Christ with Me in the Barrio and Beyond

Janie Peña Menchaca

Description

This spirituality book narrates the story of one Mexican American woman’s spiritual journey beginning as a precocious child on San Antonio’s West Side in the 1950s.

An inspirational story of hope and healing, Christ with Me in the Barrio and Beyond shares author Janie Peña Menchaca’s spiritual journey, beginning with her childhood adventures in San Antonio’s West Side barrio during the 1950s and 1960s. Her capers in her quest to “find” God are vividly displayed.



Janie’s happy childhood and teenage years ended abruptly when she was kicked out of her home at the age of eighteen and ostracized by her family. Months later, she found herself pregnant and unwed, eventually leading to a marriage that shouldn’t have been.



In 1974, while living in Seattle, Washington, and thinking of ending her life, she experienced a personal and dramatic encounter with Jesus Christ. Her life now changed, she eventually filed for divorce and fled from a violent and abusive marriage.



The Lord, in his fathomless love and mercy, restored to Janie the years eaten away by the enemy, even reuniting her with her high school sweetheart who she thought had been killed while serving in Vietnam. After fifty years since meeting in high school, they were married in 2017.



The confluence of Janie’s rich Mexican American heritage, her Catholic experiences, and her struggles, sorrows, and challenges that connected the dots as an adult to knowing her beloved Savior, merge to become a delicately woven message of love, faith and hope.

Sujets

• Christian Living
• Inspirational
• Philosophie et théologie
• Mexican American
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 29 juillet 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664272699
• Langue: English

Extrait

Christ with Me in the Barrio and Beyond
Reflections on a Mexican American Woman’s Spiritual Journey
JANIE PEÑA MENCHACA


Copyright © 2022 Janie Peña Menchaca.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7268-2 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7267-5 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7269-9 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022913084
 
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 07/27/2022

 
Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible, copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Living Bible, TLB, and the The Living Bible logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers.
 
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
 
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 
Scripture quotations marked LBLA are taken from La Biblia de las Américas® (LBLA®), Copyright © 1986, 1995, 1997 by The Lockman Foundation. Used with permission.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART 1: CHRIST WITH ME IN THE BARRIO
Chapter 1Born on the West Side
Chapter 2My Ancestors
Chapter 3My Great Teacher
Chapter 4The Protestants Are Coming!
Chapter 5A New Balloon Every Day
Chapter 6The Bread and Tortillas of Life
Chapter 7Praying under the Bed with Toys
Chapter 8A Clean Whiteboard Equals a Clean Soul
Chapter 9Lighting Candles in Church
Chapter 10Self-Bearing Fruit
Chapter 11Flower Power
Chapter 12Free Gift
Chapter 13Why Lord?
Chapter 14True Value
Chapter 15Purse Cleaning in Church
Chapter 16Name-Calling
Chapter 17Covered with His Love
Chapter 18Forced to Leave Home
Chapter 19An Angel Named Jack
PART 2: CHRIST WITH ME BEYOND THE BARRIO
Chapter 20Turning Point
Chapter 21Reconciliation
Chapter 22Facing the Truth
Chapter 23No More Shame
Chapter 24Forgiveness
Chapter 25A New Beginning
Chapter 26Restored
Chapter 27Mi Señor (My Lord)
Chapter 28Never Rejected
Chapter 29Unexpected Lessons on Diversity
Chapter 30Returning to My First Love
Chapter 31Religion or Relationship?
Chapter 32Clothed in Christ
Chapter 33Free to be Me
Chapter 34The Piñata: Victory over Evil
Chapter 35Homeland Security
Chapter 36True Love Never Harms
Chapter 37In Everything, Thankful
Chapter 38What the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Taught Me
Chapter 39Sorrowful, Yet Triumphant
Chapter 40Trees
Chapter 41Las Mañanitas: God’s Happy Song
Chapter 42When I Grow Up
PART 3: A FURTHER GLIMPSE OF MY DAILY LIFE IN THE BARRIO



To my daughters who have show n me what my Savior is lik e: loving, kind, patient, and forgiving. I will always carry you deep in my heart.


