Archive | January, 2022

Five Reasons to Celebrate in 2022

15 Jan

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Reblogged January 15, 2022

January 7, 2022

Since this is a new year, here’s something different for you.

Let’s take a new look at God’s promises. Let’s prepare to receive blessings. Let’s stand firm and boldly declare no dark news, no negativity, no oppression is a match to God’s power to intervene, to bring back what has been lost. In other words, let’s celebrate.

This is your time to fill your heart and mind with inspiration. I invite you to take a deep breath, grab a cup of your favorite coffee, relax and watch this video. It’s a gift from me to you. To nudge you to open your heart to what God is telling you.

During the next 30 minutes, you might hear God’s calling to you to find good in all things, to be empowered to face anything. And to receive what richness He has prepared for you.

But to make it happen you have to take action. Here’s your challenge: In which of the five parts of the video do you hear God speaking to you—in your situation, in your pain, in your loneliness and anxious nights?

Ready?

Here we go (you can click on the video preview above or us this link: How My Testimony Can Empower Women & Others

Praying this new year overflows with unexpected blessings for you, new turns of prosperity, new ways to experience God’s promises, and a new view of His favor upon your life.

Janet

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Did you know I wrote a book filled with words of encouragement, uplifting thoughts and illustrations of real-life triumph to empower you? Its title, Trials of Today, Treasures for Tomorrow: Overcoming Adversities in Life. You can get it HERE.

CLICK HERE for a one-minute inspirational video.

Looking for a speaker for your upcoming event? A great speaker makes the difference between a so-so event and one that shines with impact. I invite you to view one of my two-minute videos HERE.

Please share: Feel free to share Janet’s posts with your friends.

Let’s connect:

Janet Eckles Perez

Some say she should be the last person to be dancing. Her life is summarized in this 3-minute video: http://bit.ly/1a8wGJR

Janet Perez Eckles’ story of triumph is marked by her work as an international speaker, #1 best-selling author, radio host, personal success coach and master interpreter. Although blind since 31, her passion is to help you see the best of life.

www.janetperezeckles.com

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2021 Mid-Eastern Road Trip Part 16

12 Jan

A Slice of Life

DiVoran Lites

Day 16 – 7/27/2021

Leaving Douglas this morning, I headed southeast on SR-158 about 35 miles to visit the Okefenokee Heritage Center, located on the northern edge of the 700-square-mile Okefenokee Swamp, in Waycross, GA.  This center provides and preserves the historical cultures that make up the diverse area around the Okefenokee, with exhibits and artifacts dating from 350 BC.  The museum also gives tours of the restored area buildings, train station, and 1912 Baldwin steam locomotive (‘Ol No. 9).

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed southeast 35 miles on US-23 to visit The Folkston Funnel located in Folkston, GA.  It’s not a train depot as I originally thought but is a raised platform for visitors to watch the dozens of CXS trains traveling into and out of Florida thru the nearby “Folkston Funnel” switching station.  The city provided platform has chairs, tables, lighting, ceiling fans, and a scanner that allows train fans to listen to radio traffic between trains passing thru the area.  I didn’t read a sign thoroughly, located close to the platform, that advertised ice cream and cold drinks down the street.  I thought the ice cream shop was in the caboose.  Silly me!

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

I picked up US-301 out of Folkston and headed southeast 15 miles, crossing the St. Marys River (the border), where I visited the Corner’s  A-Maize-Ing Acres located in Hillard, FL.  As it turned out, this is a 125-acres privately owned farm that caters to people who are looking for a variety of farm-fresh vegetables and/or a beautiful setting for a family picnic or special photo shoot.  I didn’t need vegetables (I had no idea what was in season) or a family photo, so I just made a quick stop to rest my back, and was on my way.

Photo Credit: https://mytownplanner.com/conners-a-maize-ing-acres/

I continued 10 miles southeast on US-301 to where I visited the West Nassau Museum of History located in Callahan, FL.  I found this small museum situated in the old restored 1881Callahan Train Depot, and it displays railroad exhibits, artifacts, and memorabilia about the history of Callahan and the surrounding Nassau County area dating from the early 1800s.

