Imagine if, when you show up to an interview, neither you or your interviewer know the question in advance. Maybe the recruiter or another party tells the both of you what is the question or problem to solve at the start of the interview.

What would happen? This is my hypothesis, this is what I think would happen:

• I, the interviewed, would not feel at a disadvantage. I would not feel like I have to impress the person that picked the problem, the person that has a lot of time to think about the solution and probably already has a preferred solution.
• We would both be incentivized to work together. We would both get a much better idea of what would the day to day of working together be like.
• They, the interviewer(s), would get a much more realistic view of what my work style is like. Instead of showing that I can memorize how to solve the contrived examples from interview question web pages. They would now how I learn new things and how I problem solve.
• I would also get a much better idea of what it is like to work for that company and with that team of people. What their expectation is of what I know, how quickly I need to wrap up and how willing they are to collaborate.

A conversation with a recruiter and then the interview

I had a conversation with a recruiter where I explained my hypothesis, they brought up a good point: “I agree to a large extent, but this is the system we have to work with, how else can we standardize the questions and the evaluations”. This makes sense, but it is not really an obstacle, it just takes a bit more work to set up a pool of questions that the interviewers do not know ahead of time.

The recruiter also said: “We know senior developers have not hit the books in a while and do not have these algorithms fresh in their memory, we take that in to account.”.

That company invited me to a class of sorts to help me prepare, and their prep materials are excellent. What I remembered from that class was:

• We want for you to solve 2 medium difficulty problems in 45 minutes
• We want to hear your thought process
• We want to see if you can take hints
• We are more interested in completeness, that your code actually runs. We also look for optimal solutions if possible.

Then I had the interview with the company they represented, and I did not do well, I did not pass the interview. I answered the first question fairly quickly and wanted to go on to the next, but the interviewer asked me if I knew about “Priority queues”. I said I remember vaguely but I did not recall at the moment. I wanted to quickly move on to the second problem before I ran out of time. But we spent maybe 10 minutes talking about how I would implement the solution and/or how I would implement a priority queue, and by the time we got to the second question I was flustered.

At the end you get a few minutes to ask questions of them and what I found interesting is the interviewer’s response to one this question: “I am a generalist and as such I do not go very deep in any area, am I a good fit since I am a generalist?” in their answer was longer than this: “Yes, but I think the heap search is an algorithm everyone should know….”.

My conclusions from that interview

This experience only served to reinforce my beliefs, I am sure the interviewer had already seen the problem and I believe that:

• they already solved the problem them selfs and probably did not take 20 minutes.
• they already had the ideal solution in mind.
• maybe they wanted to find a problem that uses a priority queue. Sometimes they already know what they want to ask and then look for a problem that centers on that topic.

Is that really what they do at your company?

Much later, I conversed with a hiring manager for another company and I finally got the courage to ask something I’ve always wanted to: “Does your day to day work really involve solving problems around data structures, optimizing algorithms that you learn at School and knowing the time complexity of a function?”, “When was the last time you said” ‘Thank God we hired this person that can answer interview questions in 20 minutes and knows the O notation for this problem’?”.

Basically I got the same answer, with a grin : “It is what it is…”.

The interview arms race

I use to say, half kiddingly : ” Engineers should write computer program manuals and documentation in binary! So that the users will need another engineer to get answers! or at the very least will need to buy a tool from us!”… I got this idea from lawyers! I am convinced that Tax and Immigration law is written in such a way that lawyers guarantee them selfs some job security.

The interviewing process has created an industry of engineers training other engineers, know about more than 15 of these: Interview preparation pages.

Much like the military arms race, someone comes up with a better bullet, so someone else needs to come up with better armor. I’ve noticed that in this industry of interview preparation they are needing to find more and more contrived puzzles to disguise the fact that you need to cleverly employ the same tools, data structures and algorithms, that have existed for decades now…I can not think of any truly new data structure in the last decade or so.

Interviewers go to the same pages to select a question, take as long as they need and then expect the interviewed to answer in 20 minutes. That is an ever shrinking pool of questions and not all problems around data structures or algorithms can be solved in 10 minutes or even 2 hours, specially the real-world and really interesting problems.

A friend of mine told me: “I can tell when candidates have prepared in LeetCode® … they start answering all the same way! They take the same approach”.

I found this video of a young engineer that left a FANG company because they discovered their passion for solving puzzles and helping others solve puzzles, well, prepare for interviews. This other video is of a very young, very mature engineer and I liked what they had to say.

