The Five People Who Have Had The Greatest Influence On Me

I was challenged to do this while reading the book ‘The Noticer’. Why wait to notice those special people in your life? Here it goes; in the order that I met them.

1. My mom- Single mother of 4. She taught me to be super responsible, to fear God, and to be resilient. We never missed a church service, never! She taught me the principle of giving, and to tithe to God from my first fruits. Indirectly she taught me to always find a way. “No, I cant, that’s too hard” are word absent from her vocabulary. No one else I know is as gutsy and daring as my mom. She pushed me to attend college, and believe in my worth. Most importantly she passed on her faith. I just believe God can do anything!

2.Pastor Sonny and Julie Arguinzoni – I was 18 when I first heard them. Their passion for the lost is infectious. They taught me the meaning of commitment; commitment to the perfect will of God. I learned to give up the precious, for the Most Precious. My faith was stretched and my gifts and talents were developed. I learned to speak confidently in public under their ministry. Victory Outreach has been my home for over 20 years, where I learned to pray, fight, love, serve, give and lead. In 1996 sister Julie allowed me to travel with her to Brazil. One Sunday I sheepishly told her that I felt God was calling me to Brazil. She said “come on, lets go”. Just like that. She commissioned me to do missionary work in that country. She believes, till this day, in Gods purpose for women’s lives.

3.Inez- An older mentor who encouraged me to jump into the calling of God on my life. In preparation to leave for the mission field, God was testing my heart with some hard questions. He was confronting all of my fears and weaknesses. (He’s so nice, huh?) He asked, ‘will you leave your car’ yes God ‘will you leave your education’ yes God ‘are you willing to remain single forever’ (gulp) uhu, ok God, ‘will you leave your career’ yes God, ‘will you still go even if it meant physical harm’ what! how could you?(I didnt know at the time that God knew this was my greatest secret fear in leaving for Brazil, He needed to be sure I trusted Him, if not fear would have paralyzed me). I walked away from the altar mad! I told Inez, ‘can you believe Him! Her response stunned me. She said ‘thats right! you gotta be willing to die if need be. Go back and answer Him’ I did. And here I am. You can trust Him.

4. Joey-Ahhh. Once upon a time my life was a castle with a moat and no draw bridge. Joey barged in and said ‘whats up girl.’ He is a man of love. Not mushy love, but strong mature love. Godly love. He taught me everything I know about loving people. It wasn’t easy! Im still his student. During one of my first Sundays as the ‘new pastors wife’ I was going around greeting people.(scarred outta’ma mind) I approached a new face. I stretched out my hand and said hi. She rolled her eyes and looked the other way. (aahhh)So I played it off(how do you do that, anyway)After service I ran to Joey and told him everything. I was probably whining. He said ‘Naomi, it has nothing to do with you. You never know how the people, in this hurting city, walk into church. Life has beaten them up and now they are hard. You keep loving on them. Get to know them’ I took his advice. Me and that gal became close. (in time)

5. Noah – My first born. The first time I held him in my arms, I heard God say ‘he’s mine, raise Him for me’. Because of Noah I drive slower, check my attitude faster, pray different, and read books on boys. God help him, he has my intuition, his dads heart, and a perfect blend of both our looks. He is wise beyond his years. He is the most emotionally intelligent kid I know. You can’t live a duplicitous life around Noah. He’ll call you on it with his eyes. His compassion for hurting people is obvious. He won’t say it right then, but on the ride back home its always ‘mom, did you see that person sitting all alone in the corner….’

There is my five. Now what about yours?