Tag Archives: Christianity

A Thousand Trials

15 Jul

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Trials make us more able to trust God. We trust Him more quickly each time one Author, Poet and Artistcomes to us and we trust him on a deeper level the next time. We must, however, remember to come to him while we are in the trial and to ask him for revelation, insight, peace, and power every time.

If we try to white-knuckle it though life, we turn ourselves blind and deaf to the guidance and miracle help he wants to give us. When we tell Him we need his nurturing and care in the midst of the storm, He will perform miracles so wondrous we are hardly able to contain their glory. It’s worth it. We’re worth it. Being in the center of His will is worth it.

“All things work together for good for those who love God and who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

“In one thousand trials it is not five hundred of them that work for the believer’s good, but nine hundred and ninety-nine of them and one besides.” George Mueller

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AEROBICS AND HEARING AIDS

14 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

JUDY 

 I have been an “exerciser” for many, many years of my life.  As a matter of fact, I began jogging more than three months before I shamed Fred into jogging with me. We’ve never stopped doing something in the way of exercise.

 So it came as no surprise to me to find an “aerobic dancing” class beginning shortly after we arrived in Heidelberg, West Germany.  One of the military wives was teaching the class.  I took the class and loved it!  The interest was so great that she wanted to have a partner to help teach – and she selected me.  I taught the remainder of the three years we were in Heidelberg.   This was our logo and color.

During that time, there was one lady in my class who always stood in the front row and to my right (I was facing away from the students).  As we conversed, I thought she had a speech impediment.  After we got to know each other a bit better, she told me that she had been born with some hearing loss.  She wasn’t totally deaf, but enough so that she couldn’t hear the way most words were sounded.  That explained her speech.  But she had hearing aids that helped her so much, and she could understand all the cues I shouted out in the class.

As interesting as all that is – to me anyway – that’s not the end of the story.  We returned stateside and began our life in Virginia.  Our oldest daughter had met her 2future husband while in high school in Heidelberg (his father was our American pastor), and he had returned to the States to attend college – where she was attending, of course.  They married a few years later.

One evening, around Thanksgiving time, I received a call from our son-in-law, saying that, on their way to see his parents in South Carolina, our daughter had fallen asleep at the wheel and they had crashed.  I was furious that he would only say that she was “in with the doctor” and wouldn’t give me any more details – like…..is she still alive???!!!

I asked if he wanted us to come and take them back home (they were only about an hour from their apartment).  He agreed.  He then said, “wait, here is the paramedic who will give you directions to the hospital.”  This young man came on the phone and gave me the directions – with the very same intonation that my aerobic student had!!  I knew at once that he had hearing loss, and not a speech impediment.  And, by God’s grace, I was able to understand every word he said – the first time!  No repeats.  God had prepared me, all those years ago, for that very moment, when I would need my wits about me, and to understand this young man’s instructions.

I could end the story there – that is the main thrust of it – but I want to tell you of God’s gracious hand in all this.  You see, when our daughter fell asleep, the car drifted, and our son-in-law looked up and screamed, which woke her, and she drastically over-corrected.  That caused the car to roll several times.  Amazingly, there were no other cars around them – just down the road a bit – no other cars involved in the crash.  There was an off-duty ambulance behind them that stopped, and the paramedics gave aid.  They could have rolled off a bridge and crashed onto the road below them – but they didn’t – they just rolled to a stop on an embankment.  While the car was totaled, our children only suffered a few cuts and bruises.

Our God is loving and faithful and gracious, indeed.

O Lord, you will keep us safe and protect us…

Psalm 12:7

 

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Visiting Grandmother’s House Part 1

10 Jul

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

When I was about eight years old, our family went to Louisiana for a summer visit with my dad’s family.  Grandmother Lites lived in the same house where she and 1my grandfather had raised 13 children in the late 1800s.  The original acre homestead was located in the central part of the state, near the little town of Many, about 80 miles south of Shreveport.

Grandmother’s house was typical of farm houses during that period; single story, square white clapboard, with a breezeway down the middle, living room and kitchen on one side and two bedrooms on the other.  There was a small front porch with room for several slat rocking chairs, and a narrow screened 2back porch that ran the width of the house and was just wide enough for a couple double beds,

Running water in the kitchen for washing and cleaning was gravity fed from an overhead cistern behind the house.  Drinking water had to be hand drawn with a bucket from the well.  The only heat in the house came from the fire place in the living room or the old  wood burning stove in the kitchen.

3At some point electricity had been added to the house which was the source for the single bare 60-watt light bulb and pull chain in the center of each room.  The old wall mounted crank telephone was a novelty for us kids when the operator would come on the line and ask what number we wanted.

