Archive by Author

About those Christmas decorations

10 Mar

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I'm a winner

So… let me just throw this question out there. Anyone besides me still have their Christmas tree up? Gulp… how about stockings and garland? I am thinking, probably not.

The Christmas Gift

When were closing our home up for the winter, we ran out of time and decided to leave the decorations in place. After all, who would see them? We returned to our home in North Carolina at the end of February to attend to damage from heavy rains in January, so you would think we took the decorations down, but nope. You see, when we left Florida, we brought along our daughter, author Rebekah Lyn  so she could put in some intense writing time and since her visit was only to last a week, I didn’t want to waste time on taking down decorations. I had cups of tea to make to fuel her writing  energy. Don’t the British believe tea makes everything better? She has been gone since Monday and I decided that Thursday was to be THE day.

This morning, my husband brought down the storage totes and placed them close to the tree.  I stared at them awhile, but had a serious motivation issue. Instead of jumping up and getting the job done, my face and mind were glued to a book. I simply couldn’t tear myself away from it.

Back to Bienville, A Journey into Wellness by Melinda Matthews has been on my reading radar for quite a while and this week I decided it was time to bump it up my To Be Read list and see what it was about.  I can’t remember the last time a book held my attention the way this one did. I think it is because the author discovers Homeopathy healing and that is a subject I have been reading up on. It’s an easy read and I recommend it if you have health issues the medical doctors can’t seem to cure, or even if you just have medical issues.

Getting back to the Christmas decorations. I am not going to stress over them. Judge me if you choose, I will still love you.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galations 5:1

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Helping Hands in Saint John’s Soup Kitchen, Newark NJ

9 Mar

Helping Hands

Onisha Ellis

Shake the World

 

I had high hopes that this week I would have a guest blogger to share what their community is doing to lend a helping hand to members of their community. Since that did not materialize, I decided to continue the series by contacting food pantries listed at FoodPantries.org. For today, I found the St. John’s Soup Kitchen through Networked Blogs. Be sure to click the link above for St. Johns’s Soup Kitchen to read the About page. It appears to be a fantastic organization that  offers not only food, but medical care as well and is supported by free will donations.  I reblogged their post from February 12, 2016. I hope it touches your heart as it did mine –Onisha

What Would Jesus Do?

When I awoke this morning and being aware of the frigid temperatures coming upon us this weekend, I could not help thinking about our homeless brothers and sisters on the streets of Newark. As so on as I arrived at St. John’s I noticed our friends bundled up rushing to get their hot chocolate and quickly dispersing into warm shelter (Newark Penn Station). What would Jesus do? I asked myself.  I am sure Jesus would welcome them into his house, so I decided to open our church’s doors and allow them to eat their lunch in Jesus’ house. The staff and I quickly brainstormed how could this work best, and I have to tell you it made my heart happy. If you had been here, your heart would jump with joy as well to see our brothers and sister taking a break from the cold temperatures eating their lunch in a warm place and in good company, even if it was only for a little while. I think Jesus too was very happy to have had them as guests in his house.

Source: News& Events| Saint John’s Soup Kitchen, Newark NJ

If you have a story to share about your community or if you benefitted from a helping hand, I would like to share it. Leave a note in comments and I will contact you.

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GLENNA – A TRIBUTE

8 Mar

MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

I’ve mentioned before that I was Church Secretary for nearly nine years at the church where we are members. I’ve also mentioned that the pastor at that time was my “boss” nearly that entire time. However, I introduced him one time to my best friend, who was visiting. His response? “No Judy, we are co-workers….not boss and employee.” He was absolutely great to work with.

His mother, Glenna, was a jewel. Always upbeat…loved the Lord and spoke about Him to everyone whenever and wherever she was. Such a happy, happy person. And she never knew a stranger.   This picture of her is from the newspaper, and isn’t a terribly good one of her, but it does show her enthusiam.

