Tag Archives: Christian bloggers

3 2 1 Lift Off or Not

4 Dec

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I'm a winner

This has been another busy week and I want to apologize to my friends who blogs I usually visit. Three of Rebekah’s novels have been involved in sales this week and has kept me glued to my computer. Also, a Facebook group I am a part of held a three-day Facebook party and I agreed to be a moderator. That means I spent time on the party page, making sure everything flowed smoothly and that our guests arrived on time. Actually, it was a lot of fun and I won several books and an audiobook.

Today was a change of pace. Rebekah and I arose early and headed out to the Indian River to Space View Park to watch the launch of the next generation space vehicle, Orion. The launch was scheduled for somewhere around 7:05 am

Sun rising over the Indian River

Sun rising over the Indian River

When we arrived, somewhere around 6:45am the sun was just coming up over the horizon and the crowd was on its feet and excited, but there was something missing-noise. In the past, multiple radios could be heard, giving out updates and people stood chatting with strangers. Today all I saw was people on their phones, watching on live stream or a NASA stream. I had my phone out, tweeting and sharing photos on Twitter. It was fun seeing people from around the world talking about it, but what happened to talking to the person next to you?

The launch was delayed due to a boat being in a restricted area and the countdown was put on hold until the boat cleared the area. The countdown began again and was stopped repeatedly for either wind or mechanical problems and ultimately the launch was scrubbed.

photo 2There was an amusing tidbit that came out of the morning. Down in front of us a man was set up with a portable TV, an antenna and a booming voice. As each event occurred he would shout HOLD or FOUR MINUTES and eventually the dreaded word SCRUB. Having grown up listening to “The Voice of NASA”, it gave me a chuckle to think the very serious and professional voice had been replaced in this new era of space flight.

Since the sequel to Rebekah’s book Jessie will take place and possibly begin in the shuttle era of the space program, she and I will be up early  tomorrow to try again. I plan to tweet less and talk more, BUT if you are on twitter look for my tweets @iluvscoops.

 

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My Colonial States Trip Part 3

3 Dec

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Bill Stars Plane

My Boston friend had suggested I take the “T” Commuter train from outside the city to avoid traffic and parking problems. So I plugged the Braintree “T” Station address into my Garmin (We call her Greta) and headed north. When Greta announced “Arriving at address on the left,” all I saw was a row of warehouses. I drove around looking for the station with no luck. Finally I asked a guy coming out of one of the warehouse buildings where the train station was. He pointing and said, “Turn at the light and then it’s just over there a few blocks.” I followed his directions and found the station, parked in the parking garage and bought my round-trip ticket at the kiosk. I boarded the “Red” line train to the “Downtown Crossing” station, where I transferred to the “Orange” line for the “State” station, where I transferred to the “Blue” line for the “Aquarium” station, where I got off and found the City View Trolley Tours. Shooo, was that intense!

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The tour of Old Boston and the Inner Harbor was great, with on–off stops where I could visit the many famous “Freedom Trail” landmarks such as the Old North Church, from where it is said Paul Revere received his lantern signal to begin his famous ride to warn the patriots “The British are coming!”; The Old South Church (or Third Church in Boston), which was used as The Meeting House (as a bit of trivia, in 1773, Samuel Adams gave the signals from the Old South Church Meeting House for the “War Whoops” that started the Boston Tea Party); The site in the harbor where the Boston Tea Party took place; and of course, a self-guided walk-thru tour of the USS Constitution and museum.

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I was especially interested in the USS Cassin Young (DD-793) Museum located there in Boston harbor, because one of my tours of duty with the U.S. Navy was aboard the USS Gurke (DD-783). The Cassin Young was a (1943) Fletcher-class destroyer, whereas the Gurke was a little later (1945) Gearing-class destroyer, but they were overall very similar. To say walking thru that destroyer brought back memories is an understatement.

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When I got off the “T” train at the Braintree station that afternoon, I looked at the parking garage, and it was only 4-stories high. I distinctly remembered that the parking garage where I had parked that morning was 5-stories. After many questions to the station attendants, I finally realized that the guy who had given me directions that morning, for some reason, had directed me to the “Quincy Center” station instead. Now I had to buy a one-way ticket and catch the next train back one stop to the Quincy Center station to find my car. What a mess that was, and a big waste of time! Once I got to my car, I headed for the U.S. Naval Shipbuilding Museum in Quincy, Ma to see the heavy cruiser USS Salem. I didn’t spend much time at that museum as I wanted to visit the Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA which is a living museum that re-creates life in rural New England during the 1790s thru the 1830s. I tried to get there before they closed, but that didn’t work out because “Greta” took me to the wrong location again. I finally found the Village, but by then they were closed, so I called it a day, had dinner and went to the motel for some rest and TV.

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—–To Be Continued—–

 

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Worries

1 Dec

3

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and ArtistI’ve heard people say that they never worry, especially Christians since they condemn worry as a sin. They’re right, it comes from fear. But have you ever really met anyone who never worries at all? I haven’t. I sometimes worry about the strangest things. I worry about being useful to God. I worry about doing everything right so that the ones I love will love me, I worry about our health as we grow older, and here’s one that goes with love, I worry about being alone and lonely.

