What Makes You Happy?

1 Oct

My Take

 DiVoran

I saw a documentary called, “Happy,” recently. It shows what makes people happy or unhappy all over the world.

The most shocking thing I learned is that many people in Japan are unhappy and worse they actually drop dead of overwork. It’s called Keroshi. It’s from trying to beef up their gross national product.(GNP) since the devastation of WWII. They have succeeded thanks partly to a hand up from the U. S. A.

So far, Danes are considered the happiest people in the world. They may choose lightly communal homes, which have large kitchens where folks share the cooking, and everyone takes at least one meal a day together if they want to. There’s always someone there and they make dear friends who become to them like family. Family and friends make people happy.

The Asian country of Bhutan is passing up striving for increased gross national product and going for gross national happiness (GNH) instead. When a business opportunity comes to the country the first thing the government asks is whether or not the steps they must take will further their goal of GNH or thwart it. This includes things like building dams and flooding communities just for material gain.

In America, we have a whole range from people walking around in Zombie fogs of self-pity to exuberant people (born extra happy).

Drs Meier and Minrith express a profound idea in the title of their book, Happiness is a Choice. Hannah Whitehall Smith echoes this idea, in hers, The Christian’s Secret to a Happy Life.

You may be wondering, however, what about money?

The thing about money is that if you have enough for the basic human needs described in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs you’re a great deal happier than if you don’t. Of course. Once those needs are met and you have some extra for comforts and fun things, then being rich doesn’t add a thing. That is unless like R. G. Le Tourneau you give away 90% of your income for God to use as he wishes. That’ll make you happy.

George Mueller is my hero. By 1875, he had lodged, fed, and educated over two thousand English children who would have otherwise been completely destitute and he did it without taking a salary and without fundraising. He prayed and taught the children to pray for all their needs and people obeyed God and brought the supply.

Here’s his take on happiness:

“I saw more clearly than ever that the first great primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord.

It’s miraculous how much that has helped me over the years as I have tried to practice it.

Nehemiah 8:10

 

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The Concert

30 Sep

Sunday Memories

 Judy Wills

 

I always remember there being a piano in the house.  Mother would sometimes sit down and play her favorite hymns from memory, with embellishments.  Occasionally we four would gather around the piano and sing along – Mom playing, Daddy on bass, brother on tenor, me on soprano.  Fond memories.

I started taking piano lessons the day I started first grade, and continued until I graduated from high school.  Now you might have thought that I was some kind of whiz on that instrument – and you would be dead wrong!  Talent?  Yes, I think God gave me some talent.  But not the GIFT.  I always have to have that piece of sheet music in front of my face, or I can’t play anything.

As time went on, I honed my talent, and became fairly accomplished.  My usual fare was church pianist, and occasionally the organist.

Our new Minister of Music wanted to do something new and different – so he organized six of us pianists and we began preparing for a six-piano concert!  One of the local piano stores had a room full of Clavinovas (digital/electronic pianos), and allowed us to practice at the store.

Close to time for the concert, and the pianos were moved to the church.  Up on the stage they went, and our practice time was closer to home.  We played two or three pieces all together – different parts of the song, like an orchestra.  Then we each played a duet with one of the other pianists, then a solo.  We were each to introduce ourselves to the audience and tell something about ourselves – just to get acquainted.

Friday night came – and the first concert.  The sanctuary was nearly full!  And then it became a labor of love – for the instrument and for our God who gave us all the talent to use for His Glory!  A labor of love, but such fun, as well.  My sister-in-law said, “WOW that was Great!!  What a glorious thing to hear SIX pianos played by six talented musicians all at one time!  I can sense God’s hand in this concert and in these musicians.”

I like to think that all those piano lessons have paid off.  I may not have the gift, but what talent I have, I use for God’s Glory.

Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done marvelous things!

His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him.

 

Psalm 98:1

 

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The Elusive Mouse

29 Sep

Speak Up Saturday

Patricia Franklin

Here on the porch I have so enjoyed Patricia’s stories. Sadly it appears she may be taking a Fall break. If anyone has s story they would like to share,  leave a comment or tweet me @onisha. I would love to hear your stories-Onisha

 

 

I think our elusive mouse has disappeared. Could he have been a figment of my imagination?  I was so frustrated with something that wasn’t even there?  However, he did leave behind his little gifts for me to clean up.  And I remember when I first discovered his presence. He was trying to nest in my husband’s knee pads. He never even went near the pile of rags I keep in the laundry room.  This just gets curiouser and curiouser.

If he is living under my house he must be an “arachnidavore” because that is all I have under the house. He would have to survive  by devouring bugs and spiders, as he has not set one little foot in any other part of the house. I know because I have kept up a ritual of sweeping glances in every corner ever since he showed up.

