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Daily Take-Aways

Do you take time each morning to read your Bible, pray, and study at least one devotional? It is such a powerful way to start each day.

Let God help you begin your day with your heart focusing on a message you receive during the time you begin with Him. I’ve been using Guideposts’ devotionals for over a decade now. I find it to be constantly spirit-lifting!



Daily Guideposts’ format includes a selected Bible verse, a reflection on that scripture, a prayer, and a couple of related scriptures in a section called Digging Deeper.

Before leaving the daily page, I write my “Take Away” on the page. It’s a message I carry with me that day – a lens through which I encounter what the day brings. Here are the daily take-aways from this month of March 2022:

Daily Take-Aways in March 2022

  1. Trust God’s Perfect Timing
  2. Wear Your Faith
  3. Enjoy a Grace-Filled Perspective
  4. Forgive Always
  5. Seek His Help First
  6. Where He Leads Me,
  7. I Will Follow
  8. Seek God’s Wisdom
  9. For Everything – A Season
  10. “Bee” Compassionate and Patient
  11. “Bee” a Servant Leader
  12. “Bee” Not Dismayed
  13. Stay the Course
  14. Pray for our Troubled World
  15. Give Cheerfully
  16. Trust His Perfect Timing
  17. Pray for World Peace
  18. Take Delight in Others
  19. Life is An Adventure
  20. Jesus Never Leaves Us
  21. Show Agape Love
  22. Believe: I Am Fearfully & Wonderfully Made
  23. Avoid Procrastination
  24. The Spirit Flies
  25. God Supplies Our Needs
  26. Focus and “Bee” Clear
  27. Adopt the Courage of the Cross
  28. He Equips Me
  29. Wake Up Eager
  30. Share Your Smiling Face
  31. Enjoy the Unexpected

If you follow my blog and have a read a few of my posts this past month, you recognize that many of those take-aways were the inspiration for JanBeek’s posts. Which of those topics resonated with you the most?

Will you consider creating a “take-away” from your Bible or devotional reading each day? Try it! See if it helps you focus in a new and different way.

Before I leave you this evening, I need to wish you a Happy April, my friends. Tomorrow’s a new day. It’s a new month. And as I write this my youngest granddaughter, Faith, is in labor – expecting my #4 great-grandchild. We are expecting a beautiful little girl. I am praying she is born quickly, as painlessly as possible, and as perfect as God creations can be. Won’t you pray with me? I’ll keep you posted.

Faith’s older sister, Hope, has given us two great-grandchildren:

Here is Xander
Great-grandchild #1
Here’s Sienna,
Great-grandchild #2

Faith’s brother, Jordan, has gifted us with great-grandchild #3 :

Here’s Cosette!
Look at the RunAway Bunny –
Too cute, huh?

I can hardly wait to meet
Great-grandchild #4.
Here is her mommy, our granddaughter,
Faith,
when she was a baby:

Aren’t I a blessed lady?

What’s your take-away today?
Happy April 1st, dear ones.
No fools among us!!

See ya later today
with my good news, OK?

Love,
JanBeek

Don’t take-away love!
Give it generously instead!
Good night!!

Category:

blessings, books, children, Faith, Family, God, Gratitude, Love, prayer, relationships

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The Gift of Love

Love is a gift from God.
Love is an action word.
Bob Goff wrote a book:
“Love Does” – have you heard?

Have you heard the Word
That tells us how to love?
It’s in Corinthians 13 –
Instructions from above.

In her post today, Caralyn of “Beauty Beyond Bones” explained her thoughts on the subject of the Source of our love. She remarked about the newest Time Magazine featuring a cover photo of Jesus. The caption, “Who Do You Say that I Am?” caused her to give us a wonderful Valentine’s Day answer:

Caralyn wrote:

“You are my best friend.
The source and foundation of my recovery.
You are my hope in hard times,
my gratitude in the good,
my comfort in fear,
my joy in the everyday,
my courage and fortitude.
You are the fullness of my heart.
You are the grace
running through my veins.
You are my everything.”

https://wordpress.com/post/35023548/25969
(Hopefully this link will take you to
Caralyn’s post today:
A God Wink Valentine)

In my devotional time with In Touch, the daily readings by Charles Stanley, the subject of love was linked to our faith. Yes, it is within all things – because all things were made by our Creator – made with love and care! But the reflection on today’s scripture reminded us that “… accepting God’s love is a matter of faith. Even when you can’t feel it, believe it.“

1 John 4:7-10
“7 Dear friends,
let us love one another,
for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves
has been born of God
and knows God.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God,
because God is love.
9 This is how God showed his love among us:
He sent his one and only Son into the world
that we might live through him.
10 This is love: not that we loved God,
but that he loved us
and sent his Son
as an atoning sacrifice
for our sins.”

