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Walking

19 Aug

My Take

DiVorarn Lites

I started walking when I was a baby. My first steps were into my curly headed daddy’s arms. I practiced a great deal and garnered a lot of praise. Author, Poet and ArtistFalling didn’t phase me. My memory doesn’t go back that far, really, but I know that’s the way it was. The first time I actually recall walking was when I went next door to my little friend’s house to play. I was about five. My brother and I took off walking to town one day in Crowley, Colorado when our puppy got lost. We never did find him, just caused our parents a lot of worry. When I was older, my brother and I walked to the creek looking for a goose we had let escape on purpose because we didn’t want to eat him for Thanksgiving dinner. When I was a teen-ager, on warm evenings, I walked in the neighborhood after supper in Albuquerque. Anyhow you get the picture. Every day, except Sunday, I walk about a mile and a half. In the summertime in Florida, if you get up early enough you can catch a lovely breeze. Using the IPod to amuse myself while I walk helps if I get a bit bored. That doesn’t happen on a wooded trail, only in the neighborhood. I can still stop and say hello to neighbors, I just pull the ear bud connector out and the IPod stops right where it is.

One day a couple of weeks ago I was getting ready to put some water in the

Bad Hose!

Bad Hose!

bird-bath. I dragged the hose over to the cement sidewalk, but before I could take another step the bad hose snaked around my foot and threw me down. As I fell, I had the fleeting thought that if I broke anything, I wouldn’t be able to really walk for a long time. However, when my hands and knees hit the pavement, I knew I was still intact. One knee had a bloody gash and the other had an eventual bruise, but I took my regular walk the very next day.

When it was time for visit to the chiropractor, he found about a dozen places in my knees, hands, and  arms, that had gone out of alignment and needed fixing them. Once again I thanked God for him. He has kept us in good shape for over thirty years. I was still thanking God I hadn’t broken anything. A break can result in so many complications. I told Doc Z. that I was thankful to Mother her good bones, too. She fell many times without any breakage. He said, “It wasn’t your genetics that saved you, it was your walking.” Wow! I was thrilled.

He also said that the reason people fall and have accidents is that they rush around most of the time. That’s me. I don’t know why I think I must hurry through things. I am retired and life is good. Although I can still walk as fast as I want when walking is my purpose, I’m slowing way down in every other aspect of my life. Eat more slowly, listen patiently without thinking of what I’m going to say, or how I can correct somebody, chew food well, don’t multi-task. I must admit that multi-tasking has caused more mistakes than anything else ever has. Life is better now. I’m so glad I learned how to walk. Aren’t you glad you did, too

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Woman Cures the Blues by Writing Poetry

12 Aug

My Take

DiVoran Lites

I am my own guinea pig. I figure what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, in other words, I learn things about myself all the time and wonder whether others feel the same way I do.

My latest discovery is in connection with the writing of poetry. I was in the middle of a final polish of my third novel in the Florida Springs Trilogy, Clear Spring, and I was feeling so down, I had to stop every thirty minutes to eat a teaspoon full of pecan pieces. Besides being nervous, a condition I attributed to stage fright because I was drawing near the end of my book, I also had a bad case of self-chastisement, a plethora of thoughts about how I wasn’t any good as a writer, nor as a person. I know I’m the only person in the world who ever has these thoughts, and that bothers me too. What is wrong with me?

Then I saw a Face Book call for entries for poems  about forgiveness from a Christian point of view. I was onto that like ducks on a June bug. First I started through my poetry workshop file, hmm, nothing specific on forgiveness, I usually write about more tangible things. So well, the thing to do is to start a new poem about the topic. I got so caught up in that I found the morning passing without a single bad thought or pecan piece. I wrote and rewrote. I asked my husband to read the poem to me. It was perfect except for one word. I wrote and rewrote again, this time shortening each line by two syllables. That required some word changes too. It got better. By the time I finished I was feeling mighty fine. No stage fright, no collywobbles, no cat-o-nine tails across my own shoulders. I felt ready to tackle anything, even polishing.

