Bienvenidos - There is Hope

 

When I think of the word Esperanza, Hope, I automatically picture a female, someone who gives birth, someone who cares, provides, and shows up. However, that’s not what we mean here. 

Let’s look at a few definitions:

hope - /hōp/

noun: 1. a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

ARCHAIC: a feeling of trust.

verb: want something to happen or be the case.

In the Bible, hope is not merely wishful thinking, but a confident expectation and trust in God's promises and His character. It's a dynamic and powerful force, rooted in faith, that fuels joy, peace, and patience, even in the face of adversity. Biblical hope is future-oriented, grounded in God's past faithfulness and His unchanging nature. 

I am choosing Hay Esperanza - There is Hope because even when difficulties and hard times are the most common things we face. As I write this, I am recuperating from a breakdown and pain because of some news, but I am stubborn and I chose to believe that this moment will pass and we will encounter another reality and things will change. Not an easy thing to do of course. 

The thing is, our humanity only gets better by failing, we only learn to miss someone when that someone left us. We learn to love because it is our human nature and we need to feel, receive and give love; the contrary would be worse. 

I have been investing in the next generation and learning from amazing great leaders in the last 15 years but all my life has been about that. I am someone who started to take responsibility and take care of others at the age of 8 and I have not stopped since nor I plan to. Life has not been easy, nothing has been given to me, I learned since my early childhood that life was hard but I needed to cling to Hope. I suffered from chronic illness from when I was 7 until I turned 18. There were moments where I could figured my dad was crying and suffering inside out because how powerless he felt when I got sick and he could not do anything or my lovely mother when she took me to see the doctor and after getting the prescription she could only afford a quarter of the cost, coming from a country where if you did not have money at hand there wasn't anything they could do for you. In those moments I remember, my mother would ask the pharmacist what medicine was more needed and she would pay for a few doses. That continued until I had better support thanks to their hard work. I just imagine if they did not come to the United States, I would seriously have died. Not joking, or maybe not, who knows if they would have sold everything they had for me. This actually makes me emotional. I am grateful for my parents, even though my beautiful mother did not live to see me grow and become what I am becoming. I was 13 when she died and at the age of 25 my dad died and I was not able to say goodbye to him. Yet, I know they dreamed of a better future which means, they hoped for the best for us. 

I am choosing to say Hay esperanza because I saw hope when I was little, I saw hope when I was a shepherd and I needed healing for one of my sheep when I was little. I found hope when God healed me, when God opened doors and opportunities for me, I saw hope when I asked God when I was 25 to make sure to take care of me and he has done it. 

It might look hard to write about hope right now when a lot of people are suffering, when nothing feels right and I do not want to sound like I am living an unrealistic life and  not being able to comprehend what is happening. 

Since I have been little I have heard God whispering to me telling me it will be okay and I am so human that I quickly forget. 

The events of our times are scary, worrying and concerning. Wars within ourselves, a national division, countries attacking each other, other humans with self proclamation of superiority dehumanizing other children of God. Hate, persecution, misinformation, chaos, and the economy is another topic that is affecting every household. People dying because of a system and a system thinking that so many great people with amazing intentions are indoctrinated to believe so nothing gets done. In the last few years I have learned to be in the midst of separation, people are getting separated. Parents get separated from their kids unjustly, families are being thorn apart by the government because of a freaking earthly status, and lastly, I have been dealing with family separation due to death. 

A few years ago I wrote my personal mission statement: “My mission is to serve, lead, and help the next generation reach their full potential while empowering them in love.”

That’s what I have been doing and will continue to do. Lets journey and hoped for the best, 

Walter Vasquez