As I am writing this I am back in Florida. I was so pleased we had managed to actually end our winter stay in Florida not just on the planned date, but three days early on April 2! I think someone important- God, did say that man plans but God has the last word. And he did.
April 3rd was our 50th wedding anniversary. After much back and forth about a small celebration with friends we decided on a short trip that would begin April 9th.
We left Florida on April 2 and spent the night on the road. We only had two plans for the big day, doughnuts and coffee at Krispy Kreme and playing it by ear to choose a restaurant for a celebratory meal. The doughnuts plan worked out perfectly, the meal not so much. The route we were on didn’t offer much in the way of special and by the time we arrived home, I just wanted any meal I didn’t have to cook!
What a difference 50 years make! We haven’t mastered the art of the selfie.
I was thrilled to be back in the mountains in time to see the daffodils bloom. I haven’t seen them in a couple of years.I even discovered four tulips blooming in the Hosta bed. To my delight, the pansies I planted last fall were still going strong. They were impossible for me to grow in the Florida heat.
The grass wasn’t nearly as tall as when we return in May but the next day my husband couldn’t wait to get on his mower and tidy it up. I think he just likes riding on the mower but I love the way freshly mown grass smells so, it’s all good. I didn’t get a picture so this 7 second video will have to do.
He also likes to use the weed eater. I think he must work some of his frustrations out as the machine chews up the weeds and grass.
Later in the week we combined a doctor check up with a lunch visit with friends. Leaving our Florida friends behind is sad, but seeing our transplanted Florida friends in nearby South Carolina is always a joy.
One more day and our daughter would be joining us to be a part of our anniversary celebration. It’s a good thing too, because on the way north, the dreaded check engine light on the car dashboard came on. We needed her car for the trip!
Her visit ties in with my opening paragraph. While helping us pack the car in Florida, (She is an outstanding packer) she reinjured her upper back. By the time our anniversary trip was over, she was in severe pain. She tried Tele Med to no avail. Unable to drive, my husband suggested we rent a tow dolly and pull her car home.
Photo credit U-Haul
And so, here we are in Florida… with the truck. Husband is talking about a trip to Ikea.I’m thinking about more flowers and pots.
More next week on our anniversary trip. It was wonderful.
After 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 .
My 2021 goal is to continue 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.
Our podcaster, Mike Thomas has had a busy week. He just released a new music album. Here is his post about it.
AVAILABLE TUESDAY, APRIL 20th, 2021
This is my most recent project. Released April 15th, 2021, it’s all music / no words. Mainly solo piano with strings. The title reflects a newer musical path I’ve been on for a little while now. Translated, the music I now write or perform is quite different than what I started doing publicly way back in the day. If you enjoy listening to the likes of George Winston, Floyd Cramer, Yanni, Jim Brickman, David Lantz or similar, then. I’m pretty sure you’ll like this album.
Track listing is below. You can listen HERE to sample snippets of all 10 songs. You’ll also find links to where the music resides in digital format to download. To listen to a select few music samples plus the back story on this new project in the promotional video that follows:
Mike also released a new podcast The Musical Minister
I’ve been ‘clickin’ the shutter since I was about 16. I morphed into video production when I went to work for The Walt Disney Company many years ago. Currently, I still work for Disney. But my real passion and path is utilizing my photography and multimedia skill sets for the greater good. Translated, anything or anybody that deserves recognition, appreciation or documenting for future history, I’m all over it. Too many important things just slip away in a fast moving, fast paced world / society. ‘If ya’ wanna know where you’re going, ya’ gotta know where ya’ come from’ (Sir Lawrence Olivier – The Jazz Singer 1980).
If you feel so inclined, I’d sure appreciate you subscribing to Storyteller Almanac on any of the major podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and more. Really helps me grow the po
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Curious children know when something special is going on, and they want to be part of it. They also need lots of kind and cheerful attention.
One day, Jesus and his disciples were going through town among the people: mothers, fathers, and children. It was probably a warm day with clear blue skies. The disciples were on the job, gently holding back the crowd and seeing to it that Jesus had space to do what he wanted and stillness to say what he had to say.
The hard-working disciples had ideas of their own as to how much protection Jesus might need. In this village, small children ran in and out of the crowd playing tag and getting in the way. The disciples decided there was too much going on for Jesus to tell his stories or to heal someone who needed help; this is what happened:
“The people brought their babies and small children to Jesus so that he might lay his hands on them to bless them. When the disciples saw this, they scolded the parents and told them to stop troubling the Master. Seeing what was happening, Jesus called for the parents, the children, and his disciples to come and listen to Him. Then he told them, ‘Never hinder a child from coming to me but let them all come, for God’s kingdom belongs to them as much as it does to anyone else. These children demonstrate to you what faith is all about. Learn this well: unless you receive the revelation of the kingdom the same way a little child receives it, you will never be able to enter in.’ Luke 18: 15-17 The Passion Translation
Photo credit Pixabay
“Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World”
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.”
