Christianese: the contained terms and jargon used within many of the branches and denominations of Christianity as a functional system of religious terminology. It is characterized by the use in everyday conversation of certain words, theological terms, and catchphrases, in ways that may be only comprehensible within the context of Christian belief.
I should have known better. I speak Christianese pretty fluently, so I should have anticipated this.
Yesterday, I told someone at church "my sister went home Friday". Oops. You should have seen the look on this persons' face. My bad. I should have said, "On Friday, my sister was released from the hospital to continue her recovery at home". Instead, they thought she died and "went home" to Heaven.
So, for any that only looked at the title of my last post but didn't read the whole thing, Andrea is not dead. I had dinner with her last night, in fact. She is continuing her recovery at home and can still use people praying for her.
I'll try to be more careful in the future. Who knew being a polyglot could be so much trouble!
Thanks for praying and continuing to do so.
-Jim
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Going Home
Here's what you need to know first:
Didn't happen.
While her husband was driving her to the hospital, she stopped breathing and slumped over. Her husband had to make a decision- call for an ambulance while they were on the road and wait, or keep driving. There were risks either way, but he decided to keep driving. He also did one other critical thing. He cried out to God.
By the time they got to the hospital, her heart had stopped also. They got her heart started, put her on a ventilator, and then the wait began.
Over the last four months we have wondered: will she live/will she wake up/will she ever breathe on her own/will she be mentally the same/will she have to go to a nursing home/will she be able to get out of bed... you get the picture. The first couple of months were really tough, and a lot of awesome people were praying for her.
In the last 4 -6 weeks, there was a really strong turn for the better. In the last couple of weeks, a timetable to leave the hospital was talked about for the first time. Today, after 4 months in two different hospitals, Andrea got to go home. She got to stand up from a wheel chair, walk over to the car, throw her own stuff in the backseat, open up her car door, and GO HOME. She still has a way to go. She still has a trache (for a little while we hope), but she got to go home and continue her recovery there.
God is good, and would have been no less so had He not granted our request for healing and taken her to Heaven instead. I'm really glad He said yes, though.
I know I'm biased, but this is one of the coolest videos I've ever seen.
- Roughly 15 years ago my sister Andrea was treated for Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The radiation treatments left her lungs weaker than a healthy person's, and she has been on oxygen ever since.
Didn't happen.
While her husband was driving her to the hospital, she stopped breathing and slumped over. Her husband had to make a decision- call for an ambulance while they were on the road and wait, or keep driving. There were risks either way, but he decided to keep driving. He also did one other critical thing. He cried out to God.
By the time they got to the hospital, her heart had stopped also. They got her heart started, put her on a ventilator, and then the wait began.
Over the last four months we have wondered: will she live/will she wake up/will she ever breathe on her own/will she be mentally the same/will she have to go to a nursing home/will she be able to get out of bed... you get the picture. The first couple of months were really tough, and a lot of awesome people were praying for her.
In the last 4 -6 weeks, there was a really strong turn for the better. In the last couple of weeks, a timetable to leave the hospital was talked about for the first time. Today, after 4 months in two different hospitals, Andrea got to go home. She got to stand up from a wheel chair, walk over to the car, throw her own stuff in the backseat, open up her car door, and GO HOME. She still has a way to go. She still has a trache (for a little while we hope), but she got to go home and continue her recovery there.
God is good, and would have been no less so had He not granted our request for healing and taken her to Heaven instead. I'm really glad He said yes, though.
I know I'm biased, but this is one of the coolest videos I've ever seen.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Happy Easter
I hope everybody has had a great Resurrection Sunday. We spent a lot of time with some of our family (or that some time with a lot of family?) and generally had a good day.
I've been thinking about something since around Friday, and I invite you to share your thoughts. It started out in a conversation about "celebrating" Good Friday, and how we don't really celebrate it as much as we "observe" it. We celebrate Easter. We celebrate our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rising up from the grave. But I got to thinking- why do we celebrate it?
Don't get me wrong- I am glad Jesus did what he did and that by accepting His free gift of salvation I will be in Heaven with Him forever when I die. But still...
Christ rose from the grave (hallelujah!).
But to rise from the grave, He first had to be put in the grave.
He had be put in the grave because He died on the cross.
He had to die on the cross because God needed a perfect sacrifice.
God needed a perfect sacrifice to atone for my sins.
Because I am sinful, I couldn't be the atonement (duh). Jesus is the only one that could do it.
