Tag Archives: #amblogging

Keep Your Eyes On The One Who Is Invisible

28 Nov

From My Heart

Louise Gibson

Louise Gibson

 

As a child, who did you go to for answers?

As a teenager, who was your “go to” friend?

As an adult, do you have a mentor who helps you

find answers you seek?

You can engage the wisest person in the universe

as your councilor to the end.

 

(Without council, plans go awry,

but in the multitude of councilors.

they are established. Proverbs 15:22)

 

Move in the direction of life, not fear.

Stand on the promises of God, our Savior.

He promised to always be near.

 

If you are feeling “in the dark”,

look up to “The Light.”

Keep your eyes on the one who is invisible.

He will guide you safely through the night.

 

Move in the Direction of Life

 

 

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My Colonial States Trip~Part 2

26 Nov

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Bill Stars Plane

 

When I arrived at the Providence station, I was surprised to see several security personnel (including a guard dog) milling around in the lobby. It made me wonder if there was a real security problem or what? I discovered later that they must have been at a shift change, as they soon all seemed to melt into the crowd, and I didn’t even see any homeless people in the station. I called the rental car company for a ride to get my car and was told to wait outside the “Downtown” exit for him. While I was waiting, one of the first persons I saw come out of the station was an attractive “Hooker” dressed in a tight sweater, skin tight leather pants, calf-length high heel boots and a Lady Star style leather cap. She really got the attention of a few convention men there waiting there for their rides.

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After picking up my rental car, I headed east on I-195 to visit the New Bedford Whaling Museum.   I couldn’t believe it when the clerk at the museum asked me where I was from and I said, “You probable have never heard of Titusville, FL.” And he said, “Yes I have, I’m from Orlando.”   And I was thinking “What a small world we live in.” The whaling museum was very interesting, with five different full-size whale skeleton displays and a history of the American whaling industry from its earliest times. They even have a complete large-size whaling ship model of the “Lagoda” on display inside one of the galleries that you can go aboard and explore how life must have been sailing on one of those early whaling ships.

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Then it was on east to the Pilgrim Monument in Providencetown, MA located on the northern tip of Cape Cod. On the way I passed thru towns with some of the most unusual names, such as Sandwich, Mashpee and Barnstable. I wouldn’t even begin to try to pronounce those names correctly. The 252 foot high Pilgrim Monument was erected in 1910 to commemorate the first landfall of the Pilgrims in 1620 and the location of their signing of the Mayflower Compact, which was the first governing document of the Plymouth colony. It was an impressive structure to say the least.

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On the way back to the motel in West Yarmouth, MA I stopped for dinner at the “Moby Dick’s Seafood Restaurant” in Wellfleet, MA. Advertising to serve some of the freshest seafood in the Cape Cod area, and taking the New England clam shack to a new level, they are also uniquely a BYOB restaurant. They served me some of the best fish and chips I have ever had. What a treat after a long day in the air and on the road.

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Early the next day I headed north to Plymouth, MA to visit the Pilgrim Memorial State Park, which is the site of the first Pilgrim Colony, and to see the famous “Plymouth Rock” and the “Mayflower II” ship. Interestingly, there is actually no historical mention of the Pilgrims “landing on a rock at Plymouth” until 1715. That’s when the rock first appeared in a Plymouth town boundary record as “the great rock.” And, it wasn’t until 1741 that the first written mention of the Pilgrims landing on a rock showed up.

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The story goes that a 94 year-old church elder, Thomas Faunce, claimed he knew the precise boulder the Pilgrims first stepped on when they landed in the new world. I’m sure you would find the Googled history of “Plymouth Rock” as interesting as I did. I didn’t go aboard the Mayflower II because I had planned a full day of exploring Old Boston and the Boston Inner Harbor, and needed to be on my way

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—–To Be Continued—–

 

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Giving Thanks for Goats

24 Nov

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

 

 

This is the photo our mother sent to our father when he was in the infantry on the European front during WWII. The story is about the time just before he went away. He did come back, so the story’s not about that, it’s about goats.1

In 1943, my family had a nanny goat. We called her Nanny. When she had a kid, we called him Billy. I loved the warm foamy milk Nanny gave and Billy was glad to share with me. This is all when we lived down in Crowley, Colorado and Dad worked at the tomato factory keeping their machines going. We lived in a “railroad apartment.” That’s a long house built with a room or two going back in a row like train cars and an indoor side hallway to enter them by.

