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Easter 2014

20 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

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.  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 ahold of the story – took pictures and all – and it made the front page news!  Backfire, see?

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.

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!

 

 

 

 

 

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Teodor Flonta~Memories of Easter in Transylvania

19 Apr

On Facebook today my friend, Teodor Flonta shared  his childhood Easter traditions growing up in Romania during a Communist regime. With his gracious permission, I am sharing them with you~Onisha Ellis

From Teodor

 

HAPPY EASTER! 
to all my friends from around the world with #Tasmanian eggs coloured with onion skin, just as my Mama used to do long time ago when I was a little boy in #Transylvania! You can read an excerpt from ‘A Luminous Future’ about my Easter there.

Mama borrowed an old Bible from Piţurca, the only one in the whole village, and started reading to me in the evening. On Thursday night, we would creep into the church, terrified that we would be seen and reported to Comrade Petroi. The church was dimly lit. We would sit on the cold and hard floor in front of the altar, jumping at any slight flicker of the shadows. Father Iordan said that we were like the early Christians, who had to practise their religion in secret. At the end, we would leave only after checking that nobody was on the road. This went on until Easter Thursday, when we were allowed to hammer on the toaca until sunset, to announce the death of Christ. The toaca was a 20cm wide board on a 2m pole in the church courtyard. After sunset, neither hammering on the toaca nor the ringing of bells was allowed until Sunday, the day of the Resurrection.


On Easter Sunday women placed little baskets full of coloured hard-boiled eggs and cross-shaped loaves of white bread in front of the altar for the blessing. The children, dressed in white shirts, took the first Communion in front of the congregation. However, the spectacle we were waiting for was to come later in the church courtyard during the frenzied egg-cracking competition. We wrapped one hand across our egg, exposing only the pointy end, and hit each other’s eggs hard. If your egg cracked, you lost your egg.

“Mircea, I bet I can take away your eggs,” I challenged him outside the church.


He gave me a push and responded, “Try this, smarty.”


I tried and lost.


“You want to try another one?” he asked.


I suspected he was so confident because there was something fishy about his egg. So I accepted the challenge, pulling out from my pocket my special egg. I hit hard and a funny, thick sound, not at all like the sound of an egg cracking, was the result.

What did you do, stupid? You have a wooden egg,” said Mircea.


I ran away laughing.


“And yours is filled with pitch. I could hear it,” I said.

 

Transylvanian born Teodor Flonta is a retired academic, author of ‘A Luminous Future’ – a memoir about life under Communism in the 1950s and 60s – and of multilingual proverb dictionaries and apps (available on iTunes and Google). He lives in Tasmania, Australia, with his wife, Ariella, surrounded by beautiful grandchildren.

 

You can find Teodor’s books on:  AMAZON   BARNES AND NOBLE

 

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  Even Nature Worships

18 Apr

From My Heart

Louise Gibson

author of Window Wonders

 

 

I look through my kitchen window each day,
seeking, as I always do-
All the signs of God’s presence
in the soul-stirring scene that I view.

 

It never ceases to amaze me
that His presence is everywhere.
The Easter Lilies are radiant-
postural, as though in prayer.

 

They are programmed to bloom at Easter,
then close for another year.
Their role is to glorify the Savior-
then silently disappear.

 

Springtime is a season
of new life with a goal.
New leaves are forming, flowers are budding-
there is a stirring in my soul.

 

 

I read an interesting quote this week by Max Lucado that I would like to share with you.

 “Next time a sunrise steals your breath, or a meadow of flower leaves you speechless, remain that way and say nothing, and listenas Heaven whispers, “Do you like it?  I did it just for You,”

         

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A Small Serendipity

13 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                                    

I really love the serendipities that happen in our lives at times. Some are so large they just overwhelm us when they happen. Others are just sort-of average, but just enough different to make us sit up and take notice. And then there are the small ones. Those that just happen in a flash…and then are gone, leaving us to wonder how/why did that happen?

