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Father’s Day

16 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I was going to write something for Father’s Day 2019, but when re-reading my post for Father’s Day 2018, realized that I couldn’t say anything better.  So, with your indulgence, I’ll just re-post what I wrote last year, with a few additions at the end:

I have written about Father’s Day in previous years, and sometimes feel that I’ve written just about all there is to tell about my father, and Fred’s father.  I know that isn’t true – I can’t put a lifetime of memories in just one posting. And so as I think of other things along the way that each of those men said or did, it makes a good memory for me to pass along.

I was blessed with a Christian daddy, and the love of God that he instilled in me.  Of course, his job entailed working in the church-related side of life.  But he loved it, and did a wonderful job of it. He was quite dedicated to his job and his Lord.

1942 – Dallas, Texas Daddy, Bill, Judy, Mom

Fred was blessed with a Christian daddy, as well. His dad was a military chaplain when I met him, and served 28 years in the military as a chaplain.  He had a tremendous love of God and country, and passed that along to Fred.

1946 – Columbus, New Jersey Kitty holding Larry, Charles holding Sally. Emily and Fred standing

But there are more “Fathers” in my life, not just my father and father-in-law.  My husband is a father, and has been a solid rock for our family to cling to.  His love of God and country is recognized by many – those he’s worked with in his past military days, and those he worked with in retirement.  He was the Church Administrator at our church for just about 13 years.  He was and is still highly respected by those in the congregation, as well as the vendors he dealt with in the up-keep of the church facility.  The vendors sometimes still ask to talk to Fred, rather than the current administrator. 

Fred, Judy, Karen and Janet – 1976 – Panama City, Florida

Fred has loved God for so long, and deeply, and he has been able to share that love with his daughters.  They learned to love God, as well, from him.  They learned that loving God is more than just attending church on Sundays.  They looked at Fred and realized that loving God is living a life dedicated to God – every day of his life.  He is just amazing, and I love him.

My brother, Bill, is another man of God.  He has led his family with faith in our loving Lord, to the belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  His life – and the life of his family – show the love of man for family and man for God.  I am so proud to be his sister, and to share the love of God with him.

 Bill, DiVoran, Bill and Charlene – 1985 – Titusville, Florida

We have two sons-in-law, both of whom are God-fearing/God-loving men.  They lead their families with love and care and protection.  We are grateful.

Brian and Karen, 2010

Tom, Janet, Hannah and Connor – Christmas 2017

Finally, one of our grandsons is now a father.  He is a very loving and spiritual man, and I am sure that, with his wife by his side, he will show the love of God to his new son (our first great-grandchild).  

Forrest, Alyssa and Silas, Easter 2019

Well, what more can I say?  We are surrounded by the love of God and we couldn’t be happier with that situation.  God has placed us with loving people.  We are blest.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Ephesians 1:3

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

 
 
JUDYJudy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years
 
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing.
Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
 
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.
 
She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins.
 
She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Theft-Part 2

9 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Here’s another stupid crook story:

Soon after we moved to Florida, we joined the church where we worship now.  And not only that, but soon after that (six months after, actually), I became the church secretary.

The following year, we called a new Minister of Music to our church.

Rick

He had been with us for a few years when, one day I went from my office over to the Sanctuary for something.  In the process of looking around the Sanctuary, I noticed that all of our sound equipment was gone from the sound booth. My assumption was that Rick had sent it out for repair or something.

The new sound booth

I went back to my office and just carried on with my work.  Later in the day, I mentioned something to Rick about the sound equipment, and he looked at me like I had two heads.  So we tromped over to the Sanctuary and again, he stood there with his mouth agape at the sight.  He had no idea what had happened.

All this happened while our church was having it’s “Mom’s Day Out.”  Mom’s would leave their children for a few hours, so they could have some “me time” and know their children were in a safe place.  There was coming-and-going all that morning.  No one saw anything.

You must understand – those were the days when the church buildings were left unlocked, in case someone needed or wanted to go in for some quiet time with the Lord.

Well, as you might think, Rick called the police and was assigned a detective to the case.  Rick also called the company where most of the equipment had been purchased, to get some kind of value on it, for our insurance purposes. We had the serial numbers from all the equipment.  The owner told him, “I think I have your equipment here.  A man brought it in to sell it to me.”  In order to do that, they took a photocopy of his driver’s license and he had to leave a thumb print!

