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My Love Affair with Chocolate

8 Oct

 

My Take

DiVoran Lites

I’ve been lying on my potato couch listening to Julio Iglesias sing and eating 72% dark chocolate. I can’t tell you if it’s Ghiradelli’s or Lindt, because I broke up both bars and put the squares together in a plastic box. I can tell you it goes down like nothing else I can think of.

Sidelight about Julio I met someone who knew him. She ran a bed and breakfast in England. We stayed there. She and some of her friends were hard-core Julio groupies and had somehow got into riding in his bus whenever he traveled around England. She said he gave her a hug once. I gave her a hug the morning we left, so does that mean…?

But back to chocolate. It all started with Eskimo Pies when our parents owned a small restaurant in Colorado. We called them Milk Nickels. It sounds healthy and the price was good. I was fond of Hersey bars with almonds in them. Then I progressed to peanut clusters. I could eat a bag in an evening along with about six coca-colas. That was when I was a hairdresser in the Los Angeles area. I eventually dropped the cokes, but stuck with the peanut clusters for a long time.

After I had my first child, I had to start thinking about losing weight so I read everything I could get my hands on and kept up with the chocolate. When I discovered dark chocolate, I was in paradise, especially dark chocolate wrapped in foil with almonds.

Eventually though I learned that I could have one dark chocolate after lunch and one after dinner if I didn’t eat pies, cakes, cookies, etc. As long as that was all the dessert I was going to have I figured I could afford good chocolate.

One time my son’s family gave me a tidy little box of Godiva chocolates tied with a ribbon. We were eating out and I offered everyone a piece of the chocolate, but someone said we should save it for after dinner. Why? Your palette works better if your stomach isn’t full. By the time we had eaten I couldn’t bring myself to offer again. I reasoned that they had given me the candy at great cost and it would be ungracious to give them all away. Besides, three out of six of them didn’t like dark chocolate. I didn’t dare take the chance they’d change their minds. They said I could do whatever I wanted with them so I kept them. I’m not proud of that. Most grandmothers would have shared. Anyhow, that’s the way it is with affairs, sometimes you just don’t have the sense God gave a goose. Drug addicts and alcoholics are the same way, or so I hear.

 

Psalm 34:8

 

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THE CONCERT VIOLINIST

7 Oct

MEMORIES

 

Judy Wills

 Sunday Memories

July Wills

 

We had not been in town very long – less than one year – when we found the church where we felt God wanted us to be members.  Six months later, I was the Church Secretary.  I found the atmosphere to be absolutely pure, compared to secular jobs I had held.

Our Senior Pastor was a delight – what you saw was what you got.  A great preacher as well as a tremendous pastor to the flock.  Wonderful to work with.  He considered us co-workers, not boss-employee.

He was very mission-minded – always looking for ways to encourage our congregation to be aware of how they could be missionaries, and lend support to those actually serving on the mission field.

Each year he proposed to have a Mission Conference, with missionaries speaking about their particular field.  He tried to incorporate those from North America, International, State, and Local missionaries.

One year, he was given the name of a woman who had defected from the former Soviet Union, Bulgaria, in fact.  And not only would she be speaking, but she was a concert violinist – First Chair in the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, and later, after her defection, First Chair in the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra.  She had earned five music doctorates.  We were suitably impressed with her credentials.  She agreed to come, but required a piano accompanist.

As neither our church pianist nor organist wanted to undertake this requirement, I volunteered.  She sent me the music I needed to play and I began practicing every spare moment.  I was really beginning to feel intimidated by the music – not completely sure I was capable for the task.  But the day arrived, and so did our violinist.  I was shaking in my boots!  I was convinced she would see how inadequate I was to even THINK about accompanying her!  But we practiced together and both seemed satisfied we could complement each other.  My only hope and prayer was that I wouldn’t mess her up too much!

Her testimony was jaw-dropping and spell-binding!  She told how each person in her church in Bulgaria only had ONE PAGE of the Bible – and yet it was enough for them to come to know Christ.  She is the only surviving member of her family.  Both her parents and her brother (pastors) gave their lives for the Gospel.