Fred and I experienced that just recently when we went to Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Busy day – lots of high school bands around – lots of Senior Trips around – kids in the same color t-shirts. We usually enjoy seeing these groups. Most of them are not terribly rowdy, and are just having a great time.   Occasionally we see them doing the “flash” thing – breaking into song or the “wave” or something like that.

We had just finished a ride and were on our way to lunch, when a young man caught up with us and said, “would you be my stand-in parents?” We stopped and I asked why? He said his parents had just gone on a ride but he couldn’t get on, so….. I began laughing and ask him what we could/should do. He hesitated a minute then said, “how about a hug?” And so that’s what we did – a group hug for the three of us – all of us laughing at the same time.

And then he was gone.

I told Fred he was probably dared to do that by some of his classmates, but that was okay. It was a fun thing.

MUCH later, I told Fred we should have told this young man that we couldn’t be his stand-in parents, but would stand-in GRANDparents work? Nothing slow about me!

Disney

 

 

 

 

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How to Overcome Insecurities

12 Apr

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight
Janet Perez Eckles

As a teenager, I wish I had known how to overcome not only insecurities, but self-doubt and timidity, too. Like my monogrammed purse, I carried them everywhere. You would expect that at my age, I would have conquered them. Not so.

“It’s upside down, hanging on the pole,” hubby said as he stood looking out the patio door. “It ate all the bird seed.”

“What did?” Curiosity sparked in me.

When he told me it was a possum, I cringed. Although they’re God’s creatures, I dislike them more than a little. They rip our garbage bags, eat the eggs cute ducks lay, and ruin our yard. And to make it more disgusting, the bird seed we prepared for the birdies were now feeding the very creatures I so dislike. Yuck!

But sadly, that wasn’t the only time I fed something I disliked. I had been a pro at feeding my insecurities with lies—my friends won’t accept me if I say something wrong. Why try something new, I’ll surely fail.

– See more at: http://www.janetperezeckles.com/how-to-overcome-insecurities/#sthash.s4DLVaLv.dpuf

His Way

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grateful for the privilege of inspiring you…

My website in English

En Español

My story (video)

Inspirational video  just for you

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Stop That Thief

11 Apr

From My Heart

Louise Gibson

author of Window Wonders

 

 

 

His name is “Procrastination”-
a robber of the worst kind.
He will steal precious possessions,
Such as your coveted “peace of mind”.

He whispers lies so subtly
You may be totally unaware
“You can put that off ’till tomorrow-,
Who will know?, “Who will care?”

Opportunities to be successful
are often few and far between!
Be alert to the possibility
that today is the day to be seen.

No successful person is a ” procrastinator”.
Time is of the essence, don’t you see-
“Today is the Day of Salvation”
Proclaims the Lord of Eternity.

If you pile up enough “tomorrows”,
You end up with a lot of empty yesterdays.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus-
He will help you change your ways.

“Tomorrow” is the most deadly word in the Bible.
It is presumptuous, it is reckless-
The word God prefers is “Today”-
Turn your eyes to Jesus, dear friend-
” He is the Truth, the Light, the Way”.

Hebrews 3:13 warns us to exhort one another
“while it is called “Today”

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Longreads Joins the Automattic Family

9 Apr

Since Bill had the day off today, I decided to post this interesting article.

WordPress.com News

Today we’re excited to announce that we are acquiring Longreads, the pioneering service that helps readers find and share the best longform storytelling around the world, for reading on mobile devices.

Over the last five years, Longreads and its community have created a new ecosystem for readers to find great in-depth stories, and for writers and publishers to distribute their best work over 1,500 words. Longreads will continue to do what it does best — recommending stories from across the Internet — and we are excited to have them join the WordPress.com team and continue in their commitment to serving readers.

