Hello Huricaine!

In 2008 in the wake of hurricane Ike, Houston struggled to put the pieces back together again. As the Music Builds tour rolled across America they had lost their venue in Houston to hurricane Ike, so they renamed themselves the Music Re-builds tour... and Swithfoot was there. Through natures providence and Gods grace, Houston did not see another hurricane again...until Switchfoot was there.

On a rainy night fans lined the outside of the Wirehouse Live to catch Switchfoots Hello Hurricane tour that is literally taking the nation by storm. In a new approach Switchfoot is playing their new CD from start to finish in the CD track order, rounding out their show with fan favorites. It is a bold move to say the least but it also accentuates the flow of the CD that the band meticulously arranged. It also signifies the bands belief in their new songs, they know that you will love Hello Hurricane and are willing to prove it. The show works. The show flows. This is one of the best concert experiences of the year.

Even if you are not a “die-hard” Switchfoot fan you will enjoy this concert. The band uses a complete stage of showmanship mixed with their talent to capture and hold your interest and expectation. Judging from the “chatter” of those exiting the concert there were not disappointment mixed in the emotions of the evening.

As the band continues to take control of the forces of nature and ride their storm known as the Hurricane Tour allow yourself to get caught up in the whirlwind, if only for one night. The band is enjoying sold out shows across the country so don’t wait until the last minute to get your ticket.

When Heaven Meets Earth…

Last week during my church’s worship service the words to the song How He Loves were transcribed and projected as, “When heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss” when the lyrics are written as, “When heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss.” It, at first, made me smile/blush~ then giggle. It reminds me of that blog post I did a while back about who is hearing what. It amplifies to me that we can all be hearing the same heavens song yet interpret differently the word, sometimes without altering the meaning of the message. I can only speculate that in that audience on that day someone needed a sloppy wet kiss from God… As for me, I think all of my future kisses are unforeseen!

**See Dan's comments...apparently it was written as sloppy wet kiss!

NeedToBreathe's The Outsiders

We have all felt like the Outsider, either as the only Christian in a group of non-believers, or at a small group meeting having not studied the weekly lesion. Somewhere inside of each of us there is a rejected thread of life leading us to feel the sting of being an outsider.

"I've been wondering if we start sinking could we sand our ground? After everything we've learned we've finally come to terms…we are the outsiders" NeedToBreathe has done what to most would be impossible. They not only avoided the "sophomore slump" with their second CD, The Heat. They have came back with a third CD that will forever solidify them as one of the best bands recording CD's today, in any genre. If CCM were looking for new "darlings" to represent the Christian market in a secular arena NeedToBreathe would be their best bet. According to their fan site, The Breathers, NeedToBreathe will be the supporting band for Kings of Leon on a portion of their fall tour in addition to headlining their own tour. Very busy band for sure.

Every song on The Outsiders is a stand alone radio hit. There is not one that stands out or lags behind the rest, making it hard for a critic to single out highlights for a review. Lay `Em Down is the first radio offering that the band laid on the turn table. Opening with heavy drum/stomp track that reminds you of an 80's fist pumping arena rock song, Lay `Em Down "makes good on a promise" of a great CD.


If you think that you've heard These Hard Times before even though its your fist time hearing the CD, you are probably correct. The song is currently being used as the intro on NBC's fall show Mercy. If the secular market is confused as to whether these guys are truly a Christian band the words to These Hard Times, "Give me something sacred, something worth fighting for. Its clear enough to me the ugliness I see is evidence of who I need… give me the faith to believe in these hard times" should help clarify things.

For those in the Christian market who are confused as to whether these guys are truly a Christian band the words to Garden, "Let the songs I sing bring joy to you. Let the words I say profess my love, let the notes I chose be your favorite tune, Father let my heart be after you" should help to clarify things for them! Rarely, if ever, has there been a band that can write a CD of such diverse offerings that would honestly appeal to both Christian and secular music fans. I believe it is because this CD is full of GREAT music… no matter what genre you support you can appreciate that.

There are a couple of tracks on The Outsiders that I am looking forward to see if they translate well into a live show. One being Let Us Love, again for the arena-anthem- rock style of the song, the other is Stones Under Rushing Water, a slower love song. A couple of fun sing along songs round out the CD, each deserving a spotlight of their own.

This CD is simply "Something Beautiful." If you have the opportunity to play music at work, where not everyone scribes to CCM, The Outsiders is the CD you need to bring along. "I can't figure out just how much air I will need to breathe, when your wave crashes over me." Let NeedToBreathe' s The Outsiders crash over you and become an Outsider. It will soon become a favorite in your play list.