Slop jars were used at night and the two-hole outhouse during the 5day.  Baths for us kids were taken in a round galvanized tub in the middle of the kitchen floor.  The girls got to go first, since they usually didn’t dirty the water as bad as us boys did.

One of our main toys was an old tire that we rolled along 6most everywhere we went.  We had races with them, tied them to tree limbs for swings, and stacked them high to climb on to get at things out of reach over our heads.

The one most memorial visit for me was the year when the U.S. Army was holding one of their war maneuvers in the woods around my cousin’s and grandmother’s property.  My cousins and I would sneak off to the camp when nothing was going 7on, and wonder around checking out all the neat equipment and asking the soldiers questions.  The men were really nice to us, even letting us eat with them when the officers weren’t around.

Sometimes they would drive us out of the “restricted area” in one of their jeeps when they 8were getting ready to fire their howitzers (with blanks of course).  Even after they dropped us off, we were still close enough to get goose bumps every time one of those big guns was fired.   Wow! What a thrill that was.  We even got to play on them sometimes when the soldiers weren’t around, pretending we were helping win the war.  We didn’t know it at the time, but many of our country’s top generals attended those Louisiana maneuvers over the years.

I got a big kick out of helping my mother and grandmother make butter in the handcranked butter churn.  It always amazed me how the milk magically turned into butter and left that yummy buttermilk.  I loved buttermilk and drank it every time I got a chance.  Then there was the time the cows got into the bitter weed, and it made the milk so bitter I couldn’t drink it.

 

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—–To Be Continued—–

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Damaged Goods

8 Jul

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

 

We’re all damaged, except maybe you. Congratulations.

As for the rest of us we have, like saplings all been bent

in different ways.

We’re not like anyone else,

No matter how hard we try to conform.

When we decide we’re never going to be invincible in ourselves

God can use us.

Do we have strengths that God can use?

Sorry, no. it is not our strength He wants.

He has plenty of his own.

What He wants from us are those weaknesses

He allows to be textured into our character.

When we are weak. He is strong.

So in muddling through, we find joy and sometimes sorrow.

Trust Him. His strength is there for us and in us. It is enough.

It is everything. He can do wonderful, miraculous, surprising things with it.

 

Bear

 

 

 

 

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Image

Corky and Angel

5 Jul

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

These two are my feline friends,

So precious, a gift from above.IMG_1693

Born during Hurricane Charley,

Their heart is a “garden of love”.

They were two of a family of eight,

And bonded from the start.

As I watched from my kitchen window,

Their antics touched my heart.

They were tiny, but, oh so feisty!

They, chased, and wrestled in play.

I confess, I prayed for their safety,-

That they would survive another day!

It is almost eight years later.

They live in the house with me.

IMG_1695I would like to share my pictures,-

Illustrations of activity.

The activity is mostly due to them

(as they curtail most of mine)-

They demand my full attention

(which, secretly, suits me fine!)

The “guest room” provides a window

That satisfies Corky’s curiosity-

“Is that racoon still out there?

I’m glad he can’t see ME!”IMG_1699

It is a wonder that I pay my bills on time-

Angel tries to steal my pen.

She even lays on my check book,

(IMG_1700Help me, please, Lord-Amen!)

There are no signs of aging.

As far as the eye can tell-

They have so much energy

That seems to serve them well.

I must confess they have a little help-

When bad weather comes our way-

A  little “catnip” lifts their spirit-

It’s a joy to watch them play!

I am so grateful to the Lord,

He is with us every day.IMG_1692

I couldn’t begin to count my blessings-

He provides in every way.

It is now almost eight years later.

They live in the house with me.

I have taken many pictures.

IMG_1697

IMG_1694

Corky and a Halloween cat

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Hope For Our Country

4 Jul

My Take
DiVoran Lites

Happy Independence Day. Will you be having a cookout, going to a parade, going to the beach, setting off firecrackers, or sitting in the shade drinking lemonade? Author, Poet and ArtistMaybe all of the above?
I love our beautiful world and this country called America, which God has made. Some people may malign us, but at the same time others are doing everything in their power to come here for a new start. No red-blooded American is going to argue that we still have the greatest country in the world. Is it possible God had a hand in that?

I have to admit I am shocked when I hear some of the things politicians in this great country have done. Think of when they killed off the bison so the Indians would die out and when they deliberately infected Native Americans with smallpox so they could take their land.

It appalls me to learn more every day about how bad slavery was. Yet I personally met an African man who explained the scars carved in his cheeks by saying they were proof that he belonged to a tribe that had once captured other villages and sold them to become slaves. He and his wife were in America getting an education. If we focus on badness we will see it everywhere, not just here.
The Dust Bowl was a result of our leaders manipulating the mid-American grasslands until they were exhausted and turned to dust.

