Chappie's corner

The Earth praising His name

2008-04-17T04:57:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080416/sc_livescience/earthshumsoundsmoremysteriousthanever

A litte disappointed

2008-04-12T07:26:00.000-07:00

So I had begun reading the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan back in the early 90's when my mother finally allowed me to read adult science fiction. The series was amazing, if a little bit long, and his last book came out in 07 and it was pretty good. Most of his books topped out around 600+ pages, with the exception of his prequels, and they would keep me entertained for a week or so which is saying a lot about a book and its author. Often he would release books every 2 years or so and when it is all said and done he wrote 11 books and 2 prequels to the whole series. As you can imagine this series has started to wore me out especially as it seemed he could have wrapped things up about two books ago. I have followed a bunch of authors who have written for a decade or more on a series but most of them, even Terry Goodkind, finished their series and moved on. Well finally in the 11th book he starts to brings things to a conclusion and so I was thinking today, "Hmm maybe he has already started to write the next book." And then I look at his official web page and remembered that he had quietly passed away last year. And I came to the realization that no one will probably pickup his series and finish it. Man...

The God particle: Man continunally trying to explain how the Universe was made without God

2008-04-07T20:03:00.001-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080407/sc_nm/science_particle_dc

Interesting read.. The God particle is what gives mass to the universe and makes life possible.
Thoughts...?

What a waste

2008-03-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.forbes.com/2008/03/22/gort-winemaker-nose-face-cx_vr_0319autofacescan02.html?partner=yahoobuzz

So one of my friends was talking about how much $ Elton John raised for Hillary Clinton's ad campaign and how wasteful it was as the $ could be put to better use. Well this reminded me of an article on Forbes that I had read of how a man insured his nose for $8M. For one thing I cannot believe an insurance company would insure something like that and two he gets the payout when his nose is no longer able to smell as well as it can now. How is that even possible? I mean it's like a quarterback insuring his arm against it wearing out/being injured or a track runner insuring against the day her legs just are not fast enough. Your body is going to wear out even if that man never does anything to injure his nose or does anything to decrease his smell it is going to happen anyway. The fact that he can get it insured no matter the amount of restrictions he is going to be put on in just inane and insane. What a waste..

Duke is out

2008-03-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

So I am really disappointed but not surprised that Duke is out of the tourney. I mean how can you be surprised when for the past three weeks Duke has played like they want to loose. Or that the past three years their leading scorer does poorly and Coach K wont bench him. Or that it is clear that while coach K's strategy mainly works during the year, there are times where it just totally falls apart and he does little to nothing to adjust. And so when the Tourney comes around little teams like WVU beat them and a no name team Belmont takes them to the wire. Finally Duke has an well known history of being a three point team but the years they have won or done well in the Tourney, they have had a big man to help dominate the boards at both ends of the court. For the last three years we have not had one and right now it does not look like we will have one for next year so more than likely we will not make it past the 16 which is ridiculous! Teams like Duke should make it to the 8 every year....sigh

Random

2008-03-03T05:36:00.001-08:00

So since Matt busted on my last story and challanged me to come up with something good here is my stream of conscious....
Studying for my ordination, Taking Tango lessons, having had a weird dream about multi-colored cats no doubt fueled by this article http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/12/13/514602.aspx and in conjunction with cats I ran across this the other day http://jeffdeboer.com/Galleries/NewWork/tabid/91/moduleid/455/viewkey/photo/photoid/256/Default.aspx I am getting to the point where I want my residency to be over and to start my real job, I am sick of working weekends and working nights, and I am currently working on my 7th/10 day in a row. I am very excited about the Duke/UNC game on Sat and I am considering skipping swing dancing to watch it. I have a very busy week a head of me and I am not sure when I will get studying done or if I am doing enough studying (meeting with Sam to figure that out). This week is all clinical with no class. I am planning to go see Bank job on Fri. and I am looking fwd to having two days off in a row. Ok that is all for now

Wonders of wonders

2008-02-28T06:43:00.000-08:00

So I was looking up pain stuff on the Internet to help me better relate to my patients on my pain list...yes that is actually a list that patients fall under and does not mean that they are a pain to work with. Anyway I came across this awesome article that if true, would mean that millions of Americans would no longer fear the dentist. Sounds to good to be true? Is there something wrong here? Ill let you figure that out http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,847597,00.html

The boy who could

2008-02-11T03:13:00.000-08:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=3235203
So I ran across this article on ESPN.com the other day and I really liked it! Not only was a kid overcoming his disabilites and doing an extreme sport but he was inspiring thousands of kids all over the world to do the same.

Steve Fee

2008-01-29T15:30:00.001-08:00

So I have been listening to a certain Christian group for the past few months. I first saw their CD in family book store while I was waiting for dinner time to come to go to our staff Christmas dinner. I am always on the lookout for good Christian music and so I saw this group I had never heard of "FEE". I thought it was a weird enough name and so picked it up and saw that Andy Stanley recommended it and infact used Fee's music in his services. For those who do not know Andy, he is the son of the famous preacher Charles Stanley and is a pretty well known pastor him self. He is the Sr. pastor of North point in Atlanta Georgia and I think is his preaching is very solid. So when he endorses a group I tend to think hmmm.. this group may be good. So I picked their CD and I love it!!! There are very few CD's that I have listened to that I have loved every song on the CD and this is one of them. Fee's lyrics are well crafted and the music just seems to flow with it. His music is contemporary and it has some rock in it but not much. My Favorite songs are number 5 and number 9...anyway check it out you won't regret it!

Friends in France... God rocks!!

2008-01-24T13:05:00.001-08:00

So I have the privilege of knowing some missionaries in France that I pray for. I grew up with Nick until the age of 6 when his father was transferred to the Virgin Islands (hard times I know :) ). I got to visit him once with my family in 6Th grade but other than that I did not get to see him until his wedding day in Mich. to Annie. Since then they have both had missions in mind, they had three children, and are now in France. Recently they had asked prayer for a couple who just got divorced...and here is some wonderful news
Hi there,

Two nights ago, we heard a knock on our door around 10:00 PM. It was F... Her eyes were red, and it was clear she wanted to talk. So we did, for the next two and a half hours!... We had a wonderful conversation. She is very open to the Lord in the midst of this difficult time in her life. She said that she sees our family (along with another family she knows), as being somehow different. "You are with God" she said, not knowing how else to say it. Near the end of the conversation she looked at Nick and me and said, "I want to you bring me to God." Wow! We were blown away by her openness... Praise you, Father!!

I mentioned getting together to look at the Bible together, and said, "of course!" So please join us in praying for her, especially that the Lord would open up doors for us to get together again SOON so that I might share more clearly the beautiful message of the Gospel, that she might believe and be transformed. Pray that the Lord would protect her heart and preserve this openness to Him. Please pray for wisdom for me and Nick as we seek to point her to Jesus.

Also, keep praying for J.... He talked with another neighbor about Nick's idea of getting together to study the Bible, and this neighbor was very against the idea, stating that religion is a private matter and should definitely not be talked about with friends and neighbors (this is where the wars of religion came from). J.... told me that what she said makes sense to him, and for now doesn't seem interested any longer. Nick has not had a chance to talk with him again since that night they went out, so pray that the Lord would work out another time for this, and give Nick peace and discernment.

Thank you for your prayers. God hears and answers! F.... herself encouraged me in this truth this morning: she told me that the morning after she had come over and we had prayed for her and for Jacques, she had seen a surprising calmness in him, a difference in his attitude. So keep praying!!!!

For His glory,

Annie

PS. Nicks Ponderings are in his blog {WARNING VERY DEEP STUFF} and that is listed in my blog list.

