Oceanskater’s Blog

Roy & I went away for the weekend to a conference, and while we were gone, Noodles got into some fancy European dark chocolate in our roommate’s room and ate 16 pieces.

I was so scared he was going to die. It’s amazing how attached I am to that cutie pie.

Thankfully, the dogsitter misunderstood our instructions on food and fed him twice as much as he was supposed to get. Since his food is high-fiber, I think it absorbed all the chocolate. She also fed him some burnt toast. Since it had been so long since he had eaten the chocolate, it probably wouldn’t have helped to make him throw up. And our vet won’t even talk on the phone unless you pay $50. (Of course, we would have paid the $50, but we were in NY and my cell was barely working, so the dogsitter went on the internet and it was highly likely he needed to eat like 10 times that amount of chocolate to be anywhere near toxic.)

Noodles seems fine, though hilariously (is that a word?), he is visibly fatter. I’m not kidding

Tomorrow is Election Day! Please, everyone, get out and vote. And make sure to pray before you do.

Here in Massachusetts, we have some ballot questions. I understand the 1st one and know how I will vote. I also understand the 2nd one, but I don’t understand the ramifications of it. And the 3rd one I’m totally confused about. So I’m going to go look into those.

Here’s a picture of Noodles from my friend’s camera on her computer:

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here! That’s because my life has been incredibly busy in the recent days. But there’s a lot I want to share with you.

Since it’s the beginning of the school year, it’s also sort of the beginning of the ministry year, since the church where Alive in Christ meets has a lot of families and college students. So for the past 3 Sundays, I’ve spent quite a bit of time at the church. I’ve also been helping with music at the church that Roy & I attend.

I’ve also attended several seminars over recent months. Just last week, I saw both Stormie Omartian and Steve Arterburn speak. Steve was hilarious, and Stormie was inspiring. Roy & I also attended a friend’s wedding and a family birthday party that actually had a performance by an Elvis impersonator. Quite amusing

I don’t know how many of you have heard of XXXChurch.com. They are starting a new campaign to raise awareness about and find help for pastors who struggle with pornography addiction. I get e-mail updates from them, and today they shared that a professional pornography photographer gave his life to Christ a week ago. Praise God! He immediately called up Playboy and resigned, and just last night, he found a good-paying job in a completely different field. He ended his blog post by saying, “This is, of course, much less than I’m used to making. But it will allow me to take care of my son. Try telling me that God’s not helping me.” Amen to that. His name is Donny. Please keep him in your prayers.Also, keep those affected by all the school shootings in your prayers.

This week, I’m totally bummed to be missing the annual Exodus Freedom Conference. I’ve been able to go the last 2 years, but this year, I have a family obligation. So be praying for all who are there!

My sister is in town with her husband for our 2 family obligations. Tomorrow, we’ll be hopping in the car and Noodles will be staying at home with the housesitter. Today, I almost had a heart attack because Roy came home and Noodles was trying to find him, and he ran out into the road! Noodles, that is I screamed and Roy ran after him. He’s never run out into the road before. It really scared me. I love that little Noodle.

Roy & I just found out that our friend’s mom has passed away. We’re both very sad about this. Linda wasn’t just a friend’s mom - she was someone we knew and cared about, who had invited us into her home and fed us and brought joy into our lives. We’re trying to rejoice, knowing she’s in God’s arms right now. But it’s still hard. She was young and full of life.

In other news, it looks like they’ve accepted our offer on the condo, which is a total miracle because the other offer was $10,000 more than ours. Still, a lot could still go wrong in these process, so please keep praying. And please pray for Linda’s family - she has 3 sons and 2 grandchildren.

So, we put an offer on that condo, and after negotiating, it seems like they accepted the offer. BUT they hadn’t signed it and in the meantime, they got another offer, so they’re considering both offers. So you can continue to pray that God’s will would be done.

Thanks!

Roy & I had an eventful weekend of looking at potential places to live. It was quite exciting.

I’m so glad that Jill Carroll is home again with her family. That’s a serious answered prayer.

I have 2 prayer requests for the 5 people that read this blog. First, the mother of a very close friend of Roy’s had something like a stroke and is in a coma. Her brain is bleeding and it doesn’t look good. Please pray for her. Roy & I are praying that her health will be restored.

Second, Roy & I are putting an offer on a condo today. Wow! Pretty exciting Pray that God’s will is done.

Thanks!

It’s 53 degrees in Boston. That may not sound warm to you, but it makes life a little easier, for some reason.

The seminar this weekend went very well. I found it to be so refreshing. We had quite a showing from Alive in Christ, which was of course encouraging since last year, only Roy & I went. My teaching went well, I think. I had a bit too much information, even though I didn’t go over my time. It was just so great to share about something that has made such an impact in my life and changed the way I view myself and God. My prayer was that I’d be able to communicate just a fraction of my passion. I hope I was able to do that.

Some of you know that Roy & I have been thinking of buying a place. We’ve been going to open houses and talking with realtors. Well, I just found out less than 5 minutes ago that we need to move from our current place. Our landpeople (landlady and landman) have decided to sell the house in which we rent a floor. So, it’s either move into another apartment or buy something. Please keep this in our prayers. I never thought I’d be staying in Boston long-term, so this would be a big decision.

And I’ll end with a praise report. Roy & I and a few of my close friends have been praying fervently for a young friend of mine for a while now. He’s been through some rough times. What has been so amazing for me is to see God, one by one, answer all of our prayers. Every single one. Even when things seemed hopeless, God was listening and working hard. Last night, after He responded to yet another of our pleas, God reminded me that He cares even more than I do for our young friend. It’s just been humbling. I have never before in my walk with God seen Him work so powerfully and consistently. Of course, He’s always been working in all things, but I guess I just wasn’t able to see it.

He is God, and He is good - at His core, He is good.

I’m so glad CNN.com is covering this story:

Death could await Christian convert in Afghanistan

This morning when I got on the Internet, it was the top story. I pray that people continue to be outraged and that this father of two who refuses to denounce his faith in Christ will be saved.

So, I did succeed in coming down with a nasty cold/flu last week. I think I’m finally in the home stretch of getting over it. If you could continue to pray for me, that would be great. I’m beginning to work on my teaching for the weekend, and I need lots and lots of God’s help.

I have several important events on the horizon that I’d like to tell you about and ask you to pray for. My body has also chosen this time to try and come down with a cold and fever. I’m attacking it ferociously with zinc and vitamin C, but I believe your prayers would be more effective

Here’s what’s coming up:

First, Hugh (one of the male leaders in Alive in Christ and I will be teaching a class during the upcoming session of Christian Formation classes at the church where Alive in Christ meets. Our class is entitled “Homosexuality: A Biblical Perspective & Solution”. We’ve been purposeful in choosing to offer this class during the evening time slot as we hope to attract people who may not necessarily have a Biblical understanding of same-sex attraction. Hugh and I are really looking forward to this.

Second, I’m currently preparing to teach a class at the upcoming ReCreation Ministries Sexual Healing seminar. The basic theme of the seminar is the father heart of God. I’ll be teaching on a class called “You are God’s Favorite: Living in the Reality of God’s Fierce Tenderness”, so please pray for me and my preparation.

Thanks! And I’ll keep you updated on my health.