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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

I've calmed down for now.

In my quiet time this morning, I read Rev. 22 and it spoke of the River of Life and the Tree of Life and just so that I don't take that running spell or that shouting spell again, I will wait till later to tell you how that spoke to me. I'm getting ready to go to a church in Gainesville, Florida where I will train people in the how's, why's and when's of financial counseling. The training is 20 hours long and done in two and one half days and is very demanding on me. I have been ask to preach in two morning worship services and also the night service this coming sunday. I would appreciate anyone who reads this if you would pray for me as I try to accomplish what God has placed inside me to share with this church. The church's weekly attendence is around 2500 persons and I'm aware that God wants to do a great work in the lives of those members. I never speak to others that God doesn't really want to do a real work in my life and for that I'm always greatful. Not always receptive, but always greatful.

7 comments:

Mommyluann said...

I'll be praying.

Greg P. said...

Eddie, you'll have my prayers.

As long as you're following the Lord's direction you can't go wrong.

BethAnne said...

HAve a good trip and bring your favorite daughter a souvenir (umm, I mean me, by the way)

Mommyluann said...

I think the correct answer is Michigan with something like 130 lighthouses...who knew?

Mommyluann said...

Lighthouse HistoryImportant Dates in United States Lighthouse History

1716 - First lighthouse built in the United States was Boston Lighthouse built on Little Brewster Island. This lighthouse was destroyed during the Revolutionary War and was rebuilt in 1783 and still stands today.

1719 - First Fog Signal was a cannon placed near Boston Lighthouse. When there was fog, the cannon would be constantly fired to warn ships away from the rocky ledges.

1789 - The United States Lighthouse Establishment was created and operated under the Department of the Treasury. This was the Ninth Law as well as the first Public Works Act passed by Congress on August 7 of that year. Because of this, every August 7th is National Lighthouse Day. This law also passed ownership and responsibility of all lighthouses to the federal government. Prior to that the lighthouses were built and owned by the individual states or territories.

1791 - The first lighthouse completed under the ownership of the federal government was completed at Portland Head Light in Maine. Construction had been actually started and funded by the State of Massachusetts.

1792 - Cape Henry Lighthouse, Virginia, became the first lighthouse built and completed by the Federal Government.

1793 - First Lightship approved by President George Washington; it would be used on the Delaware River.

1818 - First lighthouses on the Great Lakes were established at Buffalo, NY on Lake Erie and Presque Isle, PA, also on Lake Erie.

1820 - First use of bells as a fog signal device was at West Quoddy Head Light in Maine.

1822 - The French physicist, Augustin Fresnel, beginning this year, "revolutionized lighthouse practice by developing a built-up annular lens comprised of a central spherical lens surrounded by rings of glass prisms, the central portions of which refract and the outer portions both reflect and refract in the desired direction the light from a single lamp placed at the central focus (inside the middle of the light)."

1831 - First lighthouse in the United States to operate using natural gas was the lighthouse at Barcelona (Portland Harbor), NY on the south shore of Lake Erie.

1837 - The first lightship on the Great Lakes began operation. It was stationed at the junction of Lakes Huron and Michigan.

1840 - The first Lighthouse Tender of the U.S. Lighthouse Service started service. It was the former U.S. Revenue Service Cutter RUSH. Prior to this date other government vessels and private vessels were used to maintain buoys and supply lighthouses. This practice continued until the Lighthouse Service had enough ships to perform the job on their own.

1841 - The first Fresnel lens used in a United States lighthouse was imported from France and installed in Navesink Lighthouse in New Jersey.

1850 - First screw-pile lighthouse was constructed in the United States at Brandywine Shoal.

First iron lighthouse in the United States was built in a position directly exposed to the sweep of the ocean was completed at Minot's Ledge, MA. It was destroyed in a storm the following year, killing two of its keepers.

1852 - The Lighthouse Board was created to oversee all of the lighthouses in the United States.