My Belief paper

2008-01-15T09:57:00.000-08:00

So for the ending of my first unit of CPE during my residency I had to write a belief paper that show how my beliefs impact my care of patients. The paper first starts out in general and than goes into specifics...
I believe everyone is made in God’s image, has had Christ die for them, and so is worth something. We are of more value than the rest of creation and so each of us deserve to be made to think they are worth something. I do this at Christiana through showing God’s love, by Christ’s example, to any patient/staff/family member that I meet. And while I may differ with their social/theological framework I pray through that and still try to show them God’s love.
I believe that we are supposed to do as Jesus did by first dealing with the problem(s) each person has before we should share the gospel by words. And so there may be times that all you get to do is be with the person and support them and never speak the gospel at all before that person is removed from you sphere of influence. As we are not allowed to share the gospel verbally, unless asked, I therefore share the gospel by just showing God’s love through my support of a patient. This is still sharing the gospel but in this case you are just planting the seed and not doing any more than that.
I believe that Christ commanded us to be with and support the sick, the needy, and the helpless. While I cannot support them financially with money, or give them goods, or do work for them, I can do something which most people never try to do; listen. God created us to be in community with each other and not just do things for people but to actively be and support them through their good and bad times. As we Americans move towards an increasingly individualistic society we have less and less time to just be with people and thus people are feeling more and more lonely, isolated, and unsupported. So the greatest thing I can do for people here as a chaplain is to listen to them as they describe their pains and joys and help them celebrate one and be with them through the other. This I do regardless of creed, race, sexuality, social status etc and thus show them the true love of God; just as Christ did.
Beliefs that inform my theology
That everyone is made in the image of God. 26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. "Thus everyone is special and needs support. So I am available to all patients and staff regardless of their religious back round. For example when I was called for a death of a patient at Wilmington and I found out that the PT and one of the family members were Muslim. The family member wanted me to pray but asked me to only say God and not Jesus or the Holy Spirit and while that made praying for them a little more difficult I still was able to do so and thus support the family. Also I had a family in pediatrics that was Jewish. They were accepting of my protestant faith They were very accepting of my prayer and did not mind if I did use Jesus in the prayer. Never-the-less, to be culturally sensitive, I still only used God in my prayers.
Christ died for us not creation. Although God loves all of his creation, he only put the human race as ruler over it and not any other species. Also because of the sin of the human race all creation is cursed (21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.) and thus will one day be done away with and a new creation will be formed. However God still wanted a relationship with us and so sent us His Son to die for us and thus to take away our sins. Jesus died for all mankind not just one particular race and thus I believe I should share His gospel of love to everyone I meet.
Sharing the gospel and when necessary use words (St. Francis of Assisi). I believe that Jesus has commanded all Christians to share His love to others, however as St. Francis has put it, “Preach the gospel always, If necessary use words”. How I interpret this, is that we should always be preaching the gospel in our lives, deeds, and words. However this does not always mean that I have to convey it by words and here in the hospital I am not supposed to talk about my faith unless asked. So I preach his love by supporting families and patients in their times of Crisis. This love is the central part of Christ’s message and it is what will win people to Christ. Andy Stanley has said, “I could answer all of your question on Christianity, in fact there is a book on every single topic you could bring up, but those answers will not win you to Christ. No rather is it the love of Christ and you accepting his unconditional love that will cause you to want to be in His family. And so I show this love by making my self available For example I had one patient whom, I was visiting for the first time, had just passed away. I met a friend of the family outside the room and asked if she thought they would like me to pray for them? She said they were not religious and in fact that had earlier turned away the hospice (Odyssey) chaplain that she was a patient with. I took that in stride and told her that if she felt they would want one later I would be more than happy to talk to them. As I was leaving the family stepped out and I introduced myself and I asked if I could support them in any way? The husband told me I was just the person they needed to see and had me come into the room with the family. We talked about her life a bit and then I said a short prayer (without mentioning the gospel), talked some more about her life and then I left. There was also a patient, this past summer, which was an atheist and did not want prayer at all. However he was very passionate about politics, history, and his children so we spent many visits talking about that. There I showed Christ’s love to him by supporting him in his time of need but without mentioning the word to him. He was so impressed that I never tried to convert him but rather was willing to converse with him while he was here in the hospital. This does not mean he will ever go to church (he lives near mine) however by showing Christ’s love to him I may have planted a seed in his life which may be watered down the road. Many modern evangelistic organizations have said there are three main parts to evangelism. They are sewing the seed, watering the seed, reaping the harvest. For the most part, as a chaplain, I do the sewing and the rest is up to someone else.
To help the sick the needy and the poor. Te Bible tells us that we are to help those that are sick, widowed, or in need. (1Jn3.17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence say. Matt. 25.34"Then the King will to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' 41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.')As a chaplain I support many people who fall into one or more of those categories. Most of the patients that come here are not only sick but have many other issues as well. For example a man with sickle cell needed help from a social worker with some personal issues and so instead of trying solve his problems on my own I connected him to a staff social worker and let her deal with those issues while I supported him in his pain. With another woman who was on 3W I tried to help her find a church that not only fit her spiritual needs but also had sign language interpreters as she was deaf.
I believe each person can have a personal relationship with God and that they do not need a pastor or a chaplain to help them communicate to Him. Many patients feel that our prayers are better heard by God as we are perceived to be more holy or because we spend more time with God. They feel that if we say their prayers for them that God will answer them and so they have us pray for them instead of doing it themselves. They also feel guilty as they may not go to church as often as they should or not at all. Finally patients often feel that God will not listen to their angry concerns, disappointments, or frustrations and so they do not talk to Him about them. Knowing all of this I always tell them that they can always pray to God and that they do not need a chaplain or priest to pray to God for them. That they have their own personal relationship with God because of His Son dying on the cross for them and so they have direct access to God and thus they do not need us. I also tell them that God is big enough for their anger, frustrations, and disappointments and that he wants to hear about them. I tell them about how David and many old testament prophets complained to God and he heard them comforted them and helped them through their problems.

Ringing in the New Year

2008-01-01T06:27:00.000-08:00

So we are now in 2008. Last night will go down as one of my most fav. New Years Party. My fav. one is still in Boston in 2001/2002 where it was so cold my face almost froze off, but this night was pretty close to that memory.
A group of us (about 25) went to Deep Blue, a sea food restaurant in Wilmington, for their New Years' Party. They had a decent band, The Larry Tucker Band, an open bar, and some food I never did get to try. The band was what made the night as they played stuff from the 70's as well as good dance music. The sax and the guitar most definitely rocked the night.
It was also good to hang with so many friends. I met some new people, had a blast with some close friends, as well as said good bye to Sarah Gale who will be leaving us for sunny Florida for CCC and to be ummm married or something:)...Anyway the night rocked and I have not been up till 3am in a long time and yet the night went by so quickly.

So happy NEW YEAR ALL and may you be more blessed this year than in '07.

So I can breathe

2007-12-26T05:47:00.000-08:00

For those of you who did not know, my asthma has been really bad since about the mid-point of India. I have not been able to exercise, or sing sitting down, or talk for long periods of time without a lot of coughing or running out of breath. At first I figured I had caught something in India or that my roaming seasonal asthma had decided to kick me in the chest. However after a few weeks I became concerned and went to the doctor. Well he gave me some steroids but after being on them for two weeks and no improvement (in fact I worsened) I finally went to a pulmonary Doc. He was concerned with the fact that the steroids were not helping, and the fact that there was nothing in my lungs. So he came up with the weird idea (that despite my mucus was clear) that I had something in my nose and gave me antibiotics. I thought great.. I had been praying for a couple of weeks now for my asthma to lessen and it had not. Knowing that God gave us docs for a reason I went to a specialist and despite no visible symptoms from the nose he gave me antibiotics! However I took payed for them and went home. Well after being on them for a little over a week I am almost back to my normal cough. I can exercise without fear of fainting, I can sing without hyperventilating, and I can talk for long periods of time without either coughing or loosing my breath. So despite my questioning the Doc, apparently God gave him the wisdom to figure out what was wrong and heal me through meds.
God thank you for answering my prayers!

Working on Christmas

2007-12-25T05:25:00.000-08:00

So yeah I am working today, something I swore I would never do. BUT before I was always in retail and I thought that any retailer that required you to work on Christmas was not worth working for and should be boycotted. Oddly enough had I stayed with Walgreens I would be working today anyway, but I was rescued from retail after four years of wondering why I went through seminary and thus I DO NOT EVER HAVE TO WORK IN RETAIL AGAIN!!! So even if I did not receive any gifts for Christmas this year, the gift of finally doing ministry would be enough. I fall on my knees and praise you LORD for what you have given me and for what you are doing through me! And all of this is possible because you sent your son to be born in the flesh just to show mankind that not only do you love us but that you can relate to us as well.

Merry Christmas all and may this new year bring you closer to God than you ever been before!