Credit Google Search and WeLoveSolo/Mark Vector Graphic

Stupid crook, hmmm?

Not too many days later, I answered the church phone to a man who literally whispered to me – “The guy who stole your church’s sound equipment is here right now wanting to sell more to me.”  I asked him if he could keep the guy there while we called the police.  He agreed.  We did so, and they were able to arrest him.  He had robbed another church of its sound equipment, and was intending to sell it for cash.

Really stupid crook!

When he went to trial for the theft of our equipment, his only comment was: “Well, the doors were unlocked.”

I was appalled!  So just because the doors were unlocked, that gave him permission to steal from the church?  As I told Rick – no one ever went into the Sanctuary without checking with the church office first!  Even if they were going there to spend time with the Lord and pray – they ALWAYS checked in with the church office first.  

Well, this hasn’t been such a happy post, but it is a memory that affected me.  Unfortunately, since that time, the Sanctuary is ALWAYS locked.  People are still able to go into the Sanctuary for quiet time, but the church secretary or one of the pastors escorts them over and unlocks the door for them.  All the doors have panic bars on the inside, so they can leave whenever they want – but they have to be unlocked with a key to get in.

Such a pity that our world has come to this.

 
 
JUDYJudy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years
 
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing.
Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
 
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.
 
She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins.
She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

Theft

2 Jun

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Have you ever been the victim of theft?  Large or small?  Of course, when you are the victim, even a “small” theft feels large, doesn’t it?

For instance, when we were in Wiesbaden, Germany (1967-1970), I received a letter from my mother, telling me that, while she was away from the house during a weekend retreat, someone had broken into her house and robbed her.

Our house in 1946, my brother, Bill, and me

My first reaction was absolute FEAR – for her.  My dad had died some time before, and she was a woman living alone in the house I grew up in.  But then that fear subsided – since I was so far away and there was nothing I could do about it.  (Nothing of what was stolen was ever recovered)  They took a shotgun that was my dad’s and was supposed to be given to my brother.  They riffled through her jewelry and only took her diamond earrings.  Of all things, they took the old striking wall clock off the wall in the hallway.  There was nothing of real value in that clock.

1952 – the family together – the wall clock behind Bill

After I got over the fear, my next response – and still is to this day – was anger.  NO ONE – and I repeat that – NO ONE has the right to go into my house and take what is not theirs!!  What we had worked for all our lives up to that point.  I was furious!  Again, I’ve tried to not let it rule my life, as there is and was nothing I could about it.

I think that, not only does it anger me that someone went into mom’s house, but the thought of “someone” unknown to me would riffle through my things – touch my things – just gives me the creeps.  

And that brings to mind a memory I have of our early days in Albuquerque.  Those were the days when we left our house unlocked. Innocent days.  We came home from church one Sunday and discovered that someone had been in the house.  Anything stolen?  I don’t remember that, just that there were signs that someone had been in there.  We had new neighbors next door.  We couldn’t accuse them of doing it, but it made us aware that we must keep our house locked up.  Innocence lost.

When we lived in Virginia, we attended the church that was in our little community. Across the parking lot from the main building was the parsonage.  At that particular time, our Minister of Music was living in the parsonage.  Fred and I went to the church one morning for something or other. 

Credit Google Search

We noticed that his small pickup truck was parked in the driveway, but that the bed of the truck was missing.  My thought was that he was having some repair work done.  We did whatever we had gone there to do, and in the course of our conversation, I mentioned something about his truck “missing” something.  He looked at me funny, then asked me what I was talking about.  When I told him, he made a bee-line out to his house – and stood there, mouth agape, looking at his truck.  Apparently he hadn’t even noticed the truck as he walked to the church proper that morning. Also apparently, during the night, the thief had cut the fuel line and whatever connections needed to keep the bed attached, and just took the bed off the truck and with him.  License tag and all.

