A Reminder of Our Limitations

As I go through most days I don't give much thought to the limitations due to my disabilities. I know I can't walk, but with my electric wheelchair I can move around quite easily. I have enough use of my arms so I can do a variety of things for and with my sweetheart, DebbieLynne. That allows us to be "just the two of us" for much of the day.

As much as I would like to, I can't do everything for DebbieLynne. She, too, would like to be able to do everything for me. But due to our limitations we do what we can for each other, and rely on the help of others for the rest.

For the things we can't do for one another, we need the help of people serving as personal care attendants. Today we learned that the woman who has been helping get DebbieLynne to bed on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, and help her get up Sunday mornings, will no longer be able to do so, starting this Sunday, the day after tomorrow. Due to an unexpected situation the woman is moving out of state.

One lady from church has already offered to help this Sunday evening and again on this coming Wednesday evening. That generous offer took some of the pressure off of us. Once we find somebody for this Sunday morning we'll be able to move on to trying to locate and hire somebody who can do those time slots on a regular basis.

Deb and I would sure like it if we were not disabled and could be the ones helping others less able than ourselves. But Deb didn't choose to be born with minimal use of her arms and legs. And I didn't choose to become paralyzed by polio when I was six years old. So we do whatever we can and appreciate the help others provide to do what we can't do on our own.

Being reminded of our limitations does have the benefit of bringing to mind that everyone has certain limitations that can only be met by God. We both need help when it comes to thoroughly washing up physically. Everybody needs the help of Jesus to be thoroughly washed up spiritually. ("If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9 ESV)

People near and far are praying for God to provide a new personal care attendant for the times DebbieLynne now needs help. Whoever that person is will be paid for the work she does, so hopefully that money will be a help to her.

Thank you for your prayers. We thank God for you, and for those who are helping and will be helping us do what our limitations don't allow us to do for ourselves.

Off to See the Wizard? No...the Withches!

Yup, it looks like DebbieLynne and I are going off to see the highly rated and popular Broadway musical "Wicked -- The Untold Story of Witches of Oz" in August. The story takes place both before and during Dorothy's visit to Oz, and is told from the perspective of the wicked witch of the west, Elphaba, and the good witch of the north, Glinda.

DebbieLyne has never been to a major professional theatrical production before, so this will be quite a treat. If all goes well on Sunday, August 25, we'll start off by going to Park Street Church on the edge of Boston Commons.Then we'll have a quick bite of lunch before heading over to the Boston Opera House for the one o'clock start of the play.

When I first went online to check ticket prices, it looked like going to see Wicked was pretty much out of the question. A precious friend had given us a generous financial gift and told us to spend it on a special treat, but even that would only have covered the cost of single ticket in the cheapest location, which probably wouldn't even have been wheelchair accessible. Seating in any of the better areas was way out of our price range.

Nevertheless I called the theater's help line to see if there were any seating locations available for wheelchair users at a discounted price. I left my name and number, and the other day got a call back. I was quoted much more reasonable prices, especially if I could pay with an American Express card. Thankfully I have one that doesn't charge an annual fee, and was able to use it to buy the tickets. The cost for the two tickets was actually a little less than the amount of that gift from our friend!

 So it's off to see the Wizard...I mean the Witches of Oz!

Solving Technical Difficulties

Deb was the first to notice that something might be wrong with our phones. The speaker phone on her desk had a blinking red light. I checked the phone in the bedroom and got noise coming from the headset but not a dial tone.

When I wheeled into the livingroom to check the phone on her desk, There was no dial tone on that phone either. And it was almost time for DebbieLynn's personal care attendant to arrive. How would the person let us know she was down at the entrance of our apartment building if our phones weren't working?

I did have my cell phone, but the attendant doesn't have the phone number. So I took the elevator down so I could let her in. Sure enough, she'd already arrived and discovered that our phones weren't working.

Obviously (to me) the thing to do next was to call our phone company on my cell phone to see if they could remedy the situation. I disconnected the phone in the bedroom since the technical service department usually asks that only one phone be active when they're troubleshooting a problem.

However before I actually made the phone call on my cell phone, DebbiieLynne suggested I check to be  sure the phone cord was fully plugged into the jack in the wall. Hmm.

Well...I did what she recommended and indeed it seemed like it had become a mite loose. And...behold the blinking red light on the desk phone went out. And...that phone now had a dial tone!

Thank you, DebbieLynne, for your solving of the technical difficulties with our phones. Thank you for saving me the trouble of calling our phone company and probably waiting on hold for a prolonged period only to eventually be told to do what you had suggested I do.

I thought I was the technical geek in the family. Well, I am the geek, just not as technical as I thought I was.

Thank you again, DebbieLynne. You do have a brain and you do know how to use it. Once again I am reminded that I should listen to my wife. Sometimes I neglect to do that. I'm quite glad I did listen to her last night.