My style goes against the grain

I’ve recently concluded that the reason why solving puzzles is so counter intuitive for me: I like to take my time… I like to solve complex problems, that is what makes my job interesting. For example when I was told that the problem to solve was: “How do we track our stuff all over the world, through all the different processes, databases, services, etcetera” or ” How do we scale our infrastructure” or “How can we monitor and restart our services”.

I love to take my time and look at the problem from different angles, think of corner cases, process improvements and documentation. Some may consider these things grunt work, it is not as sexy as solving a problem with a new algorithm no one has seen before.

This reminds me of how young folks that grew up seeing tv shows about police and detectives, they go in to that line of work expecting to have car chases and solve interesting cases using the latest DNA technology… but then really shocks them… the day to day is quite mundane.

I see my self more as a chef than a short order cook. Very different approaches to basically the same thing, food preparation.

What are you really know about the candidates?

When you hire an engineer that can solve puzzles in 20 minutes and give you the answers you expect in the way you expect, are you really hiring someone you want to work with? You know very little about:

• how they handle long periods of stress, ambiguity, work that is not very interesting.
• are they easy to get along with or are they toxic? Remember there is also training on how to pass the culture fit questions.
• Their overall work ethic, this is another thing that is hard to gage from interviews.

What I see in the near future

I have interviewed with companies that contract Karat®, and I like what they do but there is more that needs to be done. To start, they are engineers that are specially trained to interview, not your employee that does interviews on the side. I thinks that is a very good step in the right direction.

They are an independent party, which means that they can be neutral about your approach and solution. They can focus on your approach and seeking out your true level of proficiency, that is their job!

I think there is more that they could/should do, but these ideas I will keep to my self 😉 I may want to start my own business.

Staying sharp

Some interesting videos

The End.

I recently have been contemplating making a slight change in my career, but I am finding it hard to do.  The recruiters in the areas they are looking for people that already have experience. in the area that I used to work, straight development I can go back to it, but I need to brush up a bit.

I am now contemplating, as much as I thought I did not want to, the area that seems to have a lot of demand in our industry. I think this is good advice:

Cheers,
–Mayel ><>

I’ve had a lot of rejections, when I look for a job or a relationship. Haven gotten some jobs and some relationships that I should have not, I now realize that rejections are good.

Rejection like pain is not welcomed, I avoid it at all costs. However upon reflection, I think all rejections I’ve got so far have avoided something worse.

After my divorce, I wanted to go back to all the christian ladies that did not want to be my girlfriends … and say “thank you”. Saying no to me spared the both of us from something much much worse.

Similarly with jobs, I stop asking my self why I got rejected for a position, when I though the interviews had gone great! … I’ve concluded it does not matter, for what ever reason they have, it is valid for them to conclude I am not a good match. And again, they are saving the both of us a lot of a lot of grief.

Pain, physical pain, is the same way. Not pleasant at all but for our own good, to avoid more damage!

I really like it when science or secular philosophy analyzes a biblical story. This particular TED talk is about the story of David VS Goliath and how we often, perhaps mistakenly, we assume that the giant (Goliath) should be the favorite to win.

[ted id=1831]

Malcom Glaldwell makes some interesting points:

• Goliath probably suffered from giantism, which gave him some disadvantages:
  • He was slow
  • He had poor eyesight
  • He probably probably was not very agile
• On the other hand, David had some important advantages:
  • He was a slinger, and a good slinger could shoot a projectile with the same stopping power as a 45 caliber revolver.
  • He was agile and had been tested, killing some large predators in his job as a shepherd.

To me, this makes the story even more interesting, and gives it a fresh new perspective. Some may think that Gladwell’s points take away from the story, making it less of a miracle or requiring little or no devine intervention.

I think that to the contrary, this enriches the story, here are some points to consider:

• Wether or not, if the giant was agile and a credible threat or not, there were an entire army or hebrews that were convinced they did not want to fight him.
• There was an entire army of enemies who were convinced that Goliath was a good enough worrier to bet on him to win.
• This is typical of Satan, he presents us with problems, trials or enemies that seem to our human eyes as insurmountable, impossible to defeat. In fact they might be just a facade with no substance.
• We christians don’t  recognize that what abilities and trials God allows in our way train us for something epic, we will all get an opportunity to face a Goliath, or hide like the rest of the army. Human abilities are still God given, and makes what we do with them not in small part a miracle, when we act in his will.
• God did not ask anyone to defend his honor, and only David loved God so much that he felt ofended and wanted to defend God. I do not know how much of a motivation it the reward was, but from what he says in the bible story, his first and main motivation was to defend God’s honor. This is what I think this was at least in part why God called David: “A man after my own heart”.
• David was raised in a home and a culture where there were stories of miracles, where God had done even more amazing things for his people. David believed these stories, and could get God’s heart for us through them.