But that’s not the end of the story.  As he was driving down the interstate one day, he actually saw the bed of his truck driving ahead of him – attached to another truck – license tag and all.  Fortunately, he had a cell phone and called the detective in charge of his case and told him about it.  The police were able to stop the thief.  His explanation was that he just needed a new bed for his truck, and knew where he could get one without having to buy it.  Unbelievable.  I think that falls in the category of stupid crook, don’t you?

~~~~~~~~~~More stupid crook stories next time~~~~~~~~~

 
 
JUDYJudy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years
 
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing.
Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
 
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.
 
She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins.
She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Seeking Peace-In Thankfulness

31 May

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

We spent the past week unpacking and organizing after our migration to our beloved Western North Carolina from Florida. I describe our move as migration because like sparrows and Painted Buntings, we move between the same locals each year. More deep cleaning than deep thinking going on.

As I sat on our back porch this morning and read through the day’s devotional, I focused on choosing overflowing thankfulness. Thankful for what I have and thankful for what I don’t have, and trusting in God’s promises.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. COLOSSIANS 2:6–7

Love God’s unfailing love and mercy centers my emotions.

Joy When I choose joy, thankfulness will overflow.

Peace As my heart and mind embrace thankfulness, peace replaces agitation and fear.

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Oh…The Pain

26 May

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

OH…THE PAIN

Well, that title covers a lot of ground, hmm? I suppose we all have pain of some sort now and then.  I’ve just discovered that I seem to have more and more pain in more parts of my body as I age.

But I vaguely remember a pain from my childhood – earaches.  Have you ever had an ear infection?  Or an earache?  Nothing fun about that, is there?  It seems like there is just no place where you can touch/heat/ice/or whatever that can relieve the pain.

When we first moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, I was not quite four-years-old.  Daddy had just been selected to be the Sunday School Secretary for the New Mexico Baptist Convention.  I seem to remember his office being in an old building downtown somewhere.  I also remember that, for a while, Mother was Daddy’s secretary.  Having no where to put me, they took me with them to Daddy’s office.  

I’m not sure that I remember much of how good a child I was – I don’t remember running around and getting into mischief. I seem to remember creaky wooden floors, and a distinct smell – nothing unpleasant – but memorable, probably wood polish.  

Mother (right) and her sister, Jessie (left), in front of the old Baptist Building.

The window states “Baptist Book Store”

But the thing I remember the most is how badly my ears hurt.  I remember that I would frequently cry myself to sleep from the pain.  I don’t remember how Mom and Dad put up with my crying, and I’m sure it was heart-breaking for them to hear.  I remember Mother warming some sweet oil and putting it in my ears, which seemed to help some.

At some point in my life, I must have outgrown the earaches, because I didn’t have them in my teen years or as an adult. However, I find even now, that I dislike having any liquid in my ears.  I don’t swim for that reason.

I also don’t remember how long Daddy’s office was in that old building.  But a new building was built along Central Avenue (U.S. Route 66), and I believe the New Mexico Convention offices are still in that building.

New Baptist Building, 1954 – side street entrance

But as I have aged, my hearing has taken a hit, and I now must wear hearing aids to help with being able to hear and understand what others are saying.  Thank God that the aides are available – they help so very much.  But I always wonder just how much those earaches I had as a child contributed to my hearing loss.

There can also be other contributors to hearing loss. If you are a reader of my posts, you might remember that for about eight years I was an aerobic instructor.  I stood directly in front of a boom box and shouted out the steps to my dancers.  So perhaps the loud music blaring in my face had some effect on my hearing, as well.  

I only remember one concert Fred and I attended where I came away with my ears ringing from the loud music.  I’ve been told that can be a contributing factor in later hearing loss.  But it was only one concert – and we never attended any others like that.

But that brings me back to the pain of the earaches.  It was a most uncomfortable time in my young life, and I am just grateful that I no longer have those issues.

JUDYJudy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing.
Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.
She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins.
She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

Mother’s Day 2019

12 May

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Fred and I have been considering what to tell you about our mothers on this, their special day.  We’ve told you quite a bit about them both, and so I will just give you tidbits of what we’ve said before.

