For those who know me you know that I fully believe in the healing power of Jesus Christ through the blood that was shed on Calvary.  I have experienced this healing power on many occasions.  I do also believe that God uses people to bring about His healing as well.  Every blessing comes from the hand of God; but, I would be willing to bet that none of you have seen the physical hand of the Almighty God hand it to you Himself…He uses people.  Not every healing is miraculous nor is everyone of them instantaneous.  I know this and accept it and truly believe it with my whole heart.  What I have issue with is people who think that because I am having surgery that I lack faith that God can heal me.  Now, this is not from anyone within the past 14 years; but, it was something said to me prior to my first ankle surgery when I requested prayer from a church leader that I had looked up to for guidance and teaching for several years.  I knew in my heart that I had faith that God could heal me and I even shared afterwards that it was a miracle because the surgery only cost me $8…my insurance covered every single other thing regarding it. 

Well, with a second surgery on the horizon and a previous two miraculous healings to the same foot I began thinking about those insensitive words that were spoken to me prior to my last foot surgery.  I have been earnestly asking God to provide a way of explanation to anybody who may feel that going through surgery to fix my foot goes against the word of God that they are incorrect—but in the most simple of ways.

He did just that for me this morning.  A friend of mine posted a quote from a well respected man of God and within it was the scripture of Isaiah 53:5  touching on the stripes that Jesus received for our healing.  Now granted, the quote was pointing more to the fact that God has already paid for our healing and it is promised to us because of those stripes; but, God gave me a little something more.  Imagine if you will the afore mentioned scripture.  Those bruises and stripes did not just miraculously appear on Jesus’ body…they were put there by man.  God brought about our healing because of something man did to His Son.  Why is it so farfetched for people to realize that healing can also be brought about by the hands of man?    

In my mind it actually takes more faith to put myself in a situation where I have to rely and trust undoubtingly that God will use and guide the hand of an imperfect man to bring about healing in my body.  I don’t know about you; but, I do not have a close intimate relationship with any of my doctors beyond seeing them in their office on the rare occasions I have need of their services.  My trust is never in a man but God.  I am a realist and know that even on my best “Godly” day that I fall short of being all that He has called me to be.  This should truly scare me because I do not know the condition of my surgeon’s heart but I have perfect peace in knowing that my God will take care of me.  And up until the scheduled day of my surgery, My God is fully able to perform a supernatural healing and restoration of my foot…and I would willingly and gladly accept it.  Until then, I will allow Him to bring about His healing in my body through a man who is a master in this field and I will trust that He will not let any evil befall me.  So, tell me, how is that not faith?

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Posted by aestrello at 6:41 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 12 July 2010 6:42 PM CDT

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The other day I heard on a Christian radio station that a lady was so excited because her 8 year old child approached her and asked what she needed to do in order to be saved.  This is totally awesome news...where the story gets me kinda in a not so awesome mood is that the mother had to call her friend to find out how to lead her child to Christ.  I am glad that her friend knew; but, as a Christian parent she should have known what to do herself (well, at least that's what I think otherwise I have to actually question the salvation of the parent).  As a Christian period one should know how to lead someone to the Lord. 

I shared this little story with my daughter without imputing my opinion of the mother's lack of knowledge and she totally went down the same road of thought.  What she proceeded to tell me was completely cool.  She said that the mother needs to learn her ABC's!  I asked for further explanation and this is what I got, "A=admit you're a sinner; B=believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the grave; and C=confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and ask Him to be your Savior."

So, for any of you out there who lacks the knowledge to lead someone to the Lord you should probably learn your ABC's too.  Kids have a way of making things so much more simple than adults tend to.

What have we learned today???  Admit, Believe and Confess!  There you have your ABC's of becoming a Christian. 

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Posted by aestrello at 3:19 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 5 July 2010 3:34 PM CDT

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Well, the yogurt is out of the machine.  But, I kinda wasn't home when it was done; so, it separated.  I have some really strong curds and whey.  I probably should have reduced the culturing time since I used so much more kefir.  Well, next time we won't be caught up dying someone's hair purple (and trying to remove purple dye from someone else's hands because of faulty gloves).  Today is going to be busy with church and the completion of someone's purple transition; so, I do not see any more trials being made today.  But, tomorrow is a holliday off from work and that would be a perfect time to try something new!