A similar thing happened once when my mother and I were waiting at a fish camp for our men to come home from a boat-shopping trip. It got later and later, but I didn’t have time to worry because I was working on a poem, “Bridgett’s Mustang.” You can see that poem in Bill’s, Old Things R New, “Slice of LIfe archives,” Our Trip Across America Part 9.

I need to go now, I am still working on forgiveness, and I hope to send it off within the next hour or so, then back to Clear Spring for some more polishing—stage fright free.

DiVoran’s books can be found at Rebekah Lyn Books as well as on Amazon

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A Little TLC Can Go a Long Way

5 Aug

My Take

DiVoran Lites

For the past several days we’ve been hearing a bob-white conversation from the woods behind our house. We back onto the Diceranda Scrub Sanctuary where threatened and endangered species both from the plant family and from the animal world have Author, Poet and Artisttheir habitats. We have the Diceranda (thincola) or Titusville mint (endemic, which means this is the only place in the world where it is known to exist.) It is endangered. It’s a small leaved plant with leaves that remind you a bit of rosemary with a tiny violet flower. It needs a bit of clearing alongside the trail to thrive.

We have Florida scrub jays. They are like blue-jays only plainer and more shy they are on the list of threatened species. We have gopher tortoises (threatened), great

lumbering creatures that look as if they crawled out of the swamp somewhere, but who, need xeric sandhills for their burrows. Many other animals survive because of them, the indigo snake is one that uses the burrows. Indigo snakes are threatened.

Did you ever wonder what all the hullabaloo was about when it comes to the different wildlife we talk about being endangered or threateneds? In a nutshell, what that means is that there are so comparatively few of each species that they will someday be extinct if something isn’t done to

This turtle likes bird seed.

Turtle eating under bird feeder

conserve them.

Conserving any kind of plant or animal necessitates conserving the places where they live, the food they eat, the water they drink (and swim in) as well as the nesting places where they rear their young.

So what? Animals come and animals go. Why should we worry about any of that? We have our nice homes and our lawns and picnics on beautiful summer days. We have our clean water, (we hope it is clean, anyhow).

The only trouble is that as the wildlife go, so goes the world. Prime example: have you heard about the honey-bees dying off in many countries including the U. S.? What good are honey bees anyhow? We don’t need honey, we’ve got tons of sugar. Yes, but did you ever think about what we have to have to make sugar or any other kind of food, including meat, milk, eggs, spinach, apples, and yes, sugar cane. The plants must be pollinated so they will grow, flower, turn into fruits and grains. Albert Einstein once said, “If honey bees become extinct, human society will follow in four years.” I’m curious how we could last that long, but never mind. The bottom line is: no pollinators, no food.

The birds, bees and insects, all depend on each other and on plants for basic life. Throw any system off-balance and you’re asking for trouble. So what can I do? What can you do? We can start with small things, small things can make a big difference. Look at books and websites on how to create habitat in your yard. What do your birds and butterflies need? What will bring bees to feast at your place. How can you live where there are endangered and threatened species and be a part of defending them. You’d be surprised what a little bit of TLC by a lot of people can do.

We’re hoping the bobwhite will start coming to our yard again. Once a momma and daddy slipped through our chain link fence and twelve babies jumped through too and followed them all over learning what to eat and what not to. How did we ever get so blessed as to have seen a sight like that in the wild? God loves all his creatures, so obviously He’d be happy to see us find some more ways to take care of each other and the wonderful world He has given us.

DiVoran’s books are filled with her love of nature. You can learn more about her and her books at Rebekah Lyn Books

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Susie’s Daddy

29 Jul

My Take

DiVoran LItes

Author, Poet and Artist

Earl plays the guitar for our praise team. He’s one of those who can play many instruments and play them without notes on paper.

