I love to read, always have since I was in second grade. You could call it a life long passion. It’s funny now, when parents are begging their children to read, but as a chid, I was always getting in trouble for having my nose stuck in a book. Reading all the time could be why I was a late bloomer in my social skills.
This week, a Clean Indie Reads, one of my favorite Facebook groups is having a book sale with 140 eBooks offered at free, discounted or everyday low price. I love this group of authors. They have set themselves to prove there is a market for fiction that does not rely on course language, sex and gore and they are succeeding!
You can click the picture below or click HERE to visit the sale page.
Usually, my daughter, Rebekah Lyn would have at least one book in the sale, but sigh, I procrastinated too long. If you would like to take a look at her Christian fiction novels, she is on Amazon and the first book in her Seasons of Faith series, Summer Storms eBook is currently free.
Did you know our talented and sweet DiVoran Lites also has a novel series also available on Amazon and at the Titusville Book Rack
We may be having a guest soon. We don’t have them often now that our parents have moved on and the grandchildren are grown. That’s the reason we now use that room as an office.
Yesterday, I looked around and came up with a brilliant idea. We could trade the light weight, sectioned rattan couch in there for the futon couch which would be more comfortable for sleeping. Bill came in with his metal measuring tape and we measured all the available walls to see where the futon couch would fit.
The closet in this room isn’t a closet anymore. It holds two four-foot tables where I write and paint. On the opposite wall is my computer, one wall has a window where morning sun comes in.
We decided the couch would fit under the window, but that was where I had the keyboard I’m going to learn to play one of these days and a bookcase as well as a tall dresser.
“When are the yard men coming again so we can commission them to move the futon couch?” Bill asked. In Florida we have things mowed and trimmed all year, but in winter the schedule slows down.
“Don’t know, they could come today or tomorrow.” I saw what he was getting at. We’d better be ready for them.
We moved the rattan couch out, and scooted the keyboard and the bookcase across the room leaving the space under the window open. In the process the bookcase tripped over a rug and a shelf- full of books tumbled out onto the floor.
Oh well, I’d been meaning to declutter. Onisha told me Rebekah Lyn was decluttering her library on the Dr. Martin Luther King’s holiday and it inspired me.
I thought I’d only clean the now empty shelf since the books on the others had stayed in place. I have a habit of getting rid of things and years later wishing I still had them. Which books could I do without? I had a lot of expensive art books. What a waste to “throw” them out. Of course I could donate them to the library. Just last week I went down and scanned the shelf myself and came home with a total value of $400.00 worth of brand-new books for which I had paid thirteen dollars. When I finish them, I’ll give them to friends or re-donate them.
At first I got that familiar feeling of panic I get when it comes to making a decision, so I did what I usually do, I winged a prayer His way. “Help me in this, please, Lord. In a moment I recalled that when I was following Fly Lady, who gives suggestions on how to keep the house clean and uncluttered, she said that people often keep things out of sentiment, which is true. In this case, though, I decided to keep the books I felt good about and let the rest go. I spread them on the floor and once I’d gotten into the task I included the books on the other two shelves, as well.
The small photo albums gave me a thrill of anticipation, so of course I kept those. Next, I got a few surprises from some of the most expensive ones. I didn’t like them, never had liked them, and never would like them. The money was spent and gone, what was the good of having them take up space now? Eventually I got them all sorted and loaded into the car.
The “boys” didn’t come that day, but we were ready for them whenever they did. Before bed that night, I stopped back into the office and took another look around. All of a sudden it hit me: that heavy futon couch would never enter this room. It would have to come down a narrow hallway and make a sharp turn into the room. I went to get Bill and his trusty measuring tape, but he didn’t need to come. He’s been moving things in and out of that room for fifty years.
Now we know that if our guest does come, she’ll have to sleep on the futon in the family room or choose the rattan one already in the office. We’ll try to make her as comfortable as possible, and give her some privacy.
The bookcase now has room for more books. The library’s donation shelf is richer, the trunk of the car is back to normal. And I feel good about decluttering. When I looked up Fly Lady to get the URL I was tempted to stay there. I will go back. Yesterday we had company and I cleaned well and carefully and made some things more attractive. I think I’ve got the bug now and I’ll just keep going until the whole house is as beautifully simple as I can make it, depending on how I feel, of course. Maybe the guest will come and maybe she won’t, but it is true that all things work together for good for those who love God and who are the responders according to His purpose.
