Radio Shack Duofone Home Monitor 43-165
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 Radio Shack Duofone Home Monitor 43-165: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Some notes:

I didn’t put any batteries in it. That’s why the battery alarm persists. In the second recording I forced several alarm conditions so that you can hear what they sound like. The high sound alarm is so that it notices a smoke alarm sound.

There’s no way that I can address or expose much on such a lofty topic, but something came to my heart today that I must share with you.

It seems that it’s when we are confronted with death that we gain some perspective on life. I’ve been so confronted in several ways over the years. The death of a loved one and a personal “near death experience” causes one to reflect and hopefully gain a better understanding of life.

I just have a few short things to share here about life and death. I think that they could be useful to someone. I hope that they are.

As a born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ I know that I will live eternally with my Savior in Heaven. Until then I live out and hopefully enjoy and appreciate my life here in this world for the short time that I’m here. After all, I am called by God for a purpose-His purpose-while I live out this life. Pain isn’t really relevant (no matter how distracting) compared with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)

In fact, most of the things that we pay attention to in this world are not as important as we make them out to be. It is simply life that is important now and I find it elusive to define it other than it is a gift from God: Life, and the lives that we share with one another: relationships. It is almost comic how we make such things as money so important even while we neglect the best part of life: The beautiful lives of those so close to us, our spouses and children. It would be funny if it wasn’t so terrible. Money, after all, won’t go with us to heaven. (Luke 12:16-40), however what we did with/for/to one another-relationships-our lives will “go with us” into eternity.

Even while we are still here, and, from our current perspective (as people who are still here) it is so very important to lay hold of life as God designed it to be, one of love for one another.

Let me pose a thought to consider: We grieve over the loss felt when a dear one dies and that is okay. But we must not neglect to accept the words of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians:

“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Grieve, but not like the rest of men, who have no hope. This is one of the Truths about God’s will, plan, and Kingdom that we must take hold of. It isn’t the death of a loved one that we should overly concern ourselves with but the life of that loved one. To explain this I need to mention a dear friend the I miss, (but only for a short while!)

I miss many people that I will soon see again. My dad, my aunt Teti, a dear friend Leo Jett, and a brother who lived near me, Bob Pryor. Bob was so unique, at least I think so. He was a farmer who had done it all. He even worked on a steam boat, as I heard it, as a river boat captian. His life was colorful, fascinating, ..almost unbelievable. He passed on to Heaven, it seems, recently. I don’t really remember when.

There is a choice before me every time I think of Bob: Dwell on what I am missing or revel in the life that we shared, no matter how short of a time it was. And even more important, I must remember that I’ll see him again very soon when I, too, make that journey to Heaven. I don’t know what it will be like when I get there, but I know that it will be a time of rejoicing! Praise God!

We mustn’t dwell on our loss; we must remember and even revel in the life that we shared with one another and, (again), hold on to the hope that we have based on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

This is my viewpoint on life and death: Death is only for a short time; it is life that is eternal. And I hope that I can “encourage each other with these words.” God has conquered sin and death. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:51-55)  Praise God and rejoice in the life and relationships that we have with one another no matter how short our time is with them. For believers, we will praise God and rejoice together again for eternity.

It is life, not death, that is important. Let’s make the most of it with one another! Love one another!

Love In Christ,
Ed

It is so important to accept change. Partly because it is inevitable – change will occur no matter what we do to try and stop it. We also need to recognize that so long as we hold on to things the way they are we are not allowing God to work His miracles. A baby, as beautiful as they are, will not stay a babe but grows up, gets married, and passes the way of all mortals. Death is part of the cycle of life as God has allowed it on this world. Ironically those who frantically attempt to hold on to things cease to enjoy them. Embrace change and we become part of the life that God intended for us.

Cleaning the summer room is all about change. I can’t work on my beloved projects anymore. We can’t take it with us not even to our downsized town home and certainly not to Heaven.

I could say more about change but I want you to know that I don’t grieve over the functional loss of my hands, feet, or bladder. I have repeatedly said that if I never worked on a computer again the rest of my life I would still find something to enjoy, something to distract me from pain, something to make me feel useful, something to worship my Heavenly Father.

So it is very easy for me to say that the end of an era has recently occurred and I have no regrets. I will not seek to hold on to something that God has ordained I should cease from enjoying. I’m talking about the camera that I purchased over 7 years ago. Can you believe it? That I’ve had this camera that long?* It is damaged and cameras are usually not something that can be fixed by the consumer. I have received, I feel, far more enjoyment from this camera than most people are able to have, far more, I know, than I ever expected. I loved taking photos of events at church and in the home. But God is calling me to new and different things.

I’m not really all that great with people as compared to, say, technology. God has given me mercy and has taught me many things. But I can see more and more that for me to focus a camera instead of focusing on the people near me would be a mistake. I feel like a terrible evangelist, but I’m called to evangelize. I feel like a terrible mentor but I’m called to mentor. I’m pretty sure that I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me. (Of course, I’m very sure of this!) I will still have technology. Helping the church every once in a while is still a joyful activity for me and I don’t think that will change anytime soon. But forgetting the camera that I’ve enjoyed for so long is a clear change that is needed in my life.

Last summer, when I dropped the telephoto lens and watched it descend in slow motion onto the concrete sidewalk, I wasn’t shaken at all by it. It was sort of a sign of the change that had already began even though I didn’t notice it yet. Seven years ago that lens cost almost as much as the camera. Now both are broken. (No, I didn’t drop the camera. It just seemed to have worn itself out.) I’m worn out in some ways. To continue to expend my energy taking photos, even though it has been such a joy, would be a serious mistake. Would we hold on to this world at the moment that God is calling us to be in Heaven? Most people seem to do so even when Heaven is their real home.

The era of my taking photos is over and I don’t regret it. Instead, I am looking forward to what God has called me to next. He is my loving Heavenly Father and I trust Him to lead me. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters; He restores my soul. The Lord is God.

Thank you, God, for such love, mercy, grace, and more that you have given me and my family especially these last 7 years of my disability. Who could ever imagine that there is such joy in the midst of such trials.

“Yea, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,  I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Amen!”

* I purchased the camera when I found out that I had cancer. It was, for me, a way to document life. It wasn’t about cancer but what life can be in spite of cancer. I didn’t focus on my cancer. I focused a camera on the life around me. 7 years of fighting cancer and 7 years of enjoying my camera. I don’t want a new one. I only want Jesus.