Hosea 1-3

There once was a man and woman expecting their first child. It was a pleasant surprise and the perfect addition to their new family. To them it would be a symbol of a new life together. A fresh start.

The woman welcomed a fresh start. God knows she needed it. Just a few months earlier, she was single and on the streets. Then, nobody loved her like He did. Nobody looked at her the way He does now. They just saw her as a quick, cheap fix to their desires. She couldn't blame them though. She was the one who prostituted herself on the streets. Night and day, she would stand there like a slave waiting to be purchased at auction. Waiting to be compensated for her filthy work.

She knew what she did. And she knew it was wrong. Nobody needed to tell her that. She felt it all over her. She felt shameful, dirty and undesirable. She felt the stares and judgmental looks of those who passed her by, yet it was her own judgments that caused her the most pain.

Then she met Him.

Off in the distance she saw a man approaching her. She prepared herself to make a sell. As she looked him over, she sensed something different about Him. His eyes were locked on hers as he unashamedly approached her.

This man was different. Instead of cash, he offered conversation. Instead of sex, he offered relationship. He had noticed her before, but finally had the courage to approach. With just a few words, and a promise of love and life-change he swept her off her feet. They were soon married, and her devotion was to him alone.

She eventually bore him a son. As he looked into his newly born sons eyes, he could see a new hope. As she looked at the son, she could see a stark resemblance of the man who rescued her and gave her a new start. They had the same eyes and nose. The couple named him Jezreel.

Not long after the birth of Jezreel, His wife became pregnant again. But something was different this time, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. His wife seemed nervous about the pregnancy, and the baby was born sooner than expected. Healthy, but early.

As he held his new born daughter, he looked into her eyes and did not see His own. He looked at her nose, and did not see His own. In fact, the baby did not resemble Him at all. He confronted His wife with startling words, "Is this baby mine! IS THIS BABY MINE?!!"

No.

With one single word, all of the guilt she felt on the streets flooded back. All of the life-change that she had experienced slipped away. How could she let her self do it?! Cheat on the only man that cared!

As the new father looked as his daughter, all she reminded him of was his wife's adultery. So, he named the baby girl "Not Loved."

Once again, His wife became pregnant. This time He was 100% positive that this child was not his. And once again, he confronted his wife. She confirmed his suspicion. This child too, was not his. For nine months he stewed in anger, until the baby was born. This time it was a boy. He named the baby boy, "Not Mine".

The man was crushed. He had offered her so much. He offered her a life. A real life! A better life! And now she was returning to prostituting herself on the streets. "If that's what she wanted, that's exactly what she'll get!" he said to himself. That night, he kicked her out of the house. She returned to the work of her past leaving her kids behind.

Night after night, the man thought about what had happened. It was unavoidable. His kids, now toddlers, still served as a constant reminder. Any time he would call their name he would remember. Anytime he would look "Not Loved" and "Not Mine" in the eyes he was reminded of her sin.

One evening, as he sat and rocked his children this all changed. When he looked them in the eyes, he no longer saw her sin. Instead he saw something he had never noticed before. They had the features of their mother. The girl, "Not Loved" and the boy, "Not Mine" had her hazel eyes. Exact replicas. As the father looked into his children's eyes, he no longer saw adultery. He saw her. He was reminded of his love for her. He was reminded of the day their eyes locked on the streets. He knew who she was. He knew what she did. Yet he loved her anyway. He cared for her and married her, despite her sin.

That night as he looked at his children, he knew he really loved their mother. He also knew that he really loved them too. Despite the circumstances of their relationship, this was a family that was meant to be together.

The man knew what he had to do. He ran to the streets to find her. But she was nowhere to be found. He asked everyone he passed if they had seen her. None had. He went to corners where she used to work, and she was not there. He spent the night and the following morning looking for her. He vowed not to stop until she was found.

Finally, he spotted her in a crowd. Men were gathered all around her, bidding on who would take her home. She noticed His familiar face approaching. She began to expect the worse. He pushed his way through the crowd and offered the most money, giving Him the right to take Her home.