I hope these observations help,

God bless.

My posts titled Proverbs are a collection of quotes that have impacted me in some way and that I like to share with friends when I get a chance. In some cases they are profound, in some others they are just funny  and not so edifying.

Here are some manly quotes from movies, I selected a few that I like:

“To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.” —Arnold Schwarzenegger, Conan the Barbarian (1982)
“You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya punk?” —Clint Eastwood, Dirty Harry (1971)
“I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubblegum.” —Roddy Piper, They Live (1988)
“This life’s hard, man, but it’s harder if you’re stupid.” —Steven Keats, The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
“You’re a disease. And I’m the cure.” —Sylvester Stallone, Cobra (1986)
“Pain don’t hurt.” —Patrick Swayze, Road House (1989)
“Say hello to my little friend!” —Al Pacino, Scarface (1983)
“You’re so ugly, you could be a modern art masterpiece.” —R. Lee Ermey, Full Metal Jacket
“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” —Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects (1995)

 

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Leonardo da Vinci
“When people ask God: Why do you not do something about the state of the world?… God says: I did, it’s you…..” — Erwin McManus

“do not tolerate brilliant jerks. The cost to teamwork is too high!” Reed Hasting CEO Netflix.

seek respect, not attention, it last longer.

Not everyone that criticizes you, hates you…

God has been so good to me, I am blessed to have a house in the first place, many people do not. I am also very blessed to have found this spot, this particular home. Morgan Hill is a great place to live and the commute to work is about 1.2 hours, typical for the bay area.

• Here is a link to  a slide show, from a real-estate web page.
• Google map
• Here are some of my pictures 

1 John 3:1

3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Intruduccion

Esta es una collecion de
Proverbios 3
Exhortación a la obediencia
1 »Hijo mío, no te olvides de mi Ley,
y que tu corazón guardemis mandamientos,
 2 porque muchos días y años de vida y de paz te aumentarán.
 3 Nunca se aparten de tila misericordia y la verdad: átalas a tu cuello, escríbelas en la tabla de tu corazón
 4 y hallarás gracia y buena opinión ante los ojos de Dios y de los hombres.
 5 »Confía en Jehová con todo tu corazón y no te apoyes en tu propia prudencia.
 6 Reconócelo en todos tus caminos y él hará derechas tus veredas.
 7 No seas sabio en tu propia opinión, sino teme a Jehová y apártate del mal,
 8 porque esto será medicinapara tus músculos y refrigerio para tus huesos.
 9 »Honra a Jehová con tus bienes y con las primicias de todos tus frutos;
 10 entonces tus granerosestarán colmados con abundancia y tus lagares rebosarán de mosto.
 11 »No menosprecies, hijo mío,el castigo de Jehová, no te canses de que él te corrija,
 12 porque Jehová al que ama castiga, como el padre al hijo a quien quiere. 
 13 »¡Bienaventurado el hombreque halla la sabiduría y obtiene la inteligencia,
 14 porque su ganancia es másque la ganancia de la plata, sus beneficios más que los del oro fino!
 15 Más preciosa es que las piedras preciosas:¡nada que puedas desearse puede comparar con ella!
16 Larga vida hay en su mano derecha, y en su izquierda, riquezas y honra.
 17 Sus caminos son caminos deleitosos; todas sus veredas, paz.
 18 Es árbol de vidapara los que de ella echan mano, y bienaventurados sonlos que la retienen.
 19 »Jehová fundó la tierra con sabiduría, afirmó los cielos con inteligencia.
 20 Con su ciencia,los mares fueron divididos y destilan rocío los cielos.
 21 »Hijo mío, no se aparten estas cosasde tus ojos: guarda la Ley y el consejo,
 22 que serán vida para tu alma y gracia para tu cuello.
 23 Entonces andarás por tu camino confiadamente y tu pie no tropezará.
 24 Cuando te acuestes, no tendrás temor, sino que te acostarásy tu sueño será grato.
25 No tendrás temor de un pavor repentino ni de la ruina de los impíos,cuando llegue,
 26 porque Jehová será tu confianza: él evitará que tu pie quede atrapado.
 27 »Si tienes poder para hacer el bien, no te rehúses a hacérseloa quien lo necesite;
 28 no digas a tu prójimo:”Vete, vuelve de nuevo, mañana te daré”, cuando tengas contigo qué darle.
 29 No intentes hacer daño a tu prójimo que vive confiado junto a ti.
 30 No pleitees sin razón con nadie, a no ser que te hayan agraviado.
 31 No envidies al hombre injusto ni escojas ninguno de sus caminos.
32 Porque Jehová abomina al perverso; su comunión íntima es con los justos.
 33 La maldición de Jehová estáen la casa del malvado, pero bendice la morada de los justos.
 34 Ciertamente él escarnecea los escarnecedores y da gracia a los humildes.
 35 Los sabios heredan la honra, pero los necios cargan con su ignominia.

