A Journey For Bob!

The following is being shared with permission from Kassie B. who can be found at...

MySpace

Epinions

and

Kassie's Journey

Bob Gainer suffered a brain-stem stroke at the age of 29. It occurred just several months after his discharge from the military in 1994. He served his country during the Persian Gulf War, we believe that his stroke was caused due to chemical exposure while in Kuwait, but we can't prove it.

Doctors had little hope that Bob would survive his devastating stroke. They informed his mother that should he live he would be a "vegetable", and never be able to eat or drink without a feeding tube. He wouldn't have any quality of life what-so-ever
.

Bob actually "died" three times, but was kept alive at the insistence of his mother.

His stroke occurred in 1995, and to everyones amazement he has overcome many obstacles to live a productive life.

He is classified as a "non-verbal and incomplete quadriplegic". He is wheelchair bound, and totally dependent on his caregivers for all of his basic needs. He must be bathed, dressed, fed, groomed, lifted from his bed to his chair (and vica versa), and have his catheter changed.

While he is unable to speak he communicates by using a special stick in his mouth and typing on a computer keyboard.

Bob spends most of his time on the Internet and builds web pages. While it takes him quite a long time to complete a project he patiently types away until he finishes. And his work is quite impressive! You can visit his homepage at http://www.bghosting.org/.

Bob currently has 3 caregivers (soon to be only 2, however). Jess has been working for him for about 2 years. Kassie started several months ago, and Kassie's daughter Jessika is in training to start working for him full-time in April.

Bob's dream has always been to travel cross-country in an RV. Naturally, after his stroke, he was told to give up that dream. Nope.... not Bob!

Several months ago he purchased an RV and a new van in which to tow it. He's having modifications made to make it wheelchair accessible and accommodate a adjustable hospital type bed thus making extended vacations livable for him., rather than rely on equipment rental and accessible hotels and motels (which are few and far between that can fully accommodate him). This will take a while since it's an expensive project.

Jessika, age 19, plans to go traveling with him. She will be his driver and caregiver while they are away. They hope to leave in about a year or so, but first Bob will live in his RV for a while so that he and Jessika can become accustomed to life in a trailer rather than in a house.

Bob, now age 40, has endured a lot of physical hardship since his stroke. However, he has remarkably overcome so many hurdles by keeping a positive attitude, being patient, working hard, and never giving up! He has touched the lives of many people, and I'm sure he will continue to do so!

The Truth About Footprints!

Christian Glitter by www.christianglitter.com

How Do We Come Across When We Share Jesus?

First off, I would like to extend a special invitation to those of you who aren't already members of Duno to please use this link to register with this wonderful questioning/answering/discussing site as referred by me.

Having done this, I would like for you now to focus on this one discussion-starter.

You will also find my answer to this there, but I'm also placing this answer here in hopes that it will bless you in one or more ways.


Courtesy of SparkleTags.com

Thanks for sharing this piece. It makes some very good points. If we (referring to those of us who call ourselves Christians) come across like this, it isn't the best reflection of that loving Spirit to whom we refer to as God but, instead, one distorted by our imperfections as well as our limited knowledge.

I, personally, believe that the most Christian thing to do re: this is to simply admit that we really don't KNOW the full picture but just that we trust in the ultimate love and wisdom of this ultimate omnipotent, all-knowing, & omnipresent creative Spirit.

Trust is more important than knowledge--and pleading ignorance is a giant step towards humbling ourselves before Him (gender term used loosely here--and a good enough term for me until I come to knowledge of a better term that rings true in my heart-of-hearts).

That Jesus was conceived by The Holy Spirit and a virgin is a sign to me of His special divinity and mission--but, if I were to find out that Joseph was really His biological father, the importance of Jesus--as well as His special divinity and mission--wouldn't lessen in my eyes, because what He did with His time on earth would still be the same, even without the supernatural birth details.

Of course, I have no reason NOT to believe that He rose--body and spirit--from the dead and made appearances to his friends as well as people who knew Him from a distance (hearing Him
preach).

I also believe that, within that almost two-day period (He rose on the third day--as in Friday, Saturday, Sunday--but He was actually only body-dead for less than two days, as in from Friday
afternoon until Sunday morning.), His spirit went a lot of different places. He kept His promise to the thief on the cross beside Him to be with him in Paradise that day, for one thing. For another thing, He traveled the world. The Spirit of Jesus looks like an awesomely-beautiful white light--and this is where, imo, Native Americans have come up with the description of Great White Spirit.

Jesus ascended up and into the sky beyond the clouds 40 days after His body-and-soul resurrection, because that was the way that people would best understand that He was returning to His Heavenly Father.

They were time-and-place people who believed that the earth was flat with Heaven above and (according to some but not all) hell down below. Therefore, this was the way that they needed to see Jesus leave.