Love is a gift from God.
We can do nothing to earn it –
But it is ours to share!

Charles Stanley wrote:
“No one is worthy of God’s grace and mercy…
To consider yourself beyond the reach of grace
is to trample on the Son’s sufficient sacrifice
and the Father’s generous gift.”

Wear your love on your sleeve.
Radiate love with each smile.
Let love stay behind when you leave –
It’s renewable – it’s your style!

Take my heart –
and please don’t break it!
Love was make for you and me!

Thanks for visiting JanBeek today.

I send my love to you.


Happy Valentine’s Day!
See ya tomorrow (God willing)

Category:

Bible Lessons, books, Faith, God, holidays, Jesus, Love, music, Poetry

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Ever Faithful

Remaining ever faithful is a life-long endeavor.

To what or to whom do you remain “ever faithful”?

For Christmas this year
our son, Ty, and his wife, Monika,
gave me this book.

The back cover has a an explanation
of the author’s purpose.

Each day David Jeremiah,
(the author of Turning Point
another devotional
I have been following for years),
selects a scripture,
and reflects on it.

Today’s reflection was especially meaningful to me:

It is trusting the Lord’s direction
day by day in our lives together
that has allowed Bob & me
to remain ever faithful
to one another for these 60 years!

This Friday we will celebrate our 60th anniversary.

This was last year on our 59th.
Here we are 60 years ago!

Yesterday we celebrated my granddaughter, Faith’s baby girl – due April 3rd – with a virtual baby shower. It was attended by about 20 friends from all over this part of our world – from Alaska and Hawaii to NY and across to CA – and states like ours (Montana) in between.

Our daughter-in-law, Monika (Faith’s mom) did a wonderful job researching ahead of time, planning, inviting, and coordinating the event. She linked in to an app that invited her to post a baby picture of the prospective mom as a baby and the prospective dad as a baby at the same age. Then the app blended the two parents and showed what the baby might look like if she favored the mom more. Another picture showed what she’ll look like if she favors dad’s side more.

Because Faith and Kyle actually resembled one another as babies, the two renditions were quite similar. That was fun!

Another activity had all the participants answering questions about the honored couple. The running scores were exhibited and the “winners” were awarded Amazon gift certificates. I didn’t participate in that… couldn’t figure out how to access the game screen! So much for technological prowess!! But folks who engaged had a lot of fun with it.

We were able see Faith & Kyle virtually unwrap each of their gifts, as each told us a little about the gift-giver… and because we were all on a ZOOM share screen, we could see each other. I was terribly impressed with Monika who was able to put all this together and move the activities along at a good pace.

My blog yesterday, “A Virtual Baby Shower,” showed you this expectant mom & dad. Here’s another photo of them:

Faith & Kyle McSparron

I know you join me in wishing them
a happy, healthy pregnancy.
Of course, I will share pictures
of their baby girl with you
when she is born in April.

Meantime, my prayer for them
is that they remain “ever faithful”
to one another –
and are loving, devoted parents
when their new little bundle arrives.
God bless Faith & Kyle!!

Bee well my friends.
Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
I’ll see you tomorrow (God willing)
What are your Tuesday plans?

Hugs to you!

Oh, before I say good-bye,
Here’s a tribute to this
age-old tradition:
marriage!!


Bye for now!!