Above all else, I must make this statement first – and this comes from both Fred and myself: We both loved our mothers-in-law.  We were each treated as if we were another son (Fred by my parents) or another daughter (me by Fred’s parents), rather than son-in-law or daughter-in-law.  We were loved.

Fred’s mother – Kitty Wills…

            She was funny, cute, elegant, classy, down-to-earth, loved to laugh….

Her father was a Scottish Presbyterian minister… I remember her saying that she loved to hear the bagpipes play – it really got her blood up to a good boil!

She was devoted to her husband and their four children.  Being a U.S. Air Force wife, she moved and traveled frequently.  She had a flair for decorating, and her home was always elegant yet comfortable…They lived all over the world – many places in the United States as well as Italy, Japan, and Hawaii.

She was a great cook. She taught me to make turkey stuffing the “New England” way – with bread rather than cornbread.  She taught me to make German Springerle Christmas cookies – the best I’ve ever eaten!  

She loved to have fun, and was a bit of a cut-up. I will always remember her with me on the beach in northern California, dancing barefoot through the wet sand and kelp.

When Fred and his siblings said something “bad,” his mother, instead of washing his mouth out with soap – would put mustard on their tongues!!  Consequently, none of the Wills siblings like to eat condiments!  Understandable, right?

Fred’s Mother had one little quirk that I enjoyed. After she finished stirring a pan on the stove, or a pot of tea, she would hit the spoon on the edge of the bowl/pot/pitcher in the following pattern:

tap, tap, ta-tap, tap…..tap, tap.

For those of you old enough to remember, it is the sequence for “shave and a hair-cut…two bits.”  I always thought that was cute.

Judy’s mother – Agnes Lites

Mother’s meals consisted often of pot roast – and she could make a roast that would just melt in your mouth!  It would fall off the bone it was so tender.  Dad used to tease her with “this meat is no good – it just falls off the bone!”

I also remember that, if there was any roast left over, mother would grind it up, add mayonnaise and either relish or pickles and a hard boiled egg, and it became a meat salad. Spread it on bread, and you have a lovely sandwich!  She didn’t waste anything!

When my Dad retired and money was tight, Mother bought a Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio, trained for the job, and set to work. She had a really good, strong work ethic.

Although I suspect she would have loved to be a stay-at-home mom, she worked as an accountant at Kirtland AFB, to make money for “extra” things in our life.  She bought a new piano for our house. But one of the best things about her working there, was that she would find young military personnel – usually men – who were away from home and homesick, and bring them to church with us on a Sunday, then home to Sunday dinner. She kept in contact with many of them throughout her time there. One time she broke her ankle and couldn’t climb the steps to her office upstairs. The officials were so insistent that she not “retire” that they placed a desk and lamp under the stairway just for her. They really liked her work.

Credit Google Search and Kirtland AFB website

One of the most unique things is that she met, fell in love with, and married a man who was 20 years older than herself. And yet, the marriage was one that I hoped to emulate with my marriage.  She created a loving and secure home for her husband and her children. She was heart-broken when her husband died.

The little snippet of information below is a real insight into her life.  I think it was a testimony to the way she lived her life, and the way she saw life.  It certainly makes one take notice about the wisdom of the words.  I found this in her Bible following her death.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY 2019

JUDYJudy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing.
Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.
She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins.
She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Happy Easter 2019

21 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!  The LORD has risen…. He has risen indeed!!

Glorious morning – the morning our Lord rose from the dead – defeating Satan and death, and providing a way for us all of us to spend eternity with Him! 


The stone is rolled away – from a Lutheran Church in Panama City, Florida, 1975

But He also provided us a way to live successfully in THIS life!  Having troubles?  Look to Jesus:

In this world, you will have trouble,

but TAKE HEART!  I have overcome the world!!

John 16:33

I really love that verse!  Take Heart…I have overcome the world!  No matter what you are going through, if you are God’s child, you can overcome the trouble – and have heaven to look forward to, with Jesus, and all those who have gone before you.  They are keeping an eye out for you, you know.  Oh wow, I can’t wait!

With the situation in the world today, I sometimes despair for our country.  It has changed so much from when I was a child – 


Bill and Judy Lites, in our front yard, 1946



Bill and Judy Lites, with our Daddy, by our back door, 1948


Bill and Judy Lites, clowning around, 1949



The Lites family  – 1952 – in our living room


The Lites family, 1956 – in Aunt Jessie’s house