And then she played for us.  What a command of that instrument she had!  She made it positively SING!  It was such a joy to accompany her.

We became friends from that experience – and other years she came to continue her message to us.  Even though I knew she had professional accompanists, she told me she was always happy to have me accompany her!  She could tell that my heart was in it.  She is a very gracious lady.

Violinist

Violinist (Photo credit: Arturo-)

Psalm 33:3

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A National Zoning Law?

4 Oct

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

This past weekend we made a quick trip through Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. We traveled back roads and interstates and I noticed something odd. We are one month away from a major national election and we saw no political signs for the presidential race. At first I thought maybe there was a national zoning law that I missed hearing about. This theory didn’t fly when we were on back roads and I saw signs for local races.  During the whole four-day weekend, I saw two bumper stickers, one for each party. So this  led me to do some questioning.

My first question involves passion. Have we as Americans lost our passion for our country? Has the ongoing financial crisis moved us to apathy? Maybe we don’t believe it matters who we elect.

Another explanation could be technology. Have we moved beyond signs, billboards and bumper stickers because everything we want to know is on our smart phones?

Finally, are we so passionate about this election we are spending our time “stealing” the opposition signs as fast as they are being put out? One of my family members put out a sign at the entrance to her neighborhood and it promptly disappeared. To date, in my small town I have seen only one sign for a presidential candidate. I have to admit  in the past I have been sorely tempted to steal a few political signs. Some candidates really irk me but this is what America is about, everyone having the chance to voice their opinion and to support whomever they choose.

Now that the presidential debates have begun, will we see more signs? I hope so. It seems every election is “the most important” ever. This may sound like crying wolf but I don’t believe it is. This election season many people are participating in Forty Days of Prayer. I think maybe we should have been doing this for every election.

I would love to hear from you, what is happening in your town?

2 Chronicles 7:14

Bumper sticker car parked in Santa Cruz, Calif...

Bumper sticker car parked in Santa Cruz, California. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

John F. Kennedy Bumper Sticker - NARA - 194067

John F. Kennedy Bumper Sticker – NARA – 194067 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

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My First Real Cruise

3 Oct

A Slice of Life

 Bill Lites

 

After joining the NROTC in Albuquerque, NM at age 17, I spent the first six months going to weekly indoctrination/training  meetings, getting medical checks, shots of all kinds, and generally being bored with the whole thing.

When it came time for what the Navy called an annual Summer Cruise, my first “Cruise” was two weeks of Boot Camp (Basic Training) at the San Diego Naval Training Station.    

We learned many cool things, like rescue swimming, fire fighting and gas mask training, but it was mostly two weeks of long days and hard work.

In those days, when you signed up for any branch of the military, you were in for “The Duration”.  None of this, “Oh I made a mistake and want out” stuff went on then.  Well, it seems, I had gone to Boot Camp during the Navy’s 1956 fiscal year, and now that year had ended and we were into the 1957 fiscal year. So, I asked my Company Commander if I could take my 1957 Summer Cruise now instead of waiting till next summer.  He was agreeable to that idea and cut me a set of orders for my first “real” Summer Cruise on the USS Gurke (DD 783) out of San Diego.

I was thrilled and amazed when I first went aboard that ship, to find that there were other reservists like me on board.  At first glance, there didn’t seem to be room to do anything, as every available inch seemed to be packed with essential equipment.  Of course, I found out real quick how much empty space there really was, once a mop or a paintbrush was put in my hands.

 

 

 

 

I discovered in the Navy, the smaller the ship the better the food because there are fewer men to cook for.  The food was great on the Gurke, and I looked forward to every meal.  However, that wasn’t the case with some.  I thought we were lucky during this cruise, because the areas of the ocean we did our maneuvers in was very calm most of the time, so I got my sea legs quickly.  But, there were others who were sea sick from the moment we left the dock, and never did get over it.  That was really bad for them, because we stayed out at sea for week at a time and only came back to San Diego for the weekends.

 

I had never thought I would enjoy sea duty, but the two weeks we were at sea ended up being a fun trip for me.  As it turned out, I spent almost two years at sea going around the world on ships and never did get seasick.  That included crossing the North Atlantic in a huge storm, which had waves coming up over the bow of the aircraft carrier I was on.