I sometimes have a difficult time buying presents for Fred – birthdays, Christmas, just because I want to…. And especially at this point of time in our lives, when we really have everything we need, it’s difficult. Now it’s more “wants” or just things that I think he might enjoy.
And this has been a trend throughout our married life. Unfortunately.
And so it was, many years ago, when we lived in Panama City, Florida (Tyndall AFB), that I found myself down at the marina with some girlfriends. There are some really neat shops down there, as well as some great eateries, and we were quite immersing ourselves in that atmosphere. We wandered into a little shop, and I was just looking around, just to see what treasures they had. Of course, it was a lot like a “tourist trap” that we see too often in those places.
But then I looked up and saw it……….the perfect thing for Fred’s wall! It was a framed “picture” of an old 1903 Mercedes! He had often said he would love to own a Mercedes in his lifetime. Perfect! Of course, it’s on black velvet (don’t groan – it gets better!), and it’s made up of the neatest stuff – a piece of vinyl and some trim,
a thimble here and there,
an old TV dial,
hair clips,
a safety pin,
a shoe tap,
a door hinge,
an old can-opener-key,
well, you get the picture. It is so unique. So I purchased it, took it home and surprised Fred with it. He was delighted!
It’s been on our wall ever since, and we enjoy looking at it.
I was showing it to a friend one time, and asked what she thought about it. Her comment? “It’s junk!” BOY! Did that deflate my balloon!
Oh well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? I just think of the creativity of the artist that put it all together. And we still enjoy it!
It seems we have moved past the age-old church music choice controversy and are now smack dab in the middle of are we singing at all? Lately, when I attend church, I am not sure if I am supposed to be singing. The music leader invites me to stand but instead of singing, I find myself thoroughly disengaged while the Praise group does their thing. It is not their song choice that is the issue, I can go with traditional or contemporary and enjoy it best when it is mixed together. It is the way they lead and sing.
For instance, let’s say the chosen song is one I am familiar with, great! BUT the praise group has decided to change the cadence and melody. That is fine if the praise group is the only ones singing. It is not fine when the congregation is supposed to be singing too. I actually find it to be rude and excluding.
As we have modernized our sanctuaries, we rely on song lyrics displayed on large screens. Those screens do not also display the musical notes and the congregation has no idea which way the melody will go.
Painting by DiVoran Lites
I try to sing it in the way I know and I am either too fast, slow, too high or low. Since I can’t sing, I stand silent and listen to the voices around me. I like to do this, anyway as I love the sweet sound of voices singing unto God. To my surprise, I couldn’t hear any voices. I saw a few lips moving, but for the most part, all I heard was the music leader and the band. Does he not realize people are not singing? I ask myself?
Photo via Visual hunt
Since I find this trend of singing at the congregation rather than singing with them to be distressing, I decided to do some research. I found this article The Slow Death of Congregational Singingwritten in 2008 by Michael Raiter. In his article he says
“I travel around a great deal. In fact, I’m in a different church on most Sundays, and it’s true of virtually everywhere I go. I can’t remember ever coming home to my wife after church on a Sunday and saying, “Now, honey, that church really knows how to sing”.
Isn’t that sad? I grew up in a church that knew how to sing. They sang with their hearts. Raiter goes on to say:
“I liken the ministry of song leaders to that of John the Baptist. They must decrease as the people of God increase (John 3:30). When the song begins, we may hear the voices of the leaders and the sounds of the instruments, but by the end of the song, it is the voices of the people of God that should dominate.”
Church Leaders online magazine has an article entitled
“If your church doesn’t sing it’s probably because of one of two things: either they haven’t been invited to sing or the obstacles to their singing have not been removed.”
Theologian, John Calvin says, “singing subdues the fallen heart and retrains wayward affections. St. Augustine says, “Singing is praying. When one sings one prays twice. While singing in the front of the Lord, we are in touch with the deepest center of our heart.”
I love going to a Christian music concert and being caught up in the music and worship. When I am in church, I like to be able to sing. ( I sing poorly by the way)
Praise for the Lord’s Goodness.
A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.
Psalms 92:1-4
It is good to give thanks to the Lord And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; 2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night, 3 With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp, With resounding music upon the lyre. 4 For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.
I can’t remember these words without mentally humming “Fiddler on the Roof.” We sang it this way in our small family life group, accompanied by the guitar and sometimes a tambourine!
