Tag Archives: #Inspiration

Sometimes it hurts. | Janet Perez Eckles

21 Nov

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Janet Eckles Perez

 

 

Some time ago a friend and I traveled together. The airport where we landed was small. Actually, everything in it was small. With her caring nature, my friend made sure she guided me through all doorways, hallways, and elevators – being careful to avoid obstacles in my path. But when entering elevators with our bags and suitcases on wheels, and with me holding on her arm, the squeeze was tricky, awkward and cumbersome. I came home with some scratches on my elbow.

But know what? I’m familiar with narrow pathways—the ones we encounter in life. Sometimes it hurts as we try to squeeze through, and we doubt we’ll make it. And others as we try to force our way, leave scratches of discouragement in our heart.

You might be going through ones yourself as you read this. We all do. We try to get through the narrow stretches of discouragement, loneliness, of chronic illness, of unresolved conflict, and painful, unforeseen circumstances.

And though unpleasant, we keep going, traveling through the airports of life hoping we eventually see the wide doorway leading to the answer, the healing, the break we hope for or the solution we seek.

That’s why God’s reminder turns hope to encouragement. Opens the wide door of trust. And makes the entrance easy and simple. The sign above the doorway says: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

Source: Sometimes it hurts. | Janet Perez Eckles

 

In the News

A wonderfully crazy thing is happening in a few days. A camera crew from the Telemundo Network will be visiting my home to film a feature of me cooking and serving a Thanksgiving meal to my family. There will be 12 of us for dinner. And I’ll be busy in the kitchen preparing my homemade, healthy dishes like Quinoa casserole. All done before the cameras. Gulp.

“We want to show how much you’re able to accomplish even when you don’t have sight,” the reporter said.

In the next issue, I’ll let you know how it went.

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Where Are They Now

20 Nov

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

Louise Gibson

 

A young man walking through a cemetery came across this epitaph
written on a tombstone:

“Pause, stranger, when you pass me by-

As you are now, so once was I.

As I am now, so you will be-

Prepare yourself to follow me.”

His reply: “To follow you, I’m not content-

Until I know which way you went!”

 

If you want to follow someone,
follow Christ, my friend.
He will lead you into paths of righteousness,
and His mercy has no end.

 

What we think about heaven
determines how we live today.
We can easily be led away from God’s purpose
if we do not steadfastly pursue His way.

 

When things go wrong, as they often do–
How do you respond-
Do you pray it through?

 

It may depend on your expectancy.
Did you implore the Lord your need to see?

 

Patience, dear friend,
the Lord knows our needs before we even ask Him.
He will supply those needs no matter how stark or grim.

 

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared
to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness
and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed
hope and glorious appearing of our great God and
Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Titus 2:11-13

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How Did He Know?

15 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

As I’ve mentioned in previous musings, I’ve been going through stacks and stacks of papers and pictures that we have accumulated. I’ve found a number of cartoons that my Mother had cut out – probably the newspaper – and sent them to me. I have enjoyed them all, and found some to be more poignant than others.

As I said, my Mother has been gone since 1993, so all of these things were sent well before that. But they still hold true for today. I hope this particular one holds true for our daughters.

We always used to enjoy anything Dennis the Menace, and this is no exception.

Dennis the Menace

 

Credit to Hank Ketcham:

 

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Church Lady Typos

12 Nov

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

Louise Gibson

 

Life is serious, of this we all agree-

but experience has taught me,

one’s health is improved with glee.

 

These brought a smile to me.

I hope they do the same for you

 

Those wonderful church bulletins are back.

Thank God for church ladies who type.

These sentences actually appeared in

church bulletins or were announced

at church services.

 

Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale.

It’s a chance to get rid of those things

around the house that are not worth keeping.

Bring your husbands.

 

Don’t let worry kill you – let the church help.

 

Miss Charlene Mason sang, “I will not pass this way again”,

giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

 

Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married

on October 24 in the church.  So ends a friendship

that began in their school days.

 

The church will host an evening of fine dining,

super entertainment and gracious hostility.