The Great Depression was influenced by the Dust Bowl and both came from foolish decisions by the money-mongers in the country, not by ordinary families.
I hear people talking as if they believe the present time is the worst in our history, but what I always wonder is whether those who experienced the disasters I’ve mentioned knew their own time was the worst in American history. It was and they did, but we want to remember this one thing. Our country is a survivor due to those little people that some leaders and officials think don’t count.

Who are we to believe, then? The gov? Or God?

My take is that we are making a mistake if we think politicians good or bad are in control. They are not. Guess who really is. Right, God. God has His plans and He will see that they are fulfilled, every single one of them whether we vote for Him or not. He does however appreciate our cooperation as he does His work through us.
While the events I’ve mentioned were deeply hurtful and themselves left terrible wounds, they have all passed. In 1956 President Dwight Eisenhower signed legislation making the phrase, “In God We Trust,” the official motto of the United States and required it to be included on all U. S. currency. Do we believe it or don’t we? Taking it off the money will cost a lot, but won’t change the answer.

Voting is good. Voting is essential. Peaceful demonstrations are still legal as far as I know. We still have freedom of speech even though we are afraid we’re going to lose it. Signing petitions helps our elected officials know what we little people want. Telling the truth helps and so does morality. Trust and faith in God make us stronger, wiser, and happier. Let’s hear a cheer for the grassroots givers, teachers, helpers, mothers and fathers and the people who lift up holy hands in all kinds of service to their country. It is not we who are in charge, this is not our country, it is God’s country and He still has a plan for America.
“…the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night that the flag was still there.

For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

LUKE 14 : 11

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For Such a Time As This

26 Jun

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

Have you ever wondered what God’s plan for your life really is?  I’ve been told Billmany times throughout my life that God’s plan is perfect and that all I have to do is trust Him and He will direct the events of my life according to His perfect plan.  Well, over the years, I’ve had enough experiences with this concept that I believe it.

As an example, several years ago, while attending another church, the congregation had started a building program to accommodate the added growth of our church.  DiVoran and I had been asking the Lord what we should give as our part, and we were having a hard time hearing from Him about that.  Then finally He got through to us and impressed upon us to give some bank stock we owned to the church as our part.  This was really strange, because of how we had come to own this bank stock in the first place.

About 12 years before this particular building program was set up, a good friend in the banking business had suggested we buy some stock in a new bank. This investment looked good to us because we were getting in on the ground floor, and our friend and his business partners had made money starting banks before.

After DiVoran and I bought the new bank stock. that’s where the value of the stock stayed–on the ground floor.  Every year we looked forward to receiving the bank’s annual report to see how much we had made, but there always seemed to be some good reason no dividend was paid.  Now, we weren’t losing money, we just weren’t making any.  There were times during those 12 years when we really could have used the money, and several times we tried to sell the stock, but nobody wanted to buy it.

Well, as it happened, it was about this time that we started hearing rumors of a bank merger.  These rumors culminated a month later with our bank merging with a larger bank, and suddenly our stock was worth 4 times what we had paid for it!   Why didn’t it increase in value or sell in all those years?   We felt God was saying, “It was for such a time as this.”   So, we signed the bank stock over to the church, and when they asked us what value to put on the stock, we said, “We have no idea, that’s up to God, and you will know its value when you sell it.”

We originally had made the investment thinking we would make some money for ourselves, but God had other plans for that money.  How did He do that?  We don’t have a clue.  All we know is that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways

are not our ways and His timing usually doesn’t match up with ours.  He is able to plan everything way ahead of us.  Then, if we can be still long enough, and listen to His voice, and obey Him, He is able to work out good things for us.

Isaiah 55:8

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There’s Always Hope

24 Jun

My Take

DiVoran Lites

 Author, Poet and Artist

A few years ago, a tall handsome young man we knew, we’ll call him Dexter, wanted some help writing a letter to his dad. The young man was sixteen years old. He had a good guardian, but he wanted to write a real letter to his real dad who was in prison.

He was in band that year and had vowed to make straight A grades. He wanted to catch up by taking online classes so he could graduate with his class. I don’t’ think he’d seen his father since he was a small child. Dexter had no money. He had no way to get to the post-office. Since we believe in teaching self-reliance, we didn’t automatically help out. But by the time a month had passed and he still had no stamp, we broke down and gave him one.

I really don’t know whether his dad got the letter or whether Dexter got a reply. I do know that the boy dropped out of school his senior year, left his stand-in father and mother’s home, and got a job at a fast food restaurant. This spring somehow, miraculously, he graduated from his class and his mother who has also been in prison was there to see him do it. Not his dad, though, I think he’s a lifer.

