radic4christ's Xanga

Renewal of LIFE

Thu, 16 Mar 2006 09:43:22 GMT

Well, it has definatly been awhile since I checked on this websight. I am now living in Austria, which is incredible. There have so many changes in my life, it often seems unreal - but soo good. The Lord i healing me of many things everyday - and I am ever moved by Him. It has been kinda crazy for because, I feel like the last year I was living in this "life robotics" state. In January the Lord took me to Jamaica, and there it was as if He woke me up and filled me with His Spirit. The consequental conversion has been so difficult, but so beautiful. In these attempts to not merely exist, but to truly live - I find myself ever in the Cross of Christ. In seeking balance in my life, between music, friends, school work, travel and the Lord - I am continually learning what it means to live and to love...That I may LIVE IN LOVE. hmmmm, hmmmm.

St. Therese, pray for me...

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Wed, 31 Aug 2005 11:24:00 GMT

http://www.myspace.com/jmjtsoulseekndvnedevotion

this is my other websight. i work on it a lot more....

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 04:35:31 GMT

"Many ideas are briefly entertained by the mind without ever penetrating the heart. But those ideas that do grasp us in our innermost parts are the ideas that shape our lives." - from "Choosing God's Best" - By: Dr. Don Rannikar

yo...

Well, I havent really been able to sleep that well lately...So, basically i'm up till like 3 and then I dont wake up until like 10 or 11...which stinks, bc my favorite time of the day is daybreak (early morning).

ive been listening to tracy chapman, pretty much nonstop for like a week. she is so awesome. i love her NEW BEGINNINGS album. i picked it up like 4 years ago in like san diego or soemthing at some cheap used cd shop, when my dad and i were down there looking at colleges. crazy.

anyways, today i hung out with adrianne - the first time just us - in like 3 or 4 years. it was unreal. she and ihave been friends since we were old enough to have friends (5? 4?) and like...not having her around the past years has been one of the hardest and most endearing things ive gone through. its such an answer to prayers that our friendship has been rekindled. Adrianne, "adda" - is someone that i just naturally connect with. like, its proably one of the most natural relationship's i have ever and will ever be in. which i am like, thank you Jesus, thank you momma Mary - amen amen amen.

we all (brian, april, nessa, adda and i) went out for sushi tonight. i hadnt been since ive been home and it was FABULOUS. i was like, "YES!" ... conversation was rockin. then we went to bry's casa and like april busted out the guitar, it was sweet. april you are incredible. God has given you wonderful gifts!

currently listening to: THE PROMISE, By: Tracy chapman (some surprise, i know)....i totally relate to this song right now...its unreal

talked to one of my really close friends from NET today (my "morty"...Rick...:)...). hadnt talked with him since, our closing banquet. i totally felt like it was a huge blessing from Our Lord. the conversation, even though short - brought me such joy. God is incredibly generous.

well, derrick and i start recording thursday or something - if God still wants me too...

still reading "CHOOSING GODS BEST"... ABSORBING IT...enjoying it...soaking it up....

a few quotes....from "Choosing God's Best" - By: Dr. Don Rannikar

"The greatest attraction between a man and a woman - even greater than apparel, makeup and hair style- is shared conversation. The deeper the conversation, the deeper the attraction." from "Choosing God's Best" - By: Dr. Don Rannikar

..."few recognize the dangers of becoming one spiritually with someone other than their future spouse. Bc we are spiritual beings on a human journey, spiritual intimacy is the first and deepest level of a relationship. OUr wholeness in this area must be reserved for the mate GOD selects..." from "Choosing God's Best" - By: Dr. Don Rannikar

" This desire can cause problems when 2 people in a relationship aim their spiritual growth sideways instead of upward." - from "Choosing God's Best" - By: Dr. Don Rannikar

"Rationalization is a monumental problem for many people but particulatly for CHristians. Under pressure we can make all kinds of excuses to rationalize immoral behavior." - from "Choosing God's Best" - By: Dr. Don Rannikar