Hmm I think that I may have a double somewhere

2007-12-20T05:32:00.000-08:00

So I know there have been people that look like me. Caedmon's call had a drummer that looked like me, I had a fellow student at UofD who looked like me, and recently there was a gentleman who attended Brandywine who friends of mine frequently mistook for me and would go up to say hi and figure out it was not me. However I have never had someone who had the same name as me. Yet that someone exists and he likes to hike. Apparently I have lost 7-8 years, and thus I am 21-22 again, I went to Corban college and I have hiked in Utah and Washington State...anyway check it out my name appears in the trips for Utah and to Washington.
http://www.corban.edu/studentlife/clubs/westrek/pastrips.html

Christmas and nutrition

2007-12-18T06:32:00.000-08:00

So I know when I think of Christmas and food I do not normally think of eating healthy. It is not that I do not want to but with all the Christmas diners and goodies it is very hard to eat in such a way that I will not gain pounds. However one department in the hospital that I would think would give out goodies that are healthy is the nutrition department....well because they should be concerned with the nutrition of their staff and maybe try to fight all bad calories out there. So as i am buying my breakfast there is a bowl of candy canes and a sign that read, "Please take one, compliments of the nutrition staff". I laughed and thought of the irony and of course took one. Ah well better eating comes in one week.....

Incidentally has anyone tried to find Christmas candy at Happy Harry's A Walgreen's Pharmacy?!? Good luck....so glad I am out...so many ways Walgreen's keeps making eaiser to go elsewhere

Running the race

2007-12-17T05:38:00.000-08:00

So usually when you see these words or hear someone talk about them you think of Paul and his writing to the people of Corinth, Phillipi, or Galatia. However in an article on ESPN, ( http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=streakrun ) that is about people called streak runners or those who run for years on end every day regardless of weather, injury etc., running the race take on a different meaning. In some way that is admirable. Pual writes in Galatians that we are to beat our body and make it our slave so as to not be disqualified in the race that is this life. And I know that I am not the best at keeping my body in shape and that is something I need to work on. However it seems that these people have instead become a slave to their running and not the other way around. I just think of how they actually have to schedule their lives around running instead of running around their lives and shudder. And yet realizing that is exactly what I should be doing with my time with God. That I should be scheduling my life around the times I spend with him and not the other way around.

Updates

2007-12-10T06:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, I have been very very busy with preparation for the many talks on India that I have done and will be doing. So I have not had much time for anything else. God has definitely been working through me since India and I cannot wait to see what He will do next. I will try an update a little more often, but for now here is some of what has been going on.

At work: The Christmas season is upon us AND I DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT RETAIL! Praise God. It is still a difficult season however as many people have tragedies that happen around the Holiday's and so that adds a extra challenge to the ministry. I know my own grandfather went to heaven 4 years ago in Dec. and it still makes this season a little dreary at times. In the hospital even the smallest things and things thought done and over with can really affect a PT so I would appreciate prayer during this month. Also this is a month where there are a lot of baby deaths in the NICU as well as patient deaths in general (I had 4 PT deaths in the last week) so prayer would be greatly appreciated.

At Home: The dogs got out three times yesterday from our backyard and they are looking to get deported or something. My mom's surgery went well and she is recovering nicely. Dad is in ALOT of pain and we are at a lost as to what to do. My Asthma is still affecting me from India and I cannot work out right now b/c of that. I am taking meds for it and they help but I am not sure what I will do when I go off them as I can only be on them for a short time. The good thing is my chest x-ray turned up negative so I did not gain any hitchhikers in India.

India: God has really done some great things through this, as they are so many please feel free to call or email or blog me to ask. I am planning to go back but it will most likely not be until 2009 as the 2008 trip still takes place during my residency and I cannot take off time during that time. I am thinking of going somewhere else in Sept. however but that is still be prayed about.

Ordination: I begin studying for ordination this Jan. I plan to have everything ready by April or May where I will sit in front of 7-10 pastors and over a 2-4 hour period defend my faith and doctrinal beliefs. This should be fun and challenging. My motivation is strong now but memorizing scripture has never been a strong point of mine and so I ask for prayer that this motivation will still strong come Feb. and March. I could probably defend myself today but you need to be able to point to exact references in the Bible to show your support is valid. Ah well

Bible Study: God is really working in the men in our group. It constantly amazes me how far He has brought each of us in this group and I definitely think that growing with this group will be a spiritually defining moment in my life.

Next year: Hospice chaplaincy looks like the field for me. Most likely it will be per diem so that I can take off when I want for mission trips, but I really enjoy being there for patients who are dying and who need hope. I hope to visit Matt and Bri in Co in the spring. I turn 31 in March. I will be involved stateside in helping Raj or Leanna in their ministry in India.

Squirll the other, other white meat

2007-11-20T07:25:00.000-08:00

So apparently squirrel is not only edible but seen as a delicacy in some parts of the world, say like in NJ!! Man I would have thought that squirrel eating was being practiced in"certain parts" of the US, but NJ? Well that there is reason number 25 I will not live in NJ. SO how do you like your squirrel in a stew, broiled, or over a salad? Which do you like better flying, Red tail, or grey?
NEW YORK (AFP) - Squirrel eaters in the US state of New Jersey have been told that the bushy-tailed rodents are likely safe to eat, after earlier being advised the unlikely delicacies could contain toxic metals.
The Environmental Protection Agency said earlier this year it had discovered high levels of lead in a squirrel taken from near a waste dump in the Ringwood area and advised people to eat the rodents no more than twice a week.
Officials have now said the test results were an error.
"A blender that was used to process the tissues into usable samples was defective and was identified as the source of the lead contamination," the Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement dated Monday.
The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife describes squirrel as "good table fare," offering recipes for squirrel chowder, stew and barbecue

Update on Charity

2007-11-20T05:36:00.000-08:00

God is totally awesome! Yes I saw some amazing stuff in India, but I guess it hits home when you see God answer requests that you have agonized and cried over for many days and nights. Charity is beginning to do so much better, THANK YOU GOD.
(Information from a phone call from Jeremy to Phil, Hope I get all the facts straight here. There are a lot of positive things going on I don’t think I succeed in reviewing all of them.) Anytime Charity can put more than one good day together with another is cause for great rejoicing. Jeremy is in Lincoln with Charity, while Sylvia and I with Sofia are in Kansas City. Sofia seems to be enjoying the visit in KC with grandpa and grandma. Jeremy says Charity was doing the following: Charity didn’t have any pain today. That’s getting close to a week now where I don’t think she has had any extra narcotics except for the Fentanyl patch. She was able to pick up a deodorant stick with her right hand a lift it to her face. She was then able to pick it up also with the left hand. She picked up a tissue with both hands Charity stood by the side of her bed three times with help from the therapist. She sat at the edge of her bed She had speech therapy and was working on making sounds. They are very weak yet. She needs a lot of work on strengthening her diaphragm. Jeremy was wondering if the Fentanyl patch might be holding her diaphragm back. We are in the process of asking them to taper her down, or off of the patch. Charity really wants to work hard, and more at therapy. She kept mouthing to Jeremy today, “I am awake”! Jeremy was able to give her some swabs with water. She took it well. During the day Jeremy was also working the bureaucratic routes to get Charity into more intense therapy. To qualify for Quality Living, Charity needs to be able to do at somewhere around 4-6 hours of therapy and activity. We don’t know how she’s going to be ready for that unless they start working her toward those goals. Give praise to God together with us for His wonderful grace in giving Jeremy, Charity and their family a day to treasure. Lord, prepare us and Charity as well for the days that may not be so bright.

The OLD OLD

2007-11-19T09:34:00.000-08:00

I have to admit when I heard this term I was confused. I mean I thought that anyone older than 50 was considered old. Well here in the Hospital Old is considered 65+ and the OLD OLD 80+. I guess it should say something as a society, that a majority of our population can live to be 80+ where in the most of the world the age that most people "pass on" are around 60-65. Anyway I met one of the OLD OLD today and it was a real treat, for she was a solid Christian. I love meeting Christians that are 65+ because they usually have so many stories about how God has brought them through so much and how He has blessed them. This woman could have gone on for hours telling me how God should always be first in my life and how we should depend on Him for everything. And that's saying something coming from this lady as she has Congestive Heart failure, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and Shortness of Breath. All of these cannot be pleasant and yet she continues to tell others about the faithfulness of God. Lord I pray that I have that kind of faith when I get to be that age.

A little bit jealous

2007-10-25T06:04:00.000-07:00

Could you imagine if all this rain was snow? I love snow. I love winter. I love playing in the snow be it skiing, tubing, snowball fights, whatever, snow is just so cool (pardon the pun). And yet we here in DE suffer mostly brown winters. We get plenty of rain and a little ice but not much snow. And you know what I just talked to Matt Grace the other night and they had 4 inches of snow in Denver!! Not only that but Matt and Bri had spent their one yr. anniversary (Woot) in Vale, CO and they had 8 inches there!!!!! So I am a bit green around the gills as they say. I so want to move out there and Lord willing I will.

How young is too young?