Photo Credit: https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/historical_architecture_main/6271/

Now it was only 20 miles southeast on US-17 to visit the Ritz Theater & Museum located in the LaVilla area of Jacksonville, FL.  The 426-seat theater was built in 1929 and was the focal point of LaVilla (considered the mecca for African American culture and heritage) from the 1920s to the 1960s and was known as “The Harlem of the South.”  The LaVilla Museum is located off the lobby of the theater and displays a variety of exhibits related to the LaVilla area dating from the early 1900s.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was a short drive to downtown where I visited the Jacksonville Fire Museum.   This museum is housed in the restored 1886 Station No. 3 building and displays firefighting equipment, artifacts, and a diorama of the Great Fire of 1901, which distroyed over 2000 buildings in a 146-block area of what was then the city of Jacksonville.  The museum also has a restored 1902 LaFrance horse-drawn fire engine and a 1926 American LaFrance fire engine on display.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed for the Southbank Riverwalk district of town to visit the Museum of Science & History (MOSH) there in Jacksonville.  Originally chartered in 1941, this three-story museum has a large Florida Natural History Center and many Florida scientific and historical exhibits on display for visitors.  The museum is home to the beautiful 200-seat Bryan-Gooding Planetarium.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was still raining, and I needed to find the motel there in Jacksonville and get something to eat.  As it turned out, the motel was in the Orange Park area off, south I-295, and it took me a while to get there.  After I got checked in and got my stuff settled in my room, I recorded my activities for the day.  Then I warmed up my leftover Enchiladas, refried beans and yellow rice, from the El 1800 Mexican Restaurant last night, and enjoyed that great tasting meal again.  What a delight!

Photo Credit: https://tsgcookin.com/2013/05/enchiladas

——To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 64 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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Dressmaker

10 Jan

My Take

DiVoran Lites

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Random Memories of Germany-Aerobics Part 1

9 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

In thinking back to our times in Germany, I am reminded of the years that I taught aerobic dancing.  I have written about this previously, but there are some small details that I didn’t mention.

For instance, we had not been in Heidelberg for very long, when we attended a party for the Weather Wing (my husband Fred, was a meteorologist), and we were introduced to the men and women Fred would be working with there.  One of the wives mentioned that she was going to be attending a new aerobic class in her housing building the next week.  Well, always being interested in exercise, that peaked my interest.  When I asked if there was room for “one more” in the class, she said, “come on!”

I had heard of the Jackie Sorensen® program of exercise – aerobic dancing – literally days before we left the States for Europe.  So when I went to the first class, that was the aerobic dancing program Joanne was teaching.  I had never done any dancing in my life, but was intrigued by the concept of “dancing” as a form of exercise.  I fell in love with the class!  I am a fairly coordinated person, so I took to the steps right away.

After dancing with the group for a few months, Joanne said she needed a partner, as she couldn’t handle all the classes that people wanted.  She chose me to be her partner.  

And so, we set out to make our program as good as possible, naming it “Heidelberg Aerobic Dancing.”  This was our color and logo.

The classes were held either on the military base itself, or in the space above some of the housing units.  For example, we lived on the third floor, and the “space” above our apartment was just empty space.  At one time, I held a small group of classes in that space.  Since it was above our unit, we were disturbing no one else in the building.  I usually held my classes either in the gym, or in the ballroom of what they called “the Casino”…essentially the Officer’s Club on the base.  That particular class had about 50 women in it – we danced most of the dances in a double circle.  It was an evening class, and I actually think I enjoyed that class the most – the women had to face each other and get acquainted.  And usually the women who attend this class were those who worked during the day, and this was their way to get some exercise as well as let off some stress.  It was loads of fun. 

The classes I held in the gym were three days each week.  The man who managed the gym reserved that time for us, and would sit and watch us dance.  He said it was amazing to watch the new-comers learn the steps and eventually we were all doing the same steps at the same time.  The classes in the Casino were only two nights each week.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Girl’s Day Out

6 Jan

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

We are spending the winter in Florida. We arrived around the 18th of December and except for a scattered day here and there, the weather has been pleasant. I tend to get testy when the winter temperature rises to 80 degrees. I know I am being picky, but a perfect day for me would be highs in the low 70s and lows in the upper 40s.