"...we have an intimate fellowship with God and seek first to please Him, we will have more motivation to live a pure life. Obedience is how we show God we love HIm, and the obedience must always come before understanding..." - from "Choosing God's Best" - By: Dr. Don Rannikar

"In a kingdom of courtship, the primary reason for marriage should be the conviction that a particular match is God's choice for you - not jsut a good choice, but God's choice... ... ... The cheif enemy you will fight in choosing GOd's best will be your own strong inclination to make a good choice instead of a God choice." - from "Choosing God's Best" - By: Dr. Don Rannikar

"We have to wait until they are ready (or until we are) before God can give us the go-ahead...... .... God always save His best for those who are willing to wait for it, but when we fail tow ait, we are out of God's will. Even when we do the right thing out of GOd's timing, it's still disobedience adn will bring frustration and confusion to what could have been a blessing. THe right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing. " - from "Choosing God's Best" - By: Dr. Don Rannikar

"Many ideas are briefly entertained by the mind without ever penetrating the ehart. But those ideas that do grasp us in our innermost parts are the ideas that shape our lives." - from "Choosing God's Best" - By: Dr. Don Rannikar

"If you let yurself live in 'what ifs' of the future, youll find yoruself mission God's purpose in the here and now" - from "Choosing God's Best" - By: Dr. Don Rannikar

The Christmas Song

By: Dave Matthews Band

She was his girl; he was her boyfriend
She be his wife; take him as her husband
A surprise on the way, any day, any day
One healthy little giggling dribbling baby boy
The wise men came three made their way
To shower him with love
While he lay in the hay
Shower him with love love love
Love love love
Love love is all around

Not very much of his childhood was known
Kept his mother Mary worried
Always out on his own
He met another Mary for a reasonable fee, less than
Reputable as known to be

His heart was full of love love love
Love love love
Love love is all around
When Jesus Christ was nailed to the his tree
Said "oh, Daddy-o I can see how it all soon will be
I came to shed a little light on this darkening scene
Instead I fear I spill the blood of my children all around"

The blood of our children all around
The blood of our children all around
The blood of our children all around
So the story goes, so I'm told
The people he knew were
Less than golden hearted
Gamblers and robbers
Drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers
Like you and me

Rumors insisited he soon would be
For his deviations
Taken into custody by the authorities
Less informed than he.
Drinkers and jokers. all soul searchers
Searching for love love love
Love love love
Love love is all around

Preparations were made
For his celebration day
He said "eat this bread and think of it as me
Drink this wine and dream it will be
The blood of our children all around
The blood of our children all around"
The blood of our children all around

Father up above, why in all this anger have you fill
Me up with love
Fill me love love love
Love love love
Love love
And the blood of our children all around

I'll Back You Up

By : Dave Matthews Band

Lyrics

I remember thinking
I'll go on forever only knowing
I'll see you again
But I know
The touch of you is so hard to remember
But like that touch I know no other

And for sure we have danced
In the risk of each other
Would like to dance
Around the world with me

I'll be falling all about my own thing
And I know you're the heaviest weight
When you're not here that's hung
Around my head

And your lips burn wild
Thrown from the face of a child
And in your eyes
The seeing of the greatest few
Do what you will, always
Walk where you like, your steps
Do as you please, I'll back you up

I remember thinking
Sometimes we walk
Sometimes we run away
But I know
No matter how fast we are running
Somehow we keep
Somehow we keep up with each other

I'll be falling all about my own thing
And I know you're the heaviest weight
When you're not here that's hung
Around my head

And your lips burn wild
Thrown from the face of a child
And in your eyes
The seeing of the greatest few
Do what you will, always
Walk where you like, your steps
Do as you please, I'll back you up

http://www.about-tracy-chapman.net/debutalbum_lyrics.htm#ifnotnow

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Wed, 29 Jun 2005 20:11:43 GMT

http://www.about-tracy-chapman.net/debutalbum_lyrics.htm#ifnotnow

http://www.about-tracy-chapman.net/newbeginning_lyrics.htm#saveaplace

"Truth is not one of several alternatives one might or might not embrace according to one's personal preferance." -Dr. Don Rannikar, Choosing God's Best (Wisdom for Lifelong Romance)

