31 Days of God’s Comfort~Day 5

19 Dec

clown-with-balloons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture and Paraphrase by DiVoran Lites

Day 5

Good News

Hebrews 9:10, 5:13

 

Beloved,

 

Here’s an interesting thought.

You don’t need to give blood sacrifices in order to have your sins forgiven.

Your sins are already forgiven because of Jesus’ blood sacrifice for you on the cross. If your conscience speaks to you, we’ll talk it over and get you straight.

We have no barriers between us, no sacrifice necessary.

You may walk right up to my throne, and start talking.

I will give you what you need. You will feel My forgiveness and healing power.

You can keep going through fire, high water, and old age.

Trust that I always keep my promises to you.

Accept eternal forgiveness and forge ahead.

Christ’s sacrifice includes eternal connection with me,

Welcome home child.

 

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Out in the Cold

18 Dec

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I was a stay-at-home mom for over 20 years while my husband, Fred, was active duty in the U.S. Air Force. I had worked in an office setting all the years before, but once our daughters started to arrive, we decided we could live on one salary – and we did.

 

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Credit Google search

 

However, once Fred retired from the Air Force, jobs were difficult for him to find, so I considered dusting off my typing skills and look for a job for myself.

I thought that I would try temp work first, just to get my hand back in the work environment. So I contacted Kelly Girls (now Kelly Services) – and they essentially told me that they didn’t want me. Big blow to my ego. So the next step was Manpower. And they welcomed me with open arms.

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Credit Google search

I took a typing test at their facility – and we were all amazed that I still was typing about 70+ correct words per minute!

The first office where they placed me was with the Colonial Williamsburg mail-order center. I was mainly there to file, but at least it was a job.

 

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Credit Google Search

I found it rather interesting, and became quite impressed with the quality of product they shipped. My Aunt Jessie was an antique nut, so one time I sent her a catalog of all the furniture that CW had – but without the price list! I just wanted her to enjoy looking at all that beautiful, re-created furniture.

At that point in time, we were existing with one car, so Fred usually drove me to work and picked me up after. I went to work one morning, with a weather report of an ice storm approaching. By about 10:00 a.m., the storm hit, and all the employees were told to head home. I tried time and again to reach Fred by phone (we had no cell phones at that time in our lives), but he never answered. I had determined to wait outside the main gate until he came to get me. However, when the maintenance guy found me about the head out into the storm (in high heeled shoes and a puny coat – no raincoat or gloves or hat), he insisted that we wait inside until Fred arrived.

 

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Credit Google Search

We waited for about 45 minutes before Fred finally called. He said he had been sitting on the “parking lot” of U.S. 17 for all that time, and was just finally able to pull off in Yorktown to call (that’s only about eight miles from our house!). So I told him to get on the Colonial Parkway and come up to Virginia Route-199.

 

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Credit Google Search

There was a hotel there, not far from where I was working, and I would wait there for him.   That allowed the maintenance guy to lock up and head to his own home, and Fred wouldn’t have to drive all the way into Williamsburg for me.

And so we did. He dropped me off and headed home, while I went inside and got a cup of coffee. I paid $2.50 for that cup of coffee – and I don’t really like coffee!!

The next work day (two days later), I picked up a cheese tray to take to the maintenance guy as a thank-you, and for his family for waiting for him.

It’s a memory that has stayed with me. God certainly had me in His hands during that situation, and I’m grateful.

 

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Why do our prayers go unanswered?

17 Dec

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

12-09-16-airplane

Am I being silly with this prayer request? I thought as I asked God for help.

“You’ll never make it,” the airline agent said on the phone as I booked my flight. “You only have 30 minutes and you have to go through the airport to change airlines. The aircraft is very small with limited seating.”

“Book me anyway,” I said.

Was that faith or foolishness on my part?

Weeks later, I boarded the flight from Orlando to St. Louis. Holding on to the airline agent’s arm, she helped me to my seat inside the airplane. I settled down, folded my white cane and stuck it in the front pocket of the seat.

I buckled in. “Okay, Lord, I need a miracle,” I began my silent prayer, “place beside me a young man who can walk fast, and who’s nice enough to offer to help me to the gate to catch my next flight.”

But as rare as it was, no one sat beside me, I mean no one. Lord, what’s up with that! I can’t afford to miss my next flight.

We were descending and the announcement came through, “Ladies and gentlemen, seems like the air current was in our favor; we’ll be arriving in St. Louis 20 minutes early.”

