I tried posting on the Bloganuary WordPress site rather than writing the message here. I am trying to see if that results in more WordPress readers who also are taking this 31 day challenge to answer a given prompt each day. We’ll see.
I am still in Placerville at my son, Ty’s house. My coughing and sneezing was so bad this morning that I was banned to my bedroom! No fun!! But this RSV (respiratory virus) is highly contagious – and I do not want to give it to Ty & Monika. (I hope I have not done so already!)
Bob is feeling better, but getting very tired of being house-bound. His miserable cough is almost gone. Praise God for answered prayers!
Now it’s my turn to turn the corner… Keep those prayers coming! I need ’em!| Love, JanBeek
P.S. At least I have a warm house to stay in – with loving family to take care of me – and there’s sunshine outside! I am not complaining! Could be a lot worse!!
WordPress started a new program called Bloganuary each day they’ll give us a writing prompt. I’ll see if I can find inspiration in this new program – and share comments with some fellow bloggers I haven’t met before.
My 2021 blogs all began with my word for the year, “Embrace.” We had spent 2020 with the absence of hugs … and that was really hard for me. It was not difficult to think of a subject to embrace each day.
Our daughter, De, at age 19.
Now, let’s see what my life experience can do with these new daily prompts!
Today a team of five willing helpers moved every bit of our furniture and appliances from our kitchen, dining room and living room. It was a monumental task!
Beekmans’ bare house
New wood flooring will be installed over this old, soft fir, scarred floor while we are gone to CA for Christmas and New Years. This is what the new/old wood will look like when it is finished:
That’s our friends, Julie & Mike’s new floor.
The wood is from a hundred year old silo in Malta, Montana. Bob saw it and fell in love with it. He decided it is what our house needs. When all is said and done, I hope it is as lovely as he anticipates – and it is worth the time, money, effort, and stress involved in such a major renovation! Our existing floor doesn’t look bad in the video, but it really is in bad shape – and the wood is soft – scars really easily. The replacement wood (going right over the top of this) will give us a brighter, lighter look. Happy New Year!
God bless our willing helpers who are making all this possible!
1921 silo in Malta, Montana
The crew who did all that work to move things today are saints! As I said, it was a major task! And the man who is harvesting the wood from this old silo is a wizard! His name is Paul. Do keep in in prayer. I just pray he maintains his health and is able to finish the project. It was originally planned for when we were on our trip to England and Switzerland last September, but Paul, FELL while doing the wood harvesting and broke some ribs and had other health issues that required surgery. So, of course, our project was postponed while he recuperated.
1921 silo
It’s fun to know the history of the wood – and to look forward to a new look in our home. But, it involves a whole lot more than what meets the eye… because one thing always leads to another, you know? I am reminded of Derrick & Jackie Knight’s recent renovation of their kitchen and entry and upstairs rooms. Derrick shared the step-by-step, day-by-day progress with us on his blog. Quite an undertaking!
We’ll be gone and Paul will be living here in our absence – – – doing his magic. I’ll show you the finished product (God willing) when we return next year, mid to late January. Meantime, do keep our safe travels in your prayers, will you? I’ll keep in touch along the way.
Have a Blessed Sunday. Bob & I will attend church this morning … and then do a little clean-up in our kitchen area to have it cleared and ready for Paul’s arrival tomorrow. What are your Sunday plans?
Us – looking forward to fun with family in sunny California
God bless you and keep you safe. See you tomorrow (God willing) Tomorrow is our day to pack! Love, JanBeek
“I remind myself of the agreement I have with my Guardian Angels. They are allowed to take anyone and anything from my life that it is not and will not be good for me. No questions asked. It doesn’t need to make sense.”
Do you believe angels can actually work to save you from harm?
There is a story in the book of Acts about an angel who freed Peter from prison. It always has fascinated me. It’s hard to deny the presence of angels when you know things like this have happened:
Acts 12:5-17
Peter Freed from Prison
5 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but [a]constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. 6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were [b]keeping the prison. 7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” 9 So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”
12 So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. 13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. 15 But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.”
16 Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.
I asked Bob this morning, “Have you ever been saved by an angel?”
“Oh yes,” he replied without hesitation.
“When?” (I knew what he was going to say.)
“When I fell asleep at the wheel of my truck with a load of honeybees on the bed of the truck… I went off the road and missed a culvert by 6″ before being jarred awake and slamming on the brakes. I know my guardian angel was working overtime!”
Psalm 91:11 assures us that our angels are indeed here to protect us.
My friend, Sue, and her husband, Jerry, had a similar experience. They were driving back from Bozeman one rainy Saturday when their car slid on a slick, rainy spot. They were facing down the steep side over the railing when Sue spontaneously said, “God help us!”
Immediately, their car tilted backward and onto the road. The two of them sat there astounded. They drove home in awe and wonder. They shared their experience in church the next day. Yes, many nodded in a knowing way… others shared their Guardian Angel stories during fellowship that day.
Not all angels are celestial beings. I believe God has put invisible wings on each of us!! He asks us to “Love one another” just as He has loved us.
(I had fun posing in front of a myriad of wings that are displayed in Redlands, CA at a spot dedicated to 58 beautiful souls who were gunned down.
“Live and Let Live Live and Let Love”
I wrote a poem for a resident of our Madison Valley Nursing Home several years ago. She had damaged her shoulders in a fall and was unable to lift her arms. For Christmas that year, I gave her a Willow Creek angel with no wings.
