Archive | March, 2015

My March Madness

19 Mar

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I'm a winner

I know now why March has been named March Madness and it has nothing to do with basketball! I don’t think I have caught my breath yet. I even set my alarm clock an hour earlier to pack more into my day. That is a big deal for me.

The disturbing part is that aside from doing first round edits on Rebekah’s upcoming release, Spring Dawn, I can’t tell you why is has been “mad.” Isn’t this how life goes most of the time, busy, busy, busy with little to show for it.

As I began writing this, the phrase “Be Intentional” came to mind.

Keepand Be Intentional

 

.So I decided to be intentional as I think back on my March activities. I realized that I had accomplished more than I thought.

  1. Created a blog for my son’s travel business, Oasis Travel.
  2. Created and posted content to his blog.
  3. Searched for travel blogs to follow and connect with.
  4. Regularly maintain this blog and Rebekah Lyn Books.
  5. Edited fifty chapters of Spring Dawn.
  6. Actively participated in two book promotions.
  7. Then there is the every day routine of social media networking.

The best part was spending time and sharing laughter with friends and family. I think I will choose to be intentional and be thankful for the things I did accomplish and not fret over what I did not.

If you haven’t visited Rebekah Lyn Books stop by and see our new projects. On Sundays, DiVoran is sharing her serial novel, Go West. It is a historical western romance complete with original artwork. Wednesday is Promise Poster Day. You will certainly want to view them.

Rebekah Lyn Books is a part of an exciting book sale and giveaway March 16-20. One lucky reader will win over FORTY digital books and registration is very easy.

That’s all for now. Our time in Florida is over for a few months and while I will miss my precious friends and family, the beautiful western Carolina Mountains are calling my name!

 

PS I forgot to mention that Rebekah is giving away an autographed copy of Summer Storms. For a chance to win, leave on comment on the blog hop post.

Created this as part of my March Madness

Created this as part of my March Madness photo license free from bing images

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My Colonial States Trip Part 18

18 Mar

A Slice of Life

 Bill Lites

Bill Small Red Plane

 

I wanted to save plenty of time for visiting the Submarine Force Library & Museum in Groton, CT before they closed. This museum is the only submarine museum operated by the U.S. Navy and is the home of the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the first nuclear powered submarine in the world.  

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The museum also was a replica of the first submarine ever used in combat, David Bushnell’s Turtle, built in 1775; a WWII HA-8 Japanese Midget submarine and the Navy’s USS X-1 research submarine that was initially designed to operate using a special closed-loop hydrogen peroxide system to generate the oxygen the submarine’s diesel engine needed to operate while the ship was submerged.

 

    

I was impressed with the 50 foot model of the USS Gato (SS-212), first of that class of submarine built by the U.S. Navy (thus carrying the class name) and was one of the typical classes of over 250 submarines built and used by the Navy during WWII. This beautifully detailed cut-away model shows all the different parts of the submarine, from bow to stern, were the crew lived and worked.

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Next I drove up the coast a few miles to visit the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, CT advertised as the largest maritime museum in the world. The museum is located on 17 acres just south of I-95 on the Mystic River and was the first living maritime museum in the United States (1929). The museum re-creates a 19th century seafaring village, with its historic sailing ships, boats and over 60 period structures that have been carefully restored. I was impressed with one of their main attractions, the last surviving whaling ship, the Charles W. Morgan.

 

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Since I was close to the town of Mystic, and I had looked them up on the internet as part of my trip research, I decided to try another lobster roll at the Ancient Mariner Restaurant in downtown Mystic. To my surprise, the town was in the middle of celebrating “Pirate Invasion Day” with people all over town (and in the restaurants) dressed up in Pirate costumes, running around looking for their next item in their Scavenger Hunt (or Geo Cache), and having a wonderful time, as the rain had finally let up. Then it was on up the road to the motel in Warwick, RI for a well-deserved rest after a 375 mile drive in the rain.

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The next day was Sunday and I had planned to have a late breakfast and then attend the 11:00 service at the First Baptist Church in America in Providence, RI which was founded by Roger Williams in 1638. Williams had founded Providence in 1636 and had conducted church services in his home until 1638. For the next 60 years the congregation met outside, when the weather was nice, or in homes. The first service held in the current church building was in 1775 when the building was completed. Well, when I got to Providence some organization was having a 5-K Run right thru the area, and all the streets around the church were blocked off and the traffic was re-routed for blocks.