I grinned. God is so good! That would make it very possible to reach the next flight. So I thought…

“Can you run?” I asked the airline escort waiting for me at the exit of the airplane.

“Sure can,” he said.

And we did. We zipped past passengers, up the elevator and dashed to the gate. I handed my ID to the agent behind the counter.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” the gate agent said. “The flight is completely full.”

I took a deep breath. “No you don’t understand. God made it so I could get here on time. Please, please look again, there has got to be one more seat left,” I pleaded.

“It’s a seven-seater aircraft,” he said, “how much do you weigh?”

“How much do you want me to weigh,” I chuckled. “One hundred thirteen.

“Hmmm…seems like one passenger didn’t show up,” he said. “I’ll get your boarding pass.”

I nearly reached over the counter and hugged him.

That lesson taught me a lot. So often God tests our faith, our trust and our commitment to remain calm.

He probably did that for you, too. When you so badly want to get on the flight that takes you to the answer, you ask and beg. And just when you are specific in your prayer request, He seems silent. He seems distant, ignoring your request.

But if hope seems to vanish and doubt knocks at the door, He’s whispering: “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8).

In the desperation of your request, will you trust He’s working on the answer…not in your way but His?

Source: Why do our prayers go unanswered? | Janet Perez Eckles

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“Help! There’s A Kidnapper in my Apartment!”

16 Dec

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

 

 

Well, not really.
But my cat is acting like one.
I set up a miniature village under my tree,
the source of a lot of fun!

There are houses, a church, commercial buildings,
and a ski slope brings a smile.
Skiers actually go up and down,
so watching them is worth your while.

Corky, my little feline friend, watched patiently-
His eyes moving from north to south.
But curiosity got the best of him.
A little man walking down the street
wound up in Corky’s mouth!

Corky didn’t know what to do.
His captive put up no fight.
He dropped him when he looked at me.
Ha! He had to make it right!

Christmas brings out the kid in me.
My heart is filled with play
as I look to our Savior,
a God of wisdom, with us everyday.

I wish you a “Merry Christmas”
Keep looking up, dear friend.
And don’t forget to look around you,
The need for love has no end!

 

christmas-village-copy

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Christmas Dinner “Take Out”

15 Dec

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

The Christmas dinner I wrote about last week, gave me an unexpected “take out.” I didn’t ask for it and would have gladly left it there, but alas, it was somehow sent home with me and for the next twelve days I found myself changed into a cough factory. To complicate matters, I decided to bring out my stubborn panties and refused to see a doctor. After nine days, I waved the tissue of surrender and visited a walk in clinic. And voila, three days later I am on the mend.

As I am writing this, the sweet Holy Spirit tapped me on my heart, reminding me that the nasty cough is a learning opportunity. The next time I get my panties in a wad, don’t wait until I am miserable before taking the problem to the ultimate physician.

Ok, moving on… At our home in the North Carolina mountains, I like to celebrate the seasons and my favorite way is with an entryway display. I am not a crafty sort of person. Well, I can be devious, but I am talking about being crafty in an artsy sort of way, so this is a stretch for me. Over Thanksgiving I asked Rebekah to help me do something special for Christmas. I have an old Windsor chair that is the central piece. ( I think my mother rescued it from a trash heap)

Usually, I add a woven basket and fill it with shiny Christmas ball and pinecones, but this year I wanted to change it up. Our town in Florida recently was blessed with a Hobby Lobby store and the abundance of Christmas stems had me itching to use them.

I wanted the items in the display to have a story and as my mind make a mental inventory of items I could repurpose, I remembered a butter churn that came from my grandparents farm. It was old and dull and the paddle was broken. It lived at my parents home. One year my mother and husband worked together to give it a fresh coat of paint and fashion a new paddle. They gave it to me as a Christmas gift, a labor of love and I have treasured it. I decided it would make a perfect “vase”.

Rebekah helped me choose white, glittery poinsettia to go with the rather dashing red and green spray-ish  stem I had chosen to give it height. In some leftover Christmas supplies I found  red mesh ribbon and we tied it around the churn and attached a glittery bow ornament. ( Can you tell I am in a glittery phase) Now the poor paddle looked naked and lonely, so I rummaged through discarded tree decorations and found some tightly wound tinsel. We wrapped it around the paddle handle and it looked good, but was missing something. Rebekah pulled out a tree topper that was too heavy for our current tree. It is made of beaten metal and the lights gleam through Mickey Mouse ear shaped holes. Perfect!