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Posted by aestrello at 9:29 AM CDT

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Well, I have to say that I am a bit excited about my new yogurt machine.  Don't let the name fool you...it does not make it for you.  It is more of an incubator for your recipe.  I made my first batch Thursday night and tried it for the finished product yesterday afternoon.  It was not as thick as I would like; but, it has an awesome flavor!  I am sorta experimenting with making traditional yogurt but with live active homebrewed kefir.  I have found no recipes online for this other than just culturing the kefir until it is thick enough to be call yogurt.  Well, I want a little more flavor than that; so, this was my first attempt...the major part of this recipe was provided by The Spunky Coconut so it is milk free with the exception of my added culture.  The recipe goes as follows:

2 Cups Coconut Milk

2 Cups Almond Milk (home made)

1 TBS Vanilla

2 TBS Agave Nectar (orig recipe called for Honey; but, I'm trying to help my husband's blood sugar by using the Agave...one might want to try Brown Rice Syrup as well...but the intent is to avoid refined sugar here)

2 TBS Kefir whey

1 TBS Kefir solids

Okay, boil the coconut and almond milk until it reaches about 120 degrees.  Add the vanilla and Agave nectar.  Allow to cool to about 92 degrees and add Kefir whey and solids.  Whisk until well incorporated.  Pour into sterilized canning jars without their lids and place in the yogurt machine for 11 hours.

This is what it all looks like once inside the machine.

Once the time has elapsed then remove the jars from the machine and place lids on them.  Chill in the refrigerator for about 7 hours.

After 7 hours this is what I had.  It didn't stay solid enough to be called yogurt; but, it sure tasted great!  It was more like a yogurt drink.

Well, I'm on my second batch.  I decided not to go the milk free route.  I only use raw milk; so, I decided to try again using it and a bit more kefir.  I still made the almond milk but took out the coconut milk (so that if my sister wants to try it she can since she's allergic to coconut).  So in place of the coconut milk I used 1 Cup whole Kefir  and 1 1/2 Cups raw milk.  I only simmered the almond milk not the raw milk or kefir...I want to keep all the goodness in my milk (I trust it's source and all the bacteria in the kefir will take care of any baddies). 

So, it is all made and in the machine.  I'll touch base with you tomorrow and let you know how this batch is:). 

Posted by aestrello at 10:26 AM CDT

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Have you ever had to use all of these words in one sentance, "Don't bite that, you'll burn down the house?" Those were never words I had used together until just a couple minutes ago. And it's not going to be as entertaining as you might imagine. The words were spoken to my Maja kitty as he was chewing on the barrel of the childproof BBQ lighter. This kitty is such a goof! Being that he is of the breed Bombay, he loves to chew on metal. He has pulled out earrings while I'm sleeping and he loves watches and all jewelry in general. He will even lay in the sink so that he can chew on the faucet. He loves metal. So, it should be no surprise to me that he honed in on the long metal extension on the lighter to get a little nibble on! At any rate, I had to take the lighter away from my cat. I can't let him go around starting new badder habbits!

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Posted by aestrello at 6:19 PM CST

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When playing Rock Band with the family I usually play drums. That is except when I sing the "girl" songs that my husband does not want to do. That creates some tense moments becasue nobody else wants to play the drums. Kera usually ends up doing it but gripes about it all the way. Tonight, though, Reuben was asleep and Kera wanted to play. But, she wanted us both to do the guitar (which we found out we can do without getting another guitar for the game because the guitar for Guitar Hero works on Rock Band). So, we both played guitar. She did lead and I did bass. I think I did pretty good for my first time. I did start out on easy; but, quickly found out that I'm too good for that. Medium was still a challenge; but, I tried hard anyway. And I did pretty darn good! My wrists hurt, though, now. I will not be able to type much longer because after a couple hours of that game, anybody's wrists/fingers would be hurting.

Besides that, I have a Maja kitty laying on my lap making it hard to type.

So, all of you, go on in your lives now knowing that I totally rock...whether it be on drums, singing or even now on the bass! I so totally kick butt! I'm so awesome I scare myself! I'm the greatest! Haha! I rule!

Yeah, whatever...I can no nonger say that I've never played the guitar on Rock Band. If you don't have this game you have so totally got to get it! It is loads of fun and a great way to get your family together!

And did I mention that I totally rock?!