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Acerca del sufrimiento
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“I believe in the sun, even when it is no shining, I believe in love even when feeling it not. I believe in God even when God is silent” — Text Found on a wall after Kristalll Nacht

“La felicidad no se tiene, se recuerda” — Elias Espino

“Hasta que el pueblo no las canta, las coplas no son. Y cuando el pueblo las canta, ya nadie sabe su autor” — Manuel Machado.

“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die..” — Country Song.

“Good judgement comes with experience, unfortunatly, the experience comes from bad judgement” — Darren Tucker

“Cuantas veces cuando oramos le pedimos a Dios que cambie nuetras circumstancias, pero no le pedimos que cambie nuestro caracter..” — Ray Wizbowski

“Not all that wonder are lost” — JR Tolkken.

“Never once did I ask God for success or wisdom or power or fame. I asked for wonder and he gave it to me. By enlarge, our world has lost it’s sense of wonder. We grow up. We no longer catch our breath at the sight of a rainbow or the sent of a rose as we once did…” — Brennan Manning.

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than the past, than the facts, than money, than education, than circumstances, than failures, than successes. It is more important than appearance, than giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We can not change our past, we can not change the way people will act. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude… I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.” — Charles Swindoll.

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[Source: “ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN” by Robert Fulghum. See his web site at http://www.robertfulghum.com/ ]
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All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.

These are the things I learned:
– Share everything.
– Play fair.
-Don’t hit people.
-Put things back where you found them.
-Clean up your own mess.
-Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
-Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
-Wash your hands before you eat.
-Flush.
-Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
-Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
-Take a nap every afternoon.
-When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
-Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
-Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
-And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.
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“Hacer lo que amas es libertad, amar lo que haces es felicidad”

“El choque de ideas es el sonido de la libertad”

“God grant me the serenety to accept the things I can not change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference” — Reinhold Neibuhr

“Knoledge speaks, but wisdom listens” — Jimmi Hendrix

“Even moe important, Malcom says, is the way complex systems seam to strike a balance between the need for order and the imperative to change. Complex systems need to locate them selves at a place we call ‘the edge of chaos’. We imagine the edge of chaos to be a place where there is enough innovation to keep a living system vibrant, end enough stability to keep it from collapsing in to anarchy..” — Michael Criton — Jurasic Park

“Nunca dejes pasar una buena oportunidad de quedarte callado.”

“Un pecado grande es el que haces tu, un pecado pequeno es el que cometo yo”

“Dios no te debe nada, si solo te hubiera salvado,y luego dejado para vivir la peor de las vidas, y al final te lleve a la eternidad, de cualquier manera Dios seria un Gran Dios de amor y bondad..” — Raquel Loera
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Actitud de los perros
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Cuando…
Puedes comer lo mismo todos los dias y seguir agradecido
Recibes a tus seres queridos a la puerta todos los dias, como si no los hbieras visto en muchos anos
Seas siempre cariniso aun cuando a ti se te ignora
Seas siempre fiel a tus amigos aun cuando aveces ellos te lastiman
Entonces, tu actutud sera tan buena como la de tu perro.
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Cosas que debemos aprender de los perros
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Nunca dejes pasar la oportunidad de salir de paseo.
Cuando lleguen tus amados corre a recivirlos.
Deja a la otros saber cuando estan invadiendo tu territorio.
Toma siestas vosteza y estirate todos los dias antes de levantarte.
Corre y juega todos los dias.
Come con gusto y entuciasmo.
Nunca te hagas pasar por alguien que no eres.
Si lo que quieres esta enterrado, escarba hasta que lo encuentres.
Cuando alquien esta enojado o lastimado, sientate calladamente a su lado.
Disfruta la atencion y deja que la gente te toque.
Evita morder cuando con un gruñido basta.
Cuando estes feliz baila y menea todo tu cuerpo.
No importa cuantas veces te regañen o reclamen, no te quedes con sentido de culpa o en un rincon, reguesa y haz las paces.
Disfruta el simple placer de una larga caminata.
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Everyone ends up becoming like that which he worships…

Do not make images of God.. Do not try to make God managable. God is not mamageble…

Many times sin is about taking the “shot cut”, doing what is easy, not what is right. — Me

Man thinks he is good because they are not as bad as they could be…The problem is that they are not as good as they should be…

Success is not mesured by the end result, but by your faitfulness to do what God has you to do. — Joel King
Success is not mesured by outcome, but by obedience.

