IT'S A STRETCH

Getting to know the author and the ministry

First, The Author

My name is Gabe Vega. I'm a United States Navy Sailor with 12 years of service. In those years, I've been deployed to many countries all over the world, including a 10 month deployment in Afghanistan in support of OEF. My wife, Tanya, and I have been married for 12 years and we have 2 very handsome boys, Zaylen (10) and Daxen (3). We are currently stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii but are native Texans. BBQ....uummm. I wasn't always a Jesus follower and I spent most of my life satisfying the desires of my flesh. But, all that changed when the Holy Spirit came into my life and changed everything. The more our relationship as Father and son grew, the more God started to reveal the things He was orchestrating in my life. As a dad of two boys, I try to be honest with them and share what ever I think is appropriate for them at that time. I feel that God does the same with us. He reveals just enough for you to be in awe of Him, but leaves just enough for you to have trust Him. Do I struggle? Yes. Do I fall? Of course, I'm human. But the greatest thing to remember is that God has created a community of believers that all share the failures; so no judgement, just encouragement to keep walking in the Light.

Stretch Me O Lord

Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, "Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins". Fellas, this means we can’t get right. Our sinful nature is going to hold us back from becoming completely Christ-like. Stretched Wide Ministries was created for men to share their God-granted insights that helped them navigate through different areas of life, whether it be in marriage, ministry, work, home, fatherhood, or even brotherhood.

I find that some men have a tendency to want to walk through life by themselves; I can relate, I was raised to be strong and independent. But come to find out, God didn’t create us that way, instead He created us for community. We all go through trails, and at some point people have this “I’m alone, no one can relate” mindset. This is false my friends, and I refuse to let Satan prevent us from becoming more like Christ.

I absolutely love when men come together and talk about things they normally wouldn’t want someone in on. We had a men’s prayer group in our church one time and things got real! We shared everything, from struggles with pornography, lust, pride, doubt, fears…everything. We created that type environment because the Spirit knew that’s what each one of us needed; so we got together…we sat at a table…and we let it out. God worked in so many ways during that time. Each one of those men taught me something new or gave me a fresh perspective through biblical lenses. I, nor those other men, would’ve made it out those difficult seasons, if it wasn’t for those times at the table. My prayer is that you come here, no matter where you are located, knowing you are not alone and walk in His light so we may see the glory of God in the darkest of places, together.