Trust in the Real Source

11 Apr

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Reblogged April 11, 2020

What was I thinking? Years ago, my house was filled with candles, all kinds of shapes, sizes and fragrances. But one day, I studied and became aware of their risk. I promptly removed them all when I realized the toxins they contain in their synthetic, chemically-laced harmful fragrances.The contrast was even more profound when a plant in our kitchen bloomed. The pretty honeysuckle flowers gave out a lovely fragrance, delightful, natural and real.

That scent lingered for days and days, filling the house with a delightful scent. Why would we enjoy fake candles when we have God’s creation?

But sadly, as life goes on, we also fall in the trap of enjoying and relying on fake things. We trust in our jobs, our health, our position, career, or our bank account.

But none of these hold any value when suddenly, life turns upside down and all seems to be falling apart around us. Like fake candles, they no longer have the scent of security anymore.

There’s Good News

What great news it is to know that among all the imitations, we have the authentic, genuine source of hope in God that blossoms in our heart.

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6).

No matter what the news reports, what the media repeats, what we read, what we find, or discover, God has the last Word. And when we carry these eight truths based on Ephesians 3, the fragrance of real hope fills our heart:

  1. God is above all we face in this world.
  2. God is our one and only hope.
  3. He’s shown His faithfulness during all plagues, devastation and destruction man has ever faced.
  4. God and God alone has the answers.
  5. God has the power to calm our heart and bring peace.
  6. God is the one and only provider of all.
  7. He is the one who will take us to triumph.
  8. God is the one and only source for confidence, calmness and victory.

Let’s Pray

Father, I know You delight when Your children put all their trust in You. Help me to please You as I silence fear and worry. Instead, remind me to find pure peace, calmness and confidence in Your restoring power that comes wrapped in Your love. In Jesus name.

Janet

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Did you know I wrote a book filled with words of encouragement, uplifting thoughts and illustrations of real-life triumph to empower you? Its title, Trials of Today, Treasures for Tomorrow: Overcoming Adversities in Life. You can get it HERE.

CLICK HERE for a one-minute inspirational video.

Looking for a speaker for your upcoming event? A great speaker makes the difference between a so-so event and one that shines with impact. I invite you to view one of my two-minute videos HERE.

Please share: Feel free to share Janet’s posts with your friends.

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Daily Life During Covid-19 Part 6

11 Apr

Passover Week

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

So much has happened this week it is hard for me organize my thoughts. Some impressions I am still internalizing. Maybe writing this blog will help to gel my thoughts.

For only the second time in history, the Jews in Israel have been told to stay inside their homes during a portion of Passover. Many found this to be significant.

If you aren’t aware of the history of Passover, it began in ancient times when the people of Israel were captive slaves in Egypt. The Egyptian Pharaoh refused to set them free even though God sent plagues to torment him. The final plague would take the lives of every first born unless the blood of a slaughtered spring lamb was painted on the doorposts of their homes.

From Wikipedia:

the Book of Exodus, God helped the Israelites escape from slavery in ancient Egypt by inflicting ten plagues upon the Egyptians before the Pharaoh would release the Israelite slaves. The last of the plagues was the death of the Egyptian first-born. The Israelites were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a slaughtered spring lamb and, upon seeing this, the spirit of the Lord knew to pass over the first-born in these homes, hence the English name of the holiday.

Tuesday, we decided to join with the Jewish tradition and pray for the passing of the Coronavirus. Coincidence or God that all week the virus models of deaths has changed downward almost daily?

Passover occurs with the full moon. Tuesday night the news said the moon would be pink tinged. My daughter, Rebekah and I decided to drive down to the river for a better view. I love the river at night, especially with a breeze. It is peaceful yet empowering. The moon looked white to me but it was beautiful.

The lights across the river are Kennedy Space center to the left probably Cape Canaveral Air Base to the right.