Speaking of trains, we did have one rumble past, practically in our back yard, every day. When we heard it coming David and I would be waiting to wave to the conductor who was always there in his dark uniform and square looking hat to wave back. Something tells me he stationed himself on purpose to say good morning to the two little kids who were so glad to see him.

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Anyhow mother had more jobs than kids, housework, and animals. She cooked dinner, which we now call lunch, for all the men who worked at the factory, so with that, and the care of children and animals, she was a busy woman.

When the tomatoes were ripe, dad would bring some home and I remember sitting outside, on the stoop in the sun, with a salt shaker and salting each bite of that delicious fruit before I bit into it. You can be sure I was “all over” tomato juice when I finished, but I was washable and so was my dress, so that was all right.

Sometimes, Mother would take my brother who was about two, and I over to the factory to see daddy. Everybody went, walking the aisle between tomato plants. Here’s the line-up. Mother, DiVoran (5), David (2), Red, the Irish setter, Nanny, Billy, and Chanticleer the rooster. The baby goat wasn’t so bound by the aisle that he couldn’t divert to where the newest plants lived under panes of glass. Mother said his little hooves went trip-trap, over the glass and he never broke a thing.

This Christmas I’m buying a goat in memory of Nanny and Billy, but I don’t have any place to keep her, so I am sending her to a far away country and the people who live there will keep her, breed her, use her milk. Did you know that goat’s milk is especially nutritious for people who have AIDS? I’ll see my goat and all her progeny in a big tribe spreading over the hills when I get to heaven, (after I see Jesus and my family, of course). I’m looking forward to the whole scenario.

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http://www.heifer.org/gift-catalog/index.html

 

 

Matthew 25:35

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

http://www.openbible.info/topics/feeding_the_hungry

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An Amazing Adventure~Part 5

23 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

As we were leaving the Grand Canyon, once again we had a picnic meal near the van. After we packed up from our meal, we headed toward Cameron. But before we arrived, Brian stopped the van and we all got out. It was a clear night, at elevation, and with almost no visible “town” light, and we did some stargazing. It was AMAZING! And I was able to see the Milky Way for the first time in my life. It is really beautiful! I never thought I could see it with my “naked eye” like that.

We headed to Cameron for an overnight at the Cameron Trading Post Hotel, in Cameron, Arizona.

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It is near the Grand Canyon, but outside the National Park.   Interesting place—perhaps not as “fancy” as the Ute Casino, but unique in its own way. It was established in 1911 as a Navajo and Hopi trading post, where the Native Americans would bring their goods to barter.

The inside of the restaurant was unique, as well. Notice the hammered tin ceiling.

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There was a small garden near the hotel, that Fred and I wandered through the next morning after breakfast.

From Cameron, we drove northwest toward southern Utah, but we were still in northern Arizona at this point. We were still following the Colorado River—the river that carved out the Grand Canyon. We stopped and walked across the Navajo Bridge, built to replace Lee’s Ferry.

 

 

Lee’s Ferry was essentially the only way for the Mormon’s to cross the Colorado River, leading them into Utah. Lee’s Ferry is designated within the southwestern most extreme of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and is considered the northernmost end of Grand Canyon National Park. It was an important crossing point before construction of the Navajo and Glen Canyon Bridges. It was named for John Doyle Lee, who operated the ferry for many years. The ferry was in use for 60 years, before the bridges were built in 1928. If one didn’t cross on this ferry, one had to travel another 800 miles just to cross the 85 feet of the Colorado River. So it was an important ferry crossing.

 

Driving out of Glen Canyon, from Lee’s Ferry we passed an area with several balanced rocks, and an inspiring vista of Cathedral Peak.

 

 

We then made our way alongside the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument that was set aside in the 1990’s due not only to its beautifully colored cliffs, but also its importance as a preserve for nesting condors.   We continued our journey through the upper end of Kaibab Plateau National Forest where we stopped at the Forest Station for a picnic lunch.

 

~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~

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A Self Pep Talk

21 Nov

From my Heart

Louise Gibson

Louise Gibson

 

Here I am at a ripe old age-

and I can’t argue with a calendar page.

My body is bemoaning.”Woe is me,

Arthritis can be a catastrophe!”

But my mind is saying,

“Go, girl!, you have a life to live.

Good deeds to be done each day,

and much love to give.

 

Keep in mind, your biggest cheer leader

in life is YOU.

Choose a positive attitude in reaching your goals,

and watch your dreams come true”..

 

You go girl

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Talks with Johnnie Lord

20 Nov

Talks with Johnnie Lord

 DiVoran Lites

DiVoran Lites

I was in the first Sunday School class Johnnie Lord taught when she and Peter first came to Titusville. We met in the house next door to our church, the First Baptist, downtown. As I recall, it was a space-filled room with sunshine splashing through the windows and over the wooden floors.

