An Afternoon with Onix

This afternoon I had the pleasure of spending a couple hours and sharing a meal with Onix Flores.  Not only is she the sister of La Providencia's director, Mizael Flores, but she also is the namesake of Centro Onix at La Providencia.  What an amazing couple hours it was.  After meeting her and hearing her testimony first-hand, I am even more excited that her faith and courage will always be a part of La Providencia and will always serve as an encouragement for our children.  I know that I was extremely encouraged after just a short time with her.

For those of you who don't know her story, she has a rare disease and was not supposed to live past the age of 19 or 20.  Her mom and dad thought differently and as she grew up, so did she.  As she said, the doctors didn't know, she knew that God wouldn't take her home until she finished the work he had for her on Earth.  Now, at the age of 52 years old, she has quite a story to tell and God has done quite a bit through her already.  While there isn't enough room in this blog to share it all, I'll give you some snippets and encourage you to spend some time with Onix to get the rest of the story if you're ever in Chicago.  

After beating the odds for many years through a deep faith in God,a difficult childhood and various doctors, Onix ended up in a hospital in the US where she, again, was not supposed to ever make it out of the hospital.  And, she wasn't supposed to be doing a whole lot while in the hospital.  The doctors making that prognosis obviously didn't know Onix or the fact that God had other plans for her.  One day, a nurse came by her room with some painting supplies and told her that she should start painting with all of her free time.  Onix said that she didn't think it would happen because she has no real use of her arms or legs.  But Onix gave it a shot anyway - why not, right?  She started painting with her mouth and, without getting into details, has painted some beautiful paintings, won several awards with her paintings, and now is painting birdhouses that she is selling at festivals all over the region.  The paintings look great without any qualification for the fact that they are painted without the use of hands - they are much better than most paintings by people with full mobility and use of all their limbs.  She truly has a God-given gift.  And not surprisingly, Onix is extremely humble with regard to her gifts and gives all the glory to God.

I could go on and on, but I won't - just want to say that I was so blessed this afternoon and I can say without a doubt that my life is fuller after meeting and spending some quality time with Onix.  Oh yeah, don't want to forget to tell you that Onix not only has lived for over ten years since she entered the hospital where she was supposed to die - she has spent those years sharing the Gospel with every person who has come into her path, led many to the Lord, and is now living at her home with her husband of over 20 years and a caretaker.  How cool is that?