Tag Archives: Christian bloggers

100 Years and Counting….

22 Apr
Today we are pleased to have our friend Patricia Franklin on Old Things R New. It is so good to have her back for the day~Onisha
Patricia Franklin
A Few Thoughts 

Easter Morning!  I’m sitting here in my backyard contemplating and marveling at the meaning of Easter and realizing He really does make all things new! 
There is new growth on my rose bushes. The new blossoms are out on the tree and a brand new baby squirrel explores the branches and discovers the delicate new growth and enjoys the sweet taste for the very first time. There are new blossoms on the strawberries in the garden and plenty of new weeds and dandelions that popped out since our much needed wet spring snow of two days ago. 
But I have been impatiently waiting  to see if our 100 + year old plant will grow this year in our garden. We brought this plant several years ago from the old family home and transplanted it here.  It was very sparse last year, and we were not sure it would make it another year.  Yesterday, I spotted little dark green leaves coming up in the garden spot. Was that the beginning of this special plant, or just another weed taking over the area?
This morning after greeting the newly risen Christ at church, I hurried home and ran to the garden spot to search again for the new life of the plant.  Lo and behold, three strong green leaves were open and reaching for the sun (Son) !!  It is not a weed, it is the 100 year old plant…. alive and well!  I realize again, He really does make all things new on this Day of Days!  Praise God!

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Asparagus and the Cat

21 Apr

My Take

DiVoran Lites

 

Author, Poet and ArtistI just got home from the grocery store. Even though Bill’s not here, I just had to buy some asparagus. Have you seen the email that says asparagus cures cancer? The smell you get jn the bathroom after eating it is actually its detoxification properties. Bill knows a man who was at death’s door and had all kinds of chemotherapies who was healed by it. I haven’t believed it before, but now for some unfathomable reason I do. I got the email again this week and printed it out for a friend.

Miracle foods abound. Some, like coconut oil, we may not have thought about. But now it too, is the talk of the town. Our internist who was a locally famous doctor told us to start using coconut oil, but I didn’t know how to use it. I bought a book by a woman who used it to slow her husband’s Alzheimer’s. She was a doc and she documented the whole thing. She could tell by his memory when she had given it to him and when she hadn’t. But she fed him large amounts I didn’t think I could handle. Lately I’ve been scrambling an egg in about a teaspoon of it every morning, which is, I understand, is not nearly enough coconut oil.

So anyhow, on his trip, Bill likes to go to Marie Callender’s for breakfast. He’s been telling me over the phone about their Eggs Benedict and how much he loves to order the dish for breakfast. They have soft buns that don’t get soggy, tomatoes, avocados, eggs, and of course hollandaise sauce. I’ve heard about hollandaise sauce for years, but I’ve never known what was in it.

Well, here are some synchronicities. Today I got an email about over a hundred things coconut oil can do for you and what you can do with it. It’s good for skin and for healing on the inside. The site has delicious sounding recipes, like chocolate coconut clusters that are actually good for you. So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to make for my cat, Jasmine, some soup. I’ll call it allergy soup because she suffers from terrible skin problems. The soup will have asparagus, coconut oil, and beef broth. I’ll use canned asparagus for her, which is perfectly acceptable. I’ll put in her arnica Montana (that’s a homeopathic for pain) and her skin irritation homeopathic, and her animal probiotic. I think she’ll love it and it will have a healing effect on her. For me, it’s hollandaise on asparagus and dark cocoa coconut clusters. You can find those and a whole lot of other good things on www.wellnessmama.com. I get my homeopathics from www.1800homeopathic. That’s good stuff!

Thrive

“Dear Friend-I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.” 3 John 1-2 (New Living Translation)

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Easter 2014

20 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

HE IS RISEN!   HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

 

Happy Easter!

 

 

 

 

 

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Do You Like Books or Love Books

14 Apr

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and ArtistAbout a year ago, I started taking a family consisting of Mother, Laura, two-year-old Sunny, teen-aged cousin, Rita, and fifth grader, Clarisse, to the library every three weeks. I did it because Rita is an avid reader, but lost a book from the high school library and couldn’t check out any more until it was found or paid for (which eventually happened). I understood what it might be like not to have anything to read because I too am an incurable reader, though until recently I’ve only been able to read LP books.

The first time we went, Rita selected so many books that when she stacked them she had to hold them at arm’s length. She placed her chin on the top one to steady the stack. That was an endearing sight.

We went again this last Sunday, but this time I was the greedy one. I checked out six novels and three non-fiction books from the NEW bookshelves. Books are almost as important as shelter or clothing to a writer.

Fiction

  1. The Fever Tree, Jennifer McVeigh
  2. Lookaway, Lookaway, by Wilton Barnhardt.
  3. The Cleaner of Chartres, by Salley Vickers
  4. Tapestry of Fortunes, by Elizabeth Berg
  5. A Nearly Perfect Copy, by Allison Amend
  6. One Glorious Ambition, by Jane Kirkpatrick.