Mobile reading and the appetite for longform content

As consumption has moved to mobile devices, there has been a growing hunger for longform content: phones and tablets are perfect for enjoying in-depth articles, and there are more moments than ever for readers to dig into a story —…

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First night

8 Apr

Jacob, the grandsone of our bloggers, Bill and DiVoran Lites is studying in Japan. He has his own blog sharing his impressions and experiences. I plan to re-blog one each week here on Tuesdays for our readers or you can follow his blog. I hope you enjoy following his days as much as I do~Onisha

jnightlight

I’ve only been in Japan for a day, and I’ve already experienced so much more than I would have expected. After a long flight to California, I began my 12 hour journey to the Osaka international airport.

image

By chance, I sat next to an out going and somewhat verbose girl who was also in the program! She however, was a Japanese major, which did not reassure me about my current stance in the language, which was at about 1 and a half of their 2 alphabets.

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How to Get Rid of Headaches

6 Apr

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Does anyone out there have the answer or solutions to get rid of headaches? You know those pesky intruders that alter your day?

I wish I knew. The other day I had one of them. The aching throb spread right around the right eye socket. Yuck. It took my concentration away, made me a bit irritable. And since no meds enter this chica’s body, I suffered through it.

Then it happened. God smiled at me. He sent me the most experienced, dedicated and admirable physical therapist. Who, ahem, happens to be my dear friend.

– See more at: http://www.janetperezeckles.com/how-to-get-rid-of-headaches/#sthash.MpUZXHq5.dpuf

His Way

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grateful for the privilege of inspiring you…

My website in English

En Español

My story (video)

Inspirational video  just for you.

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My Best Friend

5 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Judy Wills

 

There is a “new” acronym – BFF – that has taken me quite a while to figure out. I could get the “B(est) F(riend)..” part, but what in the world was that second “F?” I finally saw it in a book the other day – Best Friend Forever. Nothin’ slow about me!

That truly describes my BFF. I still have girlfriends from my childhood, and some I’ve kept up with along the way. But the one who truly has my heart is one I met while we were in Panama City, Florida. She was in the church choir, as were Fred and I. We sat near each other, and just started talking. That led to lunches out occasionally. Shopping – of course! And just the way we thought – we could nearly complete each other’s sentences.

I guess one of the most fun remembrances is when her daughter was getting married. Fred and I had driven down from Virginia (on our way to Disney), and had planned our trip so we could be at the wedding. Her daughter and our oldest daughter were best buds from long before. As it happened, a hurricane was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, headed toward Panama City. With the weather so “iffy,” Fred let me out of the car to head into the church. She told me later that her brother saw me, and his thought was, “what is she (my friend – his sister) doing getting out of that car? And who is that man with her?” We really don’t look that much alike, but it’s fun to think that her own brother mistook me for her!

Even though we don’t see each other very often, we still send Christmas gifts to each other. We always look for something that we would like to have, and know that the other one would love it, as well. She gave me a Cloisonne neck charm – and I think of her every time I wear it, which is quite often.

1

She gave me earrings that I treasure. I gave her some Kaiser figurines from Germany.

3

We give each other Precious Moments figurines that exemplify our relationship. We give each other Willow Tree figurines that depict the same thing.

4

I gave her a “how did they do that?” because I enjoy looking at mine just like it.

5

When we moved to Orlando, we both were thrilled – we were in the same state! Surely we would see each other more often. Took us three years to finally get together. And now it’s been that long again. They have moved to northern Alabama – to the back of beyond, actually! But they love it there, and are happy. But she and I miss each other terribly.

Many years ago, when I was teaching a ladies Sunday School class (ladies much older than I), I mentioned something about a “good friend.” I said that a good friend is someone you can tell ANYthing to, and they will love you anyway. Two of those ladies looked at each other and giggled. I knew they had that same kind of friendship. That’s the kind of friendship I have with this precious lady.

My friend and I are both believers in Christ as Lord and Savior. After all, we met in church. And so, I know that she will, indeed, be my BEST FRIEND FOREVER! And ever and ever. God is so good to have blest me with this friend in this lifetime.

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