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Posted by aestrello at 6:12 PM CST

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A couple times this week as well as previous weeks in the not so distant past there have been "street preachers" in the area of the bus stop that I use to get home after work. The first time I heard one of these preachers I didn't really care for listening to him. After I got on my bus I had to ask myself, "Why?" Was it because of his message? Was it because of what he looked like? Was it because of where he was? What? What? What? I determined that I didn't like the particular way he was speaking the Word of God. I had to really evaluate myself to make sure it wasn't what he was actually saying that was rubbing me the wrong way. It was from this point on that I decided that I would have to be more supportive of those spreading the Gospel in this way. I'm sure not called to do it (and I don't believe that many who do it are called to it either); but, that doesn't mean that the person doing the preaching can't use my prayer and support.

So, this week when another preacher showed up on the scene I decided that I would not ignore him or pretend that I didn't hear his words. You know, being a Christian, there is no reason that I should ever be offended by the Word of God unless it is being used improperly...but then that would be offence directed at the abuser and not God's Word anyway.

This particular preacher that showed up this week was really good! I mean, I could listen to him at church (you know, the time when I actually use my own car and energy to get to where the Word of God is being taught). I never heard one word of condemnation from him. He truly was spreading the word of God's love. He was relevent and spoke to people concerning their every day lives. I couldn't help being captivated by his words. I found myself praying for those near him to have their ears, eyes and hearts opened to the message of the Love of God he was sending forth. I didn't want to get on my bus when it arrived. I could honestly feel the Power of God right there on the downtown streets of San Antonio.

The title of this article comes from an encounter I had with a fellow bus rider once we left our stop on our bus. This gentleman turned to me and stated that had the preacher gotten on our bus that he would have gotten off at the next stop. In response I told him, "Well, I would much rather hear what he has to say than at least 90% of the people on this bus." He didn't like that too much and turned away with only a couple other words to be uttered. I really wanted to ask him what had offended him so about the man. (Well, duh, we're all human...I think that's a given. But I wanted to hear him say that it was because he was talking about God and Jesus and that church is where that should be talked about...no to people on the street who really have no interest)

What he said, though, got me to thinking. What offends me? What offends you? What offends Christians? I would be willing to bet that the person sitting next to me was not athiest nor were any others at the bus stop. I am of the persuasion that most of the people there (and the gentleman beside me) were raised in a church and would claim to be some type of Christian/Catholic related religion. We see polls all the time that still show that 80% of the U.S. believing in God and the Bible. If this is the case, why are so many of these very people offended or embarrased about hearing and seeing streat preachers? We'll wear our little Jesus pins; but, don't ask us about it!

I believe that it boils down to the fact that many of these very "believers" know in their head what they have been reaised to believe. Many of them do not know what it is to know it in their hearts. It says that if you are ashamed of me before men I will be ashamed of you before my father. This was Jesus speaking to us. If we believe in Him then we should not ever be offended by hearing His word on the street, on T.V., on the radio...anywhere where people can share His good news.

This got me to thinking even further. When was the last time I actually led somebody to Christ? It's been a while. Perhaps because most of the people in my life already know Him or at least know where I stand concerning Him. I would venture to guess that many others are in this same place. The only thing I can say is that once I started to think of this I immediately prayed to God to make me more effective for Him. His agenda should be the only one that I should be striving to acheive. How easy it is to get our eyes off of His purpose. That's not to say that I don't talk about Jesus and God...I simply have not been or at least allowed myself to be in the place where God could use me to lead someone to Christ in a long time. Now, that offends me. So, I guess in answer to my question, I offend myself by not doing what it is that I have been called to do for the Son of the Living God who gave His life that I may live. The very Son who rose from the grave three days after those who should have known better put Him to death because they didn't like what He had to say. The same Son who lives to this day and will forever more.

Think back to when you first received Christ as your Savior. Do you still talk about him with the ferver and love that you once did? I know we mature in our knowledge and understanding...but, do you look more like Christ now than you did before that time? If you don't, that should offend you.

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Posted by aestrello at 6:35 PM CDT

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Mood:  chillin'

Okay, I've been having dreams that I don't care for too much.  They involve spiders.  Not just the little creepy crawly kind...the kind that rang from being the size of your hand to the size of your face.  I have had four of them over the past couple years...three of them have been this year.  I am looking for interpretations of what these dreams could mean since I don't typically dream of spiders.  If you would like to help me figure out what they mean then please let me know!  I have my own ideas; but, another point of view would be very helpful.  If you don't want to know or help then stop reading here.