Our daughter’s birthday was last week. We were thinking of an overnight road trip to celebrate the day but we changed our plans due to my husband’s health issues.

We settled on a girl’s day out at Harry P Leu Gardens in Winter Park, FL.

Leu Gardens teems with vigor and beauty, regardless of the season. Discover palms, cycads and flowering trees. Enjoy azaleas, vines, bromeliads and tropical philodendrons. Appreciate the sight of familiar annual flowers and the beauty of roses and camellias. Stroll under the awe-inspiring branches of camphor trees, elms and oaks.

Leugardens.org

Although I lived near these gardens for almost 60 years, I had never visited them!

When we arrived around noon, the parking lot was full, which surprised me. Since we were there during the week after Christmas I assumed most tourists would be at the theme parks. Also surprising was the number of visitors to the gardens who were from other countries. It was nice.

There are many walkways and themed gardens. On the first walkway I was drawn to this tree. The phrase bowed but not broken came to my mind. It reminded me of the hard times the world has faced during Covid.

A little further on the walk we entered a swampy area bordering a lake and I chuckled at a warning sign. I didn’t take a picture, so I created one.

Did the keepers of the garden discover how to limit a swamp to one alligator?

The swamp area had a goodly amount of cypress knees. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good picture of them. I did get a picture of a cypress tree and the green swamp water and if you look closely in the left lower corner, you will see some knees.

Here are some of my favorite photos of the gardens.

I have a particular fondness for poinsettias to the point that I have been known to bring the ones I buy in North Carolina at Christmas to Florida so that I can enjoy them longer. In fact, one very hardy plant survived all of the past year and is now lovely and blooming in a pot with geraniums. I loved this ruffled looking poinsettia and may need to look for one next year. I think it may be called a rose poinsettia.

Towards the end of our time at the gardens, i realized I hadn’t taken a picture of the birthday girl. We couldn’t ask for more in a daughter. She blesses us with her kind and generous spirit, tolerates our aging foibles and loves us.

I was thankful for the plentiful placement of benches throughout the gardens. While sitting at one bench, I was playing with my camera and noticed a heart shaped light shadow being captured in the view finder that wasn’t visible with my eyes. It put a nice finishing touch to our day.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I work as the publicist/marketer/ amateur editor and general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2021 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media. You can visit Real Life Books and Media You Tube Channel if you would like to view some of the mini-videos I have created for our church, Gateway Community in Titusville, Fl.

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2021 Mid-Eastern Road Trip Part 15B

5 Jan

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Day 15 – 7/26/2021 (Continued)

Now I headed east 20 miles on US-82 to visit the Old Engine No. 100 Museum located at Jeffords Park in Sylvester, GA.  This small museum is situated in the old restored 1895 Georgia-Ashburn-Sylvester-Camilla (GASC) Railroad line depot that serviced Worth County from 1895 to 1972.  Old 100 is a 1930 Baldwin Mikado 2-8-2 Steam Locomotive that was one of the many that were used to service the GASC line, which included Sylvester (first called ‘Isabella Station’ in 1893), during that time period.

Photo Credit: https://hawkinsrails.net

Continuing another 20 miles southeast on US-82, I visited the Tifton Terminal Railway Museum located in Tifton, GA.  This museum is housed in the old 1910 Atlantic Coast Line station and displays railroad artifacts and other exhibits related to the history of the railroad’s influence on the city of Tifton and the surrounding Tift County area in the early 1900s.  The original depot served passengers on the CSX line from 1910 until 1986 when passenger service to this area was discontinued.