It wasn’t easy for his guardians to rear him and his sister, they have other children of their own. But what hope it brings to the whole world just to hear this one success story. The sister is doing well in school and plans to enter the military as soon as she graduates. Both of the young people have developed good common sense and the Lord is on their side. No matter how bad things look at first there’s always hope.

What are you praying for that may look a bit iffy right now?

 

 

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The Disease to Please

21 Jun

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

author of Window Wonders

                                   
                                     I am suffering a debilitating disease-
                                     Self-diagnosed as “The disease to please”.
                                     I can’t even tell you when it began-
                                     I never knew it was common to man.
                                     It compels you to say “yes” to every request-
                                     It silently steals your time and your zest
                                     I struggled for years to form the word “No”-
                                     When I finally did, it amazed me so.
                                    I actually believe that is the cure for me-
                                    That one little word has set me free!
                                    Time is so precious, I must take control-
                                    New freedom for mind, spirit, and soul.
                                    Be aware, dear friends, I am working on me.
                                    No longer a prisoner to “yes”- I am free!
                                                “Pardon me, what was it that you wanted to know?
                                               I can’t hear you…..but the answer is NO.”
                               

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My One & Only Ski Trip

19 Jun

A Slice of Life
Bill Lites

Bill

I believe the year was 1978, and one of my job related trips was to, what was then, the Hercules Powder Co. facility in Utah. The purpose of the trip was to coordinate design requirements for the Navy’s Trident submarine missile with the Hercules engineers. As it turned out, scheduling of the trip took place during the winter and I 1 planned to try my luck at skiing while I was there. All the skiers in my office were envious and wanted to share all their skiing experiences with me. Having lived most of my adult life going to college in southern California and working in Florida,
I hadn’t ever done any snow skiing, and appreciated most of the advice. I had no skiing togs and was in need of everything to play the part of a novice ski bum. Then, as luck would have it, I learned one of the other young engineers in our office was an avid skier and was willing to let me borrow his equipment for the trip. He provided me with a hat, goggles, gloves, sweater, a lined ski jacket and ski pants. All I had to come up with was some long johns, a couple pair of heavy wool socks and sun glasses. What a deal that was! He told me I could rent the skis, polls and boots at the ski lodge. So, off I went ready to meet the challenges of the Utah ski slopes.

It was recommended that I try the Park City, Utah ski resort, and since I was only going to have time for one day of skiing, that’s where I went. The snow that year in the Park City area was deep and beautiful, and I had no trouble finding the resort. The ski lodge was a picturesque structure set at the bottom of a mountain slope, 2where several ski trails were cut into the tree covered mountainside converged, with ski lift access to each. The ski instructors were very helpful, providing all levels of instruction. They had a beginner’s package, which included skis, polls & boot rental, a morning of basic instruction and a full day lift pass, all for a very reasonable price.

Even though I may have looked the part of a skier, I wasn’t ready for those first three hours of hard work it took 3just to learn how to stay upright on skis. They taught us how to walk sideways up a slope, how to point the front of our skis together to “wedge” slowly down a slope, how to fall and how to get up. And boy did I ever need to know how to do that! Once the morning basic class was over, I was ready for a rest and some lunch somewhere warm.

After lunch, the next four hours were spent riding the lift up the mountain and trying to4 get back down the beginners slope without running into a tree or crashing into someone or falling and breaking something. To this day, I can’t believe I fell down that many times, in that many different ways, and didn’t break something. I have to admit, by the end of the day, even though I was tired, I was enjoying myself and really didn’t want to turn in my skis and leave. But I did, and of course that isn’t the end of the story.

I went back to my motel in town, thawed out in a long hot shower, had a wonderful steak dinner at a local restaurant, then went back to the motel and tried to watch some TV. But I was so tired by then I couldn’t stay awake, and just went to bed early, since I had to catch my flight back to Florida the next day anyway.

The next morning I woke up with two surprises. First of all I could hardly get out of 5bed. I was sore from head to toe. I hurt in places I didn’t even know I had muscles. I finally struggled over to the window and looked outside to find it had snowed 6during the night and the rental car was covered with almost 12 inches

of snow. What a sight that was! Then I began to worry if I would be able to get to the airport in time for my flight.

As it turned out, by the time I had breakfast, packed and checked out of the motel, the roads were clear enough for me to make it to the airport in time to catch my flight and my once in a lifetime ski trip was over. But that didn’t mean the muscle pain was over. Not on your life! It took almost a week for my body to recover from that day on the ski slopes. Even though I have never been on snow skis again my entire life, I wouldn’t exchange that experience for anything. I think the only type of snow skiing I would consider now would be in a nice slow horse-drawn sleigh ride with the love of my life by my side.

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