Sick Times Two

Now, Richard is sick, too. It would be just a head cold if not for the nausea, terrible head ache, and the agony of bone pain, especially in hips, spine and long bones. Half the folks at church have this nasty bug. Highly contagious!

That's all for today, I am off to bed.

Buyers Remorse

I have caught the bug that has been infecting one after another at church. It's nasty! I am sick and will not go around anyone until I am sure I won't infect them. Besides, I am too yucked out to be around folks anyway.

I was just beginning to feel bad last night when Richard and I went to a presentation for "Direct Savers. We are so naive and gullible, we bought in... We talked about praying first but never really did it until on our way home. After checking on the internet and not finding anything, I decided we had better got out quick and called our credit card carrier last night.

Like I said, we know better!

Meandering Adventures

We just got home from an adventure that began early yesterday afternoon. A few days ago, I received what I believed to be a notice that I had won $100 on one of four days. The prize had to be claimed before 4PM. So, since we had already planned to go to St. Petersburg to look at what one radio commentator called the best display in the state, we left early to claim my $100 prize.

There was no $100 prize for me, I should "try again after 4AM tomorrow." Did I mention this was a casino? We left, me feeling duped. But hope springs eternal as they say, so we decided to explore around Tampa and St. Petersburg, then sleep a while in the casino parking garage until the prescribed 4AM.

Meanwhile, we searched St. Petersburg only to discover that the fabled "best lights in the state" were as elusive as the $100 prize from the casino. So, back to Tampa we went via a new route, searching for stunning light displays all along the way. After a few hours' sleep in the PT Cruiser, we went in to the casino to see about my $100 prize. Not today. Check back tomorrow."

Since we had had enough of sleeping in the car, we went on home, probably forfeiting the $100 prize but no longer caring or believing in it that much.

Richard's comment was, "For old duffers, we're pretty naive, but we have a lot of fun anyway and now we know where the slum are in two more cities." He's right, we pray over people and places as we pass through them or by them. Maybe God just wants some praying folks in those places. So we had a nice Prayer drive!"

Breakfast & Holy Ground

We had a very special Sunday at The Vine today. We were probably the only church in the state, if not the country, who had a full-blown breakfast meal in the sanctuary complete with hand flipped flapjacks hot off the griddle. Our singing pastor Mike and several of the worship team led us in some of my favorite praise songs and we all ate, and ate a-plenty! Then there was a time of testimony, and several participated. I talked briefly about prayer.

After the indoor services, we held a dedication, complete with the sounding of the shofar, singing of Standing on Holy Ground, and a prayer walk on our newly acquired property "next door." Finally, a few of us went for a time of prayer at the other parcel of land the church owns. The church would not be in our present building nor have the adjacent land for expansion had it not followed the Lord's lead on getting first property, which at that time the church believed would be home for our own building. Sometimes we are not given a full understanding of God's entire plan at the time He first calls us to take action.

I had been up all night so was really tired when I got home from the church. Richard was already here by then. We visited a while, then I took a 3 hour nap. He was sweet and held all my calls. As he said, non one was in distress and I can call them back tomorrow.

We just finished watching one of my favorite movies, The Sound of Music, and I'm thinking of going to bed already!

The Christmas Letter

Richard is working today. I delivered bags of goodies to our neighbors this morning. It's been hard to get acquainted, they are all so busy and consider us too conservative, I suspect. Maybe they are afraid we will preach at them. We are closest with the gay vegetarian ladies next door and the Hindu Polynesians across the street.

I am leaving to meet my Honey at Epcot (Disney) for the annual CANDLELIGHT PROCESSIONAL. The have choirs form all over coming on the various days they perform. The most special is tonight and we have a dear young friend singing. We'll try to met him after his last performance.

Please enjoy my Christmas Page, and here is the 2008 Christmas Letter...

