Archive by Author

God’s Creation Carries On

6 Apr

A Few Thoughts

Patricia Franklin

I’m sitting here in my backyard on Holy Saturday morning recalling the shocking events of Good Friday. I imagine what was going through the minds of Jesus’ followers…  the let down, the unbelief, the grief and pain.  After suffering through the crucifixion and death of their Saviour, the followers of Jesus are devastated and confused, as are all of us. Is there any hope?  What lies in the future? What are they to do?
The sun is shining brightly today. Nature is still intact. My yard is showing signs of new life as the grass is beginning to green up and a few plants are peeking through the brown earth.  I listen to the sounds of the birds. While the doves are still mourning and proclaiming the loss of the Lord, the robins, red finches, blue jays and sparrows are loudly singing joyously… in anticipation of what is coming.  There is a cacophony of song, along with the staccato of the woodpecker chiming in with the chorus. The birds are totally focused on serving their Creator in the only way they know how.  Do they, in some strange way, instinctively understand and anticipate the resurrection and its significance? 
Then suddenly it is quiet, as they all go back to their silent vigil of waiting… only the mourning sound of the doves continues.  All at once a little red finch lights on a branch close by. He begins quietly chirping, as though speaking to me and explaining that everything will be ok. Then a song sparrow chimes in. Together they are proclaiming to me and to the world that there is hope! In spite of all that has happened, God’s Creation carries on.

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When Do We Grow Old

5 Apr

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

I  woke up in the morning,
mind refreshed and full of hope.
There is so much I want to do-
all within my scope.

My mind is willing, my mind alert-
I’ll spring right out of bed.
My mind is saying, “Go girl!”
but my back says, “Whoa”, instead.

Ego! Yes, ego is the culprit
in this aging game we play.
I don’t mind saying , “I’m 78,”
But, getting old???”No way!”

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Our Trip to Italy-Part 5

3 Apr

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Bill

Wednesday DiVoran woke up with a bad cold, so she stayed at the apartment to rest while I checked out the bus and train routes into Venice from Mogliano Veneto.  I lucked out and met an Italian student on the bus who spoke enough English to help me with the transfer from the bus to the right train to get me into the Venice train station, and then which train and bus to catch to get back to the Mogliano Veneto station.

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I had a snack at a small caffe on the Grand Canal and then checked out some of the smaller shops, staying close to the canal, as it is easy to get lost in the tangle of narrow streets and waterways in Venice.  I bought DiVoran a small glass aquarium in hopes that it would cheer her up some.  The trip back to the apartment was uneventful, and we ate roast pig leftovers, with artichokes and fresh Italian bread that evening at the apartment.

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On Thursday, Divoran was still not feeling up to par, so she stayed at the apartment again, and I went to work with Marcia so I could see where she worked and to get a tour of the new Disney cruise ship “Wonder” in its final stages of completion.  The Wonder was built at the celebrated Fincantieri shipyards, displaces 83,000 tons, is 964 feet long and 106 feet wide, and features 11 massive decks which can accommodate 2700 passengers along with 960 cast and crew members.  I’m always amazed at how these giant ships are put together one piece at a time.

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Then at 4:00 in the afternoon, Marcia took me to the dentist.  The morning before, at breakfast, I broke one of my top front crowns in half, and it looked terrible, and had sharp edges.  Just by chance we had met the lady, Marcia’s dentist friend, at the pig roast a few nights before, and now she had made arrangements for me to get my crown repaired.  Some people might like to call this a coincidence, but think it’s just another example of how God is watching over us, were ever we find ourselves in this world.

Well, Marcia got lost looking for the dentist office, but the dentist stayed open to wait for us.  She did a great repair job on my crown, and then wouldn’t take any pay for the work, no matter how hard I tried.  Just try to find that kind of hospitality anywhere in the U.S.

Friday, DiVoran and I tested my bus/train memory to get into Venice for some shopping, a quick lunch, and then rode the train back to Mogliano Veneto.  That wore DiVoran out, so that night, I went with Marcia, Stephano, Roberta and five Disney cast members to the Di Marcone Ristorante (a special family owned restaurant) for a grilled chicken dinner.  They are only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and only cater to large groups.  You have to reserve your table and they expect you to stay the entire evening.  The food and the company were great, but we were there from 8:00 PM until after 12:00 Midnight

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The next day we drove with Marcia and Erika to Verona, to see the sights of that famous city, where it is alleged the balcony is, on which Juliet stood when Romeo wooed her from the courtyard below, in Shakespere’s famous play of the early 1500’s.  For a few Lira, lovers can write their names on the wall under that famous balcony, and of course we did.