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I finally gave up trying to get to the church, and headed for the Quonset Air Museum in North Kingston, RI where I found a small one-hanger museum with some unusual aircraft, not far from the Martha’s Vineyard Ferry landing. All of their aircraft were on static display, and not in what I would call beautifully restored condition. The guy behind the counter was very friendly and he told me all about the museum’s operations, after which we discussed our military service experiences at some length.

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—–To Be Continued—–

 

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Jesus Talks to Children

16 Mar

My Take

 DiVoran Lites 

 Jesus Talks to Children

 

Sunday, we had two princesses, a prince, and a beloved handmaiden in Sunday School. Before we even started singing one of the princesses was pouting because she wanted to go home. It was daddy’s day, but daddy had chosen to bring her to church. All I could offer was for her to go sit with him and his wife (whom she loves). She passed on sitting still and listening to the sermon for adults. I explained how a bad mood affects everyone and asked her to see if she could find a way to become happy about where she was.

For the lesson, I gave each child a sponge on a paper plate. I then explained they could slowly pour their drinking water into it pretending the sponge was their heart, and they were soaking up God’s love. We talked about how we can ask God to love people through us even if we didn’t like them very much. Teacher got to be the unlikeable one, and they squeezed some of the love-water into my sponge. After refilling theirs, they sat quietly and waited for God to say something to them.

We decorated our journal pages, then wrote what God had said to us. Each message was short, but you could tell the children treasured them. I was particularly impressed with one which said, “You will fulfill your goals in 2015.” I happen to know the child’s goal is to get an A in every subject this semester. She can do it too, especially now that she knows God is supporting her in it.

I felt a bit funny about my message, thinking it sounded like a cliche. “Jesus is the greatest.” I read. The children seemed surprised. We’ve discussed cartoon characters, Santa Claus, and Whitney Houston, so I suppose, “Jesus is the greatest,” was news to them. Good news.

Oh, yes, the sad little princess – when we drew titles of songs near the beginning of the class she got, “If You’re Happy and You Know it.” She started laughing even before she told us what her song was.

When the guardian of the other princess came for her, I gave her the sponge and said her child could wash dishes with it. The guardian was thrilled because just before the end of the service the preacher had said that children need to be taught to work. I’m sure this particular woman is already teaching the eight-year-old to work, and many other good things, but she liked the idea that the sponge fit the sermon so well. I did too.

God does talk to us. He talks to children, too. I’ve read that they don’t get a half-pint serving of the Holy Spirit, they get the whole bucketful, just as we adults do.

Jesus called them to himself and said, “Let the children come to me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven.”

Luke 18:16

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Texas Bluebonnets

15 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                                    

                                    

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Some of my family is from Texas – actually my brother and I were born in Dallas, but moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico when we were small children. But my mother’s mother (Granny) and her oldest daughter, Jessie, lived in San Antonio for many years.

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Consequently, I had known about the Texas Bluebonnets for longer than I really knew what they were.

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Even though Fred and I lived in Fort Worth for many years, it wasn’t until we moved to San Antonio that I really knew about the Texas Bluebonnets. And they are AMAZING! They have been adopted as the state flower of Texas.

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On the internet I found this: As historian Jack Maguire so aptly wrote, “It’s not only the state flower but also a kind of floral trademark almost as well known to outsiders as cowboy boots and the Stetson hat.” He goes on to affirm that “The bluebonnet is to Texas what the shamrock is to Ireland, the cherry blossom to Japan, the lily to France, the rose to England and the tulip to Holland.”  Well said.

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When Springtime comes to Texas – from the Dallas/Fort Worth area down to the Corpus Christi area – the Bluebonnets are in full bloom, from late March to mid-April. They are the most dainty, beautiful flower, and we’ve see just fields and fields of them – like a blanket of blue in some cases. I’ve been sent many pictures of them via e-mail through the years, and have enjoyed seeing them all.

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There is even one of Bluebonnets in the snow! Must have been a late storm – although Dallas/Fort Worth can have abundant snow in early Spring.

When we moved from San Antonio to Florida, I took some Bluebonnet seeds with me and planted them, hoping for some lovely spring flowers to remind me of Texas. No such luck! As I’ve just gleaned from google, they must be planted in the fall and have to have the wind, rain, and cold weather to make them leap forth in the Spring. And the panhandle of Florida just doesn’t have that kind of winter weather. Shucks! Oh well, I then planted strawberry plants and they did very well.

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But the Texas Bluebonnet is a source of great pride for Texas – as if they needed something else! And they are just a beautiful side of Texas that most don’t know about. I think a lot of people think of Texas as dusty, flat, and unimaginative. But it is full of great differences, including some of the most beautiful flowers in God’s creation.

