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Minute Meditations-2

21 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblog

Credit Google Search

What is happiness?  Or better yet…..what is your IDEA of what happiness is?  Is it just a state of mind?  Is our happiness determined by our circumstances?                          

A pastor said once, that when we are God’s child, happiness is what resides in our hearts and minds always, and that joy or sorrow can’t really touch it; that the circumstances where we find ourselves do NOT determine whether we are happy or not….we have God’s abiding happiness within us.

Joy
Sorrow

Filling our hearts with God’s love gives us permanent happiness, that allows us to be happy, or content, in whatever situations we find ourselves.

My brother, Bill, wrote about this very thing.  These are his thoughts:

Can we see just how God wants us to look to Him for our happiness?  No matter what happens, with God in our hearts, we can depend upon Him to give us the answers we seek to ALL our earthly problems.  He is true and faithful to His word.

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Minute Meditations-1

14 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES 

Judy Wills

Reblog

Back in 2015, my brother Bill, gave me permission to publish some of his “Minute Meditations” he had written following the Challenger disaster. I would like to re-blog them for the next few weeks.  They are as appropriate today as they were when he wrote them, and I submitted them in 2015.

I would like to do something a little different for a few weeks.  Hope you like my musings.

As I have mentioned before – and he has posted – my brother worked in the space industry all of his career.  He has shared so many interesting stories of his work.  Recently, one that has impressed me the most is that, whenever one of our space shuttles docked with the International Space Station, it would “nudge” the ISS back into its orbit.  

Credit:  wallpaper.com

If that didn’t happen, then eventually the ISS would fall into the earth’s atmosphere and burn up.  Did you know that?  I didn’t.  And it seems like such a waste to have spent all that time and money to make the ISS, and then stop the space program.  Oh well.

In any case, if you are old enough to remember the Challenger disaster,

Credit newsweek.com

Credit mansfieldnewsjournal

Bill wrote a “Minute Meditation” about it, and I would like to quote it here:

So, even in tragedy, as Bill stated, we can know that God is there, is in control, and we can trust Him in all our ways.  That is such a hopeful and reassuring thought for me.  For you, as well, I pray.

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Forgiveness

7 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

FORGIVENESS…what a word…what a concept.  And such a difficult thing to wrap our minds around, let alone our actions.

Do you have a difficult time forgiving someone?  Something someone does?  I think it comes with human nature – and after all, we have our pride, right?

One of my very favorite books is called Cafenova, written by S. Jane Scheyder.

It is the first book in the Clairmont Series.  If you are a reader and haven’t yet read any of Ms. Scheyder’s books, I encourage you to do so.  Wonderful Christian author and book series.  In it, Ms. Scheyder has an older gentleman (Otis – 80 years old), giving his neighbor (Maddy – 29 year old B&B owner) his excellent definition of forgiveness.  I have Ms. Scheyder’s and her publishers permission (Andres&Blanton) to quote from Cafenova here.  And you’ll just have to find the book to read “the rest of the story.”  It’s well-worth your time.

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            “I don’t know,” she said as they finished their sandwiches.  “It sounds easy, the way you talk about it, but it’s really…hard,” she finished, for lack of a better argument.

            “Forgiveness came at quite a price.  I figure God has the right to tell us how to do it.”

            “I can’t argue with that,” Maddy said softly.  She hadn’t forgotten everything she’d learned in Sunday School.  “But what if you feel like part of your issue is with God?  I mean,” she hesitated, struggling to express herself.  “Sometimes I feel angry with Him for letting this whole thing happen.”

            She knew she wasn’t alone.  Many of her friends were disillusioned, and had abandoned any religious practices that they’d grown up with, and God along with them.  Some of them, if they were honest, didn’t actually reject the concept of God, they were angry with Him.

            “The trouble is,” Otis replied slowly, “people have this idea that God owes them something, as though creating them, redeeming them and promising them a perfect eternity weren’t enough.”  He shook his head.  “Jesus never said that life on this Earth would be easy.  In fact, He assured us that it would be hard.  Most of us have it so good that we can’t comprehend suffering, and when it happens, we’re shocked and angry with God.”  He stopped and looked out over the water.