So I guess what I'm saying is, I feel a little weird celebrating Christ's resurrection without paying attention to the fact that He wouldn't have had to die in the first place if it wasn't for us. I am happy that Christ rose from the dead. I celebrate His resurrection. I just want to be careful to remember, and be thankful for, and celebrate His love for us and obedience to the Father that put Him through this. I want to celebrate the fact that God is so good that he would know how greatly we deserve condemnation, but that His mercy and forgiveness are greater still. I want to celebrate "agape". I want to never forget that what I celebrate cost Jesus dearly.
Ok, I know — a little heavy today. Again, it's actually been a good day. I am happy, and I am celebrating. If you are a Christian, you should too. I just want to make sure I remember why I am able to celebrate.
NOW SMILE! CHRIST IS RISEN!
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8
I've been thinking about something since around Friday, and I invite you to share your thoughts. It started out in a conversation about "celebrating" Good Friday, and how we don't really celebrate it as much as we "observe" it. We celebrate Easter. We celebrate our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rising up from the grave. But I got to thinking- why do we celebrate it?
Don't get me wrong- I am glad Jesus did what he did and that by accepting His free gift of salvation I will be in Heaven with Him forever when I die. But still...
Christ rose from the grave (hallelujah!).
But to rise from the grave, He first had to be put in the grave.
He had be put in the grave because He died on the cross.
He had to die on the cross because God needed a perfect sacrifice.
God needed a perfect sacrifice to atone for my sins.
Because I am sinful, I couldn't be the atonement (duh). Jesus is the only one that could do it.
So I guess what I'm saying is, I feel a little weird celebrating Christ's resurrection without paying attention to the fact that He wouldn't have had to die in the first place if it wasn't for us. I am happy that Christ rose from the dead. I celebrate His resurrection. I just want to be careful to remember, and be thankful for, and celebrate His love for us and obedience to the Father that put Him through this. I want to celebrate the fact that God is so good that he would know how greatly we deserve condemnation, but that His mercy and forgiveness are greater still. I want to celebrate "agape". I want to never forget that what I celebrate cost Jesus dearly.
Ok, I know — a little heavy today. Again, it's actually been a good day. I am happy, and I am celebrating. If you are a Christian, you should too. I just want to make sure I remember why I am able to celebrate.
NOW SMILE! CHRIST IS RISEN!
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Dancing for Jesus
This is a video clip of Abbey and some of her classmates doing a dance presentation during chapel this past week. If you don't know, she's the one in the middle of the back row. Most of these kids don't take dance (I think) but their teacher, Sophia McMorris, likes to do creative things with her class. I thought that the out-of-towners, and "no longer at KABC-ers would like this.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Dealing With Disapointment
Last week, I heard from a couple of my AWANA leaders about their level of frustration regarding how much they are having to do because a) they started the year with too few fellow leaders, and b) many of the leaders that did sign up either have a problem showing up at all or at best show up late. This leaves the same people doing all of the setup, plus having to watch the kids before we get started. These folks are getting stretched too thin, and it wearing them down. I tried to encourage them, but after awhile it just gets to be too much.
A few days ago, I sent an email to the entire team(at one of the director's request) pointing out to everyone how important they are to me, the kids, and each other. I laid out the importance of of helping one another out, what is expected of everybody, and the saftey issues that can arise when they are not there.
Tonight was the first night after I sent the email, and the results were no better. Now, it's possible that they don't check their email everyday and I only sent it a couple of days ago. Maybe they didn't see it. I don't know.
For my part, I wonder if I haven't been an effective leader. I confessed my shortcomings in the email. Maybe I should have addressed this earlier. Then again, how much responsibility can I take for other people's actions? I thought discussing it in broad terms would help people to realize I'm talking about a team, not just them, but I don't know if that was effective. I can go to each person individually, but I don't want to push them further away. Although again, I can't really control their reactions.
I'm concerned for the future of the club. Claude left me a good, well-running club and it's falling apart. I plan on being in NC next year, but I want to leave things in good shape. The commitment I made to AWANA is one of the reasons Shanna and I stayed this year.
Some of this is venting. Some is probably whinning. My next step is to try and get the pastoral staff more involved- either in recruiting help, or helping out themselves.
So I'll ask this question: What would you do?
A few days ago, I sent an email to the entire team(at one of the director's request) pointing out to everyone how important they are to me, the kids, and each other. I laid out the importance of of helping one another out, what is expected of everybody, and the saftey issues that can arise when they are not there.
Tonight was the first night after I sent the email, and the results were no better. Now, it's possible that they don't check their email everyday and I only sent it a couple of days ago. Maybe they didn't see it. I don't know.