I mentioned before that I thoroughly enjoyed singing in choirs – all through my growing-up years. Church choirs…school choirs…and just about any other kinds of choirs I could get into.
1959 Highland High School combined chorus. (I’m in there somewhere?)
I’m not too sure whether or not I really had a solo voice, and so I was more comfortable singing in groups. Trios were my favorite. I usually sang the second soprano part, and I loved it! I still enjoy harmonizing – even harmonizing along with the songs we do it church. Our church has taken to having a “blended” worship service, which includes some of the old hymns and some of the new music. Most of the time it is agreeable to me. However, we don’t use the hymnals much anymore, where the harmony parts are printed. The words to the songs are shown on a large screen, so most everyone sings the melody. That’s when I harmonize on my own! It’s kind of fun, too!
I guess that’s why I enjoyed singing with the Dreamers in my high school so much. I was placed on the Second Soprano part nearly always. And I was in the school chorus as well, so that gave me more opportunity to harmonize.
But my very favorite group to sing with was Billie and her sister, Becky.
1959 – Judy, Becky and Billie – practicing at Judy’s house
Why they chose me to join them, I’ll never know. But we had a really good sound together. Becky was a grade ahead of Billie and I, and she had the sweetest soprano voice! I was second, and Billie was alto. What made it more interesting was that Billie also played the piano for us! We did a lot of the old songs – Moon Over Miami, Mr. Sandman, Sugartime, Old Cape Cod, Muscrat Ramble. While we had our own sound, we did tend to imitate The Andrew Sisters. As Billie said, we never had sheet music – we just sang what we heard and remembered. Oh the memories – it was such fun!
I didn’t attend the same church that Billie and Becky did, but I do remember going to their church to sing in their services some times. I don’t remember whether or not they came to my church for the same thing. Doesn’t matter – we just loved singing together.
I also remember singing in a “mixed” trio when we lived in Panama City, Florida. It was part of the church choir there, and the music director, one other fellow, and myself were the trio. That time I sang soprano, and the guys sang tenor and bass. As I recall the song we did in the service was a Gaither song, Something Beautiful. It was a fairly new song just then, and it was well received by the congregation.
The only time I remember not singing the second soprano part was while we were living in San Antonio, Texas. I don’t remember exactly the event that the women’s quartet I was singing with was performing for. But I just remember that I had terrible cold that day – nearly laryngitis! And my voice was so low that I sang the lowest part of the songs! And in women’s four-part harmony…that’s LOW!
I sang one time with the choir at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary while we were there in Fort Worth, Texas. I was not a student there – Fred was – but the community at large was invited to sing with the choir. It was a wonderful experience, and we did Handel’s Messiah- but I only did it one time. We met to rehearse in the evening, and I was so tired from working all day that I could hardly keep my eyes open!
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary rotunda – Fort Worth, Texas
~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~
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.
He belongs behind bars. I think you’ll agree after you read this excerpt from Wild at Heart, by Ransom Ministries.
“Our local zoo, for years had one of the biggest African lions I’ve ever seen. A huge male, nearly five hundred pounds, with a wonderful mane and absolutely enormous paws. Panthera leo, the King of the Beasts.
Sure, he was caged, but I’m telling you the bars offered small comfort when you stood within six feet of something that in any other situation saw you as an easy lunch. Honestly, I felt I ought to shepherd my boys past him at a safe distance, as if he could pounce on us if he really wanted to.
Yet he was my favorite, and whenever the others would wander on to the monkey house or the tigers, I’d double back just for a few more minutes in the presence of someone so powerful and noble and deadly. Perhaps it was fear mingled with admiration; perhaps it was simply that my heart broke for the big old cat.
This wonderful, terrible creature should have been out roaming the savannah, ruling his pride, striking fear into the heart of every wildebeest, bringing down zebras and gazelles whenever the urge seized him. Instead, he spent every hour of every day and every night of every year alone, in a cage smaller than your bedroom, his food served to him through a little metal door.”
Whew!
Although pitifully out of his habitat, he’s behind bars so visitors are safe. Not so in the zoo of life we’re living in right now. Another being lurks around. He’s on the loose, free, roaming from here to there as “he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
But before we take a step back in fear, we recognize what we must never do: not for one minute do we become intimidated, or do we focus on his presence, his demonic ploys or his masterful lies that carry counterfeit messages.