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                       I’m just so glad I was able to see them, and enjoy their beauty.

 

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

 

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Three secrets to knowing God’s will.

14 Mar

Janet told me that watching the video, “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” inspired today’s blog.

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The Promise

12 Mar

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

Louise Gibson

 

 

 

When we wake up in the morning

there is promise in the air.

We don’t know what the day will bring,

but the expectancy is there.

 

The time to be happy is now.

We have this day to explore.

Every day is a special occasion-

What are you waiting for?

 

 

“This is the day that the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Psalm 118:24

JOY

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My Colonial States Trip~Part 17

11 Mar

A Slice of Life
 Bill Lites

My friends from Boston and New York had advised me not to use the George Washington Bridge if I could help it, but that’s the way “Greta” took me on my way back to the west to visit the Aviation Hall of Fame in Teterboro, NJ. So, it was across the Throgs Neck Bridge, thru the Bronx, over the Hudson River on the G.W. Bridge to the museum. As it turned out, it must have been my lucky day for that crossing, because that trip was pretty much of a breeze and I made it to the museum in good time. This museum, located at the Teterboro Airport, displays historic aircraft and spacecraft equipment, artifacts and photographs along with a model aircraft collection, honoring the many New Jersey men and women who have helped make the aviation industry what it is today. There is a room filled with medallions honoring the over 160 inductees to date.

I woke up to rain the next morning. Up until now the weather had been perfect and I had just assumed it would be the same for the whole trip. Silly me. What was I thinking? Well, it rained that entire day as I sloshed my way toward Connecticut. I figured “Greta” would have routed me back across the G.W. Bridge and up I-95 to Bridgeport, CT before turning north. But I wasn’t ready to try my luck getting across the G.W. Bridge again, especially during the morning rush-hour traffic in the rain. So, I decided to take the northern route, using the Garden State Parkway, and then crossing the Hudson River at the Tappenzee Bridge. Well, wouldn’t you know, I missed the exit for the bridge. I stopped at a service center and asked how to get back to the bridge exit and the guy said, “Just take the next exit and do a “U” turn.” Right! It was 20 miles to the next exit and it ended up taking me 30 minutes and another 30 miles back to the bridge exit (all this in the pouring down rain).

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I finally made it to the right exit, across the Tappenzee Bridge, then thru Danbury and Hartford, CT to the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT. That ended up taking 1-½ hours longer than I had planned. What a waste of time that was! The museum displays over 60 beautifully restored aircraft and related artifacts/equipment in three hangers. As I followed a group into the B-29 hanger, I overheard someone say that the small group was honoring their 95 year old uncle who had been a navigator in B-29s during WWII. The elderly gentleman was overwhelmed by the occasion and the size of the aircraft. I heard him say, “I don’t remember it being so big!” What a nice thing for a family to do for their uncle. While I was in the area, I had planned to visit the American Museum of Aviation in Stafford Springs, CT but I discovered that visiting the museum was by appointment only. I was behind schedule anyway, so I just headed south to my next stop, at the New London Customhouse in New London, CT which is operated by the New England Maritime Association. This turned out to be a very small museum, so I didn’t spend much time there.

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—–To Be Continued—–

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Inaugural Patrick D. Smith Award for Literary Excellence

9 Mar

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Beck and Ned Keller Award

Patrick D. Smith was one of my favorite authors. When I was a younger writer, I read his books and went to hear him speak. The first time he described lush Florida as it was when he came here as a boy I was hooked on his powers of observation and description.

I enjoyed the movie they made of his book, “Angel City,” which was about migrant workers in Florida. Patrick Smith actually lived as a migrant worker in a camp and risked his life to document the cruelty and rough conditions there.

“Patrick D. Smith’s sixth book was the best-selling, A Land Remembered. This novel depicts “three generations of the Maclveys, a Florida family who battles the hardships of the frontier to rise from a dirt-poor Cracker life to the wealth and standing of real estate tycoons.”*The last generation in the book realizes that the family has over-used the land and makes plans to rectify their mistakes. It has also been made into a movie. (Amazon blurb)

“Patrick Smith is a 1999 inductee into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, which is the highest and most prestigious cultural honor that can be bestowed upon an individual by the state of Florida. Smith is the author of seven novels and has been nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize. His lifetime work was nominated for the 1985 Nobel Prize for Literature.”

