Sandcastles's Xanga

Still here...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:26:18 GMT

But spending more time on FaceBook these days. If you want to find me, search for "Alyx Theresa Ouellette".

My brother...

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:30:41 GMT

... was discharged from the hospital today. He has to go to dialysis twice a week; they don't know if it's permanent yet but the docs think his renal failure was caused by the infection and have hopes that when the infection is gone, Geoff's kidneys will work again.

Thank you and bless your name, Adonai Elohim, whatever the outcome. G-D is good.

Romans 6

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:03:37 GMT

"Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal bodies; so that it makes you obey its desires; and do not offer any part of yourselves to sin as an instrument of wickedness. On the contrary, offer yourselves to G-d as people alive from the dead, and your various parts to G-d as instruments of righteousness... Don't you know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, then, of the one whom you are obeying, you are slaves - whether of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to being made righteous?" (Rom. 6:12-13, 16)

Having discussions with my girls about idol worship and how, more often, the Enemy uses subtle means to enslave us instead of a full-on attack. It's a discussion that bears repeating for all of us - but it seems to come up a lot with teenagers. =)

No news about my brothers condition yet.

One day closer to harpazo ...

Hi, Still Here...

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:13:06 GMT

I'm reworking my blog, going over past entries to choose which to include in a sidebar. It's time consuming.

Last week, my beloved brother Geoff went into the hospital. His kidneys shut down and they're not sure why or if it's permanent; right now he's on dialysis. He had an infection in his right foot and had a very high fever; they're fighting it with antibiotics. He's healing, but very slowly - not too surprising as the diabetes is ravaging his body. He has two PICC lines - one in his chest for the dialysis and the other in his arm. PICC lines get infected easily. He's very weak, but better than he was last week. It kills me that he's suffering...

The enemy is trying to keep me from attending church. It seems like every week something big comes up. Wednesday I had a terrible reaction to a prescription I've been taking for the past two weeks; I nearly ended up in the ER myself. Because of the after effects, I couldn't work Thurs. or Fri. either. On Sunday, I took the dog out to potty and slipped on the muddy ground. I landed on my left foot, twisting it and when I got up, I pulled a large muscle in the front of the same leg. I walked to church anyway. Too many "coincidences" and I'm too stubborn to let them take over my life. ((LoL)) And so we march on.

There is so much more going on that I can't say publicly; the problems range from strange, unexplainable maladies in my family to full-blown personal attacks. On the bright side, I began reading "90 Minutes In Heaven", which Geoff has been trying to get me to read (and I found in the church library I didn't know we had) and it has blessed me so much. I began to read chapters to DD15, who is also enjoying it (we like to read out loud) and my 14 yo DGD, who is going through a rough and confusing time, was so comforted when I read the chapters where Pastor Don Piper describes what he saw and heard after he died, she didn't want me to stop reading. Now my DD15 does a daily Bible study with me and DGD14 wants to hear more of the book when she spends time here. Personally, it just made me want to leave this world more than ever. Read it if you haven't yet.

For the past few months, I've had a dining set, some metal bunkbeds and various household items sitting around my house. I thought about selling them (I could get at least $50 for the table and $100 or so for the bunkbeds) but I kept getting the feeling that G-D wanted us to hold on to them. I have been wondering why and now I have my answer. We have a new neighbor with children, and she has nothing. She left an abusive marriage with little more than her kids and the clothes on their backs. I just gave them the table and I'm working on the bunkbeds, which I'll give to her also. They are sleeping on pallets on the floor. I also gave her my old vacuum and a Swiffer mop and Eldest has invited them to church. We told the mom about United Ministries and gave her a list of resources to find help in the community.

On the funny side, I was able to replace a CD of Messianic music that DD15 and I love very much, which was lost about 18 months ago. We were listening to it the other night and fell asleep with it on "repeat". Of course with Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the Days of Awe going on, our minds have been on the Rapture (harpazo). The CD starts with a shofar blowing and then the Levite blessing from Numbers 6:24 - 26. Around 5 AM the next morning, apparently both DD15 and I were in a state of light sleep, heard the shofar and snapped WIDE awake. It was a bit of a letdown when we realized it was the recording and we were not being "caught up". ((LoL))

Shalom.

a BIG RANT on the plight of youth

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:04:27 GMT

Note: This entry was written and posted by bwebbjr. You may want to leave him some comments as well; this is a problem that has needed to be addressed for generations. Maybe we can make a difference...