Wednesday we treated ourselves to dinner out. I am seriously tired of cooking. Dinner out was take out from the Moonlight Drive-In. I had planned to eat there but Rebekah and her dad voted to eat in the car by river. That evening we watched a live stream Seder. Rebekah participated in one last year, but this was our first experience. It was intriguing.

For a couple of days, my husband had been going through what I call a rough patch. I felt that if I could get him out of the house, he might perk up. Our daughter agreed to drive. Guess where we went? That’s right, the river. I thank God for the river. We found an unoccupied pavilion and covered the table with a nylon picnic blanket to protect us from germs than may have been lurking. It was warm but the breeze was nice and steady. The trip perked him up, his breathing settled down and we had a good evening.

The part of Passover week that I have been processing is what we did on Wednesday at noon. We received an email earlier in the week suggesting that as Joshua led the Jewish people to march around the city of Jericho for six days, then on the seventh day blow their shofars and shout, thus bringing down the city’s walls, that we could call out to the Lord in a similar manner to end the virus.

This was way outside of our comfort zone, but we felt we should participate. We downloaded a Shofar app onto our phones. Our daughter suggested we do this in our local hospital parking lot.

When we arrived at the hospital, there was a group of around 10-15 gathered. With social distancing in mind, we didn’t join them. (Also we are a family of fairly introverted people) As the clock moved to noon, the group began blowing their shofars, (They had the real thing and they were loud) We activated our apps and sounded the shofar and prayed. We prayed for the passing of the virus and claimed God’s glory and fire. We shouted victory over the virus as well as over the evils the have spread over the earth, lying, greed, murder, hatred and deception, I have never felt such emotion flooding my soul.

Matthew 18:20 says “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” He was there.

And then we got into our cars and went home.

I spent Good Friday enjoying messages from various churches and making a low carb chocolate raspberry cheesecake. As I write this blog I am listening to a live stream of Handel’s Messiah – Easter Concert with The Tabernacle Choir.

I almost forgot! Since our churches are not meeting physically our church staff made up these simple Easter bags and the pastor dropped them off at homes today. I was thrilled to discover a small bottle of hand sanitizer. I texted him that it was the best ever Easter bag!

Treats like these are usually taken to members who are homebound or as we used to say, shut-ins. We are all shut-ins now!

May your Easter be joyful.

UPDATE Florida Stay at Home allows for outdoor activity as long as social distancing is followed.

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Good News That Never Has a Downside

7 Apr

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Last night I began to hear positive news about the Coronavirus. It was exciting. Sadly I also heard the news of a friend’s mother passing a week after her father in law and another friend whose mother was taken by ambulance to hospital with pneumonia.

I am thankful there is one piece of good news that never has a downside. The news of the empty tomb. And because of the empty tomb we have hope. God had a plan!

“For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Romans 5:10)

“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God.” (1 Peter 3:18a)

“That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10)

Our churches are closed but the message of Jesus cannot be contained.

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Houseplants

6 Apr

My Take

DiVoran Lites

We bought some houseplants a while ago. So far they like being at our house. I recall the beautiful spring day when we planted them in mostly terracotta pots. African Violet stands out for the spectacular recovery she is making. I think she needed a home more than the rest of the warehouse plants did because in the store she was under a shelf on a cart where there were several others in the dark and all scrunched up. Next stop…the dump. All her leaves crowded upward reaching for light and air. Her deep purple flowers had many buds among them. I saw that she was beautiful, that she had potential, and that she above all the others wanted most to come home with us.

We had two small Polka Dot plants, one white the other pink. They also wanted to leave the big Garden Store and come to a home where people cared for them as individuals. When we got home, I watched a video on polka dot plants and the pleasant teacher told us a secret about our Polka Dot Plants. They like all the others, were almost as much afraid of being overwatered as she was. She learned how to let people know when she was thirsty. She lets her leaves droop a bit until she gets her drink of water. I’m hoping it will keep me on track with the other plants too. I do have an awful habit of watering too much. 