 

Pot-luck supper Sunday at 5:00 p.m.  Prayer

and medication to follow.

 

The ladies of the church have cast off clothing

of every kind.  They may be seen in the basement

on Friday afternoon.

 

: – )

 

I Will Meditate

 

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The Correction Game

9 Nov

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

Beloved

(I believe God is giving me a challenge, and I wanted to share the idea with you. We’d love to hear what happens if you try it.)

The Father says something like this: I would like to play a challenging new game with you. It concerns changing a longstanding habit. We’ll call it The Correction Game. It’s a challenge few can meet, but remember, I am the helper and I’m here to help. You will receive a golden-glory-God-gift* for every point you make.

A word to start, this is a game where making a point means not making a point. It is called, “The Correction Game,” because when you play, you will change from showing off how wise and smart you are, to letting someone else feel worthwhile. It’s one way to express Our love, yours and mine.

Now this is just for casual conversation and every day exchanges and it’s a game. I will tell you any time I want you to do otherwise and you will correct only in important matters and then use only the words I give you.

Your mother told you: “Politeness is to do and say, the kindest thing in the kindest way.” Stick to that and you’ll be a good player.

For example when you’re playing the game and a person of another language says stinking instead of stinging, let it go.

When someone you love won’t listen, let it go and give them permission to talk. Invite them to play the game.

1When someone says that apples grow on orange trees and the moon is square, remember you don’t know everything. Perhaps somewhere in the universe these things are true, let it go.

It’s my job to correct people and I have all kinds of gentle ways to do it. I am able to take care of what you perceive as mistakes of others. By the way, my dear, you’ll enjoy people a lot more and they’ll like you better, too. Overlooking the faults and mistakes of others sends a big message of unconditional love.

Try me now in this and see if you don’t receive blessings of serendipity and synchronicity that will thrill you in large and small ways.

*God’s-golden-glory-gifts happen when unexpected good things come into your life.

 

Beloved, Let us Love One Another

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bbKRBTggo4

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How Many Meals?

8 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

 

Throughout the years, my Mother had cut out and sent me articles or cartoons from the newspaper or a magazine, that she thought I would enjoy. I found them to be such fun, and I knew she was thinking about me when she did so. As I come upon them these days, it reminds me so much of her and how much I miss her. She’s been in heaven for 22 years now, and sometimes it’s hard for me to fathom all those years that have gone by.

Judy Wills mother

In any case, at one point in time, she sent this cartoon of Hi and Lois (credit Mort Walker and Dirk Browne). Hi and Lois has been one of my favorite cartoons for many years, and this one is hilarious! I don’t know that I’ve ever sat down and calculated just how many meals I’ve cooked in my life time, but this one made me tired, just thinking about it! Of course, I don’t cook as much these days as I did when we first married all those years ago, so I would have to take that into consideration, as well.

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Did you take the time to figure it out?   16,701 meals for Lois. Whew! No wonder she was tired and didn’t have dinner ready!

This reminds me of the e-mail message/facebook entry that came through some time ago. Seems someone wrote a letter to the “Letters to the Editor” of a local newspaper and stated that he didn’t see any reason to go to church. He had been a church attender for so many years, but couldn’t remember a single sermon preached, so why bother to go?

Well, this set off a fire storm of letters – which the editor encouraged!. But it all ended when another man finally wrote in and stated that he had been married for a great number of years to his wife. She had probably cooked 30,000 meals for him, and he could only remember just a few of them. But (and here’s the kicker), he knew that if she hadn’t cooked those meals, and if he hadn’t eaten them, he wouldn’t be alive today. While he couldn’t remember them, they had nourished him and kept him going.

The same with going to church to hear the sermons. They nourish our souls and keep us alive in this world, and give us strength for each day and each situation we find ourselves in.

