Tag Archives: Christian bloggers

The Music Makers~Part 1

17 Mar

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and ArtistSaturday I had the privilege of taking fifth grader, Clarisse, to sing at the King Center in Melbourne. As it turned out, it was a big deal. There were only eight students from her school chosen to go. She wore her uniform, which was a pair of black pants and a long sleeved white shirt. Her teacher had a satin cumberbund and bow-tie for her and the other children from their school. Rita, Clarisse’s 17-year-old cousin who lives with her family went along too. We had to be there at eight a. m. So we got up early and drove forty-five minutes down I-95 to get there on time.

Adults and children from all over Brevard County flooded the walkways into the center. Carrie told us we couldn’t go in with her and she didn’t want any hugging, kissing, or long goodbyes, so we walked twenty paces behind and she seemed happy with that. As she walked away, she looked tall and slender in her black pants and white shirt with her hair in cornrows. She had given firm instructions to her cousin not to call out her name in the auditorium.

Rita and I headed for the counties best retail center, The Avenues in Viera. On the way, we talked about high school and friends. Apparently, high school is not a bed of roses. It certainly wasn’t for me. My take is that people want Rita when they want her, but they don’t have any use for her when she needs them and they are sometimes cruelly critical. I could honestly reassure her that she is a good person, and a smart one and she was the one who brought up the fact that high school wasn’t going to last forever. I told her I’d had some of the same things happen to me, but I let them go on for too long. I tried to persuade her that each of us has great worth and that we are free to choose our own friends.

I mean one’s whole life doesn’t have to be long-suffering, does it? Isn’t it okay to find a real and dear friend once in a while? Really, I did have some dear friends, but I thought I ought to please everyone, and I didn’t want to be self-indulgent so I spent more time with the ones I felt uncomfortable with because I didn’t want to be too self-indulgent. Haven’t we all done that—at least sometimes?

Green and pink paintingpng

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So What’s Another Disaster?

15 Mar
With permission: wikimedia.org

With permission: wikimedia.org

 

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

 

 

When will I learn? You’d think by now, aware of the limitations of my blindness, I’d be careful, really careful with the experiments and projects my 6-year-old granddaughter and I do.

“It’s a disaster,” she groaned.

She was right. I had placed the hot iron on the paper covering the group of beads she creatively arranged on a pegboard. The iron was too hot? I pressed too hard? Or missed one step in the instructions?

Don’t know. But after I lifted the iron, part of the melted beads had spread on the carpet, burning a baseball-size spot. Gulp.

After we dried her tears of disappointment, I took a deep breath, and then wisdom trickled in.

I knelt on the carpet and once the rug had cooled, I gently rubbed the palm of her hand on the scorched spot. “Feel this? This will help us remember that when we mess up, it’s not a failure if the mess-ups teach us a lesson.”

“What lesson?

“To read instructions more carefully.”

How many disasters have you have in life? Broken relationships, financial troubles, bad decisions, failed careers.

And the mess is there. They formed a rough spot in our heart, difficult to clean up. Heartache and regret melted in areas where they shouldn’t.

What if we didn’t consider them failures? Instead, those very events can become God’s powerful reminder that He still restores. Because of Him, we may stumble, but will never fall. Relationships end, but His love still remains vibrant. Finances crumble, but He still provides. Careers end, but He gives new beginnings. Illness wants to shake away our peace, but His hand stops the fear.

When embracing the lesson, life smiles again as we repeat “I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Psalm 16:7-8).

Father, how often the failures, mistakes or calamities of life have threatened to shake me. But now, because you’re near me, peace still sings in my soul. And I know each broken area is the lesson that teaches me to wait in expectation for something new, something better, something richer and something worthy of your praise. In Jesus’s name, amen.

• What has failed in your life lately?
• Where do you find the lesson?
• How will you allow God to turn it to good?

Janet

Learn more about Janet, her books and her ministry as an Inspirational Speaker  at Janet Perez Eckles.