Hey there ya'll. So, I am reading CHOOSING GOD'S BEST - by Dr. Don Rannikar and it is rocking my face off. I am realizing my mistakes in the past and seeing a lot of truth in this book...It's really cool. Thank you Mr. Heil/Suzanne Heil for giving it to me last summer. Ecc 3:1 Anyways, I just got off work from Porfi's and I am going to go with Sara and praise the Lord, go to Adoration, get some dessert somewhere - ??? I dunno, but it's be awesome.

God is so good. Today during my personal prayer, I meditated on two seperate scripture passages - Luke 1:39-45 and Psalm 23. Now, pretty much most Christians are familiar with Psalm 23. And I know that I know it very well; I actually remember meditating on it about two years ago in my personal prayer. The things that the Lord was speaking to me then through it, are so differant than now. BUt anyways, the first verse really touched my soul in a special way today. "The Lord is my Shepard, there is nothing I lack." Woah. No thing I lack. It really tied into Luke 1, because Mary truly trusted/trusts in the Lord like NO other person ever has. She is in total surrender and line with the will of God at all times. I mean, even Elizabeth said, "Blessed are you who believed what was spoken to youu by the Lord would be fufilled." Lk 1:45 Mary totally trusted in the Lord. Something that is also very beautiful about this passage is we see how the Holy Spirit is the inseperable Spouse of the Holy Virgin. People are filled with the Holy Spirit - wherever Mary goes.*

Anyways, a few neat quotes from Choosing God's Best... Gen 2:24, Ps 27:14, jer 29:11, gal 5:22-23, gen 2:18,

"God calls His people to a higher standard than the standard of the world. The basic deman of a Christian is the demand to be courageously differnt." -Dr. Don Rannikar, Choosing God's Best (Wisdom for Lifelong Romance)

"Let your heart take courage so you can resist following your own schedual and timing rather than God's, so you can resist the pressure of other people's attirtudes and opinions, and so you can resist your won fear of failing to find a relationship."-Dr. Don Rannikar, Choosing God's Best (Wisdom for Lifelong Romance)

"If you were satan, how would you tempt a person to sin? Youd probable take a legitimate need and encourage them to meet it in a illegitimate way."-Dr. Don Rannikar, Choosing God's Best (Wisdom for Lifelong Romance)

"God always saves His best for those who are willing to wait for it. That's when the Holy Spirit comes and leads us out of the old life and into a new and better one. Are you willing to wait for God's best?"-Dr. Don Rannikar, Choosing God's Best (Wisdom for Lifelong Romance)

"Truth is not one of several alternatives one might or might not embrace according to one's personal preferance." -Dr. Don Rannikar, Choosing God's Best (Wisdom for Lifelong Romance)

"In the middle of such massive changes in our culture of relationships one thing has not changed: God's standards. They are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. (Heb 13:8) GOd has sent us norevisions to His original requirements for sexual purity and no ammendments to His principles. He hasn't changed HIs view on marriage, and He still believe in lifetime committment. " (Gal 6:7-8)-Dr. Don Rannikar, Choosing God's Best (Wisdom for Lifelong Romance)

"God's standards were intended to spare our pain, not spoil our fun." -Dr. Don Rannikar, Choosing God's Best (Wisdom for Lifelong Romance)

"Singles who follow the world's principals for dating tend to experience a host of negative outcomes with their future mates, including a deep lack of trust, an inability to forgive, a tendency to withhold encouragment, an unsatisfactory sex life, and an inability to fully become one."-Dr. Don Rannikar, Choosing God's Best (Wisdom for Lifelong Romance)

