The count down begins

The countdown begins. Rich, Lucky and I are preparing for our first major boating adventure. Our departure date is set for December 27 (weather permiting)  We will be leaving our marina (Ortega Yacht Club Marina) on the Ortega River in Jacksonville and taking the Saint John's River to Mayport. In Mayport we will go south on the intercoastal to St Lucie. In St Lucie we will head west on the Okeechobee Waterway and cross Flordia coming out to the Gulf of Mexico. We will travel north at the Gulf and head up to Punta Gorda. We plan to stay at the Lashley Park Marina for a week and visit our dear friends Ron and Kathy Fitzgerald. We have not seen them in many many years and are looking forward to the visit. After that we plan to go south on the gulf to the keys and return home along the east coast. 

It is exciting to be finally leaving but also scary. I know that the Lord is leading us and He will be with us where ever we go. My first real challenge will be learning how to grab a mooring ball. I will get my first chance in Saint Augustine. I have gotten myself crazy in anticipation of it but know when the time comes I will do it. I found a Hook and Moor Boat Hook that is designed to handle the situation.  

 So with this hook I should be fine.

This picture was taken by Dena just before they left the marina.



 

 

 We had new cushions made for the salon and bridge and they came out beautiful!

 

That's it for now!

Be Blessed

 

 

Preparing for our first real adventure

 

A few weeks ago while I was praying with my friend Phyllis,  the Lord gave me a mental picture of Jesus sleeping in the boat while His disciples were in a panic. A severe storm appeared of hurricane proportions and Jesus was in a peaceful sleep. His disciples tried to handle the situation by themselves, but only growing more frightened as the winds howled and the boat tossed violently. His disciples decided to wake up the Lord and tell them that they were about to perish.  As I watched the Lord open His eyes the peace that radiated from His eyes was amazing. Jesus spoke to the storm and it instantly calmed down. Suddenly the peace I saw in His eyes transcended to the storm and just the sound of His voice and the authority He possessed resulted in a miracle. The storm stopped and His disciples were amazed.

 

Then I hear in my heart the voice of the Holy Spirit telling me this is the peace I want you to have. When I said my peace I give to you I was referring to the peace that passes understanding. There is no storm on land or on the sea that I will not be with you. You need not fear the future because I am with you wherever you go.

 

Last Sunday my dear friend Phyllis and her family left the OYCM for the Bahamas . This morning our dear friends Myron and Dena also left the Marina for the Bahamas. There are only a handful of live a boarders that are still living here since we moved to the OYCM almost five years ago.  Many new people have come and gone but the original group have truly dwindled,

 

Now after years of planning it looks like Rich, Lucky and I are getting ready to leave the dock. An exciting but fearful moment. Yes that is why I believe that I was blessed to have that vision in my head a few weeks ago. New adventures and experiences are waiting for us and very soon we will be leaving here. Most of the projects on the Morningstar are completed. If the weather is good this coming weekend  we will drop the hook and dinghy and teach Lucky to learn how to climb aboard the dinghy from the sundeck. I am so thankful I have the picture of Jesus in my head and the promise of His peace and presence with us. I am also happy that I know my treasured friends will be safe in the arms of Jesus because they love Him dearly and are out on the waterways sharing His love with other boaters. We are so Blessed!

 

 



 

Be Blessed!

Happy Thanksgiving! Be Blessed!

We all have so many things to be thankful for so lets take a few minutes to stop and give thanks to the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He blesses all of us with His lovingkindness each day and His mercies that are new every monring.

 

This is a poem my sister Maisie wrote when she was in grammer school. I always loved it!

 

Here comes the turkery nice and brown

mother puts it on the tray

but before the turkey's passed around

we bow our heards and pray

The cranberry sauce is red and round

the stuffing looks good too

I'll have some turkery nice and brown

and here is some for you!