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One of the most interesting things we saw in Verona was all the trash dumpsters on the streets were painted by the local school children and are very bright and cheery.  It really brightened up the streets and some of them even made us laugh.

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—–To Be Continued—–

 

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1 Apr

We have all been interviewed at some point in our lives but have you ever been Twitterviewed?

Rebekah Lyn's Kitchen

Last week I had the opportunity to participate in my first Twitterview. Doing an interview on Twitter with a 140 character limit on your response certainly makes you think about how to convey your message in few words. It was exciting to have the questions coming at you live and to have other visitors chime in as well.

Sezoni Whitfield

Sezoni Whitfield runs the website, Writters Kaboodle and is all about supporting writers. Every Thursday she schedules interviews in one-hour slots. If you would like to be interviewed yourself, visit her website to view her calendar.

Here is a transcript from my interview.

Sezoni Whitfield ‏‪@Sezoni_ 
Follow my Interview with Author ‪@RebekahLyn1 on Twitter! Happening NOW, and use hashtag ‪#WritersKaboodle to join the conversation.

‏Sezoni Whitfield ‪ If you had to make a rule about writing, what would it be? ‪#writerskaboodle

Scan

RebekahLyn ‏‪My personal rule is write through the pain…

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Mother Said

1 Apr

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Photo by Melodie Hendrix

Photo by Melodie Hendrix

This week I wrote the wrong day in my journal. Wait, before you get in a tizzy, think about what Mother would have said. “You’ll never know the difference a hundred years from now.” You’re right, Mother, I thought and went on with what I was doing.

Like most mothers, mine had an abundance of things to say. Sometimes she was joking, or I hoped she was, as when she would say, “Now don’t be afraid of the storm, if lightning strikes you, you’ll never know the difference.” I must say, I have no fear of lightning, so she must have been on the right track. Afraid someone might kidnap you? Here’s what Mother would say: “Don’t worry, the minute they get you under a street light they’ll bring you right back.” Want to run away to Grandmother’s house, but wonder how you’re going to get the fifty miles down the mountain by yourself when you’re only a kid? Mother’s suggestion: “Here’s a nickel, don’t spend it all in one place.”

How about if your dress has a small spot on it and you’re ready to go out the door? “They’ll never know the difference on a galloping horse.”

Mother had some nice saying, too. She learned them from Auntie Elvira her first Sunday school teacher, who was my first Sunday school teacher too. When my brother and I fought the word was, “Be ye kind, one to another, tender, loving, forgiving each other.” Okay, Mom, I’ll try. If I wanted to say something bad about someone who had hurt my feelings she’d caution, “Ask yourself: is it kind, is it true, and do I have to tell it.” At least one of those is going to have a no, so forget it.

Ephesians 6:1 Children obey your parents for this is right.

 

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Our Cruise to Mexico-Part 4

31 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

Judy

Our last port of call was Key West.  Fred had been there on one of his Air Force business trips, but it was new to me.  I knew there were a lot of bars there, and that was of no interest to me.  But I also knew there was a lot of history there, and was eager to see the sights. We docked at a good time, but for some reason, they wouldn’t let us off the ship for two hours!  There were people in boats below us yelling for us to “come on down!”  And we wished we could.

And so, when we finally were able to disembark, everything BUT the bars was closed!  We had no opportunity to see Hemingway’s house,

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or the lighthouse and keeper’s house,

 

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or the Key West Museum of Art and History

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– or just about anything else.  We were quite disappointed.  But it was still daylight enough to see the outsides of the buildings and bronze plaques annotating the sites.

We were able to see the southern most house in the U.S.,

 

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and the southern most point in the continental U.S.,

 

7and other things.  We saw the Mile Marker 0 (Zero) sign for U.S. 1.  That was important to Fred and me, since we had seen the other end of it when we lived in northern Maine.

 

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There was a “street party” going on that lasted past the sundown, which was fun and interesting.  We wandered our way through that, and around some shops, then watched the sun sink slowly behind the horizon.  Our last glimpse was of a tall ship, which was really pretty against the setting sun.

 

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Back to the ship and head for Charleston and home.

We had always been delighted and amused while on board cruises, to find the “towel animals” that the crew put together – and on our bed each night.  Most were fairly recognizable – some required some imagination.  But it was fun to see what animal was going to greet us as we returned to our stateroom each evening.  What do you think?