and from when my children were growing up. It was so innocent in my time. But then there are a couple of verses that I have memorized and praise God with that comfort me:


Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power,

and the glory, and the majesty and the splendor,

for everything in heaven and earth is Yours!

1 Chronicles 29:11

That was King David’s prayer to God, and I claim it regularly.  In addition to all that, I am nearly 78 years old now, and don’t anticipate living a whole lot longer, so perhaps won’t see my beloved country come to ruin.  But I fear for my children, grandchildren, and my new great-grandson.  They will have to bear the brunt of all the world’s woes.  Fortunately, they all know the Lord, and if worse comes to worse, I will see them forever in heaven.

God has made the way for all that to happen. 

I gave a testimony some years ago, in which I said that I firmly believe that if I were the only person in the world, Jesus would have died just for me, so I could be with Him in eternity.  The really wonderful thing is that everyonecan say that same thing!  God loves us that much – He created us to love Him and spend eternity with Him.

Glorious Day – when Jesus rose from the dead! Praise God!  Hallelujah!  

 
 
JUDYJudy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years
 
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing.
Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
 
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.
 
She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins.
She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Some Random Thoughts…3

14 Apr

Sunday Memories

Judy Wills

I really enjoy some of the things that flit through my mind.  Well, most of them.  Most of them are fun, good memories.

And then I will find something that brings my mind into focus on things of God and how He has led my life so thoroughly.

Recently, Fred and I were in Cracker Barrel

Credit Google Search and xilusmale

(one of our favorite places to eat), and they had a sign hanging for purchase that touched my heart.  Here’s a picture of it.  What do you think?  It’s just a simple thing, but the message is so powerful.  

It is a reminder that we are responsible for our actions – and our thoughts and reactions to things that happen to us.  We can make ourselves happy or miserable – and those actions (or reactions) will pro-ject into the remainder of the day.

I had a friend once, many years ago, who grew up in rural America.  Life was hard and work was constant.  She married a military man and they had a young child when I knew her.  She told me that she had discovered her attitude toward the day was reflected in her daughter.  If she was down or mad or sad about the day – then her daughter was the same.  But if she presented a happy face and attitude, her daughter was, as well.  And so, she made the effort to present the happy face every day…even if she didn’t feel like being happy that day.  She wanted a happy day for her daughter.  And by doing so, she made the day happy for the entire family.

Wow! What a concept!  It’s so easy to fall into unhappy times and attitudes. But to actually make the effort to be happy – wow again!  

I’ve been trying to memorize scripture lately.  There is so much in God’s word that lifts me up – all those wonderful promises (I’m told there are well over 900 promises in scripture).  Those are for me and my strengthening and comfort. But recently, my heart has been telling me to find and memorize scriptures that praiseGod!  The Psalms are just bursting with praises to God!! But one of my all-time favorite verses of praise is found in Revelation 4:8 ….

 “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” 

Isn’t that magnificent?  It’s an easy one to memorize, and is spoken by the angels around the throne of God, over and over.  They never stop saying it.  May I never stop saying it, either.

And so, I can make weeds, or I can make flowers – as can you. The choice is yours

More next week…

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years   Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.   After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.   She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS…2

7 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

As I stated last week:  There are times when it seems like I have nothing come to mind to write about.  And then I will have some thoughts flit through my mind and then disappear just as quickly.  Sometimes I can grab hold of some of them and put them down on paper – in this case, on the page in the computer.

That happened recently, and here is what I was able to remember – and it had me jumping out of bed and racing to the computer to get my memories down on paper – well, in the computer, anyway:

I was reading a book in bed before I went to sleep, and in the story, the heroine was trying to make friends with a shy horse – probably an abused and mistreated horse.  So she went into the field where other horses approached her asking for a handout, which she gave to them.  She definitely tried NOT to catch the eye of the shy horse. 


Credit Pixabay.com

As I read that, I realized that I had a similar experience once – but not with a horse, with a dog. 

As this memory goes, we were visiting Fred’s parents in San Antonio, Texas.  They always liked to get their walking exercise by going to Eisenhower Park, just west of San Antonio, and walking there. 


Credit Google Search and Eisenhower Park website

Credit Google Search and Eisenhower Park website