We bought a plant that is such a deep burgundy color that it’s labeled: black. We need other colored foliage around here since much of what we see is green, green, and green. I didn’t read the tag until I got the plant home, but when I did read it I was taken aback. It looked like a perfect volunteer standing straight and tall in its small pot, but the label said, “Sweet Potato Vine.” Oh no, what now, vines are a bit too feisty for me. I’ll call it Vinny and see what I can do with it. There’s always help on YouTube.

I went to the store specifically to get a miniature palm tree, but somehow, I got side-tracked and ended up buying next to the biggest size of Split Leaf Philodendron on the floor. Now that’s a plant that can clear the air of almost any unwanted thing. He’s our hero. We’re calling him Phillip (Phil) like in Philippians.

Thea with begonias

We had already taken up some plants from the yard. I potted a spider plant and brought it in. Thea tasted it then decreed that it needed trimming and ate half of every leaf on it. She didn’t throw up this time as she did the last time she ate some spider-plant. I’ve got to re-seed her cat-grass garden. (She doesn’t care a whit for catnip.) I don’t think houseplants are all that good for cats, but she did taste every plant and that was the one she chose. I’m calling the plant Spider because I like spiders.  If you have Arachnophobia. I apologize for mentioning the creatures. Don’t worry, I have my phobias too.

It’s always a good thing to have a passion and pursue it. God is in the business of pouring out his love and grace. He has given us so many things to learn and do and they are so varied it would take a robot to name them all. The first person who ever praised the Lord in the Bible was an artisan which means a person who works with their hands. I like to work with my hands and have especially loved potting and starting to care for Violet, the Dotties, Vinny, Phillip, and Spider.

Maybe I should be writing about the Corona Virus Scare, but I’m not scared. We don’t take much notice of the news, but we do follow the rules and find out the few things we truly need to know. Why? If we are Christians and love our Lord Jesus who died to atone for our sins we can get a lot from Psalm 91. As we read it, we know we don’t have to be afraid because we believe what the Bible says. The Bible has over 365 references to the word fear. We can read Psalm 91 over and over and see our fears decrease as we believe the word of God more and more.  I get scared, almost everyone does whether they admit it or not, but I do feel I’m getting a bit better at trusting God as the years go by. To experience the absence of fear is to experience peace, love, and joy. Many, many Christians will tell you this. You probably already know it yourself.

Colossians 3: 1-2 says, 

“If then you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek the [rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. [Psalm110:1.] Set your minds and keep them set on what is above—the higher things—not on the things that are on the earth.” (AMP Bible)

You might want to check out Dr. Caroline Leaf on YouTube. She taught me a lot about renewing my mind into the Lord’s way of thinking. 

Author, Poet and Artist

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

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Airline Mechanic Maintenance Responses

5 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Some years ago I saw this somewhere, and it really tickled my funny bone. See if it appeals to you, as well:

UPS Airlines [I’m assuming this is United Parcel Service aircraft]

Image result for ups airplane

Courtesy Google search and UPS website

Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one; a reassurance to those of us who fly routinely in our jobs. 

After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a ‘gripe sheet,’ which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft.  The mechanics correct the problems; document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.

Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. 

Image result for cartoon mechanic image airplane

Courtesy Google Search and Ya-webdesign

Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS ‘ pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.

P:    Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.

S:    Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P:    Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.

S:    Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P:    Something loose in cockpit

S:    Something tightened in cockpit

P:    Dead bugs on windshield.

S:    Live bugs on back-order.

P:    Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent 

S:    Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P:    Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.

S:    Evidence removed.

P:    DME volume unbelievably loud.

S:    DME volume set to more believable level.

P:    Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.

S:    That’s what friction locks are for.

P:    IFF inoperative in OFF mode.

S:    IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P:    Suspected crack in windshield.

S:    Suspect you’re right.

P:    Number 3 engine missing.