2007-10-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

So how old should pastors be when they start preaching? Reagan started at 16, Graham at 19, but how about before they hit the double digits? How about at age 8 or 9? Can they really know the gospel well enough to preach it? Are they truly mature enough in their faith to be able to preach the word? What if they are being manipulated by parents? If they are a proven preacher should seminaries relax some standards and allow them to learn?
Well we have two kids that are doing just that? They are preaching the word to their congregations and in one case the kid is preaching to many churches. Is this some of the foolishness that Jesus warned us about would happened in the end times? Anyway here is the article, tell me what you think....
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=3717627&page=1

Praise!!

2007-10-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

So if you had been ill, had to be fed via stomach tube, had not physically eaten for 150 days, how good do you think food would taste to you? What would you want to eat? It is something we take for granted but many of my patients who have been on a feeding tube say it is torture to not be able to chew food or taste what they are eating. Well Charity has been in that situation for a long time now, but no longer..read an excerpt from her web blog...

Charity had only one therapy session today. She was preparing us all for an unusual surprise!! SHE ATE NEARLY A WHOLE CONTAINER OF APPLESAUCE!! How would applesauce taste after nearly 150 days of not eating anything? Join us in giving thanks to the Lord for this special moment in Charity's life. This afternoon, Matt and Lori (friends of Charity) stopped by just after Jeremy and the girls had left for Holdrege. They offered to sit with Charity while Sylvia and I took a coffee break together. During that time Charity had her scheduled Speech Therapy. The therapist tried the applesauce and crushed ice again. Lori reported that Charity was swallowing good, and frequently the therapist would ask her to say "ahhh". She was clearing everything good. She tries crushed ice with her as well. The bigger chunks were actually easier to swallow (because they don't liquify as quickly). She ate nearly a whole container (the size of a small yogurt). It was quite a moving experience for Lori who has been with us through some of those most torturous days. At one point Charity was not swallowing the applesauce and the therapist noted that Charity was probably just "holding it in her mouth" to savor the flavor. Charity nodded her head, "yes" she was enjoying the taste! Later the therapist then asked Charity to say the names of her kids. She said, “SOFIA”, then “ELLA” for Bella which is a shortened form of Isabella. Then she was asked to say her husband’s name. With such clarity that it surprised the therapist she said, “JEREMY”. Then she asked Charity who the friend was in the room. Charity answered with “hori” for Lori. In the session Charity also said to the therapist, “I want more ice”. As we’ve mentioned before in our Journal, speech therapy is one of Charity’s most important sessions, today it was so good to see her not only producing speech, and eating but demonstrating good memory and cognitive strength. AN IMPORTANT PRAYER REQUEST Nearly every time something good takes place a setback happens. There is a concern we are monitoring this week-end. They x-rayed Charity’s abdomen today and there is an increased amount of free air in her abdomen cavity. She needs to see the GI (Gastro-Intestinal) specialist. We had the option to transfer her today to the hospital BryanLGH to check this out. So far we have chosen to keep her here at Madonna. Reasons: While somewhat uncomfortable she doesn’t seem to be in acute pain from it The GI surgeon who has followed her is not on call this week-end. We would prefer him to examine her since he knows her case history best. We would rather move carefully and do as little invasive work as possible. I will be “hanging out” with Charity overnight. So I want to have wisdom to know if there is anything of concern developing. As you pray, praise the Lord for this very special experience in such a long battle for her. -Phil

Dessert

2007-09-26T14:56:00.000-07:00

Now I love desserts! I blame my affection for almost all confections on my grandmother who at 86 still eats desserts on a regular basis. I love my desserts so much that if I get a dessert with my meal it goes down the hatch first. It doesn't matter if I have prime rib with shrooms and onions or grouper stuffed with crab imperial with dollops of lobster on top, that dessert is going bye-bye! Desserts must be a a good line item for most restaurants as I see sinfully, small slices of cake for the same price as a huge plate of buffalo chicken nachos or 8 wings. And while I love dessert, sometimes you can go a little to far...like paying$14.500..insane...
http://www.zimbio.com/The+Fortress+Stilt+Fisherman+Indulgence/articles/2/Most+Expensive+Dessert+World

Edit: I apologize for my misspellings. I confuse the spelling of desert with dessert fairly easily and for years I had it spelled correctly. Then, recently, I was challenged by someone in the teaching profession and thought, "Hey they teach, they know what they are talking about." I guess not.

Ouch!

2007-09-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

So a guy who was pronounced dead in a hospital was not as dead as he had appeared!! Man that is scary...I definitely do not want to have to go to our morgue now.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/autopsy_dc

Should Marriage be over in 7 years?

2007-09-21T05:59:00.000-07:00

So it would appear that a politician, thankfully not from the USA, in Germany thinks that marriage should be over after 7 years. She believes that, "The basic approach is wrong ... many marriages last just because people believe they are safe," she told reporters. "My suggestion is that marriages expire after seven years." After that time, couples should either agree to extend their marriage or it should be automatically dissolved, she said." Anyway if you want to read the rest of this trash. check out....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070921/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_germany_politics_marriage

My exercise regimen

2007-09-19T05:54:00.000-07:00

So after having my Rower take up space in the living room for the last two weeks, I have finally put it together and it is ready for rigorous (I hope) use. Now that my Ultimate season is pretty much over I am going to need to work out to stay in shape on a regular basis. So for the foreseeable future. I will be working out on my elliptical and rower 4-5 times a week for up to 1 1/2 hours. Man I miss Ultimate already :P

P3

2007-09-19T05:20:00.000-07:00

So I am midway through my first week of my residency. Orientation is over (Thanks God!) and so it is time to visit patients. My clinical assignment is Pain and Palliative and Pediatrics (or as I like to call it P3). And what that means is that I will be visiting Peds patients (ages from 4-24) that may be trauma patients, young mothers, etc and trying to support them and their families through their time in the hospital. For me that will be easy. The much tougher part will be the Pain and Palliative Units.

The pain unit is for patients that have chronic pain from an infection, surgery, cancer, etc that just will not go away and is so severe they have to come to the hospital to relieve it. Usually they are very hard to interact with as they need to have their pain brought down to a level that is bearable. Once they are at that level they still may be hard to support.... well b/c they are in constant, high level, pain. And if you have ever been in a high level of pain for a long time you would know that the last thing you want to do is talk to someone. Or on the flip side if you are with someone who is in a lot of pain, it is hard to be there as we as humans find it hard to be around someone who is in a lot of agony. However they still need to be supported both Spiritually and emotionally.

Finally, the hardest unit, is the Palliative unit. This is end of life care. Every person who is in the unit will die. They may not die in the hospital, they may be sent to Hospice, but they will die normally within 1-2 months. And they stay with us for that time, if the patient can not be stabilized to be discharged. This is hard. Death is hard. Even for Christians, whom have an amazing hope and future after death, Death is hard. Who here wants to loose a parent, sibling, relative, or friend? We all want them to be here for as long as possible and when we are told they are going or are gone even the strongest Christian will be brought to their knees; and that is OK....Grief is normal. It is hard trying to help a family deal with a patient who has suddenly become terminally ill/stroke/heart attack and whom they may not be communicative with their loves ones even unto their death. Thus their love ones will not have closure. It is hard for families whose love one has been fighting for years, whom they have been with each and every day (maybe hour) of the patent's illness, and yet they still do not want them to die. It is hard to tell families it is time to stop being aggressive in treating their loved ones and that we, the health care team, have done all we can do and it is time to say goodbye.

Believe it or not this is exactly where I want to be. I am thinking of becoming a hospice chaplain when I finish my residency next Sept. And so this year will be very hard but it will be a great training and learning experience for me. I believe God will be stretching me very far beyond my usual limits and I will be way outside my comfort zone (remember I am a introvert).

I ask for prayer. I have already had two deaths, one of which I was in the room for and I expect many more... right now I know of one that will be happening soon. And that is a lot different than my internship as I would normally come and be with the family after the patient had died. Now, a majority of the time, I will be with the family when the patient passes and man will that be hard! And man I CANNOT DO THIS WITHOUT GOD or your prayers, thus I thank you in advance.

2007-09-18T04:54:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
Sorry for the lack of postings. I have been busy trying to figure out what exactly I will be doing for India and readjusting to being a chaplain after a three week hiatus. More posts will be coming soon.

And this is faith

2007-09-18T04:52:00.000-07:00

This is an excerpt from the journal on Charity Goeorge's web page. This is from her father....

