amounts of resources and capabilities of modern agriculture, I place my faith in our savior Jesus and his ability to provide for his sheep as our Shepherd.
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