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Ms. Glenna was also a poet. Every year that we knew her, we would receive from her a Christmas poem. I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, and poetry usually just slides right over my head. But Glenna’s poems always touched my heart.

Ms. Glenna died last week, and we attended the memorial service for her. All three of her children were there and spoke about her. All spoke of her love…for life, for her family, but most especially of her love of her loving Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The funeral home always puts together a “memory” leaflet of the deceased, and they did for Glenna, as well. In that leaflet, they included a poem that Glenna had written, probably many years ago, and kept for just this time. I want to share it with you all. It shows so much about the type of person Glenna McKinney was. Her legacy lives on in her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren (there are 11 of them!).

Ms. Glenna – we miss you – your laugh, your love, your quirky personality. As your son said, you are more alive today than you ever were on this earth.

May God have all the glory in this:

 

SOMEDAY

By Glenna Morris McKinney

 

One day I shall see Him,

In the twinkling of an eye–

I shall trade my dwelling place on earth

For a mansion in the sky.

 

‘Tho my life may seem to be over

To those I leave behind,

My life will be unfolding

As new planes of life I find.

 

Oh yes, I’ll trade this house of clay

For a new celestial home.

I’ll be greeting old friends & loved ones

As on the streets of gold I roam.

 

Many questions will be answered,

New dimensions will I see

As my Savior takes me by the hand

And walks along with me.

 

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Spring Cleaning Fling~Part 2

7 Mar

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

 

 

House with Flag

 

Spring Emails from Onisha and Patricia Franklin

Onisha
I’m kind of glad you felt the same way about the classes as I did. It makes me feel better about myself. My mother wasn’t in to the cleaning thing. Whenever we would be cleaning the house when company was expected she would get side tracked and begin building something, a new closet, or shelves, whatever. I ended up doing the cleaning. I often wonder if there are cleaning tips that mothers passed down to daughters. My brother in law’s wife was a professional cleaner for many years and I often wanted to ask her about tips but didn’t want to appear dumb. I did get her potato salad recipe though. The secret to it was the number of eggs used plus some sour cream. I had to iron for free at home as well as basically run the household during my teen years. Fortunately by then, permanent press had been discovered.  For that, I got lunch money for schook, fifty cents per day plus $2.50 for a total of five dollars per week. I saved that up plus some babysitting money to buy my first prom dress.  I also ironed for some of mom’s friends. One lady had a lot of baby clothes, 5 cents a piece is what I think I received.

Patricia

Monday seems like a good day to put in a “cleaning” blog.😉  I can’t recall doing much cleaning as a child.  In fact, I had one dresser drawer with all my stuff in it.  We did not have much “stuff.”  As far as housecleaning, I think my Mom did most of it.  I spent a lot of time at my grandmother’s house.  In fact, I do remember “penny dusting” at her house.  She would go around and put a penny on each item that needed dusting and I would make a little spending money that way.  It wasn’t much, but seemed like a lot in those days.  We usually spent it on penny candy. You could get a lot of candy for a penny from my aunt’s Biggest Little Store in the World or from Mrs. Motts store on Main Street.

I did help her more with the yard work later on, raking, pulling weeds and even mowing.

We now have a lot of stuff to go through, including a closet full of pictures.  Husband and I are both collectors, so we have a hard time getting rid of things.  He is better than I am about it, but I know my kids will not have any use for it so I ought to just pitch everything. It seems like I can’t find time enough to do anything extra, except my usual everyday things.  Hopefully we will be able to get at it soon.  It drives me crazy thinking about it.

 

Fly Lady http://www.flylady.net/

“Build My Mansion Next Door to Jesus,” written and sung by Dottie Rambo

 

 

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Four things you must do when facing a plate full of issues.

5 Mar

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Janet Eckles Perez

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Recently, someone asked me the same question many have before:

When you lose one sense, like in your case, your eyesight, is it true that other senses develop and sharpen?”

“Sure is,” I said, “in my case it’s my sense of humor.”