The "Story" behind "Jant"

I recently sent someone the story behind why people call me Jant. He suggested I write a book. LOL It made me think...I wonder if all of my friends have heard the story...



Scene: Sophomore year: Georgia Southern College: 1987 (*Now Georgia Southern University): English Class: Front row student: Late to class.

The instructor is taking up the papers that we wrote. Mine was on the invention of a new and soon to be revolutionary HGTV! No one had heard of it, but me just coming off of two years studying film at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), had been studying how this was going to change everything we've ever seen in TV transmitting. I was so proud of that paper I had told all my friends how much it rocked. I had told the girls in the dorm how wonderful it was. I had bragged in study hall, how they needed to read it when I was done so they could learn something...

Late for class I hastily folded the paper in half long ways as instructed and scribbled my name on the side of the paper and handed it in.

Two days later ( M-W-F class) The instructor hands back all of the papers except mine... He holds it up in the air with a HUGE red F on the side of it written in thick-poster-marker and asks who's paper it was.... I raised my hand with tear filled eyes and whimpered it was mine... He (very loudly I might add) exclaimed, "Well, I had no idea who "Jant" was... so...seeing as how you could not manage to spell your own name right on the outside of the paper...I held out no hope that ANYTHING inside the paper was spelled correctly either..."

I was able to turn in a re-write to receive one letter grade less than what I would have originally received... and I forever became known to all of my college friends as Jant.

True story...

Tell me I'm forgiven and loved...

Jimmy Needham led worship at my church Sunday. He graduated from the same high school that Chance is attending. I didn't even know he was from Tomball! I've mentioned on twitter before how his lyrics to "Forgiven and Loved" struck me in a way, I'm sure he didn't intend. There is a line in that song that says, And my peace is almost past away. I have felt that since daddy died, my peace did pass away with him. I've had an incredibly hard time dealing with his death.

My pastor's series of sermons has been titled "Talking Donkeys" where we're exploring seemingly insignificant passages in the bible. This past Sunday we focused on 2 Kings 6. In a nut shell the sermon focused on how when the worker lost his ax head, he first had to admit that he needed help. There was a great illustration on how we lose our ax head and continue to strike the tree with just the handle, yet insist that there is nothing wrong, even though everyone around us can clearly see that there is.

The second key point is found in verse 6. Elisha asked the worker to show him exactly where the ax head was lost, "And the man of God said, Where fell it? and he shewed him the place." The lesson taught that when we lose something, we have to go back to the place where we first suffered the loss. That is where God is going to restore to us what is gone. It can be a physical place, or a place in our soul/heart/thinking.

Earlier in the week I was listening to the band The Listening. They have a EP called, The Rock&Roll Worship Circus is becoming The Listening. On that CD there is a song that's last line (is something like) "If you don't know where is you're going, you have to go back to where you started growing..."

So twice in one week I'm picking up on the theme of going back to where you started from if you've felt like your no longer growing or you have lost something.

Something I'll still ponder in the days ahead.

Dying social skills

I was listening to KSBJ this morning while they were talking about the amount of texting that people do. I had the opportunity several years ago to attend a gathering with a vibrant online community. There were moments of awkward silence, referred to as the 60 second rule. (At the online community you have to wait 60 seconds between posts.) Even though there were strong friendships made prior to the actual meeting.

All of this got me thinking. Is the online social networking, killing social skills? Have we become so online driven that we are actually loosing face to face communication skills? (Have you ever used LOL or OMG in "Live" conversations?)

I have read other peoples blogs where they feel that blogs/journals are becoming a thing of the past due to the "What are you doing?" status update lines common to Twitter, or Facebook.

I do not have a solution to this. I merely see it as a trend in our social behavior. Any thoughts?

American Airlines (Why I will never fly with them again!)

I should just re-post my letter of complaint against American Airlines but I think that maybe I should give them some time to respond before I do. I know, its not like me to be so nice when dealing with a complaint, however I think that just the fact that I'm never flying with them again may prompt you to at least research airfares with another company prior to selecting AA. I know I say never, yet given the amount of time that I spend in the air, and my dislike of the drive to Houston's Hobby, there is a remote chance that I will consider AA again in the future. BUT when that day comes, as it may, I will have this blog post to refresh my memory.

Check back soon, I may spill my story here after all...

Miss California

I took a picture of Miss California.




This was taken at the Gospel Music Award show (The Doves.) She was there because of her Christian answer that she gave during the Miss USA pageant. Less than a month later TMZ posts topless pictures of her. Granted they were taken before she willingly, of her own accord, jumped into the spot light of fame but none the less not at a good time for her. I have read comments from people who think that TMZ has poor taste.

