Memorial for Selected Ones

As years and decades continue, the world gets further away from the Bible, following God, or making logical sense. This was seen again last week with another school shooting, this time in Texas.

At this point, 19 children and 2 adults were killed with around a dozen more in the hospital. The kids were second graders along with their teachers. Even though this is not the first such tragedy, and likely not the last, it's very hard to see. I grieve with the families while politicians use it for political gain and news outlets repeat details and point fingers at who should have done what.

The same day the nation was in shock about this school, thousands of children were legally killed in their mother's wombs. Unfortunately, much of this happens every day with no news reports or memorials given for the victims. Losing a child at any stage, from fertilization, to grade school, through high school, is a tragedy that should not go unnoticed.

In the 1800's, new theories were developed saying the earth was developed slowly and not by God. Charles Darwin built upon this with his evolution model explaining life as an accident and it just formed on its own. Generations of school children have now been taught this and the result is that life is no longer sacred, either in the womb, or according to some, at any point.

This Memorial Day weekend, many families are remembering loved ones that have died. The nation also remembers those that have fought in the armed forces and lost their life in the effort to ensure freedom. I pray that these lives, and the cause they died for, will also not be forgotten.

I would encourage everyone to not only reflect on close relatives that have been lost, but also for those who have died early in life due to the actions of others. Ultimately, we need to remember God is in control and when a nation has turned its back on Him, we will see such actions. Hopefully this week goes well, and God's Word will continue to spread.

Vacation Week

Iowa weather, like much of the country, has been up and down again this week. While my parents were gone, I had the air conditioner on early in the week and had trouble with over heating. Yesterday, I switched back to the furnace with indoor temps struggling to stay above 70.

When setting up my caregiver schedule, I was careful to arrange it so that I had someone every day that could get me on my exercise bike. Therefore, I had a new record of biking six days in a row. I wasn't able to record everything to the bike's database, but the sessions did at least happen.

I wasn't sure how my body would react to all the exercise, but it went pretty well. Monday through Thursday, my legs peddled for 3-4 minutes on their own each time, but only a little over two minutes on Friday. I thought maybe they had given up working, but then did over eight minutes on Saturday. I never know what to expect from my body, but I'm thankful I could have a new record of consecutive rides. This week, I will likely only get to bike once, if even that much.

It was nice having the house to myself again for the week and to see my parents have a break. The college student I have had this year offered to stay in town for an additional week after school to allow my parents to go. Now, she will not be in Iowa for most of the summer and we'll be back to a few open hours every week. Thankfully though, I am very blessed to have as many hours covered as I do.

Yesterday, I was reading a friend's comments on Facebook about caregiver experience. She, and her son, both need some assistance and rely on help. My friend had four interviews scheduled this past week with some perspectives not showing up and others declining the position an hour after being accepted. One accepted the position, trained for the job, but then didn't come for her first shift and blocked any contact.

Living the quad life has it's challenges in multiple areas. While I don't know what to expect next, I'm comforted knowing God is in control.

Feedback Trouble

It has been another week of juggling responsibilities and trying to keep everything accomplished, but it doesn't always go well. Problems with technology and debating theology only add to the challenges.

I am very thankful that I can continue to use the FES bike at home to exercise my legs and help improve circulation. Starting each bike session requires my setting to be downloaded from the internet, The conclusion of the ride is then uploaded to a database for long-term evaluation. Recently, my Monday bike report showed I have officially ridden 500 sessions for over 1650 miles. However, that may be the last correct report for a while.

My small town started offering high-speed internet about a year ago. I got it last fall and have somewhat liked the service, but it is new and has some bugs to work out. Just over a week ago, a technician came to try to fix slow browsing speed we were experiencing. His work helped, but the bike will no longer connect to the wireless network. I have worked with multiple technicians for several hours, but without any progress. I can still bike without internet connection, but it means my settings can't be adjusted and my sessions can't be recorded. One affordable possible solution still exists, but I will need to find hardware to test the theory yet.