Earl is a big man, younger than my son, older than my grandson.  I hold his hand in our prayer circle after practice. His hand is gentle, patient, and strong.

His little girl, Susie, is in my Sunday School class. She’s about to be seven as she puts it.

One day she brought a plush horse to Sunday School and I noticed he had construction paper wings. They were designed and cut and adhered to the horse with tape that stayed on through all Susie’s loving. “Who made your horse’s wings?” I said.

“My daddy,” she said. Later I learned that almost all her critters have wings daddy has made for them. One Sunday she told me about a small worry, and I suggested she tell her Mommy about it. AND my Daddy says Susie adamantly.

After practice on Father’s Day it came to me to compliment Earl on his fathering skills. Everyone likes to be encouraged in this way.

As we left the platform I said I had something I wanted to tell him. A look of fear came into his eyes and I realized that he had perhaps in the past been told a lot of things he didn’t want to hear, but he was brave, he didn’t bolt.

“Susie really loves you, I said. You are a good father.”

“She’s my baby,” he said, still wary.

I told him about the wings and how impressed I was with the way Susie loves him and trusts him.

“Just doing what comes naturally,” said Earl.

I told him I understood that, but that few daddy’s of my acquaintance gave their little daughters the kind of TLC he does.

“Oh, I didn’t know….” His face began to crumple.

In order to escape his embarrassment if he started to cry I started to move discretely away, but he kept pace with me. “Thank you for telling me that,” he said. “You can’t know what it means to me.”

I told him I did understand what he meant. Regular people so rarely see our own excellent qualities.

My grandmother Maire would approve of my telling him how I felt.. She always taught that if you saw something good about someone they deserved a compliment.

Pastor Peter Lord would approve too. His number one message these days is Eulogy:.tell people good things about themselves while they are alive. Don’t wait until you go to their funerals.

Most people need encouragement for the good things they are and do. To coin a phrase a quart of praise is worth more than a gallon of criticism. It’s one gift that makes both the giver and the receiver as happy as can be.

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. I Thessalonians 5:11

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Standing on the Promises

22 Jul

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and ArtistEvery family has trouble and sorrow. Our’s is no exception, but one day when I had come to the end of my resources, I discovered that God made promises in the Bible. Nothing has ever been the same since.

As I began to see scripture as promises I wrote them down in a small, red, velvet book. Soon it was filled with promises and quotations from godly folks I trust.

Now many years later, I’ve seen the fulfillment of those promises. Not only have they been fulfilled in the family we started with but in our descendants as well. My greatest hope has happened. God is good.

How about you, is there a special promise you have claimed in trying times?

“All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.” Isaiah 53:13

 

If you would like to read more from DiVoran she can be found at Rebekah Lyn Books

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A Thousand Trials

15 Jul

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Trials make us more able to trust God. We trust Him more quickly each time one Author, Poet and Artistcomes to us and we trust him on a deeper level the next time. We must, however, remember to come to him while we are in the trial and to ask him for revelation, insight, peace, and power every time.

If we try to white-knuckle it though life, we turn ourselves blind and deaf to the guidance and miracle help he wants to give us. When we tell Him we need his nurturing and care in the midst of the storm, He will perform miracles so wondrous we are hardly able to contain their glory. It’s worth it. We’re worth it. Being in the center of His will is worth it.

“All things work together for good for those who love God and who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

“In one thousand trials it is not five hundred of them that work for the believer’s good, but nine hundred and ninety-nine of them and one besides.” George Mueller

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Damaged Goods

8 Jul

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

 

We’re all damaged, except maybe you. Congratulations.

As for the rest of us we have, like saplings all been bent

in different ways.

We’re not like anyone else,

No matter how hard we try to conform.

When we decide we’re never going to be invincible in ourselves

God can use us.

Do we have strengths that God can use?

Sorry, no. it is not our strength He wants.

He has plenty of his own.

What He wants from us are those weaknesses

He allows to be textured into our character.

When we are weak. He is strong.

