It’s been awhile since I gave you my personal update. Thanks to Cindy for keeping you updated during this time.
God has been good to me over the past few weeks. It was four weeks ago that I was admitted to the Hospice in-patient facility, terribly ill with pain and nausea. The Hospice doctor told Anita that in her opinion I had a week -a-half to two weeks of life left. She said that Anita should call the children. She did and Stephanie immediately caught a flight to Atlanta.
But I surprised them all. I had set as a goal attending the General Assembly in Washington and then getting away for a family vacation. Hospice was very supportive in helping me realize these goals, although I don’t think they thought they were realistic!
You know the rest of the story. With the help of numerous people, the use of a “scooter” to get from building to building, I participated in the commissioning service and several other meetings, and was able to greet hundreds of dear friends. Stephanie served as chief guard and nurse and I was able to participate rather fully in the Assembly.
And then, thanks to the generosity of a dear friend from Hendricks Avenue Baptist, we were flown in a private jet to Hilton Head Island where we enjoyed a family vacation in this family’s beach house. Stephanie and Charley were able to be with us during several days of our time there. What a joy!
Throughout this time, I was able to keep the pain under control and to find joy in each day. I am taking a massive dose of Methadone to control the pain. The result is that though the pain is being managed, my alertness level is severely limited. I’m able to stay awake only a few minutes, and then I fall asleep! But those who know me know that it’s not personal!
Each passing day is a reminder that my time is limited. I have always given thanks for each new day, but now that word of thanksgiving is wrought with greater significance. I invite you to join me in thanking God for each new day of existence.
30 comments:
God bless you Jack! I am so thankful you made it to General Assembly and the beach!! We all know how important goals are, and I am glad God enabled you to reach those goals.
Thanks as always for sharing your words of encouragement. Please know I pledge my support for Stephanie, both professionally and personally, in all the days ahead.
Prayers and peace,
Beverly Connell
Greenwood School
Mom just e-mailed me the link to your blog. Reading your words and seeing your pictures brought back a flood of happy memories. I was thrilled (but certainly not surprised!) to see that you continue to enjoy life to the fullest. Please give my best to the whole family.
With much love and many prayers,
Lisa
mcgre002@yahoo.com
Jack-
You have amazed us over and over again. We are so grateful for all of the wonderful time you have had these months with family and friends. I remember telling you early in this journey how much I wished my mother had been able to face the reality of her terminal illness and give us the gift of closure and joyful times together during her final months and weeks. I am so grateful that you have given that gift to yourself and to Anita, Stephanie and Charley. All any of us have is this day~you have shown us how to sieze that and squeeze as much life as we can out of it. Thank you.
We love you dearly, friend, and are so grateful for your fingerprints that are all over our lives...
-Amy and John
Birmingham, AL
Jack:
My friend, as I have observed before, God has been and will be with you, as a good man of faith and an example to everyone. God has missions for all of us. Yours has spanned a lifetime of devotion and hard work. Others of us have been called on in different ways. You have obviously succeeded in your mission, and those of us still striving, look to you as encouragement. Susan and I ---and everyone from the class of '59-- wish you and yours well. Your journey is just starting, and what a journey it will be.
Kind regards,
Doug Rohrman
We continue to be amazed, along with many of your friends and the hospice nurses, at your unquenching joy of living in faith. Thank you and your family for giving us the opportunity to join you in your walk and your trial and to be your prayer partners. We're so blessed to know of your part in the General Assembly and your family vacation.
Judy wanted you to know that I nod off without the excuse of Methadone, so don't let that bother you. Your life and your written updates continue to inspire us. Thnak you for allowing God to use you.
Ted & Judy Haney
Am so happy (and thankful) you were able to make it to both places... Especially the vacation in Hilton Head with your family. I know the time spent with them was very precious (for all of you). Lots of love being sent your way... ((((HUGS))))
-Jennifer (Hanson) Closson
Dearest Jack and Anita -- you are our darlings forever and ever, world without end!!!
Hugs and smooches,
Julie and Bill Mason
Glory be! Every day is a new little miracle -- and so are you. Your Texas contingent sends much love and many prayers and hugs.
Harriet
Dearest Jack, Anita, Stephanie and Charley, How grateful we feel for the blessings you have shared with all of us. How can we adequately say thanks to you and to God for each moment and each experience we have known in our lives together here? You have opened so many doors and windows to let in God's precious light by your words and your deeds. Walking with you is like having the scales removed from our eyes, minds and hearts. Always I am reminded of anthems we have sung through the years we shared together. "And the Father dances over you with joy; He takes delight in you He loves. Is that a choir I hear singing the praises of God? NO, the Lord God Himself is exulting over you in song" I know I altered the words a little, but you have brought down His joy to so many of us. How grateful we feel for every day of you life! AND we will continue to praise God and give thanks through all eternity for what you have meant to our lives!