Instead, we follow the FBI’s method. They have an effective way to detect counterfeit currency bills.
Their approach is to intensely study, analyze and examine the intricate details of the authentic, genuine currency.
So deeply ingrained in their brains are the details of the true and legitimate paper bill that when they encounter a counterfeit, they immediately recognize it.
We need to do the same. We prepare. We study, examine and internalize God’s truth. Then, quicker than a flick on the cell phone, we can identify the adversary.
3 Steps to Take
And to avoid being his prey, we take these three steps:
No. 1: Dress up for the day. Each morning, before we pour the first cup of coffee, we put on the armor of God. Why? Because the day of temptation and attacks will come. When it does, here’s what we do:
“…put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:13-17)
We have that mighty designer armor delivered right to the door of our heart. But what do we do? Instead of putting it on, we sometimes head out spiritually naked. We do because life’s tasks demand our time. Because social media lures us. Because we become busy feeding our worry with exaggerated lies from the media. And before we know it, we become an inviting prey for the enemy.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Dressed in God’s armor, we’re the ones who sit at the table of His grace and feed our mind, spirit and soul with the promise of His guaranteed protection.
No. 2. We declare our position. Equipped and ready, we can step at the front of the battle line. Fear left behind, worry shed away, anxiety has no power anymore.
And from this point on, no matter how gloomy the world turns, how uncertain the future may seem. And no matter what threats may come our way, we stand firm empowered by our position of truth. God’s truth that, in the midst of our worst pain and anguish, He speaks to us through the Apostle Paul’s words “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered” (Romans 8:36).
The danger is real and the threat is near. But we stand in the position of power because “…neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
Our place of security is in Christ.
Our place of security is in Christ.
That’s why even if the world seems to be falling apart, we’re secure because we’re in the right location—in Him. In Christ, in His corner. In His strength and in His love.
No. 3 Dare to be different. Have you read the posts? Have you listened to the news? Have you seen the complaints and lamenting words? We all have. But not all of us have to follow the crowd and become members of the “frantic club.”
Once inducted in this club, we’re doomed. We end up making decisions based on everyone else’s example. We follow steps dictated by fear. And we head in directions paved by others.
Time to change. What if we chose to dare to be different? Let’s disconnect that channel from which we receive our information. What if we pull away from the computer? What if we temporarily turned off our cell phones. Outrageous!
Though it may seem an impossible task as our cells have become a body part—they go with us everywhere—restaurants, cars, stores, the park, the bathroom. Soon they might sell water-proof cell phones so we can take them in the shower.
But what if we choose to be different and take a few minutes to be in silence. And with resolve, we direct our focus only on the Lord. On His ways. On His goodness. On His promises. And on His comfort.
The Result
The result will be that in God’s presence, we find peace. In the stillness of our heart, we find rest. In the quiet of the moment, our minds become clear. And in the pondering of His goodness, we gain strength.
That’s why we remain steady. We remain strong and faithful. And instead of wimpy Christians, we become warriors, conquerors. Actually, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
More than conquerors, secure in who we are, we begin each day spiritually dressed. We declare our position in Christ. We boldly choose to be different than the crowd. And thus, we put the enemy behind bars and we stand firm and victorious.
Although a victorious life doesn’t mean empty of adversity, it’s rich with God’s promise that we’re guided by the truth of His Word. We’re anointed by His Holy Spirit. And protected by the blood of the Lamb.
Let’s Pray
Father, thank you for providing the perfect shield from the enemy’s attacks, Under Your grace, we may not be immune to suffering, but we’re equipped to endure, to triumph and live in the security of Your protection. In Jesus’ name.
What steps have you taken to live secure and protected?
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.
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.
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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.
DiVoran never will forget the day, while we were there in Fort Bragg, that Ivan took me out fishing on his commercial fishing boat. He had a ship-to-shore radio on his boat for communications. He decided to call it a day when the seas became too choppy. He showed me how to use the radio and we called Dora, to let her know we were heading in. DiVoran remembers that, “Both men could hear mother and me, and we could hear them. They were complaining about how rough the seas were getting, and how it was making Ivan feel sick.”
Photo Credit Tightwad Cruises
“Suddenly I seized the moment to treat him as he had treated me when I got car-sick as a child. Growing up, we lived in a valley surrounded by mountains, and the mountain roads were full of ‘S’ curves which made me car-sick. Often Ivan would have to stop the car and let me out to throw-up. When I got back in the car he would give me a dose of some awful tasting liquid, telling me it would help me not to be sick any more. It might have worked for the moment, but was it worth it?”
