Archive | August, 2013

Four Keys to Stop Worrying

31 Aug

Walking by faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Janet Perez Eckles

Hubby and I were enjoying a nice lunch at a local restaurant the other day. And as I munched on my salad, I noticed a taste of pasta.

“Hmm…” I thought. I don’t remember noodles being part of the oriental salad I ordered.

I made a comment. And that’s when hubby admitted. Without me knowing (advantages of having a blind wife) he scooped a portion of his dish onto my salad. I smiled because the blend of flavors was pretty tasty.

Did that ever happen to you? You’re going through life, enjoying pleasant events. When, without you realizing it, someone has dumped something you never expected. It happens to most of us. The only thing is that often, unlike tasty pasta, what was added tastes awful.

I’m talking about stuff the world adds to our day—fear, anxiety, stress. But the most common one is worry. I can almost guarantee that as you’re reading this, in the back of your mind, worry has come in. That pesky habit of worrying about something, about someone…until you cannot enjoy the salad of life anymore. That’s when emotional indigestion sets in.

Good news: seated across the table and observing as we go through our plate of tasks, goals and dreams, Jesus sees how the enemy slips worry on our plate.

According to Him, in Matthew 6, He tells it like it is regarding distasteful worry:

• Carve out all kinds of worry, big and small: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body…”

• Consider a more sound perspective: “Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”

• Count on His provision: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”

• Claim your value: “Are you not much more valuable than they [the birds in the air]?”

• Create a new motto—Jesus’ motto: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

Father, I confess, worry comes in as an intruder that often robs my joy. I shall embrace your instruction not to worry. It doesn’t belong in my heart where you reside, where you rule and where you placed your peace. In Jesus’ name, amen.

• What has you worried today?

• What promise in God’s Word speaks to your heart?

• How can you conquer worry?

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Listening

30 Aug

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

author of Window Wonders

People need people

To validate their dreams-

No one is independent-

We all need someone, it seems.

A speaker needs a listener

To the language of his heart-

We all need recognition-

True listening is an art!

Do you truly sense the hunger

When a person speaks to you?

Or do you struggle with impatience

To express your point of view?

Let us try to open our heart

To hear the speaker’s tone-

So that we can let them know

They don”t walk alone.

Listen very carefully

To the message they convey-

Everyone needs to express

What their heart wants to say.

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You’re in the Navy Now~Part 5

28 Aug

A Slice of Life

Bill LItes

 

Sailor Bill

 

Besides France, the ship continued on its designated cruise with stops at ports in Italy, Turkey, Spain, and Gibraltar, where I enjoyed visiting and experiencing the unique beauty and culture of the countries where we stopped.  It was sometime during this period that the Suez crisis broke out, and the Coral Sea was rushed to that area to patrol and provide air support until the crisis was resolved.  After things calmed down in the Suez area, we returned to Rota, Spain for several days, for our ship to take part in a fleet conference, and then to be relieved by our sister ship, the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42).  I had never seen so many ships in one place before. The area was absolutely jammed with ships of all shapes and sizes.1

                                               

While waiting for the conference to be over, our captain treated the ship’s company to a beach party on the Naval Station.  That party really helped relieve much of the tension everyone had experienced during the Suez 2Canal crisis.  Once the conference was over and we had been officially relieved, we headed for the U.S. and Norfolk, VA.  As luck would have it, we ran into a huge north Atlantic storm that lasted most of the trip, and pounded the ship with giant waves, some of which even broke over the flight deck of the ship.

                                     

In Norfolk, we off loaded the air group, with all their planes, personnel,

USS Coral Seas

USS Coral Seas

fuel and weapons, and all other ship’s company (non-essential) personnel, leaving us with a 1500 man skeleton crew, to man the ship.  What was left of the ship’s company worked around the clock for three days to off-load all the remaining non-essential equipment, and then we headed south.  The Coral Sea was scheduled for a two-year long refit and conversion, and the east coast shipyards were full.

Dressed in our winter blues when we left Norfolk, it wasn’t long before we were crossing the Equator and having to change into our summer whites.  As we crossed the Equator, all us Pollywogs (first timers/land lubbers) were introduced to the “Mysteries of the Deep” which is ruled by King Neptune and his court.  In a ceremony that I will never forget, the Shellbacks (previously indoctrinated crew members who have crossed the Equator) of the ship’s company aided “King Neptunus Rex and his Royal Court” in initiating us “Slimy Pollywogs” sufficiently to qualify us as new Shellbacks.  But, that ceremony is another story for another blog.  Suffice it to say, it was uniquely Navy and memorable.

