Archive | January, 2013

THAT CHICKEN BONE

13 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Judy

                                                     

I’m sure that many new parents have had this experience – but it was new to us.

When our oldest daughter, Karen, was just a little thing, we were living in Wiesbaden, West Germany.  She was finally old enough – developed enough – to be eating solid foods, and our foods – no more baby food.

I remember the first time she was given a piece of chicken to eat.  I had made fried chicken for supper that evening, and I had given Karen a drumstick to eat.  Fred and I were eating and conversing, as we usually did, not really paying much attention to Karen.

All of a sudden, I looked over at her in her high chair, and…..she was waving that chicken bone this way and that.  It was completely stripped of everything edible!  She had eaten the fried skin, the meat, the tendons and ligaments – that was the barest drumstick I had ever seen!  It was naked!  While I was nearly gagging at the thought of all she had eaten, she was happy as a lark!  It’s a good thing that bone was thick, or I’m convinced she would have tried to eat the bone as well!

While we can laugh about it now, I’m convinced that I paid a LOT more attention to what and how she ate after that experience.  She didn’t suffer any severe consequences from her encounter with that chicken bone, but I made sure to cut the meat off the bone and give it to her the next time.

 

                 

 

 

 

 

Romans 8:28

 

 

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Worst Friend Ever

10 Jan

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Onisha

Ten days ago I was sure I was the worst best friend ever. My precious friend, Marie was scheduled for a lumpectomy in South Carolina and I wanted to be with her. We were winding up our time in North Carolina and were heading back to Florida in a few days. Our daughter, Rebekah had flown up for Christmas and we were all driving home together.

Shortly after my friend told me about the surgery, I made up my mind that I was not going back to Florida. We could fly our daughter home. I went so far as finding a flight that would leave North Carolina on the same day she would have left anyway. It was a do-able price. I texted our friend, Pam who blesses us by doing the “airport run” whenever Rebekah flies and she was available. Next I ran our upcoming appointments through my mind. Would I be missing anything important? Quickly I moved my hair appointment off the list then moved on to an eye appointment. I had a cornea transplant in October and was still on the monthly check-up schedule. Due to the holidays I was already two weeks late, so what were two more? As my hand hovered over the buy now button, the very soft voice of the Holy Spirit asked, “have you prayed about this?” Of course I hadn’t, I was reacting with emotion. Reluctantly I moved my finger away from the button.

“Lord,” I prayed, “you know how very much I want to be with my dear friend and I know she wants me to be with her. I don’t know why I shouldn’t be there but I am giving it up to you. Please give me your peace about this and could you do it by morning, there are only two flights left for Rebekah.”.

The next morning, as I prayed the answer was go home, no explanation. “Lord,” I thought, “you must have something very special planned for Marie, someone who can meet her needs far better than I could.”

My eye appointment was the same day as Marie’s surgery. I chatted with the technician as I went through the preliminary tests. We talked about having the flu and how badly it sapped one’s energy. She left me to wait for the doctor and I spent the time wondering if my vision in the transplant eye seemed fuzzy or was it just my imagination.

The first words from my doctor’s mouth after hello, was “I hear you had flu. Did you increase the steroid drops?”

I hadn’t even thought about increasing the drops or calling the eye doctor. It turns out I am having a rejection episode due to my immune system’s response to the flu. Thankfully, it appears I am in early rejection and with increased doses of steroid drops total rejection may be avoided.  Like pieces of a puzzle snapping together I understood God’s answer. Once again I am in awe of how intimately God knows and cares for his children.

Isaiah 49:14-16

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My Beloved – Part 2

9 Jan

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

DiVoran & I became good friends, and when the foursome broke up, Bud went on to girls of another persuasion and the next thing I knew DiVoran & I were going steady.

1

We went the movies, went to church, went roller skating , and cruised Albuquerque’s Central Avenue my restored 1940 Chevy coupe.  This evolved into our getting engaged.