Category:

Bible Lessons, books, children, Faith, Family, Living in Christ's Family, Love, music, prayer, relationships

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Bloganuary#18 – Books

“What Book Will You Read Next?” was the Bloganuary prompt yesterday. I was away from my computer all day, so I didn’t get a chance to answer it then. But here is my answer – a day late:

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The book next on my reading list is Amanda Gorman’s “Call Us What We Carry.” Amanda is the young lady who wrote the poem that she read at the 2021 USA Presidential inauguration, “The Hill We Climb.” Her book of poems “captures a shipwrecked moment in time and transforms it into a lyric of hope and healing.” According to the inside flap of the book, “This book is a message in a bottle. This book is a letter. This book does not let up.” I loved Gorman’s poem for the inauguration message last year. I know I am going to enjoy delving deeper into her poetic prowess!

What book is next on your reading list?

See ya later today with prompt #19… stay tuned.

Love, JanBeek

Category:

books, learning, Love, Poetry, writing

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Embrace Reading

I love reading
Almost as much
As I love writing –
How about you?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

As a teacher,
Reading to my students
Was my favorite time
Of every school day.

Every day when the students
Came in from lunch
Hyper and excited,
A good book settled them.

As a retired adult,
Spending time in
A captivating book
Is like being in a candy shop.

But some of my friends
Would rather color
Or watch TV
Or shop on-line.

How do you feel
About books and reading?
Do you relish a good read –
Or would you rather garden?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Reading a good book
Takes you to gardens
And castles and wonders
Around the world.

Reading a good book
Increases your vocabulary
And helps you soar
To heights beyond your reach.

I’m not telling you
Anything you didn’t know.
So, tell me about a book
That carried you skyward.

I’m all ears!
Recommend a good book to me.

Embrace Reading!

That’s me – reading “The Wing Ding Dilly” by Bill Peet
to a 4th grade class in California.
Their teacher, Mrs. Souza,
invited friends on FB
to ZOOM read to her class.
I volunteered.
You should try it!
It was such fun!!

Thanks for visiting JanBeek
See ya tomorrow

Category:

books, children, flowers, Giving, learning, Love, Poetry, Sharing, teaching

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Live Life Forward

I CAN …

If you’ve followed my blog for a week or so, you already know that I journal most days in this little book that is dedicated to my dear and daring daughter, DeAna. I don’t write in it EVERY day, but often I do, when I am up in my sanctuary, motivated by my devotionals. Today was such a day.

Look ahead, my friend
Live Life Forward
Stare out the windshield
Not the rear view mirror

Look toward the future
Find the unexpected gifts
Share the love and grace
You find at every turn

Share the laughter
Share uninhibited joy
Share compassion
Ease each others pain

Find the hidden treasures
‘Neath the tears of sorrow
Let them wash you clean
Ready for tomorrow

Look ahead, my friend
Don’t let the past upset
Live life forward
And bury all regret

Photo by Binti Malu on Pexels.com

I have positive thoughts about today.
It’s snowing here…
and it is beautiful outside.
It’s warm and cozy inside.
I pray you are cozy, too.



Thanks for visiting JanBeek
And thank you to all my faithful followers –
Your comments make my day!
See ya tomorrow.

A photo taken from a drone by my friend, Whooter,
showing you how pretty it is
when the snow is beginning to turn things white.
Happy Christmas Weekend!

Category:

blessings, books, Faith, Family, Gratitude, happiness, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, mental health, peace, photography, Poetry, writing

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Never Go Back!

No, I don’t want to go back!
I don’t want to revisit the old normal.
Surely as we move from 2020
to a new year, we’ll create a better normal.

This is my prayer this Christmas:
Lord, help us learn what You
have in mind for us to learn
from this rare year we’ve just survived.

Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

Letter from a Wordsmith

With his permission, I am sharing with you the first part of a Christmas letter I received this week from my former pastor, Rev. Brent Mitchell. He is a master wordsmith! He said what’s in my heart so much better than I could have said it.

“Mark it how you will,
2020 was a year not lost,
but forever to be remembered
for both its absences
and its unexpected gifts.

By the middle of March,
it became apparent that
what we thought as normalcy
had left its predictable confines
for parts unknown,
leaving no forwarding address.

Masked and gloved,
we were left to fend for ourselves
absent even the comfort
of shaking hands
or intimate conversations,
the communion around tables,
camaraderie of birthdays celebrated,
the sacred closeness of hospital visits.