            “Somehow we’ve come to believe in this image of God as a sort of genie figure who grants our wishes when we pray.  That’s fine, as long as everything goes our way.  But as soon as something goes wrong we get angry, because that doesn’t fit our image of how we think God should behave.

            “People don’t take the time to get to know God the way He chose to reveal Himself, and that’s through this,” Otis put his hand gently on his Bible.  “The truth is all in here, and everything we need for sorting it out when life hurts,” Otis sighed.  “I guess people don’t want to work that hard.”

            “….He [Otis] turned earnestly to Maddy.  “I know that you feel like something was taken away from you.  I don’t know what you went through with that boy in Seattle.  What was his name?”

            “Phil.”

            “I don’t know what that Phil put you through, but it must have been pretty bad…..”

            “But as long as we’re talking about God giving and taking, did it ever occur to you that God took you away from Phil, and for good reason?”

            “….Again, I don’t know the fellow,” Otis pressed, “but knowing what you know about him now, can’t you at least acknowledge that maybe God did you a favor by taking him out of your life?  Maybe it didn’t happen in a very nice way, I don’t know, but did you ever think that God allowed that, so when you finally healed up inside you would never second-guess whether that boy, that Phil, was really the right man for you?”

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God wants us to forgive any and all wrongs done to us.  It’s not to help the one who did the wrong – it is to free US from that weight of grief and sorrow.  After all…look what Jesus did to forgive us – He hung on that cross and died, and asked God the Father to forgive them – and that means you and me!

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times

Matthew 18:21

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Easter Sunday 2024

31 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

(Reposted from 2014)

I really love Christmas!  All the brisk weather (in the colder climes), the Christmas trees and wreaths.  The decorations.  But especially the music.  It’s so much fun to hear and sing – both sacred and secular.  It’s such a special time of year.

But for me – and all of Christianity – Easter is the very, VERY best!  Of course, Christmas had to come first – to bring the Christ Child into this world.  But Easter brings us eternal life…and that beats the socks off a fun, cute song any day!

The songs associated with Easter are so exciting – and uplifting – and inspiring – and so full of hope and promise (and by-the-way – hope in scripture means absolute assurance!).  They tell of Christ’s death, yes, but also of that glorious moment when HE AROSE!  Can you imagine it?  God’s power is so tremendously great that He actually raised Jesus from death back into life!  Amazing!!  It’s so easy to just say…He arose.  But just think of it – He actually rose FROM THE DEAD BACK TO LIFE!  That never happened to anyone else, that didn’t physically die again.  Our Savior lives again and still, and forever.

There’s a lot of anti-Christian stuff going on right now, that borders on persecution.  Yes, I know – I really haven’t a clue what true persecution is like.  But this is the most anti-Christian attitude in this country that I’ve ever felt.  And it doesn’t feel good.

Seems like every Easter there is something that happens to a church here or there that actually backfires on the perpetrators.  For instance, when we lived in Panama City, Florida back in the 1970’s, there was a Lutheran church who put up a “tomb/cave” on their front lawn every Easter.  They would have a “stone” rolled across the front, that on Easter morning was “rolled away” to reveal the open/empty tomb.  One year, the whole thing disappeared!  Turns out, some teenagers, on a dare, took it away.  So, instead of harming the message – the newspaper got a hold of the story – took pictures and all – and it made the front page news!  Backfire, see?  And God’s Word was spread throughout the city from all the news reports!

Photo credit – Judy Wills

And then when we lived in a small town in Virginia, our church had put up some sort of display on our front lawn – and some of the “soldiers” disappeared.  Same thing – the city newspaper (and possibly the TV stations in town) got wind of the disappearance, and interviewed the Pastor about it.  Again, it made the headlines and news stories.  The culprits were found and the soldiers returned.  Another backfire.  And again, God’s Word was spread far and wide!

All that to say that I am convinced that there is still a remnant of believers in this country, and that God will honor those who still trust Him.  What is done in the dark will be brought to light – and God’s name will be glorified.

HE IS RISEN!   HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

Happy Easter!

Credit ChurchArt

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Holy Week 2024

24 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Today is Palm Sunday 2024…the beginning of what most Christians call “Holy Week.” 