One of the great adventures currently going on in my teenage daughter’s life is youth group. She is 17 and had never been in a youth group and this year one of her friends (now former friends) invited her to come to youth group with her … she has even ventured out on a mission trip with them. Nonetheless … she is a youth group outcast.

Through her adventures I am coming to a number of realizations about youth group … I might add realizations that I was totally and completely blind to in my 6 or 7 years of volunteer youth work.

Unhealthy high school socialization (aka survival of the clique, the popular and the bully) is alive and thriving in youth groups … and youth leaders with their training to ‘connect with the kids’ and ‘act like kids’ continue to do virtually nothing about it … just as I did nothing about it.

At many youth group meetings across this country, some kids who came seeking hope and connection leave instead victimized and demoralized as a result of youth group socialization. Sorry Christ Jesus was not at the assembly tonight …

While teenage girls may be considered more mature than teenage boys, they can certainly be vicious and backstabbing to other girls … I call it the mean girls syndrome. Please … this is not intended to be an across-the-board criticism.

A girl one-on-one is totally different than a girl in-a-pack. Once a clique is established … an impenetrable wall is established and the big guns are top-mounted and aimed at any and all within sight regardless of whether they are a threat or not and without regard to their value as a child of God. Every shot fired makes the clique wall stronger and serves to inflate the ego, pride and bully characteristics of the clique and those within even more.

Please don’t take this as girl bashing. I have 4 daughters and 4 granddaughters and I love them all. But I am sensitive to what they endure … and also what I have seen them inflict. And it is radically different than boys. Boys and men tend to be either Lone Rangers or relationship impaired or maybe even both … and that is a confession of sorts.

As youth leaders we are often so focused on an end result we totally miss the objective of the ministry God has given us. Maybe it is getting more kids at a meeting or event, maybe it is completing a service project, having the perfect meeting, putting on a play possibly, getting the kids to bring visitors, etc. … and we miss the entire point of the ministry. Our goal is not achievement or expectation … in fact those things push the kids away … and it pushes them very hard.

Our goal … and our desire IN Christ Jesus is to love one another. And in the midst of our striving and our achieving and our expectations in ministry, loving one another often takes a back seat … or maybe even ends up in the trunk or in the trailer or home on the dresser.

And Jesus finds himself in the co-pilot seat … or even worse, the church or ministry is put on auto-pilot with history and routine being the satellite charting the course on our religious GPS.

There is a lot of talk right now about kids leaving the church when they graduate from high school. Some surveys even report it happens much earlier. One book I have recently seen is titled ‘Already Gone’ and found a pattern that suggest kids who attend Sunday School are more likely to leave the church than those who don’t.

The suggestion for resolution: we need to re-embrace the authority of Scripture and do more bible-based teaching. All well and good … actually essential … but …

There are greater points that are being missed in the midst of these surveys. Being in church is not the same as being IN Christ … for the most part, these kids are not leaving Christ … because they never met Him … they are leaving the religious, political, service and moral expectations of churches and parents because they NEVER saw or experienced the love of God or personally met the Lord and Savior Christ Jesus or sensed the indwelling convicting and leading presence of the Holy Spirit. The love of one another that Jesus intended to draw people unto Himself, the oneness and unity He intended to be His witness … are both often MIA.

Unfortunately Christians, especially those in leadership positions, often feel it is their responsibility to change people vs. trusting Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit in fulfilling their responsibilities of regeneration. And to make things even worse, we start the religious change-and-fix program before that person even knows and is known by Christ Jesus. Get ‘em saved or get ‘em moral … sometimes it doesn’t seem to matter which one happens. And I have served in churches where if the kids weren’t moral, the church parents didn’t want them there … we must keep church SAFE.