Absent of the humanizing connectivity,
of those familiar and holy intersections,
we were left to laugh alone,
to cry alone,
and hope in seclusion.
It cost us treasures we never knew
were so valuable
and time that cannot be recalled.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

“But admit it:
There were unexpected gifts.
There were letters we finally wrote,
the books we never touched until now,
the prolonged stillness that allowed us to think again,
and listen to what our hearts were saying.

We talked to God
because the hours got quiet enough
to hear His still small voice.
It happened because we watched enough TV
to realize we had watched TV enough,
and golden silence gave us gifts
that weren’t insipid.

“I think, in short, that if we were paying attention,
not only did we get older,
but almost certainly wiser
because even a painful awareness
of what lurks in our hearts and minds
is worth more than gold.

The gift was rediscovering
at a visceral level
that we really are never alone;
nor in the absence of everyone,
are we left unloved.

“My prayer is that when this is over,
and it will one day be over,
we won’t forget the things we learned
the hard way this year:
that God willing,
we’ll never go back
to the tired normalcy of endless distractions,
of busyness as usual,
and the noise that never ends.”

The Mitchell Musings
December 2020
Peace to you.
Good Night, my friends.
Have a wonderful Christmas Eve Day.

Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
I leave with you my hopes and wishes
for a most Blessed Christmas.

Category:

Belief, books, Christmas, Faith, friendship, God, holidays, learning, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Love, mental health, peace, Poetry, prayer, relationships, Sharing, writing

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A Day to Remember!

December 21st

On this day in the year 1937, Walt Disney’s animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was introduced to a delighted American public. My sister was one day old. I was born a year and a half later.

Yesterday I posted a poem about God whistling through the trees – and added some other whistlers to the post. Here’s one of my favorite tunes to whistle:

I grew up with loving this movie and the song…


The drawings that created the animation for the movie were mostly done by Bill Peet. I met Bill Peet in the late 1960’s at a California Teachers’ Association Reading Conference. What a delightful man! Bill worked for Walt Disney as an artist most of his career. In his early 50’s, he retired from Walt Disney Studios and began publishing children’s picture books. This was one published in 1967, the year my daughter, DeAna, was born.

Bill Peet


Have you ever heard of him? Are you familiar with any of his books? I think many of the more than 30 books he wrote and published for children are available today on Amazon Books… especially in the Used Books section. I don’t think any are still being printed. But, I should research that. His home page lets you see this creative author/illustrator: http://www.billpeet.net/

Many of my Bill Peet books were autographed. I bought them at the CTA conferences and had the author personalize them to me and put his signature on them. I have given most of those to my daughter-in-law, Monika, who home-schooled our four California grandchildren.

Looking at that list, I remember hearing Bill read to us “The Wingdingdilly.” I remember his infectious laugh. That”s such a cute story! Here are a couple of his books that I still have. All his books have a wonderful moral to them. Many of them are written in poetic rhyme. His wonderful sense of humor comes through, just as it did when he produced the drawings for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Don’t you love his whimsical artwork?
Jennifer the automobile was already old in 1933…
Her best friend was a scrawny, stray cat named Josephine.
This is the story of a timid, scrawny little squirrel afraid to come down out of his tree…
Adorable!
How can tiny little gnats save those big animals of the forest during hunting season?

Another of Bill Peet’s books that I still have is Fly Homer, Fly – copyrighted in 1969, its pages’ edges are mouse chewed – don’t know how that happened – but not so bad it ate into any of the words! Homer is a simple farm pigeon who lives in an abandoned barn. Homer befriended a bedraggled sparrow who was blown by a storm into the barn. The adventures begin when Sparky, the Sparrow, convinced Homer to fly off to Mammoth City with him in search of Pigeon Park where every day was supposed to be a feast day.

And then on this day in 2020…

You just gotta try to find Fly Homer Fly… The pigeon & sparrow adventures reminded me of my youngest grandson, Chris, who arrived today in Colombia from Switzerland.

Yesterday Chris flew via Geneva – Madrid – Miami. And then he realized he had forgotten his American passport. He could not fly on from Miami to his next scheduled stop. So he had to go back to Geneva and have his brothers drive there from Sierre (a two-hour trip) to deliver his USA passport to him… and 52 hours later he finally got to his destination. Whew!! Can you imagine?? Might even beat Homer’s adventures!

