Tag Archives: #amblogging

Hope

14 Jan

My Take

DiVoran Lites

DiVoran Lites

When I walked past Jim’s house, yesterday, he was standing in the driveway with his beautiful collie, Maggie, and his son’s pit bull, Ace.

When asked how he was, Jim replied, “Now that I have given up all hope, I feel fine.” He was joking, but the statement had meaning, too.

Jim (somewhere in the 45 to 50 age range) and Maggie are living at the poverty level because, Jim, a tile man, stopped getting contracts after the last national money crash.

He hoped to continue looking after his mother and eking out her social security check for both of them, and Maggie. He was doing a good, loving, job, too, but somehow, someone deemed Jim’s care inadequate, so his old mother was taken to another town and placed in a nursing home, and of course, the check went with her.

Jim’s house is going up for sale this month for back mortgage payments. Someone else got his mother’s house. His plans are dashed and his hope is gone. He gets odd jobs, no job too hard, and sometimes neighbors hire him to remodel their bathrooms. He thinks about trying to get to Texas to find work, but again—he has no money, and no transportation and he’d have to leave Maggie with his elderly aunt, who helps him the best she can.

As we stood in Jim’s front yard, he began to tell me the fascinating history of pit-bulls, then he, Maggie, and Ace gave me a delightful show: football runs, keep away, tug-of-war, and leaping. It was a Sea-World worthy demonstration in my opinion and brought tears to my eyes. He said Ace looks scary, but Maggie is the mean one. Maggie is mean?!?! It wasn’t her that loved footballs so much she ate five of them. (That’s why they have a plush toy now. It doesn’t taste as good as footballs.)

But yes, Maggie is the matriarch and when necessary she takes command. Ace shoved Maggie down once and it made her so mad she bared her teeth and snarled. He was so contrite; he lowered his head and followed her into the house with his tail between his legs.

But now, I was wondering, how could Jim be so carefree as to entertain a passing neighbor and enjoy his dogs so much when hope was gone?

It’s all about hope, actually. You see Jim has apparently decided to give up on his own plans and trust God’s.

That reminds me of something our pastor’s wife said Sunday: When something we hoped for doesn’t turn out as we planned, we can become heartsick, but if it’s God’s plan it works out for Him and for us. Doors close and doors open. Maybe it was God’s plan for Jim to look after his mother for a while and then it was His plan for things to change for both of them. God does surprisingly serendipitous things when we trust Him. I’ll be interested to hear what happens next to Jim and Maggie.

Proverbs 13:12, Romans 8:28, I Thessalonians 5:18

 

dog 1dog 2

 

 

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Calendar Choices

7 Jan

My Take

DiVoran Lites

DiVoran Lites

The calendars in the bookstores are on sale now, but we bought ours before Christmas. It may not have been the smartest shopping choice, but one year we waited for the sale and the ones we wanted were all gone.

We bought the Audubon Engagement Calendar with a nature photograph every week. We also got, Live, Love, Dream which has helpful quotation and has pages small enough to glue into my journal every day. I’m crazy about journals and about helpful quotations.

Audubon calendar buyers get a free page a day calendar for 2013, and I chose a Bible version. Sometimes my friends like a Bible verse on Face Book. Besides, as helpful as the helpful quotations may be they can’t deliver the dimension scriptures can.

A long time ago our pastor suggested we try writing out Bible verses as if God was talking directly to us. Almost any verse will bring the Holy Spirit up close and personal. Sometimes I keep on writing in my journal after I finish with the verse. I’m surprised when I go back and read it again, Hey that sounds like God and not like me. It’s so cool!

Here’s a sample:

My Dear Child, I love you. You are unique and special to me. Here is something I deeply desire for you to have: May Christ, through your faith, actually dwell—settle down, abide, make His permanent home—in your heart. May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love. Ephesians 3:17 (Amplified Bible)

The Message uses the phrase: “the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love.” What does your version say? Try it, you’ll like it.

calendars

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Lord Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise

3 Jan

Those of you who have been  following Bill’s travel adventures, we are offering up praises that his heart attack was mild and he is doing very well- Onisha

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Onisha

 

 

Last week I wrote of the plans I had made for Christmas and how they hadn’t worked out. I am hoping 2013 will be a bit more cooperative.  My parents often prefaced their plans with “ the Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.” As a child, I thought this sounded silly but now I understand that in a humorous way they were lifting their plans up to God.

This week we will be leaving the chilly weather and heading to the sunshine in Florida. We live a rather migratory life, visiting between our children. When I am in Florida I am very content. I love spending time with life long friends and of course being with our daughter. When it is time to return to the “hills,” I am sad and not sure I really want to go.  Once our car gets a few miles up the interstate my heart begins to race with trills of anticipation, excited to see our son and his family and all the things we love about our living in the country. All too soon it’s time to close up the house and head back to Florida and once again I am sad and not sure I want to go.

Does this make me fickle? I don’t think so. I prefer to think of myself as content. In Philippians 4:11 Paul speaks of being content in his circumstances. Admittedly he is referring more to finances, but I am still claiming the contentment!

 

Philippians 4:11-13

 

11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ[a] who strengthens me.

 

 

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The One Whose Plans Are Always Perfect

27 Dec

I had big plans for this years Christmas. My granddaughter and I love baking together and were going to bake lots of cookies to share with the neighbors. I planned to attend   many Christmas programs given by the local churches. Sadly no cookies were baked and I only attended two Christmas events.

Sitting on my couch surrounded by Christmas decorations some complete, some in progress I realized once again that plans don’t always work out.

Christmas Day arrived and  the frustration melted away. All the failed plans were swept aside as we celebrated the birth of our Saviour, the one whose plans are always perfect.

