Janet spent this past week on a mission trip to Bolivia but still found time to share a blog with us.
Tag Archives: Faith
My Diet Journal~Part 3
14 JulA Slice of Life
DiVoran Lites
My ten extra pounds, and my egg choir.
When I started journaling this morning, everything in me felt low from energy to emotions. Usually when I start writing I tell the Lord what I’m unhappy about, so I planned to complain for about five hours. My routine had changed. I slept in until seven and then it was starting to get hot, so I thought I’d skip the coffee and the writing and hit the trail.
I’ve become able to drink coffee with Stevia and one quarter grain saccharine, but I still need the creamer, which is 
cheating. I tried to do without it one day, last week, taking Anacin with its 32 mg of caffeine, in order to avoid the withdrawal headache. It didn’t work, so I had a cup of coffee in the afternoon. I know I’m addicted, but I don’t want to give it up because I enjoy it, feel that it clears my mind, and have more energy when I drink a cup. I drink two a day. Some studies show that a moderate amount is good for most people, but if doc says no, then it’s no.
We bought some new Stevia called Truvia and we like it much better. I still want a quarter gram of saccharine, in fact I wish I could stay on that combination, even though Dr. Simenon discovered that artificial sweeteners are truly bad for people.
Flashback — Okay, I’m ready for my walk. Hat, key, phone, “sticky” note-pad, church pew pencil, (I found it in my car), tissue, iPod, and dark glasses. At first it’s not unbearably hot. I start listening to a book. Some days I don’t listen, I just enjoy the fresh air and observe, and maybe I’ll listen on the way home to make the journey shorter. It gets hotter as I go. By the time I head home I’m thinking about calling Bill to ask if he’ll come get me. But no, that would be wimpy. I didn’t drink water because you’re supposed to take the hcg and give it a chance to get into your system without interference. What if I pass out from dehydration?
When I do get home I lay on my bed for a while getting lower by the minute. Here comes the addiction withdrawal headache. I think I’ll lie here like this all day. This must be how it feels to be in deep grief, just wanting to stay in bed.
I decide that for a cup of coffee I can make myself get up.
Now I’m writing. Bill comes in for a minute and we talk about his weight. To our great surprise he has already reached his goal, though he didn’t realize it and wants to keep going, He lost ten pounds his first week. The way I understand it, you don’t go off the diet when you reach your goal weight, you continue with the hcg until the three weeks are up, but you eat more. When you reach your goal, you can eat as much of the designated foods as you wish. You don’t have to count calories, anymore, just stay away from starch and sugar.
After our chat and three quarters of the cup of coffee, I didn’t feel down anymore, so I started writing and here you see the result.
Oh, by the way, in case you’re interested, I have lost 6.05 lb. this week. Thanks for listening.
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The Classic
13 JulSUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
I’ve mentioned before how my brother was always fascinated with model airplanes. How he would build them, fly them, fix them up and fly them again. He was really good with his hands.
Another thing he liked to do – as I remember – was to work on car engines. I remember a time, after we began to become friends instead of just picking-at-each-other siblings, that he bought an OLD car and brought it home to work on. I believe he totally removed the engine and other parts and re-worked them. I’m proud to say that I helped him with that a bit – I actually HELPED him! When it was back together, he painted that car a gorgeous turquoise.
When Fred and I met, he was a sophomore at the University of New Mexico (UNM). He lived on campus and so didn’t need a vehicle. He also didn’t have his driver’s license. So if we went anywhere, I was the driver.
It didn’t take him long to remedy that situation – at least in that he obtained his driver’s license. However, he still didn’t have a car. He either walked or took the bus. Albuquerque had a good public transportation system.
Long about Springtime of 1960, he purchased his first car – a 1957 Chevrolet Belaire V8. He paid a grand total of $1,100 for it. It was a soft green, four-door, bench seats, automatic transmission. It was a beauty! It didn’t have air conditioning, but in Albuquerque’s climate, we didn’t need it. He was so proud of that car.
In 1960, we, and my parents, drove in that car to Englewood, California for Christmas with my brother Bill, and his wife, DiVoran. We discovered that Bill was working on another car. Fred helped him put the engine back together and everything back in place. We had a grand time with them there. We took in Disneyland
and Knotts Berry Farm.
Great memories. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner at Bill and DiVoran’s little house, along withher parents.
On New Year’s Eve, we drove to Pasadena, to spend some time with Fred’s Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Bob. One of Fred’s cousins and his friends, took two picnic benches and some bedrolls, and set them up on the sidewalk at the starting point for the 1961 Rose Parade, scheduled for the following day. They slept on the benches to keep our spots. After the parade, we went back to their house and had a lovely lunch, then we headed out, back to Albuquerque.