But whatever I am now it is all because God poured out such kindness and grace upon me.
—I Corinthians 15:10 (TLB)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my daughters: Jennifer, for her professional expertise in assisting with the edits to my book, and Jessica, for her invaluable support and encouragement as I wrote these reflections. They have my deepest respect and admiration. Their lives are exquisite and exceptional. I am honored that the Lord has blessed me with them.
Thank you to Juji Smith for also providing her excellent editorial and proofreading skills.
Thank you to my dear husband, Abel, my soul mate. Fifty years after meeting in high school, we were reunited and married in 2017. His love for me is a reflection of Christ’s love.
I am deeply grateful to my parents, Gregoria and Juan, for teaching me the value of hard work. They were tireless in their efforts in raising our large family.
To Brenda Schultz, Carol Pearson, Rebecca Solloa, Yolanda Rios Rangel, Mildred Briggs, and Esther Rivera Sepahi: thank you for being my anchors during the fiercest storms of my life. In spite of all I have been through, you still love me.
Thank you to Dr. Antonio Furino, professor, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health). He must have seen something good in me when I was at ground zero in my life. While I worked full time and attended St. Mary’s University in the evenings, he encouraged me to keep studying, even when I felt like giving up.
Thank you to the outstanding leaders in the office of the President at UT Health: Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, Dr. William Henrich, Mary DeLay, and Debbie Morrill. I am forever grateful for the confidence they had in including me as a part of their team.
To my pastor, Dr. Les Hollan, and to the Body of Christ at Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas. Through the years that I have been a member of Trinity, I am grateful to know so many godly, Spirit-filled sisters and brothers in Christ.
Thank you to the Cordi-Marian Sisters at Christ the King Catholic Church in San Antonio, whose teachings pointed the way for me to grow in my faith in the Lord as an adult.
Thank you to my friends of all faiths—my mentors, my coaches, my spiritual counselors, my prayer partners, my walking partners, my confidantes—who accompany me in my life’s journey. I am blessed beyond measure to know you and am humbled and honored to be your friend.
INTRODUCTION
Thi s is the story of my spiritual journey. It is an account of the path that was carved out for me by our Lord even before I had a personal encounter with Him—a path filled with adventure as a child and teen while growing up in a local barrio (neighborhood) of San Antonio, Texas. The city has grown and evolved tremendously since the 1950s and 1960s; and thus, the barrio I am referring to is uniquely and specifically called the “West Side,” geographically located immediately west of the city’s downtown.
“Part One: Christ with Me in the Barrio” includes anecdotes as seen through the lens of a precocious child and teenager. These stories are sometimes whimsical and humorous, and at other times, filled with anxieties, doubts, and questions.
In “Part Two: Christ with Me beyond the Barrio,” I share reflections of my life after leaving the barrio, from the past to the present. As an adult, I have experienced deep joy and peace, as well as trials and challenges, discovering that each experience has become a stepping stone in my spiritual walk with the Lord.
The vignettes in Parts One and Two include some of my most treasured verses of scripture correlating to my life’s stories. There is also a brief prayer at the end of each chapter.
“Part Three: A Further Glimpse of My Daily Life in the Barrio” gives the reader a deeper look at what life was like growing up on San Antonio’s West Side, a unique, colorful, and cultural part of the city, comprised mainly of Mexican American blue-collar and service industry working families.
As an adult, I came to realize that my childhood adventures and escapades connected the dots to my knowing the Lord as an adult in a personal and intimate way. Even now, many years since inviting Christ into my life, I am still learning more about the Lord and His character as a caring heavenly Father, full of love, grace, and mercy.
The confluence of the three major facets of my life—the beauty of my rich Mexican American heritage, my Catholic background, and my personal knowledge of Jesus Christ as my Savior—has merged to become an intricately woven message of love, faith, and hope. It is my desire that this book will be an inspiration and a blessing to those who wish for a deeper walk with the Lord and are in search of hope and encouragement in their spiritual journey.
I believe that each of our personal stories is intimately known by the Lord within the context of our individual uniqueness—whatever our cultural, ethnic, or religious backgrounds may be. I invite you to come into my barrio and beyond to catch a glimpse of the greatness of our Lord in His dealings with a child whose antics led her, as an adult, into a blessed relationship with Him, and to learn of His fathomless love and boundless grace that is offered to each of us freely!
PART ONE
Christ with Me in the Barrio


I knew you before you were formed within you