 

But I did almost get “seasick” after the second week at sea on the Gurke. When I walked down the streets of San Diego the whole city seemed to be rocking back and forth.  That along with the sights and smells of a tattoo parlor I went into with a friend, nearly cost me my dinner that first night on liberty.

 

Scripture:  Psalm 107:29 (English Standard Version)

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What Makes You Happy?

1 Oct

My Take

 DiVoran

I saw a documentary called, “Happy,” recently. It shows what makes people happy or unhappy all over the world.

The most shocking thing I learned is that many people in Japan are unhappy and worse they actually drop dead of overwork. It’s called Keroshi. It’s from trying to beef up their gross national product.(GNP) since the devastation of WWII. They have succeeded thanks partly to a hand up from the U. S. A.

So far, Danes are considered the happiest people in the world. They may choose lightly communal homes, which have large kitchens where folks share the cooking, and everyone takes at least one meal a day together if they want to. There’s always someone there and they make dear friends who become to them like family. Family and friends make people happy.

The Asian country of Bhutan is passing up striving for increased gross national product and going for gross national happiness (GNH) instead. When a business opportunity comes to the country the first thing the government asks is whether or not the steps they must take will further their goal of GNH or thwart it. This includes things like building dams and flooding communities just for material gain.

In America, we have a whole range from people walking around in Zombie fogs of self-pity to exuberant people (born extra happy).

Drs Meier and Minrith express a profound idea in the title of their book, Happiness is a Choice. Hannah Whitehall Smith echoes this idea, in hers, The Christian’s Secret to a Happy Life.

You may be wondering, however, what about money?

The thing about money is that if you have enough for the basic human needs described in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs you’re a great deal happier than if you don’t. Of course. Once those needs are met and you have some extra for comforts and fun things, then being rich doesn’t add a thing. That is unless like R. G. Le Tourneau you give away 90% of your income for God to use as he wishes. That’ll make you happy.

George Mueller is my hero. By 1875, he had lodged, fed, and educated over two thousand English children who would have otherwise been completely destitute and he did it without taking a salary and without fundraising. He prayed and taught the children to pray for all their needs and people obeyed God and brought the supply.

Here’s his take on happiness:

“I saw more clearly than ever that the first great primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord.

It’s miraculous how much that has helped me over the years as I have tried to practice it.

Nehemiah 8:10

 

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The Concert

30 Sep

Sunday Memories

 Judy Wills

 

I always remember there being a piano in the house.  Mother would sometimes sit down and play her favorite hymns from memory, with embellishments.  Occasionally we four would gather around the piano and sing along – Mom playing, Daddy on bass, brother on tenor, me on soprano.  Fond memories.

I started taking piano lessons the day I started first grade, and continued until I graduated from high school.  Now you might have thought that I was some kind of whiz on that instrument – and you would be dead wrong!  Talent?  Yes, I think God gave me some talent.  But not the GIFT.  I always have to have that piece of sheet music in front of my face, or I can’t play anything.

As time went on, I honed my talent, and became fairly accomplished.  My usual fare was church pianist, and occasionally the organist.

Our new Minister of Music wanted to do something new and different – so he organized six of us pianists and we began preparing for a six-piano concert!  One of the local piano stores had a room full of Clavinovas (digital/electronic pianos), and allowed us to practice at the store.

Close to time for the concert, and the pianos were moved to the church.  Up on the stage they went, and our practice time was closer to home.  We played two or three pieces all together – different parts of the song, like an orchestra.  Then we each played a duet with one of the other pianists, then a solo.  We were each to introduce ourselves to the audience and tell something about ourselves – just to get acquainted.

Friday night came – and the first concert.  The sanctuary was nearly full!  And then it became a labor of love – for the instrument and for our God who gave us all the talent to use for His Glory!  A labor of love, but such fun, as well.  My sister-in-law said, “WOW that was Great!!  What a glorious thing to hear SIX pianos played by six talented musicians all at one time!  I can sense God’s hand in this concert and in these musicians.”