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Counting One’s Interests

29 Mar

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

“One should never count the years–one should count one’s interests. I have kept young
trying never to lose my childhood sense of wonderment. I am glad I still have a vivid curiosity
about the world I live in.”

Helen Keller, 1880-1968
Blind and Deaf American Writer and Scholar

The writer of that beautiful philosophy
expressed my sentiments so eloquently-
But I humbly acknowledge my advantage-
I can hear! And I can see!

But did she hear more clearly than I?
And did she see through the Master’s eye?
Oh, how blessed to have the Master’s touch-
to live to serve- to give so much.

May I never take for granted
the blessings of each day-
A kind word, a noble deed,
encouragement along the way.

 

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An Unexpected Gift

27 Mar

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Onisha

Recently we went to Anderson, South Carolina to spend some time with friends and attend the Anderson Senior Follies.  It was held at Anderson University and the proceeds provide a scholarship. We were especially excited to attend since one of our friends was performing.

As the name implies, all of the performers were “seniors” with an age range of fifty-five to ninety-two. This year’s theme was Hometown Heroes. According to the newspaper style playbill, a hero is someone you know. The opening scene included the entire eighty-person cast all costumed to portray the most obvious heroes down to the least obvious such as secretaries, maids and miners.

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Once the opening number was completed the performers stepped out quickly and I do mean quickly with old favorites such as Baby Face, Bugle Boy of Company B and Run Around Sue to name a few. There were corny jokes, patriotic pieces and some songs just for the joy of laughing.

My husband and I laughed the whole show, one time I even snorted. We were in awe at the way those old folks could move. There was rhythm galore and plenty of flirty looks from the ladies but my favorite was a tap dance performed by some of the more elder ladies of the cast. Not only did they move, near the end of the number the men they had been dancing around suddenly ripped off the ladies skirts! While the music continued I watched anxiously as the ninety-year-old dancer bent down to pick up her skirt then struggled to put it back on.  I didn’t think she would be able to manage it but she sure did, right on cue.

After the show I was marveling at the rhythm and free spirit some of the women demonstrated. I wondered if they had always been that way or had they experienced an unexpected gift of age, the freedom to just go for it.

Merl Follies

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26 Mar

Like FREE and BARGAIN books?

Rebekah Lyn's Kitchen

Welcome to March Madness!

Where You Can Get Discounts, Free Books and More!
March 27th-28th only

March_Madness_General
For two days only, several best-selling authors have joined together to offer their books for free or 99 cents to avid readers.
Readers can download or order 40+ new books, saving over 50, and enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card to get even more books!
The books are listed below – Fiction first, followed by Non-Fiction, and the Gift Card Giveaway can be found at the bottom of the page:

Fiction:

Free Books

Amazon ImageDear Tiz by Aslaug Grbitz
This story is about two seventeen year old girls who live in two different centuries. They are connected in ways they have yet to discover.
The men in their lives are chivalrous and honorable, not to mention multi-ethnic – the Italian, the Irishman, the American Indian and the Norwegian.
There is true love, adventure, pioneering and a little magic involved…

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Enjoy the Differences

25 Mar

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Photo by Melodie Hendrix

Photo by Melodie Hendrix

The other day Bill and I were in the kitchen cooking breakfast, and he told me about a dream he had. He was working with my dad, something he did whenever the folks came from California for a visit or we went there. Dad loved to putter and fix things. Bill wanted to hang out with him, so they did projects that mother and I came up with for them.

Bill is an engineer; Dad was a man of many trades, race jockey, welder, gas company manager, large equipment fixer in a tomato factory, meat cutter, restaurant owner, pilot, and, most important, fisherman. Ah well, you get the picture; he could do many things.

Bill can do anything, too, or so it seems to me. He was mostly a mechanical engineer with the Space program, specializing in ordnance.

So anyhow, the dream was about Bill and Dad working together. In the dream, Bill was frustrated as he always was when he worked alongside Dad. Dad put his tools down just any old where and couldn’t’ find them the next time he needed them. He drilled big holes with gusto when Bill thought smaller, more sedate holes would have given a closer tolerance and worked better. Dad’s been home in heaven a while now, and we laughed at the silly dream until I started to cry. I hardly ever cry so it felt good.

I finally figured out why I was crying. I could see Dad and Bill in the driveway working on something. I could have walked out there, joined them, and got a lot of joy seeing the two of them together and being amused by the differences in work styles. If it were now, I wouldn’t need to try to make one like the other or change them. Now that I’m older, can see how unique each person is. I can accept them and enjoy the differences. It makes life a lot more fun and less stressful, too.

Psalm 139:13

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