Words to live by. We actually NEED the time spent with a body of believers, listening to the pastor bring God’s Word to us, to encourage us, lift us up, and strengthen us for our daily lives. The gathering of believers brings us the strength we need – the fellowship with other believers gives us hope and encouragement.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Psalm 119:105

 

 

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How to receive God’s provision. | Janet Perez Eckles

7 Nov

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

Janet Eckles Perez

It was 84 degrees in Orlando a few days ago. Yet, I carried my jacket inside the local movie theater. The interior is like an igloo. And the fact that I’m always cold doesn’t help.

We walked in and ran into the friendly manager. As we chatted with her, I asked her, “Why do you guys keep the temperature so low? I think next time I’ll bring my earmuffs.”

She laughed. “The temperature is set as if the theater was full,” she said. “Even if there are 5 people, the temperature setting never changes.

“Oh.”

I put on my jacket as hubby and I headed to find our seats.

That night under my cozy covers, I had a comforting thought. Contrary to the one-setting thermostat at the theatre, God doesn’t have one setting to His love. He’s provision is unique to each of us, our situation and our challenges.

He doesn’t give us less than we need. He’s not a moment late or a moment too soon. His love is uniquely customized according to the emotional coldness we might feel on that moment, on that day or season.

Have you been there? As you read this, you might be in the ditch of hardship, yet He has the rope long enough to get you out. That’s because He’s so divinely aware of all our struggles. He knows the degree of our pain and has the exact amount of comfort. He knows the depth of our financial failures and has the perfect provision to lift us up. And when overwhelmed by life’s trials, He has the right quantity and customized solutions.

Visit Janet’s website to read more:  How to receive God’s provision. | Janet Perez Eckles

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Practicing the Piano

25 Oct

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

I’ve mentioned in previous musings about how I started taking piano lessons the day I started first grade – and they continued until I graduated from high school. I was not a very accomplished pianist at that time. Perhaps still not, but more than I was at that time.

1952-Our new piano

1952-Our new piano

I remember my brother, Bill, saying how much he hated practicing the violin – so much so that our parents gave up and let him quit. Well, I pretty much had the same feeling about the piano. Yeah, I wanted to play that instrument, but just didn’t want to devote the time to practice! But they wouldn’t let me quit.

In going through some old papers recently, I came upon this poem.

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My mother, at some point in time, found it and cut it out and sent it to me. It depicted how I would “practice” so much of the time. I remember one particular time that I just sat there on the piano bench, not even touching a note. Mother was outside, hanging up the clothes on the clothesline, so I didn’t think she would hear me. When my “time” was up, I just skipped outside, ready to get to something else. Mother looked at me and said, “Did you have a nice nap? Now get in there and practice!!” Trudging back to the piano, my thought was, “how did she know???”

But, as with all things, practice…practice…practice is what it takes to get a command of any instrument. I learned that the hard way, whether the piano or the organ (still not my favorite instrument to play). As I said before, I have the talent, but I don’t have the gift of the instrument. I’ve never been able to just sit down and play something for my own enjoyment. I wish I did or could – it would have made my practice time so much more enjoyable.

I haven’t used my talent on the piano for several years now. I still have my books and I do sit down occasionally to keep my hand in, but not very often. I still love to play the old hymns – and some of the arrangements of some new songs. But I still must have that piece of music in front of me in order to play it. None of it comes naturally.

But if I am ever needed, I can, and do, pick it up and play. God has given me the ability to be able to play for Him and His Kingdom. I play for His Glory, and that fills me up like nothing else.

Judy at the new piano-1952
Judy at the piano-1956
Judy at the old upright 1951
Judy and niece Renie Lites-1963

I am blest.

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The Price of Exercise

11 Oct

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

In previous musings, I have mentioned that I have been an “exerciser” for most of my life – well, at least most of my adult life. I guess I really became serious about it while we were living in Panama City, Florida in the early 1970’s. We were actually living on Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB).

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I don’t really know what motivated me to start jogging, but that’s what I did. The ground there is pretty flat, so there weren’t any “hills” or even much of any kind of incline to thwart my progress.