So in muddling through, we find joy and sometimes sorrow.

Trust Him. His strength is there for us and in us. It is enough.

It is everything. He can do wonderful, miraculous, surprising things with it.

 

Bear

 

 

 

 

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Hope For Our Country

4 Jul

My Take
DiVoran Lites

Happy Independence Day. Will you be having a cookout, going to a parade, going to the beach, setting off firecrackers, or sitting in the shade drinking lemonade? Author, Poet and ArtistMaybe all of the above?
I love our beautiful world and this country called America, which God has made. Some people may malign us, but at the same time others are doing everything in their power to come here for a new start. No red-blooded American is going to argue that we still have the greatest country in the world. Is it possible God had a hand in that?

I have to admit I am shocked when I hear some of the things politicians in this great country have done. Think of when they killed off the bison so the Indians would die out and when they deliberately infected Native Americans with smallpox so they could take their land.

It appalls me to learn more every day about how bad slavery was. Yet I personally met an African man who explained the scars carved in his cheeks by saying they were proof that he belonged to a tribe that had once captured other villages and sold them to become slaves. He and his wife were in America getting an education. If we focus on badness we will see it everywhere, not just here.
The Dust Bowl was a result of our leaders manipulating the mid-American grasslands until they were exhausted and turned to dust.

The Great Depression was influenced by the Dust Bowl and both came from foolish decisions by the money-mongers in the country, not by ordinary families.
I hear people talking as if they believe the present time is the worst in our history, but what I always wonder is whether those who experienced the disasters I’ve mentioned knew their own time was the worst in American history. It was and they did, but we want to remember this one thing. Our country is a survivor due to those little people that some leaders and officials think don’t count.

Who are we to believe, then? The gov? Or God?

My take is that we are making a mistake if we think politicians good or bad are in control. They are not. Guess who really is. Right, God. God has His plans and He will see that they are fulfilled, every single one of them whether we vote for Him or not. He does however appreciate our cooperation as he does His work through us.
While the events I’ve mentioned were deeply hurtful and themselves left terrible wounds, they have all passed. In 1956 President Dwight Eisenhower signed legislation making the phrase, “In God We Trust,” the official motto of the United States and required it to be included on all U. S. currency. Do we believe it or don’t we? Taking it off the money will cost a lot, but won’t change the answer.

Voting is good. Voting is essential. Peaceful demonstrations are still legal as far as I know. We still have freedom of speech even though we are afraid we’re going to lose it. Signing petitions helps our elected officials know what we little people want. Telling the truth helps and so does morality. Trust and faith in God make us stronger, wiser, and happier. Let’s hear a cheer for the grassroots givers, teachers, helpers, mothers and fathers and the people who lift up holy hands in all kinds of service to their country. It is not we who are in charge, this is not our country, it is God’s country and He still has a plan for America.
“…the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night that the flag was still there.

For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

LUKE 14 : 11

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There’s Always Hope

24 Jun

My Take

DiVoran Lites

 Author, Poet and Artist

A few years ago, a tall handsome young man we knew, we’ll call him Dexter, wanted some help writing a letter to his dad. The young man was sixteen years old. He had a good guardian, but he wanted to write a real letter to his real dad who was in prison.

He was in band that year and had vowed to make straight A grades. He wanted to catch up by taking online classes so he could graduate with his class. I don’t’ think he’d seen his father since he was a small child. Dexter had no money. He had no way to get to the post-office. Since we believe in teaching self-reliance, we didn’t automatically help out. But by the time a month had passed and he still had no stamp, we broke down and gave him one.

I really don’t know whether his dad got the letter or whether Dexter got a reply. I do know that the boy dropped out of school his senior year, left his stand-in father and mother’s home, and got a job at a fast food restaurant. This spring somehow, miraculously, he graduated from his class and his mother who has also been in prison was there to see him do it. Not his dad, though, I think he’s a lifer.