"When we follow God's plan, we are healed and made whole, not scarred and shattered.... God can and will restore you to a place wher eyou feel whole, pure, and worthy of love from Him adn a future mate. God will clean away the grime of past relationships so youc an begin to see yourself the way He sees you. When you confess your relational sins, you are asking to HIm to wipe the mud from your soul and body....God's love covers a multitude of sins. If your future spouse has the love of Christ, they willsee beyond your shameful past and into your Blessed future. A godly spouse will keep their eys on the Perfecter of faith, and not your past failures. THey will be rejoicing about your furutre together not dwelling on a forgiven (by God) past. God's love will freely flow through your spouse to you." -Dr. Don Rannikar, Choosing God's Best (Wisdom for Lifelong Romance)

" Hate your relational sins, but love yourself the way God loves you.And when the deceiver tries to remind you of your shameful past, you remind him how God has forgive, loved and blessed your future. The wvil one will try to convince you that you are nothing more than a pauper, but in reality you are royalty, a child of the King.....Hang tightly and remember that the greater the devastation, the greater the resoration." -Dr. Don Rannikar, Choosing God's Best (Wisdom for Lifelong Romance)

col 2:8

Anyways, i gotta run - i was supposed to be at sara's an hour ago!

Peace in the Holy Family and Sacred Heart!

* - (Reading Luke 1, its also good to read Ex 40:35, 2 Sam 6:1 and tie in how Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant.)

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Tue, 31 May 2005 00:43:06 GMT

Below is parts of an excerpt of a blurb to my bGf...

" So, dad and I went totally bizerk on the housey house today and cleaned/threw stuff away/rearranged like mad cow. It was awesome. Then I went to my step dad's house and like took SOOOO much stuff over for my little sister and hung out and chatted for awhile.Then I went over to Vanessa's house...she had a BBQ potluck. So that was cool bc I had the opprotunity to meet a lot of her fellowship. It was cool too bc like, Sara came and brought her guitar. And like, Vanessa is just learning how to play and so we were out on the porch by the pool and they started playing and Sara played this song about Baby Elijah... And then Sara started free style playing and singing in the Spirit and I was praying in the Spirit and like started singing with her and stuff. Some of the people started praying with us, it was soo cool. PTL! Then dad and I went to target and totally buoght like new stuff for our kitchen and bathroom...which I am super excited about. I can't wait to like TOTALLY clean the heck out of both and put all the new stuff out. It's gonna be awesome. YAY! I am super excited! Anyways...sorry about all the boreing news! I just thought itd be fun to update ya....hahaha...Okay, maybe I'm just a nerd....HARDCORE! "

"GOD IS NOT THE GOD OF THE DEAD BUT OF THE LIVING. ALL ARE ALIVE FOR HIM." LUKE20

READING: Choosing God's Best

By: Dr. Don Rannikar

LISTENING: Sarah Kelly, Matt Redman, Jeremy Camp...

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Sat, 05 Mar 2005 20:45:01 GMT

THE DIARY OF A REAL LIFE NET TEAM....YOU THINK YOU KNOW, BUT YOU HAVE NO IDEA....

Trenton, NJ

We have been in the TRENTON diocese for a few weeks now. It has been awesome. We have really, really enjoyed staying here. It has been a totally different experience all around. Moving from the SOUTH into the East Coast - WOAH! CULTURE SHOCK! But we love both...BOTH FAVORITES. :) Anyways, we have stayed as a team together a lot. And one of our favorite places to stay was at the Knippers house in Princeton. They were soooo much fun. Mr. Knipper is going to be a deacon! Him and his wife, Teresa - were so in love and just so warm and REAL to everyone. They had two sons at home, Jake and Peter...LOTS AND LOTS of fun and laughs...(Hopefully both boys will be doing NET in the next few years...hint hint) Anywyas, it was just a great time staying up talking with them and watching their love within family life. GLORY BE TO GOD!

Angels along the Road: Francis, our Diocicen Contact Person has been a DOLL; helping us in every respect.

Owensboro, KENTUCKY (update from like 3 weeks ago....)

Retreat Highlights:- Kentucky was an amazing diocese. Our team really really enjoyed it. There two specific retreat highlights that I can think of....First off, early in the diocese we did a massive retreat with like over 150 (?) confirmation students...It was CHAOS! But totally totally awesome. While the group had a lot of energy, it was so obvious that so many of the teens really really learned about God and desired to know Jesus more. So many shared how they went away changed.