Non-Fiction

  1. Smart Chefs Stay Slim: Lessons in eating and living from America’s best chefs, by Allison Adato.
  2. This is the Story of A Happy Marriage, by Ann Patchett
  3. To the Moon and Timbuktu, by Nina Sovich,

So that’s the list of what I have to look forward to. I feel rich. I teased Rita a bit when I showed her I had more books this time than she did. She was proud to announce that she left a few she wanted, knowing they would be there the next time she came back. Oh, yes? I’m not so sure about that, I wasn’t taking any chances this time.

Do you have your books in the public library? We have ours in two libraries in our county and in the Orlando Public Library as well. Bill just asked and they took them. You never lose by giving things away. God always gives more than we do, and some people read so many books they can’t possibly afford to buy them all. I understand Amazon Kindle has a lending policy, as well. There are a lot of benefits to being open-handed. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

boat

 

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A Small Serendipity

13 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                                    

I really love the serendipities that happen in our lives at times. Some are so large they just overwhelm us when they happen. Others are just sort-of average, but just enough different to make us sit up and take notice. And then there are the small ones. Those that just happen in a flash…and then are gone, leaving us to wonder how/why did that happen?

Fred and I experienced that just recently when we went to Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Busy day – lots of high school bands around – lots of Senior Trips around – kids in the same color t-shirts. We usually enjoy seeing these groups. Most of them are not terribly rowdy, and are just having a great time.   Occasionally we see them doing the “flash” thing – breaking into song or the “wave” or something like that.

We had just finished a ride and were on our way to lunch, when a young man caught up with us and said, “would you be my stand-in parents?” We stopped and I asked why? He said his parents had just gone on a ride but he couldn’t get on, so….. I began laughing and ask him what we could/should do. He hesitated a minute then said, “how about a hug?” And so that’s what we did – a group hug for the three of us – all of us laughing at the same time.

And then he was gone.

I told Fred he was probably dared to do that by some of his classmates, but that was okay. It was a fun thing.

MUCH later, I told Fred we should have told this young man that we couldn’t be his stand-in parents, but would stand-in GRANDparents work? Nothing slow about me!

Disney

 

 

 

 

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How to Overcome Insecurities

12 Apr

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight
Janet Perez Eckles

As a teenager, I wish I had known how to overcome not only insecurities, but self-doubt and timidity, too. Like my monogrammed purse, I carried them everywhere. You would expect that at my age, I would have conquered them. Not so.

“It’s upside down, hanging on the pole,” hubby said as he stood looking out the patio door. “It ate all the bird seed.”

“What did?” Curiosity sparked in me.

When he told me it was a possum, I cringed. Although they’re God’s creatures, I dislike them more than a little. They rip our garbage bags, eat the eggs cute ducks lay, and ruin our yard. And to make it more disgusting, the bird seed we prepared for the birdies were now feeding the very creatures I so dislike. Yuck!

But sadly, that wasn’t the only time I fed something I disliked. I had been a pro at feeding my insecurities with lies—my friends won’t accept me if I say something wrong. Why try something new, I’ll surely fail.

– See more at: http://www.janetperezeckles.com/how-to-overcome-insecurities/#sthash.s4DLVaLv.dpuf

His Way

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grateful for the privilege of inspiring you…

My website in English

En Español

My story (video)

Inspirational video  just for you

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Stop That Thief

11 Apr

From My Heart

Louise Gibson

author of Window Wonders

 

 

 

His name is “Procrastination”-
a robber of the worst kind.
He will steal precious possessions,
Such as your coveted “peace of mind”.

He whispers lies so subtly
You may be totally unaware
“You can put that off ’till tomorrow-,
Who will know?, “Who will care?”

Opportunities to be successful
are often few and far between!
Be alert to the possibility
that today is the day to be seen.

No successful person is a ” procrastinator”.
Time is of the essence, don’t you see-
“Today is the Day of Salvation”
Proclaims the Lord of Eternity.

If you pile up enough “tomorrows”,
You end up with a lot of empty yesterdays.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus-
He will help you change your ways.

“Tomorrow” is the most deadly word in the Bible.
It is presumptuous, it is reckless-
The word God prefers is “Today”-
Turn your eyes to Jesus, dear friend-
” He is the Truth, the Light, the Way”.

Hebrews 3:13 warns us to exhort one another
“while it is called “Today”

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Gorging on Green Beans

7 Apr

My Take

DiVoran Lites

 

Author, Poet and ArtistGreen beans have almost no calories, but they’re full of nutrition and are some of those all important fruit and veggies we hear so much about. Our grocery store has wonderful fresh pole beans, right now. We’ve had them twice. But no matter how fresh veggies are, if they aren’t properly cooked and deliciously seasoned, they can be practically tasteless.

One of the weight loss plans we’ve been on, taught us to stop eating when we felt full. Another (the HCG plan) showed us that our weight was more affected by carbohydrates than by anything else. Of course, that included the supposedly magical whole grains we love. Now we try for one small piece of bread or a rice cake a day, and we’re keeping the weight off.