Photo credit: Bill Lites

Now I headed east on US-319 out of Tifton and traveled east 20 miles to Ocilla, where I picked up SR-32.  It was another 25 miles on SR-32 to where I visited the Heritage Station Museum located in Douglas, GA.  This small museum is situated in the old renovated 1905 Georgia and Florida Railroad Depot and has on display artifacts and memorabilia related to the history of Douglas and Coffee County dating from 1905.  The depot stopped serving passengers in 1949 and operated only as a freight office until 1985 when it was closed.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

It was just a few blocks to where I wanted to visit the WWII Flight Training Museum located adjacent to the Douglas Municipal Airport there in Douglas.  The museum was closed, but their website informs me that the Training Base was built in 1941 by the USAAF as a primary flight training school to teach young cadets how to fly.  Thirteen of the original buildings have been renovated to show visitors how cadets lived and worked during their basic flight training at the base.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

While I was in the vicinity of the Douglas Municipal Airport I stopped to visit my friend Tom Reilly at his restoration facility there at the airport.  Tom was good enough to take time from his busy schedule to give me a tour of his current projects.  Tom has restored many aircraft to flying condition over the years, but he is best known for recently finishing the 12-year restoration of the only flying XP-82 Twin Mustang in the world.  By the way, the airplane is For Sale, so if you are in the market for a superb one-of-a-kind warbird, give Tom a call and he will be glad to tell you all about the airplane.

Photo Credit: https://vintagev12s.com/

Tom and his crew are currently restoring a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress to flight configuration for one customer, while at the same time they are restoring the wings of another B-17 for another customer’s current restoration project.  Tom loves his work and gives his customers the very best product for their money.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

After that amazing tour with Tom, I told Greta (My Garmin) to take me to my motel for the night there in Douglas.  On the way to the motel, I noticed a sign for the ‘El 1800 Mexican Restaurant’ just across US-441 from the WWII Flight Training Base and decided to give them a try.  I ordered their Enchiladas Plate, which came with refried beans and yellow rice.  It was delicious and there was enough for two dinners, so I’ll get to enjoy it again tomorrow.

Photo Credit: https://www.facebook.com/El1800MexicanRestaurant/

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 64 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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Wordsmith

3 Jan

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Photo by Gustavo Fring on Pexels.com

Tiny girl in shopping cart seat chants: stupid head

Stupid head, stupid head.

Mom says: we don’t say stupid head

Do we say potty train?

Yes, potty train’s okay

Potty train, potty train, potty train, pot

That’s enough!

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

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Memories of New Years Past

2 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I guess I am just like most people when it comes to New Years – “I AM going to lose those _____ pounds this year!”  “I AM going to get the house in order!”  “I AM going to scan all those pictures and get them in an album!”  etc., etc., etc.

So, resolutions not-with-standing, what are my memories of New Years past?  I guess my favorite memory is of growing up in my church in Albuquerque.

Photo credit First Baptist Church, Albuquerque

For many years, on New Year’s Eve, the church would have a program that started about 6:00 p.m. with a dinner.  Now, this was a fairly large church, and we had a paid staff who made the meals every Wednesday evening, before the regular activities began.  And those ladies made the BEST dinner rolls!!!  Nothing I’ve ever been able to duplicate!

Anyway, dinner started at 6:00 p.m.  After that, I remember either a movie shown on a large screen in the sanctuary, or games.  Perhaps there were games for the smaller children – I just don’t remember.  But then there was a time of “remembrance” or sharing.  Just being thankful for the year that was passing away, and looking forward to the new one approaching.

But the best thing about the entire evening, was that, after the sharing time, we would – literally – ring the outer edges inside the sanctuary, holding hands to make a funny-shaped circle, and pray in the New Year.  We could hear the fireworks going off, and people yelling outside the church building.  But inside, we were asking God to bless the New Year, and us in it, and our part of it.  It was an extremely wonderful time.

And then I remember some New Year’s Eve’s in our small church in Virginia.

Seaford Baptist Church, Seaford, Virginia Oldest buildings

We would gather for a time of sharing and remembrance, then share the Lord’s Supper together, and then pray in the New Year.  I do remember one year that Karen and Brian married (on December 30).  As we were sharing thoughts, I shared that I would have to learn to keep my mouth shut and be a good mother-in-law!  The pastor would try to do the Lord’s Supper differently some times, to make it more meaningful for us.

I remember a time when he had a loaf of bread, and we pinched off our own little piece.  I also remember a time when there was a community cup for each family to share the “wine” (grape juice in the Baptist church!).  

But in all the memories I have, it always culminated with prayer for the New Year.  And I can’t think of a better way to start any New Year, than asking God’s blessings upon it.

May YOUR New Year be blessed beyond measure.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit

Romans 15:13

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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