Photo Credit Canstockphoto.com
“So when Bill told me the water was getting wild, and the boat was slipping and sliding over the waves, and that it was making Ivan sick, Oh-Ho, my chance to get even with Ivan. So I picked up the handset and started talking about the greasy pork chops I was making for our dinner. Suddenly Ivan broke in and said, ‘TEN-FOUR’ and the radio went dead. For us landlubbers ‘ten-four’ means signing-off. I had won the only battle I think I had ever won with my dad, and I never was sorry about it.”
Photo credit Canstockphoto.com
DiVoran told me that she also remembered, “While the men were fishing, mom and I took the children for walks on the beach, which was full of driftwood and all kinds of other things which had been washed up on the sand by the tide. One of the most interesting things we found on the beach were smooth, round rocks that seemed to be heavier than most rocks. Mother told me that they were ‘Jade’ rocks that had been smoothed by many years of erosion by the actions of the sea and sand. On one walk my mother came across a dead fish and told me it was the kind of fish from which some people extracted the kind of oil that, after being processed, was the best oil there was for delicate uses such as oiling the parts of a gun.”
Photo by Bill Lites
We stayed in Fort Bragg long enough to watch the fireworks on the 4th of July, before packing up our camper for the second half of our cross-country camping trip back to Florida. There were no fishing trips with Ivan on the return trip, so I will spare you the details of that part of our trip for another time. However, as a side note; during the first half of this cross-country trip, among many other interesting things, we managed to cross ten rivers (not all of them well known, and some with more than one name). They were the St. Johns River and the Apalachicola River in Florida, the Perdido River and the Mobile River in Alabama, the Pascagoula River and the Pearl River in Mississippi, the Mississippi River and the Red River in Louisiana, the Rio Grande River in New Mexico and the Colorado River in Arizona.
I do hope you will join me for another episode of ‘Fishing with Ivan’ next week. Until then, stay safe.
—–To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 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.
To read the Bible is to get reassurance from our Heavenly Father. A wonderful Christian I read about stated that he never worried. I believed him. Unfortunately for many of us, this is a worry-wart world, especially now in this dark time of Covid 19 and ruthless leaders. However, I’m concentrating more on our Father God than on the problems; that’s what gives me peace.
From what I’ve heard, God has started the greatest revival the world has ever known. That means a possible billion, or however many people of the world God chooses or those who choose Him. When it is time, people will settle in and give their hearts and souls to Jesus, the Son of God who died for our sins. We can worry less because we are the beloved children of God, and we are cleansed in the blood of the Lord Jesus. All we need to do is to acknowledge that he died for our sins and turn our lives over to him.
No one does life better than God.
When our son and daughter were still at home, we prayed with and for them. The neighborhood kids came back after supper to hear the Bible stories read by Bill. The whole bunch of them were doing well in school and playing in the woods. They still had plenty of problems and questions to deal with, though, because they were children and still needed to be trained in the art of becoming adults. That was why I was so thrilled to come across the following scriptures.
Isaiah 54:10-14 says, “And all your children shall be taught of the Lord.
[and obedient to His will], and great shall be the peace and undisturbed composure of your children. Amplified Bible
John 6::45 says, “It is written in the book of the prophets, (Isaiah 54:15)
And they shall all be taught of the Lord, have Him in person for their teacher.”
Photo Credit Pixabay
It is wonderful to know that God has been and still is teaching our children about Himself. If we turn our problems over to our Heavenly Father, we don’t need to worry so much. It is useless to try to fix things with our minds or any other human mind. We need to go directly to God and open the door to be told what He wants us to do. Getting counsel can be necessary, but we still need to continue to check everything with God first. (And rebuke evil while we’re at it.)
God loves the children and has given them as gifts to Himself and us. Thank you, Lord, for all the children in the world. Bless them and make their lives good.
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.”
But while the piano has been a large part of my life, I found singing to be my love and joy. I can remember singing in childrens and youth choirs most of my life. When I came of age, I began singing in the Adult Choir in our church.
First Baptist Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico Credit Google Search
1964 – Sanctuary Choir – First Baptist Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico
I remember the very first solo I sang – it was in 1st grade and it was for a Christmas program in my class. I sang “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” I don’t remember singing many other solos until I reached Junior High (what today would be called Middle School). I was in the school chorus there, and we sang for many school functions.
November 26 – Christmas parade – I’m holding the 2nd “F” – Jefferson Junior High School
In that day, Junior High was grades 7, 8, and 9, with High School being just three years, 10th, 11th, and 12th.
Highland High School – Albuquerque, New Mexico
I was in the girl’s chorus all three of those years. I had tried out for All-State Chorus in 10th grade, but had a cold that day, and didn’t make it. However, I was in it the next two years.
Highland High School’s All State Chorus – 1959
Since Albuquerque was the largest city in New Mexico, that’s where All-State Chorus was held. We met in the gymnasium of the University of New Mexico. It was a great time – all the All-State choruses from around the state gathered in Albuquerque, and we all sang together. I loved it!
I remember one particular All-State Chorus time – probably my senior year in high school – when we began to sing, and we found ourselves off-key – and we were in the concert time, not rehearsal! The director stopped us from singing. I was mortified! And I think most of the rest of the chorus was, as well! He had the pianist play something in another key, then started us up again. We stayed on-pitch that time, much to my surprise. But rather than let us fumble through the piece in the wrong key, he had the presence of mind to correct it. HE was not mortified at all! I have since learned that, if the group is being accompanied by a drum, that even if the drum is the only sound going, we stay on-pitch. Amazing!
The most fun of my high school singing time was that I was chosen to sing in the hand-picked group of girls singers – Dreamers.
Dreamers – 1959 – Highland High School – Albuquerque, New Mexico
We had 12 girls in the group, with four girls on each part. Occasionally the songs we did had more than three parts, and we would split into more parts. That’s where I learned to love singing second soprano. I learned to sing the second soprano with the first soprano ringing in my head. Still do that to some degree. Dreamers sang at many functions around the city. It was a wonderful time in my life. I was in Dreamers my entire three years in high school.
~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~
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.
The scenery was beautiful as we continued north on CA-1 to our next stop in San Francisco, CA where we wanted to show our kids some of the sights and sounds of that fabulous city. First we took them to Ghirardelli Square, where we checked out the shops and bought some chocolates for DiVoran. Then we took the famous Powell & Hyde cable-car to Fisherman’s Wharf for some really wonderful seafood. After that delightful experience, we went back to our car and drove down the famous winding Lombard Street with our camper! I wasn’t sure we were going to make it around some of those curves.
Leaving San Francisco, we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, and took U.S. 101 north to our halfway point for this trip, which was to visit Ivan & Dora in Ft. Bragg, CA. See there, I told you we would eventually get to them, if you were patient with me for the first half of this road trip. We had a great visit with Ivan and Dora. They were a little isolated from their family, and loved seeing us and their grandchildren. They showed us around their small fishing village of Fort Bragg (pop ~4737), and introduced us to some of their friends there. One day Ivan took us all out in the woods, close to their house, to collect mushrooms for our dinner. He showed us how to tell the eatable ones from the poison ones. Dora grew a lot of the fresh vegetables they ate in her small garden. The fresh vegetables and mushrooms sure were good with the charcoal grilled steaks we had that evening.
Now for the fishing story you’ve been waiting for. One day while we were there, in Fort Bragg, Ivan took me out on the Pacific Ocean (just the two of us) in his commercial salmon fishing boat, Husky, to show me how he fished for Chinook Salmon. What an experience that was! I mostly just watched, helped when I could, and steered the boat once he started letting out his fishing line. Ivan did all the work, and had his one-man system worked out well. You couldn’t pay me enough to do that kind of work, but Ivan seemed to love it.
Photo by Dora Bowers – Ivan’s new fishing boat (Husky)
Ivan told me that he fished alone most of the time, and used the trout line method. He would use his Lowrance Fish Finder to locate the schools of fish, and then he would put the boat on auto-pilot and let out his baited hooks and line. Once the line was all the way out, he would make a very large turning circle, and head back, reeling in the line and fish with the aid of a small electric powered winch. He would ice down the fish, and if the catch was good, he would repeat the procedure all over again. It was a difficult task, but he seemed to manage without any problem, as long as the seas didn’t get too rough.
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 63 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.
Hear my prayer. Listen to my heart’s cry! No matter where I am, when I’m anxious, I cry out to you for a father’s help.
When I’m feeble and overwhelmed by life, guide me into your glory, where I am safe and sheltered. Lord, you are a paradise of protection to me regardless of the mistakes I have made in the past. You lift me high above the fray. None of my foes can touch me when I’m held firmly in your wrap-around presence! Keep me in this glory. Let me live continually under your splendor-shadow, hiding my life in you forever.
photo credit Pixabay
Lord, I declare that you have placed a veil over all my wrongdoings in the past, and in the present. You have full jurisdiction over the evil one and will infuse my body, soul, and spirit with your love so that I no longer hear the devilish accusations, but think only of what is pure, good, and loving.
Photo credit Pixabay
It is Well with my Soul
When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrow like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot,
Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well; it is well with my soul.
It is well, with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul
Here is a beautiful rendering of the song
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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