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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Robots~Part 2

12 Mar

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites
Bill

 

The military is developing unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs), which are an upgraded form of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), that can perform a wide variety of missions, including combat.  UCAVs are now being designed which will have the ability to fly themselves, pick their own course and target, and to make most decisions on their own.  How scary is that?

                                   

Almost every unmanned space probe ever launched could be considered a robot of one type or another.   Those launched in the early 1960s were very limited in their abilities, but more recently their ability to fly, land, survey and take samples on foreign planets is an indication of the advancement of robotic technology.

                                               

Another example of the use of robotics is in the dairy industry.  I just received an email about the dairy farm in Fair Oaks, Indiana that uses computer assisted robotics to process (feed &  milk) their approximately 32,000 cows per day, to produce enough milk for 8 million people.  As part of the daily processing, a transponder that is attached to each cow, reads and records the amount and quality of the milk from that cow, as it is automatically milked.  Also, a pedometer is attached to each cow that records the distance the cow travels in each 24-hour period.

 

                                                                       

Due to the hazardous nature of mining operations, in particular underground mining, the prevalence of autonomous, semi-autonomous, and tele-operated robots has greatly increased in recent years.  A number of vehicle manufacturers provide autonomous trains, trucks and loaders that will load material, transport it from the mine site to its destination, and unload it without requiring human intervention.

                                               

Robots in healthcare have two main functions. Those which assist an individual, such as a person with a disability or a sufferer of a disease, and those which aid in the overall operation  and processing of such industries as pharmaceutical companies and many hospitals systems.

                                               

 

                                                                        —–To Be Continued—–   

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Slaying the Giants in Your Life~Destroying Discouragement

7 Mar

From My Heart

Louise Gibson

author of Window Wonders

Can you recognize the enemy?
There’s a battle to be won.
Know who you are fighting-
Your armor is the Son!

There are three ways to live,
Of this there is no doubt:
You can live out-
You can wear out, or
You can burn out!

It is erroneous to say
“working too hard is burnout”-
Working hard “at the right thing”
is what it is all about.

Bring everything out of that “anxiety closet”,
and expose it to the ” Light”-
When looked at as they truly are,
You can put them all to flight!

Emotions are treacherous advisors.
We need to be disciplined to stay on track.
Work can be wonderful therapy;
It will get your confidence back!

The Biblical story of David
can turn your life around.
Get your slingshot ready,
“Discouragement, you are going DOWN”.

Psalm 46:1-3
God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble, Therefore, we will not fear. Though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling.

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Robots Part 1

5 Mar

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Bill

In a letter I received from my friend Leon the other day, he mentioned that he had gotten interested in “Robots & Droids.”  I had no idea where he was getting his information, since I knew he didn’t have a computer.  So, I decided to check out the internet to see what I might find there that might interest him.  WOW, was I surprised!   We are surrounded by robots, whether you realize it or not.  Wikipedia started off by saying, “A robot is a mechanical or virtual agent, usually an electro-mechanical  machine that is guided by a computer program or electronic circuitry.”  Then it went on for pages to describe all kinds of Robotics, Soft Robotics and Virtual Software Agents (otherwise known as Bots).

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This immediately brought to mind the “Star Wars” movie series with all its robotics in action and living color.  Of course, there were the “Good” robots that were always there to help Luke Skywalker and his friends with whatever had to be done.  These robots were even lifesavers at times, giving up their vital parts for their owners.

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 Then there were the “Bad” robots, coming (as it seemed) out of the woodwork, lead by the evil Darth Vader.  This guy was determined to get rid of the good guys and take over everything they had, not to mention the whole Galactic Empire.  Boy, did we enjoy watching the good guys defeat the bad guys for a change, even when they were bigger and badder that anyone could imagine.

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Then I thought about the trip to Alabama I made last year to see another friend.  On the way back I stopped in Montgomery, at the Hyundai plant, for a tour and, saw how the automobile industry is using computer assisted processing and robotics.  It was amazing to see how most of the heavy and dangerous jobs have been replaced by robots. 