It wasn’t easy for his guardians to rear him and his sister, they have other children of their own. But what hope it brings to the whole world just to hear this one success story. The sister is doing well in school and plans to enter the military as soon as she graduates. Both of the young people have developed good common sense and the Lord is on their side. No matter how bad things look at first there’s always hope.

What are you praying for that may look a bit iffy right now?

 

 

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Wild Mushrooms

17 Jun

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

I journal every morning. Two of the things I do are suggestions from Jill Badonsky in her book, “The Awe-Manac.”  First I paste a page from a scripture calendar in the journal. Then I write a name for myself for each day, something made-up, whatever pops into my head, and after that, I write a list of things I get to do today. Last week  I noticed it was June 9. Here’s most of my journal entry for that day.

Today I get to celebrate Ivan’s birthday. He would be 98, if he hadn’t died ten years ago. He was our dad, my brother’s and mine.We always celebrated his birthday and Father’s Day combined. Our favorite gift was a box of chocolate covered cherries. He treasured them so much we found them still in his underwear drawer untouched at Christmas.

One time, Ivan made his own hand-rolled chocolates. They took a lot of time and trouble and they were delicious.

Another time he brewed beer in a huge stoneware crock and put it in his daughter room. (That’s me.) Her boyfriend came over to visit one time when Ivan wasn’t there and the daughter was talking about the beer and the boyfriend wanted to see it. When he looked at the foamy crock and smelled the aroma, he wanted to try it. So she dipped a glassful for him. Ivan didn’t consider the brew to be done, and maybe it wasn’t, because the boyfriend felt sick soon after that and went home.

The ultimate test of loyalty and trust was when Bill and I visited Mother and Dad in Ft. Bragg, in northern California. Dad invited us to go out in a field with him and pick mushrooms that would accompany the steaks he was char grilling that night. He showed us what to look for and set us loose in the field. It was as much fun as an Easter egg hunt and the mushrooms tasted wonderful and memorable with the steak. We felt fine after we ate and still do. (Don’t try this at home, mushrooms can be poisonous)

The food Dad liked best was a mess of ham hocks and pinto beans with onions. He usually cooked them in a pressure cooker. That can be a dangerous undertaking, but he was undaunted, even knowing that people had blown up their pressure cooker and had to clean beans off their ceilings. Beans are gassy you know. That never happened to Dad. He had control over his cooking.

I must admit, in some ways, Dad was what is fondly called a character. Whenever you felt you had to ask a question you’d get one of two answers. He chose the one that felt most appropriate to him. You may use them if you need them. Dad would be honored.

1.    “Not knowing and having no means of ascertaining, I feel a certain delicacy in indefinitely stating.”

I always wondered where that one came from and when he took the time to memorize it. Still do. I memorized it too. One more thing before I tell you his other answer. Dad wasn’t exactly an academic, more a work-with-his hands kind of guy. After he retired, he lived next door to a man who once was a teacher. Dad called him the professor, and he fixed a lot of household items for him. He said if the professor left him alone to get on with it, he wouldn’t charge him anything, but if he stayed around to watch and talk he would charge five dollars an hour. However, any time the professor wanted to help, it would cost him ten dollars because whatever he did, Dad would have to do all over again.

So anyhow, here’s Dad’s second favorite answer to most questions:

2.    “Are you writing a book?”

“No.”
       End of subject.

But then one day after I had started writing a book, I asked him a question and he said, “Are you writing a book?” I knew I’d surprise him when I said yes, and then he’d have to answer my question, so I said,

“Yes.” That was so gratifying. Surely he’d be proud.

“Leave that chapter out.” Whoosh, I wasn’t going to get an answer after all.

But you know, it could have partially been his, “Are you writing a book, “that influenced me to actually write one. After all, most of us want to please our parents. Anyhow, I enjoy writing books and I thank Dad, for his interest and for his unique personality.

Psalm 103:13 
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; (NIV)

Ivan

Ivan

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