For the chair, I decided to use a precious quilt a friend had made for me out of pieces of my mother’s favorite clothes.  We spread it over the chair, then placed a white stuffed bear, a discard from a grandchild, on the seat. I thought he looked a bit bare, so I went through drawers and found a pair of Sponge Bob Square Pants Christmas boxers. They were used one Christmas when the whole family wore Christmas PJs.  I slid them on and although they are too big and droopy, I like them. Memories are better than making a fashion statement. We added a Christmas pillow and a couple of small stuffed friends and the display was complete. It certainly is not elegant but the glow I feel when I pass it, makes it beautiful to me.

christmas-churn-copy

If you look closely you can see the star lights on the paddle top, peeping through the shiny stem.

Ten days until Christmas!

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God Has Been Watching Over Me~Part 6

14 Dec

A Slice of Life

 Bill Lites

 

For years, after moving into our new house here in Florida, I had a real problem keeping the grass trimmed along the length of our backyard chain-linked fence. With all the rain we get here, it was hard for me to stay ahead of it. One day, I decided to eliminate the grass by burning it. I poured gasoline along the fence line and set it ablaze. That did a wonderful job of getting rid of all that unsightly grass, except for a few spots where the grass was the heaviest.

 

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For some reason (I can’t remember why) I used a small bowl to pour some more gasoline on those unburned tufts of grass (of course the fire was out and they weren’t smoldering). At one point there must have been a glowing ember I couldn’t see, because fire suddenly ran from the grass up the stream of gasoline into the bowl I was holding. It happened so quick, I was startled and jumped back to get away from the fire, splashing flaming gasoline on the front of my shirt. I tried to throw myself to the ground, flat on my stomach, but that seemed to be happening in slow motion, taking what seemed like forever to get there. By then my polyester shirt had melted and would have stuck to, and caused severe burns to my chest and stomach, if it had not been for my habit of always wearing a tee shirt under my sport/dress shirts (now why do you suppose I do that?). Maybe God knew ahead of time what a foolish person I could be at times, and that I would be needing His protection from time to time.

 

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In 1987, DiVoran and I took an all-inclusive vacation trip to St. Kitts Island in the West Indies. It is located in the Caribbean, and known as part of the Leeward Islands. The resort where we stayed was wonderful and provided every amenity anyone could ever ask for: great accommodations, all the delicious food you could eat, golf, swimming, surfing, and SCUBA diving; a real tropical paradise.

 

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Ever since moving to Florida, one of the things DiVoran and I had wanted to do was to learn to SCUBA dive, but the time and money had never been available.When we saw that SCUBA diving was offered as part of our vacation package we jumped at the chance. We were among a number of the guests that were given lessons in the hotel swimming pool, and approved for “Supervised” shallow diving. The beauty of the water where we dove was spectacular, and I had a tendency to forget some of the basic safety lessons I had learned. At one point on the second day I found myself alone, waiting for the instructor to come back. A number of things could have gone wrong (that I don’t like to think about), if I had struck out on my own, but I felt God impressing me to just stay where I was until the instructor returned.

 

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Then there are the 35 years, during which God has protected me while I worked in the Aerospace Industry as an Ordnance Engineer. Much of that time was spent working with explosives, around hazardous materials, and in hazardous areas where, at other times, workers have been hurt.

 

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At this point in my life, I can’t begin to imagine how many times, over the years, God has had His hand on me (and I didn’t even know it) as I put myself in foolish or dangerous situations. He must have had other plans for my life, and how He could somehow use it to make His presence known to others. All I know, is that I am abundantly grateful to Him for His constant presence in my life and for His merciful protection all these years.

—–The End—–

 