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Of course there is the military use of  Teleoperated robots, or telerobots,  which are  devices remotely operated from a distance by a human operator rather than following a predetermined sequence of movements.  These units are being used for such dangerous jobs as bomb locating and disposal.

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                                                                 —– To Be Continued—–

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A Time for Everything Under the Sun

3 Mar

Author, Poet and ArtistThere’s a time for everything under the sun, even in our mundane, daily lives, even a time to clean the refrigerator.

Last night, after supper, while Bill went to a meeting, I decided to clean the refrigerator. The cherry juices in the produce drawer and the smears on the top glass shelf have been bothering me since I got my new eyes. (“Believing is Seeing). He and I planned to finish watching “Fiddler on the Roof,” when he got home, so naturally, when he walked into the kitchen and saw what I was doing, he immediately wanted to help.

Everything that had once been in the refrigerator was now on the counters in colorful, casual arrangements. We had red apples, orange oranges, a jar of green pickled okra (which has been in there for a year or more), and a big clear pitcher full of topaz-colored iced tea.

The glass shelves slid in, shimmering with reflections from the light. As Bill handed me the items one by one I rejoiced in the quality and abundance of food. We had too many avocadoes, but we like them in many things, and they will stay good until we take them out and let them ripen. We had a re-run dish of mushroom meatballs with homemade basil sauce and some perfectly cooked (if I do say so myself) spring pole beans for a side.

Jasmine, our domestic cat, who likes to help with everything, sat on the damp cloth I’d used to clean the floor. I suppose she was guarding the cloth for me. I can’t think of any other reason a cat would sit on a wet cloth, can you?

When we finished, I was thrilled with the sparkling cleanliness and the beauty of the colors gleaming within. I hadn’t touched the inner door shelf or the outside of the refrigerator, which is splacked with favorite Bible verses, quotations, photos, and magnets. I’ll de-clutter all that when the time is right.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 NIV

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

colors of the fridge

Nice and clean

#MondayBlogs #Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

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Earthquake

2 Mar

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

Judy Wills

                                                    

I don’t remember there being much said about earthquakes in New Mexico as I was growing up.  Many other parts of our country – and the world – had earthquakes, but not New Mexico.  It used to fascinate me how the earth would “shift” and rub against another part of earth and produce such a thing. I never thought I would be involved in an earthquake, myself.  But it did happen.  Fortunately, it wasn’t a very big quake, but it was definitely enough to shake me up just a bit.

Fred and I were living in San Jose, California at the time, probably sometime in 1966, where Fred was acquiring his degree in Meteorology from San Jose State College, in preparation for his military service.  Fred’s dad was Command Chaplain for the Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC) (headquartered in Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio) at that time.  One of his duties was to visit the chaplains and the inspect the working of their respective chapels within AFLC.  One of those was in Sacramento, California.  So, when he came to visit that AF base, he brought Fred’s mother with him, so they could visit with us as well.

Kitty and Charles Wills 1980

Kitty and Charles Wills

We drove from San Jose to Sacramento and settled down in a hotel room.  Fred’s mother and I stayed in the hotel room and visited, while Fred and his dad visited the base chapel.  I was sitting on the bed in our room – knitting a sweater as I remember – and all of a sudden, the bed began to move!  It was an up-and-down movement, and nothing strong enough to toss me off the bed or anything, but definite movement!!

The movement didn’t last very long, but we were both going “what was THAT??!!”  Turns out, it WAS a mild earthquake.

I doubt that we were on the big fault line that will “someday” break California in half and dump it into the ocean, but it certainly gave us pause.

It certainly also gave me reason to know that I am prepared – ready – to meet my death, if it is in God’s timing for me to join Him.  I’ve tried my best to rely upon Him each and every day since then, to be ready for whatever He calls me to do.

My God is such a GOOD God!  And I love him.

One of my favorite scripture passages:

 1 Chronicles 29: 10-11

David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

“Praise be to you, O Lord, God of our father Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power

and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.”