That next summer – June 20, 1961 – 53 years ago – we loaded up that car and, following our wedding – headed to Fort Worth, Texas, where Fred was to study at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
While it was a smooth ride, we really wished for an air conditioned car! Texas climate is NOT the same as New Mexico!!
We drove that un-air-conditioned car for several years before trading it in on another, newer vehicle. As we look back on those times, Fred continues to say that he wishes he had kept that car. It is now considered a CLASSIC. Of course, we were dirt poor at the time, and couldn’t possibly keep that car and have another one. And we couldn’t possibly know that, that particular car would turn into a CLASSIC.
But it’s fun to look back and remember those times.
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Know God, Know Hope No God, No Hope
11 JulFrom My Heart
Louise Gibson
What a difference the spelling makes.
To know Him is to love Him, and others.
To love Him is to serve Him,
as we reach out to our brothers.
If you have yet to meet Him,
here is all you have to do.
Confess you are a sinner-
He’s waiting at the cross for you.
Hang on to hope, as on Jesus you wait.
“I will go before you and make
the crooked paths straight”. Isaiah 45.
No God – No hope,
I can’t imagine such a scenario.
Why? My heart is too full of love,
since Jesus I came to know!
“Therefore, having been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have
access by faith into this grace in which we stand,
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Romans 5:1,2
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Love’s Concentric Circles
10 JulOn the Porch
Onisha Ellis
It seems my circle of love is not becoming smaller but concentric. A side benefit of having eleven aunts and uncles is a whole bunch of cousins. It doesn’t stop there as those cousins have children, creating even more cousins.
This week we were blessed to have a visit from my cousin, Susan and her children who live in Georgia. Her three children combined with our two grandchildren created some awesome and chaotic “cousins time” On the first day of their visit the children from teens to tweens had a blast at our local entertainment complex, “The Factory”.
The second day we loaded up two cars with picnic supplies, chairs and towels and visited a local swimming hole, Sliding Rock in the Pisgah National Forest.
Susan is the granddaughter of one of my favorite aunts during my childhood. Her grandmother Della, her husband and boys spent a lot of time with my family as I was growing up. We were a musical family and would “make music” when the families got together. Della sang a beautiful high soprano while my mother a strong Alto. Together with their boys and my brothers we had music voices covered all the way down to deep bass. Dad and mom also played the guitar. Oh the sweet hymns they sang. There was one they sang, that I still sing in my heart when I am feeling down, Come Unto Me.
My aunt Della died of a brain tumor when she was forty-seven. I was heartbroken but she left a legacy of love. I still miss her almost fifty years later.
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Winning Against Worry
27 JunFrom My Heart
Louise Gibson
All the water in the world,
however hard it tried,
could never sink a ship
unless it got inside.
All the hardships of this world
might wear you pretty thin-
But they won’t hurt you one least bit
unless you let them in.
(Anonymous)
Lord, why did it take so long
to reach this plateau-
to savor the moment I am in?
An acceptance of things I cannot change
has wondrously eased my chagrin.
The “serenity prayer” holds such wisdom-
Simply apply it to your heart.
God has not promised skies always blue,
But from our heart He will never depart.
There is no use in carrying around “worry and regret”.
They only weigh you down.
Always keep yourself open to hope and to love.
A smile will replace a frown
Make these words your battle cry
as you take on the Giant of Worry.
Louise Gibson
“Don’t dwell on tomorrow’s stress
Jesus told us that “tomorrow will take
care of itself.” (Mathew 6:24)
“Look inside, be kind to yourself”
Psalm 63:3 “Thy loving kindness is better than life.”
” The night doesn’t last forever,
and tomorrow will surely come.”
“Worry about nothing-
Pray about everything”
“When God pushes you to the edge,
trust Him fully, because only two things can happen.
Either He will catch you when you fall,
or He will teach you how to fly”.
Author unknown
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Circle of Love
26 Jun
On the Porch
Onisha Ellis
When we left Florida last week, we traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina to celebrate the 80th birthday of my uncle, the youngest brother of my mother. My mother came from a family of twelve children and these aunts and uncles have been a blessing to me as well as to my children. I never doubted their love.
My mother and her ten other brothers and sisters have all passed on now, each one dearly missed. I’m not a poet but I wrote the poem below many years ago as my precious aunts and uncles began slipping away.
My circle of love grows smaller
As one by one, they fall,
The molders of my life
The molders of my soul.
Once so strong and sure
They led me from child to middle age,
Now they are shrunken, unsure or gone.
Still, memories of them-
Their laughter, scoldings and love
Echo in my heart.