Charity arrived back at Madonna around 5 pm. It hasn't been as peaceful of a day as the previous two days, particularly her eyes and vision seemed to be bothering her. Even so she was quite responsive to questions asked of her. One thing we noticed the resulted from the abdomen abcess and her not being able to take medications through the feeding tube together with the transfer between hospitals is that her medication list got somewhat messed up. Some medications were dropped and some weren't resumed as we thought they had been. This however might give us a bit of an idea how her body responds to some of the medications. Because she was off the Celexa anti-depressant for several days (she is back on it) we are watching to see how that might affect her emotions. I arrived back in Kansas City near 10:30pm so that leaves Sylvia solo at Charity's side until Jeremy gets back to Lincoln later this week. We keep looking for answers, and hang onto hope for as long as the Lord gives Charity life. There still are some promising possibilities for her. We look for the Lord to allow, and guide all the pieces to come together to make those possibilities, realities for Charity. While this spiral of events in these last months continues to leave us all deeply wounded, perplexed, and uncertain of the future we cling to the reality that God is, He is sovereign and He is ultimately good.

Another year another piece of me gets older

2007-08-20T08:49:00.001-07:00

So as I have gotten older pieces of my body have started to break down or need to be stretched before I do things. Such as before I was 29 I never had to stretch before sports or hiking unless it was a big game. However, now, unless I want to waddle like a duck for a few days I had better stretch before hand. Or my hearing slowly becoming worse over the years, but that might not be a bad thing because by the time I am 40 I wont be able to hear my wife {edited*} ask me to do things :). I kid.. I kid...Well I had to get my eyes checked for a physical recently and I did rather horribly. I use to have 20/20 but a week ago I found out that I cant see below line 5 in my right eye and below line 4 in my left. You know you are eyes are going when the doctor says "And they let you drive w/o glasses?!?" So when my insurance kicks in (My hospital insurance gives me an allowance per month) in Sept. Ill be getting some glasses. SO LADIES WATCH OUT!! Because my sexiness will increase 100 fold.

*nag

Nickel Creek: So long and thanks for all the fish

2007-08-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Well I got the chance to see Nickel Creek live this past weekend and they were really good. I heard most of my favorite songs and they mostly stayed away from their 3rd cd which is my least fav. album of theirs. Unfortunately the night was broken up by a few things. First, was the realization that this was their farewell tour. That is not cool! Second, was the drunken idiots who were heckling the band. Third, was Fiona Apple. Now to be somewhat fair to her the MANN did not have speakers pointed in our direction and as I am going deaf by degrees it was hard to hear what she was singing. And she had a great voice and probably would make an excellent blue singers instead of whatever genre she was in. However even if I could have understood her voice I would have still hated her performance because of her dancing. Her dance looked like someone dressed in a Salem witch outfit, on cocaine, animated by Tim Burton while moshing. Now this was interesting for all of 5 min. but to have to endure her weird music and her "dancing" for 45min that was unbearable and I will never pay $ to see her again.

Side note 1: If you go to the MANN do not sit in the balcony unless you really know the bands', whom you are going to see, music. There are no speakers up there.
Side note 2: If you know from what book comes the title of this blog, You win.

This week

2007-08-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

So this week is much more open and not planned. By the end of the week I fully expect to be stir crazy and wishing I had to go to work. My plans are: Read a few books that Brett gave me, work on my elliptical, mem. some vs for appropriate use in the hospital, Disc Golf and Ultimate, and read Our Greatest Gift: Meditation on Dying and Caring, A by Henri J. M. Nouwen and
Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World by Henri J Nouwen. I also have a book coming via mail Getting Serious About Getting Married: Rethinking the Gift of Singleness by Debbie Maken which is probably not much different than some of the issues brought up in Passion and Purity,: Learning to Bring Your Love Life Under Christs Control by Elisabeth Elliot but Ill read it anyway because Ill get pie. And ladies and gents you can never have too much pie.

Recap on last week

2007-08-20T08:19:00.000-07:00

So on Monday, my Bible study and I went kayaking down the Brandywine and it was a very relaxing time. I am sure though both Dave and I would like the river to be higher next time, so Mark get working on that.
On Tues. I did nothing but chill.
On Wed. I got schooled by Brett on the Disc Golf course and had to dish out some $ for dinner at Sofritos. It was a great day to be out but a crappy day to loose. Plus I lost two disks.
On Thurs. I met with Pastor Bo and told him how my internship went and when I would like to start working on my ordination. I also had a so-so day playing Ultimate.
On Fri. I went out to lunch with my Dad, read The Hostage by W.E.B. Griffin and played a new CPU game.
On Sat. I declined to go disc golfing with Brett and Brian (due to my earlier performance) and later was called by Brett to tell me it was a good idea that I did. The rough had been deliberately left to grow about waist high and so a course that normally took 1hr-1hr15min. to do took 21/2 hrs. Plus Brian lost two disks. Later that day I helped a new friend move into her house and then I went to see Nickel Creek.

WED Aug 15th

2007-08-14T06:54:00.001-07:00

So The day has come, or will come, that I have been looking forward to for many a yr. My disc Golf partners and I have been talking about doing an all day disc golf tourney between us for a while now and we are finally going to do it. Tomorrow we will start at Cape Henlopen, then go to Killen Pond, and then to Lums. It will be Hot, it will be grueling (that is why I am getting a massage on Thurs), and I will be the victor!! Winner get dinner at a decent restaurant! Stay tuned and Matt sorry you can't be here to help pay for my dinner.

Chappie#5

2007-08-14T06:47:00.000-07:00

So my internship is over and I have learned a lot. I plan to give a few insights over the next three weeks but for now I am enjoying my second day of my three week vacation.
What will I be doing? Well yesterday I kayaked down the Brandywine river with my small group, saw a good movie (review forthcoming), and ate at a new, new for me, Chinese Buffet. Today I am working around my room, reading Spurgeon, blogging, making dinner, and playing video games. Tomorrow I will be playing disc golf all day and Thurs I will be getting a massage and of course playing Ultimate. Fri is up for grabs and Sat. I will be going to see Nickle Creek.
So I do have some fun stuff planned, but I think the challenge for me will be to stay spiritually focused and to be preparing for the year to come.

Kite Runner

2007-08-14T06:16:00.000-07:00

So I know I said I would have a review up a month ago, but my internship was requiring more and more of my time so I did not get a chance to put a review up.

I liked the Author's use of words and images. I felt that I could easily visualize where the main character was at all times. I especially enjoyed the first Kite tourney. I also liked the author's use of foreshadow and irony. Finally I enjoyed the frailty of the main character as I see any of us acting in the same way, in his situations, if we did not have God as our Rock.

However to me this book was not an amazing piece of literature and I have read books that are far harsher in their depiction of reality. There was no huge revelation at the end of the book that made me want to realign my views to the authors nor was there a challenge to any of my beliefs etc.

The reason I think that so many people loved this book was that it was their first time initiation to this type of reality. Sure this book is ficton, but I believe it depicts accurately the reality of Afghanistan and in many cases is much worse. I also think that many people were surprised at the fact that someone with Afghan roots could be a good writer, which I think is a shame.

Anyway the book was decent and if you need something to pass the time please pick it up. Or if maybe you are thinking of being a missionary to that area then this could be a good intro to Afghanistan.

Saying goodbye

2007-08-03T05:58:00.000-07:00

I have had the pleasure of knowing Jeremy George since we were kids. We were pretty good friends up until 2nd grade when I moved to a new school and I believe his family went to a new church. However we reunited first in Kairos in 1997 and than as interns for Pastor Bill Heider where we once again became fast friends. Jeremy was part of the tri-fecta of men who once said that doing youth ministry is like getting paid to eat Ice-cream. We became so close that in the summer of 2000 I was invited to be in his wedding where he was married to Chairty. Now it is 2007 and it is hard to believe that he has been married for 7 years....7 years that regardless of what happens in the future he would not give up for anything.
For those of you who do not know Charity had a brain lesion that has severely impaired her. She cannot eat on her own, can only move her head a little, and can barely breathe. My heart has been broken time and time again as I have read the journals of Jeremy, His parents, and her family. However as many times as it has been broken my heart has been restored and encouraged as everyone involved has spoken of their faith, and how it has grown, in our Lord despite their situation.
Today Jeremy has sort of said goodbye to Charity. Not that he has given up hope nor has Charity spelled out anything more than "Thy will Be done", but they are starting to say their goodbyes, in case the Lord decides now is the time for her to go home. Here is today's journal, read, be broken, and be encouraged

