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An Everglades Adventure~Part 1

24 Sep

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Bill

 

After moving to Florida and becoming an avid Florida Natural Springs campers, we began to encourage our close friends to go camping with us. We told them how much fun it was and how great it was to get out and be one with Nature.   Florida has some of the most beautiful tropical State and National parks a person could ask for, and we had become determined to visit as many of them as we could.

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One day our friends, Dwayne and Jenny, expressed an interest in going camping with us. Well, that’s all we had to hear and we began planning our next trip. DiVoran had always wanted to visit the Florida Everglades, and since we had no other suggestions, that’s where we finally decided to go. In the early 70’s, the Everglades National Park was advertised as Nature at its best, with camping, hiking, canoeing, animal and bird watching and more. Well, we thought it would be a great adventure to camp at the southern tip of Florida and enjoy all those wonderful features. The part they left out of their colorful brochure was how primitive the area was.   

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As I remember, at the time, Dwayne and Jenny’s three children were about 12 months, 3 and 6 years old, and our two children were about 8 and 10 years old. We planned to use our small pop-up camper as a base camp while their family slept in a large tent that would hold all of them. We each borrowed a canoe for the trip, and we packed all our food and equipment in our camper. We had a 1960 Chevy Biscayne that I drove back and forth to work and used to pull the camper.

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Dwayne and Jenny had their tent, and all of their family provisions loaded in their car, with their canoe strapped on the top.   We had everything loaded, packed and ready for an early morning start. The best I remember it, Dwayne and I had taken Friday off, and since we were both off work the following Monday for (I think it was) Columbus Day, we were looking forward to a nice long four-day weekend to enjoy our Everglades Adventure. So, off we went the next morning as early as we could to get everyone moving.

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We headed south on I-95 looking forward to a wonderful relaxing trip.   We were breezing along at 70 mph, with great anticipation about our upcoming adventure, when just as we were approaching SR-192 in Melbourne (only about 40 miles from our starting point), the engine in our car suddenly made a loud clattering noise, and the engine quit. I had no idea what could have happened, but all I could do now was to safely get off the highway and coast to a stop to check it out.

 

                                                            —–To Be Continued—–

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Am I good enough? Four ways to please God.

20 Sep

Oh my, I can see myself in this man. How many times am I obedient but grumbling.

Avoid Premature Aging with One Word- “Enthusiasm”

19 Sep

From My Heart

Louise Gibson

author of Window Wonders

 

 

It is not how long you have lived-

Nor how long you have left.

It is how much life you have packed

into those years,

So you are not feeling bereft.

 

Living is loving-

You can’t separate the two.

Loving is not conditional-

That’s how God created you.

 

Love is sincere-

It begins in your heart.

It is the fruit of the Spirit.

He promises never to depart.

 

Love truly can’t be explained.

It is best shown in action.

Sacrifice yourself for the good of others.

Sincerity is a heartfelt attraction.

 

We are being transformed by our Creator.

What an example He set for you and me.

Love in action, caring for others

Prepares us for eternity.

 

kitten and puppy

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Don’t Let the Running Back Carry the Ball

18 Sep

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I'm a winner

 

On my best day, I am not a morning person. I joke that if I was supposed to be up and active early, then why do most malls open at 10 am? This morning, in the drifting time between awake and dozing, (hoping my husband was up and getting the coffee made) I realized the awful feeling of not wanting to get up and face another day was creeping back into my soul. It seems the wonderful vacation with friends last week had been a respite but not a fix. I began to silently pray for friends on my prayer list as they came to mind, and then flowed into examining why I was feeling despair.

I remembered the resentment that had flared in my heart the previous day of issues I believed I had long since forgiven, and though my husband and I laughed about my outburst, still my words were Running backhurtful. Waking from another short dozing session, my mind painted pictures of the consequences of words. One scene was pretty and my hurtful words were flowing up to God leaving my heart joyful. In the other scene Satan was like an NFL running back, ready to receive those words, tuck them firmly under his arm and run for the touchdown, wrecking havoc along the way. Not a pretty scene at all but it did prepare my heart for the morning devotional I read from “Jesus Calling”.