S:    Engine found on right wing after brief search

P:    Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)

S:    Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be serious.

P:    Target radar hums.

S:    Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P:    Mouse in cockpit.

S:    Cat installed.

And the best one for last

P:    Noise coming from under instrument panel.  Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.

S:    Took hammer away from midget.

Image result for people laughing cartoon

Courtesy Google Search and Clipartbay.com

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 as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Daily Life During Covid-19 Part 5

4 Apr

Celebrating our 49th anniversary Coronavirus style

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

The latter part of this week I have alternated between feelings of anxiety and peace. I don’t feel the anxiety is due to fear of the virus, rather I believe it is from the feeling of life being suspended.

Our daughter is working reduced hours so Wednesday she and her father took on a home improvement project. (That did make me anxious as my husband’s energy levels are easily taxed) But you know how fathers are when their daughters ask for help.

My husband slept in on Thursday so my daughter and I ran some errands. We scored two dozen eggs! When we returned they set to work. I tried to stay out of their way.

My daughter approved my plan to have a friend pick me up and drive me to the river as long as I sat in the back seat and we maintained social distancing. It was wonderful to be out in the fresh air and enjoy conversation that did not involve Coronavirus. (Yes, our governor said this is ok)

We sat at a table under a pavilion. The breezes were heavenly.

Friday our anniversary day arrived! That morning I began calling the local steakhouse I had chosen for our celebratory take out meal. I had been concerned about setting it up as people had been complaining the phones were always busy. I prayed the night before that I would not be anxious about this and I got through on the phone after 3 tries!

Earlier in the week I had gone to Amazon Prime and paid the rental fee for the movie we had chosen for our dinner and movie at home celebration. Normally the movie would have been in the theaters, but due to the shelter at home orders it was available online.

The dinner was a delicious success! Our daughter had picked up a half dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts for our dessert but we were too full and decided to create an “intermission” during the movie to enjoy the doughnuts with coffee. (Who needs popcorn when one can have doughnuts?) The movie we chose was I Still Believe, a true story. If you need a faith booster, I highly recommend it. I think my husband, an action movie guy, was a bit teary at the end.

I think I may have enjoyed our stay at home celebration more than a night out.

I love these verses from the book of Numbers in the Bible. They are often spoken as a benediction. May His peace be upon you.

I'm a winnerAfter my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I work as the publicist/marketer/ amateur editor and general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  where we frequently host the best in up and coming authors.

My 2019 goal is to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media. You can visit Real Life Books and Media You Tube Channel if you would like to view some of the mini-videos I have created for our church, Gateway Community in Titusville, Fl.

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Lost My Joy…

1 Apr

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

March 15, 2020 was the last time I had social, in person interaction outside of my family. I met a friend for lunch and we had a lovely chat. Little did I imagine how rapidly life would change. The irony is that for the first time, the restaurant gave me a buy one get one free meal card. I haven’t been able to use it and I am not sure the restaurant will be in business when this crisis is over.

I worry that keeping business closed will collapse the whole world’s economy. Think no money for anyone. I also worry that opening the businesses will result in more deaths. The politicians and media make it worse by pointing fingers and arguing.

The bottom line is my personal behavior is the only thing I can control or fix. I usually begin my day with reading devotionals and praying over the scriptures. Today I delayed the prayer portion and I was unsettled all morning. While writing this blog I realized something.

Joy had left my house.

In the place of joy, I had welcomed in anxiety. I allowed discontent and fretful thoughts to party in my mind. I behaved as one who had no hope. My beloved and plain speaking mother would have asked, “What do you have a Lord for?”

It’s true that in myself I lack hope but in my God, I have hope and joy. I am comforted that God was not taken by surprise by the Coronavirus. He knew it was coming and he will lead me through it with hope and joy.

Easter is coming.

I'm a winnerAfter my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I work as the publicist/marketer/ amateur editor and general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  where we frequently host the best in up and coming authors.