Johnnie talked slow and southern. I, who had just come from California with my husband and two small children, was fascinated by her. She used her hands in teaching, and did I say she was soft-spoken and kind? No? Well, she was the kindest and wisest woman I have ever personally known. I am by no means alone in feeling this way.

One of the first things I recall Johnnie telling us was that a woman was responsible for dressing modestly instead of trying to draw attention to herself by wearing what might be called alluring clothing. That was the first time I ever heard that idea, although I’m sure my mother and grandmother had done their best to instill it in me. Of course she was teaching the Bible, but in a new and accessible way I’d never heard before.

The first time I knew Christian books, besides the Bible, existed was when Johnnie introduced us to, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, by Hannah Whithall Smith. It’s a wonderful book. I recently bought a copy to see what had helped me so much. Basically it’s about looking to God instead of to our own thinking- patterns for guidance. It was written in 1875, and is still very popular. I’d say the principle is more needed today than ever before.

Johnnie suggested that if we didn’t understand something or couldn’t put it into practice we might stop reading until we could. That was good advice, but once I was onto Christian books I gobbled them like a starved child. Blessedly she also gave us a hunger and thirst for scripture, and for time spent alone with God every day. Renie and Billy watched Captain Kangaroo first thing in the morning and I, a stay-at-home mom, got started studying the Bible and learning to pray. Peter’s 9:59 plan about journaling inspired me to write letters to God, which I still do today.

It would be hard to say whether inspiration came to us through Johnnie or through Peter. They were sometimes called the dynamic duo, and I know they depended on each other’s relationship with the Lord in leading the congregation. They had many a sore trial, but they eventually counted them all for good.

One time I was sitting across the table from Johnnie and jokingly told her I had stolen Bill’s Bible. She said, “If you stole it, you probably needed it.”

Johnnie would often quote Isaiah 26:3, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee: …” I didn’t get it, but it stuck with me, and after I actually asked Jesus to be my master and savior, I began to understand what it meant.

In the seventies, Bill and I had some trouble in our marriage, and we consulted with Peter. He helped us through it, and there is no doubt that much of his counsel came from what he and Johnnie had learned in their marriage. The idea was that most people, when left to their own thoughts will try their best to figure it out or battle it out, but that if they focus on God and His will, His Holy Spirit will do the work. The prayer we prayed was: “Lord, change this marriage, beginning with me.” Bill and I just celebrated our fifty-seventh wedding anniversary. I hate to think where we and our family would be now, if we’d never met Peter and Johnnie .

Recently I was talking to a friend who grew up at Park Avenue with our gown children. She and I are both deeply grateful that the younger generations of each family are now thriving in goodness. We know that would not be so if it hadn’t been for our beloved leaders, and for the dear helpers and teachers at the church.

Thank you Peter and Johnnie. We hope your crowns in heaven aren’t too heavy with stars. Ah well, you probably won’t wear them anyhow, neither of you was ever looking for personal glory.

Johnnie went to be with the Lord this week. I know He is delighted to welcome her home-

 

Thou will keep in perfect peace

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My Colonial States Trip~Part 1

19 Nov

A Slice of Life

 Bill Lites

Bill Red Spot Plane

 

Since I always wanted to visit the northeastern U.S. Colonial States during the fall foliage color change, I decided to give late September and early October a try this year. My primary museum resource was, of course, my “Guide to Over 900 Aircraft Museums – USA & Canada,” which gave me an approximate route for my trip. Next came the airline and rental car research. One friend, who had lived in the Boston area and still had relatives living there, recommended the Providence, RI airport for two reasons. One, because Southwest Airlines (I could fly free with points) had non-stop flights from Orlando to the T.F. Green airport in Warwick, RI; and two, because it was a smaller airport with much less hassle than JFK or LaGuardia.   When I checked out the rental car prices, I found I could save over $250 by renting the same car at a downtown Providence location instead of at the airport. That savings would go a long way toward paying for my gas on this trip. Here again my Boston friend was able to assist me with Rapid Transit information to and from the airport to Providence. On most of my trips I find that talking to friends who have lived in the areas I plan to visit is a great source of valuable information. Next, I researched the Internet for “Things to do” and “Points of Interest” in the major cities of the states where my initial route seemed to be taking me. This narrowed the route down to more specific locations along the way. Then I approximated the distances between museums or attractions (including time at the museum/attraction) along my route to look for motel locations and rates (nights for the lowest points) so that hours on the road per day were reasonable. All this makes for a very time consuming process, but I enjoy the research and thinking about all the fun places and things I am going to be seeing.