I would enjoy reading your thoughts on this. Do you think congregational singing is doomed?
They say, “All good things must come to an end.” Well, things moved along very well for our little construction business, for a couple of years, until 1981. By that time, our little construction company had expanded into building mostly custom homes and duplexes. We had just finished a new “Spec” home and were in the middle of one of those duplex projects. Wouldn’t you know it, that was the year when the Prime Interest Rate rose to an all-time high of 21% and people couldn’t afford the loans to buy a new home.
The rise in interest rates happened so fast that we got caught with that one unsold home. In addition to that, the person who had contracted with us to buy the duplex we were building defaulted on his contract with us, and then sued us when we refused to give him his deposit back. This law-suit action unnerved Ivan and Dora and they closed the “Company Bank” on any further building projects. We finally sold the one remaining home, but it took a full year to settle the law-suit over the duplex contract. After the law-suit was settled (in our favor) we were able to sell the duplex, so we didn’t lose any money on either of these projects. But, the days of our little construction company were numbered.
I continued to work with my contractor friend part-time on a few of his projects until 1984, when LMSC called me back to work on their improved Trident II submarine missile flat pad development program. This job required my full attention on the day shift, with additional hours of over-time, which pretty much curtailed any building contracting work. The Trident II program operated from the brand new Launch Complex 46 facility on the Cape Canaveral AFS. The four-year development program went very fast and ended for me in 1989.
This time, LMSC offered me a transfer to the Lockheed Space Operations Co. (LSOC), a subsidiary created to operate the Space Shuttle processing program at the KSC, or be laid off with most of the rest of the test organization. Since I didn’t have any prospects for a job with any of the other aerospace companies I had worked for, I chose the transfer. I ended up working on Launch Complex 39 A/B for an ex-Douglas engineer, and friend, who I had interfaced with on the Apollo/ Saturn V moon rocket, way back in 1965, when I was working for North American Aviation. I finished out my 35-year Aerospace career with LSOC helping process Space Shuttle launches and many of its California landing recoveries until 1996 when I retired.
I had kept my Contractors licenses current, all these years, with the hopes that I could go back to building houses after I retired. However, now land values had gone sky high and availability was almost non-existent. Someone has said that you have to let something you love go before you can get it back. My dream of being “The Contractor” was great but short lived, and it took me many years to get over that desire. But, I finally had to let it go, as the violent ups and downs of the new home market never gave me a decent opportunity to get that dream back. I now had to look for other challenges, such as hobbies, travel and writing, to occupy my retirement time. I’ve done that, and after 20 years, I am still enjoying every minute of my retirement life. I can defiantly recommend retirement. Try it as early as you can. I think you will like it.
“I know the guy is not the right one for her,” my friend said some years back. “But as long as she’s happy.”
Her daughter married him and shortly after, it ended in a painful and bitter divorce.
Is wishing happiness what we want for our kids? Happiness is often confused with joy. Happiness can turn to sadness. And looking for it leaves us disappointed.
Here are five pitfalls to avoid when looking for happiness:
Looking for it in relationships. Happiness cannot be found in another person, for they’re looking for their own path to happiness.
Longing to be happy by pleasing others rather than pleasing God first
.Expecting circumstances to make us happy, for they change as quickly as the weather.
Waiting for someone to change before we feel happy.
Expecting that happiness will last and bring fulfillment
.Happiness is fleeting, often elusive and deceptive. Joy is what the soul longs for. Peace is what our heart needs. Wisdom is what brings the greatest rewards. And contentment is what ushers the richness of life.
That richness is found in complete joy, the kind that’s already in us when we believe: “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love. If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father’s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:9-11)
His joy can’t be taken away by circumstances, stages of life, unexpected turns or even tragic events. When happiness wanes, His joy in us remains vibrant. What will you do with your new-found joy?
My husband isn’t picky about many things, but he is picky about the kind of belt he wears. Plus, he is cheap. He wants a nice, all leather belt, but he wants to pay a flea market price for it. He bought his last everyday belt at the flea market about fifteen years ago for the whopping price of $5.00. Although he had made several trips to the flea market to purchase another one, the vender was never there.
He became quite serious about a new belt before Christmas, searching online for the perfect one. He couldn’t settle on one, so I decided to order him a belt made of fine Italian leather as a Christmas gift. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong size, so back it went.