For my part, I wonder if I haven't been an effective leader. I confessed my shortcomings in the email. Maybe I should have addressed this earlier. Then again, how much responsibility can I take for other people's actions? I thought discussing it in broad terms would help people to realize I'm talking about a team, not just them, but I don't know if that was effective. I can go to each person individually, but I don't want to push them further away. Although again, I can't really control their reactions.
I'm concerned for the future of the club. Claude left me a good, well-running club and it's falling apart. I plan on being in NC next year, but I want to leave things in good shape. The commitment I made to AWANA is one of the reasons Shanna and I stayed this year.
Some of this is venting. Some is probably whinning. My next step is to try and get the pastoral staff more involved- either in recruiting help, or helping out themselves.
So I'll ask this question: What would you do?
Monday, March 17, 2008
The Three "E"'s Of Concert-Going
One of the things that has simultaneously helped to keep me sane and yet threaten to rob me of my sanity (just trust me) is that I have been blessed to coordinate volunteers at concerts for The Joy FM (http://www.thejoyfm.com/). I know I've mentioned this before, but it can be a lot of fun.
Last night was tobyMac, and Abbey really wanted to go. Well, my contact at the station, Bryan, came up with tickets for Shanna and Abbey. We decided not to tell her because Shanna has been so sick (two runs of antibiotics and still not well) and if she couldn't go, I couldn't take Abbey because I am there to serve and I couldn't do that effectively and watch her. Besides, we thought it would be fun to surprise her.
Sure enough, Shanna wasn't well enough, and I went alone. Even though she didn't know we had a ticket for her, Abbey was disappointed that she couldn't go. Well, it turns out it was a pretty easy night, and once the show started, there wasn't much to do. There were two opening acts- Matthew West and Jeremy Camp (technically a co-headliner, I think). I talked to Bryan and asked if I could run home and grab Abbey, come back, help pack up, then go watch tobyMac. He said "sure".
I called Shanna, so she could get Abbey ready. She said Abbey was so happy and she was bouncing all around. I picked her up, we raced back and... Bryan and the other volunteers wouldn't let me do anything. They told me to take my daughter and enjoy the show. After a little resistance, I agreed. I had a great time hanging out with my kid. God really blessed me. Oh, and the concert was cool, too.
Here are my "Three "E"'s of concert-going":
Excitement:
Enjoyment:
Exhaustion:
Nite-nite, sweetheart. Mommy and Daddy love you.
Last night was tobyMac, and Abbey really wanted to go. Well, my contact at the station, Bryan, came up with tickets for Shanna and Abbey. We decided not to tell her because Shanna has been so sick (two runs of antibiotics and still not well) and if she couldn't go, I couldn't take Abbey because I am there to serve and I couldn't do that effectively and watch her. Besides, we thought it would be fun to surprise her.
Sure enough, Shanna wasn't well enough, and I went alone. Even though she didn't know we had a ticket for her, Abbey was disappointed that she couldn't go. Well, it turns out it was a pretty easy night, and once the show started, there wasn't much to do. There were two opening acts- Matthew West and Jeremy Camp (technically a co-headliner, I think). I talked to Bryan and asked if I could run home and grab Abbey, come back, help pack up, then go watch tobyMac. He said "sure".
I called Shanna, so she could get Abbey ready. She said Abbey was so happy and she was bouncing all around. I picked her up, we raced back and... Bryan and the other volunteers wouldn't let me do anything. They told me to take my daughter and enjoy the show. After a little resistance, I agreed. I had a great time hanging out with my kid. God really blessed me. Oh, and the concert was cool, too.
Here are my "Three "E"'s of concert-going":
Excitement:
Enjoyment:
Exhaustion:
Nite-nite, sweetheart. Mommy and Daddy love you.
T&T Bible Quiz 2008
Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted anything new. If Claude ever read my blog, I'd be in for some serious payback. So, for the 4 of you that read this, thanks for your patience.
Here are some pictures of our AWANA T&T Bible Quiz Team. We had one team come in third, and the others... well, they didn't come in last, anyway. You know, I can be a competitive guy, but when it comes to these kids, I've got to tell you, winning is pretty far down on my priority list. It's not that winning isn't cool or exciting, but I just think there are bigger priorities.
What I want to know is, did they prepare? Did they practice? Did they do their best? Did they represent Christ well? Did they represent our church and themselves well? These are the things that I care about. As these kids are growing up, they are going to learn that they won't always be the smartest or fastest, or whatever. And other times, even when they are, they can still lose due to circumstances beyond their control. In those moments, the character lessons that are being built into these kids now will be invaluable.
