GABRIELA YARELIZ

I was absolutely sure someone was sabotaging my laundry run by holding the elevator on the fourth floor. Here’s the thing— the only way to get the basement where the machines are is via elevator. There is no staircase. I patiently waited (my frustration mounting). I wondered if I was going to be able to start laundry at all. NYC traumas.

They are currently sanding and painting the elevator doors in my building so I knew what the hold up was. Or so I thought.

When the elevator opened, little Ms. H was there. Ms. H is 98 years old and lives on the third floor of my building. She was going to do laundry, too.

“Oh thank God,” Ms. H said as I stepped into the elevator with my laundry bag. “I can’t see well, and I was praying someone would come down to do laundry at the same time as me and help me put money on my card,” she said.

I smiled. We put money on her card and then she realized she left her soap upstairs. I offered her some of mine. “It’s my lucky day,” she said. “I count my blessings.”

I was touched that she thought so. But it was a great reminder that, so often, timing and intersection are not random. It is often an answer to a prayer.

“We help each other,” Ms. H said to me smiling as we waited to go back up. It was a long wait because of the sanding of the doors, but we made it to the washers and were both smiling. That was all that mattered.

The Seeker is Honored

“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.” Matthew 2:10

By: Gabriela Yareliz

There are many narratives to the holiday season. There are different focal points, and reminders along the way. I believe those points of focus reveal a lot about those who celebrate and the values they cherish. We internalize these meanings. We hold them close in times of darkness.

We have the season of advent— where the whole buildup to Christmas is about the journey and silence leading up to Christmas. Advent is all about preparation and anticipation. We prepare our hearts. Its main focus is reflection on the promise to be fulfilled. In one word— hope.

Hanukkah is all about the miracle of the burning lights. It reminds us of a God who provides for us, and will orchestrate miracles on our behalf to give us victory over an enemy. A God who is an inextinguishable light in the darkness.

I can’t speak for Kwanzaa. I have lived all over the place and met all kinds of people. Never met or heard of a single person that celebrates Kwanzaa. So, if you celebrate Kwanzaa, pop into the comments. They say it’s about unity, so we will go with that.

Christmas— the world’s main event. The coming of the Savior of the world. A God who loves us so much, He injects Himself into our story to save us from our hopelessness and sin. A long-awaited promise fulfilled. God does not lie, nor does He abandon us in darkness. He comes in the most unexpected ways and defies expectations. A God who comes to us. Emmanuel. God with us.

Then, there is one more. It’s largely ignored by many cultures, but not by mine. The Spanish celebrate the Three Kings hard. It’s called Epiphany on January 6. We make them a focus point of our art. We paint them. We carve them. We remember them. It’s curious to me how much attention we give to the outsider.

Three outsiders (non-Jews in the story) who were mystics. They paid attention to the stars and had dreams. They were seekers. They trusted their gut and followed a star to Bethlehem from very far. Very far, guys. We sometimes overlook the level of conviction they had to arrive to where Jesus was. They were asking questions the whole way through and even stopped by the king to ask him where they could find the true King of the story. (It pissed the king off, and thankfully, the magi were warned in a dream to go another way back home).

They remind us that God is seeking after all of us. He drops signs and guidance, and the one who keeps asking and follows that inner knowing, finds Him. It may be a long journey, but the seeker will find Him.

The magi’s presence in our main story declares early on in the story that the Messiah, even though He came from the Jews, was not just for the Jews but for the world. He came for any person who would accept Him in their heart. The magi are drawn in; their worship, accepted.

And I would dare to say that these men who dared to venture out and ask questions and act on those questions remind us that God honors the seeker.

Do we ever just stop and think about that? I think we live in a time where seeking is demonized. Low effort reigns. You ask a real question and people feel you are out of line. Do we dare ever question a narrative? And I am talking everywhere— within religious structures, with our government, with the information we are given.

Maybe I believe in this to the extreme because I literally studied a profession that seeks to ask questions until you arrive to truth. That is what journalism is. Journalism always seeks to lift the veil and come closer to truth. It crosses lines. It disturbs what is “settled” when there are indications that something just isn’t right. It digs and digs to the point of exhaustion. It clarifies the complicated. It shares truth, which leads to justice.

I was reflecting on the magi after a dance I saw based on that hymn about the Three Kings. The one thing that came to mind as I watched was not just that seekers will find truth if they continue to search— even when the king gets mad and wants you to stop— but that God honors a sincere seeker. He honors the seeker with the gift of Himself. The seekers, in this story— after they asked the king for directions, wandered a bit and kept their focus on the star— they ended up seeing the face of God.

They ended up finding Him. When they found a child in poverty, they didn’t turn away thinking that what they found didn’t match their expectation. No. They prostrated themselves before the King. In their innermost self, they knew the truth in front of them. They blocked out the noise and saw what was real. They came prepared with gifts and gave Him all that they had that was of value. Their gifts were fit for the King.

