“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 3:18
Today’s post was inspired by an entry in All God’s Creatures, a Guideposts publication. Shirley Raye Redmond wrote a commentary titled, “Keep Growing” for the November 27 entry.
She ended her thoughts with this quote by Oswald Chambers:
“Spiritual maturity is not reached by the passing of years, but by obedience to the will of God.”
Isn’t it interesting that when I search for photos related to obedience, the pictures all are of dogs? Not us human beings. No, the word conjures up obedient dogs! Would that we could be as responsive to discipline as a dog is! Or as committed to growth as a lobster!
Bee like a lobster Or a dog – Committed and Obedient…
One should not lose sleep over lost blogs, right? But here I am … sleepless in Montana … feeling very disgruntled. I wrote this blog titled “Triumphant Scars” and posted it, but then I received a notice that the draft was not posted. I knew I had finished and posted it… and many of you dear readers left lovely comments. So, I deleted the unfinished draft. Figured I didn’t need it.
Well, my friends, if you have both JetPack and WordPress, BEWARE!!
JetPack did not acknowledge the completed post, and when I erased the draft, I lost the post. Does that make sense? No!! Below is all that is left of my carefully crafted post about Eli and his “Triumphant Scars.“
…He showed them [scars on] His hands and sides. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.”
John 20:20
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Those x’s are what I put in to save room for text when I went from my phone (where I started the post because that’s where the pictures were) to my laptop where I completed the entry. I used lovely illustrations of why Eli’s scars (and yours and mine, too) are triumphant by quoting a very thoughtful and inspiring commentary in Guideposts “Mornings With Jesus.”
The bottom line: Jesus’ scars on his hands, feet and sides are proof of healing. His death and resurrection allows us, His followers, to be healed of our sins and look forward to eternity. Our scars, both the visible and the invisible ones, are proof of our healing, too. They are Triumphant Scars. That was the message.
Alas, I discovered when I deleted the draft in JetPack, I also deleted my finished post and the only thing I could retrieve in “Trash” was what you see above, the scripture, the photos and the x’s. Do any of you dear readers have any advice for me? I am so disgruntled that I’ve taken a break from blogging since then. Did you miss me? I need to get out of this funk.
Th good news is: Eli is home and recuperating from his surgery. His mom & dad and three sisters are in my daily prayers along with his grandma, Donna (whose blog, “The Father’s Feet” is where I met Eli). I hope you are continuing to pray for Eli, too.
This has been a miserable way to learn “Do Not Delete it when JetPack says your published WordPress post is still in draft form.” I’ve gotta get outta this funk and back to my positive self spreading love, joy, peace, faith and unity on JanBeek. And I’ve gotta get some sleep. This is no way to live.
Sympathy = “I feel FOR you.” Empathy = “I feel AS you.”
Ah, we need more empathy! We need more people who are willing to put themselves in another person’s shoes…
Not just feel sorry for the one who suffers, but feel his/her suffering – and try to do something to alleviate it. I discovered a new blogger today (new to me) – “Ly-die” – who wrote an eloquent post on this topic. I really appreciated it, and I think you will, too.
Have a terrific Thursday! Our daughter, DeAna, and son-in-law, Andre’ are with us this week. They surprised us by bringing along with them our 1980-81 AFS Exchange student (Christian Zufferey) and his wife, Celia. Chris (ZuZu) is Andre’s cousin… and he has not been to the USA in over 30 years! You can imagine our pure JOY at seeing him and his dear spouse at our door!
Yesterday we toured Ennis and stopped at “The Long Branch” for a few libations. That’s De & Andre’ on the left and ZuZu with Celia on the right. I’m the happy camper in the middle!
Bob stayed home and then joined us later when we a went to our neighbors’ place (the Ducsays) for “TMW” – (what’s that – you ask?) – Hah – “Too much wine!” The picture doesn’t show our joy! We were having a grand time!
Today our Swiss guests are spending time in Yellowstone Park. It’s a beautiful blue sky day here. What are you up to??
Enjoy your Thursday… I send my love and empathy your way.
Today’s prompt made me pause and reflect on the why. Why am I here? Why have I posted “stuff” here for so many years? It’s not for rewards or recognition.
The title up there tells the story. It’s my place to stay connected with Derrick & Dwight, Ann & Sue, Richard & Donna, Caralyn & you!! It’s blogging friends old and new who take the time to comment, who post their own inspirational messages … that’s why I’m here. I care about you.
Thank you for also blogging and for staying in touch!
Today’s JetPack prompt was: Describe something you learned in high school.
Here’s my answer:
When I was in high school, I sang in the choir and I played clarinet in the band and orchestra. I learned a lot about music.
During the summers of my junior & senior years, my parents made it possible for me to attend Music Camp at the College of the Pacific.