I was brought up to believe that for supper you should have

1 meat dish

1 salad (it could be canned pears on a lettuce leaf and some cottage cheese)

1 cooked vegetable (where I came from they were always canned, but later I sometimes served frozen)

1 carb, usually rice, pasta, or potato, sometimes two if you count the bread

1 dessert (half the time it was JELL-O®

I tried to feed my family that way. I think most American moms, in that era did.

In later years, it was hard for us become accustomed to fresh vegetables. I didn’t know how to cook them and because we didn’t use them fast enough they went bad in the refrigerator. Now we say, “Hmm, this broccoli, spinach, or asparagus, these artichokes, carrots, or green beans, are wonderful!Yes, we have learned to cook and season them properly. We cook them in one of three ways: pressure cooker, microwave steamer, or pot on the stove. For seasoning we use bit of salt, a chopped up garlic clove, and herbs. We grow basil, tarragon, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, and oregano. We have a chart that tells which foods go with which herbs, but we’re doing a lot of experimenting on our own. Every combination we’ve tried so far has been good. The only other dish we have for supper is our meat. All protein is the same except for fat count. Yes, we seem to be carnivores, maybe someday we’ll switch to vegetarian, but maybe not. Anyhow, we have semi-healthy snack in the evening and eat a few nuts. And our weight, blessedly, is holding well.

Oh, and by the way, we asked our internist who is well educated in nutrition whether we had to eat a large variety of vegetables or not, and she told us it wasn’t necessary. We buy the ones we like and for the present our weight and the food we eat are flowing together nicely. What a relief!

How do you feel about vegetables?

Green beans

 

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How to Get Rid of Headaches

6 Apr

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Does anyone out there have the answer or solutions to get rid of headaches? You know those pesky intruders that alter your day?

I wish I knew. The other day I had one of them. The aching throb spread right around the right eye socket. Yuck. It took my concentration away, made me a bit irritable. And since no meds enter this chica’s body, I suffered through it.

Then it happened. God smiled at me. He sent me the most experienced, dedicated and admirable physical therapist. Who, ahem, happens to be my dear friend.

– See more at: http://www.janetperezeckles.com/how-to-get-rid-of-headaches/#sthash.MpUZXHq5.dpuf

His Way

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grateful for the privilege of inspiring you…

My website in English

En Español

My story (video)

Inspirational video  just for you.

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My Best Friend

5 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Judy Wills

 

There is a “new” acronym – BFF – that has taken me quite a while to figure out. I could get the “B(est) F(riend)..” part, but what in the world was that second “F?” I finally saw it in a book the other day – Best Friend Forever. Nothin’ slow about me!

That truly describes my BFF. I still have girlfriends from my childhood, and some I’ve kept up with along the way. But the one who truly has my heart is one I met while we were in Panama City, Florida. She was in the church choir, as were Fred and I. We sat near each other, and just started talking. That led to lunches out occasionally. Shopping – of course! And just the way we thought – we could nearly complete each other’s sentences.

I guess one of the most fun remembrances is when her daughter was getting married. Fred and I had driven down from Virginia (on our way to Disney), and had planned our trip so we could be at the wedding. Her daughter and our oldest daughter were best buds from long before. As it happened, a hurricane was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, headed toward Panama City. With the weather so “iffy,” Fred let me out of the car to head into the church. She told me later that her brother saw me, and his thought was, “what is she (my friend – his sister) doing getting out of that car? And who is that man with her?” We really don’t look that much alike, but it’s fun to think that her own brother mistook me for her!

Even though we don’t see each other very often, we still send Christmas gifts to each other. We always look for something that we would like to have, and know that the other one would love it, as well. She gave me a Cloisonne neck charm – and I think of her every time I wear it, which is quite often.

1

She gave me earrings that I treasure. I gave her some Kaiser figurines from Germany.

3

We give each other Precious Moments figurines that exemplify our relationship. We give each other Willow Tree figurines that depict the same thing.

4

I gave her a “how did they do that?” because I enjoy looking at mine just like it.

5

When we moved to Orlando, we both were thrilled – we were in the same state! Surely we would see each other more often. Took us three years to finally get together. And now it’s been that long again. They have moved to northern Alabama – to the back of beyond, actually! But they love it there, and are happy. But she and I miss each other terribly.

Many years ago, when I was teaching a ladies Sunday School class (ladies much older than I), I mentioned something about a “good friend.” I said that a good friend is someone you can tell ANYthing to, and they will love you anyway. Two of those ladies looked at each other and giggled. I knew they had that same kind of friendship. That’s the kind of friendship I have with this precious lady.

My friend and I are both believers in Christ as Lord and Savior. After all, we met in church. And so, I know that she will, indeed, be my BEST FRIEND FOREVER! And ever and ever. God is so good to have blest me with this friend in this lifetime.

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