 

Seek to please Me above all else. Let that goal be your focal point as you go through this day. Such a mind-set will protect you from scattering your energy to the winds. The free will I bestowed on you comes with awesome responsibility. Each day presents you with choice after choice. Many of these decisions you ignore and thus make by default. Without a focal point to guide you, you can easily lose your way. That’s why it is so important to stay in communication with Me, living in thankful awareness of My Presence. From Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

 

I am choosing joy, now I am off to bake a glazed pumpkin pound cake!

DiVoran Painting Green and pink paintingpng Vertical

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Halloween Hat

17 Sep

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Bill Lites

 

I don’t remember just what year it was, but late one October when our kids were young, and we were in our early camping years, we decided to try camping in the Ft. Lauderdale area of Southeast Florida. We found a beautiful State Park situated on the Atlantic Ocean and set up our small pop-up camper with a view of swaying palm trees and the ocean.

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We played in the warm Gulf Stream water and walked the beach enjoying the beautiful, warm Florida weather. We had noticed, as we drove to the campground that there were coconut palms and coconuts everywhere. In fact, people put the coconuts out on the street for the trash men, just like we do with oranges and grapefruit here at home. We just wondered around the area picking up coconuts, opening them to drink the milk and eating the pure white meat. What a great time we had doing that. Later, as we wondered the campground, we came across this guy weaving hats out of strips of palm fronds. He had several different hat styles on display and asked me what style hat I would like to have. After I selected a style, he measured my head size (no laughing), and we watched him strip the green fronds and weave the hat before our very eyes.

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He told us that when we got home to put the hat in the freezer overnight and it would turn the hat a beautiful dark mahogany color. Well, we did that, and it did change color just as he had said it would. As it turned out, we were camping there for the Halloween celebrations, and would you believe it, we had to deal with trick-or-treaters coming around to the campsites for handouts. Bah-Hum-Bug! Later that evening we had front row seats on the beach for the Ft. Lauderdale Halloween fireworks display. What a treat that was.

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In 1967, when Titusville celebrated their 100th anniversary, the city fathers decided that as part of the city’s celebration there would be a requirement that all the men should grow a beard and wear period costumes when walking around town. All the women were required to wear period clothes and go without makeup. If a person was caught out of costume by any of the city “Enforcers” they could be fined.   I never did know anyone who was caught and fined, so I never did learn what kind of fines could or would have been imposed. Off course, most of the men didn’t mind letting their facial hair grow (there were some really unusual designs) but it was a different story for the women. Those heavy dresses they had to wear were bad enough, but they really didn’t like walking around town for everyone to see what they really looked like without their makeup on.

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As the years went by, when I worked around the house or went for a walk in the woods, my favorite hat for the occasion was what I came to call my “Halloween Hat.” I continued to wear my palm-frond hat on all our camping trips around the many Florida springs over the years, because it was waterproof and kept the sun out of my eyes and the rain off my head. As a matter of fact, I still have that hat all these many years later. How’s that for durable?

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—–The End—–

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Thoughts of an Alcoholic

16 Sep

This really touched my heart.

Transition to Maine~Part 6

14 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 Our youngest daughter, Janet, was born in Maine – our little Maineiac.

 

It was early morning, and we had arranged for Karen to stay with a neighbor several doors down. After Fred took her there, he called the base hospital to see if he should go to work or come stay through the labor and delivery with me. (The hospital in Germany, where Karen was born, was very progressive for that time – they allowed the husbands in the delivery room. We had anticipated cajoling the delivery doctor at Loring into letting Fred be in the delivery room with Janet’s delivery, since he had already participated in one, and not passed out!) The answer he received really shocked him – Sir, your baby is already delivered! But they didn’t tell him whether it was a boy or girl – they left it up to me. But neither they nor he told me that, until after he had been there about 30 minutes. He looked at me and asked – so what do we have? So I got to inform him he had another daughter, Janet Lynn.

While Janet and I were still in the hospital (remember – back in those days the average stay for a new baby and mother was three-to-four days!), Fred came to visit every day.

The day after Janet was born, he came to visit, plopped down in the chair, grinned at me and said, “You didn’t really want to spend another winter here, did you?” I nearly jumped out of the bed as I exclaimed….”YOU GOT ORDERS?” Since neither of us had been terribly thrilled being in northern Maine, Fred had been inquiring about being reassigned. The answer he usually received was, “Sir, you have three more years here before we’ll even consider transferring you.” But, apparently the AF needed instructors for their officer’s school in San Antonio, Texas more than they needed meteorologists at Loring AFB, and he had been given his walking orders. We were beyond excited!