I like to think that all those piano lessons have paid off.  I may not have the gift, but what talent I have, I use for God’s Glory.

Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done marvelous things!

His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him.

 

Psalm 98:1

 

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The Elusive Mouse

29 Sep

Speak Up Saturday

Patricia Franklin

Here on the porch I have so enjoyed Patricia’s stories. Sadly it appears she may be taking a Fall break. If anyone has s story they would like to share,  leave a comment or tweet me @onisha. I would love to hear your stories-Onisha

 

 

I think our elusive mouse has disappeared. Could he have been a figment of my imagination?  I was so frustrated with something that wasn’t even there?  However, he did leave behind his little gifts for me to clean up.  And I remember when I first discovered his presence. He was trying to nest in my husband’s knee pads. He never even went near the pile of rags I keep in the laundry room.  This just gets curiouser and curiouser.

If he is living under my house he must be an “arachnidavore” because that is all I have under the house. He would have to survive  by devouring bugs and spiders, as he has not set one little foot in any other part of the house. I know because I have kept up a ritual of sweeping glances in every corner ever since he showed up.

We have had several cool nights and I figured if he was coming in from outdoors, he would be in on those nights.  Black Cat has been hanging around just enough to make me think he could read my mind, and took care of the problem. No doubt Cat is a very intelligent animal. We have a mutual respect and understanding between us, even if there is no love lost there.

 

End of Mouse I think…. will let you know if otherwise.  At any rate he still remains a mystery!

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Food Truck Bazaar

27 Sep

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

 

We  had a big event come to our small town Monday night, the Food Truck Bazaar. Living in a small town my closest encounter with a food truck was the hot dog stand at Lowe’s home improvement store or at the Catholic Church fair so I was very excited.

The Bazaar set up at one of our local parks on the river and it was one of those wonderful Florida Fall evenings with a nice breeze from the river. We arrived shortly after it began and I knew it was going to be big when we had to search for a parking space. Since this was the first time the bazaar had come to our town, they only sent ten trucks and they were parked in a circle and painted in a variety of colors and each offered different foods; the smells were incredible. Among the vendors, each powered by a generator, was my favorite, Cuban food. Also available were Southern food, British food, a coffee van, a cupcake truck and some others whose names I can’t remember. All except the cupcake truck had long lines.  In keeping with my motto, “when in doubt eat dessert first.” I headed straight for the cupcakes. I shared a s’mores with my daughter and it was truly Yum Yum which is the name of the vendor. I’m glad we went there first, the truck completely sold out, 1,900 cupcakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a fun time, people brought folding tables and chairs, and families were everywhere. Most amazing was the after effect. Food Truck Bazaar has a Facebook page and it was rocking with comments. The enthusiasm was over the top. Thanks were given out to the local folks who set up the event, photos were posted and comments were flowing. Our town has been hard hit by the end of the Manned Spaceflight Program. It was great to see our community laughing and sharing a spirit of camaraderie, we are already looking forward to the next one.

 

Learn more about The Food Truck Bazaar   http://goo.gl/b1zEU

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He Will Order His Angels

26 Sep

A Slice of Life

 Bill Lites

Do you remember where you were when terror struck the United States on 9/11/2001?  I’m sure you do.  I was having breakfast with my family at the DeLeon Springs State Park in Florida when the terrible news came across the airwaves. I remember how deathly quiet it was as all airplanes in this country were grounded.   You might remember how, everything seemed to be on hold, as if the world held its breath to see what would happen next.  It wasn’t until we got home later that day that we were able to see the news reports and only then begin to understand the impact of what had happened and how it was going to change the lives of all Americans.

  

As it happened, six months earlier, my wife and I had signed up for a trip to Spain, to begin on 9/18/2001.  We had been looking forward to that trip with anticipation for the past six months.  Now what were we going to do?  All the airlines were shut down, and who knew for how long!  Would our trip be cancelled?  Would we be able to go?  Should we go?  We decided that If the airlines started flying again, and If we were allowed to go, and If we could get seats, we wouldn’t let this event ruin our plans.