2

I joined the U.S. Navy when I was 18 and went on a 6-month cruise of the Mediterranean on the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea.  We wrote letters to each other every day and signed them “All my love…”   After I returned to the U.S. I was transferred to the Fleet Repair ship USS Hector that was stationed at the San Diego Naval Base.

3

When family friends from San Diego stopped in Albuquerque during their vacation to visit my parents, they offered to take DiVoran home with them to see me.  That was when we decided to get married.  Our fathers were both on trips for their jobs, so our mothers came to San Diego for the wedding.  DiVoran was 18 and I was 19.

4

The car I owned at that time was a highly modified ’32 Ford coupe, and DiVoran hated riding in it because there was only one bucket seat for the driver and the rest of the interior floor was a sheet of plywood that she had to sit on.   Not long after we were married, I traded my “Pride & Joy” wheels for a nice ’50 Mercury sedan that DiVoran could drive.

5a5b

 

 

 

We lived in San Diego for 6 months until I left on the USS Hector for 8 months duty in Japan.  DiVoran went back to Albuquerque to wait for me and complete beauty school.

beauty school

By the time I was discharged from the U.S. Navy, I had finally seen the need for more than a high school diploma to make a decent living.  We moved to Los Angeles for me to attend Northrop University.  DiVoran worked full time with the Magic Mirror chain of beauty salons, and I worked part time servicing airplanes at LAX to help pay for my education.  DiVoran said it was the best investment she ever made.

7

We lived and worked in L.A. for 8 years where our two children, Renie and Billy,  were born.  We moved to Titusville, Florida in 1965 with the Apollo Manned Space Program.  I worked that program and various other missile programs, through the years, as an Ordnance Engineer until my retirement.

 

3,2,1

DiVoran and I live in the same house we bought new in 1965 and plan to live here together forever.  We are both happy as clams with our favorite past times, R/C model airplanes for me and novel writing and painting for DiVoran.  Our children and their families both live in Central Florida, which makes it great for us to be able to see them and our Grandchildren often.

 

9a

 

9b

 

 

 

 

 

As a side note, DiVoran and I both learned to type in that high school typing class, and that is one of the things that is helping us write these weekly blogs.

10

The story of “My Beloved” and me will never end.  However, that’s all for now folks.

Proverbs 5:18

 

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Calendar Choices

7 Jan

My Take

DiVoran Lites

DiVoran Lites

The calendars in the bookstores are on sale now, but we bought ours before Christmas. It may not have been the smartest shopping choice, but one year we waited for the sale and the ones we wanted were all gone.

We bought the Audubon Engagement Calendar with a nature photograph every week. We also got, Live, Love, Dream which has helpful quotation and has pages small enough to glue into my journal every day. I’m crazy about journals and about helpful quotations.

Audubon calendar buyers get a free page a day calendar for 2013, and I chose a Bible version. Sometimes my friends like a Bible verse on Face Book. Besides, as helpful as the helpful quotations may be they can’t deliver the dimension scriptures can.

A long time ago our pastor suggested we try writing out Bible verses as if God was talking directly to us. Almost any verse will bring the Holy Spirit up close and personal. Sometimes I keep on writing in my journal after I finish with the verse. I’m surprised when I go back and read it again, Hey that sounds like God and not like me. It’s so cool!

Here’s a sample:

My Dear Child, I love you. You are unique and special to me. Here is something I deeply desire for you to have: May Christ, through your faith, actually dwell—settle down, abide, make His permanent home—in your heart. May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love. Ephesians 3:17 (Amplified Bible)

The Message uses the phrase: “the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love.” What does your version say? Try it, you’ll like it.

calendars

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JANET AND THE OPTOMETRIST

6 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

Judy

                                                     

We have always felt that it was most important for us to teach our girls to read.  After all, if you can’t read, you can’t do math problems.  It has been such an important part of our lives and training that both our girls were able to read while still in pre-kindergarten.