I learned there that the accordion was not considered a real instrument.
(Hah! “Welcome to heaven, here’s your harp. Welcome to hell, here’s your accordion.” My friends always shared jokes about it.)
I had to learn to play the piano! That was so hard. (My hands are small and my fingers don’t reach an octave!)
I also learned that a choir or band/orchestra conductor could be very humble and quiet and still demand and receive respect.
During my senior year, I viewed those conductors in my high school with a new set of eyes and ears after singing and playing under the guidance of folks like Jester Harrison, Dr. Bodley, and Curt Herbert Adler during summer camp.
And because I was exposed each summer to music therapy at C.O.P., I listened to music and internalized it with a whole new set of ears.
This video is an experience with music that my Swiss family shared.
Different kinds of music creates different responses. You can blow it off. You can dance to it, or you can join in! Hah! That music makes me hyper! That’s our DeDe and her hubby, Andre’ in there!!
Music from a cello or other soothing stringed instrument sets my mind and body at ease. Piano music can be very soothing. Depends on the choice, of course.
This is my choice for soothing music. If you have some time and want to just listen for a while, see how this music relaxes you! In contrast, ask “Alexa, shuffle music by Fluffy Machine.” That’s my grandson, Nicky’s band. Oh my, it’ll jazz you up!
What’s one way I used “Music Therapy” in my classroom? It’s based on the Iso Principle. Match the mood of the music to the person’s mood; Change the mood of the music, and the person’s mood changes with it.
When my students came in from recess, they were all hyper. I played hyper music on my accordion to match their mood and gradually changed it to calmer sounds. Then we sang a song,
“It’s math time, math time, Time to have some fun. Please get out your books now, Turn to page ___, Be ready. OK, we’ve begun.”
It worked! They were all on the right page and ready to begin!
Parade Magazine once had an article about music. In it, the author wrote, “Can you imagine your life without music? It’s almost impossible. Whether we are cruising in the car headed to the beach on a hot summer day or listening to muzak at a doctor’s office, we are constantly surrounded by song. Makeups, breakups, parties, hanging out with friends, singing along with our kids, or caroling a Christmas tune— music stamps nearly every aspect of our life. Much in the way a killer soundtrack accompanies a movie, most of us have songs that accent each phase of our lives, melodies that instantly bring us back to specific moments or memories when we hear them even years later.”
Is there a song or a piece of music that impacted your life? Here is one of my favorites.
You can go to YouTube to hear this music or you can ask “Alexa” or “Siri” to play this song by Susan Boyle. It is the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. I love it… and I want to be exactly that.
Let music change your life – every day! Thank you, JetPack, for this prompt. Thank you, dear blogging friends, for visiting.
His description of the Day 3 poetry prompt intrigued me:
NaPoWriMo Day 3: Find a shortish poem that you like, and rewrite each line, replacing each word (or as many words as you can) with words that mean the opposite. For example, you might turn “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” to “I won’t contrast you with a winter’s night.”
Then Rahul shared a poem he wrote using that “Opposite” prompt: On his blog site you can see a link to the original poem.
When I am standing on the edge Revelling at the vista, which the mist blurs I forget the lovely image, hers, as She fades… fades… fades away Over me, joy has taken me in its veil More a creature of this world And one less angel on the earth I want nothing more, nothing less When I am standing on the edge Revelling at the vista, which the mist blurs I think I recall the image, hers, again She passes…passes… passes by I want nothing less, nothing more
I picked up on Rahul’s prompt and decided to write a poem inspired by poet, Holly Haley.
The original poem: “Friendships”
Write life without friendships And who would read it through? Paint life without its friendships Where is the rainbow hue? Build life without its friendships Who would live therein? For friendship’s glow leads to the goal That each of us would win.
poet: Molly A. Haley
And mine:
“Enemies”
Live life with enemies And no one would join in Scribble life with its enemies And forget to add a grin. Tear down life with its enemies And regret the choices you choose For death darkens your door When you’ve no friends to lose.
Jan Beekman
Want to try your hand at this opposites poetry? If so, I’d love to have you share it in the comments section here.
Photo by Monstera on Pexels.com Friends are such an important part of every happy life!
On the other hand, enemies are sometimes hard to find (at least for me). If you look at everyone through your Jesus glasses, you will see the divine in them. You will pray for them, and you will realize that they are placed in your world to teach you. What do your enemies teach you? Well, for one thing – they teach you what you don’t want to be!!
Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com Hmmm… what does that mean, “Front Toward Enemy”??
You want that person at your back to be your friend, right? When your friend says, “I’ve got your back,” what’s that mean? To me it means, when my back is turned and someone intends to harm me, my friend will be there to protect me. Turning your back on your enemy can be dangerous!
How do we avoid having enemies? Can we really live a life without them? The PollyAnna in me says, “Of course!”