We send you Christmas greetings in Jesus’ precious Name and pray you know of the hope, love and joy His salvation brings. If you’re still seeking or have decided all this Jesus stuff is hogwash, He loves you just the same and is doing His best to show Himself to you. You know you can call Iona 24/7 at 407-552-9941 for prayer or to learn more about Jesus, right?

Two of our nine family members in the military are now in war zones, daughter Stephanie in Afghanistan and grandson-in-law Eddie in Iraq. Please pray for them and all our troops who sacrifice much at home and abroad to preserve our freedom.

We have a history of trying to make Christmas “over the top” every year. Looking through old pictures, we were almost embarrassed at the sprawl of gifts spreading in all directions, unable to be contained under any tree. I would wrap a $2 gift as if it were worth thousands and overdecorate to the max. I wanted to create awe in the eye of the (child) beholder with a mountain of gifts and glitz . Our pastor nailed me when he did a recent sermon on this, but he was quick to own up to his own tendency to do the same thing, bless his heart.

We decided Christmas would different for us this year. Though we would actually give more, it would not be giving to brighten anyone’s life for an hour or a day, but giving in such a way as to be life saving, or at least life changing. We are not sending traditional gifts to anyone, but honoring those on our “Christmas List” by giving, in their names, to those who need it most, gifts like a goat, a share of a deep well and pump, medical supplies, food, farming tools, clothing, Bibles etc. thereby changing the lives of the recipients, and hopefully the honorees and the donors as we consider that it is, indeed, more blessed to give than receive. May we who are so very abundantly blessed never lose sight of those who are so abundantly needy.

As always, we have been bountifully blessed in every way this past year. Iona serves as Prayer Team Ministry leader at our church where she also teaches a Bible class and does some cleaning. Richard still blesses folks riding his bus at Disney. We both love Disney, so we often go to the parks on his off days. That’s just one of the reasons we love living in Florida. Even though most of our family is far away, we saw many of them this year. It was a busy, exciting year. aren’t they all?

One of the highlights of our year was a three week road trip west to see family. Daughter Athena came with us, YAY! We saw out oldest son and most of his clan, also got to see grandson Wyatt and his beautiful mom Julia, like a daughter to us. More details below.

In July our beloved “Geezer Car” was totaled. Someone ran a red light and broadsided Iona on her way home from the church, praise God! Well, she wasn’t at fault, and was almost unhurt... Praise God, indeed!

Our daughter Crystal married Ronnie in August. This was the third year in a row that the same chaplain did weddings for one of our daughters. During the ceremony he asked us if we had any more unmarried daughters, and the crowd burst out laughing when we said, yes, there were two more!

Yes, our lives are rewarding, rich and full - and Jesus Christ is at the core of it all. We pray you are blessed with joy, prosperity and health, with loving family and friends and all things wonderful this Christmas season and all year long. But we know that not everyone has a loving family, and not all of us are healthy, that poverty may have crushed some and loneliness overtaken others... Notwithstanding all of that, Jesus is the root of joy and He will be with us through any pain, if we but allow Him. So, our prayer for you and ourselves is that we lay hold of Christ who will supply all our true needs, He who loves us and will never leave nor forsake us, He who is the fount of life to the full!