We are so busy thinking about how we believe they need to change and who we believe they need to become, we fail to seek and sense what God is already doing in their lives and who they are and who He desires them to become – THERE IS NO COOKIE CUTTER. Too often we seek to repair those who are simply in the midst of God’s plan, purpose and timing of becoming a fully reconciled, realized and loved child of God.

One final point: I tip my hat to youth pastors and youth leaders. They take on an extremely difficult job that really is not part of God’s design … raising someone else’s children from a faith and spiritual perspective. As church members and attendees we place extremely unfair and unbiblical expectations on both our youth pastors and our senior pastors when we think they should raise our children or the children of others.

Another taboo I have encountered is ‘Don’t invest too much time (aka disciple) in kids whose parents don’t come to the church.’ I kid you not. Quite frankly if the parent is in the church, then their children probably don’t even need to be in youth group – Dad do your job (Hello mirror!). The kids with Christless parents need youth ministry far more than the church kids do.

That position and responsibility for raising a child in the faith belongs to parents. And quite often we partially or totally abdicate that parental throne. Many parents have chosen (or neglected to choose and have simply allowed) their children to be raised by public education, by media and culture, by their money and jobs, by their peers, and in some circumstances along with all these forces the children simply raise themselves. Need we discuss the results?

Suddenly this passage makes a lot of sense …

Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 1 John 3:18 (NASB)

Sounds like we need to burden our children with less lip service and fewer expectations … and pour out more of the love of God in deed and truth.

Simply love them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

End of rant …

Dumpster Diving, The Bielski Brothers, Life After Snickers

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:39:25 GMT

Okay, I confess... I am a part-time dumpster diver.

There are 4 large dumpsters in our apartment complex and a lot of people either skip out or leave stuff in the apartments when they move. I don't usually sort through peoples' garbage - I mean, it's not like I sit at the window waiting for someone to toss something - but being a (seriously) frugal person, I won't turn my nose up if there is something being wasted. You would not believe the things that people leave...

Previously, I confessed to "rescuing" a vacuum cleaner and other small items. But I have to say that there's just too much to pass up around here. My latest acquisitions:

A 4-drawer, all wood dresser in perfect condition.
An all wood coffee table (that needs just a bit of sanding and a clear coat touch up)
Two floor lamps, metal that work splendidly (one black, one white)
Two kitchen chairs that actually match mine in color.
A white plastic chest with three wide drawers
A tall black chest with six drawers
A Step2® Lift & Hide toy chest with bookshelf (retails at $89.99)
A Panasonic 2 alarm clock radio (works fine)
Countless plastic and wire coathangers
Bags of craft materials
Three Swiffer® mops (with solution still in them)
A nice kitchen table (given to a neighbor who had none)
A white metal bunk bed frame (almost good as new)
College texts, empty 3-subject notebooks, literature, novels

I could go on and on. I've passed up a lot of stuff too, including some beautiful living room furniture. In this day and age, who would throw away such things? Why don't they sell, give away or donate them? What a waste.

I finished watching "Defiance" yesterday. I say "finished watching" because it moved me so much, I had to stop it a few times before I could view the whole thing. The movie is not so much about Jews as victims as it is about courage, helping others and standing against such evil, no matter how insurmountable the odds may seem. I am not ashamed to say it, but this movie made me weep openly a number of times. I Wiki-ed the Bielski Brothers after watching and their story (before and after WW2) is fascinating. I might even buy the DVD - a high recommendation from me! Not to be missed.

Guess what? I've not had to pick up any poop, scrub up any pee or replace any carpets since Snickers has gone on the road with SIL Mike. Ladybug (the female minpin) has bloomed since he left and I'm sorry, but she's a much happier dog. I do not dread what I might find destroyed (or peed on) when I wake up in the morning. And it's sooo quiet around here; no more howling at 3 AM... or 6 AM... or.... Mike is able to give him the individual attention he needs and the two seem to be getting along fine. YAY!

And what will you be doing 9 minutes after 9 tomorrow (09/09/09)? ((LoL))

Mercurial.

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 09:39:32 GMT

AAAAAUGH! [as Charlie Brown would say...]

I will never understand 17 year old girls [or at least, not this one!]

We were all prepared for her to have a fit about coming home from her brother's this weekend [because that's what she usually does]

Instead, she called me Wednesday and BEGGED for someone to give him gas money to drive her home then [HUHHH???]