We have had several cool nights and I figured if he was coming in from outdoors, he would be in on those nights.  Black Cat has been hanging around just enough to make me think he could read my mind, and took care of the problem. No doubt Cat is a very intelligent animal. We have a mutual respect and understanding between us, even if there is no love lost there.

 

End of Mouse I think…. will let you know if otherwise.  At any rate he still remains a mystery!

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Food Truck Bazaar

27 Sep

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

 

We  had a big event come to our small town Monday night, the Food Truck Bazaar. Living in a small town my closest encounter with a food truck was the hot dog stand at Lowe’s home improvement store or at the Catholic Church fair so I was very excited.

The Bazaar set up at one of our local parks on the river and it was one of those wonderful Florida Fall evenings with a nice breeze from the river. We arrived shortly after it began and I knew it was going to be big when we had to search for a parking space. Since this was the first time the bazaar had come to our town, they only sent ten trucks and they were parked in a circle and painted in a variety of colors and each offered different foods; the smells were incredible. Among the vendors, each powered by a generator, was my favorite, Cuban food. Also available were Southern food, British food, a coffee van, a cupcake truck and some others whose names I can’t remember. All except the cupcake truck had long lines.  In keeping with my motto, “when in doubt eat dessert first.” I headed straight for the cupcakes. I shared a s’mores with my daughter and it was truly Yum Yum which is the name of the vendor. I’m glad we went there first, the truck completely sold out, 1,900 cupcakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a fun time, people brought folding tables and chairs, and families were everywhere. Most amazing was the after effect. Food Truck Bazaar has a Facebook page and it was rocking with comments. The enthusiasm was over the top. Thanks were given out to the local folks who set up the event, photos were posted and comments were flowing. Our town has been hard hit by the end of the Manned Spaceflight Program. It was great to see our community laughing and sharing a spirit of camaraderie, we are already looking forward to the next one.

 

Learn more about The Food Truck Bazaar   http://goo.gl/b1zEU

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He Will Order His Angels

26 Sep

A Slice of Life

 Bill Lites

Do you remember where you were when terror struck the United States on 9/11/2001?  I’m sure you do.  I was having breakfast with my family at the DeLeon Springs State Park in Florida when the terrible news came across the airwaves. I remember how deathly quiet it was as all airplanes in this country were grounded.   You might remember how, everything seemed to be on hold, as if the world held its breath to see what would happen next.  It wasn’t until we got home later that day that we were able to see the news reports and only then begin to understand the impact of what had happened and how it was going to change the lives of all Americans.

  

As it happened, six months earlier, my wife and I had signed up for a trip to Spain, to begin on 9/18/2001.  We had been looking forward to that trip with anticipation for the past six months.  Now what were we going to do?  All the airlines were shut down, and who knew for how long!  Would our trip be cancelled?  Would we be able to go?  Should we go?  We decided that If the airlines started flying again, and If we were allowed to go, and If we could get seats, we wouldn’t let this event ruin our plans.

By some miracle, things began to calm down, the airlines started flying again, and since many people were “Never going to fly again!” we had no problem confirming our itinerary on the scheduled date.  The atmosphere in the airports in New York, Paris, Malaga, and on the planes was very tense, but most everyone forced a smile and was very courteous to us.  When we arrived in Malaga, Spain our luggage went on to Istanbul, Turkey and it was two days before it got back to us.  Hey, No surprise there, right.

At our base hotel in Torremolinos, and on the bus tours to the Alhambra and a Spanish olive factory, everything was conducted pretty much as if nothing had happened.  It was on our ferry trip from Gibraltar to Morocco that we got our first glimpse of how 9/11/2001 had affected many of the peoples of the world.  A Muslim family came up to us and said, “We are very sorry about what happened in America.”

Then again in Tangier, as we were shopping at one of the shops in the Kasbah, the owner said, “Please come back, we need you.”  That evening at the hotel, after our dinner, a professor from the local collage came and talked to us about his modernized family, and how most of the Muslim world are not extremists and only want to live a trouble free life, as we do

Overall, we had a very wonderful vacation trip.  We were able to visit with the people first hand, in and around the beautiful Costa del Sol region of southern Spain, as well as in Tangier, Morocco and see how differently they lived just across the water from one another.

If it hadn’t been for DiVoran getting sick and missing some of the tours, we could have called it a perfect trip.  Now who would ever have guessed after 9/11/2001 that we would have been able to say that on 9/28/2001?

Scripture: Luke 4:10b (New Living Translation) …”He will order His angels to protect and guard you.”