By some miracle, things began to calm down, the airlines started flying again, and since many people were “Never going to fly again!” we had no problem confirming our itinerary on the scheduled date.  The atmosphere in the airports in New York, Paris, Malaga, and on the planes was very tense, but most everyone forced a smile and was very courteous to us.  When we arrived in Malaga, Spain our luggage went on to Istanbul, Turkey and it was two days before it got back to us.  Hey, No surprise there, right.

At our base hotel in Torremolinos, and on the bus tours to the Alhambra and a Spanish olive factory, everything was conducted pretty much as if nothing had happened.  It was on our ferry trip from Gibraltar to Morocco that we got our first glimpse of how 9/11/2001 had affected many of the peoples of the world.  A Muslim family came up to us and said, “We are very sorry about what happened in America.”

Then again in Tangier, as we were shopping at one of the shops in the Kasbah, the owner said, “Please come back, we need you.”  That evening at the hotel, after our dinner, a professor from the local collage came and talked to us about his modernized family, and how most of the Muslim world are not extremists and only want to live a trouble free life, as we do

Overall, we had a very wonderful vacation trip.  We were able to visit with the people first hand, in and around the beautiful Costa del Sol region of southern Spain, as well as in Tangier, Morocco and see how differently they lived just across the water from one another.

If it hadn’t been for DiVoran getting sick and missing some of the tours, we could have called it a perfect trip.  Now who would ever have guessed after 9/11/2001 that we would have been able to say that on 9/28/2001?

Scripture: Luke 4:10b (New Living Translation) …”He will order His angels to protect and guard you.”

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What’s Your Favorite Color

24 Sep

 

My Take

DiVoran Lites

I like them all. Today I like turquoise. A beautiful book arrived in the mail, Inspired and Unstoppable, by Tama Kieves. It is pale turquoise. Crayons are perfect for marking passages, so I chose a turquoise one and a turquoise Pentel Pen (my favorite brand for many years.)

Onisha and Pam are coming over this afternoon and I wanted to wear a special tee shirt with my jean shorts. You guessed it, I picked turquoise with a faint violet thread through it.

I just bought new patio cushions, and they are turquoise. Funny how it just jelled today that it’s the color I now love best.

I don’t know what formal meaning this color has, but to me it means water, sky, mom, because she loved it. Color Me Beautiful, by Carole Jackson says it is the color most people look good in. If a color lifts your spirits, wear it, sleep in it, bathe in it, and love it.

I like books about color, and I’ve picked up a few quirky ideas by reading them. People debate this, but it is said that the color Indian Yellow, which is a bright yellow with a lot of orange in it is made by feeding mangos to cows then collecting their urine and using it as an ingredient in paint. Saffron is another yellow. It comes from the tiny pistil of a flower. Yes, its’ the same saffron that’s used in food. It costs $1,000 a pound, so as far as paints go, I’m glad we have the wonderful synthetics we have. Before that artists ground rocks to make ochre and other earth colors. Carmine came from the cochineal bug. Our foremothers, as we know, used plants to make indigo, what would we do without it? It’s the color of our jeans, but also now synthetic.

Color took off when car manufacturers began formulating acrylics in all the beautiful colors we see on the road. On the road and on my palette, I love them.

Last week in Sunday School the children helped me make up a story about a little girl named mud and how miserable and unhappy she was. She pouted all the time and had no friends. She preferred to sit in ashes. Her mother called on the Prince of Peace, he came and opened up her heart, and suddenly her world was full of color. Of course, she had to have a new dress, her old one was raw umber. A tentative “pink,” came out of a little girl’s mouth, but soon colors flew around the room so fast I couldn’t get them all on the board. Then the solution came: a rainbow dress. Oh yes, and in our imaginations it was beautiful.

The next thing was a name and another barrage of very nice names hit the board. How could we choose? Then Aaron, a six year old gave us a name. I wrote it phonetically, but I can’t tell you now what it was. It was colorful to be sure. We all knew spontaneously that it was a spectacular name for her. We’d call her by its last three letters, Zia. We can only trust that Mud, now, Zia, loved her name and her dress as much as we did. Now, what’s your favorite color?

John 7:38

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