Hi:Yes, losing Ed on Dec. 27, 2011 was a big blow, as I am sorry to hear that you know firsthand too, but at the same time I knew that because he was a Christian, he really didn’t die. He just left his earthly body.I lost a third child, early in the pregnancy, because I am RH negative. We were lucky to have two healthy babies. The second was born with too much blood, but that didn’t seem to do any damage. No more children were possible. My blood was sensitized against RH positive blood after that.The RH negative came through my dad. His brother’s little girl was the first baby to have her blood replaced in Terre Haute, Indiana, because of RH negative problems. The last time I saw her, she was about 5 and not normal. She needed help to walk, because she was very uncoordinated.Back to Ed. I imagined that either Jesus or angels came to take Ed to heaven when his 87 year-old body couldn’t make it here any longer. The night before, I had thought, “I don’t know how to get enough water into him to keep him alive. We have to have water every 3 days, or we die.When he was finally separated from his earthly body, the body curled up into a half-sitting up position, and his jaw became unhinged. It dropped free of his skull and hung halfway down toward the bed. Only skin seemed to keep it from hitting the bed. That was a grotesque sight, but I knew he was ok with the Lord in spite of that.At his last trip to the Medical Clinic, the Doctor handed him his latest lab test results and said, “Your kidneys are going, along with everything else.” Ed never showed me that paper, but he told me that he was going to die and that I was going to get lots of rewards. I told him later that I loved him so much I wanted to be with him forever, and now that he was allowed to visit me and let me know we could be together forever, I have lots to look forward to.After that, both of us were hospitalized with pneumonia. He came home with a Staph skin infection and C-Dif acquired in the hospital. I was lucky to have been sent to a different hospital, the one where Ed had his 5-bypass open heart surgery in 1998. I didn’t catch anything else. It was just an unlucky break that there were not two available rooms in that hospital, so we were sent to different hospitals. I was 4.5 years younger too, so I got back on my feet. He never walked again.I hope you can find a way to get your cataracts removed. It makes a world of difference. I can see to drive and operate my computer now. I had to quit driving right before Ed died.We joined SCAN. Ed had his cataracts removed before he got pneumonia. I got my cataracts removed the following May, so I had a better chance to operate my computer. It only cost $100 or less per eye at the SCAN Surgical Center. The rest was covered by the insurance and what they received from our Social Security each month.They wanted to be sure one eye was ok before operating on the other one.Before that, yellow letters on a yellow background were invisible to me. My cataracts turned out to be orange, so that caused the yellow letters and yellow background. The background in the HTML editor was yellow in spite of my turning on the black high-contrast computer background.When the Rapture takes place, Isa 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”What a wonderful day that will be. That will make up for all I suffered when Ed died. He will come back with Christ and get his resurrection body. We will both be caught up to meet Christ in the air. I don’t know exactly when we will get together, but it won’t be long after that. I’m hoping it will be right away. He is buried at the Military Cemetery 5 miles from the house. Then we will be together forever.I said, “Yes” to Jesus, and “Yes” to Ed when he asked me to marry him on the 4th day since he asked me out. Now, I’m happy how my life is turning out. I will get to be with both Jesus and Ed forever. I can’t think of anything better.I wrote three books about the Bible and have thousands of pages on my website at prophecycorner.theforeverfamily.comThe latest post is Pro and Con 1818. I have one of my posts to you that was posted on Five Doves on my home page.I found out where Heaven is located. I know where Ed is and where I am headed. My second book title is “Heaven Found: A Butter and Honey Star.” Because you are also a teacher, if you will give me your mailing address, I will send you one.The day I was finally convinced where Heaven is located, I had the biggest goosebumps I ever had. It was violent, shaking, and head to toe. Every time before that, when I would read certain verses, I would think heaven could be located there, but I would shrug it off and say, “Nah, that can’t be.” But it is. The best clue is Paul’s getting caught up to the third heaven in II Cor 12:2-4. Heaven really is the third heaven.Josephus, a Pharisee priest, told us that the candlestick in the Temple stood for 1. Sun, 2, Mercury, 3. Venus, 4. Earth, 5. Mars, 6. Jupiter, and 7. Saturn. (Ant. III. VI. 7; Wars. 5. 5. 