Thank you Maisie for that special memory that stays with me every Thanksgiving. You are a wonderful sister.  I love all of my sisters very much and I am so thankful I got to spend a week with all of them in August. I am thankful for all of my family and friends that become dear to me with each passing day. I am thankful to the Lord for healing my son Tom and for His continuing healing presence in their lives. I am so blessed to be living close to my son Rick, Vande and my grandsons who watch out for us and have drawn closer to Jesus and His amazing love in a deeper way this year.
I am blessed to have had my son Brian, Julie and Adam visit us this past year for Easter. Adam finally got a chance to meet his cousins. I am thankful that our house in NY finally sold so Rich and I could prepare to travel aboard the Morningstar. We hope to be leaving the dock in the new few weeks and travel south on the intercoastal towards the Florida Keys. I am thankful that our dear friends Sue and Shelby were able to visit us this past winter. I am thankful to have also received a visit from my cousin Joe and Patty. Both of their visits to the Morningstar were special. I could go on an on and on because these are only a small fraction of the many blessings in my life.

The greatest blessing in my life is spending my golden years with the man I love and have loved for almost 50 years. The greastest gift God has given me except for His precious son Jesus. We know that our Lord Jesus is guiding our lives and providing for our every need. His unconditional love and presence in our lives brings joy and meaning to our lives. We know that our lives our truly in His hands.  Be Blessed this Thanksgiving and please take a few minutes to look up and give thanks to the Lord for His amazing love!

Psalm 46:10

Be still and know that I am God; I will exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

 

 

 



 

 





Jacksonville Air Show

What an fantastic afternoon aboard the Morningstar.

Rich and Rick

Blue Angels over flying over the Saint John's River

Seth and Jeremy

Vande and Lucky

Be Blessed!

 

The Lord is the Ankor of my soul

Today in the Jesus Calling devotional I got a visual picture of my life viewed from a boater's perspective. The Lord wants me to come to Him continually because He wants to be in the center of my consciousness or the anchor of my soul. My mind wanders from Him but the question is just how far I will let my mind wander.
An anchor on a short rope lets a boat drift only slightly before the taunt line tugs the boat back towards the center. Similarly as I drift away from the loving awareness of the Lord's presence the Lord's Holy Spirit gives me a tug, prompting me to return to Him. As I desire to become more and more increasingly aware and attuned to His presence, the length of the rope on my soul's Anchor is shortened, and I will wander only a short distance before feeling His inner tug telling me to return to my true center in Him. Wow, I love the lessons the Holy Spirit is teaching me.

This blog is just a reflecting of what is going on in my heart and what I chose to share with others. Only the Lord knows what He has planned for me so I will enjoy each moment and share important lessons as I feel inspired.
Today Rich is working on the generator and I am going to the Ortega Landing Marina to go swimming in there beautiful pool and have lunch in the club house with my friend Debbie. It is a beautiful marina and even though I will only be a visitor I will be able to enjoy the pool and have a relaxing afternoon.
Rich needs me out of the boat so he can tear up the floor boards so I gladly offered to leave. Have a nice day everyone and Be Blessed!

 

A dinghy named Spirit

We have been back at the marina for two weeks and despite the hot humid weather we are delighted to be back on the water. There will always be  more projects for Rich to do but now that the Morningstar's bottom job is completed, we are looking forward  to  taking  short trips. So his weekend we are planning on getting Lucky use to traveling, We also need to teach Lucky how to get into the dinghy from the boat.  They say you can not teach an old dog new tricks but we plan to prove that wrong. Lucky will learn quickly. Because he will want to be with us. 

We bought a new dinghy from West Marine. This one is much lighter than the AB hard bottom one, so it will be easier for Rich and I to handle it. It is another rib dinghy but only weights 110 pounds  without the motor. Our old dinghy weighted 160 pounds. We are having our 15HP outboard repaired and are going to use that one. Rich has been building the dingy davids and making the lift system, and it  is just about completed. 

We decided to name our dinghy Spirit! 

To honor the Holy Spirit!