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                                                            —–To Be Continued—–

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David Danced Before the Lord, and So Did I

26 Aug

My Take

DiVoran Lites

One Sunday I had the remains of a bad cold that kept me home from church tAuthor, Poet and Artisthe Sunday before. I couldn’t sing without coughing, so I danced–free style–as I used to when I was a child. One of our ladies, a red-hat lady, dances with a banner every Sunday and gives one to all of the children who want one. We even have a one year old, Joy, who is allowed to wander into the open space at the front, so it won’t be long until she’s offered a banner, too.

I had a wonderful time with the music. I wore a white tiered skirt, my favorite top with ruffled cap sleeves, and a pair of large, lightweight Chartreuse shoulder-duster earrings I bought at a neighbor’s garage sale just to help her out. I whirled and waved my banner. I didn’t care if there’s no fool like an old fool because I had such a great time, but today one of our dear pastors told me everyone enjoyed it immensely. He gave me the impression that there might have been something spiritual in it. How wonderful it was to hear that enjoying myself as much as I did could have a good effect on other worshippers too.

Our Grandtwins

25 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

  

                                                JUDY

 

In previous musings, I have mentioned our “grandtwins.”  I would like to think that I coined that phrase, since I’ve never heard anyone else use it.  But that’s probably rather vain of me to think so.  However, they are our grandchildren, and they are twins.

Our youngest daughter and her husband went through the very expensive InVitro process to have their children.  And we are thrilled with the results of that process.  Our grandtwins are delights to our lives.  There are 15 years between our older grandchildren and our grandtwins, so I’m afraid these cousins won’t be very close to each other, and that hurts our hearts.  However, our grandtwins were both in our oldest grandson’s wedding just a few short weeks ago, and they are all quite familiar with each other.

But the birth of the twins was quite an experience – for us all.  Our daughter (Janet) called to say that the twins would probably be born within a few days via C-section, as she had developed toxemia. The twins would be born about six weeks early.  Fred immediately called and made airplane reservations for us for a couple of weeks out, staying one week.

However, we had a call from our oldest daughter (Karen), that her husband insisted that someone from the family be there for the delivery, it should be at least her, as well as me.  So Fred called and changed my reservation to the following day.  It was to be a surprise to Janet.  Janet called Fred’s cell phone as he was driving me to the airport, and was surprised to hear my voice instead of his.  She seemed quite disappointed to learn that “we” wouldn’t be coming up for another week.  When I hung up, I rubbed my hands together and said, “Oh, this is going to be GOOD!”

Karen flew in first, rented a car, and picked me up at the airport.  We, of course, got lost trying to find the hospital, just praying we would arrive before Janet was taken up to surgery and delivery of those babies.

Our arrival was such fun.  Karen and I had planned it all out on the way.  She would walk into the room first and greet her sister.  Then she would say, “I picked something up at the airport that I thought might make you smile.”  That was my cue to walk into the room.

Well, it worked.  However, Janet hadn’t seen her sister in over a year…..Karen had let her hair grow…..Janet was in pregnancy “fog”….. and she actually didn’t recognize Karen at first.  She said to herself, “I know this person.  Who is it?”  It wasn’t until Karen was at her bedside that she recognized her and exclaimed, “It’s Karen!!”  After they hugged, Karen said her prepared speech, and I walked in.  Opened mouth – Janet was speechless!  I had anticipated hugs and laughs, but instead got hugs and tears.  It was quite an emotional time.

Later, Janet was taken into surgery, and those two beautiful babies were born.  God is good.

God is with you in everything you do.

 

Genesis 21:22

 

 

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Keep Looking Up

23 Aug

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

author of Window Wonders

          Life presents many challenges from birth to the grave

          But lift your thoughts to God above,

          He promises to save.

          God fashioned us in our mother’s womb

          So I am certain He had a plan.

          We were designed in His own image-

          To serve our fellow man.

          When I was a child, I thought as a child-

          Striving always to please-

          It took a lot of challenges

          To set my heart at ease.

          My heartfelt wish, as I was growing up,

          Was to be a caring soul.

           I desired all humanity

          To make loving others their goal.

           I know it is unrealistic

           To expect Heaven here on earth  –

           But wouldn’t it be wonderful

           If every soul felt its worth?

           Reach out and “touch someone”-

           A word of encouragement, or a smile will do.

           Your kindness will be rewarded-

    It will all come back to you.