And so it was, that I was jogging for about three months before I shamed Fred into getting into the program with me (he says we were actually RUNNING – not jogging!). We would get up quite early and go out together. When we came home, Fred would shower and get ready for his work day while I got the girls up and breakfast on the table. After everyone was gone, then I would go out for another run. I timed myself once, and found that I was running four miles in 28 minutes!! Not bad for an old lady of 40!

And speaking of an “old lady of 40,” perhaps the motivation was that I decided that I did NOT want to be a fat old lady, and was half-way to both! At least, that’s what I told Fred! And so, the exercise program began.

Some form of that exercise continued for many years. We were in Panama City for five years, then in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for one year (Fred was in school – not the prison!!). And in case you don’t know – it SNOWS a LOT in Kansas! But we bundled up, including ski masks and did our daily run. Then on to Germany from there.

It wasn’t long before I discovered aerobic dancing while in Germany, and realized that I couldn’t do both the jogging and the aerobic dancing, and since I was teaching the aerobic dancing (and getting paid for it), I stopped the jogging. I continued teaching, even for about seven years after we rotated back state-side.

While I enjoyed the results of all that exercise, I can’t honestly say that I enjoyed the exercise itself. The aerobic dancing was by far more fun that jogging, but it was still exercise, and I was still dripping sweat like crazy!!

In any case, I found this cartoon once, and thought it described my attitude toward exercise exactly. I hope you enjoy it, too! Credit to Johnny Hart:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Forgive My Trespass

5 Oct

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and ArtistYesterday I took a walk in a different town. It wasn’t a good place for walking. The cars zoomed by and eventually the sidewalk ran out. I had a bit more time before I had to go back to where I had started, so I thought I’d keep going. I came to a shady neighborhood street and saw a sign. “Nursery, everything 70% off,” it said.

Two houses from the corner I came to a yard with a huge ear tree and a lot of plants in it.A giant pothos grew high into the ear tree’s branches, a giant staghorn fern swayed in a slight breeze. Beautiful pottery birdhouses swung from its branches.

It was a shady place on a hot day, and although I didn’t need any plants, I thought I’d walk around looking at things. I noticed that the grass in the backyard grew almost to the top of the chain-link fence. These people are probably elderly and just can’t keep up the property, I thought. A lot of people have antique and thrift stores to house their collections, maybe that’s what’s happening here.

I finished strolling about looking at the plants and flowers and was just ready to leave when a woman came out of the house.

“Are you looking for something?” said she. “This is private property.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I thought it was the nursery. It’s really beautiful.”

She didn’t seem to want to accept my apology, so I turned to go. She followed, talking about the plants and how hard it was to keep everything up. She showed me a long scar under her arm and said she’d had surgery.

I kept trying to leave without being rude. She followed. She pointed down the street. “The nursery is where the big recycle bin is.”

I could see that the recycle bin was as far as I had already walked. I looked at my watch. Sure enough it was time to head back. She didn’t follow past the parameters of her yard and she obviously didn’t forgive me. I put myself in her place, however, and I knew it would frighten me to see someone roaming around my front yard. I did have a brief thought that seeing another person for a minute might relieve loneliness for a while. I asked God to bless her big time.

I went back to the doctor’s office to meet Bill. While I sat waiting for him, I heard the receptionist make several phone calls to remind people of appointments. She didn’t talk too fast, she could pronounce all the words, she was polite and her voice was beautiful.

Somehow I thought about a time long ago when I was in a grocery store with my Grandmother, Marie Bowers. When we approached the check-out, I said, “That woman has beautiful eyes.”

“When you notice something nice about someone, you must tell them,” Grandmother said.

I went up to the receptionist, excused myself and said, “You have the most beautiful manner I ever heard.”

She all but grabbed me across the desk. “Oh thank you. You’ve made my day! I can’t remember the last time I had a compliment. Sometimes I put my arms around myself and say nice things, just so I can get some approval from somebody.” You can imagine how good that made me feel.  I like approval, too. I don’t like to trespass and not be forgiven for it. I had done something right and I was grateful for the camaraderie that sprang from following Grandmother’s advice.

(FYI, none of these pictures are of the yard I mistook for a nursery.}

Matthew 6:12

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