Jesus Came to Israel

The mother of Jesus was a Jew. Her parents and their parents were Jews. When He grew up, He lived and did miracles among the Jews, the people of Israel. He was the One the prophets had spoke about. Some believed. Some did not.

Today there are Jews who have come to believe the glorious truth that Jesus is the Messiah, and that He is Emmanuel, which means God with us. I pray that others will come to know that as well.

I don't have time to write much of a blog post today. But I'll let the word of this song do the talking. I hope you will be blessed by them.

We Got to the Train (Station) On Time

When we go into Boston to sight see or go to appointments, we like to come home by way of South Station whenever possible. It's a quicker and much smoother ride to take the train than to go by subway and bus.

Last week, after my visit to my primary care physician, we cancelled the requested paratransit van transport because the weather was supposed to be mild and dry for the most part. So we wheeled ourselves from the doctor's office to South Station.

Well, the weather wasn't dry or very mild, and I had to stop along the way to buy a hat and gloves. But we arrived at South Station and I was prepared with my digital camera to take pictures of the electric train display they set up at Christmastime each year.

But...last week when we got to South Station...the had only begun to set up the display. As yet there weren't even any trains on the table.

Well, today I had another doctor's appointment. Afterwards we took the subway from the doctor's office to South Station and much to my delight, the train set up was complete! And, for some reason, DebbieLynne was also very happy for me.

This year the display included a light house, sail boats, and simulated water.

Now I'll see if I can share a picture or two and maybe a video of the display.

Time for the Christmas Letter

Each year about this time Deb writes a Christmas letter to send out to our friends and family members via both email and regular mail. This was quite an eventful year for us, with both harrowing trials and joyful celebrations.

Even the writing of the Christmas letter had a minor trial or two. Deb now has a new computer with a new operating system and a new version of Microsoft Word.  For a while neither of us could get the spell checker to work, even aftter following the official instructions. Then suddenly the spell checker started working, and that was a relief.

When it came time to print the paper copies of the letter another hitch developed. The letter wouldn't print. The printer was connected and turned on and the program was telling it to print, but nothing was happening. Well, I didn't know what else to do, so I turned the printer off, then on again. Sure enough, that took care of the problem.

Originally Deb was going to include my online Avon webstore URL in the letter, but then I checked and discovered the URL no longer works. After many years as an Avon representative, I'd had to give up the direct selling to my local customers this year due health problems and drop in sales, but I'd kept the online webstore for those who wanted to use it and have orders shipped directly to them. But, apparently due to lack of activity, the webstore was closed and I'm no longer an Avon representative.

But I'll still do what I can when I can to earn some extra money. I'm a guy and like many men I like to do something to earn money to provide for my wife. It's not essential that I work, but as long as I'm able I will seek to do so.

 Although I'm no longer an Avon representative, but I am still an Amazon affiliate. That is why you will see Amazon banners on my blogs. If anyone goes to Amazon by clicking on one of the banners and then orders anything on Amazon I will earn a commission.

This has been quite a year for Deb and me. Getting the Christmas letter written and ready to send out has been a time to look back at what God has brought us through, both the trials and the blessings.

Thank you all for your prayers. Thank you to all who have helped us in so many ways. May you all be greatly blessed at this Christmastime and throughout the coming year.

Time For A New Computer For Deb

Deb's computer is quite old, and  lately we'd been considering getting a new one. Yesterday it became clear to us that right about now was the right time to go ahead and order one.

Thankfully, we won't have to go into debt to get the computer. Thanks to the generosity of many of you, we no longer have the debt that medical expenses put us into. We now have enough money to purchase a new computer outright.

We won't be extravagant with the buying of the computer. She doesn't need one that can play dazzling high action video games. But she does need one that can handle an artwork program, a good Bible study program, go online for blogging, research, and fellowship, and playing games like Bookworm, and Scrabble.

I'm so glad that God chose for DebbieLynne and I to be born and live at a time when home computers are available. DebbieLynne is so creative both in her writing and art, and a computer enables her to express those gifts in so many ways. A computer and the Internet also make it so much easier for her to communicate with people using Facebook, Twitter, and e-mails.

The computer that will be coming for DebbieLynne will be one with a good reputation for being reliable and repairable if that's ever needed.

When I went online to order the computer yesterday I ran into some difficulty completing the order. But the online help service chatted with me and soon things were completed and I was given a good deal on next business day delivery. Since we didn't know if we could get Deb's old computer to cooperate a much longer, I asked for the quicker shipping service. So hopefully by tomorrow the new computer will be here and a friend from church has offered to come help get it set up.

I am very happy for Deb that she won't be without a computer. It will be fun to see what she does with the art program that will come with it. It will probably operate faster than the old one, which will be nice. Not so much waiting to go online or for programs to start. And it will even have a keyboard that won't have to be propped up with old cassette boxes like her current keyboard needs.

I get so blessed whenever something good comes along for DebbieLynne. I hurt when she's hurting, but that's part of being married, and it's worth it, because I get to share the fun and joyful things with her as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog today. I hope all is well for all of you.