I think that the pictures themselves were in poor taste. I wonder, how they have helped her career? Why would anyone take nude/ simi-nude photos? If you are going to try and build your fame among the Christian community or use your morals as a high ground then you should live every day under the same standards.

If you have daughters, let them know that NOTHING GOOD WILL EVER COME OUT OF POSING NUDE! (For anyone, ever!) Never take a photo that you would not be embarrassed to show to your daddy, or have shown on the overhead in church.

Has she made a mistake? Yes. Should be forgiven? Yes. Should we all be praying for her? Yes. Should we be judging her? No. But should we be learning from her mistake? Yes.

If you are young enough for people to still want to see you nude, please, please, please DON'T GO DOWN THAT ROAD! NOTHING GOOD WILL EVER COME OUT OF IT! (It might get you in Maxium, or Playboy, or a commercial/movie... but at what cost? And do you really want to be famous that bad, or for that?)

Third Day on the third day finale

As the last of the Third Day on the third day approaches I'm perplexed on what to write about them. I last saw them GMA week in Nashville at a fundraiser sponsored by Big Kenny from the country band Big and Rich. The band played near the end of the evening, after a list of country music's finest artist, yet Third Day garnered the best crowd response! I don't know if everyone was just tired of sitting on their butts and wanted to be dancing or not, but it took very little encouragement from Mac Powell to get them up & at it! That "benefit crowd" really let their hair down and cut a rug!

It was only one song, but I pray that it left a lasting impression on them. It is very fitting that this is the finale of the 3D on the D3 blogs as it was probably my last time seeing Third Day for a while. (Until the Fall? maybe?)

Roll on Third Day and I will keep rockin'!

Third Day on the third Day

Yes I will once again gear up for a run of Third Day shows through Texas (its why I moved here right, right ;) ) In preparation for the shows I've been doing a bit of Third Day voting... Have you voted yet? First place to get your vote on is at the "Official" GMA web page by voting for Third Day as artist of the year!

Next up in your web tour with Third Day voters is to hit the Sophie Show and vote for Third Day to beat Depeche Mode (yes its a secular station and Third Day is in the top voting for their song Slow Down)

Join me next month when my shows are over and I'm getting ready for the whirlwind also known as GMA WEEK!!

Question for my fellow RN's

Recently I had a patient come down for surgery who had dementia and diabetes. The family had phoned in the surgery consent but were now bedside for the procedure. The patient was adamant that they had brought a breakfast tray into her, she had eaten eggs & bacon but they took it away from her before she could finish. The nurse had documented that the patient was NPO since MN the night before.

Even though the patient suffered from dementia her second proclamation of anger over her tray being taken away prior to her finishing the meal prompted the anesthesiologist to have the RN on the floor called to verify the NPO status.

When I called up to the unit, it was shift change and the new RN said that’s what she had been given in report but the other RN was still in the locker room. I asked her if she could please verify with me the NPO status. When the primary RN was being questioned I could hear her in the background, “NO the patient didn’t get a tray taken away! We did catch her with a couple of cookies from her own private stash but it was only one or two!... Tell them they were sugar free, good God.”

The anesthesiologist was livid! He wanted to know if that RN understood what NPO stands for. (To all OR nurses who have had to endure the brunt of misplaced frustration I know you can relate.) The surgeon came in, and because the surgery was for placement of a catheter for dialysis, it was late, and the patient needed to be dialyzed today went to the family and told them that we had to do the surgery or she could die…however she could die because she ate.

Anesthesia decided to do a rapid sequence intubation and continue on with the surgery. (At this point it had been 6 hours since the “cookies”) The MD wanted to make sure that a report of some kind was followed up on to make sure that some teaching was done to the RN on the floor. I asked if he wanted her “formally” written up or a verbal to my supervisor to take care of things. He stated that a verbal would be OK. I made a copy of the documentation and gave it to my supervisor. The next day, the anesthesiologist, went to her as well to follow up- prompting her to mandate that I do a formal incident report for teach only purposes.

I wonder if non-operating room nurses know/understand why it is so important that a patient be NPO prior to surgery? One anesthesiologist was talking to another one at the surgery desk and made the comment, “You know I heard a nurse tell a patient one time that the reason they were to be NPO is so that they don’t throw up after surgery… The patient drank thinking that it would be so bad to throw that up afterwards…”

Any thoughts? Any suggestions on teaching tools? Maybe I should make something…