Here is the angel and the poem:
“Angels on earth Such as Gloria Wear their wings in their loving arms. Though she may not Be physically able To reach out And embrace you, Her invisible wings Stretch her heart To reach miles With warm smiles, Sparkling eyes, And words of grace – Loving and wise.
Amen
EMBRACE THE ANGEL IN YOU!
Do you have a story to tell about a time your guardian angel saved you?
I have tried posting on my blog since arriving in England. It won’t allow my pictures. Don’t desert me, though. Hang tight. I’ll be back, it’ll be worth the wait! Meantime, follow me on FB, ok?
On her post, Marion Driessen invited her readers to try it… try writing a six word story.
Oh, I discovered later that the invitation was posted on Posted on . Do you suppose it still is valid?
I’m going to try it… just a short trial. I can embrace the fun of it… Even if it is out of date!
She challenged her readers, “Write a story about SUPERSTITION in just six words. Let a photo or image inspire you to write a story. Or first write the story, and then make or search for a picture to go with it.“
Then she suggested, “Publish your Six word story on your own website/blog and paste the link to that post in a comment to this one here at Figments. I will include your contribution in this post, forming a list of stories.”
When I searched to see if I have used this theme of tenacity already this year, I found a link to “Tenacity Defined” written a couple of years ago … before I started the current “Embrace” series. So, I decided it was OK to use the theme again because I have whole different take on it now.
So much has happened in these last three years since that 2018 post. Among the defining “happenings” is COVID-19. Impacting my view of life has been the way in which the pandemic exposed some of our worst tendencies. The issue of racism raised its ugly head. (I guess it never really was hidden)… but … In spite of the tenacity of people who to this day follow the non-violent teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr., there has been an increase in violent crime – and especially racially motivated hatred.
I saw images of people of Asian descent being knocked to the ground, innocent little Chinese ladies being beaten, and people standing by observing these horrendous acts – and doing nothing to stop them.
Where does tenacity fit in to this line of thinking?
Jeremy Liew from Riverside, Connecticut wrote in Time Magazine this week, “The last year made me comfortable with being uncomfortable.” In his article titled, Newfound Empathy, he explains his discomfort, ending with, “I am still uncomfortable, but now I am confident. I appreciate who I am. I am grateful for what I have – my education and health, and my three annoying sisters.”
Jeremy’s tenacious attitude, at the tender young age of 13, does not come magically. He must have some role models out there who are helping him appreciate his uniqueness, and value his attributes.
The song’s theme of “Never Give Up” reminds me that change comes slowly, but it comes. Like MLK,Jr. in his “I Have a Dream” speech, we need to adopt that attitude of hope. Tenaciously hang on to HOPE. And then we need to live it! We need to be able to say, along with Jeremy Liew, “I am confident.”
Mom’s cardboard of poems
In 1936, when she was a bride, transplanted from Washington to central California, my mom had a habit of cutting favorite poems out of the newspaper and taping them to a piece of cardboard. She hung that cardboard inside her kitchen cabinet.
It is now hanging inside my kitchen cabinet here in Montana. I treasure it… and I hold tenaciously to the lessons those various poems teach me. What a legacy, huh? The poem above was brought to mind today by Ann Koplow’s wonderful blog. She titled her post:
“Wouldn’t life be lots more happy, If we praised the good we see? For there’s such a lot of goodness In the worst of you and me.”
It takes TENACITY to look for and find the good in others. But it is so worth it!! I have a plaque in my dining room that reminds me of this fact. Here it is:
In that Time Magazine article, Jeremy Liew went on to explain, “I was uncomfortable being singled out for how I look (I am an Asian American Pacific Islander). A year ago, people looked at me as f I had COVID-19 or brought it to my community…”
Since when do we traumatize people because of the way they look? Since when do we marginalize them and make them feel inferior?
You say, “Since time immortal”??
Well, I say, “Well, It is time to make a change!”
As the song at the top of this blog says, “I will take a chance to be who I’m meant to be. I won’t let fear keep me from trying. It’s time for me to make a change. Start living the life I want. I’m gonna reach for the sky way up high. I’m never giving up. It’s up to me to see who I can be. Make change reality. I’m never giving up.”
Not only do I need to live the life I want and be who God made me to be, but I need to spread that message to others. Find the gold in them. Encourage them to be all that God made them to be, too.
One of my favorite bloggers is Cristian Mihai “The Art of Blogging” … If you go to his About page and read his explanation of who he is, you will see that it ends with these 4 lines:
“Sometimes I think I am who I am because someone has to be.
I believe it’s always strangers who ask the most difficult question.
‘Who are you?‘
I just wrote 1,500 words and I’m still not sure you know who I am.“
That last link is one of Cristian’s blogs that I think is so powerful that I told him he needs to bookmark it and read it when he is 80, because he writes about the trials of being a 20-something-year-old. He writes it now as a 31-year-old who has wisened beyond his years. He looks at life through very unique lenses. He is tenacious about passing along to others “The Art of Blogging” with the hope of improving us all.
The road to our best self is a long and arduous one. No one ever said it was gonna be easy. After all, we’re only human! But in our humanity is a divine core. We were made in God’s image. We are His Beloved. So, when I talk about finding the gold, that’s the core I am talking about.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.
Do you have something you are needing to do? Something you might feel ill equipped to accomplish? Or maybe, just not as strong as you thought you might be… and needing to take it one baby step at a time? Well, that’s where tenacity comes in. Start slowly… work yourself up to the full extent of your power … the power of the Holy Spirit in you.