LOVE
Ann and Jim
Jack you are amazing! Your life is such a testimony to me and so many others. I am so glad you were able to enjoy some time at a beach that is close to my heart and home.
Love,
Tina
Well, Jack, the only reason I can imagine for the Hospice docs to be surprised by your reaching your goals of getting to the General Assembly and to the beach is that they simply haven't known YOU as long as the rest of us. There's something to be said for a nice strong sense of focus (stubborn streak?)!
I got back from taking my students to Europe and listened to the commissioning service online. You may have no idea how good it was to hear your voice - even coming through laptop speakers, it was a gift.
Wishing you, Anita, Charley, Stephanie, and Henry much peace and great joy. I love you.
Laurie
Jack & Anita,
I've just read all 11 responses to your post-Assembly message, and am impressed all over again at how deeply you have affected so many lives across our planet. Personally, I draw much inspiration at your courage to get to General Assembly, and now to the coast, to be with an assembly of a different kind, your wonderful family. Enjoy every moment, and may you have Peace.
Love,
Joel Hitt
The Hopice people haven't known you in life. How dare they predict your death!! When you are ready, dear, sweet, Jack, to "lay your mantle down", so many will be there to greet you. Many of us have been comforted when you have reminded us of those waiting to greet our loved ones over that River Jordan. Just think of the multitudes waiting to welcome you to the place of no pain and no sorrow. I'm having a hard time imagining that right now because I already feel sorrow just thinking about you not being here. What I do know is that I have felt sorrow before and God has healed. I think now is the time for "thank you" and "I love you". God's speed, my dear friend. You are so special.
Love, Miss Dixie
Please know Jack that my associates and I at B.G.E.A. are praying for you daily, as well as giving thanks for each day that each one of us is rewarded with. It has been a busy couple of months at B.G.E.A., with the dedication of Dr. Graham's Library, and then the death of Mrs. Graham. Through all of her illness, many of us could still see God working miracles thru her just as we see Him working thru you each and every day. We're all still praying for a healing miracle, but also giving thanks for your friendship and all you've done to further the cause of Christianity in this world. I sincerely treasure having you in my life!
Prayerful Blessings My Brother,
Stan Lambert
Hi Jack,
It is always very heartwarming to hear from you and you have never failed to shine for the Lord. I thank the Lord for the blessings of knowing you.
In His Love
Andrew Goh
Dr. Jack, Anita, Stephanie, Henry & Charley,
WOW!! You did it...although I'm not surprised but so happy for you. Each day is such a gift and I thank you for all the gifts you've given to me and so many others over the years. Dr. Jack you are the "BEST"!!
With much love,
Sheryl
Dear Jack,
I am deeply inspired by your courage and hope. I thank you for sharing the wisdom of these days with us. I read a wonderful quote by a physician that I wanted to share with you “It’s been a little over a year now since I discovered I have a fatal disease. In trying to explain to family and friends what having this period of time has meant to me, I have found it helpful to characterize it as a gift.... It has allowed me time to prepare my family for a future in which I will not be physically present to them. It has given me the opportunity of tying up all the loose ends that our lives all have. I have been provided the opportunity of reconnecting with those who have taught me, who have shared their lives with me, who have touched my life. I have been able to reconnect with those from whom I had become estranged over the years, to apologize for past wrongs, to seek forgiveness for past failings.
But even more than all these, this gift has provided me the opportunity of discovering what it is like to live in the light of death, to live with death sitting on my shoulder. It has had a powerful effect on me, my perspective on the world and my priorities... I like the person I am becoming more than I have ever liked myself before. There is a kind of spontaneity and joyfulness in my life that I had rarely known before. I am free of the tyranny of all the things that need to get done. I realize more than I have ever before that I exist in a web of relationships that support and nourish me, that clinging to each other here against the dark beyond is what makes us human...I have come to know more about what it means to receive and give love unconditionally...
...To live in the bright light of death is to live a life in which colors and sounds and smells are all more intense, in which smiles and laughs are irresistibly infectious, in which touches and hugs are warm and tender almost beyond belief... I wish that the final chapter in all your stories can have a chapter in which you are given the gift of some time to live with your fatal illness.”
Thank you for showing us about living in the bright light of death and know that the Tallahassee Fellowship loves you much and is praying for you.
With much love and appreciation,
Rev. Candace McKibben
God bless, now and always,
Julie and Phil Brown
Dearest Jack,
It is an honor and a privilege to have had you as a Pastor, spiritual guide, shoulder to cry on, and most of all Brother. When I think of our times together, I hear your wisdom and our laughter. What wonderful times we have all had together. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow afternoon.
Love always,
Joyce
Jack--
My father was blessed in his journey to the great beyond via liver cancer. I took it as a blessing from God and hospice that pain was minimal and healing took place in a situation where man could not perform miracles.
My prayers for your continued peace and we will all gather above to continue the journey.
Gene Scarborough
You and your family are in our thoughts and prayers every day.