Another retreat that sticks out is a family retreat that we did. It was a WHO ARE YOU retreat. It was small, about 25 people all together. But it was totally awesome and a different experience since, we had never done a FAMILY RETREAT before.

LOWLIGHTS - We did most of the diocese without Christina, because she was home iwth a broken leg....BUT SHE IS BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN! PRAISE THE LORD!

Angels along the Road - Father John, Francis and Joe and the "Dynamic Duo"....Who fed and took care of our team the majority of time we were in the diocese.

Challenges -

CD Favorite: Matt Maher ...welcome to life

NET TEAM 5 Diary - between Davenport, IA and Owensboro, KY

(you think you know but you have no idea...)

Where in the magi are we?

NET team 5 is leaving Iowa on February 1^st, heading to Kentucky! We have a 540-mile travel

day on Tuesday, which takes an incredibly long time in a NET van...But we are so excited! We have absolutely loved the Davenport, diocese…but all of our dioceses have been in the Midwest – so we are excited to hit up the SOUTH! The Davenport, IA diocese has had the nicest people who have really treated us so well. We just wanted to tell some stories about the highlights from the past 3 weeks that we have been here.

Highlights: On our drive down to Iowa from the Twin Cities we stopped at a gas station in Brandon, IA -- a very small town that we thought was obscure until we discovered it was home to the Iowa's Largest Frying Pan. (I'm not sure if other states may claim to have a larger one or what ...). Of course we had to take a picture next to the frying pan, and as we were taking them, the deputy pulled up just to say hello b/c he noticed people were out. It was great (:

Retreat Highlights: This past week we have been doing a lot of retreats for small Catholic schools in southeast Iowa. One of our retreats the other day was for a 7-12th grade school that had a total enrollment of 52 youth! I had an awesome small group of 10th-12th grade girls. We had a neat discussion about living your faith even when it 'feels' like it is hard or when the 'retreat high', as we like to call it, goes away. They were so eager to figure out how they could live their faith at all times - even when they weren't at church or with their youth group. It was so inspiring! One of the coolest things was that they were all willing to work on it together to help each other out. It was so ironic b/c I was having a really long week, and they were my last small group before my day off, so they gave us a boost of energy.

Retreat Lowlights: NONE!...

Challenges: Well, one of our team members has been gone because of a broken leg. And while we definatly trust that it has been God's will, it has also been hard because we miss her and love her and need her! But she will be coming home to the team on Febuary 15! Please continue to keep her healing in your prayers!

Angels along the Road: The team has had a lot of random encounters lately with people who have nothing to do with our retreats. On my last day off Kari stopped in a gift shop and started talking to the manager who asked where she was from and why she was there. The woman went to the Catholic Church where the team was doing a retreat, so Kari ended up staying for a while to talk about our faith. When she went back to the church that night, I found out she had called the church and offered to buy us lunch the next day. It was so sweet - after we went out to lunch we stopped by her shop so the whole team could meet her. We talked and then prayed with her before we left. She cried b/c she was so touched. It was really sweet.

CD Favorite: Third Day... Album: Offerings....

Stats: The team has done a total of 65 retreats now since we went on the road in October! We figured out that just over the past 3 weeks there have been over 800 youth on our retreats. It is so challenging, yet rewarding, to be able to do this small work for the Lord.

St. John the Baptist
Lived: First century A.D.
Feast Day: June 24th

Factoids:

Mary, mother of God, was a kinswoman of Elizabeth

John was around 30 when he started his prophecizing

feast day of his beheading is August 29th

St. Augustine and other physicians believe John to be sanctified of original sin in his mother's womb

Jesus was quoted saying of John that

__________________________________________________
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St. John the Baptist
Lived: First century A.D.
Feast Day: June 24th

Factoids:

Mary, mother of God, was a kinswoman of Elizabeth

John was around 30 when he started his prophecizing

feast day of his beheading is August 29th

St. Augustine and other physicians believe John to be sanctified of original sin in his mother's womb

Jesus was quoted saying of John that

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Public - 8:41 PM - add eprops - add comments - edit it - email it

Sunday, February 27, 2005

Sun, 27 Feb 2005 21:49:19 GMT

Hey there,

we are in nj...things are awesome here. we spent a team day in nyc last week. i absolutley loved it.