5)I read 17 versions of the Bible all the way through, except some of the begats, and made notes of all the pertinent scriptures on legal pads. I looked up the meaning of original words in Strong’s, Young’s and Cruden’s Concordances, and in Thayer’s Greek/English Lexicon, but it was when I looked up the meaning of the word in Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary that I finally became convinced.I had to stop writing about the Revelation of Jesus Christ, write Heaven Found: A Butter and Honey Star, then finish the book about The Revelation of Christ. Here is where I was when I finally figured it out:Rev 4:1-3 says, “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was (lit., became) in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper (last stone in the breastplate) and a sardine stone (first stone in the breastplate, i.e., Jesus is the first and the last): AND THERE WAS A RAINBOW ROUND ABOUT THE THRONE, in sight like unto an emerald” (Judah’s stone in the breastplate, i.e., Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah).Back in 1996, Ed kept walking down the hall to the computer room saying, “You should be on the Internet.” The very day I finished the third book, he took me down to the Mall and signed me up.On board ship coming home from Japan after WWII, Ed had prayed for a Christian wife. That turned out to be me, and the Lord had to pull off miracles to get this Indiana girl and Tennessee boy together. We knew right away that we belonged together.God also had to make sure the Allies won WWII.The Lord usually has more than one reason for doing things, and Holston Ordinance Works in Kingsport, TN, needed my dad as Safety Engineer to keep the plant from blowing up. England tried to make Compound B explosive for the Allies, and their plant blew up. Canada tried. Their plant blew up. HOW is still making Compound B. Dad’s patent on a motor that would start without a spark may have been the determining factor. So, he was transferred from Vigo Ordinance south of Terre Haute, IN, to HOW in Kingsport, TN.Then, the Lord had to get Ed’s family and my family to move out of Kingsport into Staff Quarters at HOW 4 miles out of town. His house was up the hill 2 houses and across the street. Since we all had to walk the hill from the bus stop, we couldn’t help but meet sooner or later.I run to the Bible when things happen in my life. John 11:26 says, “And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”Yes, I believe it, 100%. I believe everything the Bible says.Soon after Ed died, to make it even harder on me, my computer quit Jan. 9, 2012. It was my own fault, I had 36 Bibles on it. On the new one, I just downloaded E-Sword and the KJV. I go to Blue Letter Bible, etc. to look up other versions now.> > Your "special visit" with your husband Ed gave me the chills and thrills. Twenty-two years ago I had a rare visitation of an angelI can hardly wait to hear about that. The man who hosts my website saw his mother. He thought she looked about 20 years old. That is why I asked Ed how old he was. He looked about 30, but I knew Jesus was 33 when he ascended, and might have given us a pattern to go by.My grandson said he saw his father standing in the doorway after he passed on. He asked his father if he would like to come in, but he said, “No.”Ed’s mother saw his stepfather walk up and over a grassy hill at his funeral. He was wearing a white shirt.Someone posted on Five Doves that an angel appeared and walked and talked with him. Also, Jim Bramlett told us about the amazing visits of the angel Gabriel to Vincent Tan.Back in the late sixties and early seventies, young people coming to our house to study the Bible with me any time until 1 AM kept telling me about someone else picking up a man, a hitchhiker, who said, “Jesus is Coming Soon” and then disappeared. That “man” had to be an angel. To be able to complete their work, angels can appear to us when necessary.I took a picture of our daughter and her boyfriend in our front yard in La Mirada (meaning the gaze), CA, in which were white clouds I took to be two angels. These clouds had a backdrop of the foliage and house, not of the sky. Later, the boy in the picture ran up to Ed and I and hugged me in a dream I had of heaven. I had written him about Christ and he accepted Him just before he stepped on a land mine in Viet Nam. The Lord was leading me, and this boy was going to need Christ before long.> > Your story has been a blessing, and I sincerely hope this Feast of Trumpets is your reunion with Ed and our Lord.Thanks. I am hoping so too. Why do you think the Rapture will be on Trumpets? I used to favor Pentecost, later Ascension Day, now Trumpets. After all, it is when the trump of God will sound. However, a trumpet was to be blown on each feast day.I wondered why the Jews started blowing the trumpet during Elul. Online, http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/2306683/jewish/How-and-Why-We-Blow-the-Shofar-During-the-Month-of-Elul.htm said, “We blow the shofar every day other than Shabbat, starting from Elul 1 and ending on Elul 28. We do not blow on Elul 29, the day before Rosh Hashanah.” That tells me when, but not why....“Why blow?“For lots of reasons. Here are just a few:
“a. After Israel sinned with the golden calf, Moses spent 40 days pleading for forgiveness. Then he ascended Mount Sinai once again for another 40 days—after which he descended with the second tablets. This ascent, which began on the first of Elul and lasted until Yom Kippur, was accompanied by shofar blasts. To commemorate this, we blow the shofar during the month of Elul.3
“b. Elul is the month during which we search our souls in anticipation of the High Holidays. The soul-stirring shofar blasts inspire us to come closer to G‑d, as we read, “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?”4
“c. Blowing the shofar—which is actually a Rosh Hashanah activity—for a month in advance confuses the prosecuting angel, who now has no idea what day is the real Rosh Hashanah.5
Huh? How is blowing the shofar for a month going to confuse the prosecuting angel? Nobody ever delivered a Jewish calendar to his door? Wouldn’t the crafty angel catch on after a few hundred years?