She didn't understand. Why was He buying her? This is the same man she cheated on, and hurt twice! She stayed silent as he put his arm around her. He held her all the way back home, assuring her that She has been forgiven.

As She entered the home that now seemed foreign to her; her eldest son Jezreel greeted her. They embraced and cried together. As they hugged, she called out for her daughter "Not Loved", and her other son "Not Mine." There was no answer.

The man called the youngest two kids into the room and explained to their mother,

Those names no longer exist in this family. I could no longer call our daughter "Not Love". It's not true anymore! Rather, her name is "My Love." Though she is not of my blood, she is my girl and I love her. Our son is no longer called, "Not Mine." He will now be called, "My Son". For though he is not of my blood, he IS my son. When people call out their names, they will no longer be reminded of your sin. Instead, they will be reminded of their father, and His love for them.

.deW

Wednesday night is quickly becoming my favorite night of the week. On Wednesdays I have .deW (which is "Wed." backwards). It's our Jr. High program where we have fun for about two hours. There are games, food, lesson, and groups.

I really enjoy seeing the students. They are a blast. They're so excited to be there. The best part is when the come up to me yelling, "Nikomas!!! Nikomas!!! I brought a friend!" Each week we see multiple new faces. We're about to the point where the new people are bringing their friends.

At the beginning of November we had an event that designed to reach new students. Two months later, I can say that it was highly effective. There are about 10 students who came for the first time to the event and are now there every week. It's awesome.

All this takes me back to the time when I first became a Christian. It was exciting to go to church and meet people. It was exciting to learn about weird bible things. It was exciting to go to a place where adults were excited to see me. Now I'm an adult excited to see them. It's a amazing circle.

Also, here's an update on the hair situation. Its getting to the point where it looks bad if it's not styled...but the only way to style it is to get a little freaky. I'm kind of cool with freaky. I like it like this. But I have to keep asking myself, "What would John Stamos do?"

Daddy Can Do It

For the past few months, I have been spending my day off working on our home. The entire downstairs has been painted, new carpet laid, new light fixtures installed, bathroom remodeled, etc. It's been an enjoyable process. I enjoy tinkering with stuff.

Recently, I've been working on our plumbing. Our kitchen sink had a leak, so I fixed it. Our upstairs bathroom sink wasn't connected, so I connected it. Then I started work on our main bathroom. There wasn't really anything wrong with it, other than it took forever to fill back up after a flush. It was annoying. The water would run for about 2 minutes, before finally coming to a stop. That's way too long for me.

I lifted the lid to the toilet, adjusted that black floaty ball thing by bending the rod it was on. Still didn't work. So adjusted it some more. Still nothing. Gave it one more adjustment. Flushed to see if it worked. This time the water didn't stop. Thank God there was a overflow hole. My little project just got bigger.

I shut the water off and headed to Lowes. I love Lowes. I feel manly there. Wood, tools and toilets. All manly stuff to play with and sit on. This particular trip I went to pick up a toilet replacement kit. With all the trouble I was having with the toilet I just decided to replace the entire insides of it. It shouldn't be that hard. Turn this, bend that. Whala.

Not so easy.

By the end of the day, half of the toilet was in our hallway, the other half served as a tool bench in the bathroom. I was at a standstill. I could go no farther. I didn't have the right tools. I needed a bigger wrench to loosen a tube. I needed a plumbers wrench.

That was Thursday, my day off. I wouldn't be able to get around to finishing the project until Saturday. Until then we all had to go upstairs to deplete our systems. It was highly inconvenient.

Saturday roled around, and I went to my Man-House (aka Lowes), bought the tool and headed back home. I wanted to get the project done quickly, but instead decided to have Ashlynn help me. I like doing these projects with her. I could do it by myself, but it's more fun to have her help, even though it usually takes longer.

So we both sat in the hall way, trying to figure out how to use the new wrench. I said, "You hold this handle in place. I'll turn this thing inside." She tried her hardest, but just couldn't keep it from moving.