Your spirit will always enrich our lives.
Love Patti and Ralph Carson
Dear Jack, Anita, Stephanie, Charley, and Henry,
So thankful that you were able to participate in D.C., and that you were able to have the time at the beach. You are all in our prayers--for comfort and peace for your family, and in thanksgiving for what you have given to so many. You are a powerful example. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. We love you!
Brenda and Mark
Dear Jack and Anita,
Since I received the news of Jack’s illness, just after we had left the US and missed getting to see you all, I have found it hard to write. My thoughts have been so frequently with you and I have been grateful for the updates on how you are doing without having to pry. I pictured you in DC having been there just a couple weeks ago and then found out that we had been on the May River within days of your trip to Hilton Head—you have all been on my heart and mind. I was beyond disappointment that our Christmas trip in December didn’t include time with you two as it had during our last family trip to the US.
It is the act of putting all the thoughts in my mind to paper has been beyond hard.
The memories of you two that I will carry with me are the years we spent in Singapore together. I remember hearing from Ken Meyers that his pastor was moving to Singapore, asking if we could do anything to help you settle in. We had such a great time meeting with you, providing as much information as we could to ease the transition. I remember amazing Southern dinners in your comfortable home. Our kids always eager to get to the toys in the bedroom closet. Warm afternoons around the enormous lagoon of a swimming pool, enjoying food, conversation and watching the kids go down the water slide unceasingly. Your home always a haven for a rest, medical trips, and meetings for so many people in the region. Meeting after the Tsunami to talk about how to support people in the field and affected communities.
I would have to say my favorite image is the evening that you two stopped by a gathering at our home. You came dressed in your “smart casual” riding on your motorcycle, with Anita in her brilliant pink linen and a helmet on the back.
There is so much truth in the quote, “People will not remember what you said, but will always remember how you made them feel.” We always left your home with warm feelings, feeling known, feeling accepted and loved. It seemed a flash of time from the time you arrived in Singapore to the time you returned to the US. But there was always going to be the pleasure of seeing you on our trips home. Jack I am beyond sadness and miss you already. I feel cheated of time I thought we would have with you. As Christians we are told that God fills the gap within us, but Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that some gaps are not filled, some remain open, and in staying open we are reminded of and remain connected to those we love and miss, even at the cost of pain. The pain in this life is a gift. Pain that reminds me how blessed we were to be a part of your life and share a part of our life with you. God bless you Jack. And when we see you again, God WILL fill that pain with blessed fellowship with each other and Him.
Thank you for sharing your journey of life and illness with us. We look forward to being with you for the journey of eternity.
Love,
Suzanne Anderson
WE THANK GOD FOR YOUR LIFE AND ASK THAT HE GIVE HIS PEACE TO EACH OF YOU DURING THIS TIME....THANK YOU FOR REACHING OUT TO BLESS OTHERS ..
A few weeks ago I had the blessing of hearing the Florida Baptist All-State Youth Choir in concert. The final selection (as always) was David Schwoebel's "An Expression of Gratitude."
As the choir sang (with many alumni joining) I was taken back to many dark night's of the soul in which you stood beside me.
The text of this great anthem so states my feelings right now. Even that night as I sat listening, I began to cry. No one around me knew the reason, didn't matter, it was my time to grief for "my Pastor."
In all the years I have know you, I have never called you "Jack", you are Dr. Snell (just how I was raised, you know) but now I say...
My dearest brother, pastor, and friend Jack...
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always with joy in every prayer for you.
I thank my God for your fellowship in the gospel, from the very first day till now, I thank my God for you.
And I am sure that He who began a good work in you, will bring it to completion, at the day of Christ.
And this I pray, that your love many abound more and more in knowledge, in judgement, that you may approve what is excellent to the glory of God.
That you may be pure and blameless, filled with the fruits of righteousness which comes through Christ Jesus.
I thank my God! I thank my God!
You will forever be in my heart!! I thank my God for you!!!!
Blessings
Hugh Patterson
As I read all of the above thoughts and prayers for you and the family, it is so hard to think of you not being around. You have always been there ( for everyone).
It is like a reunion of sorts for all of us readers, hearing from those that have touched our lives over the years. Much Love to you, Anita, Steph & Henry and of course
Charlie...
Vicki
Love you like a ROCK!
Julie and Bill Mason
Dear Jack and Anita,
Just a quick note to say you all continue to be in our prayers. I know the rest and family time you all have been blessed with will be cherished for years to come. I pray everyday that God provides the comfort you and your family needs until he is ready for you. I feel honored to have known such a faithful servant of his. You continue to be an inspiration to us all.
Florence Allen
you are an amazing inspiration. God Bless, now, forever and always!
Jack,
You are in my thoughts and prayers.
I followed your TV shows in Jacksonville. How was your stint
in Asia?
Give my regards to Anita.
Rod Conrad
roderick.conrad@ritzcarlton.com
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