“The Rebbe6 has a wonderful insight into this:
First of all, this isn’t the only time we’re out to befuddle the prosecution. On Rosh Hashanah we blow the shofar more than necessary, the Talmud tells us, “to confuse the prosecuting angel.” On that Talmudic passage, Rashi7 explains: When the prosecutor sees how we cherish G‑d’s commandments—going far beyond the strict requirements—he simply has nothing to say.
“Something similar happens when we blow the shofar for an entire month before Rosh Hashanah. By doing so, inevitably we’ll feel remorse over past misdeeds and set ourselves upon a fresh new path. If so, the case is already sealed—and we won. G‑d has already inscribed us in the book of life for the coming year—even before Rosh Hashanah. This leaves the prosecutor confused. What’s left for him to do when the trial date finally arrives?
“That’s the meaning of “not knowing what day is Rosh Hashanah”—he can no longer tell when the judgment occurs. Because we proactively took care of the whole thing on our own accord—sort of a backroom deal between us and G‑d.
“This is also why we do not blow on the day before Rosh Hashanah: By that point we are so confident that G‑d has accepted our sincere repentance during the first 29 days that we do not even need to blow on the last day of the month.
“And the prosecution is out of a job.”
Agape,Marilyn Ageeprophecycorner.theforeverfamily.com---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pastor Bob (7 Sep 2014)
"Reply to Marilyn Agee"
Hello Marilyn:
Enjoyed your letter. It so reminds me of how God impacts our lives in, at times, little ways, that never get our full attention until well down the road of life. It is a miracle in knowing how God guides our footsteps, and has it all safely under control.
Like you, for years, I studied the Bible using Strong's and Young's Concordances. When I got my first computer in 1996, I made a gigantic leap forward. I had just completed a MA in Christian Apolgetics. With the leftover funds in my Stafford Loan account, I purchased 'Hermenutics', the premier Bible Software for professionals and students. It enabled me to accelerate my computer studies. Since then I purchased several more computer-based Bible software applications. While the computer was a blessing to be sure, it has shortcomings, not always apparent. I still have to do the leg work to locate the "Diamonds & Nuggets.
I know the loss you must have felt when your husband went to be with the Lord. I lost my first wife to Huntingdon's Disease, a neurological disorder; and we lost a son a month before his scheduled birth. We have lots to look forward to on the other side. I'm so looking forward to new knees and 20/20 vision.
I know well the excitement of a youngster's looking forward to a birthday, but its even much greater looking forward to Rosh HaShanah. Its always tempered with the past coming and going without deliverance. When you think about it for a while you can see why God gave the Feast Days of the Lord as "rehearsal" events for the arrival of the unknown day. I like your quote from Haggai, "the seed was in the barn". I learned years ago that the Holy Spirit's conception event was on Kislev 24, but most Methodists disregarded it for the Roman date as the "birth" of the Messiah. It is tragic that the institutional church is still connected at the hip with Rome.
Your "special visit" with your husband Ed gave me the chills and thrills. Twenty-two years ago I had a rare visitation of an angel, that out of nowhere showed up on my doorstep and a few hours later disappeared from site at a Waffle House in Williamstown, KY off of Interstate 75, south of Cincinnati, OH. I will share the experience next week in a post. I am so busy this week with meetings and studies with a couple groups of folks this week that I haven't time to post it.
Your story has been a blessing, and I sincerely hope this Feast of Trumpets is your reunion with Ed and our Lord.
God's blessings,
Pastor Bob