I looked toward the mirror; I never have a bad hair day. And when you can’t see, eating can be fun, too. With a plate full of food before me, every bit is a surprise and meals end up being an adventure.

But it’s quite different when life presents a plate full of difficult issues. We look closely at all of them, and before we know it, we get a bad case of emotional indigestion. Here is how to avoid it:

  1. Use each challenge as a channel to taste God’s grace.
  2. Use every disappointment, heartache and even tragedy as an opportunity to savor the sweetness of God’s comfort.
  3. Use each moment of joy, triumph and success is a chance to delight in His provision.
  4. Use each setback as an opportunity to sit back and wait in expectation.

If you’re in that place right now–facing tough, painful issues, I invite you to close your eyes. Let your soul savor God’s promises. His promises that say He is at work in that situation. He’s about to bring the solution. And until He does, he’s holding you ever, ever so close. “How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119: 103)

Source: Four things you must do when facing a plate full of issues. | Janet Perez Eckles

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I have to be Me

4 Mar

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

Louise Gibson

I am fighting the battle of resistance-
I have to be Me, in spite of insistence.
The world is doing its best night and day-
to alter my thinking- to follow its way.
Commercials tell me what I should buy-
Etiquette dictates the “how” and the “why”.
Experience has proven to be my friend-
My values I no longer have to defend.
Don’t try to make me an image of you-
It is so refreshing to have one’s own view.
No longer young, my spirit tells me-
In spite of man’s thinking, I have to be Me!
Woman w: dogs on mountian

Source: Reflections of the Heart: I have to be Me

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Helping Hands in Franklin, North Carolina

2 Mar

Helping Hands

30 Hour Famine

Onisha Ellis

On Saturday, we came across helping hands in a surprising place, outside of the Walmart in Franklin, NC. At first I wasn’t sure what the group of teens and adults were doing as I was distracted by the sight of two guys trying to set up a small tent. Now, I know RV folks will often spend the night in a Walmart parking lot and call it Walmart camping, but a tent?  As I drew closer, I saw a table with cans and boxes of food with teens holding up signs stating they were hungry and asking people to donate to the local food pantry, CareNet.  I waved at them and  made a mental promise to stop and drop off food as we left. As I shopped,  I drew on my observations of the items that were popular at Compassion House and avoided green beans and corn. Leaving the Walmart parking lot we dropped off our contributions and were rewarded with big grins and thank yous. As we pulled away, I decided I wanted a picture for this post. Fortunately Rebekah was with me and she agreed to walk over to them and ask to take a picture.

Franklin, NC JPEG

As we drove through downtown and took a few wrong turns we saw two other 30 Hours of Famine drop offs. Now I really wanted to know more. Fortunately, the event had a nice article in the local free paper and explained that the participating youth fast for 30 Hours to experience what the world’s poorest children and families experience everyday. Another benefit is that teens can see firsthand how they can make an impact in people’s lives.

If you would like to read more about 30 Hours of Famine click the link below.

http://themaconcountynews.com/franklin-area-students-to-fight-hunger-save-lives-during-30-hour-famine/

Do you volunteer in a local helping hands capacity or are you part of an organization that does? Leave a comment with permission for me to contact you. I would love to share your story!

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New “Florida Backroads” Promotional Video – 02-29-16

1 Mar

Our family friend, Mike Thomas is a great photographer who loves the beauty of Florida.

Florida Backroads

MT-GrnScr-FLABackroads1Hey Folks!

Just an FYI – I just competed producing a new promotional video for the Florida Backroads project. It’s more geared towards this who would like to have me come in and do one of my multimedia shows coupled with a fine art photography exhibit of my stuff. Either way, enjoy!

Peace – Mike T.

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Spring Clean Fling~Part 1

29 Feb

My Take

 DiVoran Lites

Old House

Author, Poet and ArtistAt one time I had a woman come in and clean every other week. I had to get two more cleaners one at a time before I went back to not cleaning myself. One woman got a different job, one moved away, and the last one wanted more money than I thought I should pay. It was, after all, an indulgence. I was then on my own as I had pretty much always been.

