Are You A Hero?

Recently I tagged along to one of my wife's ultrasound appointments. Yeah, I'm going to be a daddy again! As the nurse was looking around and taking measurements she would occasionally update us on what she was seeing. If it was normal or not. Thank God everything is perfect! However there was one thing she said that really stood out to me. It was when she was looking at my baby's spine. She said, "There's no sign of Spina Bifida." You may be wondering why that would stand out to me. You may also be wondering what is Spina Bifida.

First let me explain to you what Spina Bifida is. Spina Bifida is a developmental congenital disorder. It is caused by the incomplete closing of the embryonic neural tube. Some vertebrae overlying the spinal cord are not fully formed and remain unfused and open. If the opening is large enough , this allows a portion of the Spinal cord to protrude through the opening in the bones. When the nurse made that statement it reminded me of a very good friend of mine that is affected by Spina Bifida. Her name is Laura Tellado. She a young Floridian with a heart of gold that has made it her personal mission to bring awareness to this condition that can be easily prevented. I first met Laura when she started "Holdin' Out For A Hero" her blog about Spina Bifida just over a year ago. 


She is now a very well known activist in Florida for Spina Bifida awareness. She was recently interviewed by Telemundo about her cause. Laura is also a columnist for Latism and she recently started a new blog about food called, "Expresso Con Leche". Needless to say this girl is BUSY!! She is currently having a fundraiser and I was hoping all of you could help. It's the Walk-N-Roll for Spina Bifida fundraiser. Laura's goal is to raise one thousand dollars. She is almost there. Won't you help her reach that goal? It would mean the world to me and to Laura if you did! Remember any amount will help so please donate generously! Remember it's going to a great cause. If you can not donate please forward this blog post to your friends and help raise awareness for Spina Bifida. To learn more about Spina Bifida please visit "Holdin' Out For A Hero" or "The Spina Bifida Association Of Florida".

Food Porn!

There are two things I do not have a problem spending major money on and that's comfort and great food!

There is nothing worst then sleeping on a hard bed at a hotel. It kills your whole mood the following day. Likewise, there is nothing worst than being super excited about going to a new restaurant and walking out totally disappointed!One of the ways I try to avoid this (and I am sure a lot of you do as well) is by asking my friends or family their opinion on a certain restaurant or hotel.

One of those friends happens to be Thimetis "Timo" Molina. She is a connoisseur of all things edible! You can most likely find her at the trendiest restaurant in Phoenix trying out their latest food creation. If you are on her Facebook wall you've probably have seen her "Food porn" posts. She'll take you all over the valley of the Sun and show you some of the most delicious food you have ever seen! So imagine my excitement when she announced earlier this week that she was going to start blogging about it! 

So get ready people if you want to know where the hottest restaurants are in Phoenix are, follow her blog and soon you'll be a connoisseur yourself! Trust me you can't go wrong! I'm definitely looking forward to all of her future posts! You can check out her blog at "The Adventures Of a Hungry Latina" Please show her some love!

Backwards Church

Imagine this scenario: You are down on your luck, you've lost your job and you barely have money to eat. So you decide to go to your local food bank and ask for some help. They are more than happy to help you with some vegetables, meats, milk and cereals. Great right?! There's just one catch. You have to sign an affidavit stating that none of your family members are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

 What?!! I am sure you're asking yourself the same question I did when I heard this. Isn't that discrimination? The answer is, yes. However according to Catholic Charities  it isn't. This is exactly what they were doing in Springfield, Illinois. That is until the State of Illinois got wind of it. You see when you open a non-profit organization like a food bank you qualify to get government grants. Which are paid by you and I. The tax payer.Under state guidelines you CAN NOT discriminate based on gender,religion or anything else for that matter! The state of Illinois has now terminated its grant to Catholic Charities.

So you would think the church would act Christ-Like, right?! Nope. They have the audacity to sue the State. Catholic Charities are seeking a declaratory judgement that "religious principles" supersedes state anti-discrimination laws. So now they think they're above the law. Catholic Charities, may I refer you to Mathew 22:21 which reads in full "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. " It is a statement made by Jesus when he was asked if it was lawful for Jews to pay taxes to Caesar. In other words follow the law of the land.

Now, whether you agree with certain people's lifestyle or not it is irrelevant. This is a matter of helping out a fellow human being that is down on their luck! It's ironic that an organization that claims to follow the teachings of Christ is judging and singling out a group of people based on their sexual orientation. From what I remember Jesus did not hang out with "perfect people" He hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes! He forgave a thief while hanging on the cross. Jesus himself said, "...For I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Mathew 9: 10-13)

I can not for the life of me comprehend how an organization let alone a religion can go so wrong! If there is one thing I detest is people judging other people specially when it's a religious organization! I feel I have to continue quoting from the Bible because clearly they have forgotten some very important "Religious principles" . For example when Jesus said, "Judge not that ye be not judged. For what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged..." Did we forget that?!

Doesn't the Catholic church have bigger things to worry about like sex scandals with their priests? Clearly this church is stuck a few centuries in the past. I seriously doubt that this lawsuit will be won by Catholic Charities. I am glad the State of Illinois is not allowing this to continue. I commend them for that. Bottom line, I hope this stupid lawsuit is thrown out and this organization gets hit with severe penalties. This is the opposite of what a religious organization should be teaching they should be ashamed! That's my two cents tell me what you think.