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What’s Your Favorite Color

24 Sep

 

My Take

DiVoran Lites

I like them all. Today I like turquoise. A beautiful book arrived in the mail, Inspired and Unstoppable, by Tama Kieves. It is pale turquoise. Crayons are perfect for marking passages, so I chose a turquoise one and a turquoise Pentel Pen (my favorite brand for many years.)

Onisha and Pam are coming over this afternoon and I wanted to wear a special tee shirt with my jean shorts. You guessed it, I picked turquoise with a faint violet thread through it.

I just bought new patio cushions, and they are turquoise. Funny how it just jelled today that it’s the color I now love best.

I don’t know what formal meaning this color has, but to me it means water, sky, mom, because she loved it. Color Me Beautiful, by Carole Jackson says it is the color most people look good in. If a color lifts your spirits, wear it, sleep in it, bathe in it, and love it.

I like books about color, and I’ve picked up a few quirky ideas by reading them. People debate this, but it is said that the color Indian Yellow, which is a bright yellow with a lot of orange in it is made by feeding mangos to cows then collecting their urine and using it as an ingredient in paint. Saffron is another yellow. It comes from the tiny pistil of a flower. Yes, its’ the same saffron that’s used in food. It costs $1,000 a pound, so as far as paints go, I’m glad we have the wonderful synthetics we have. Before that artists ground rocks to make ochre and other earth colors. Carmine came from the cochineal bug. Our foremothers, as we know, used plants to make indigo, what would we do without it? It’s the color of our jeans, but also now synthetic.

Color took off when car manufacturers began formulating acrylics in all the beautiful colors we see on the road. On the road and on my palette, I love them.

Last week in Sunday School the children helped me make up a story about a little girl named mud and how miserable and unhappy she was. She pouted all the time and had no friends. She preferred to sit in ashes. Her mother called on the Prince of Peace, he came and opened up her heart, and suddenly her world was full of color. Of course, she had to have a new dress, her old one was raw umber. A tentative “pink,” came out of a little girl’s mouth, but soon colors flew around the room so fast I couldn’t get them all on the board. Then the solution came: a rainbow dress. Oh yes, and in our imaginations it was beautiful.

The next thing was a name and another barrage of very nice names hit the board. How could we choose? Then Aaron, a six year old gave us a name. I wrote it phonetically, but I can’t tell you now what it was. It was colorful to be sure. We all knew spontaneously that it was a spectacular name for her. We’d call her by its last three letters, Zia. We can only trust that Mud, now, Zia, loved her name and her dress as much as we did. Now, what’s your favorite color?

John 7:38

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There’s a Squirrel in the House!

23 Sep

Sunday Memories

Judy Willis

I love to watch squirrels.  They are such fun to see – digging in the grass for buried treasures; chasing each other around the tree; sitting on their haunches, tail up and curled, eating some delightful morsel….

For some time, I had been feeding pecans to the squirrels in the back yard.  I would stand in the doorway and place the pecan closer and closer to my foot, just to see how close they would come to me.

Why is the dog, Maxie, running through the house?  Is she chasing something?  Then why isn’t she barking?  As I looked down over the bannister….who/what belonged to that gray tail?  Then I understood, and….FRED!  THERE’S A SQUIRREL IN THE HOUSE!!

As Fred ran to get a broom, I ran down the stairs and grabbed Maxie.  I took her to the front door and opened it and the screen door.  I crouched down, holding her wiggling body by her collar, next to me.  Fred ran into the living room.  Then I heard him scream a word that I had never heard him say before!

Next thing I know, the squirrel is racing for the open door.  And I just let go of Maxie and let her chase that squirrel to her heart’s content!  She didn’t catch it, of course, but not for lack of trying.

Seems the squirrel had jumped up on top of one of the picture frames over the couch.  As Fred swung the broom at it – it jumped at his face!  Hence the “word.”  But he was after that squirrel as fast as possible.

From then on, any time Maxie saw a squirrel outside the house, she went crazy, trying to get to it.  She never barked, but boy! did she race back and forth in front of the windows.

I shall never feed a pecan to a squirrel again!

John 10:10

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A Better Mouse Trap

22 Sep

 Speak Up Saturday

 Patricia Franklin

The Last Meal

 

What’s this, you’re bringing the laundry down?

But I’m doing no laundry ‘til that mouse leaves town.

What did you say? You’re out of shirts?

So what, I’m also out of skirts

You think that I’m just getting lazy?

No, I’m not, I’m going crazy.

Besides, he’s eating up my laundry soap.

Is this weird little mouse high on dope?

I don’t want the whole place to belong to that mouse!

I’m doing no laundry, no, I’m not,

Not until that monster is caught!

“Do you think he’s inside that wall?

How did he get in here at all?”