We tried again.

Then she stops and says, "Daddy. You can't do it! We're just gonna have to use the upstairs bathroom forever."

"What?!"

This caught me off gaurd. "I can't do it?!" I was obviously the one with the muscle to do the project. She was just slowing me down! So I lightly shoved her to the side.

"Watch."

A few seconds later I had succesfully used the wrench to remove the tube.

I put the wrench down and asked her, "Why didn't you think I can do it? Most girls think their fathers can do everything."

"Alright, alright. I was wrong!"

"That's right!" I said with a smile.

I smile, because I'm the same way with my Father. I blame God for not fixing me or delivering me from hard times. I've been in some difficult situations where I go to God in prayer and nothing happens. So what do I do? I blame God. When in fact, it's not God's fault. It's mine. He could easily step back and deliver me. He could easily wipe sinful habits from my life. But he chooses to involve me in the prcoess. Yet, too many times I make the process take longer. I make it harder. And sometimes I'm too weak, don't use the right tools, or am too quick to give up.

God could do it himself, it's just more fun to involve me...and you, in the process, even though it may take longer.

Ashlynn doesn't know this, but had she given it a few more tries she would have gotten it. Not because she became stronger, but because I would have had pitty and given the wrench a disguised nudge. And when the tube would have come loose I would have given her the praise.

"Good job, Ashlynn! YOU did it!"

Other Cute Girl

Here's a photo of my other cute girl.

Cute Girl

Just thought Ashlynn looked especially cute today with her new
doo...and wanted to brag. So here is a picture from my phone!

Back Online

Well, seems as if I forgot to renew my www.Nikomas.com subcription. But that's taken care of now, and we're back online! And I actually pointed the DNS properly this time (I figured it out Jim! Yippee for me!)

Here's an update on my hair:



My hair looks longer this time, but that's because I styled it. I'm leading worship at a men's event tonight. I'm kind of excited about it. Adam Timmerman from the St. Louis Rams is going to be there to speak. I'm gonna be all, "Hey God, I'm bringing Adam Timmerman to worship you. Here he is."

I'm playing with some students from the student band. It's gonna be awesome. They're talented!

Also, like I mentioned before, I need 8 people to help me get a PS3. Currently I have 5, I'm helping someone on Saturday which will make 6 and If my Mom does it that'll be 7. Meaning that I'm one away from having my PS3. A few others have told me they are going to do it, but have yet to complete an offer. If one of them completes the offer I'm home free!!

Hairy Week 2

Really not much of a change between this week and last week. I can still style my hair and have it look almost good.


Free PS3 update:

I have 4 out of 8 people to get my free PS3. I'm getting closer. I'm starting to smell the UPS man now! But I still need your help. Here's what you do to help:

1. Register on this Website [Click Here].
2. Complete one of their many offers.
3. You're done!

The offers are anything from a subscription to Blockbuster Movies, to Aerobics classes. The two most popular ones that are completed are extremely cheap. The Stamps.com one is FREE!! I did the Google SEO one and it cost me $5. I couldn't do the stamps one because I use a Mac Computer.

So, join the four others who have decided to make a difference in the Perez Family life and help out today!

Old Videos

These videos are kind of old now, and you may have seen them. But, I need to post them hear so that I have them archived in my new media folder. So enjoy, if you never have before. And if you have...enjoy again!

New Year, New Hair

For the past 4 to 5 years, I have tried a million times to grow my hair out. I've had the same haircut since 1999 and I'm ready for something new. My goal this year is to go the entire year without cutting my hair. Sure, it'll look pretty shabby by the end of the year, but in 2009 I will be able to have it styled to almost any look I want. It'll be like a blank canvas. A hairy blank canvas.

This time I know I can succeed. I have a primarily spiritual motivation. With that said, I need your help. DON'T LET ME CUT IT!

At the end of each week, I'm going to post a picture so you can see how it's going.

Here's week 1: