A few weeks ago, the movie Jurassic World was released. It is a continuation of the Jurassic Park series released several years ago. I have not watched it, but the previews and reviews I've read sound similar to the previous releases. Everything starts out as planned with a dinosaur theme park and ends with half the cast eaten.
One commentary I read was titled Desensitized to Death and talks about seeing death in these types of movies and not blinking an eye. Yes, it's a movie and none of what is being seen is real. I have watched the previous three movies, and others portraying murder, and had the same reaction of just blindly watching the action. Again, I know it's not real, but should we feel some sort of reaction?
For the past several years, one of my web clients has been a funeral home. I have posted funerals for stillborn babies and young children to people that lived over 100 years, and everything in between. With these, I feel sorry for the family that has lost a loved one and I am glad I can help by telling the world about the person. It's also a regular reminder of the what each one of us has in store. What really matters is what happens after we leave our physical bodies.
This is the key part to what we have become desensitized to, a person's eternity. Did the person believe in the Lord Jesus as their savior and believe in Him? Did we, as those around him or her, do all that we could to tell them about this good news and forgiveness of our sins? This is another area we have become desensitized to in our modern world.
When someone uses God's name irreverently, few people bat an eye whether it be in person or on a screen. Other areas such as lying to cover up something or supporting theft by watching or listening to pirated movies or music online are also something fairly routine. I am guilty of supporting some of this as well as not correcting someone when I see or hear God's name taken in vain.
We need to wake up to these things and start caring about them appropriately. No matter if you're living the quad life or not, we all have responsibility to live for God. May we take what time we have to be active and live according to His will.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Creation Camp Visit
Back in the cold days of February, I applied to volunteer as a counselor at CHAMP Camp 2015. A lot of kids applied to be campers as well, over 30, which requires a lot of counselors. Unfortunately, since I take up three beds with my caregivers and I; their wasn't enough room for me to be able to attend. So, we decided to take a vacation anyway during the same time period.
For several years, I have wanted to visit the Creation Museum near Cincinnati, OH. We left early Friday morning and arrived that evening and spent the weekend at the museum. On Saturday, we started by going through the main hall and the seven C's of history, creation to the cross and consummation. I have studied a lot of the associated material for a few years, but was glad to see it all come to life. This took the entire morning and we were then off to more areas.
After lunch, our group watched the film Men in White in the special effects theater. In the regular seating, patrons had vibrating seats and a mist of water to go along with the show. I fortunately parked off to the side of where I should have and stayed nice and dry. Next up was a presentation on carnivorous plants.
In 2009, I took online classes in creation apologetics through Answers in Genesis and became friends with the instructor. Ron was also the presenter for Cursed Plants so we finally got to meet in person after being online friends for these years. He did very well in his presentation and kept the interest of a wide age range. I hope to get up to his level of speaking in my talks.
Sunday morning started out with watching trains and returning to the museum after noon. It was a nice day to see the gardens, dinosaur sculptures, a zonkey, zorse, and more. We ended the tour by watching The Last Adam, about Christ's sacrifice on the cross and resurrection. I liked being able to go to the Creation Museum and seeing the world presented through God's Word as it should. More museums in the country should take note of the excellent presentations and how everything in the world tells of the Creator's handiwork.
Monday was visit day at CHAMP Camp, so we packed up from Kentucky and stopped for a few hours near Indianapolis. Another friend from online, who's son is a quadriplegic, met us at camp and I was able to show them around. It would be great if he, and I, could be at camp next year, but we'll see what God's plans are for then.
I miss not being at camp and working with the kids, but I'm also glad to see so many being able to come. It was a busy four-day weekend and a lot of work for my parents, especially my dad. I'm very thankful for their care and that God has so greatly blessed this quad life He has given me.
For several years, I have wanted to visit the Creation Museum near Cincinnati, OH. We left early Friday morning and arrived that evening and spent the weekend at the museum. On Saturday, we started by going through the main hall and the seven C's of history, creation to the cross and consummation. I have studied a lot of the associated material for a few years, but was glad to see it all come to life. This took the entire morning and we were then off to more areas.
In 2009, I took online classes in creation apologetics through Answers in Genesis and became friends with the instructor. Ron was also the presenter for Cursed Plants so we finally got to meet in person after being online friends for these years. He did very well in his presentation and kept the interest of a wide age range. I hope to get up to his level of speaking in my talks.
Sunday morning started out with watching trains and returning to the museum after noon. It was a nice day to see the gardens, dinosaur sculptures, a zonkey, zorse, and more. We ended the tour by watching The Last Adam, about Christ's sacrifice on the cross and resurrection. I liked being able to go to the Creation Museum and seeing the world presented through God's Word as it should. More museums in the country should take note of the excellent presentations and how everything in the world tells of the Creator's handiwork.
Monday was visit day at CHAMP Camp, so we packed up from Kentucky and stopped for a few hours near Indianapolis. Another friend from online, who's son is a quadriplegic, met us at camp and I was able to show them around. It would be great if he, and I, could be at camp next year, but we'll see what God's plans are for then.
I miss not being at camp and working with the kids, but I'm also glad to see so many being able to come. It was a busy four-day weekend and a lot of work for my parents, especially my dad. I'm very thankful for their care and that God has so greatly blessed this quad life He has given me.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Work Woes
It seems like the last few weeks have been going from one deadline to the next. I finished rebuilding a site a few weeks ago, but it keeps coming up with minor errors that need work. Since some of them can have a negative impact on their income, I try to get them solved as quickly as possible.
At the beginning of the month, I started reworking a long-time client to a slightly new design, but using a content management system (CMS) instead of basic HTML and a web editor as I've been using. I'm much further behind than I should be at this point and everything I do doesn't make progress. With every wasted hour of little to no progress, I feel more and more like I'm in over my head.
The primary language I'm using is CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and it is a primary language in web programming that I have used for years and I know quite well. For some reason though, I'm not finding the right spots in the CMS to edit and I just keep chasing code again and again. I'm working with CMS software more and more, but large projects like these last two really challenge me.
If I didn't have deadlines, it wouldn't be as frustrating. However, then my laziness wins through and I don't work nearly as much as I should. Just thinking briefly, I have three projects I would like to get to, but just haven't. In fact, I should be using my valuable sitting time to be working instead of blogging! With less than 15 minutes before my night nurse comes, and due to frustration, I've lost my work attitude for the night.
For other items, I'm also starting to listen to pastor's sermons as part of being on my church's search committee. Our pastor's last day is June 28, so it's quickly approaching and we're nowhere near ready to call a replacement. As if I wasn't already busy, I also signed up to be a peer mentor with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center. I took a couple hours of online training late last week (mainly while flat) and have a live training for several hours next week Wednesday.
It's best to be active and busy, right? I'm hoping this schedule calms down before fall and the school talks start up as well as more church activities. I wonder what all I would get myself into if I had control of more than just my head? For now, it's time for sleep and then back to the busy quad life.
At the beginning of the month, I started reworking a long-time client to a slightly new design, but using a content management system (CMS) instead of basic HTML and a web editor as I've been using. I'm much further behind than I should be at this point and everything I do doesn't make progress. With every wasted hour of little to no progress, I feel more and more like I'm in over my head.
The primary language I'm using is CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and it is a primary language in web programming that I have used for years and I know quite well. For some reason though, I'm not finding the right spots in the CMS to edit and I just keep chasing code again and again. I'm working with CMS software more and more, but large projects like these last two really challenge me.
If I didn't have deadlines, it wouldn't be as frustrating. However, then my laziness wins through and I don't work nearly as much as I should. Just thinking briefly, I have three projects I would like to get to, but just haven't. In fact, I should be using my valuable sitting time to be working instead of blogging! With less than 15 minutes before my night nurse comes, and due to frustration, I've lost my work attitude for the night.
For other items, I'm also starting to listen to pastor's sermons as part of being on my church's search committee. Our pastor's last day is June 28, so it's quickly approaching and we're nowhere near ready to call a replacement. As if I wasn't already busy, I also signed up to be a peer mentor with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center. I took a couple hours of online training late last week (mainly while flat) and have a live training for several hours next week Wednesday.
It's best to be active and busy, right? I'm hoping this schedule calms down before fall and the school talks start up as well as more church activities. I wonder what all I would get myself into if I had control of more than just my head? For now, it's time for sleep and then back to the busy quad life.
Monday, June 8, 2015
Saturday Cancellations
For about the entire week, I had planned on going rail fanning (watching trains) this past Saturday. The weather prediction looked good for being out and my day assistant was scheduled to come. Not only that, but I was going to have a guest.
A couple months ago I found out one of the boys I work with at church likes trains. Most parents gladly take free offers to lose a kid for a few hours, so we had it all arranged for him to come. All week I was planning what to do with my apprentice and let him have a fun day. Unfortunately, none of it happened.