Patrick D Smith

Rebekah Lyn’s book, , is a perfect continuation of . It moves into the next stage of Florida’s history with the story of a young man whose family members are ordered to leave their home on North Merritt Island because the country needs the land for a center from which to launch rockets into space.http://patricksmithonline.com/patricksmith.html

Rebekah Lyn’s book, Jessie, is a perfect continuation of A Land Remembered. It moves into the next stage of Florida’s history with the story of a young man whose family members are ordered to leave their home on North Merritt Island because the country needs the land for a center from which to launch rockets into space.

Most of the people we know here in Brevard County have been, or are currently, involved with the Space Program. It has been our town’s main industry since the late fifties, and Rebekah Lyn got first hand accounts from many of them. Her research is impeccable as are her characterizations.

In my opinion, there is no better way to learn history than from enjoyable, readable fiction.

A Land Remembered is now a two volume text book with study guide and I’d love to see the same thing happen to Jessie. Not long before Patrick Smith died, members of The Brevard County Library Foundation visited him and presented the idea of the award. He was pleased and gave the group his permission to create the award in his honor. The foundation’s president felt the award’s creation memorialized the passing of a much-loved Florida author, yet reaches out to recognize and encourage a new generation of writers.

Five of the seven judges attended the awards ceremony. All were college professors and several were Ph.Ds. When asked how tough it was to select a winner, they agreed there was no question, Jessie was it!

When asked about the award, Rebekah Lyn said having the chance to talk to the judges and hear what they enjoyed most was exciting. They only received the first 30 pages of the book, and they all said they wanted to read more. I was happy to let them know the whole book is available and that a follow-up is in the works. One of the judges complimented me on how relatable and loveable the characters were, another commented on how each of the brothers had a distinctive voice and obvious role to play in the family, and a third judge enjoyed how well I captured the wildness of the Merritt Island landscape.

The award ceremony was planned to have been an outdoor evening event on the lawn by the Indian River. Stormy weather  pushed the event inside, but it didn’t damper our joy. Along with myself, Rebekah was accompanied by her parents, and close friends Jennifer and Pam Gheen.

 

A Land Remembered

A Land Remembered

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Let Me Tell You About My Grandchildren Forrest~Part 2

8 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

As I began my story about my grandchildren last time, I told you that our oldest daughter and her husband gave us our first grandchild – a boy, Forrest.1

 

Last time, I forgot to add this picture. It’s one of my favorite pictures of him and his dad.

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Karen has often said that she was just a “vessel” for her children. They both take after their dad’s side of the family. And you can really see it in this picture.

 

There was a bit of competition between us and the other grandparents. Forrest is the oldest grandchild on both sides. As a matter of fact, the other grandparents (grandpa especially) tried to get Forrest to call us “Aunt Judy” and “Uncle Fred.” So we had to correct him every time we saw him.

In mid-1990’s, Fred and I moved to Florida. Brian brought his family down that first Christmas, and of course we went to Disney. Later, the other grandpa stated that HE had wanted to be the one to introduce Disney to Forrest, but then we “went to Florida and bought the place up!” One up for the Wills side!

When he was learning his “ABC’s” we would say a word association with whatever letter he spoke. He did fine until he got to “G” – and I would say “Granny.” He would just look at me and grin – but wouldn’t say Granny. Took him quite a few years to call me that. Never did figure out what the hang-up was.

Our family has always been heavily involved with whatever church we found ourselves members of. Karen was brought up in this environment. Her husband, Brian was the son of a pastor, so he was, as well. So it was no surprise to see that family heavily involved in their church. When they moved to the Chicago area, they found a large church that they loved. Lots of good Bible study and classes for the children.

About 10+ years ago, that church decided the Lord wanted them to branch out and plant another body of believers. They began meeting – and still do – in a local high school. Karen and Brian felt the Lord leading them to be part of that new body of believers, and volunteered to help establish it. But because it was a small grouping, Forrest and Katie still attended the original church for their youth functions.

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Forrest and Katie have both been on mission trips, sponsored by this church. Forrest went on several mission trips, including one to South Africa. He loved it all.

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He is a delightful young man. When he graduated from Wheaton College, he had some choices to make about employment. But his heart was in a Christian program called Alpha (alphausa.org). It is an evangelistic program that was started in England, but has outreach in our country and others.

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There is an office near where Forrest and Alyssa live, and he accepted a job with them. They are pleased to have him, and he is delighted to be working for the company. He loves the Lord greatly.

As I said last time, we are so very proud of Forrest, and thank God for his presence in our lives. God gets all the glory for this young man.

 

 

 

 

 

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Isaiah 55:8-9

7 Mar

On the days when nothing makes sense, I pray this verse. How much better if I started my day confessing this truth!

Redbird's Roost

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)

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