I am going to list the dreams in order here:

Late 2002

Spider Dream 1

I am in my bedroom.  The room is filled with cobwebs.  So many that you cannot avoid being covered by a sheet of them with each step.  I am in the middle of all the cobwebs.  As I look around to find a way out I see numerous spiders…large spiders about the size of my head.  The spiders are surrounding me and getting closer.  I awaken at this point in fear.

Early 2008

Spider Dream 2

I am on a RV with some people from work on the way down to the coast.  The only person I really remember being there is one of the ranch managers; but, I do not remember which one.  I think Trey may be there too; but, I can't be sure.  We reach a beach house (which is not the one my employer allows us to use) which is understood to be where we are staying.  It is in disrepair and in major need of a cleaning.  There are huge cobwebs hanging everywhere.  It is a wooden structure which looks grey from weathering.

I walk down the hall of the structure behind the ranch manager.  A very large black spider, with a body about 3-4 inches long, drops from the ceiling down onto the back of the person in front of me.  We quickly knock it off and it runs up the wall behind some old wall slats that have no covering.  It looks like a pair of black eyes staring through venetian blinds.  It moves in motion with me, watching my every move.  It does not seem aggressive towards me.  It only watches. 

Later I am walking back down the same hall.  The spider appears in front of me on the floor.  It scurries up to me and proceeds to bite through my tennis shoes onto the top of my toes.  There is a lot of blood that flows; but, there is no pain at all.  The ranch manager stomps on the spider killing it.  I sit down and begin to take off my shoe and then my sock.  There is no wound and there is no blood on my foot.

At this point I awaken.

Early 2008

Spider Dream 3

I am on a school bus heading for a theme park.  There is only one person I know on the bus.  There are hard black spider webs hanging from the top of the entrance to the bus…like the fake spider webs that are sold as Halloween decorations.  Each is about the size of my hand with the fingers spread apart.  I ask the bus driver about them.  He says that the spiders are all dead and there is nothing to worry about. 

One of the people on the bus, a very thin blond girl who looks to be in her early 20's, begins to feel ill and asks for the bus to stop.  She passes out.  The one person I know picks her up and carries her off of the bus and I follow.  We can see the theme park in the distance but are not close enough to make it there.  We find an area where we can lay the girl down; we appear to be in a cement drainage ditch (just a small one).  The girl has two large puncture marks on her arm almost at the bend of her elbow.  She is bleeding a bit and her breathing has stopped. 

I go back onto the bus to see what I can find that could have caused the injury.  What I find are fuzzy hard shells about three inches around in diameter.  The bus driver tells me that those are the dead bodies of the spiders.  As I look at the thing in my hand it begins to move and a spider starts to climb out of it.  I instruct the driver to destroy any and all of these things that are still on the bus. 

I run back outside to assist with the girl and find that there is a little medical clinic across the street.  I run over and ask if we can get some assistance with the injured girl.  I inform them that she has stopped breathing and has a large puncture wound that could possibly be from a spider.  They tell me that they have no openings and that she will not be seen today.  At that moment the girl is brought into the clinic and we are informed that she is dead.  I then turn to the front desk attendant and inform them that they will now have to drop everything in order to care for the body and that had they given the time to attempt to help her that she might possibly still be alive.

I do not recall much more of the dream except that once the girl's body is placed into a body bag she begins to breathe again.  It is at this point that I awaken.

9/11/08

Spider Dream 4

I am on a mat in an exercise room on a wooden floor in a deep warrior's stance stretching when, as I look through my feet to the floor behind me, I see a spider about half the size of the palm of my hand drop down from behind me.  I do not believe it is descending from me; it is just behind me.  It walks over to my foot and there is a web between the wall and my foot…but the web is not connected to my foot.  There is, however, one single strand of silk from the spider that is attached to my foot.  The spider climbs on its web and there gets stuck.  Its legs pull in and out of the web looking like the tentacles of a squid when it darts through the water.  The spider's legs do this type of motion forward and back through the web.  I am not scared; but, I do want to get away without pulling the spider with me to keep from getting bitten.  At the same time I also do not want to break my pose nor what's left of my concentration.  It is only when transitioning to a new position that I attempt to shake the spider's silk free from my foot.  I picture the spider being pulled out of the web and being slung from side to side as the silk will not break and I begin to panic.  I do not know if this happens or not as I awake from the dream and am a bit anxious because I really do not like spiders at all. 