You can be in a place that does not reflect your principles, but your conduct always should. — Joel King

Pity is felt whena person thinks he is superior to the other person, Compasion is felt when a person is moved to help another because they see that person’s worth and portential.

God is more interested in us knowing His will than we are. And he is the master communicator. We get to know better the personal will of God by doing the part of His will we do know.

If we knew what God knows, we would want what God wants…If I had all of God’s power, I would change everything, if I knew all that God knows … I would not change a thing…

As a christian your obligation is to reflect Jesus in your life.

Decipleship is about developing the heart and mind of Jesus.

There are many fears that keep us from speaking or acting on Jesus’ behalf. The key to each is not to try harder or learning better information, the key is to grow in love.

God changes a man by changing the way he thinks — Manalive.

Galatians 5:1 – Here is the bottom line, to expose a religios spirit: If it doesn’s bring life it is not christianity. If It doesn’t restore the image of God and joy in the heart,it is not christianity.

Do not be afraid of tomorrow, God is already there.

Salmo 37:4 .- Pon asi mismo tu delicia en Jehova y el te dara las peticiones de tu corazon… Esto no quiere decir que Dios te dara lo que tu quieres, sino que Dios pondra en tu corazon sus propios deseos para ti.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

Speaking what is right is no garantee that you will be popular or respected.

“At first they [the nazis] came for the communists, I was not a comunist so I did not speak up. Then they came for the Jews, Unionists, and catholics, I was none of those, so I did not speak up. Then they came for me, and there was no one to speak up.” Pastor knewmiller??

Faith is an act of the will, not of emaotions.

Moses was punished for misrepresenting God..How am I representing God?

Los fariseos querian mostrar que eran santos porque no tocaban nada impuro. Jesus motro que es santo porque tocaba lo impuro para transformarlo.

You are not what you eat, you are what you think..

Nosotros nos queremos presentar ante Dios con las manos limpias, Dios quere saber a quien trajimos a su reino junto con nosotros, para esto aveces tenemos que ensuciarnos las manos.

The thing we can not stop talking about is what we worship.

What is so sinister about this world is that it pretends to be our friend.
“Both Trourtured fear and stuped confidence are desired states of mind” — Wormwood (screwtape letters, CS Lewis).

When he was told that his job was to defeat his enemies, Abraham Lincoln said: “If I make my enemy my friend, do I not therefore destroy him?”

“El amor es una capacidad, no un sentimiento” –Dan in real life.

“Nadie esta obligado, es un milagro es que alguien corresponda a tu amor. El milagro no es que Jesus nos ame a nosotros (es su naturaleza) el milagro es que nosotros le correspondamo. El siguiente milagro es que Jesus pueda amar atravez de nosotros.” – ME

“El genio es la paciencia eterna” — Miguel Angel.

“Life is not mesured by the amount of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your beath away..”

“Los cristianos vivimos de promesas, no de conocimiento..” –Warsby

“Don’t try to be a man of renound, instead try to be a man of value…” — Albert Einstein.

“Gods grace is unconditional, his favor is conditional..” — Kelly Williams (Vanguard church)

“Keep asking. When God says ‘no’ He usually says that right away, otherwise it is a ‘wait’ or ‘yes’. Have you asked for 20 years? Ask for 21 years…” — Kelly Williams (Vanguard church)

“Has planes para 100 aÒos, pero preparate para morig manaÒa…” — Sobreviviente de los Andes.

“Joy is not something life brings you, life is something you bring to life..” –Edwin McManus.

“Repentance is going from: ‘I admit I was wrong’ to ‘I will fix this, I will make it right’..” — Joel King

“The kingdom is where the king is obeyed. The kingdom of God is where God is obeyed…” — Joel King
“Explanations do not heal the heart, the heart heals with love and comapnionship…” — Gregg Laurie

“When someone you love goes to heaven, heaven becomes closer to you…” — Gregg Laurie

“I have to hear the Father’s voice amongst all the nose, If I give hime the first part of the day and latter that day I get hit by a car… I’ve hade a great day!” — Chip Ingram

“[GOD] Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other? ” — Evan almigthy

“[GOD]How do we change the world? …One single act of random kindness at a time.” — Evan Almighty.