 Back in the 1970’s, the big method for teaching children to read was phonetically – sound out the letters of the word and you will be able to make the word your own.  That may still be a method of teaching children to read – I don’t know.

Because Fred and I both wear glasses/contact lenses, we were concerned that our girls might need eye correction fairly early in their lives.  So we had them tested by the AF Base’s optometrist upon several occasions.

Our youngest daughter, Janet, was in second grade, when we had her tested at one point in time.  The technician started with the smallest “line” to read.  No response from Janet.  He moved it up to the next line – no response.  Wringing of hands by Janet at this point.  He moved it up another line – no response.  Severe wringing of hands by Janet.  But no response.

 

EYE CHART

 

Finally, Fred leaned toward her and said – “it doesn’t make a word.”  She had been trying to phonetically make those letters into a word – and she couldn’t do it!  Well – I doubt if WE could have made it into a word, either!

The technician had told her to “read” the line, and that was exactly what she was trying to do – read that line of letters!

She did learn to read – and she didn’t need too much eye correction.  Thank goodness!

 

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Lord Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise

3 Jan

Those of you who have been  following Bill’s travel adventures, we are offering up praises that his heart attack was mild and he is doing very well- Onisha

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Onisha

 

 

Last week I wrote of the plans I had made for Christmas and how they hadn’t worked out. I am hoping 2013 will be a bit more cooperative.  My parents often prefaced their plans with “ the Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.” As a child, I thought this sounded silly but now I understand that in a humorous way they were lifting their plans up to God.

This week we will be leaving the chilly weather and heading to the sunshine in Florida. We live a rather migratory life, visiting between our children. When I am in Florida I am very content. I love spending time with life long friends and of course being with our daughter. When it is time to return to the “hills,” I am sad and not sure I really want to go.  Once our car gets a few miles up the interstate my heart begins to race with trills of anticipation, excited to see our son and his family and all the things we love about our living in the country. All too soon it’s time to close up the house and head back to Florida and once again I am sad and not sure I want to go.

Does this make me fickle? I don’t think so. I prefer to think of myself as content. In Philippians 4:11 Paul speaks of being content in his circumstances. Admittedly he is referring more to finances, but I am still claiming the contentment!

 

Philippians 4:11-13

 

11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ[a] who strengthens me.

 

 

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My Beloved–Part 1

2 Jan

A Slice of Life

     Bill Lites

Bill

By the time I got to my senior year in high school, my interest in education was almost nonexistent.  My parents had planned a formal education for me and kept pushing me to prepare for college.  I only wanted to graduate from high school so I could get a job and get out of the house.  As a result, I was not a very good student, so I only took the required classes, and filled the rest of the day with meaningless electives.  One of those electives was typing.

 

typewriter typing class

As it turned out, that class ended up being a really good choice for two reasons.  One, I was the only boy in the class, which was great, because I loved being surrounded by girls.  And two, I didn’t know it at the time, but God had planned for me to meet DiVoran in that class.

 

young beloved

I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the class requirements, because I was more interested in impressing the girls by being the class cut-up.  At first, DiVoran and I knew no more about each other than that she used the typewriter I did in the next class.  Oftentimes I would be slow collecting my typing stuff, she would be early for her class, and we would talk briefly.

My best friend at the time was Bud.  He also had classes with DiVoran, and had asked her out a couple of times.  DiVoran happened to be friends with a girl named Rita, who I had also noticed.  When I found out from Bud that DiVoran knew Rita, I saw my chance for a clandestine inquiry.  Being a little shy about the whole thing, one day after class, I asked DiVoran if I could carry her books to her locker, as I had a question to ask her.

lockers

Months later, she told me she had expected me to ask her out, but was surprised, when it was Rita I wanted to know about.  “Yes, she probably would,” DiVoran said, “but you better ask her yourself.”   I did, and after my first date with Rita, she and I, and Bud and DiVoran started double dating.

double dates

Somehow, it evolved that DiVoran and I called each other to talk about our relationships with Bud and Rita.

 

 

—To Be Continued—

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