Today, Charity continues to show clarity of mind and soundness of mind. As you heard from Phil already, there are some medical concerns that have arisen that are being addressed in a precautionary manner. I am so thankful for that. Our charge nurse is really a quality person who is monitoring Charity in a really wonderful way. She keeps us informed and shows great concern for Charity and us whenever she tells us anything about her condition. Today during speech therapy, Charity spelled out a request. That request spelled out "kilme." At first that seems like a desperate plea, but not if you take the time to sit and ask my wife why she said what she said. I asked her if she was more afraid of living like this than she was of dying. She nodded her head , "yes." I asked her if that was because she knew that there was something much better waiting for her. She nodded her head, "yes." I asked her if it was because it would be better to be with Jesus. She nodded "yes." My next reply to her was, "heaven must be the most wonderful place because none of this is there." She began crying as I embraced her and nodded once again, "yes." I then asked her if she was going to hold on to Jesus through this. Once again, and with an unsettling calm, she nodded, "yes." Jesus, You and You alone have kept my wife in her faith. That is more valuable to me than her getting better, so I praise You, my Lord and my God for what you have done in her heart and what you are doing. I sensed Your smile over her as she confessed her faith in You, and her love for You which today has surpassed her love for me and for our daughters. I praise You Jesus. Be glorified in my wife's life and testimony. Thank you for encouraging me today by my wife's faith. In Jesus' Name, Amen. Jeremy

If you want to read the whole faith story http://charitygeorge.com/index.php?page=blog

The Moo mobile is put out to pasture

2007-08-01T16:20:00.000-07:00

So Matt always threatened to buy some rims for my van (The Mooo mobile) as I did not have hubcaps on two of my wheels. He said they would be able to rotate on there own, and he wanted them so he would not be embarrassed by his friend who didn't shell out $50 for two hubcaps. Now in my defense, I have shelled out between $400-900 each year for the last three years for this van and I was sick of doing that. I also knew I was driving this van into the ground and so I was not going to shell out $50 just for cosmetic purposes. But now the Moo mobile has been put out to pasture, it has moooed its last mooo and is now a cube of metal crushed by some compactor in some junk yard.
Why? Well the last thing to go was my turn left turn signal on the left side for both the front and back. And even though my mechanic had looked at it 4-5 times (it had been working intermittently over the past year), he could not figure out what was going on and so he said that he would need to tear apart the door which would cost me $500+. Now I have already spent $400 for a busted sliding door window and so there was no way that was going to happen. Alas I have almost gotten into 4-5 accidents because people cannot tell that I am making a left hand turn. Thus my father, the great man that he is, said I could have his car for awhile as he only worked 2 min away from the home. So for the past 2 months I have had his silver van and things have been going well.
Well at least until he almost got hit turning into our neighborhood because the person did not realize my dad was making a left hand turn. And so someone needed to get a car. And so we did. We now own a brand new 2007 Rav4. It is bluish-silver and is pretty cool. And so now my mom has joined the SUV craze and my moo mobile was turned in for a $900 credit. And now my dad has his van back.... so now what do I have? I bought my mom's 2001 Camery. It is a pretty sweet ride and everything works in it and thus we are all happy and satisfied.

Wednesdays

2007-08-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

I love Wednesdays! Why because they are the day before Thursdays. And Thursdays are the day where between the months of April and October I can fly. I fly in the freezing rain of April, soar over the green grass of May, swing through the warm rays of June, float through the heat of July, sloag through the wasting heat of August, then soar once more through the cooling winds of September, and then fly once again through leaving light of October. All those wonderful Thursdays I am doing one thing an done thing only. I may win or I may loose. I may be the big defensive wall that flies out of no where to knock down your point, or the dancing bear as I make an unbelievable leap and grab for the win. Or I may gasp as my asthma clogs my lungs or I may be just too tired to do anything more than stand (yeah right). But I will, Lord willing, play Ultimate Frisbee every Thursday between the months of May-Oct and I will glorify the Lord with playing my best.

More Grey hairs

2007-07-29T05:55:00.000-07:00

So today I viewed something which took 4 years off my life. Be afraid be very afraid
http://videogames.yahoo.com/featurescreenshot?eid=524368&index=46

Answered prayers

2007-07-25T05:21:00.000-07:00

So this past week during our group intern meeting with our supervisor, someone brought up the fact that they are starting to feel sad that the internship is almost over. And almost everyone chimed in that they felt the same way except for me. I said that I was not even thinking about the time after the internship rather I was just enjoying where I was now. And this is unusual as I tend to rarely enjoy the moment and instead I am always planning for the next big thing or thinking of things to do next. Even when I planned a white water trip, a while back, when all the planning was done and we were actually camping all I could think of was for the trip to be over and what was happening next. I did have a good time rafting but I really did not enjoy the time I got to spend with my friends. It's may sound weird but I just have a hard time enjoying the moment and it has been something that has been in my prayers, off and on, for the last 4 years. And so last Thurs. ,during our meeting, here I was not thinking about the future and just being and it was wonderful.

More than meets the eye

2007-07-20T05:29:00.000-07:00

So I have waited and waited and waited for all of my male friends to go and see Transformers, so as to when I write my review I would not spoil it for them. Alas one of them has still not seen it, but oh well. If you don't want the movie to be spoiled Matt don't read any further.
So I loved this movie. It had some good character development, decent action, amazing animation, and surprisingly, humor.

One of the funniest scenes was the one where the teenage boy is trying to put the moves on the girl of his dreams. As is always the case she is not interested but little does she know that this boy has a secret weapon; his car. Actually the boy does not even know that his car is going to help him out which is even funnier. There are some hilarious scenes that take place due to this car from the car just completely stalling out on a remote, romantic cliff with a great view. Or the car picking certain songs like "Baby come back" when the boy, inevitably, over pursues the girl.
And Like I said, the action was good, but what really stole the show was the fast seamless transformation between car/plane, to robot and back again. Sometimes that would happen multiple times in a fight and yet it did not seem fake or too slow so as to distract from the action.

However with any good movie there are some downsides and there were three major disappointments with this movie. First, while the writer developed Optimus Prime, Megatron, BumbleBee, and some of the important humans, he did not develop the rest of the transformers. At the very least he should have developed Jazz and Starscream as they are two very important characters in Transformers mythology. He also mis-wrote one of the Deceptacons into the wrong form. Frenzy is not a boom box, he was a tape played by another major Deceptacon, Soundwave, who is the actual boom box.
Second, I REALLY disliked the destructibility of the transformers. They died too easily to human weapons and while I know there needs to be some human victory is all this, Transformers should not fall to anything less than a full compliment of missiles from a jet; not some RPG's.
Third, they killed every Deceptacon. Yes, Eugene, I know you say starscream is still alive but I did not see him fly away when he was hit by all those missiles. You cannot continue the Transformers universe when you kill off all the bad guys. After all it is a fight between good and evil. And yes I know there are some other bad guys out there but Megatron was the leader and Starscream his second in command. Who else can they bring in who would be a decent bad guy? And yes I realize they might not make a sequel but still, you do not kill off all the bad guys.

Anyway I did love the movie and I cannot wait for it to come out on DVD. I give it 4/5 stars.

Chappie #4: My residency

2007-07-20T05:18:00.000-07:00

So, yes, for all those who did not know I received my residency invite a week ago and I accepted that day. I am very excited not just because I am going be a chaplain for this next year at a great institution, but also because I will be paid. Now you all might be thinking I am in it for the $ but the truth is not being paid but working 40-55 hours a week is really hard. Plus I have bills to pay, things I would like to do, and I would like to be putting $ in my savings account instead of withdrawing from it.
Anyway we get to pick a concentration within our residency and I am hoping to pick Pain and Palliative; which deals with end of life. It will be hard but as I want to go into hospice it is the best prep I can get for that job. And I say hope because I wont know if I will get it until I meet with the 5 other residents and we hash out which concentrations we want.
Well all thanks for your prayers and encouragement, I am FINALLY done with retail and I am very much looking forward to my future as a chaplain.
Blessings
Jon

One man's trash, another man's umm stinky treasure?

2007-07-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

All I can say is there is no way I would keep on digging. Once I found some of this stuff, I would then stop or give the rest to someone lower on the totem pole. That is why I would not make a good treasure hunter or archaeologist, I want the treasure and the hard work, but man the smells would kill me.