“Jesus predicaba y ministraba a las multitudes, pero vivia en un grupo pequeno…” — Chip Ingram.

“Cuando los dicipulos estaban en la tormenta, Jesus estaba en medio del agua, pero seguro, los dicipulos estaban en el barco pero temerosos y inseguros..”

“Dios escogio a los soldados de Gedeon no porque eran 300, sino porque eran los que sabian que necesitaban a Dios, qu sin Dios serian destruidos y confiaron en EL…”

“The shortest distance between people and the truth is a story…” — Raby Bruce L. Cohen.

“If you want something done, give it to a busy person…”

“Grief proves that love is stronger than death. When someone you love dies, your love for them does not die with them…”

“Worship is all that I am responding to all that God is, trough Jesus Christ…” –Matt Hannan

“Do not try to be a great christian, instead try to be a greatful christian..” –Matt Hannan

“You should be experiensing joy every day, even if not happiness. The joy of knowing:’If God is for me who can be againts me?’..Even though I do not like what I am going through, I love the company I am keeping….” — Paul
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La cancion del elefante
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“Un buen dia los animales del bosque para decidir cual era el animal mas feliz de todos. Eligieron al Elefante. Lo eligieron porque cuando cualquiera de ellos estaba triste buscaban al elefante, y este lloraba con ellos como si la pena fuera de el mismo. Cuanod algno estaba alegre tambien buscaba al Elefante y este se reia con ellos a carcajadas…Reir y llorar, comparir el llanto y la alegria es realmente vivir..” — Gilberto Gutierrez.
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“Dios no pone a tus enemigos a tus pies, hasta que no te da tambien la gracia para que no los aplastes…”–Paul Shepard
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Soneto a Cristo Crucificado.
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Soneto a Cristo crucificado
No me mueve, mi Dios, para quererte
el cielo que me tienes prometido,
ni me mueve el infierno tan temido
para dejar por eso de ofenderte.

¡Tú me mueves, Señor! Muéveme el verte
clavado en una cruz y escarnecido;
muéveme ver tu cuerpo tan herido;
muévenme tus afrentas y tu muerte.

Muéveme en fin, tu amor, y en tal manera
que aunque no hubiera cielo, yo te amara,
y aunque no hubiera infierno, te temiera.

No me tienes que dar porque te quiera,
pues aunque lo que espero no esperara,
lo mismo que te quiero te quisiera.
— Manuel de Guevara? – Siglo XVI

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There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the “present.” — Kunfu Panda

“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another without the loss of enthusiasm” — Winston Churchill

“Some men see things as they are and ask why? Others dream things that never where and ask why not?” — Gorge Bernard Shaw

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger” — Friedich Nietzche

“La promesa mas frequente en la biblia es: ‘Yo estare contigo'”

“Mistakes are proof that you are trying”

“When someone does something wrong, ask your self:`what is the most generous explanation for their actions?`, Always give them the benefit of the doubth”

“God is not interested in our comfort, He is interested in our character”

“Christ did not give us a list of what to do or what not to do. He gave us principals on how to be, like a child”

“Most religions can be summarized in the word ‘Do’. Christianity can be summarized with the word ‘Done'” — Steve CLifford – Westgate Church.

“Joy is a supernatural delight in: The person, the purposes, and the people of God” — Steve Clifford — Westgate Church

“Our attitude is the light that shines in this world”

“What you think about God has everything to do with how you live your life, and how you will respond to life’s contingencies” — Charles Swindoll

“Where there is no risk, there is no faith” — Chip Ingram

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Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop.
And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!And so I’m happy, tonight.
I’m not worried about anything.
I’m not fearing any man!
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!
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“Solamente a mi me matan… Volveré y seré millones”. — Túpac Catari
“Viajero que pasas por aquí: ve a decir a los espartanos que por su ley, aquí yacemos”. –Termopilas
“Es más digno que los hombres aprendan a morir que a matar. — Séneca
“Una tumba es suficiente para quien el Universo no bastara.” — Epitafio de:Alejandro Magno
“No son muertos los que yacen en la tumba fría, muertos son los que tienen el alma muerta y viven todavía.” — Antonio Muñoz Feijoo
“Dejen el mundo mejor de como lo encontraron”. — Lord Robert Baden-Powell
“Cuando naciste reían todos,y sólo tú gemías,procura que al morir,sean todos los que lloren,y sólo tú el que rías!” — Epitafio de una tumba en el cementerio de la Almudena de Madrid

proverbios judios
El jabón es para el cuerpo lo que las lágrimas para el alma.
Quien salva a una persona, salva al mundo entero.
Proviervios Indios
“La más larga caminata comienza con un paso.”
“La Tierra no es una herencia de nuestros padres, sino un préstamo de nuestros hijos.”