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You’re in the Navy~Part 4

21 Aug

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Bill

My orders, following my two-weeks leave, had me reporting to Norfolk, VA for assignment to the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea (CVA-43), which at the time was on patrol in the Mediterranean.  To get to the ship, I was flown from Norfolk, to Cannes, France (On the French Riviera!) with stops or layovers in Gander, Newfoundland, the Azores, and French Morocco, North Africa.1

I arrived in Cannes, France on Christmas Eve (Aw, shucks, it was cold in Cannes, and there were no girls on that famous French beach).  When I got my first up close look at the Coral Sea, I couldn’t believe how big it was.  I 2reported aboard and was directed to follow a Seaman to the compartment where I would live for the next six months.  I followed him thru one hatch and down one ladder and I was lost.  That ship was so massive, it took me a good month to find my way from my bunk, to anywhere but my duty station and to the mess deck.  Even though the ship was huge, every compartment had its use, and berthing quarters, for the 3500 enlisted personnel, were very crowded, and consisted of small clothes lockers and fold-down beds stacked four high.

 One of the first things I had to do, after being assigned watch schedules for my work/duty stations, was my turn at KP duty (welcome aboard you newbie).  The enlisted mess deck on the Coral Sea was run by a First Class Machinist Mate who, the rumor had it, had almost blown up one of the main ship’s boilers years before, and for punishment, was restricted from going anywhere on the ship below the mess deck level.  He was a very angry and mean person, and also demanded perfection from everyone working on 3his mess deck.  He was so hated, that he slept in a chain link wire cage, located right there in the corner of the mess deck, to protect himself from harm from the many people he had poured out his wrath upon.  The story goes, that years before, someone had thrown a string of firecrackers into his cage, in the middle of the night, and he almost killed himself trying to get out.  You can just imagine what kind of retribution he had been dishing out, on anyone assigned to his mess deck after that little prank.

After I was released from my tour of 16-hours a day “Mess Deck Hell”, I spent the rest of my tour of duty on the Coral Sea working below decks as an Engineman Specialist, monitoring and servicing the hydraulic equipment used to operate the ship’s deck-edge elevator.  This elevator was one of three elevators on the ship, used to move the air group’s aircraft between the hanger deck storage area, and the flight deck, whenever flight operations were required.

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—–To Be Continued—–

 

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Walking

19 Aug

My Take

DiVorarn Lites

I started walking when I was a baby. My first steps were into my curly headed daddy’s arms. I practiced a great deal and garnered a lot of praise. Author, Poet and ArtistFalling didn’t phase me. My memory doesn’t go back that far, really, but I know that’s the way it was. The first time I actually recall walking was when I went next door to my little friend’s house to play. I was about five. My brother and I took off walking to town one day in Crowley, Colorado when our puppy got lost. We never did find him, just caused our parents a lot of worry. When I was older, my brother and I walked to the creek looking for a goose we had let escape on purpose because we didn’t want to eat him for Thanksgiving dinner. When I was a teen-ager, on warm evenings, I walked in the neighborhood after supper in Albuquerque. Anyhow you get the picture. Every day, except Sunday, I walk about a mile and a half. In the summertime in Florida, if you get up early enough you can catch a lovely breeze. Using the IPod to amuse myself while I walk helps if I get a bit bored. That doesn’t happen on a wooded trail, only in the neighborhood. I can still stop and say hello to neighbors, I just pull the ear bud connector out and the IPod stops right where it is.

One day a couple of weeks ago I was getting ready to put some water in the

Bad Hose!

Bad Hose!

bird-bath. I dragged the hose over to the cement sidewalk, but before I could take another step the bad hose snaked around my foot and threw me down. As I fell, I had the fleeting thought that if I broke anything, I wouldn’t be able to really walk for a long time. However, when my hands and knees hit the pavement, I knew I was still intact. One knee had a bloody gash and the other had an eventual bruise, but I took my regular walk the very next day.

When it was time for visit to the chiropractor, he found about a dozen places in my knees, hands, and  arms, that had gone out of alignment and needed fixing them. Once again I thanked God for him. He has kept us in good shape for over thirty years. I was still thanking God I hadn’t broken anything. A break can result in so many complications. I told Doc Z. that I was thankful to Mother her good bones, too. She fell many times without any breakage. He said, “It wasn’t your genetics that saved you, it was your walking.” Wow! I was thrilled.

He also said that the reason people fall and have accidents is that they rush around most of the time. That’s me. I don’t know why I think I must hurry through things. I am retired and life is good. Although I can still walk as fast as I want when walking is my purpose, I’m slowing way down in every other aspect of my life. Eat more slowly, listen patiently without thinking of what I’m going to say, or how I can correct somebody, chew food well, don’t multi-task. I must admit that multi-tasking has caused more mistakes than anything else ever has. Life is better now. I’m so glad I learned how to walk. Aren’t you glad you did, too

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West Berlin Part~2

18 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

JUDY

         

One of our favorite places to visit in West Berlin was the Charlottenburg Palace.

1It is very like many of the palaces and castles built by German King Ludwig, and part of it was influenced by those structures.  It is built in rococo and baroque style.  It was built in the late 1700’s.  The central area has a large domed area with a gilded nude statue of Fortune as a weather vane.  The grounds are beautifully landscaped, similar to Versailles in France.