Looking at those remaining,
My heart is heavy with dread,
They are so fragile, even frail.
I want to cling to them.
Yet, they loved me and released me
Allowing me to live my life,
So must I release them to live
A new life with God.
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A Passion for Work
23 JunMy Take
DiVoran Lites
Have you noticed that when you are doing work you enjoy, life can be full of excitement? Do we realize that when we retire to nothing but TV or grousing, life can become deadly dull—literally? Dullness kills, it brings complaining and bitterness.
Yes, I agree that God tells us to focus on Him. God in Christ, Christ in us, the hope of glory. But if you’ll think about it, the Bible, especially the parables of Jesus, are full of stories of people doing practical and artistic things while focusing on God. The first person to praise God in the Old Testament was an artisan. Jesus was as much human as he was divine. He put God’s will first, as we hope always to do, and he spoke of living every day to its fullest. He did the work for which He had an all-consuming passion.
Some people love making bread, making music, or making plans. Do you write, iron, clean engines? No matter what it is, God put it in you to do that thing with all your love, passion, and might. Don’t hold back. Ask Him for help and inspiration and you’ll find your life filled to the brim with joy. And, he can use your joy to lift other’s out of their darkness, too.
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Proverbs 4:12
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Another Father’s Day
15 JunSUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
Here we are with another Father’s Day dawning upon us. It just doesn’t seem like Fathers get the same acknowledgment as Mothers do. Seems a bit unequal to me – since it takes two to tango. But Mothers traditionally – and Biblically – are the ones who nurture in the family, while Fathers are bread-winners and head of the household.
And so, because I am so very proud of my Father and what he accomplished in his life, I would like to add another connection in his life.
For many years, I have heard of B.B. McKinney. He’s rather well known in Baptist circles. According to his history (from Google), he wrote over 149 hymns, composed the music for 114 others, and arranged more than 100 more. While not as prolific as Fanny Crosby (1800 hymns) he was still quite talented. He was heavily involved with Texas Baptists and Southern Baptist music. Except for the current up-coming generation, if you ask if they know who B.B. McKinney was, they can usually tell you he wrote a lot of the hymns in our hymnbooks. He was born in 1886 in Louisiana. (Daddy was born in 1892)
The main connection I know of with Daddy and him, is that my Father was born in Louisiana, as well. Daddy and B.B. McKinney both attended Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana. Daddy also was involved with Texas Baptists, since he was the Associate Sunday School Secretary for Texas from 1926 until 1945, when he moved us to New Mexico, where he became the New Mexico Sunday School Secretary. He was in that position until 1961, when he retired. I always knew that Daddy knew B.B. McKinney, but didn’t know just what that connection was. I distinctly remember seeing Daddy approach Mother at church, and with a stricken look on his face, tell her that B.B. had been killed in a car wreck (1952).
It wasn’t until recently that a cousin of ours sent via FaceBook a picture he had found in the “Pine Knot” yearbook from Louisiana college. It was a picture of a male quartet from Louisiana College. The four (plus the director) in the picture, were B.B. McKinney, my Father (W.J. Lites), and his brother (E.O. Lites). They had been in a college quartet together all those years ago! There isn’t a date on the picture, and the best we can figure, it was probably somewhere around 1913 or 1914. (Daddy’s college education was interrupted by World War 1)
So that’s the connection. Daddy had many accomplishment in his life, but this was one that I had not expected, but was proud to see.
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Just the Two of Us.
14 JunWalking by Faith, Not by Sight
Janet Perez Eckles
Reblogged from Janet Eckles Blog
There he was, the main character, doing what he does best as the stunt man for one of the most popular action-packed shows in Disney World.
Among the audience of thousands, on the third row, nestled in her grandma’s lap, his 3-year-old daughter’s eyes danced with delight. She followed his leaps in the air, daring walls of fire and dropping from incredible heights. His skill displayed in the midst of the action that exploded all around that huge stage.
Then it happened. For a second, he glanced into the crowd and locked his eyes with his little girl’s. Then with a subtle move, he lifted his right hand and gave her an “I love you” sign.
Her chubby legs wiggled back and forth, making her brown curls bounce around her cheeks. And with a grin of delight, she made the same sign with her tiny hand back to him.
For a few seconds, there was a magical connection between daddy and daughter. The sign was for her. And her response was for him only.
Isn’t that the way God also connects with us? In the midst of His divine performance of making the universe happen, the sun radiate, the moon shimmer and the stars light up the dark night, He’s sending an “I love you” sign to each of us, individually, personally and directly.
Visit Janet Eckles Blog to read more!!
Grateful for the privilege of inspiring you…
Inspirational video just for you.
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Old Things R New 