Months later, as we were getting ready to depart for warmer climes, I attended an Officers Wives Club luncheon, where the Base Commander’s wife was issuing goodbyes to those leaving. It was amusing to hear her say, “….is heading to….AFB, south from here. And …..is heading to AFB,…. south from here. Well! I just realized that ANYwhere is south from here!”

Our church had a picnic in August before we left. It was great fun, and a great way to say goodbye to those we had come to love in Christ. There was the usual picnic stuff going on – softball, hot dogs, horseshoes, etc.

 

And there was this really…REALLY…tall slide that Karen absolutely LOVED going down. My heart was in my throat every time she climbed up and slid down, but she had a blast!

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And so, we left northern Maine and Loring AFB in late August, heading south. We were wearing sweaters at the time, as it was getting cold already. We arrived in Pennsylvania, to spend some time with Fred’s parents, and were back to wearing shorts. What a difference!

 

And so ends our Transition to Maine. Thank goodness it was only 13 months long!

 

 

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Three simple steps to finding happiness.

13 Sep

Have you ever wished you could be upgraded to first class? Janet shares her experience.

Smile!

12 Sep

From My Heart

Louise Gibson

author of Window Wonders

 

                                                  S                  E

                                                       m         L

                                                               i

 

 

 

Do yourself a favor-

Smiling is good for you,

It slows down your heart  beat and reduces stress-

and lowers your blood pressure, too.

 

A smile is infectious.

It will always remove a frown.

Facial muscles will be raised up-

It’s the best face lift in town..

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A smile can delight your heart-

and is great at lighting a soul..

Lift someone’s spirit today-

make smiling a top priority goal.

 

I put my theory to “the test”

The woman in the mirror was frowning at me-

I gave her the brightest smile I could muster-

and she smiled right back at me.

 

Numbers 6:25

“The Lord make His face to shine upon you,

and be gracious to you.”

 

Your smile could be a message of cheer from God

to a needy soul.

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The Whisperers

10 Sep

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Bill Lites

 

Since I was raised mostly in larger cities, I didn’t get close to many horses. Then along came Robert Redford who made “The Horse Whisperer” a common household name for those people who have a special talent with horses. Well, I want you to know that there are people in this world who have special talents in many other areas too. As it happens, I actually know an “Auto Whisperer.”   This man has been associated with automobiles and engines for over seventy years, and all he has to do is listen to an engine run for a few minutes, and he can usually diagnose any problem the owner is complaining about. In some cases he will inform people of problems they didn’t even know they had with their car, saving them expensive repair bills down the road. What is amazing about this “Auto Whisperer” is that he loves nothing better than working on a sick car, and giving it back to its owner purring like a kitten. I have never known a mechanic who has the talent and ability to diagnose and repair an 1automobile (no matter what year, make or model) than my friend Ray does. The rest of this story (as Paul Harvey would say) is that because this man loves his fellow-man with God’s love, and wants to help people with their car problems, he and his wife Alice have been operating a community Car Care ministry every Saturday (weather permitting) at a local Methodist Church for over 11 years now. Their aid and assistance to others is so well known that the city of Titusville has awarded them several honors for their ongoing humanitarian and civic contributions.

 

You might say, will that’s great if you have a sick car, my car runs fine, but I have medical problems, and I am having a hard time getting any help that I can depend on. And, you wouldn’t be in that boat alone! But then I would have to tell you that I actually know a “People Whisperer” too. This doctor friend of mine is the most amazing diagnostician! He has the ability to analyze medical symptoms and diagnose problems with the human body from the top of a person’s head to the soles of his feet that in many cases have stumped the medical profession. This man is dedicated to helping his fellow-man in every way he can, and also volunteers his time to help people live a better and more comfortable life. To me, this is another case of a person committed to seeking the wisdom of God for his life and listening to the advice and direction He gives them in overflowing measure.

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I’m not saying you will run into different kinds of “Whisperers” out there on the next street corner, but they are out there, and it’s a real joy to come in contact with one of these special people no matter what their calling is. Have you ever considered that you might just be one of God’s special people, and that your wisdom and abilities could touch the lives of others in their time of need? Think about giving Him a call and see what He has to say about you and your gifting and how you can share it with others. Who knows, it just might be fun, and you might be a “Whisperer” and not even know it.

 

James 1:5 (NIV)

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