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Within the Palace is the Charlottenburg Museum.  One of the most fascinating things in there is the original bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti.  We’ve always wondered why the original was in Germany and not England or even Egypt.

In the Tiergarten area of West Berlin (a large public park to the west of the city center) is the Russian Memorial.  It commemorates the 480,000 Russian war dead who died in the Battle of Berlin in April and May of 1945.  Throughout the Cold War, Soviet honor guards from the Soviet occupation zone were sent to stand watch at the memorial.  It is an impressive sight.

5Another impressive sight is the Victory Column, also in the Tiergarten area of Berlin.  It was built from 1864 to 1873 to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Prusso–Danish war in 1864.  The shaft of the monument is made of cannon captured from the enemies. The bronze figure at the top was added later, after further Prussian victories in wars against Austria (1866) and France (1870– 71); so the column marks also the unification of Germany after these victories.  It’s really beautiful.

We had heard of the Congress Halle, and walked past it when our oldest daughter 6and I were in West Berlin with Fred, who was on a TDY (Temporary Duty) back in 1969.  It was built by the Americans and given to the Berliners as a symbol of friendship between the two countries.  Because of it’s unique design – an “open” oyster – it is affectionately known as the “pregnant oyster” by the locals.

While we were with Fred on that TDY, we were staying in a hotel that was miscpart of  Templehof Airport, where the Berlin Airlift originated.  One day, I wasn’t feeling very well, kind of like I was getting the flu.  When I went down to the restaurant, the German server inquired about my health.  When I explained, he said he had just the thing for me – and he brought me a cup of the most delicious lentil soup I’ve ever had.  Mostly broth – nice and hot.  And then he put together a tray of very hot water with several tea bags and had it sent up to our room.  After all that TLC, I was back to normal by morning.

One of our fondest memories of West Berlin is the English-speaking Baptist church we visited.  There was a large group of English-speaking people in7West Berlin, and they managed to find each other and form a church.  All were welcome – including any Germans who might wish to attend an English-speaking service, even if it was more to increase their knowledge of English, than to worship our Lord.  But along the way, they were sure to be touched by the people around them, as well as the Holy Spirit, and perhaps come to know Christ as their personal Savior.

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Our tour and trips to West Berlin were some of the most satisfying of our time in Europe.  Certainly something we will never forget.

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The Choice That Set Us Free

17 Aug

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Janet Eckles Perez

 

“Turn that off,” I finally said to my husband as I walked in the TV room.

The nightly news blared yet another angle of the George Zimmerman case. The sad details stirred painful memories of our own trial—the prosecution of the man who killed our 19 year-old-son 10 years ago here in Florida. The man who stabbed him 23 times pled self-defense and the verdict also declared: not guilty of all counts.

The rage, the injustice and the protest that has been dominating the media were familiar to us. But more importantly, the details remind us of the decision my husband and I made back then. After nights of diligent prayer for strength. After pleading God for comfort. And after claiming the victory He would bring, we made the choice. The decision to forgive the killer.

The process wasn’t easy, nor the task simple. We chose to forgive because God had instructed us to do so. Were we such good Christians that we would obey? Not really. But we were desperate to be set free from anger or resentment that could’ve held us prisoners.

God said to forgive. But he also said without Him we can do nothing. He said not seek vengeance. But He also said Vengeance belongs to Him. He said to find joy in Him. But He also said to have a heart free of malice.

We found the peace that goes beyond all understanding. We learned firsthand the freedom that forgiveness brings. We found that tragedy happens, evil abounds, but triumph through the power of God is possible.

Writing about this episode is not easy. But the price Jesus paid for murderers wasn’t easy either.

Media hosts have asked me during interviews: What words would you say to the mother of a victim to murder?

I would say three things:

*Seek God’s help for the grieving process. Although it’s impossible to overcome the pain without His help, the journey is different for everyone.

*Be careful to choose what fills your mind. The mentality of a victim never reaches victory.

*Honor your child’s life by turning this painful episode to a powerful message. I suggest inviting those who have a high profile and are outspoken folks to use that same energy, passion and efforts to teach, to encourage and show young people of ALL ages the evil of violence, the value of self-control and the power of forgiveness.

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Matthew 6:14.

Since Jesus gave us the power to forgive, our family’s loss turned to the gain of God’s gift. The gift of freedom wrapped in forgiveness.

For we know that unforgiveness is the chain that keeps us bound. And Forgiveness is the choice that sets us free.

The full story is included in Janet’s #1 best-selling book Simply Salsa: Dancing Without Fear at God’s Fiesta. http://amzn.to/pwDntn

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