VENTURA, Calif. - The spot where a pair of outhouses stood 130 years ago is proving to be a treasure trove for archaeologists who braved the lingering smell in the dirt to uncover some 19th Century artifacts — and a mystery.
The one-time site of privies for men and women has been built upon repeatedly. Recently, crews demolished a former school bus barn on the 3.5-acre downtown site in order to build a condominium complex and a parking garage.
But first, archaeologists were called in. Beginning in late May, they started digging into the ground in a discovery process that could last several more weeks.
They uncovered a pistol, a knife, whisky flasks, a set of false teeth, two dog skulls and a blade from a set of sheep shears.
"It might be an early crime scene," project archaeologist John Foster said. "It looks like the two dogs were decapitated. Then whoever did it dumped the skulls and the blade, thinking the women probably wouldn't be looking too hard into the bottom of the privy."
The work has its drawbacks.
"The further you go down, the stronger the smell," archaeologist Marisa Solorzano said. "But it's not that bad. These privies are archaeological gold mines."
The site was known to be used historically by American Indians, Spanish missionaries, Mexican soldiers and American settlers. Once, there were brothels nearby. The area, the size of two football fields, housed Ventura's first courthouse, jail and hospital during the late 1800s.
Artifacts found at the site along with photographs and other documentation, eventually will go to the Museum of Ventura County.

Chappie #3: The decision to move forward

2007-07-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

So the half-way point of my internship is here and I only have 5 weeks left and man has it been good! Yes I have had my fair share of death, sickness, depression, anxiety and even people wanting to end their life, but the LORD has seen me through it all. And where once it felt like an ulcer was in my stomach as I made my way to the ED (or ER) now I am relatively calm. That doesn't mean I don't feel useless at times or that I am able to help everyone that God puts in my path, but it does mean that I am fully confident that whatever comes my way I will be able to do my best and let God do the rest.

What has been the hardest part? Well for me it wasn't the Code Blues, Traumas, or even the infant demise. For me was coming into contact with a patient (PT) who wanted to end their life because of the incredible amount of pain the PT was in. It was especially hard because this PT was not listed as a possible suicide and so I had no idea of the conversation we would have. It was so hard that when the PT told me the PT's desires I wanted to run out of the room. This was not because of the fact I had no possible idea of how to handle this situation, but because it brought up some incredibly painful memories of a student suicide that I dealt with at seminary. However, and to me this is one of the best part's of being a Christian, instead of running, I immediately prayed and I was answered! As I felt myself begin to shut down, God instead gave me strength, peace of mind, and the ability to be there and listen to the PT. Since that PT I have had to deal with more suicides than any other intern, but I am not afraid for my LORD, my defender, my strength, is with me and He will get me through it.

What has been the best part? I can be with people and try to help them with their problems. And that is a bit strange for me, for it was only 12 years ago that as I entered College I was going to choose a profession that would limit my interaction with people. I only wanted to study the ocean, both with my eyes and my stomach, and only on occasion deal with those funny, complex, organisms called humans. However God has changed that and while it has taken over a decade for that change to take place, me I now readily enjoy people and I enjoy listening to their lives. And so I have had the chance to develop my "listening ear" as people tell me of their joys, pains, anxieties, goals, pasts, hopes, anger, and depression. And I have had the chance to bring peace, hope, and love and fulfill the Lord's command to be with the sick, the poor, and the needy. I have listened to the stories of amputees, heart PT's, PT's with HIV, diabetics, those who are clinically depressed, those who are sick of being in and out of the hospital every few weeks, and those scared to death of what their next visit with the doctor will mean. And I meet them with the Holy Spirit having gone before me, I bring with me the Love, Hope and Peace of God and I see them, or try to, with His eyes. For make no mistake there is NO way I could possibly do this on my own.

Anyway I am faced with the decision to move forward in this profession. I have an interview with Christiana Care for the residency this fall. If I am accepted I will be in a paid position (whohooo) and Ill be working about 55 hours a week. I will also have more than just one floor, like I do now, to be the Chaplain for. My interview is at 2pm on Tuesday July 10th. It will be in 2 parts. The first part will be with my supervisor and the director of Pastoral care (who is also my coordinating chaplain). The second part will be with a staff chaplain as well as someone from the oversight committee for pastoral care. It should be a breeze. I am pretty confident that I will get the job, but I want to be where the Lord wants me. So I would like to ask all who read this to please pray for me as I look towards my next stage in life. I would also like prayer as Tues. is one of my on-call nights and that means I will be working from 8am Tues-4pm Wed. It is a loooooog shift and while I do get to sleep, if the night is busy that sleep may not be coming. I will find out by Fri. if I got the job or not.

And so Ill leave you with a story of God's providence. This past Fri. I ended my time with a PT with whom I had met with a few times over a week and a half. The PT was angry with the doctors on what the PT felt was mistreatment and on our first visit I suggested that the PT should fire the PT's doctors. And that is probably one of the reasons the PT asked me to come back. This PT is also a staunch atheist and while we talked about all sorts of topics we did not go much into faith or the Bible. During the course of the three visits I had with the PT we developed a rapport and the PT freely talked to me about the PT's family, outlook on life, why I was a chaplain, a little about how faith affects the outcome of sick PT's, and a lot about history. Most of you might think that because I was not able to evangelize this PT that the visit was a failure. But the truth of the matter is we are not allowed to proselytize anyone unless that ask about our faith. We are only allowed to try and support them in their situation, maybe pray for them, and then leave. And at first this was very frustrating, but as I look to the Bible and Jesus's example I see that He often healed a person or took care of a problem, or in the case of Zacheues acknowledged his existence before He would share the reason why He was there. And that is what I do. I don't physically heal them or take care of their poverty, but I do the one thing most people never do; I listen. I listen to their problems, pains, hatreds, angers, joys, loves, all without judging, all in hope, that somehow Christ's Love will show and that I will get to share about the one whom I LOVE! There are three phases in evangelism. The sowing, watering, and reaping. My role will, most of the time, be the first so that Christians like YOU can follow up and be willing to do the rest. And that is why when I cannot out and out share my faith I am not frustrated, for I know the Lord will not let any of His own slip through His fingers.

The Kite Runner

2007-07-08T12:41:00.000-07:00

So today I realized I had not been to one of my favorite stores in a long time (a few weeks). Barnes and Nobles had not seen my smiling face and had probably missed my patronage and so I decided to go visit and pick up a couple of books....Man that was hard just picking two.
And into B&N I went and wow was I surprised... I saw Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Betrayal, The Judas Strain by James Rollins, and The Navigator by Clive Cussler. Now I am on a budget as as each of these books are $25+ I could only get two out of three. And that was a hard decision because I have read each of these authors for years now and I love them all. But then as I was trying to make a decision I saw A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and I thought hmmm maybe I should try something more thought provoking. I had heard, from a number of people, including some fellow chaplains and my supervisor, that Khaled was a very good author and so I decided to give him a chance. However I decided to read other book first The Kite Runner partially because it was cheaper than the other novel, partially because by reading his first novel it would tell me if spending another $25 would be worth it, and partially because a movie is being made http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419887/ for the The Kite Runner and I always read the book first before I see the movie. Anyway I walked out with The Kite Runner and The Judas Strain, but I will read the The Kite Runner first and I will try and have a review up by next week.

Chappie #2: A listening ear

2007-07-04T07:32:00.000-07:00

One of the dangers of being a chaplain is trivializing a person's pain or experience. It is relatively easy to do and if you do it too often the patient will shut up and not talk anymore or ask you to leave the room. And so you might loose the chance to support them.
How do you trivialize their pain? You do this by first listening to their experience and then telling them that..."Oh yes I have been through that" or "I know of someone who went through the same thing and this is how they got through it". This at first might seem good as your are just trying to show the patient that you are empathizing with them. But as they try to tell their story/pain and you try and interject with something of your own they begin to think that this person is not listening to me. And then they stop talking and let you talk which is the exact opposite of the role of the chaplain. In the first few visits the PT does not want to be told how to fix their situation or how you or a friend went through the same problem. They want to be able to tell their story/pain and they just want a person to listen. And that is hard as we, humans, seem to be hardwired to try and solve problems or talk about what we have been through instead of just listening.
This applies to every day life as well. How often do we find a friend in need or in pain and when they try to tell their story we say, "Oh it's not that bad, I had the same thing happen to me/friend/co-worker etc and this is what happened". Or "Wow that stinks, but you know what this is how you can change that". And so instead of letting the person tell us the depth of their pain, we wall it off, and try to fix it instead. Pain, like grief, needs to be worked though not necessarily solved. And that is hard because as Americans we tend to avoid pain as much as possible. Eventually Time and God allows for the healing/solving process to begin, but in the meantime we need to just to shut our mouths, (indeed zipper them if need be) pray, and open our ears.