I introduced you to our grandson, Chris, back in November of 2018 when he came to live with us for awhile and joined the Job Corps in Anaconda, Montana. Then COVID-19 hit and the government threatened to close the Job Corps centers that were run by the Forest Service. Anaconda was one of them. That was right about when Chrissy’s parents were here visiting. So, he decided to go back to Switzerland. He’s now studying to be a nurse. He met Natalia on-line… and I told you about their romance back in early 2019. Refresh your memory:
https://janbeek.blog/2020/02/23/love-on-the-internet/

Bob & Jan with Chris in December 2018

A Day to Remember

Our grandson will remember this day forever… and someday he will laugh about it with his grandkids, just the way his grandparents are enjoying the story today. It was a surprise to us that Chris made this trip! I hope you are enjoying the story, too… and like us, I hope you are saying a prayer for those crazy kids who choose to fly across the world in this COVID environment. Ah, love knows no barriers! God bless them!

And God bless us all.
Bee safe this Christmas week, my friends.
Do yourself a favor and go check out Bill Peet!
See ya tomorrow.
Keep your sense of humor alive.
It’s vital!

Love that”kid” …
Bee safe, Chrissy!


Hugs, GrammyJanBeek

Category:

art, books, children, Family, friendship, happiness, health, humor, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, music, relationships, Travel, work

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Do You Journal?

Do you journal?
Do you write most days –
Only here on WordPress?
Do you write in other ways?

Journaling on WordPress
Is a great opportunity,
But I might not say
All that occurs to me.

My journal from Marcie & Monica

I have a wonderful journal –
A gift from two good friends.
They gave it to me last year
Knowing my journaling never ends.

Today I wrote an entry
About how November’s end –
And how Christmas is coming
Right around the next bend.

But, I don’t want to squander
All the lesson November brought,
So I recalled all the Take-Aways
Each November devotion brought:

Which of those take-aways
Speaks to your heart today?
Which will you carry with you
As you travel on your way?

Each day I read the message
And in a word or five,
I take the thought I need
This day to live and thrive.

I invite you to also journal
If it isn’t already a habit.
Find a booklet that fits your taste
Then think your thoughts and grab it!

Grab that booklet daily
To augment the things you say
On WordPress to your friends here.
Your grandkids will love it some day!

This is another of my journals

Do you journal?
Do you write most days –
Only here on WordPress?
Do you write in other ways?

Journaling can be very therapeutic.
It can get things off your chest.
Then you can refer back to it.
It can be comforting at best!

If you don’t journal in a booklet,
Try it, my friends, start today.
You may discover, as I did,
It’s a place to finish your “say!”

Reading your journal later
Is like looking in a rear view mirror.
It helps you see what was
And makes today seem clearer.

Try it! You’ll like it!!

Bye for now.
See ya tomorrow.
Hugs from JanBeek

This song by Roy Clark tells us, “I never stopped to think what life was all about…”
Well, I find that journaling helps me to that as I can recall “Yesterday When I Was Young” by looking back…

Category:

blogging, books, life, Life's Challenges, Love, Memories, music, Poetry, Sharing, writing

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Was Lost – Is Found

On his blog, RothPoetry, Dwight posted this today,

“Today we were asked to write poetry from our book shelf. Bjorn, at d’Verse, called it found poetry. The challenge is to arrange and make a poem using book titles from our shelf, without changing any titles. I thought these were a very fitting group for the times we are experiencing. See what you think?

Found Poetry

Violence

Money, Sex, and Power

The Brilliant Idiot

Dialogue with death”

So I thought it would be fun to take up the challenge and do my own “Found Poem.”

The bookshelf in my “Angel Room”

I’m OK – You’re OK

Faith is the Answer

Mornings with Jesus

Reach Out!

Go to Dwight’s WordPress blog: see some other Found Poems. Take up the challenge! Go to your bookshelf. Share a Found Poem with me. Have fun with it. I’d love ❤️ to hear from you.

Virtual hugs 🤗

Cheers!! JanBeek

Category:

blogging, books, Faith, Love, Poetry, writing

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