Credit ChurchArt

This is the week that led up to the death and burial of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  There is something nearly every day this week that symbolizes what our Lord went through during the last week of His earthly life.

It all culminates on Friday, when Jesus hung, nailed to a cross for hours until He gave up His life – for you and me.  And be aware…He GAVE UP his life – it was not taken from Him.  And it was my sins – and yours – that nailed Him to that cross.  The entire plan of God’s salvation for mankind was completed when Jesus said “It is finished,” breathed His last, and gave up His spirit.  Thank You, Lord, for loving me so much that you would do that for me.  

In testimony in previous years, I have made the statement that, I firmly believe that if I were the only person to ever have lived on this planet, that Jesus would still have died in my place!  There would still be sin and Satan, and I’m sure that I would have dived in with both feet into that sin!  God made a way for me – and all mankind – to escape His terrible wrath of unbelief, and share in Heaven with Him for all eternity.  Thank You Lord!

But all that took a sacrifice.  God directed the ancient Jewish nation in blood sacrifices to ask God’s forgiveness for their sins, and bless them.  Jesus became that sacrifice for us – once and for all.  He didn’t have to die again and again, each time we sinned.  He took care of it on that cross.

There is a cartoon by Johnny Hart called B. C. that I have enjoyed through the years.  But one of the ones I enjoy the most is about Good Friday.  What do you think?

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Memories of My Mother-Repost

17 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Last week, I did a repost of my big brother, since it was his birthday.  Well guess what – today marks my Mother’s birthday – just one week after my brother’s!  She would have been 111 years old today.  She died when she was 80 years old.  But I would like to repost what I wrote about her some years ago.  We bloggers wrote a “Mother’s Day Collage” one year, and this is what I wrote about her.  I would also like to include what my brother Bill, wrote about her that day.

Here are my thoughts:

How do I describe my Mother?  She was so unique in all her ways.

One of the most unique things is that she met, fell in love with, and married a man who was 20 years older than herself.  And yet, the marriage was one that I hoped to emulate with my marriage.  She created a loving and secure home for her husband and her children.  She was heart-broken when her husband died.

She loved to sing and to play the piano.  She had a great alto voice.  She had a good ear and would just go and sit down at the piano and begin playing.  I’m still frustrated that I can’t remember the names of the songs/hymns she played.  My brother and I tried to remember them, and have them played at her funeral, but neither of us could remember.

She was a good cook.  She made a pot roast that would just melt in your mouth.  And that’s something I’ve never been able to duplicate.  I never learned her technique.  My Dad used to tease her by saying “this meat is no good – it just falls off the bone!”  She made the best cherry pie.  She made home-made peach jam from the peaches in our back yard.

One time, as she and I were sitting in the living room watching TV, we heard a terrible sound!  We both ran to the kitchen – only to find that the pressure cooker had “blown” out the pressure valve and pinto beans were all over the ceiling!  What a mess!

Although I suspect she would have loved to be a stay-at-home mom, she worked as an accountant at Kirtland AFB, to make money for “extra” things in our life.  She bought a new piano for our house. 

But one of the best things about her working there, was that she would find young military personnel – usually men – who were away from home and homesick, and bring them to church with us on a Sunday, then home to Sunday dinner.  She kept in contact with many of them throughout her time there.  One time she broke her ankle and couldn’t climb the steps to her office upstairs.  The officials were so insistent that she not “retire” that they placed a desk and lamp under the stairway just for her.  They really liked her work.

When my Dad retired and money was tight, Mother bought a Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio, trained for the job, and set to work.  She had a really good, strong work ethic.

Oh my………so many more memories, but these fill my heart and mind.

I miss her still.

And here are Bill’s thoughts about her:

Thank You Mother

My mother was such a great influence and inspiration in my life.  She taught me that God loved me and wanted to guide me every step of my life, if I would only ask Him.  She taught me to be a gentleman in every area of my life.  She taught me to learn all the details and to never take anything for granted.  She taught me to always give the other person the benefit of the doubt, and to do to others as I would have them do to me.  She taught me to be observant, to work hard and to be patient with others, and to always be kind and loving.  She taught by example and there was never any question about her love, acceptance and forgiveness toward others and me.