1854 - First lighthouse on the Pacific coast was completed on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.

1860 - The first stone lighthouse built in the ocean in the United States is completed at Minot's Ledge, MA. Construction started in 1855 and it took five years to complete. It was one of the great engineering building accomplishments of its time.

1869 - First steam-powered fog signals in the United States were installed at Maine lighthouses at West Quoddy Head and Cape Elizabeth.

First Flag- The first use of the U.S. Lighthouse Service flag was a red, white and blue pennant with a lighthouse.

1871 – Duxbury Pier Light became the first caisson lighthouse built in the United States. 1877 - Kerosene became the primary fuel used to power the lighthouses. Prior to that various illuminants were used such as sperm oil, colza or rapeseed oil, and lard oil.

1884 - First uniforms were introduced for male lighthouse keepers as well as for masters, mates and engineers of lightships and tenders. The wearing of both dress and fatigue uniforms was mandatory. Female lighthouse keepers were not required to wear a uniform.

1886 - The first use of electricity for lighthouse purposes in the United States by the placing of an arc of light in the Statue of Liberty in New York.

1898 - All seacoast lighthouses were turned off for the first time in history as a precaution during the Spanish-American War.

First wireless message sent from ship to shore was from the San Francisco Lightship.

1904 - First ship with radio communications was the Nantucket Lightship. It was the first U.S. vessel to so be equipped.

1910 - Name Change. An act of Congress abolished the Lighthouse Board and created the Bureau of Lighthouses to be in charge of all lighthouses, thus changing its operating name from the United States Lighthouse Establishment (USLHE) to the United States Lighthouse Service (USHLS). Under the new law the first Commissioner of Lighthouses, George R. Putnam, took office.

1916 - First powerboats for lighthouses were designed, built and tested at Great Lakes lighthouses.

1917 - World War I saw the transfer of most lighthouse tenders, lightships and primary lighthouses to War Department and U.S. Navy until the end of the war.

An Act of Congress appropriated $300,000 to install telephones and telephone lines to all Coast Guard Stations and the most important lighthouses.

1918 - First American lightship sunk by an enemy was the Diamond Shoals Lightship off the Outer Banks of North Carolina. All crewmembers survived.

1926 - The Lighthouse Airways Division was established by U.S. Lighthouse Service; its work covering the examination of airways and landing fields and the erection of aids to air navigation. Instead of have beams of light that pointed out to sea, towers were built with beams of light pointed into the sky.

1928 - First radio beacon in the United States, automatic in operation, was completed and put into commission at Cape Henry Lighthouse, Virginia.

1933 - The U.S. Lighthouse Service Airways Division was transferred to Department of Commerce and put under the control of the Assistant Secretary for Aeronautics.

1934 - Lightship sunk - The Lightship No. 117, Nantucket, occupying the Nantucket Shoals Station in a dense fog, was struck by the HMS OLYMPIC (sister ship of the TITANIC) and cut in two and sunk almost immediately with the loss of seven crewmembers.

1936 – “Most decentralized branch of government”, so stated a report which indicated that less than one percent of the approximate 5000 total employees of the U.S. Lighthouse Service were located away from the seat of government in Washington D.C.

1937 - Trunks replacing tenders - With the ever-improving road system in the United States, the Lighthouse Service started using motor trucks to supply some lighthouses and other easy to reach shoreline aids to navigation.