After returning from an appointment in Des Moines Thursday, my caregiver started doing my regular afternoon routine. However, my body decided I needed a restroom faster than usual. The problem escalated overnight and all day Friday. There was no way I could drive an hour from home and be outside for several hours. The surgery two weeks ago was supposed to have fixed the problem, but apparently not.
Hopefully another time will work out. I would love the chance to pass on rail knowledge and pretend to be a parent for a few hours. The weather man says we should have a cool summer, so I hope he's right. I did at least get out and take a roll on the bike path by the dam near town. Another rail fan I follow on YouTube also posted a few videos from Saturday. One of them is posted below.
The other Saturday development is with my night nurse. Despite running five miles a day, she experienced heart trouble and will be off for a couple months. At least she only did one night a week, but the agency couldn't cover the shift. With more time to search, the next few months should be easier to cover.
In the quad life, uncooperative bodies aren't always fun to deal with. Through the years I have learned to be thankful when plans do work and make the best of it when not. I'm praying that my body will start behaving again and current plans will become reality. We will see what the week brings.
A couple months ago I found out one of the boys I work with at church likes trains. Most parents gladly take free offers to lose a kid for a few hours, so we had it all arranged for him to come. All week I was planning what to do with my apprentice and let him have a fun day. Unfortunately, none of it happened.
After returning from an appointment in Des Moines Thursday, my caregiver started doing my regular afternoon routine. However, my body decided I needed a restroom faster than usual. The problem escalated overnight and all day Friday. There was no way I could drive an hour from home and be outside for several hours. The surgery two weeks ago was supposed to have fixed the problem, but apparently not.
Hopefully another time will work out. I would love the chance to pass on rail knowledge and pretend to be a parent for a few hours. The weather man says we should have a cool summer, so I hope he's right. I did at least get out and take a roll on the bike path by the dam near town. Another rail fan I follow on YouTube also posted a few videos from Saturday. One of them is posted below.
The other Saturday development is with my night nurse. Despite running five miles a day, she experienced heart trouble and will be off for a couple months. At least she only did one night a week, but the agency couldn't cover the shift. With more time to search, the next few months should be easier to cover.
In the quad life, uncooperative bodies aren't always fun to deal with. Through the years I have learned to be thankful when plans do work and make the best of it when not. I'm praying that my body will start behaving again and current plans will become reality. We will see what the week brings.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Time
Time is something that is dependent on where you are and what's happening. When reading the Bible, there are several instances when visitors, or even angels, come to someone's house/tent to visit. The host would kill the fattened calf, bake bread without yeast, and serve a meal. I can't imagine that happening today.
If we don't get our lunch within a few minutes, we don't want it. Waiting a few hours to kill and prepare meat and bread is something we wouldn't do today, at least in the US. Part of the factor also has to do with occupation. The people I'm thinking of today are business people or some other profession. This situation calls for quick meals and getting back to work. Shepherds and farmers can be a different story.
Sheep don't tend to move a lot, so shepherds have a lot of down time. I imagine taking a few hours to cook and talk with travelers would be a welcome relief. Age and activity can be another determining factor in how time passes.
I have noticed those in the mid to upper 60's see a year as a very short amount of time. One of my caregivers who is in this age group talks about Christmas in January. Granted, a year isn't real long, but a lot can happen in that time period. For kids, one-year can be a sizable chunk of their entire life so far.
For me, time goes quickly while I'm sitting and slowly while laying flat. It does go a bit quicker if I doze off though. Whatever time describes in your life, make sure to spend it wisely. At some instance, our time will be up and the years of a quad life, or any life, will have been completed. Spending that time for a purpose is the key.
If we don't get our lunch within a few minutes, we don't want it. Waiting a few hours to kill and prepare meat and bread is something we wouldn't do today, at least in the US. Part of the factor also has to do with occupation. The people I'm thinking of today are business people or some other profession. This situation calls for quick meals and getting back to work. Shepherds and farmers can be a different story.
Sheep don't tend to move a lot, so shepherds have a lot of down time. I imagine taking a few hours to cook and talk with travelers would be a welcome relief. Age and activity can be another determining factor in how time passes.
I have noticed those in the mid to upper 60's see a year as a very short amount of time. One of my caregivers who is in this age group talks about Christmas in January. Granted, a year isn't real long, but a lot can happen in that time period. For kids, one-year can be a sizable chunk of their entire life so far.
For me, time goes quickly while I'm sitting and slowly while laying flat. It does go a bit quicker if I doze off though. Whatever time describes in your life, make sure to spend it wisely. At some instance, our time will be up and the years of a quad life, or any life, will have been completed. Spending that time for a purpose is the key.
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