Happy 4th of July

2007-07-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

I love the 4th of July! I love the fried food, the warm weather, and then the fireworks. For me it always takes too long for the Sun to pass through the horizon. Silently I will the Sun to move it's last sliver past the Earth so that my mind can be blown away by the magic of our hosts. I love seeing the contrasts of red/purple, blue/green, and orange/white across the night sky. And it amazes me the new shapes and designs within designs that the engineers come up with every year. I cannot wait for the day that a dragon such as the one Tolkien writes of at Bilbo's party come to pass!!

My fav. 4th of July happened near Hearing Beach in MA. I had heard their fireworks were pretty good and as I had never seen fireworks over the water before I was determined to go. So I picked up about 15 friends and we went to the beach for the afternoon playing in the water, getting bit by horsefly's, playing Volleyball, and eating dinner. Then around 9pm it all started but not at our beach. A town a few miles down started early with a HUGE bonfire and then they set off their fireworks. It was cool but I was disappointed because they were so far away and so we could not take part in the fun......then 5 min later fireworks again started going off. These were much closer and m0re colorful but again they were coming from another town a mile up the beach. Then BOOOM....BANG.....POP the fireworks I had come to see were here!!! There were all sorts of shapes and sizes and colors and they were beautiful. And the best part was that I could look all around me and see fireworks! I could look down the beach and I could see them! I could look up the beach and see them there too. And then I could lay down in the cool sand with my eye to the stars and see those explosions of light and be satisfied. And for a time I was able to put away my worries of Hebrew, and of my job, of the youth ministry I volunteered at, and how I was going to pay for the next yr of school and just be.

And so that time of year is once again here. I am looking forward to seeing friends, eating good food, and maybe throwing around a Frisbee, but the main attraction is those bursts of light and sound. And while they are often too short of a show they are none-the-less beautiful and make me look forward to the great celebration, the one that will never end, that is yet to come.

Crazy Yo-Yo guy

2007-07-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

This guy is nuts. I wonder how much time he put into this act?
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=512516&fr=&cache=1

No dough no go

2007-07-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

So while I know I wanted most of my posts to deal with movies, books, news, or my experience as a chaplain, this post will be a little off the beaten trail. I have had discussions with multiple men on a a certain topic and I was curious as to what women thought as well. This is hypothetical and yes while I know some of you are married, engaged, or dating, think back to the days when you were single and tell me what you think....
What would you do if a guy, who had most of the characteristics that you were looking for in a boyfriend, asked you out but did not have a job, or more specifically a job that did not pay yet but would in a few months. You do know him pretty well and he is a dependable guy. The guy can take you out occasionally, he does have some money put away, but it not would be to the same extent of a normal first month of dating where the guy is supposed to wow and dazzle the woman he is trying to pursue. Would you be willing to date him? Would you be willing to wait for his job to become a paying one and in the meantime hang out with him in groups etc? Or would you tell him that if you are still available when his job starts to bring in the green then you would think about taking it to the next step?
BTW if you are interested in what I think or what some of the guys I have talked to thought I post that inside after a few responses.

Just Breathe

2007-07-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

Breathing is pretty important, you need to be able to do it for just about everything. The only times it seems to be a bad idea it underwater with out a scuba tank, or when you are in a room with poisonous gases. And even then you need air you just cannot get it at the moment.
Personally I envy each and every one of you who can breathe normally. Who can talk and sing without any impediment at all. That for me just is not possible because of my asthma. Now I don't go about wheezing and for the most part I can play sports, sing when I want, etc and get by with a normal dry cough. Except that at times it can get so bad that I cannot even speak two words with out going into a coughing fit or I cant breathe deep enough to string a few notes, than it is readily apparent that I have asthma. Often times I wonder if people think I am sick and just need to get some meds or if I could shut up and go get some water to get rid of my cough. I am extremely self conscious of my cough. And it is pretty embarrassing when you are dancing with someone, having a good time, and you just cough full in their face....I tell ya nothing kills a dance faster than that.

But to keep with my Chaplain chain of thought. I have really noticed that in the hospital I cough more. It is due to stress/anxiety and it really bothers me as I do not want patients to think I will get them sick. I could wear a mask I suppose but it really inhibits the rapport between two people when you have one of those on your face. At least I can wear a normal one and not have to wear the Darth Vader mask. But if I think about it so far no one has grimaced or pulled away when I cough to the side and so maybe it is all superficial or I am just being too sensitive. I don't know but I have often wondered what my friends have thought. So what have you thought of my coughing? Did you know I had asthma?

The Art of Saying Goodbye

2007-07-01T19:31:00.000-07:00

Saying goodbye is always hard especially when the people you are saying goodbye to are/were close friends. I have had the pain and heartache of having to do this recently and to be honest it has really sucked!

These friends were with me through some of the hardest times in the history of my family. Through my grandfathers death, my aunt's death, the threatening of my parents, and the closing of my families business; just to name a few. And I have been with them through some pretty rough stuff as well. I have known them for 5 wonderful years and yet over the past two they have shown me more and more they just did not want to make the effort anymore.
And while I have tried to call them just to say goodbye, they have yet to return my calls.

So how have you handled goodbye's to friends? Do you have a certain way of doing it or do you just let go? Doesn't matter to me if they were crappy friends, good friends, friends who have faded away...just curious

Chappie #1 When does engaging the world stop?

2007-06-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

So today I came across an issue which I as a Christian have a problem with. This is the second issue that I have disaggreed with (the first I am trying to word correctly before I post) and while I am not forced to practice said issue, a few of my fellow chaplains and supervisors were a little shocked at my opinion.
The issue is whether or not I would participate in patients faith that was other than my own. To clarify, by other faith I mean Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, etc. And by participating I mean helping them pray to their spiritual god/etc or by performing rituals that are considered holy to their faith. Now as a chaplain I am responsible for supporting patients of all faiths and traditions and of that I have no problem in as much as I can observe their rituals or get them a spiritual leader who can help them in their faith. However I draw the line where they would like me to participate in their worship. For me that is worshipping another God and there are numerous verses, in the Bible, that forbid me from doing so or shows what happens to God's followers when they do forsake him. Some of my fellow chaplains, who are Christian, believe we all follow the same God and so helping the Patient worship their god is no different than when we worship ours. This syncritism has got to stop somewhere, but we are also told by Paul to be all things to all people so as witness to them The Gospel. The question is when does this engaging the world cross the line and lead us into sin and when does it open the eye's of the unbeliever?

Pranks: Show 'em if you got 'em

2007-06-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

So I love to play pranks on people. I love little pranks and big pranks but they should always be in good taste. I have used them to scare my mom, on Mission trips, freak out my cousin, or just mess with my friends. They can be as little as moving a friend's Penn-State Paws on her car to using dead fish to get some great pictures. One of my favorite pranks was used on my cousin. This happened in high school in 12Th grade. We were best friends and so while I use to be very obnoxious to her, she would always forgive me and life would move on. Anyway we were sitting with our friends at lunch and while eating she was also doing homework for some class. Well, after a while she put down her pencil to talk to a friend and when she was not looking I put her pencil through a Hot dog and then put the pendog back where she left it. Needless to say, and much to my glee, a few seconds later she picked it up and she screamed. I had tears coming out of eyes and I nearly fell out of my seat laughing.

Anyway I have plenty of other pranks that I have pulled and a few I have yet to pull. But I would love to hear about the ones you have pulled or have had pulled on you, so tell away

Click, Click Boom

2007-06-27T18:12:00.001-07:00

So I once had a friend say, "That movies are suppossed to be a social event, and that she could not imagine ever going to a movie by herself." Well I beg to differ. There are times when I have needed time to myself and while books and nature are always a good outlet sometimes I just do not want to think. So I go see a movie. Other times I go alone because I am unsure of how horrible a movie it will be. The movie can be from any genre, but the movies that tend to have the worst acting or plot are Sci-Fi, Martial Arts, or Action.
It is a movie from the last genre which I saw today and I am whole heartily glad I did not see it with anyone else. I saw "Live free or Die Hard" or Die Hard 4. Now I am a fan of the previous three and while they all had their fair share of bad acting but for the most part had pretty decent action. Well this movie fails in both regards. The action makes just make so little sense. I mean how many Jet fighter pilots that you know of would fly a multi-million dollar jet in between levels of a highway when he can just use his missiles to blow his target up? Or how many helicopter pilots do you know would just let a car fly up a ramp and crash into their 'Copter?
There were some decent lines, "How about you dig deep and grow some big balls, because you are going to need them before this is over". Or "Stop moving you damn Hamster!"
Anyway if you have to see it, wait for video, do not spend $9+ to go see it.