During his online searching for a belt, I kept mentioning that he should check out the leather store about a mile from our home. It is a bright yellow building with “Leather” written all over it. He said he had never noticed it…. The man has lived in this town his ENTIRE life!
On Monday we had time to kill while we waited on a prescription at the pharmacy. Since the leather store is located a couple of blocks from the pharmacy, I suggested this would be a great time to check it out; he agreed and off we went.
Once in the leather store be began browsing, but wasn’t certain about the quality, so I suggested he ask the store owner about the belts. He walked over and explained to the man how much he had loved his flea market belt and was disappointed the vender was no longer there. And….. wait for it…… The man’s father was the flea market vender and the son was now making the leather goods.
The belt he wanted had been right in front of his eyes for years and he hadn’t even noticed.
Man, this was a face slap moment for me. How many times have I struggled for an answer or searched for peace when it was always there, right in front of me.
John 14:27 says: “I am leaving you with a gift–peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
The lyrics to a song written by Gary Paxton began running through my mind.
Time after time, I was searching for peace
In some void
I was trying to blame all my ills
On this world I lived in
Surface relationships used me ’til I was done in
But all the time Someone was waiting
To free me from my sins
Chorus:
He was there all the time
He was there all the time
Waiting patiently in line
He was there all the time
Even though my husband paid fifteen dollars more for his belt, he felt a one dollar per year increase, wasn’t a bad deal.
That program was conducted from Launch Complex 25C/D on the Cape Canaveral AFS and ended in 1979 when I was laid off with most of the rest of the test organization. It was during this time that I had taken and passed the General Contractors test and received my license. Once I obtained my license, I began working part-time with my contractor friend on some of his new house projects. Luckily, it wasn’t long after Lockheed had laid me off that MacDonald Douglas Aircraft Co. (MDAC) found an opening for my talents, on the night shift, supporting their Delta II program. At that time the Delta II program was being used by NASA and the U. S. military to place their satellites into Earth orbit from Launch Complex 17A/B located on the Cape Canaveral AFS. The night shift job with MDAC allowed me to start a small contracting business of my own, making for some pretty long days.
My part-time construction company was a family affair. I was President and the main go-fer; DiVoran was Vice-President and the company’s new house interior decorator; while DiVoran’s father and mother, Ivan and Dora, acted as the company bank. We all worked very well together at this little construction business.
We would buy one residential building lot at a time. Then, using sub-contractors, we would clear the lot and build a 1500 sq. ft. 3-bedroom, 2-bath, concrete block home with a 2-car garage on speculation. The housing market was good and if the house sold before we finished it (which sometimes happened) the buyers could choose their finish trim, paint colors, carpets, cabinet styles and appliances. Prospective buyers had an allowance for these items, and if they wanted more expensive items, they would pay for any added expense over the allowance.
Typical Cross Section of Concrete Block Construction
We could complete a house in approximately 3 months, which allowed us to (theoretically) turn our investment over with a 10% profit with the sale of each home. In spite of the long hours, I loved this job and was gearing up to do it full-time as soon as my job with MDAC was over. In addition to “Spec” houses, as word got around that our homes were well built and available, we began receiving orders for custom houses that we would build on the owner’s property. Those contracts turned out to be the most troublesome, as it was fairly common for the owners to change their minds about certain aspects of the building process at some of the most inopportune times.
A typical day during this time was; up at 7:00 am, breakfast with DiVoran and the kids, then I was on my way to the current job site. I would put in as many hours as I could on a job site coordinating sub-contractor activities or meeting with potential home owners and bank Loan Officers. Then there were always the multiple runs to the local lumber yard to pick up that extra box of nails, another sheet of plywood or another dozen 2”x4” studs to keep the job moving forward.
Depending on the weather and the progress of the job, the sub-contractors would usually shut down their work day around 3:00 in the afternoon. This allowed me to make it to Launch Complex 17 on the Cape by 4:00 to start my 8-hour shift. After surveying the work schedule and any work related items, and if things in the office was not too busy, I could sometimes get in a phone call or two before it got too late. Good thing I was young and indestructible, as this routine didn’t allow a lot of time for sleeping. Luckily, by the time I got home at 12:30 am, I was really tired and had no trouble going right to sleep. This routine was also very hard on the family life. Breakfast time with DiVoran and the kids before they went to school, and occasionally (if I could manage it) for a short time after they got home from school, was about all the family saw of me, except for weekends.
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