1939 - (July, 1) The United States Lighthouse Service is abolished and merged into the United States Coast Guard. This was the first time in the history of the United States Government that a military branch took over another branch of the government. At that time there were 5,355 employees of the U.S. Lighthouse Service, consisting of 4,119 full-time and 1,156 part-time employees, which included 1,170 light-keepers and assistants, 56 light attendants, 1,195 officers and crews of lightships and tenders; 113 Bureau officers, engineers and draftsmen as well as district superintendents, technical assistants, 226 clerks, messengers, janitors, office laborers, 157 Depot keepers and assistants, including watchmen and laborers and 482 field-force employees in construction and repair work. There were 30,000 aids to navigation, which included lightships and lighthouses, 64 Lighthouse Service Tenders, hundreds of other types of crafts, numerous trucks, automobiles and trailers, 30 Lighthouse Depots, and 17 district offices. Tallest Lighthouse in USA - Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Outer Banks, North Carolina. 200 feet tall)

Oldest Light Station in America- Boston Lighthouse, on Little Brewster Island, Boston Harbor, MA. This is the oldest light station, but not the oldest tower. The original tower, built in 1716, was destroyed during the Revolutionary War. The tower that stands there today was built in 1783.

Oldest Standing Lighthouse in USA - Sandy Hook Lighthouse, New Jersey at the entrance to New York Harbor. Built in 1761-64. Part of the building of the lighthouse was paid for by the sale of lottery tickets and shipping interest in New York City paid for the rest.

Only manned lighthouse - All lighthouses in the United States are automated with the exception of Boston Lighthouse. Because Boston Light is the oldest station in the United States, Congress has declared that Boston Light always be a staffed station where the keepers must still turn the light on at night and turn it off at daybreak. Boston Light is the only official lighthouse with a keeper. However, there are many other light stations around the United States that have people living at them, however they are not keepers, and the lighthouses at these locations are automated and do not require a keeper to turn them on and off. Sometimes the press or other media will refer to these people as keepers, but they are not. They are either Coast Guard families living in the old keeper's house or caretakers who live there to maintain the property and protect against vandalism.

Lighthouse Depot - Lighthouse Depots were built around the country to service lighthouses. All supplies were shipped to the Lighthouse Depots from where the supplies were shipped to the various lighthouses. The largest Lighthouse Depot was on Staten Island, New York. The Staten Island location also had manufacturing plants where many items were manufactured for lighthouses such as oil cans, crates, windows, household items, and just about anything else that could be manufactured cheaper than it could be purchased. Also, experiments were made on new types of lighting apparatus and building materials for the towers.

Lightship - A lightship is actually a floating lighthouse. They were stationed in areas where it was too expensive or too dangerous to build a lighthouse. Lightship duty was considered the most dangerous duty of all in the Lighthouse Service and later in the Coast Guard. Lightships were not allowed to leave their position under any circumstances and no matter how severe the weather was. Lightships are no longer used and were replaced by modern ocean and deep water buoys. There are only a 14 lightships left in existence, with a few having been restored such as the Ambrose Lightship in New York and Huron Lightship in Michigan. Efforts are underway to save the rest of them.

Lighthouse Tenders - These are vessels that were used to bring supplies to the lighthouses. The Lighthouse Inspector would also travel on the Lighthouse Tenders to visit lighthouses and make sure the keeper and his or her family was taking good care of the lighthouse.

Most famous lighthouse ever built - Pharos of Alexandria (Egypt) was actually the first recorded seamark with a light. It was built in 285 B.C. and destroyed by an earthquake in 1302. It was referred to as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

State with the most lighthouses - Michigan with 124. (Depending on definitions, the number may be about 130.)

First lighthouse completed under the Government of the United States of America - Portland Head Light, in Cape Elizabeth, Maine was completed in 1791, making it the first lighthouse completed by the new federal government. However, construction of the lighthouse had been started by the State of Massachusetts under the orders of Gov. John Hancock. At that time, Maine was part of Massachusetts.

First Lighthouse actually built by the Government of the United States - Cape Henry Light, Virginia, completed in 1792.

AnnaElizabeth said...

I love you Granddaddy!!
I'll pray for you.
:-)
I'm going to blog about Nicaragua soon, but I'm having a hard time putting things into words, so it may be a picture post!

Love you soooo much!

Mike B. said...

We will be praying for traveling grace, your strength and that He would send who He wants to hear what He has to say through you.