When we make the decision to follow Jesus, what do we ask of Him? For one thing, we ask Him to come into our hearts.

There are hearts all over the place--one heart (on average) for every living human being. This means that Jesus might be "up there" somewhere, but He's also living within each person who invites Him in.

Even with those people who haven't invited Him to be part of their lives, He watches over them and loves them, because He has already decided to love them, even if that love is unrequited.

I'm sharing the lyrics to a song by The Oak Ridge Boys here that is an example of unrequited love filtered through human limitations and imperfections.

Jesus might not be sitting in a bar getting drunk over those who haven't yet accepted His invitation to love Him back like the woman in the song did over her former boyfriend, but that same kind of faithful longing comes into play.

I'm sharing the lyrics to another song, too--this one by Red Sovine. Those reading this who are either Christian or else at least have some knowledge of what we believe will find in the story he tells in this song reminders of the crucifixion and how Jesus would appear to different people after His resurrection.

Again, thanks for sharing this telling description of fundamentalist Christianity. It should be an invitation to Christians--fundamentalist and otherwise--to take a closer look at our beliefs and how we share them with others.

I'll Be True To You by The Oak Ridge Boys

Phantom 309 by Red Sovine

One Way Of Looking At Things...

This is how I see things--though I know I don't see them perfectly, and I know that there are those who would disagree. Still, I see this as something to think about...




Just some thoughts...

Have you ever noticed that the Old Testament of the Bible not only has something for Jews and Christians but, also, Muslims?

The Jewish part is very obvious, because much of the Old Testament is their history.

The Christian part comes into play when prophets foresee a Messiah coming to rule/lead.

The Muslim part? When Hagar and Ishmael are banished from the household of Abraham, God makes a covenant between not only the two of them and Himself but, also, one that covers their descendants.

There are also people in the Old Testament who aren't part of Jewish or Islamic lineage (Job being one of them) who are recorded as being followers of God.

When you really think about it, an encompasing of a whole world of people, critters, plants, etc. has its expression in the Old Testament!

God isn't clearly defined in the Old Testament, either. This Creative Spirit appears to people in such things as a burning bush, a pillar of fire, and a pillar of clouds. He (God's referred to in a masculine sense throughout the Bible, so I see no need to change the pronoun at this time) isn't the bush, fire, or cloud but only appears in such to fit the occasion. God defines Himself as: "I am who am!"

In the New Testament, God is expressed at human-level for thirty some years through a man named Jesus--which isn't to say that Jesus is "just" a good and wise man with nothing to distinguish Him from Moses, Pope John Paul II, Rev. Billy Graham, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., etc.

Yes, Jesus is fully human--but is, also, fully an expression of God as no man ever has been before and no man will ever be again (at least, in this solar system).

The coming of the Messiah doesn't break old covenants but, instead, makes them all that more meaningful, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.

The Old Testament is about a world of people who only know God from a distance (except for those times when He appears to some in various forms). The New Testament is about a Bridge between the gap.

People used to think that God lived up in the sky somewhere. In fact, to this day, we still use that terminology when we need to think of Him in a concrete way.

But the earth is round instead of flat.

There was a time when people thought that--if they built a skyscraper with enough stories--it would eventually reach Heaven.

Some of the people building this probably had some idea of getting to Heaven and taking it over.

Others probably simply thought that it would be good to climb up there to visit their loved ones who had passed on. I know that I have friends and loved ones who have gone on, and it would be really nice just to board an elevator and spend time with them--or even board that elevator to visit some people you've heard so much about and would love to meet and visit with even if you weren't quite ready to give up your earthly life at the moment.

So a whole bunch of people began building what would be known as The Tower Of Babel. The people who wrote the Bible misinterpreted it as God and His angels feeling threatened by the idea that they would climb up into Heaven--but I believe that God, in His wisdom, had another reason for causing them to speak in different languages to where they couldn't communicate well enough to finish the tower.

God knew science, and the people didn't. God knew that all they would be doing was to build something that wouldn't have the means for them to breathe once it got to a certain height--and He wasn't about to change this science. Besides, we're talking about zillions of miles into infinity where they could be wasting their time building a tower and be no more closer to Heaven than when they began.

Want to know why?

Because Heaven isn't a location but a state of mind! It's a dimension!

When I was very young (between 6 and 8 years old, I'd say), I had this dream of a long escalator coming down from the sky so that people could ride to Heaven!

I was so excited when I saw it!

My folks and I boarded the elevator and rode up through the clouds until we got to Heaven.

Do you want to know what Heaven was like?

It was a lot like living on earth except all of the houses on Columbus Avenue were now on Main Street, and all of the houses on Main Street were now on Columbus Avenue.