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Whisper to My Soul

1 Mar

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

“Now what Lord?” I asked when, at thirty-one, I lost my sight to an incurable retinal disease. Initially, I sunk into a dark well of self-pity. And as bitterness and anger dribbled into my soul, the murky water of defeat threatened to drown me.

But years later, when Jesus tapped my heart, He opened my eyes to see beyond my physical darkness. I learned to operate a computer equipped with a voice synthesizer. And my fingers began to dance on the keyboard stringing words of triumph and hope.

But the journey was spotted with chuckholes and hurdles. The biggest bump was how to creatively turn the feelings in my heart into words that would touch my readers.

Then one day, I sat with a heart full of insights and ideas, but my fingers froze. Then, I leaned back and said, “Lord, whisper wisdom into my soul, order into my mind and diligence into my skill.”

When He answered, I widened my spiritual eyes to see that it wasn’t me who worked those phrases together, but it was Him who directed my writing, my inspirations and my stories.

His Word became my spiritual white cane guiding me through my writing journey. Now when I sit before my computer, I take a deep breath and say, “Thank you Lord, that your instructions seep into my soul; then they spill onto my keyboard.”

It’s rewarding for me to say, “I wrote this.” But it’s enlightening to assert, “I heard His whisper.”

His Way

Janet Perez Eckles,

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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The Snow Bird Shuffle

26 Feb

Our friend, Patricia Franklin is back to share a story about Snow Birds and if you live in Florida or Arizona, they aren’t people from up north!~Enjoy,  Onisha.

A Few Thoughts

Patricia Franklin

I don’t know what the bird’s official name is, but I have always called them snow birds. They show up outdoors in the winter when everything and everyone else runs for cover from the snow and cold.   Late December or early January they show up to spend the winter near our birdfeeder. They are hearty little fellows and very striking against the white snow with their dark heads and back, buff colored bellies and black little “snow boots.” They are about the size of a sparrow and join the little red headed finches and sparrows at the feeder.

I watch the little snow birds trying to find  food while the snow is coming down and covering everything in sight.  The snow piles up on the bird feeder.  When the other birds run for cover,  the little snow birds come soaring in, land on the feeder and start shuffling their little feet back and forth and dig up the seed that is buried in the snow.  They are doing their little dance which I call the “snow bird shuffle.”  They are so flamboyant  and enthusiastic it lifts our mood and carries us on through the dark bleak days of winter into the light of spring.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet

Nuthatch

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Parking Lot Excitement

26 Feb

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Bill Lites

The other day I made a trip to my favorite giant retail store to replenish a few food items and recharge the gift card I use to buy gas.  As I pulled into the parking lot to look for a parking space, I noticed a Fire truck idling off to the side.  I often see emergency vehicles of all types at this store, since many of our community’s senior citizens frequent it.  I found a parking space, went in and quickly picked up the few things I needed, recharged my gift card, and headed back to my car.  As I was pulling out of my parking space, I noticed what appeared to be quite a bit of smoke coming from under a car in the next row of parking spaces.  The way the wind was blowing, it looked like it was coming out from under the back of the car.  I thought,  “I wonder if that guy knows how bad his car needs an overhaul?  That car sure burns a lot of oil.”

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The closer I got, the thicker the smoke coming from the car got.  Then the wind shifted slightly, and now I could see the smoke coming from under the car was also boiling out from under the hood and not the tailpipe.  I saw a lady standing behind the car, waving her hands franticly, and looking in all directions for help.  I whipped around a line of cars waiting for traffic to move, and headed for the fire truck.  As I pulled up alongside the fire truck, I saw one of the firemen coming around from the back of the vehicle and I waved him over to notify him of the fire.  He told me he had just seen the smoke, and was on the way to investigate the situation.  Before I could turn my car around and leave the parking lot, the fire truck was rolling up to the smoking car with its siren blaring.  I didn’t have time to hang around to see how long it took the fire department to get the fire out, but I’m sure it wasn’t long.

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 I thought to myself as I drove home, “If you have to have an automobile fire in a retailer’s parking lot, how lucky can you be to have the Fire Department already there, and ready to come to your rescue?”

 

           

 

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