Spreading love, joy, peace, faith & unity

Archive for February, 2024

Break from Negativity

The prompt for today gave me a knee-jerk reaction.
Immediately my answer to the question
popped into my mind.
Hence, today’s blog title!

Daily writing prompt
Do you need a break? From what?

I need a break from negativity!!
There is too much negativity in this world.
It comes in many forms
and
bombards us
from all corners of the globe.

If we let it,
the negativity,
the bad news,
the wars and killings,
the inequalities ,
the catastrophes
that the daily news
brings into our living rooms
can make us really depressed.
There’s so little we can do about it!

But…

… then there are people like Bob Goff!!
He is doing something about a lot of things!
Do you know his book, “Love Does”?
Do you know his podcasts and his life’s work?
He is one of my antidotes to negativity!
His positivity is contagious!!

Do you tune in to his podcasts? https://www.bobgoff.com/listen They are guaranteed to silence the negativity around you – and replace it with hope and love, motivational ideas, and positive energy. Here’s today’s podcast news:

Bob is joined by Jason, the president of BrandHaven, about the heart and process behind the “He Gets Us” campaign. The campaign aims to increase the respect and relevance of Jesus in our culture by promoting unconditional love, radical forgiveness, and confounding peace. He emphasizes the importance of being a student of faith and focusing on the biography of Jesus. Listen in for a conversation that encourages us to be students of faith, cultivating a culture of love, forgiveness, and kindness.Learn more at hegetsus.com and follow along on social media, @hegetsus.

Bob Goff is one of those positive people
who has no idea how wonderful he is!
His Love Does organization builds schools,
educates children in impoverished countries
(especially girls where there were previously
no opportunities for them to get an education),
distributes food to the needy, etc. etc.
His voice is a song of cheer.
His chuckle will make you smile.
His message will inspire you.
Check him out
and be prepared
to let his whimsical ways
lift your spirit and inspire your soul
to spread positivity and love,
encouragement and grace
to everyone you encounter!

God bless you!
And God bless Bob Goff!

Cheers,
JanBeek

Simplify

Happy February, my friends!
I hope your 2024 has begun well.
If you follow my blog, you know Bob & I
had a wonderful beginning for the new year
as we traveled and visited family & friends in CA.

Now we are home and settling in –
– with Christmas decor finally put away
and the house clean and semi-organized again.
It’s time now to take away that “semi-” & get serious!
I am sharing a Word for 2024 with my blogging friend,
Sue Newell at Sue’s LIFE Journal – Sharing LIFE
Our word is SIFT.

cook adding flour into baking form while preparing meal
Photo by Klaus Nielsen on Pexels.com

No, our “Sift” is not intended to be a sifter.
Ours is an acronym with each letter representing
something we intend to focus on this 2024 year.
Let me tell you about that first letter
S
for
Simplify!

My office is not quite that bad… but it’s cluttered.
My closets are overloaded with clothes I should give away.
My storage room downstairs is full of things I really don’t need.
My filing system lacks the kind of organization that it should have.
So, this is the year to take care of those problems.
Organize – and simplify!

stack of towels on rack
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Can you identify?

In today’s entry for Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah
inspired me to begin with prayer and purpose.
He quoted an important verse from scripture:

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life.
2 Peter 1:3, NIV

He put that concept of “NEED” into a Godly perspective
as he reminded me of a Maslow concept.
Dr. Jeremiah wrote:

“In 1943, Abraham Maslow, the son of Jewish immigrants to America,
published his famous diagram illustrating the hierarchy of human needs.
It was a triangle that explained our physical needs,
our need for safety and love,
and our need for esteem
and for self-actualization.”

Then Dr. Jeremiah inserted a principle you and I believe.
He said, “But Maslow was a humanist
who neglected to mention our spiritual needs
as described in the Bible.”

The patriarch Jacob said,
“God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.”
(Genesis 33:11, NIV).


As I apply that word, “Simplify” to my 2024 days,
I will keep a clear definition of NEED in mind!
And I will remember I have MORE than I need!

Has God inspired you to
SIMPLIFY
your life
in 2024?

black teenager choosing clothes in bedroom
Do you have
MORE than you need?

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com

Love,
JanBeek

(P.S. Tune in tomorrow
for what the “I” in SIFT
represents!)