Saturday, February 12, 2005

Sat, 12 Feb 2005 16:52:44 GMT

GLORY STORY

Yesterday on retreat, I had a tenth grader who was wonderful. She questioned many things about the Catholic faith, especially Reconciliation. I mentioned a few analogies to her that helped me, but she disliked them all. Nothing seemed to help...At the end of the retreat, when I was praying over her, I said, "Jeana,* ultimately there are some things that we may never fully understand. And you will have the make the descion to trust in God, in all things."...When I was almost done praying over her, she reached up touched my hand and said, "Lindsey...thank you for being my teach tonight.." She truly blessed my heart.

GLORY STORY #2

I had a small group last week and they were awesome. We had the opprotunity to talk about many intense topics; confirmation, reconciliation, lust, gaurding hearts, real beauty, being prinicess's of God, modesty, sisterhood in Christ and vocations. I shared with the girls my own discernment and one girl, definatly a natural leader...Spoke up and shared about how her Catholic school made her class go to a monastary last year. She enjoyed it so much that she went back and spent time there over the summer with her mom...She said that she liked it a lot and was even invited to stay...But she wasn't sure...I then shared with her that..."Just because it doesn't work out with you and your boyfriend, doesn't mean that you stop liking boys! It means you try again! Its the same with religious orders, there are thousands...one for every woman! Try again!"...Then another girl in my small group shared that she has thought about being a sister for a long time...It was a beauitful small group.

GLORY STORY #3

After a "WHO ARE YOU" talk last week, I was asking my small group who they admire...All the girls went except one girl. I then asked her...and she quietly said, "You..." Again, the Lord humbled me and softened my heart in a moment.

GLORY STORY #4

Last week I retreat led for one of the craziest retreats ever. The schedual was changed several times because of Reconciliation Miscommunication times with Priests...There was over 100 kids and 8 of us on retreat. It was crazy but there were two glories that night. 1. My small group! They were sooo supportive and kind. Constantly affirming me, and EACHOTHER! Wanting to dive into a deeper relationship with God. One girl told me that she was lukewarm but seeking Him, wanting to know Him more. "Well," I said, "Let's do it tonight. I mean why wait? You want to?"...

"Yes!"

The night was awesome. Two specific girls in my small group decided even more that they wanted to stay Catholic and do NET when they got older. It was awesome! They said it was because of me...but glory be to God, cause He alone moves hearts!

Glory #2 - My team. That night they were so flexible and awesome. My brother Eddie didn;t have a small group and he was so helpful. Doing everything I asked, setting up prayer ministry and doing so much work. He never complained, questioned or hesitated. It was awesome to rely on my team so fully and have them love me through it all! Glory be to GOD!

I understand clearly that through love alone can we become pleasing to God, and my sole ambition is to acquire it.

St. Therese

Saturday, February 12, 2005

Sat, 12 Feb 2005 16:52:44 GMT

GLORY STORY

GLORY STORY #2

GLORY STORY #3

GLORY STORY #4

"Yes!"

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Tue, 25 Jan 2005 15:41:49 GMT

Hey - hows it going? Well, today is my retreat off. I have it off iwth Edwin....one of the brothers on my team. and he is awesome....we were planning on going to outback bc we are p0oor and i have gift certificates there but it didnt work out bc they dont open until like 4...and im not off that long so lame o. anyways thats my story and im stickin to it.

road life is good. one of the girls on my team went home bc shes having surgery on her foot...pray for her health. we miss her so much. one of the other girls on my team sprained her ankle wihch is crazy...so pray for her recovery also.

road life is good but i really miss people in my life. i know that the Lord is allowing me to grow....pray for my discernment about what to do next year. amen.