In this life, where literally the main journey is to seek Him and seek truth (the truth sets us free; He tells us ‘I am the truth and the life’)— may we be the ones who ask and ask and wander following the sign given. May we see the light and be filled with “exceedingly great joy.” May we keep pressing on when nothing looks as it “should.” May we never stop seeking until we have arrived to see Him face-to-face. Until the day we bow to touch His feet— may we keep in our pursuit.

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. […] For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” Isaiah 9:2, 6-7

My culture’s focus on this holiday is one that I value deeply. We saw this story of salvation and didn’t forget the outsider. The ones who were deeply convicted, packed gifts for a king and went out to find Him. We didn’t forget the seeker. The one who sees the bright star in darkness. The one who believes even when God shows up in a way that is unexpected. We honor the fact that God honors the one who seeks. Importantly, the one who seeks, finds.

Surface Level

“Any major life rupture reveals who was never built for the terrain ahead […] when you discover that half the people you thought were ride or dies weren’t even ride or die adjacent, don’t waste time being sad about it. Those people could not have supported you much longer anyway. They maxed out their capacity for you the moment your life required more than surface level friendship.” Kelly Oxford

By: Gabriela Yareliz

This was a profound statement. As life takes you into the deep, you swim alone, but you also end up seeing and experiencing things beyond your initial imagination.

The depth requires a different level of person. We often get plunged into depths against our will and out of our control, so don’t be surprised if no one is ready for the plunge with you. In my own experience of loss, I have noticed so much in relationships and friendships revolves around the depth a person can handle. Can they go there with you?

Nothing is worth staying on the surface. Lose what you must to transform and see the new.

You Keep Your Choice

By: Gabriela Yareliz

In a time where discernment is everything (so seeking God’s wisdom is paramount), we decide whether we stay in darkness. Scripture illustrates often how those who choose blindness, darkness, and pride are permitted by God to keep it.

If you choose blindness, you will get to stay blind. If you choose to turn away from light, you won’t be forced to turn back toward the light that shines on all of us. God doesn’t go against our choices. There is no override button. Our choices become the key to our destiny.

We can also choose light, which reveals much in darkness. I thought about this as I read Isaiah 9:2:

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”

A light has dawned. ✨

Friends Christmas

By: Gabriela Yareliz

A bit of nostalgia for the soul, courtesy of Pinterest. What can we take from a Friends Christmas?

Cookies and conversations. Enjoying a bare tree for a bit. Not everything has to be done in one day.

Decorating the tree with help. So much of the holiday prep should be done with help.

Curtains and a window menorah. A pine table centerpiece. A tiny penguin. Mix and match maximalism is better than beige minimalism. Meaning over perfection.

Garlands. Red and green will never not be classic. If the tree (or anything, for that matter) looks a little wonky, it’s fine.

Snow and spying on the neighbors.

Have a solid apron that carries you through the soups and sweets of the season. Turtlenecks forever. Stay warm.

Formal wear in rebellion to the cold. Warm drinks. Step out into festive environments.

More penguins. The warmest scarf. A Santa hat. Joy.

Tinsel.

A gift swap. (Still spying on the neighbors).

Community and time with no phones in sight. Offline is forever the luxury of today.

A Child’s Surprise

We saw a gift that was delivered downstairs, close to the entry door. It was this enormous box with one of those motorized cars kids can sit in and ride. When we read the address on the box, we realized it was for my tiny neighbor right next to us down the hall. We got so excited, we commented with delight. He is going to be sooooo excited. (Not sure where his mom will hide that thing).

There is something about children and the magic of Christmas. Find a way to add wonder to a child’s experience of Christmas. It truly brings joy— even to an observer.

Waiting

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Waiting has been a theme recently. I think my whole week of Glorify App devotionals were about waiting. Then, I heard the sermon Fourteen, about waiting and the transformation in the journey. We have Christmas coming up, which is filled with much anticipation and waiting. It reminds us we are waiting for that second advent with longing and strength.

I was doing laundry the other day (waiting to use a machine) and a woman was taking things from the washer to the dryer, one by one. As she tortured me, I reflected on things we used to wait for that now we don’t have to wait for—

Food— most people get delivery— which skips the line entirely. We also have apps to order ahead.

Movies— we had to wait a long time to rent something and watch it at home. Now, things hit streaming at the same time or shortly after theater release.

TV— you couldn’t binge. You had to wait each week for the next episode and sit through many more ads.

Knowledge— research was slower. It required flipping through multiple books and sometimes waiting for those books to be available.

Purchases— shipping has never been faster. In cities like NYC, you can even get same-day delivery. With things like Kindle, you can immediately start reading something without leaving your bed.

Connection— long distance calls were expensive. Most of us had a shared landline, so you also had to wait to use a phone. Because of shared phones, you also had to make small talk with whoever answered the phone on the other end.

Things are faster; we have less patience. But some things in life still and will always require the wait. We mustn’t waste the rare wait.