DETAILS for the speed readers or truly bored or curious:
March: Iona spent several days living it up in Destin, FL with Kim and baby Peyton at an Army conference. It was great to have quality time with them ‘cause they are top quality babes! Good shoppers, too - Iona got a huge designer purse supercheap and it always draws compliments. Iona tells folks Peyton made her buy it.
April: The Army brought Crystal to Orlando and Ronnie came to meet the parents of his then bride-to-be... or maybe he came to see Holy Land Experience with Crystal and Iona, who knows? But they blessed us and we were honored to give our blessing to their engagement. Athena joined in for a day at Disney and she and Brian served us all some of their fantastic cuisine the night before Crystal and Ronnie left.
May: Tia flew over from Japan compliments of her employer and stayed a few extra days, so we enjoyed a great visit with her and got to spend more time with Athena and Brian, as well. Tia’s quite a Disney fan, too, and has a warped and wonderful sense of humor not unlike her mother’s.
June: Athena joined us on an almost 3-week odyssey as we drove thousands of miles and searched for diamonds in Arkansas, toured the Oklahoma City Memorial, attended our fantasmic family reunion in Moab, Utah, did Vegas, Baby!, rode a steam train to the Grand Canyon, visited Scott and got to see Julia and Wyatt in Colorado and ordered pizza from 50 miles west of Gunnison, CO, by calling a college hangout on Athena’s Blackberry talking through Iona’s Garmin by way of Bluetooth... say, what?
July: Kim was in Orlando, according to Iona’s planner, but neither of us can recall it and it isn’t in the blogs, so maybe she wasn’t here after all? Iona is used to losing stuff, but when Richard can’t recall it, it probably wasn’t real in the first place. Either way, Iona was in a really good mood when she totaled our beloved “Geezer Car.” Well, she wasn’t at fault, and was almost unhurt, praise God, and Progressive was at our house with a full payout check for the car by ten the next morning!
August: We flew to Denver for Crystal and Ronnie’s wedding. This was the third year in a row that one of our daughters was married. The same chaplain did all three weddings. He asked us if we had any more unmarried daughters, and burst out laughing when we said, yes, two more. Iona went on a “girls nite out” to a ‘Gurlie flick” Mama Mia with “fav girls.” (Hope I wrote that right.) Our Denver family took us out to celebrate Iona’s birthday. We went to Blackhawk with Tami and Athena and Iona won the Mystery Jackpot of $1100 on a penny machine. Five minutes later, Richard won $1000 on the one next to her, praise God! In mid-August, Iona drove to Panama City Beach in the newly acquired PT Cruiser with Tinkerbell on the back window (she went from Geezer Car to TinkMobile). She visited Donnie for a couple of days and the celebrated their birthdays together on a nonbirthday. Friends took her out on her actual birthday and for her fourth birthday party, master cooks Athena and Brian had us over for a luscious dinner. Also, early in the month, both Iona and her doctor discovered a “mass” in her lower abdomen. After a long, irritating and completely debilitating journey through the idiocies of health insurance, Iona finally received the news, three months hence, that the “mass” was nothing more than an “odd shaped body part.” Thank you, Jesus!
September: Our friend Jill from Dothan came for a visit and enjoyed time at Disney and the Holy Land Experience. Jill is ever bubbly and fun. She has a sweet faith and is always an inspiration to be with.
October: Tami was in Orlando for a very few days. You guessed it; the Army sent her! We are blessed she was here even though she didn’t have much spare time. We did get together with Athena and Brian for dinners out, though. We’ll take whatever time we can get with any and all of our wonderful family.
November: Richard had to work on Thanksgiving as he does most holidays, so Athena and Brian came over that weekend and we celebrated on Saturday. I always love spending time with them. It’s actually quite a drive between our houses, over an hour, and none of the days off coincide, so we don’t get together as often as we’d like.

Years ago, my dad planted the seed of an annual Snider family reunion. He didn’t live to attend the first one in 1964, but his siblings took up the cause and every year kept the reunion alive. My generation saw dwindling interest and attendance until finally, this year has caused us to seriously rethink the reunion tradition. We had a great gathering in Moab, but the only ones there were some of the Utah people, Athena and us. So, no reunion is slated for this year. Anyone with ideas about the reunions, fess up! How about all you cousins out there? Nieces and nephews? Hey, we’re family!! I’ll be looking forward to your input... Meanwhile, we-Richard and Iona, along with my brother in separate cars, plan to visit old family stomping grounds and see relatives in South Dakota and Iowa. Any family members interested give us a call!

Christmas Eve

Please visit and be blessed by our Christmas Gift for You!

