The Last Prayer

24 Apr

My Take

DiVoran Lites


My prayer was on the last page of one of my journals from 2005

Lord, I realize the people I most admire have flaws. Only You are wonderful through and through, with no ugly edges. People, even at their best, cannot meet our deepest needs; they sometimes misunderstand, disappoint, expect too much, or can’t be available when I need them. 

This makes me glad to have You as my best friend, Lord, my Wonderful Counselor,  my Ever-present Help in trouble, immediately available around the clock, seven days a week. How wonderful that I belong to you, the, unpolluted Source from which all downstream flow. When I stop to listen to you, my life is restored. 

So I delight in people here on earth, but first and last, I come to You, the only perfect Person, the only ideal Person, the only One whose love is flawless, the only one who is worthy of my highest praise. Oh God, who is like you? There is none to compare with You! 

Photo Credit:Pixabay

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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Let’s Play a Game-Make it Up

23 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Re-blog from July 2019

I have some quirky habits – well, I suppose most people do.  But for some reason, when we are stopped at a traffic light, I look at the cars around us – specifically their license tags – and try to make up words for them.

I think I started doing that with our own license tags, just so I could remember them if or when I would need to give that information to someone, such as the DMV or at a hotel where we stayed.

For instance, one of our tags in Virginia was QRI-727.  What would you make of that?  Well, my thought was:  query (or question)? Is that a 727 airplane?

We had one tag here in Florida that was UNH-935.  Since we attended (and Fred graduated from) the University of New Mexico, thus UNM, that was fairly easy: University of New Hampshire-935.  Get the picture?  I just wish Fred had asked the clerk to pull one that had UNM on it! 

Okay, let’s do a test-run.  See what you can make out of the following (that I made up):

            Y25-JVP

and     Y75-KPD

For the first one, I would have said:   Year25-John Victor Patrick

And the second one:   Year75-Kissimmee Police Department

            (That one was easy, since I have two friends who work at the KPD)

Then there are the vanity plates.  I have a lot of fun with them.  There was a married couple we knew in Texas who had Mopsy on her car, and Popsy on his.

And then I saw one vanity plate with just one word on it:   ytteb    I had a difficult time figuring that one out – until I spelled it backwards.  I’m assuming the driver’s name is: Betty.

We had one Air Force license tag that said AGPOP.

Really easy to remember.  Unfortunately, Florida law says that military plates have to be changed out every 10 years.  I can’t imagine who made up that law.  All it does is create more paperwork for some government agency, that is totally unnecessary.  But that’s the government for you.

Below are some sample license plates from Florida’s License plate designs

I guess the one that really inspired me to do this word search, was while we were living in Virginia.  I was stopped behind a car whose license plate had the words:  I SOIF.  That one had me baffled.  Soif?  Soif?  What in the world is soif?  Then, as I began looking at the back window decals – and the bumper stickers – of the car, I realized that I was looking at all kinds of surfboards!  Okay…now I get it – I SOIF means I SURF.  The guy in the car was a surfer.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

So….has this inspired you to take a new look at license plates and try to figure out words?  It’s a fun thing to do, and Fred gets quite tickled at some of the ones I come up with.  Give it a try.  You just might like it – and it helps pass the time when traveling.

[Added April 23, 2023:  in seeing license tags from other states, I realize that a lot of states have more than the 3-n-3 numbers/letters that Florida has.  But it still might be fun to try to make something of the tags you see.]

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

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The New Power Pole-Part 4

19 Apr

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Since I already had internet cables running from outside the house into my attic and to my computer, it was only a matter of snaking the new high-speed fiber optic cable across the attic and down thru the existing holes in the wall, alongside those existing cables.  When the technician went into the attic to route the new cable, he happened to kneel on a piece of plywood I had nailed between two trusses.  The plywood split under his weight and his knee went down through the drywall ceiling of our garage/studio.  OPS! Was anyone hurt?  No, thank goodness, but he was so embarrassed and didn’t know what to say.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

He apologized profusely and said that in all his years on the job this was the first time anything like this had happened to him.  I told him not to worry about it as the same thing had happened to me when I was younger and working for an electrical contractor, except in my case, my leg had ended up going thru a lady’s kitchen ceiling.  He told me he would immediately send in a damage claim to his company to get the hole in the ceiling repaired.  He finished the installation of connecting us to the new high-speed fiber optic system with no other problems.  He told me someone from the company claims office would be contacting us about the repair of the damage soon.

Image credit: yahoo.com/frustrated+man+clipart

It took me about two weeks to finally get in touch with the claims department, after I received my first email from them telling me they had set up a claim number for me and to contact them with more information.  When I finally reached the claims office, the agent said one of the things they needed was some photos of the damaged area.  I told her that the technician had taken photos of the damaged area and that he had assured me he would forward them to their claims office.  She said they hadn’t received any photos and asked me if I had taken any.  I said I had, and I tried to email them to her, but they wouldn’t go thru to the email address she gave me.  Next, she said they also needed an estimate for repairs to the damaged area.  I said I would get an estimate and forward it to their claims office. 

Image Credit: https://images.search.yahoo. customer-service/clipart.  

It has now been three weeks since my last contact with the claims center.  I re-sent my photos of the damage to the contact person.  I had a damage estimate made and emailed it to the contact person.  I have tried several times each week to reach them to verify they received the requested information with no avail.  I have phoned only to be put on “hold” for up to five minutes, and then a computer voice tells me there is no one available to help me.  I have left messages with the contact person with no response.  I have sent emails to the contact person with no response.  I have tried the phone calls at different times of the day to try to catch the contact person to no avail.

Image credit: yahoo.com/frustrated+man+clipart

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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The Peace of God

17 Apr

My Take

DiVoran Lites

The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:7

Photo Credit:Pixabay

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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Is It Going to Storm?

16 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found more and more things wrong with me…physically that is.  Well, perhaps mentally as well!  I resist thinking I am a hypochondriac, and I hope I am not one.  I really don’t like to be around people who only talk about their ailments.

Credit Pixabay

However…I remember as a small child having earaches so badly that I would cry myself to sleep from the pain.  I was only four-years-old when we moved to Albuquerque, and my mother was my dad’s secretary for a while.  Since there was no kindergarten back in those days, I didn’t go to school until I was six-years-old.  Therefore, I accompanied my parents to work each day.  I remember a pallet made of blankets on the floor for me to sleep on – and how often I cried myself to sleep.  I surprised my parents could get any work done – or anyone else in the building – with my crying.

Credit Google search and jcomp

I believe my mother put warm oil drops in my ears to try to help.  I don’t know whether or not it did.  

Credit Google search and shazimali462

But I did eventually outgrow those earaches…thank goodness!

As was normal back in those days, I did have my tonsils surgically removed.  I remember the pain from that – and the ice cream I got to eat after the surgery!

Credit Google Search and catalyststuff

I still have my appendix, so that’s good.

However, one thing that I have had for a very long time was pain in my joints – arms and legs.  Just a really bad ache.  In recent years, a dose of pain reliever takes away the ache.  But at one point in time, I realized that there was a correlation between my arms/legs aching to the change in weather!  Usually it was a storm coming.  And my joints would ache a couple of days before the storm arrived.  I don’t remember how old I was when I realized the correlation between the two.

Credit Pixabay

Now all that may not sound too peculiar, but as it so happens, my husband Fred, was a United States Air Force Meteorologist.  He was tasked with predicting the weather for U.S. AF pilots to fly through.  It became a “joke” around the Weather Station – especially when we were stationed at Tyndall AFB, Florida (Panama City), that the guys around the station would come into work and say, “Major Wills, how are your wife’s legs today?”  They found that I could predict storms literally days before their weather charts could do that!

Credit Pixabay

I haven’t had any of those aches for a number of years now, but just today (as I am writing this) my arm is aching like it did back in those days.  Sure enough, we are supposed to have storms tomorrow and/or the next day!  

I guess I’ve still got the touch, hmmmm?

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

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High-Speed Fiber Optic:Installation Part 3

12 Apr

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Now the operator very slowly and carefully lowered the pole into the hole as the other three workers helped guide it perfectly into position.  I couldn’t believe that small Altec machine could lift and position that heavy pole as easily as it did.  There didn’t seem to be anything the operator couldn’t do with that mobile Altec machine.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

The operator continued to hold the pole in place as the three workers filled and packed sand around the base of the newly installed pole.  It didn’t take long for them to finish that task, and they stepped away to verify that the new pole was properly aligned.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites

Once the pole was aligned and secured, the operator unclamped the jaws and lowered the crane so the hoisting cable could be removed.  The Altec machine support legs were retracted, and the machine was driven back around, thru the woods, and replaced on its trailer and secured.  The portion of the field fence that had been removed to support this operation was replaced (better than before it was removed) and the job was complete.  

Now it will be up to the power company and the telephone company to schedule the movement of all the power & telephone lines from the old pole and transfer them to the new pole before we can be connected to the new high-speed fiber optic system.

Photo Credit: https://images.yahoo.com/lineman

To our surprise, it was only a couple weeks later that the internet provider called to inform us that a technician would be arriving the next day to connect our new high-speed fiber optic system.  I informed her of the status of the new power pole, and that no cables had been transferred from the old pole to the new pole yet.  She said she didn’t know about that and that she would inform the necessary people to get that job done.  

Image Credit: https://images.search.yahoo. customer-service/clipart.  

I guessed it would be another month before we could expect someone to come transfer all the cables from the old pole to the new one, since I assumed it would involve coordination between the power company and the telephone company.  But then a couple of days later we received a message on our answer machine that a technician would be showing up the next day to hook us up to the new high-speed fiber optic system.  When he arrived, I showed him the poles and explained the whole story to him. He said he would need to assess the situation before he could continue.

Image Credit: https://images.search.yahoo.com/computer.technician

When he came back, he said, “I don’t know where that other guy got his information about going up that pole being a safety issue, but I have no problem going up that pole and connecting you to the new high-speed fiber optic system.”  I didn’t argue with him, as we were ready for that new system.  He proceeded to made all of the necessary outdoor connections at the pole, and then came into the house to run the high-speed fiber optic cable to my computer.

Image Credit: https://images.search.yahoo.com/telephone+repair/

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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Not Afraid

10 Apr

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Ps 112:7-8

He shall not fear evil tidings; his heart is firmly fixed, trusting, leaning on, and confident in the Lord. His heart is established and steady; he will not be afraid while he waits to see his desire upon his adversaries.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

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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Easter Sunday 2023

9 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

(Reposted from 2014)

I really love Christmas!  All the brisk weather (in the colder climes), the Christmas trees and wreaths.  The decorations.  But especially the music.  It’s so much fun to hear and sing – both sacred and secular.  It’s such a special time of year.

But for me – and all of Christianity – Easter is the very, VERY best!  Of course, Christmas had to come first – to bring the Christ Child into this world.  But Easter brings us eternal life…and that beats the socks off a fun, cute song any day!

The songs associated with Easter are so exciting – and uplifting – and inspiring – and so full of hope and promise (and by-the-way – hope in scripture means absolute assurance!).  They tell of Christ’s death, yes, but also of that glorious moment when HE AROSE!  Can you imagine it?  God’s power is so tremendously great that He actually raised Jesus from death back into life!  Amazing!!  It’s so easy to just say…He arose.  But just think of it – He actually rose FROM THE DEAD BACK TO LIFE!  That never happened to anyone else, that didn’t physically die again.  Our Savior lives again and still, and forever.

There’s a lot of anti-Christian stuff going on right now, that borders on persecution.  Yes, I know – I really haven’t a clue what true persecution is like.  But this is the most anti-Christian attitude in this country that I’ve ever felt.  And it doesn’t feel good.

