Friday, March 22, 2013

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.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

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!

Saturday, March 9, 2013

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.