Posted by aestrello at 3:42 PM CDT

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I ride the bus to work for the first time ever and my mom gets her nose broken by her dog. I?m not saying that by my attempt to save money on gas that my mom has gotten a broken nose. No, that is Megan?s fault. Megan is not the dog?s name; it is the daughter of Heather is my mother?s friend. In case you do not already know, my mother broke her nose and her wrist a couple months ago. Again, I blame Megan because she was there?the fact that my mom tripped over the dog is beside the point. If my mom hadn?t looked behind her to fine Megan she would have seen her dog cross in front of her as she was walking and thus she would not have collided with her lanky but sturdy greyhound.

The most recent event occurred while, again, my mom was watching Megan. The dog was playing with a toy and ended up ripping it in half. My mom, the neat freak that she is, reached down to pick up the toy and when she was about to stand up the dog crossed her path and her jaw collided with my mother?s nose. Okay, so it really isn?t Megan?s fault; but, she is the only other constant in the story besides my mom and the dog. Since the dog lives with my mom and doesn?t cause a broken nose every day I have to say that Megan is responsible.

Now, as far as my bus ride having anything to do with this?you ask? It doesn?t, it just so happens that I took our city?s lovely public transportation system to work today in an effort to save gas money. So, if a bus pass is $25 and I usually fill up my car every week for at least $37 this will save me quite a bit of money. I should be able to make it the rest of the month on the $10 I put in yesterday (I don?t drive too much other than to work and the grocery store). So, just for this month I should be able to save $113 in theory. I have tried to get my husband to take the bus as well; but, he?s a spoiled little brat. He came up with every excuse under the sun to not take the bus. Some were legit because he doesn?t always know when he?ll be getting off and sometimes the busses don?t run that late. The others were because he didn?t want to stand in the rain (if it was raining) because his stop is further away than mine?which it really isn?t, I just refused to argue. Though I offered no rebuttal he continued giving me excuses. I don?t know the schedules, I don?t know what time I?m getting off work, I don?t know how late I?m going to work out, I don?t know?I don?t know?I don?t know?you don?t know?blah, blah, blah {make sure you read that with whiney condescending voice}. His final words were, ?What?? I informed him that I hadn?t said anything. ?We?ll, you?re looking at me.? Well, duh, man! I?m not rude; you were talking to me weren?t you???? I always try to look at someone when they are speaking to me. Apparently this is something new to him. Oh well, just for that, all the money I?ll save is going to go into an account just for me!

So, this morning was my first ride to work on the bus. I have ridden the bus maybe twice before?way back in high school. Once to the mall and once to a concert where I ended up missing the last bus because I got on the wrong transfer (the driver was nice enough to deliver a friend and myself to a stop where we could be collected by our parents). To say that I was a little concerned this morning would be an understatement. But, I faired well and made it to work earlier than I would have had I driven (because, you know, I would have left late after oversleeping again). I even had enough time this morning before my bus to fry some eggs. I was even so nice as to make enough to share with any other member of my household who might care for some. Once on the bus I only had one person speak to me; which, is a blessing. You know, being as blond and beautiful as I am I am always getting pestered by men. I always skip around downtown singing ?I feel pretty, oh so pretty?? I sometimes even dance a bit to try and keep most people at a distance. Nobody wants to get kicked from a downtown dancing freak. And then I puke on the nearest person because the whole display totally sickens me. Okay, that?s not quite true; but, I am a natural honey-blond. And one guy did give me the ?eye? as he was exiting the bus saying, ?Goodbye.? We?ll see how the afternoon commute goes?

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Posted by aestrello at 1:31 PM CDT

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It has been quite a while since the Japanese Tea Gardens have been open. The last time I remember going there was when my daughter was 4 days old. It had fallen into severe disrepair and until recently had nobody to look after it except the one gardener on staff by the city. This garden is in an old cement quary and is not something that one person can keep up by himself. Needless to say, the entire gardens have been less than presentable for the better part of the past 5 years. Recently many volunteers have joined together to clean up this beautiful garden and today was its official re-opening!!! I had to take my daughter out there to see it as there is no way she can remember 11 years ago.

Here are a couple pictures for you:

This is the pavillion view fromt the far side of the pond.

This is the inside view (looking somewhat up) in the pavillion.

This if the view from in front of the pavillion across half of the garden. The tree with the purple flowers is a Japanese Orchid Tree.

This is my daughter in front of the waterfall at the back of the garden.

This is my daughter beside the Japanese Orchid Tree.

This is my daughter and me:)

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Posted by aestrello at 9:53 AM CST

Updated: Saturday, 8 March 2008 4:32 PM CST

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