We’ve never faced a critter like this before.

That’s it! I’ve had it, we’re waging WAR!”

“We’re going to serve him a fabulous meal.

One that he’ll beg, borrow or steal.

A Mouse King’s feast for the little beast.

The best of everything at the very least!”

“I’ll fill those traps just one more time —

He’ll face this ultimatum of mine!”

The traps are filled — a gourmet trough,

One tiny toenail will set it off…”

“Now we’ll just sit back and see,

Who’s going to win this battle  – him or me.”

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Farewell Endeavor

20 Sep

 

Wednesday I watched as the space shuttle Endeavor was flown from Kennedy Space Center to begin her final journey and just like other champion she did a victory lap, flying low over her central Florida home.  Thursday I watched as she left her overnight fuel stop in Texas to complete  the final leg to her new home in Los Angeles. As Endeavor perched on top of a 747, lifted off the ground, my eyes roamed her surface. I noted the wing edges with their protective tiles. I have friends who knew every tile on all the shuttles and could tell you stories of difficult repairs or times when the tiles almost failed during a re-entry. You see, the space shuttles weren’t just objects to those who worked on them.

 

After the Columbia disaster, the collected pieces of debris were brought into a warehouse and laid out in a grid. There were many pieces that were not easily identified so shuttle technicians were asked to help. Some were so mangled it looked impossible to determine their purpose but the men and women who worked on Columbia, some of whom worked on her from the very first tile, had no difficulty. My husband was one of those men. If you had asked him to identify our children’s clothes in a closet he would not have had a clue but he knew those mangled pieces because he spent eight or more hours per day for over thirty years cajoling and finessing them.

As you visit the space shuttles placed in museums around the country, stop a moment to pay your respect to the astronauts who lost their lives and if you listen closely, you might even hear echoes of the men and women who held their breath with each countdown and re-entry, the proud workforce of Kennedy Space Center.

 

http://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2008/tech_benefits.html

 

 

 

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Let’s Go Fishing

19 Sep

A Slice of Life

      Bill Lites

My father-in-law loved to fish. It really didn’t matter what kind of fish it was, he just loved the challenge.  To get away from the Summer heat he and his wife would select a relatively cool location, known for its good fishing reputation, and set up their semi-permanent base camp (usually a 30’ travel trailer) there.  Sometimes he would rent a travel trailer at a campground or sometimes he would buy a used travel trailer, haul it to the location, use it for the season, and then sell it when it was time to head home.

One year he called us and said, “The Silver Salmon are going to be running up the Columbia River and you should bring your family out and go on a fishing vacation with us.  Well, I’m not much of a fisherman, but we tried to make it to California once each year so the grandparents could see our kids (4 & 5 years old at the time) and we thought this would make everyone happy.

 

The plan was to fly from Orlando to San Francisco where Ivan would pick us up and take us to Livermore where they lived.  We prepared the truck, boat and crab traps for the trip to Garibaldi, Oregon where Ivan had made arrangements for us to stay together in a motel.  By leaving at 4 am, we made good time for the first 200 – 300 miles, when a wheel bearing went out on the boat trailer.  The repair took the better part of the day before we could continue our journey.  We finally made it to Garibaldi, had dinner somewhere, got checked into our motel and crashed for the night.

The next morning Ivan and I headed out early to get the boat in the water and set the crab traps on the way out to the “best fishing spot” as defined by the locals Ivan had pumped for information at the boat ramp.  That first day we were encouraged by the number and size of the fish being caught all around us.  The picture below gives you an idea of what some of the other people were catching.  This was what we were expecting to catch too.

Funny thing though, we didn’t catch a single fish that day.  Ivan was pretty upset about that, but his attitude improved somewhat as we came back in that afternoon, stopping to check the crab traps, and discovered we had a great catch of dungeness crabs

Of course, the kids were a little squeamish when they first saw the load of crabs we brought home!

Our family had not been introduced to what fine eating dungeness crabs could be, but after the initial shock of seeing how they were cooked, and getting over how they seemed to stare up at you from the plate as you were tearing off their legs, we enjoyed a wonderful, all-we-could-eat, crab meal.

As it turned out, each day after that was a repeat of that first day.  We never caught a single Silver Salmon, but Man-Oh-Man did we gorge on dungeness crabs!

On a rainy day, we took a tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  That was a informative adventure seeing how all the different types of cheeses are made, wrapped, cured and packaged for shipment.

Ivan never did get over not catching any Silver Salmon, but the family had a good time and enjoyed seeing the local sights including the cheese factory.  The return trip to Livermore was uneventfull, but we all enjoyed the beautiful Oregon and Northern California scenery and a wonderful time together.

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:6 (NIV)

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