Athena's surgery was yesterday. It is always hard for me to know my children are ill or in pain, but it would be harder not knowing. We were so thankful she had a super hospital and a great medical team who came in before surgery and explained everything in detail. Brian's love for our sweet daughter was touchingly evident as he went through each part of the day. The more we are around that brilliant young man the more we love and respect him.

Athena came through the surgery very well, incredibly so, in fact. Her surgeon showed us pictures of her tumor in situ and the repaired uterus after the growth had been excised. It was much larger than expected and I'm sure she will notice much improvement in her health and quality of life now that it's gone. She went home a little over 12 hours after her surgery and is doing well, praise God!

There were many people praying for Athena and I honor God for His overwhelming response. She was actually smiling every time I looked at her!

Alert SleepyPost Op

Richard and I spent much of the day finishing cards. I especially wanted to finish cards for those I work closest with at church. Richard thinks I need to cut my card list which I have done each year to some extent, but we send 57 cards just to our closest family plus every year God brings more new people into our lives... also cards are one of my evangelistic outreaches.

I dressed for church and was inspired to give Jesus the best gift I could come up with. Yes, I'm already giving Him a hand vac for the church, but was that my best? Was that something to bring Him joy? He'd like the idea I wanted to honor His birthday with a gift, but the gift itself would probably not thrill Him all that much. Then I had a great idea for a gift Jesus would treasure (I suspect the Holy Spirit gave it to me) I would be the gift! So, I dressed in a gold sequin top and black velvet pants with gold and silver shoes and pinned on a large purple bow (the color of royalty for the King's gift).

Richard has to leave at 5:15 AM for work tomorrow, and Athena is still in early recovery after major surgery, so our family celebration will take place when she is better. It will be her call. But while Richard is at work, Santa will leave us stockings filled with fruit and socks and new toothbrushes, etc. elves will add more lights to the house, etc. He won't see all that until later because I am meeting him after work so we can attend the candlelight processional again. Our friend Juan from church is in the tomorrow's mass choir.

We didn't buy traditional gifts this year, not even for each other. Instead, we gave money for food, farm animals, wells, Bibles, etc. to the world's neediest people in honor of those on our Christmas lists. Rather than brighten someone's life for an hour or a day, we hope to save or change lives and in the process, change the way we and those we honor think about giving and receiving. We aren't suggesting folks quit giving presents to their loved ones, but we hope they will open their minds and hearts to what the Lord would have them do, which may be altogether different that what He leads us to do.

And my day was like this...

• 14:34 Athena doing well after surgery. She is so precious to us, it was hard to think of anyone cutting one her, even in a good way. God knew. 
  
• 14:37 Final preparations for Christmas Eve service... Two services, actually. Praise God! I pray I get all stuff done.
  
• 23:07 Christmas Eve Services were beautiful, rousing and wonderful. Then dinner at Golden Corral and driving around looking at lights. Fun!!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Ho Ho Ho

I am finally gathering data for our Christmas letter. Yep, the house is finished, all tastelessly over-decorated like I always do. The cats like it. Earlier, Richard and I drove around looking at lights. We have as lighted, blow up nativity scene, very cute, then a big fabric greeting card with angels saying, "Joy to the world..." It isn't lit but we hung a lighted star and angel in the tree above it. There are also two stars in our front-facing kitchen window, but we have no lights on the eaves this year.

I was quite nervous when Richard hung lights on the eaves last year. we don't need another brain injury in this household, thank you. Plus the lights didn't stay up or lit very well, perhaps they were too cheap, and the flimsy plastic hangers my have also been too gypo.

I had a wonderful morning at church. Many folks commenting on the Prayer Team ministry. Lots of words of encouragement. We had a message the first service and the children's program the second, so there was a full house both times. The Vine is simply an awesome church.

I got very little sleep last night so am off to bed, blessed beyond belief!