She walked in, dropped her bags in the living room and acted "normal" [AKA "before the 'Mom is everything evil' tirades"]

We were changing around the bedrooms and she complimented that I had done a lot more than she thought I would have -- and finished moving the boxes for me. [!!!!!!!]

Then she sat down next to me on the computer and chatted while she searched for and filled out numerous job applications online. [faints dead away.]

All right, who are you and what have you done with my daughter?!?

Okay, I'm a dork.

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:22:50 GMT

Bullet Blog.

I've been posting during the month of August, but it's been private posting, which is why it seems like a month to public viewers, but I just realized... duh-UH.
Going through some issues with 17 yo daughter, who is back to "everything from day 1 is [somehow] Mom's fault". She is obviously wanting to be 18-and-gone-already because I don't approve of her recent attitude and decisions (surprise, surprise!) Even her niece (the center of the custody fiasco) has tried to reason with her but the girl won't listen. She's lost the respect of many, but doesn't seem to care at this point in time. Nothing to do but pray that she will stop following her old nature...
OTOH, proud of 15 yo daughter, who has stepped up to her sister's plate [and is doing a fine job of it]. She helps out as needed and never, ever complains. Lord, keep her strong and bless her - thank you for all of my kidlets, rebellious or not.
Asthma is acting up big.time this Fall. I've had to go on daily meds + rescue inhaler since [how many?] years. I HATE meds...
I love, Love, LOVE the Beth Moore study I'm currently doing. More later 'cuz that's a post in itself.
Had my annual HP + The Deathly Hallows read. Now working on "New Moon" but I hate the ending so I skipped the rest of the book [starting before they leave for Italy]. Can Bella be more of a fool? And why weren't there any Jacob Blacks when I was a teen? Or Jackson Rathbones, for that matter? No fair!
I love my job (even though there's no "salary"). Wonderful co-workers, some nice little perks and it makes me feel so good to be of service to others. Who says volunteers are the worst workers? They haven't met the people at United Ministries. Even the two mile daily walk makes me cheerful-er.
"The Destroyer" mini-pin male is now on the road with long haul trucker SIL; they seem to be doing well. I hope it works out because this is [the dog's] last stop before Craig's List. I am a very understanding and compassionate person, but I've reached my limit as far as he is concerned. I don't even wanna go there.
It's the mid-point of Elul and I have tried to repair relationships; not all are willing. There is no way I will be out of debt by the new [Jewish] year, but I press on. Retrospective as always, just more so this last month of the year. I've forgiven debts owed to me and did a lot better with charity and giving of myself this year. Still, there's always room for improvement, right?
Now if the Harpazo could just be during this year's Rosh Hashanah. Come quickly, Adonai ...
Shalom.

I Knew That...

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 08:52:33 GMT

The RED DOT on the Chart shows where you fit on the political map.

Your PERSONAL issues Score is 70%.
Your ECONOMIC issues Score is 90%.

According to your answers, the political group that agrees with you most is...

LIBERTARIANS support maximum liberty in both personal and

economic matters. They advocate a much smaller government; one

that is limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence.

Libertarians tend to embrace individual responsibility, oppose

government bureaucracy and taxes, promote private charity, tolerate

diverse lifestyles, support the free market, and defend civil liberties.

I wanna take the quiz.

The Right Track, Pt. 2

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:49:47 GMT

Where do I begin...

In an effort to explain a complicated situation simply, I will just say that my eldest and I have sort of started a ministry to our apartment complex - or maybe I should say that it seems that the Lord has given us a burden for the people in our immediate neighborhood, along with plenty of opportunity to speak and minister to them. L and I do small things, but these days being there to listen and lend a shoulder, sharing food and other "small things" are needed more than ever. We need to take care of each other! The situation is helping both L and I grow in our personal relationship with the Messiah; we find joy in what we're doing because we both love to help others and there's finally some "real" works to go with our faith.

Since we started with a purpose, our families and situations have been under attack - sometimes in the strangest ways. But G-D hears our (yours and my) prayers; he is with us and we are getting through this. Thank you.