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A Very Special Bridge

13 Dec

A Time to Live

Melody Hendrix

I would like to share with you just one of many wonderful features of where I live in Brevard County Florida. This is our beautiful  –    A. MAX BREWER BRIDGE  –  gateway to paradise …Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.
a-max-brewer-bridge
The A. Max Brewer Bridge in Titusville has won the nationwide People’s Choice Award presented by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
A. Max Brewer Bridge is a concrete bridge costing  $44.8 million to build.
Length of bridge: 3,207 feet
Height of bridge: 65 feet
Date constructed: May 15, 2009 through Jan 31, 2010
Next to the bridge is the Titusville Veterans Memorial Fishing Pier is known locally as the “World’s Longest Free Fishing Pier.” The Titusville Veterans Memorial Fishing Pier (recently renovated) dates back to the original bridge that spanned the Indian River Lagoon in the early 1900’s. The early structure was known as the “Walker Bridge,” named in honor of Mr. John R. Walker, a former postmaster who helped make construction of the bridge possible.
After crossing the bridge, The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is located due east of Titusville on Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida, and occupies 140,000 acres, overlaid with the Kennedy Space Center. To the north, it borders on the Canaveral National Seashore; to the south it encompasses non-public portions of the Kennedy Space Center. Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River run through the refuge. Since public access to all these areas is controlled in various ways, the refuge is part of a very substantial area of relatively undisturbed wildlife habitat.
The refuge provides a range of habitats, from saltwater estuaries and freshwater impoundments and marshes, to dunes, hardwood hammocks, and scrub. It contains over 1000 species of plants, 117 species of fish, 68 amphibians and reptiles, 330 birds, and 31 mammal species. Of these species, 21 are listed as endangered either by the state of Florida or by the US federal government.
I am so fortunate to live close by.

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31 Days of God’s Comfort~ Day 4

12 Dec

 

miracle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painting and Paraphrase by DiVoran Lites

Day 4

Miracles

Psalm 111:4

 

Beloved,

Look for miracles every day.

Some may seem small, but take note of them.

Thank me for them, tell others about them.

I give you a lifetime of joy in learning My ways.

Please accept the invitation to be My “best” friend.”

I am the best friend of everyone one in My realm.

I am generous,

You are in My favor.

My plans for you are plans for good.

Your miracles, not your worries make your memories.

You are safe with me.

Let’s talk.

 

 

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Treasures from Germany~Part 7

11 Dec

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

 

In this final Treasures from Germany series, I want to share some precious items we found in Germany. Once again, as with the Kaiser porcelain, we had not heard of Swarovski crystal until we returned to Germany for our second tour of duty there (1980-1983). We were enthralled with the beauty of it! And while each piece was relatively inexpensive at our U.S. base exchange, we found them to be almost half price at the Canadian exchange in Baden Solingen. We happened to be there once with Fred’s parents, and our daughters, and I had to borrow some Deutchmarks from my Father-in-law in order to purchase the ones I wanted. And I did pay him back!

I actually purchased some for myself, as well as duplicates for our girls, so they each have a set of their own. I suppose they can distribute ours to our grandchildren, when the time comes.

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I found some lotus blossom candle holders that I really like, but I can’t use U.S. candles in them. They are made for European candles, which are thinner-based. So they sit on a shelf and look pretty. That’s okay with me.

 

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When we were in Germany, we traveled quite a bit. One of the places we went, was Innsbruck, Austria. The Swarovski factory is there, and we thought to pick up some “seconds.” However, when we asked about “seconds,” the saleslady informed us that they had NO “seconds.” If there is a flaw in the product, they just re-fire it and make something new. Well, shucks! That really put a damper on our outing!

Fred’s parents came to visit us in Germany each year we were there. During our first tour, Fred’s Dad was involved with the gathering of Baptists in Bertchgarden, in Bavaria, and we joined them there. We all stayed in the General Walker Hotel at the top of a small mountain at the end of a steep drive. The large facility was delightful (formerly used by the Nazi’s – named the Platterhof). There were restaurants and shops within the main building.

 

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Credit Google search

 

Fred’s mother found this beautiful crystal three-sided obelisk. Each side has a different Christian symbol carved on it. Here they are:

 

Of course, I was taken with the obelisk as well, and purchased one for myself. When Fred’s mother died, I inherited her obelisk, which I have given to one of our daughters. When I die, the other daughter will get mine. I think it’s beautiful.

While we probably have many other “treasures” from Germany, these that I have shared with you are the ones most prominent in our memory. I hope you have enjoyed our journey. It was been a pleasure for me to see these treasures through new eyes, and has brought back the memory of acquiring each one.

God has been so gracious to us allowing us to live in that wonderful country for a total of six years. It was a terrific experience, and one I never dreamed I would have. God is good.

For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected

if it is received with thanksgiving,

 

1 Timothy 4:4

 

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Love is Eternal

9 Dec

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

cardinal-pair-copy

 

 

 

How do you describe it?
It is being comfortable with someone.
You don’t have to impress them.
Their heart you have already won.

 

Allow them to see your weaknesses-
they love too much to condemn.
“Oh, Lord, I am me, no other can I be.
Thank you for loving me as I am.”

 

“Just as I am, without one plea,
but that Thy blood was shed for me.
And that Thou bidest me come to Thee,
Oh, Lamb of God, I come! I come!

Amen!

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