This week, two large web projects also officially started. For one, I have been communicating with the site owner for a few weeks and was eager to get started. However, I keep finding unexpected issues that delay starting on it. I feel bad telling the client I have more areas to solve that start, but I hope to get started and make significant progress soon.

Next week, I am also scheduled to preach at a church in the Des Moines area. I was very reluctant to agree to preach as I know the denomination and congregation have different views on the Bible than me. I did end up saying I would preach with the thought that maybe what God has given me would be helpful to the congregation. I sent my service material to the worship team a few days ago which sparked some lengthy message exchanges on uncertainty on my message and its acceptance for the congregation. I am still going to give the message, but I'm praying more earnestly that God uses me to help teach His Word in truth.

Starting tomorrow, I also have the house to myself for a few days while my parents take a much needed vacation. It has been a busy quad life that looks to continue for a few weeks, but I'm thankful God has continued to help me stay active and be used for His glory.

Outreach Days

The last three days have been the annual Tulip Time celebration in town. For the past several years, I have volunteered with a gospel outreach group. I wasn't sure I would be able to this year, but I did get out for some of the celebration.

Sara has been back for about a month, but she still gets tired easily and can't do much walking. On Thursday, my student nurse Brenda was scheduled to help me in the morning and Sara in the afternoon. I coordinated switching caregivers while I was around church and wondered how to have a calm day for Sara. Watching the weather reports as Thursday approached, it was forecast to be raining all day with cold (for me) temperatures. Rather than try to stay dry, warm, and coordinate switching somewhere, I chose to stay home.

Thursday turned out to be mostly dry with a few glimpses of the sun, but I was thankful I could give my caregivers a calm day. Sara worked all day Friday and I did go with the volunteer group. After listening to two training/educational sessions at church, Sara and I were ready to head out. Thankfully, my group was scheduled to spend the afternoon at an outreach booth and not walk around. I was glad that Sara didn't need to exert herself too much and I had a good gospel conversation with a young couple while having lunch. However, cold weather continued and I came home with a temp of 94.6. It took a while to warm up, but I did eventually.

Yesterday was predicted to be sunny with highs in the low 70's, and it actually was correct. Brenda and I spent the day with the outreach group and it went very well. I enjoyed the sun a little too much and got a slight burn, but nothing too serious. Last night, I didn't have a nurse again and mom and I spent the first hours of Mother's Day together.

I'm thankful for the parents God has given me, and especially mom. They have allowed me to do so much and have made it so I can have an active quad life. I am about to have more open days again, but I know God will provide us with everything we need.

Virtual Children

My friend John has been a regular spotlight on this blog. He and I enjoy our visits, I play with his sons, and quite often a computer gets upgraded, or dismantled. John's oldest son is in third grade and we casually talked about me visiting his class. However, John and his family live in Minnesota and driving more than four hours for a 30-minute school visit seemed a little much. However, when you're dealing with two IT guys, more options are available.

John talked with his son's teacher and she was okay with us experimenting on her class. After a one-week delay due to a popular illness, last Tuesday was my time to "visit." I have done a few college classes virtually, but all the students were adults and also joined me virtually. This would be my first attempt with a grade school and I would be the only virtual person "in" the room.

John and I tested technology options the day before and found a good setup. I logged into class at noon on Tuesday, and we had to again go through some testing. Fortunately, we gave ourselves a full 15 minutes before the students returned from recess. With some screeching audio problems quieted, we were ready to go.

I was on a computer that projected my video onto a marker board, along with my audio. John used the camera on his cell phone to act as my eyes and moved around the room so I could see writing quality and students asking questions.

After the lesson from Mr. Joel was complete, it seemed like everything went very well. I asked the teacher to take some pictures for me so I could use them for my mother's scrapbook and I could see how it went. Looking at the photographs, I noticed she wrote different terms I used on the board as well as my special instructions of having a barefoot class for writing.

It was a fun experiment and I got to do what I enjoy, teach kids about God's world and different abilities. I'm not sure how I could make it work without John's help, but I'll keep thinking of options. Teaching the quad life virtually could be a great way to help more kids learn, and not just in central Iowa.