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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My Big Brother

10 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Repost

Today is a special day in my family’s life – it is my big brother’s (Bill Lites) 86th birthday!  In honor of him, I would like to repost this that I wrote about him in 2013:

There’s a lot I don’t remember about growing up in New Mexico.  I remember my best girlfriend (down the street….through the neighbors yard….down the alley to her back yard) and some of the good times we had.  She now lives just an hour-and-a-half away from me, and we see each other occasionally.  She tells me that she probably wouldn’t be a believer today if it weren’t for my parents picking her up every Sunday morning to take her to church with us.  I have no memory of her in our car.  I remember her at the church and at the functions we did together.  But not picking her up.  Very selective brain I have, don’t I?

Photo credit – Google search

I do remember that Bill and I used to fight like the proverbial cats and dogs.  Nearly drove our mother to distraction sometimes.  I’m sure he didn’t care to have his bratty little sister trying to tag along very often.

Of course, all that changed when he grew into the age that – all of a sudden, GIRLS were a VERY interesting phenomenon to him!  He would ask me what I knew or had heard about that particular girl.  And what about this particular girl – what do I know or have heard about her.  I really don’t remember many of his “girlfriends” until DiVoran came along.  But that’s another story unto itself.

Thanksgiving 1956 – Bill and DiVoran – photo credit Jessie King

I have a couple of pictures that still make me chuckle every time I see them.  We were both a couple of cut-ups in our day, and these pictures prove it.  Weren’t we cute?  I came upon these pictures many years ago, and had them blown up and sent them to Bill as a Christmas present one year.  I think I heard him laughing all the way from Florida to Virginia!

1949 – Albuquerque, New Mexico – photo credit Agnes Lites

1949 – Albuquerque, New Mexico – photo credit Agnes Lites

I have a couple of pictures taken at Bill’s 10th birthday party – and once again, I wormed my way into the festivities.  Looks like none of the boys were paying any attention to me.  But then, what 10-year-old boy pays attention to a 6-year-old girl?  Some of these boys were neighborhood friends, some were school friends, and some were church friends.  And Bill still keeps in touch with some of these boys.  Those life-time friendships are treasured.

March 10, 1948 – Albuquerque, New Mexico – Daddy inside the front porch – photo credit Agnes Lites

March 10, 1948 – Albuquerque, New Mexico – photo credit Agnes Lites

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIG BROTHER!  I LOVE YOU!!

From your (formerly) bratty little sister

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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And Yet Another Cruise-Part 6

3 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I’ve pretty well described Disney’s Cruise Line ship Wish for you, so I’ll move on to the things we did on the islands where we docked.

Our first port of call was Nassau, Bahamas.  Fred and I have been to Nassau many times, and weren’t too thrilled to be back.  However, the island has “cleaned up” quite a bit since the last hurricane that devastated the island.  We decided to take an excursion,  one we’ve done before but enjoy none-the-less.   It was a type of “glass bottom boat” ride…actually a semi-submarine.  There was the upper-deck, where the crew maintained the boat, and the passengers sat – on the way to the designated observation area, and also on the way back to the dock.  After climbing down a short ladder, the passengers went to the “below” deck, where there were fold-down stool seats situated in front of each port-hole window.  There we could look out and see everything under water.  The level of the water’s floor, where they took us to see the underwater life, varied from about six feet to 30 feet.  Lots of seaweed, fish and we saw two sharks who were “resting” or sleeping on the bottom of the sand.  Wow!

Our second port of call was Disney’s island – Castaway Cay (pronounced key – don’t ask me why). 

 All Disney ships going to the Bahamas stop at Castaway Cay for a day.  I have grown to love this island, even if we do nothing more than walk around, walk in the sand, sit or stretch out on lounge chairs in the sand and people-watch as they play in the water.  Since neither of us are “water” people, we just enjoy watching people enjoying themselves as they play in the water. 

Photo Credit Disney.com/Wherever I May Roam blog

 We have walked the island many times – out to the lookout tower,

 down the runway, and just around the activities Disney offers.  We have rented bicycles and ridden around the island.  I am not comfortable on a bicycle, so we don’t do that anymore.