I love this song performed by Michael W Smith. Lyrics found here 

My Jesus, My Saviour,

Lord there is no one like you,

All of my days, I want to praise

The wonders of Your mighty love.

My comfort, my shelter,

Tower of refuge and strength

Let every breath, all that I am

Never cease to worship You.

Chorus:

Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing,

Power and majesty, praise to the King!

Mountains bow down and the seas will roar,

At the sound of your name!

I sing for joy at the work of your hands,

Forever I’ll love you, forever I’ll stand

Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.

Repeat verse

My Jesus, my Saviour,

Lord, there is none like You

All of my days, I want to praise,

The wonders of your mighty love

My comfort, my shelter,

Tower of refuge and strength

Let every breath, all that I am

Never cease to worship You

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Our Trip Across America-Part 12

26 Dec

   A Slice of Life                       

 Bill Lites

Bill

 

We headed East out of Westcliffe on SR-96 and then South on SR-165 so we could stop and take a tour of one the most interesting local attractions in the area.  It’s called Bishop Castle.  Located on the edge of the San Isabel National Forest, it is a truly amazing structure.  What started out to be a one-room stone cottage in 1969, over the years, has turned into a life’s project, for Jim Bishop, who has built the entire “Castle” by hand.  As it stands now, the “Castle” has three full stories of interior rooms, complete with a Grand Ballroom, soaring towers and bridges with vistas of a hundred miles, and a Fire-Breathing Dragon, all making the Bishop Castle a most unforgettable experience!

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We picked up I-25 North out of the mountains, stopping in Pueblo to visit DiVoran’s grade school friend Joan and her family.  She and DiVoran had a wonderful time remembering “The Good Old Days” they spent growing up together in Westcliffe.  It wasn’t long after leaving Pueblo, heading East on US-50 that we had our 2nd flat tire on the camper.   I guess all those sharp rocks we encountered going up and down Hermit Lake Road weakened that old tire.  We were able to find a replacement tire in Lamar, CO and were soon back on the road toward Dodge City, Kansas.

 

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Of course, we had to stop for a spell in what was the famous frontier town to have a Sarsaparilla at the Long Branch Saloon, and take a stroll out to see Boot Hill, where some of the West’s most famous outlaws were laid to rest.

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From there, it was on East through parts of Kansas and Missouri, where we encountered some of the vast mid-American heartland, with its huge farms of miles and miles of lush wheat and corn crops.

 

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At some point we crossed that grand old  Mississippi River, with all its commerce and history.  Boy that sure is a lot of water!  It was about this time in the trip that we had our 3rd camper tire flat.  What a pain!  I said to myself, Come on now, there are only three tires on this camper, and now we have had all three go flat.  I hope this will be the last of them!

6

 

If the picture above looks familiar, it’s because I was becoming an expert at changing those camper tires.  After replacing that 3rd tire, we now had three brand new tires on the camper, and we never had another tire problem with that camper as long as we had it.

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We continued our travels Southeast, making stops in Tennessee and George, and we were awed by the sights of some of the most beautiful parts of the Appalachian Mountains we passed through.

8

As we got closer to home, we stopped in Atlanta, Georgia and Tallahassee, Florida.  Part of the joy of this trip was to experience the different parts of the country, its history, and the way people have lived down through the years.  The southern plantations were of special interest and beauty, as they were surrounded  by so much history and grandeur.

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What a great adventure we had visiting our good friends and relatives and seeing all those wonderful sights across our beautiful country.  But now we were heading for the barn, and there was no way to stop us.  After the six weeks on the road, we were all ready to get home, see our Florida friends and sleep in our own beds again.  Boy did that feel good!

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By the way, remember the freeze-dried brine shrimp we bought in Salt Lake City, Utah?  Well, sure enough, when we got home, we put them in water, and they came back to life.  That was Amazing!   Who knows, maybe this is where the Science Fiction folks got some of their ideas.

Well, that just about wraps up “Our Trip Across America.”  I hope you have enjoyed it as much as we did.

 

—-The End —-

 

 

 

 

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Praying for Cranberries

1 Dec
A Few Thoughts
Patricia Franklin
 
In the crisis center where I volunteer, we are very busy this time of year. Each family or client can receive a food sack once a month and used clothing every other month, i.e., a pair of pants and 2 shirts per person, a coat or pair of shoes once every six months. We can process about 100 or more families through the system in a 3 hour time period. Donations are mostly from churches, local  food stores and people who know why we are here. This organization was started several years ago by a few downtown churches, and has spread throughout the community.  I work at the front counter, where we keep a file on each person or family. Our clientele is steadily growing as the economy worsens and the holidays approach.
There are some very sad cases, many due to health and family problems, some jobless, elderly, homeless, etc.  In my position I don’t always know the details about the client. We have to work pretty fast, so there is not much time for conversation. But once in a while it seems like time stands still for a moment and you are struck by a particular person. For instance the other day a woman came in on a cold day and said she had no sox and asked if she could just have a pair of sox.  She was thrilled when the woman from clothing came out and handed her two pair of used sox.
The other day, a quiet middle-aged man came up to the counter and I asked “How are you today?”  Quietly he answered, “Well, not so good.  Things have been better. My back is bad, my legs…. and lots of things… but I pray a lot.”  Then he stood quietly waiting for me to fill out his paper work.  I said to him, “I’ll pray for you too.”  He started to walk away and suddenly turned back and said “Today I’m praying for cranberries.”  I stopped and looked at him as he walked away and tears came to my eyes as I thought.  “Of all the things that he must need, he simply prayed for cranberries, wanting this simple little thing for himself.” 
I don’t know what he got in his food sack that day, but with a lump in my throat, I went home that day praying with all my heart that he would get his cranberries.
 Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it’s needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you.
Hebrews  13:1-3   The Message

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