My 2019 goal is to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media. You can visit Real Life Books and Media You Tube Channel if you would like to view some of the mini-videos I have created for our church, Gateway Community in Titusville, Fl.

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Melody’s Adventures, Cave Diving

31 Mar

A Time to Live

Melody Hendrix

Fresh water cave diving

Diving fresh water is completely different than salt water. Lakes are not very exciting since there aren’t the colorful fish and plants like the sea. So I decided to try cave diving. 

The Florida Aquifer  has a massive underground system of limestone that looks like a honey comb. Many lakes, sinks and springs are formed when the surface of the land dissolves and falls into the aquifer below. This allows the diver to enter the system.

 The temperature of the aquifer is a constant 72 degrees. The water is so clear, it looks like air. When you adjust your weights, so you don’t sink or float, you can fly like a bird in the air. It is the most wonderful feeling. 

As soon as I dip below the water, I immediately feel as though I am in a giant aquarium. As I enter the cavern , I can look out and see the sun glistening in rays that move with the motion of the water. The only sound you hear are your bubbles and breathing. It is so peaceful and relaxing. 

One day, there were three of us swimming down a long cave tunnel beyond the cavern. We had our safety line with us that would lead us out when we returned. We noticed an unusual formation off the main tunnel, and swam over to it When we got inside and looked around, someone got too close to the bottom and kicked up the silt with their fin. Silt is a layer similar to dust. When it is disturbed, will fill the area and block out your vision.

 We could see the white silt starting to roll upwards and fill the area. It only took seconds to create a white out where we couldn’t see our hands in front of our face. Not only were we blinded, we didn’t know if we were upside down or not because we were weightless.

 So we held our life saving  line and I headed out first. I slide the line through my hands following its direction when I hit a wall of rock. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t go any farther. Panic set in. I couldn’t communicate with anyone because I couldn’t see them. Finally after taking a few breaths, my hand followed the line under the rock. It had slipped under it. I was able to go around and get my wits together. I could only hope everyone else would be able to follow the line and not panic.

 I finally swam out of the silt and waited for my dive buddies to emerge. Everyone was shook up, but safe. That was the last time I explored a cave.

MelodyWelcome! I’m so glad you stopped in to visit. I am retired and enjoying life. My hobbies are my 5 grandchildren, son and daughter, and my loving husband. I am a photographer and extreme nature lover. I love spending time in my garden or in the wilderness connected to God my Creator.
What a beautiful world we live in. We all have that in common. Natural beauty is everywhere, but sometimes we are not connected until we see a picture, taken just right, that makes it really come into focus and be admired. My passion is to make a connection between the lens and your soul. Photography is my passion.
My photography passion began when my Father handed me his old Ricohflex box camera when I was 12.  It was love at first sight. I still have it. My hand was never empty of a camera since.
I am a native Floridian. I am so lucky to call it home. I was born in Orlando BF (before Disney). My family moved to the Winter Park area when I was very young. Central Florida was so simple and quaint at that time. I wandered the streets barefoot with my friends, never worrying that something bad could ever happen. My Mom used to pick the sand-spurs out of my feet. I still go barefoot. It grounds me to earth and connects me to nature.
I have extensively explored Florida and its diverse beauty. So much to see and so little time. I would love for you to join me in my travels through the images I have taken. I wish you could hear the sounds, smell the fragrance and feel the breath of it. But for now we must be content with exploring with our eyes and only imagine the rest.
Thank you for your interest.

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Look at the Birds

30 Mar

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

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We Must Have Humor

29 Mar

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Here in the U.S we seem to be virus weary. In various online church services today we were reminded to call those we know who are alone. Certainly good and loving advice. But my mind screamed what about those of us who have been inside with the same people for two weeks? We need fresh voices!

Facebook is filling up with humorous stories and videos. I particularly liked this one about homeschooling. The little guy on the harmonica is adorable.

There is a popular saying:

Live, Love, Laugh

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