 

 Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

 
Here are some pictures of the lift system that Rich designed and built. 

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Be Blessed!

The Morningstar is going to be launched tomorrow morning

Rich has been working at Hutckins for the last four day.  He is repairing the blisters that were on the port and starboard sides of the boat. Many of the blisters were under the painted blue strip just above the bottom paint line. He took the swinplatform off to repair the fiberglass and Seth (0urgrandson) helped Rich repair the platform.

Right now Rich needs Rick’s help to put the swim platform back on, it is very heavy for Rich to try to move himself. So Rick, Vande, Seth, and Jeremy are on their way to help Rich now. This will also give them a chance to see the Morningstar with her new bottom job.  They haven’t seen the boat since it was out of the water.

 Once they leave Rich, they are headed for the beach to have some fun The boys are going fishing and Rick and Vande are going to be pattle boarding.  Pattle boarding is the new sport they are enjoying on their family outing. They seem to love it.

I am sitting at the dinette in the motor home writing on my new surface tablet.  I am still learning how to use it. But I love it! Rich bought it for me. I have been wanting a tablet that ran windows so I have been looking for a while. I found a used Surface Pro with the keyboard, case and screen protector on Craig’s List and it also came with a breakage warranty and 22 months of free individual lesson from the Microsoft store. I have been going to the Microsoft Store for my individual lessons. So far, I learned how to use Windows 8.1 and the One Note program.

To me this quiet moment is the calm before the storm. That place between a new adventures. This is my quiet alone time and I can spend time with the Holy Spirit.  I need to ask for His help in directing our lives and writing my blog. I have always felt closest to the Holy Spirit when I am writing and by asking Him for His help I will write a blog that will give readers a moment of enjoyment. And I know our adventure stories may touch a life.  I am going to share and hope my readers are enjoying my blog.

I have learned to live in the present moment and enjoy each day because no one is promised tomorrow. Everything can change in the twinkle of the eye

Rich and I have been married for 47 years and are determined to live out our senior years follow after our dream of traveling the waterways of the United States. I look at our lives as adventures and each new thing needs to be embraced not feared.

The Bible says, “God’s perfect love will cast out all fear”! He has given us a taste of His perfect love and is driving out our fears one by one, and little by little. He is replacing it with His love, Acceptance. Joy, Wisdom, Council, and Purposes.

We spent four months living in the motor home. The first week we were parked in the Ortega Yacht Club parking lot. Then we found out the boat would need to be out of the water for two months. Two months turned into four. Then we went to, Hanna Park for five weeks in between staying in Rick’s back yard.  It was a new adventure. Life is filled with adventures if you look at it correctly. We want to get back aboard the Morningstar.  Wake up and have a cup of coffee overlooking the water. Life is good!

 In faith we are believing we will be traveling the waterways spreading the Love of Jesus and sharing the Good News Message to anyone who wants to be listening. We want to be an encourager to a very sad lonely America.  Oh America what is happen to you?

We were invited to Rick’s neighbors (Rex and Lisa's) 4^th of July party, Rick and I sang the National Anthem while I waved a small American Flag.  When we were done singing, Sherri told me I had a nice voice.  It must have been Rick’s voice she heard.  However it was a treasured memory with my son Rick.

 

In Briceville Florida, homemade moonshine brighten up a 4^th of July party.  I always have to take at least a slip or two of homemade moonshine if it is offered to me at a 4^th of July celebration.

 So far I have tried two different kinds of moonshine, homemade watermelon, and homemade cinnamon candy.

 Last time at the 4^th of July Party, I only took a sip of the watermelon moonshine because it was offered to me as we were leaving the party. This time it was cinnamon candy and its taste was amazing. I had a really fun evening, Thank you Lisa and Rex.   

Well it is time to end this post and hopefully get some pictures of the Morningstar in dry-dock at Hutckins Yacht Yard. Can’t wait to see it and take pictures!

Be Blessed!