Credit Google Search and Eisenhower Park website

We always went with them when we visited. It had some nice trails and hills to walk along.

This one particular morning, there was a man who was walking with four or five greyhounds, on leashes.

Credit Pixabay.com

Because I love most any kind of animal, I stopped and began to pet the dogs…and they just ate up the attention.  However, there was one who hung back, eyeing me cautiously.

Credit Pixabay.com

The man said that all of the greyhounds were rescue dogs, from the racing circuit.  The dog who was hanging back had been mistreated, and was having a difficult time trusting humans.


Credit Pixabay.com

Therefore, I tried to not push myself on that particular dog, all but ignoring her, but making over the other ones.  As I was beginning to work my way away from the dog crowd, I felt one more nudge of a wet doggie nose on my hand.  Looking down, I realized it was the standoff dog that was nosing her way into my space, and wanted her share of the love and attention. So I made sure that I gave her as much love and petting as she could handle.  

Credit Pixabay.com

The man was amazed that she had come to the group – and me – as quickly as she did.

I felt blest to be able to give that one particular dog my full attention and affection.

And by-the-way, in the book, the heroine was able to make friends with the horse, and they had a long, lovely friendship.

More next week…

JUDYJudy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing.
Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.
She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins.
She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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White Sands

24 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

 

Have you ever had the opportunity to “play” in a sand dune?  I remember outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I grew up, were some great sand dunes, and we used to drive there and just spend time romping through the dunes. It was great fun!

However, I remember once when I was working in a multi-storied building downtown that we were able to watch a huge sandstorm blowing from the east into town.  It was blowing a lot of that sand from the dunes – and it was a rather frightening thing to see.

Each of our 50 United States has a state motto. New Mexico’s motto is: The Land of Enchantment.  And then, when you are out in a sand storm, you must be careful not to get any of that “enchantment” in your eyes!

 

 

Perhaps you’ve heard of White Sands, New Mexico? It’s a U.S. National Monument (part of the U.S. National Park Service), and is located between Las Cruces and Alamogordo, in central-southern New Mexico.  It was established as a National Monument in 1933.  It’s also near Holloman AFB.

 

Credit Google Search and National Park Service

 

On March 30, 1982, the space shuttle Columbia landed at the White Sands Missile Range, after being diverted from Edwards AFB in California.  Bad weather at Edwards had made the landing strip there too wet to handle the weight of the shuttle.

 

Space Shuttle Columbia landing at White Sands Missile Range, 1982

Credit Google Search and NASA website

According to Wikipedia:   Its white sands are not composed of quartz, like most desert sands, but of gypsum and calcium sulfate. Unlike other desert sands, it is cool to the touch, due to the high rate of evaporation of surface moisture and the fact that the sands reflect, rather than absorb, the sun’s rays. At 1185 meters [3888 feet] above sea level, there are approximately 442 square kilometers [162 square miles]of dune fields and is known to be the world’s largest surface deposit of gypsum.

 

Do you know the difference between a National Park and a National Monument?  I didn’t for a long time.  Here is an explanation I found online:

According to the National Park Service, “a national park is intended to preserve at least one nationally significant resource, whereas a national monument is usually larger and preserves a variety of nationally significant resources.”

 

If you have ever walked on a “beach” with the brown sand that is associated with beaches everywhere (except Panama City, Florida, whose beaches are white sand), you will remember you had to walk really fast – because the sand was so hot!  Not so with the sands at White Sands National Park.

I remember going with family to White Sands several times in my life.  Here are some pictures I have of the park, I’ve marked the ones I purchased.  The others are of my family.

 

Purchased slide – Battle for vegetation

Purchased slide

Purchased slide

My Granny and her sister – 1959

My Granny holding their dog, Trixie,

Granny’s sister and her husband,

a friend of the family

Granny and Trixie, inspecting the sand

 

This picture on the website caught my attention. The write-up stated:  Moonlight hikes and sunset tours are available throughout the year from the visitor center, so visitors can get a whole new perspective as the light changes.

 

Credit Google Search and White Sands website

 

If you are ever in that area, be sure and give the White Sands National Monument a visit.  It is well worth the time to get THAT sand in your shoes!!

 

 

JUDYJudy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing.
Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.
She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins.
She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

Tags: ,

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