I took some classes at church and I went online to learn from Fly Lady. Have you heard of that site? Our daughter introduced her aunt Judy and me to it several years ago. I didn’t think Judy needed it, though, because she has been a military wife all her grown-up years and has kept house beautifully. Eventually I stopped Fly Lady, but lately I went back to it. She knows all my dirty little secrets and helped me change my ways. The strange thing was, I enjoyed it.

Bill is decluttering too. He gives me gifts that he purchased a long time ago and put away for the right time. He also gives me books I’ve asked him to read. I wondered where those went. I like the craft scissors he gave me, and there was a letter from my mother who died some time ago.

When I clean now, I remember my grandmother teaching me to wash windows with cold water, vinegar, and newspaper. She had a great fix for dirty ovens, too. She laid a stack of newspapers on a rack, saturated it with household ammonia, and shut up in the oven overnight. In the morning all we had to do was wipe out the oven. I’m into green now, but the memories are good.

Mother liked a clean house too. She, however, spent so many hours on her feet at the restaurant we owned that she decided to pay me to clean once a week. I did a huge basket of ironing every week for a dollar, as well. I like to iron, but I got behind on Bill’s shirts this year, so I’ve recently concentrated on catching up. The best thing about ironing when the kids were young was watching the old black and white movies on T. V. while the kids played in the sandbox. Eventually I had to iron less and less because of the changes in fabrics, but Bill and I both still like his cotton Hawaiian shirts, and to us, they need to be ironed.
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The Cruise of a Lifetime~Part 4

28 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

2After the excursion to the Marksburg Castle, we were scheduled for a cruise up the Middle Rhein River (from Koblenz to Mainz), and to see all the castles along the way. Unfortunately, the area had been having a drought for some time, and the river was low.

Let me explain about the ship we were on. It is a “long” ship (443 feet), only two passenger levels, since it must pass through some “locks” along the way.

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A larger, deeper, ocean-sailing ship wouldn’t be able to navigate those locks. Therefore, because the river was so low, we were unable to traverse the Middle Rhein River on the Gefjon. All the passengers (185) – and a few of the crew – were transferred to another ship for the Rhein River cruise. While our luggage and most of the crew stayed with the Gefjon, they were forced to dump of all the fresh water they had on board (over 100,000 gallons). In spite of all that, there were spots along the way where there was only 12″ of water below the ship! I guess it was a good thing we were off! Didn’t want to get grounded!

So, instead of seeing the castles from our ship, we all were transferred to the Konigsbacher – a tourist/sight-seeing boat – for the remainder of the day.

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We played “cat and mouse” with the Gefjon all the way to Bingen – we would be in front for a while, then the Gefjon would be in front. Fun to watch, with the crew waving at us as we passed each other.

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We did see some castles (we counted 31) while we sailed, and Carl West described them to us. However, as it was beginning to get too dark to see any other castles, Carl announced that it would be another 90 minutes before we could board the Gefjon again! Many groans!! I looked at Fred and vehemently said – “where’s my Kindle???!!!” Unfortunately, it was locked up in the safe in our room. It was a rather boring 90 minutes, for sure. Billie (our concierge) and the boat’s crew brought out cake and tea for us – charged to Viking, which was nice.

 

There was a flag flying on the Konigsbacher and I wondered what it represented. When I asked the crew, they said it represents their home town.

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We finally stopped at Bingen, and both the Gefjon and the Konigsbacher were lashed together, so there were only a few steps to get across to get to the Gefjon.

We were finally able to get to supper at 7:30 p.m. Our table mates were Nancy and Jim from Arizona (they formerly lived in Metro West in Orlando), and Rachael and her mother, Carol, from Sacramento, California. Rachael earned her law degree from UNM (the University of New Mexico).

Bed by 10:00 p.m. and we were very tired!

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~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

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