Lately, though I’ve been getting good results from praying about my worries as they come up. I pray that I will know the real truth of a situation, I thank God for it, and I let go of trying to figure it out for myself.

The number one human rule if you’re worrying is to do something good for somebody else. But you know what? I then worry about exactly what I should do. I wish I had not spent all the brain power I’ve spent trying to figure out what volunteer organization to join or who needs my help.

One day, I just said, okay. I give up. I don’t want to join a new organization. I don’t want to add to my should do list, and I don’t need someone else planning things for me to do for other people.

After giving up I told the Lord, it was his job to tell me what to do and when. I would watch for his His movement. Meanwhile I could stick with what I knew beyond doubt were my personal callings. For me it would be things like keeping my husband happy and well fed and both of us in the best health possible. It would be having my family’s backs, worship, prayer, writing, teaching Sunday school. That sort of thing.

But do you need to know what I’m called to do? I’d say no. I’d say you need to know what God has called you to focus on.

What’s happening now is that I do have time to fulfill my calling or callings, but also He works divine appointments and divine interruptions gently into my routine so that life never gets boring. As a matter of fact, I’m having more fun, feeling less lonely, and enjoying more adventures than ever before in my life. So rules are okay, but divine inspiration and serendipities are so much better.

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An Amazing Adventure~Part 6

30 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

Heading to Utah, we stopped at the Pipe Spring National Monument near Colorado City.  It is a very interesting place—built over a natural spring.  (an interesting footnote is that during World War 2, a series of tankers were built and named after National Parks.  Here is a picture of the S.S. Pipe Spring, courtesy of National Park Service)

S.S. Pipe Spring

I was intrigued to learn that the fort at Pipe Spring was home to the first telegraph station in the state of Arizona.  While not on the original line from Washington D.C., or from San Francisco, the Mormon church built its own adjunct line linking communities north and south to Salt Lake City.  It was called the Deseret Telegraph.  There was a room set up in the fort with the telegraph equipment.  It was manned by women usually, the first being only 16 years old.

We were surprised to learn that Texas Longhorn cattle had been brought to Pipe Spring, and were an integral part of that culture.  There are descendants of the original cattle still there today.

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From Pipe Spring we drove north into Utah, and Zion National Park.  Unfortunately, we decided to take the last eight miles on a road that was barely on the map!  It was full of ruts and holes and took WAAAYYY too long to get to our destination!  But make it, we did, and decided it was the worst part of the trip so far.  Also unfortunately, it was the most direct route to get to Zion.

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Brian wanted to hike to The Narrows—a gorge where there are cliff walls a thousand feet tall with a “narrow” opening through them.

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The Virgin River that runs through there can be relatively calm, or—with flash floods—can be very dangerous.  Fred, Karen and I did a short hike, but then turned back to wait for Brian.  There is no way to hike through The Narrows without getting into the river and depending on the time of year, getting your feet, or knees, or entire body wet.

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It sounded like fun, and we saw plenty of wet, happy folks emerging, but my knees just wouldn’t let me hike very far.  We later took a shuttle ride through the park and got some great pictures.

 

We also saw some deer, and got some good pictures of them.

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We learned that in 1968, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed in the park.

From Zion National Park, we stopped for supper in Hurricane, Utah.  We ate at Durango’s Mexican Grill.  Really good—very similar to Moe’s Mexican Grill, if you are familiar with that.

From there we drove to St. George, Utah.  We stayed in the Lexington Hotel there.  We were about half-way through our trip, so we did our laundry there—enough to keep us in clean clothes until we returned to Orlando.

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

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Can You Have Too Much to be Thankful For

27 Nov

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I'm a winner

Since my mother passed away in 2001 Thanksgiving has been a difficult holiday for me. Not only did I loose my mother, the dynamics of the family holiday were broken. Instead of being a time of family, woman chatter in the kitchen and laughter, suddenly it was just me, my husband and daughter. It was devastating

Today  I sit with my overfull  stomach, trying to list what I am thankful for. The only dramatic event that happened this year is that my son was finally able to have a much-needed surgery. This is a huge praise to my heavenly Father as my son has no insurance and he was blessed to receive top-notch medical care. Still with no other big drama, I concluded that I have too much to list. I have a family that loves me, I have eyes that see, ears that hear and even though I limp sometimes, I have limbs that work. I am outrageously rich with good friends who love me and accept me and my quirks. To top this off, I know to the core of my being that I am uniquely created by God for His purpose. He loves me beyond measure and there is nothing that can separate me from His love

 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

Romans 8:38-39 in The Message

I couldn’t end this without giving thanks for my faithful friends who write for this blog week end and week out. I have learned much from them. So from all of us

We wish you and yours a blessed Thanksgiving.

Old Things R New Family

Judy, DiVoran, Bill, Onisha, Lynn, Louise, Janet

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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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