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I had planned to start my first day (flight day) after arriving in the Providence area, to pick up my rental car, and then visiting a museum and a memorial park before checking into the motel for the night. I was a little concerned about the timing of all this because my flight was scheduled to arrive at the T. F. Green Airport at 12:50 pm and the commuter train left the airport stop for Providence at 1:25 pm. If the plane was late, it would mess up my whole evening as the next commuter train would not leave the airport until 3:55 pm. My Boston friend assured me that I would have plenty of time to make the 1:25 train and not to worry. Right, easy for him to say! Well, as it turned out, the flight was early getting into the T.F. Green Airport, and I got to the train stop in plenty of time. Interestingly, there was a young man waiting for the same train I was, and I asked him about how to know which train was my train. He kindly explained and come to find out he was from Melbourne, FL (about 40 miles from Titusville, FL where I live) and had been on the same flight that I was on from Orlando. He was there to visit relatives and was very helpful with information about the commuter train system.

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—–To Be Continued—–

 

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My Second Business

18 Nov

Leon is a new contributor to Old Things R New. Last Wednesday he suffered a serious stoke. Please keep him in your prayers.

My Second Business

 Leon Holecheck

 

When I was 9 years old, my dad gave me 50 cents to mow the front and back lawns.  That was a lot of work and a lot of money. When the lady who lived down the street found out I mowed lawns, she offered me 50 cents to mow her front lawn. I used her lawn mower and  it was in good shape and had been well lubricated. It took me most of that Saturday morning and afternoon to finish the job, because it was a big lawn. It was summer time and I sweated a lot and drank a lot of water. It was a huge relief to sit down on the lawn in the shade and rest from time to time. She required me to trim the edges of the lawn along the curb and on both sides of the sidewalks. I had to do all that edging on my hands and knees. She was happy with my work, and when she paid me, she told me she would pay me another 25 cents to mow the backyard. She wanted me to come back every Saturday.

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Another lady further down the street offered me one dollar to mow her lawn. Then another lady offered me a dollar and fifty cents to mow her lawn. My last mowing job paid me the most, but it was the hardest. The lady paid me three dollars to mow her lawn. The lawn mower was very old and nobody had ever lubricated it. The blades would barely turn and it was very hard to push. I only mowed lawns, during the summers, because in 1949 I got a job working at a filling station, which was close to my house, on Saturdays for thirty five cents an hour. I worked at the filling station job for a little over a year before I started thinking about joining the circus. But, that’s another story for another time.

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—–The End—–

 

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Winter Begins

17 Nov

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

Suddenly the nighttime temperature was 50 degrees, then 40. It was also time to set our clocks back and stay in our warm cozy beds for an extra hour. Bill got the cat beds down from the attic so our little darlings wouldn’t catch cold, but Jasmine and I both got the sneezes anyway.

Another sign that winter has arrived is that last year’s and the year’s before poinsettia plants on the porch are full and lush, and even have a few leaves turning to red. Isn’t nature is wonderful?

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I got out a red plush sweater and a plaid flannel shirt to wear with my jeans. Soon I will reorganize my closet and drawers putting most of the shorts and t-shirts away, but not all. I do this twice a year, donating things I haven’t liked or worn and thus saving enough room for the ones I do enjoy wearing.

My winter stash yielded a velveteen, long-sleeved top with woven in flowers. I love that one, but each year when I wear it, a woman at church says something like: that top is so pretty. It’s to bad you can’t buy those any more. Well, okay, some people aren’t famous for their tact, but I’m not all sweetness and light myself – anyhow not always. Ask anyone. It’s the truth that counts. Am I going to let public opinion stop me from wearing something I want to wear? I’ll have to give that some thought.

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New International Version
Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. http://biblehub.com/james/3-5.htm

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Love Wins

14 Nov

From My Heart

Louise Gibson

Louise Gibson

 

 

Look deep within yourself-

What is it that you see?

Hope for the future-

A Christ-centered destiny?

 

I didn’t know how to truly live-

until I learned to love

And that didn’t happen until I met Christ,

our amazing God above.

 

If we are all wrapped up in our self,

it makes a very small package, you’ll agree.

But when Christ comes in and fills us with His love,

from the bondage of “self” we are free!

 

As the song goes, “Oh, victory in Jesus,

our Savior forever”-

To Him I raise my voice in praise.

He gives us purpose in living,

and strength to meet the needs of our days.

Love Wins

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