My proudest moment that day? At the end, one of clubbers was called up to the front, being told she got 100% in the quiz. Well, even if I hadn't been watching the quiz, the look on her face told me she knew this was wrong. She went up and got her ribbon and sat down. We figured out that they confused her with one of her teammates. That kid deserved to be recognized, and (of course) his dad was there too, so not only did we have to fix this, it needed to be done publicly. My point? The child that had to give up the ribbon didn't pitch a fit, didn't seem disappointed, knew it belonged to the other kid, and gave it over with no problems. To me, that made her a champion.
I'm proud of you, Jordan.
Here are some pics:
Here are some pictures of our AWANA T&T Bible Quiz Team. We had one team come in third, and the others... well, they didn't come in last, anyway. You know, I can be a competitive guy, but when it comes to these kids, I've got to tell you, winning is pretty far down on my priority list. It's not that winning isn't cool or exciting, but I just think there are bigger priorities.
What I want to know is, did they prepare? Did they practice? Did they do their best? Did they represent Christ well? Did they represent our church and themselves well? These are the things that I care about. As these kids are growing up, they are going to learn that they won't always be the smartest or fastest, or whatever. And other times, even when they are, they can still lose due to circumstances beyond their control. In those moments, the character lessons that are being built into these kids now will be invaluable.
My proudest moment that day? At the end, one of clubbers was called up to the front, being told she got 100% in the quiz. Well, even if I hadn't been watching the quiz, the look on her face told me she knew this was wrong. She went up and got her ribbon and sat down. We figured out that they confused her with one of her teammates. That kid deserved to be recognized, and (of course) his dad was there too, so not only did we have to fix this, it needed to be done publicly. My point? The child that had to give up the ribbon didn't pitch a fit, didn't seem disappointed, knew it belonged to the other kid, and gave it over with no problems. To me, that made her a champion.
I'm proud of you, Jordan.
Here are some pics:
Thursday, March 6, 2008
A New Warrior Is Born
Joshua James Snapp was born today at 1:13 pm. He is 6lbs. 10 oz. and 18 inches long. Don't know which parent he looks like, but he is already taking after him momma- he was three weeks early!
Those of you that know Cindy will find this amusing:
Today Cindy (still in her pajamas) brought Jordan to school. My wife, knowing how hard Cindy has been working lately "ordered" her to go home and go back to bed. Cindy said no, she had a doctor's appointment (regularly scheduled OB appointment) to go to. Shanna said fine, but then "go home and go to bed!"
So... Cindy goes to her appointment (I assume after changing). Remember, this was a regularly-scheduled appointment. No big deal, right? Wrong.
At the doctor's office, Cindy finds out she is already 7 centimeters dilated. The doctor tells her that she needs to go to the hospital now. Cindy is okay with that, but wants to drive herself over there. I'm guessing the doctor knows her pretty well, because he said no, the ambulance is on it's way to take you.
Well, other than a little early concern about keeping Joshua's body temperature up, mommy and baby are doing well. Daddy and Jordan are as happy as can be. Please keep them in your prayers. Here are some pictures:
Those of you that know Cindy will find this amusing:
Today Cindy (still in her pajamas) brought Jordan to school. My wife, knowing how hard Cindy has been working lately "ordered" her to go home and go back to bed. Cindy said no, she had a doctor's appointment (regularly scheduled OB appointment) to go to. Shanna said fine, but then "go home and go to bed!"
So... Cindy goes to her appointment (I assume after changing). Remember, this was a regularly-scheduled appointment. No big deal, right? Wrong.
At the doctor's office, Cindy finds out she is already 7 centimeters dilated. The doctor tells her that she needs to go to the hospital now. Cindy is okay with that, but wants to drive herself over there. I'm guessing the doctor knows her pretty well, because he said no, the ambulance is on it's way to take you.
Well, other than a little early concern about keeping Joshua's body temperature up, mommy and baby are doing well. Daddy and Jordan are as happy as can be. Please keep them in your prayers. Here are some pictures:
Welcome to the outside world, Joshua!
Mommy and baby...
The Snapp Family, Version 3.0
I got to hold him!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Don't Tell Claude!
Well, don't tell him until I get up there! I have a feeling he couldn't resist trying this. Of course, he never reads my blog, so there is no real danger. I admit I haven't tried this, but it combines two of my favorite things: beef and deep frying!
Here's a recipe: http://www.culinarycafe.com/Holiday_Favorites/Fried_Prime_Rib.html
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