Seems like every Easter there is something that happens to a church here or there that actually backfires on the perpetrators.  For instance, when we lived in Panama City, Florida back in the 1970’s, there was a Lutheran church who put up a “tomb/cave” on their front lawn every Easter.  They would have a “stone” rolled across the front, that on Easter morning was “rolled away” to reveal the open/empty tomb.  One year, the whole thing disappeared!  Turns out, some teenagers, on a dare, took it away.  So, instead of harming the message – the newspaper got a hold of the story – took pictures and all – and it made the front page news! Backfire, see?

Photo credit – Judy Wills

And then when we lived in a small town in Virginia, our church had put up some sort of display on our front lawn – and some of the “soldiers” disappeared.  Same thing – the city newspaper (and possibly the TV stations in town) got wind of the disappearance, and interviewed the Pastor about it.  Again, it made the headlines and news stories.  The culprits were found and the soldiers returned.  Another backfire.

All that to say that I am convinced that there is still a remnant of believers in this country, and that God will honor those who still trust Him.  What is done in the dark will be brought to light – and God’s name will be glorified.

HE IS RISEN!   HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

Happy Easter!

Credit ChurchArt

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

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Because the Tomb is Empty, Your Loneliness, Fear and Anxiety Can End

8 Apr

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Reblogged 4/8/23

Sometimes in the privacy of our heart and in the silence of our loneliness, we want to pour out what aches inside. Even when no one knows, our soul cries out:

Lord, sometimes my days seem like an endless echo of distant drums

Tormenting my soul and whispering sounds of sorrow.

My hours pass like homeless beggars, aimlessly shuffling to and fro searching for shelter

I thirst for company, for comfort, for words to quench my parched soul.

Minutes drag and mock me with more sounds of loneliness like sips of bitter poison

And the tomorrow’s laugh at what my destiny holds.

Will time creep by until I reach the end?

And though people all around crowd in on me

Still loneliness juts through like weeds in an empty and abandoned field.

But this morning, after a black sleepless night

A stranger visited me—

A glimpse of light from the horizon.

As if the sun rose within me,

Your Words Lord, the same ones that had been lost in the web of confusion

broke free to brush against my soul.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble, I will call to you, for you will answer me. (Psalm 86:3)

Because…

…the resurrection happened, because the tomb is empty and because Jesus is not only alive, but radiant with life-giving hope, the enemies of desperation, fear, anxiety, and loneliness have no power. None is a match to the power of Jesus who conquered death. And death is what awaits to those negative emotions that we cast to Him because He cares.

He cares enough to know the ache even before it started. He knows the details that feed the secret pain. And He even knows the degree of comfort and the amount of reassurance we desperately need.

And when we lift our head from the pillow of searing loneliness, the Son shines through, and hope dawns once again, peace filters through the window of our soul. And before we realize it, joy dances in the melody of His Word, the one that’s singing to you now.

… those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

In righteousness you will be established: Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you. (Isaiah 54:14)

Let’s Pray

Father, I praise and thank You for the comfort of knowing my life, my days, my steps, my ears and loneliness are firmly placed in the hands of your unending love.

When do you hear God’s comforting words?

Janet

It’s my joy to have you as part of my inspirational family. Please feel free to share today’s post with others.

Let’s Stay in Touch

You and I are only a click away. Hop on over to this CONTACT FORM.  Once there you can leave your prayer request, make a comment, ask a question, or invite me to speak to your group.

Janet Eckles Perez

Some say she should be the last person to be dancing. Her life is summarized in this 3-minute video: http://bit.ly/1a8wGJR

Janet Perez Eckles’ story of triumph is marked by her work as an international speaker, #1 best-selling author, radio host, personal success coach and master interpreter. Although blind since 31, her passion is to help you see the best of life.

www.janetperezeckles.com

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It is Finished

7 Apr

Odisha Ellis

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the entire land until the ninth hour, because the sun stopped shining; and the veil of the temple was torn in two.  And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I entrust My spirit.” And having said this, He died.  Luke 23:44-46

My thoughts

Every deity I have read of, required some sort of sacrifice to itself. A food offering, blood and some even human sacrifice.

Jesus became the sacrifice. For me, for you, for everyone. It’s up to each to decide if they will accept the sacrifice.

“ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

John 3:16-17

Sunday is coming!

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