Ask God to close doors behind you…

When Jesus was not present, the disciples were being stupid…

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact , you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in a casket or a coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from the perturbations of Love is Hell. — C.S. Lewis.

A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.— Albert Einstein

You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.— Winston Churchill

Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.— Albert Einstein

Speak only if it improves upon the silence.— Mohandas Gandhi

If you are going through hell, keep going.— Winston Churchill

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.— Mohandas Gandhi

Try to become not a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value. — Albert Einstein

Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.— Albert Einstein

Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.— Winston Churchill

A leader leads by example not by force.— Sun Tzu

The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.— Albert Einstein

There are many causes I would die for. There is not a single cause I would kill for.— Mohandas Gandhi

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.
— Albert Einstein

I’m not an atheist and I don’t think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many different languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn’t know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God.— Albert Einstein

You should be the change that you want to see in the world.— Mohandas Gandhi

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.— Albert Einstein

Lady Nancy Astor: Winston, if you were my husband, I’d poison your tea.
Churchill: Nancy, if I were your husband, I’d drink it.— Winston Churchill

Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.— Albert Einstein

If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.— Bruce Lee

Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.— Confucius

The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.— Bruce Lee

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.— Mohandas Gandhi

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.— Sun Tzu

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.— Warren Buffett

If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.— Bruce Lee

Light travels faster than sound. That’s why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

Give us the fortitude to endure the things which cannot be changed, and the courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to know one from the other.-Oliver J. Hart

Remember your goal is greater than your struggle.

The lust for comfort murders the passions of the soul.
-Kahlil Gibran

How the idea originated

One day I asked my father, Elias Espino, about the names of my uncles and of his cousins. I noticed that the names were biblical but very unusual in Mexico. I already knew that my grandfather, also named Elias,was a baptist christian. Then I asked him if his grandparents, my great grand parents They were also baptist christians and he said yes. This was also confirmed by my uncles.

Mi father told me that Leonidas, my great grandfather was a civil judge and a preacher. Some times Lonidas was accompanied by Elias (grandfather) when preaching and some times they were run out of town getting stones thrown at them. At that time more than 95% of Mexican were catholic.

My grandfather Elias was a tailor and my grandmother Gabriela was a homemaker. They were originally from Torreon, Coahuila Mexico. Of modest economic means. My father and uncles had to work since they were children, and some times they would make their toys from bricks and trash.

On this page I share some of the stories my uncles would reminisce about amongst them selves and with my grandfather, always with happiness and nostalgia and always acknowledging God c

are and provision, these are the stories that impressed me the most. I also see in my family’s history the hand of God, his grace and guidance.

Why research and write the stories?

It is important to know about our roots and share them with the next generations. This enriches us, it is good to be grateful to ancestors for the sacrifices they did to give us a better life. I always like to remind my self that my life would have been very different if my father had not work hard and became and became a teacher, with advanced degrees.

My father had to struggle to study keep working, I am grateful that it was not even an option for me, my father told me that the only thing both my parents asked of me was to get a degree in any career I wanted, and to give the diploma to my mother.

The stories that my father, my aunts and uncles told

In 2010 on a visit to Juarez/El Paso I had a conversation with my uncles Samuel and Eliazar Espino, I sort of interviewed them and recorded it. They were reminiscing and retelling some of the stories that fascinated me as a child.

Click here to listen to My Uncles Telling Stories.

The stories they told me about were:

How the family arrived at Juarez.

 

 

 

How they used to make toys out of trash and what ever was available.

When they worked making hats for parades and about their paper routes.

When they found silver coins working for a ghost lady.