I woke up from the dream shortly after that and thought it was a silly dream. It was only in recent years when I received the interpretation of this dream.

Interpretation:

Heaven is up in the sky, but it's also here on earth. Heaven is a different way of looking at the same things that others are seeing. Of course, Heaven is a freeing experience where we don't have the limitations of our human bodies and where things that are many miles away are only a thought away.

Unless I'm geared up and trained for the experience, I can't walk on the bottom of the ocean, but I'll be able to in the Afterlife! And, just a split-second later, I'd be able to walk on the moon!

I can only imagine Jesus and see Him "through a glass darkly" in this mortal realm, but I'll see and know Him fully when this life is over--and, by knowing Him, I'd know God!

Until then, there is only--as you call it--blind faith.

A faith too blind can prove to be destructive--as when faith gets distorted into a prejudice against others. But blind faith coupled with an open heart is beautiful!

We don't need a tower--we need a Bridge Over Troubled Waters, and Jesus is that bridge.

"For God so loved the world..." it is written.

Not just "For God so loved the Jews." Jesus wasn't King Of The Jews--this was a title given to Him by those who misunderstood His mission. Jesus was the Messiah who came to live, die, and live again for the entire planet!

Answer To Question

They were both lovingly designed by God!

What If Somebody Gave A Prayer Meeting And Everybody Came?

I had heard of the Fatima experience before but didn't know that much about the particulars except for the fact that some young girls were approached by Jesus' mother, Mary, back in 1917 and given a message about how to make this a better world.

Anyway, a Catholic friend wrote about this at a restricted blogsite. Since this is a blogsite of which you have to be a member in order to read and it would be against TOS there to copy down her words. I'm simply going to link you to the information to which she was referring.

She said that it didn't matter whether or not one was Catholic--or even believed in God at all. Some atheist, for instance, might take part in this just to heckle the Pope, archbishops, priests, etc. but it would still be a good act in the sense that it will light a fire under them and get them to remember--and act on--this vision.

Write to lay and clergy in your local Catholic church(es), write to Catholic friends, and write to the Pope--and don't forget to pass this on to fellow Christians as well as anybody.

In short, we're supposed to be praying an extra-special prayer for the people and government of Russia at this time (and the country in general), according to this, and dedicating them to Jesus.

For those who don't believe in the power of prayer, think good thoughts about them.

Let's make this a project and see what happens! Couldn't hurt, and I believe it will help...

I Was There...

This stunningly-and-comfortingly-beautiful slideshow came my way from Suann whom I've known since seventh grade when she arrived at our school as an eighth-grader.  Please watch it for yourself and, then, use the handy envelope at the bottom of this entry to share it with people you know...

Just click your mouse on the "I Was There." This is really awesome! Please send this to those you love and care about including the one who sent it to you. If you care.

I was there...

Life can only be understood by looking backward,

but it must be lived by looking forward.

If you're reading this anywhere right now, it can only mean one thing:

 

AJ's Absolutely Delicious Website

is

now open-to-the-public

!!!

What this means is that you will, hopefully, be very anxious to check it out.

If you see this, it means that everything on the website, itself, has been (for the near future, anyway) completed to the satisfaction of yours truly, and all that's needed now is to just add visitors that will, hopefully, sign my guestbook (even though it isn't required).

My message to people visiting is this:

Just make yourselves at home and check out whatever you might find interesting.  With very few exceptions, all links make their destinations open into new windows, meaning that you don't have to even leave the website completely behind in order to take side-trips.

About those destinations...some will already be leading to places that are already going and active.  Others will lead to places that are either relatively-new or else absolutely brand-new and not yet developed.

If you were to come back to every last one of those places in anything from a day or so to a week, you would see a lot of exciting changes there.

In short, what I'm offering as of today (March 5, 2006) is a completely built website, some exciting and completed destinations, and the chance to watch construction work going on.

That's all for now, so enjoy the journey...

!

If you happened to be hanging around, you might be noticing a lot of changes going on in my neck of the woods.

New blogs are starting to be developed in different ways.

Old blogs are being promoted more (as in being added to Weblogs.com right along with the newer ones).

Are you becoming curious?

If you are, I'm going to enlighten you some...

At this time, I'm building a website that's state-of-the-art (that is, as state-of-the-art as it can be coming from someone who began using The Internet back in 1998 when almost 46 years old--anyway, I'm quite proud of it!), and I'm hooking up various blogs to it.

I'm being very thorough when it comes to building it, so I can't tell you just when it will be done, but I'm hoping that it will be done before the first of next week, and the sooner the better.

When my website opens, I'll be making another announcement here, so be watching for it.

In the meantime--when you have the time and want to--enjoy watching the construction going on...

Blog Under Construction

New Blog Coming Soon!