However, we had planned to take advantage of some water bicycles and paddle out and around the protected area.  Unfortunately, the wind was up that day, quite a bit, and so they were going to cancel that excursion.  We did get a refund, but were disappointed that we didn’t get to do that.  Perhaps next Disney cruise to Castaway Cay we can do it.

We took the tram down to Serenity Bay – the adults only beach.  We walked along the water on the sand, sat in some lounge chairs in the shade, and just rested.  There is a bbq eatery in Serenity Bay, and we had our lunch there…including some of their soft-serve ice cream!  A really nice set-up.  Some of the ship’s restaurant servers go to the island and work the eateries on the island, so perhaps one will see the servers from our tables on the ship.  We didn’t, but it’s possible.

Fred in front of the food set-up

Back to the ship and prepare for our supper hour and the last night’s performance of Aladdin, which was excellent. 

Then the overnight sail back to Port Canaveral and disembark.  We always carry our own luggage, and so after a quick breakfast we just walk off the ship, through Customs, get into our car, and drive home. 

Another Disney cruise under our belt!  Now we need to book an 11th cruise, so we can take advantage of those extra perks!!

It was a great cruise!

~~~~~~~~~~The End~~~~~~~~~~

*All photos are credited to Judy Wills, with the exception noted.

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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A Thing to Remember

26 Feb

My Take

DIVoran Lites

Isaiah 40:31

Photo Credit:Pixabay

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.

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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And Yet Another Cruise-Part 5

25 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Our stateroom was typical of most of the Disney ships…perhaps just a smidgen larger than the older ships.  But it has all the amenities that the other ships has.  Over the bed was a print of a scene from the movie Frozen.

Over the sleeper-sofa is a print from Frozen as well – Anna and Elsa.

There is always a TV in the room – and always with our stateroom number (6664) and our name on it.

We could watch TV movies, see where the ship is headed, the weather, the activities onboard, etc.  A wealth of information at our fingertips. 

The remainder of the room is much like all others – desk with built-in shelves and drawers, along with a small refrigerator. 

 Also the closet…two sides separated by shelves with a safe.

And the two separate “bathrooms” that we enjoy so much.  One side with the tub/shower (this one had a glass door rather than a shower curtain!  Yay) along with a sink, mirror, and glass shelves.

Separated by a wall is the other room – with the toilet, a sink, mirror, and glass shelves.

So easy for us both to get ready for the day with our own mirror and sink.  One of the greatest aspects of Disney ships!

We had a room with a veranda, but the weather was cool/windy enough that we didn’t have opportunity to take advantage of the veranda.  Shucks!

There are three main dining rooms/restaurants on each ship – excluding Palo and Remy, the high-end eateries that cost above the cost of the cruise.  One interesting thing about the Disney restaurants – the servers “follow” those eating at their assigned tables from restaurant-to-restaurant each night.  So you get to know your servers, and they get to know you and your eating habits.  For instance, we had been assigned table number 119.  We sat at table 119 in whatever restaurant we were assigned each night.  We also had the same table mates at each restaurant.

Our first night, we were assigned to eat at Arendelle, table 119.   Here is our table number in brass.

There is some of the “decorations” on that brass, that goes along with Frozen.  It is the same as that flower embroidered on the napkin.

 And here is the sign for Arendelle.

I think we sat “in the round” surrounding an elevated stage, for when we were eating, the performers were above us, and we were seated around the stage.  Interesting.

The second night we were at a more “formal” restaurant – Roy Disney 1923.  I neglected to get a picture of the sign for the restaurant, but here is a dinner plate and salt and pepper shakers with 1923 on them. 

 I tried to get a picture of our table number (119), but the lamp was not lit, so it’s difficult to see it.

Our third night was at World of Marvel restaurant. 

 Here is Fred holding up our table number. 

Since neither Fred nor I have seen any of the Marvel movies, this “interactive” restaurant was a bit of a disappointment to us.  Not the food nor the table mates nor the servers.  But there really wasn’t much “interactive” going on – not like Animator’s Palate on the older ships.  However, toward the end of the meal, Spiderman made his appearance – and the children loved it!  He would go to the table where there were children and strike a pose with the children so their parents could take a picture.  Cute.

The food is always good on a Disney ship…that’s something you can count on, and we always enjoy our meals.

~~~~~~~~~~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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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