About the Espino family name

 

Apellido Espino en Surname Data Base

This ancient surname is recorded in some forty spelling forms. These range from Epine, Lepine, Delepine, (French) to Espinas and Espinoza (Spanish) and Spinelli (Italian). The surname is usually recorded in most dictionaries of surnames as being of early French origins, but is not so. It is more correctly Roman (Latin), and derives its origin from the pre Christian w

ord ‘spina’, a description for a person who lived either by a prominent thorn bush, or more probably a defensive area protected by thorn bushes, or on the ridge or spine of a hill. As a late medieval surname, it was also applied as a nickname to a “difficult” person, one of “prickly” character! It has also been suggested that in some cases the surname was originally a nickname for “a spy”. If this is so, the derivation would have been from the French word “espionier”, but this is not proven. Early examples of the surname recording include Claude Espinoy, in Paris, in 1638, Michelle Lespine, who married Pierre Fiquet at Rumigny, Ardenne, in 1632; and Jean Epinet, of Bard, Loire, in 1689. Further recordings are those of Maria de Espinoza at San Miguel Arcangel, Mexico on February 5th 1696 and Rueda Espinosa at San Juan Bautistia, Coyoacan, Mexico, on August 20th 1775. The coat of arms has the blazon of a silver field, charged with a red fesse, and overall a black lion rampant. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Louis Delespine, which was dated August 1st 1545, at the Church of St. Florentine, at Amboise, France, during the reign of King Francis 1 of France, and of the House of Valois, 1515 ­ 1547. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to “develop” often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

link to wikipedia

S e p h a r d i c J e w s ( H e b r e w : ס ָ פ ַ ר ִ דּ י ְ , M o d e r n S e f a r a d d i T i b e r i a n S ə p ̄ā r a d d î , p l u r a l : Hebrew: ְסָפַרִדּים, Modern Sefaraddim T i b e r i a n S ə p ̄ā r a d d î m ; S p a n i s h S e f a r d í e s ; Portuguese Sefarditas, Greek Σεφάρδοι Sefardoi, Bulgarian, Сефаради, Serbian сефарди sefardi, Turkish Sefarad, Judaeo­ Spanish Sefardies, Arabic: رد␣ون␣␣␣) is a general term describing a specific kind of Jewish people. There are two types of meanings, either in a narrow or broad sense:

in a narrow sense, Jews descended from the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the late 15th century;in a broad sense, and particularly for religious purposes, Jews who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and traditions which originated in the Iberian Peninsula,whether or not they have any historical or ethnographic connection to the Iberian Peninsula. In this broader sense, the term Sephardim includes most Mizrahi Jews, and in Israel sometimes means any Jew who is not Ashkenazi. The term essentially means “Spanish”. It comes from Sepharad (Hebrew: ספרד, Modern Səfarád T i b e r i a n S ə p ̄a r á ḏ / S ə p ̄ā r a ḏ ; T u r k i s h : S e f a r a d ) , a B i b l i c a l l o c a t i o n . [ 2 ] T h i s l o c a t i o n i s d i s p u t e d , b u t “Sepharad” was identified by later Jews as the Iberian Peninsula, and still means “Spain” in modern Hebrew.

Famous Espino’s

Antonio Espino “Clavillazo”

Antonio Espino Mora better known as “Clavillazo” (1910­1993) was a comic actor and film tent of Mexican origin.

Baggy pants, the jacket with long sleeves, hat cocked, the catch phrase nomáaaas pura vida! in a tone of joy or my never do that! in a tone of despair and hands who spoke were the characteristics that made Clavillazo one of the most recognized and beloved comedians of the Mexican public.

 

 

Hector Espino

Hector Espino Gonzalez (6 June 1939 ­ September 7, 1997). Mexican baseball player native of Chihuahua.

He is a member of the Hall of Fame Professional Baseball Mexico since 1985 due to the large number of established brands in their 24 seasons in the league in the summer and winter. He was champion hitter in 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1973 in summer, was crowned in four seasons as the best slugger, drove in runs 1.573, with 2.752 hits, 453 of them homers, accumulating a lifetime percentage of .335. In 1962 he was the Rookie of the Year of the Mexican Baseball League playing for the Monterrey Sultans, hitting .358 with 23 homers and 105 RBI leader with Alonso Perry.

 

Manuel Espino Barrientos

Manuel Espino Barrientos Jesus (Victoria de Durango, Durango November 29, 1959, is a Mexican politician, member of the National Action Party in 2005 was the National President and Chairman of the Christian Democratic Organization of America for the period 2006­2007.

 

Gabriela Espino

María Gabriela Espino Ruggiero, (N.15 November 1976 in Caracas) is an Actress, model, entertainer Venezuela. Known in the art world as “Gaby Espino. ” As a model has been the face of various products on television and the press in Venezuela.

 

David Espino

Beyond Ebay is a book written by David Espino which claims to provide his key concepts for starting a home­based business in the on­line auction industry. David Espino began his rise to fame in 1999 when he put his collectible toys business on the internet, his specialty was vintage hotwheels from the 60′s and 70′s.

 

Origins of the Espino Family name

This article is in spanish, I am looking for one in english or to translate this same article.