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Archive for the ‘Christmas’ Category

Let Us Celebrate!

Let us celebrate
Every reason and season
Thank God we’re alive!

It’s Bob’s 84th
We’re celebrating big time
With his brother, Bill

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.com

Time to visit friends
Time to enjoy each other
Just let your light shine

Our great-granddaughters
Well… two of the three of them
Shine their light on us

Friends from long ago
Ignite the memory’s light
So blessed to see them

At that magic hour
On that very special day
With very dear friend

Bob’s known Monica
Since he was about fourth grade
She’s my high school friend

Time with Bob’s nephew
And wonderful wife, Sarah
So special, indeed!

Adorable pair
People we have loved so long
Welcomed our visit

Then we visited
Bob’s younger brother and Ann
So good to see them

Bob and I are blessed
With so much to celebrate
We hope you are, too

Let your light so shine
That others can feel its glow
Celebrate each day

Today, Bob’s birthday
We are feeling very loved
We hope you are, too

God bless Bill and Marge
They’re fixing us some meatballs
Bob’s birthday dinner

It smells delicious!!!
I’m outta here.. gonna eat
Happy New Year, Friends

Let Us Celebrate!
Love and hugs to you,
JanBeek

Family Christmas

We are very blessed
To be with family today
A Merry Christmas

Four generations
With fourteen of us in all
God bless our family

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Generation One
With sweet Generation Four
Thank God for babies

Children grow so fast
Remain babies a short time
Enjoy while you can

As a babe Christ came
Helpless and vulnerable
To live as we live

Mary and Joseph
Provided a loving home
Knowing He’s Special

Peace- John 14:27

So when did they know
The Truth of His intentions
Did God prepare them?

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I can’t imagine
Raising a loving child
For Him to die young

Some friends are hurting
On this day after Christmas
They lost a child, too

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Maybe their lost one
Is a sweet four-legged friend
That breaks your heart, too

On this Christmas night,
let’s reflect with my loved one from Zimbabwe
on Christmas Meaning:
God’s Plan by Taking the Human Form
– Birth of Jesus –

John 3
16 : For God loved the world so much
that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
may not die but have eternal life.

17 :
For God did not send his Son
into the world to be its judge,
but to be its savior.

11 :
“I am the good shepherd,
who is willing to die for the sheep.

It’s not about the day
as no one knows for certain when Jesus Christ was born.
It is a celebration of why He was born.

Here’s to our Salvation celebration
through the birth of Baby Jesus.
Let us make room for Him in our hearts 💕

Blessed Christmas beloved ones of God.
Shalom 🙏🏽❤️

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God Bless You, dear friends.
I pray you had a wonderful, family-filled Merry Christmas!

Love,
JanBeek

Merry Christmas!!

It’s not Santa and elves, teddy bears and presents. That’s the fluff!!

It’s the Christ Child, Emmanuel, God With Us! It’s new birth and the Virgin Birth. It’s the promise of Eternal Life!

Photo by Jonathan Meyer on Pexels.com

It’s peace on earth and good will toward all God’s creations.

So, when I say “Merry Christmas” it us not a Merry Xmas! Don’t “X” Christ out of CHRISTmas!!

Love and hugs to you, my friends.

Have a faith-filled weekend!

Amador Winetasting

What fun we had yesterday!

Bob & I went wine tasting with our son, Ty & daughter-in-law, Monika.

Winderotter Winery in Plymouth, Amador County, California has a wonderful selection of wines.

We tasted both reds and whites ended up taking some of each home with us.

Our visit to Runquist Winery, in that same area, was a delight, too.

Later, we returned to Placerville and had dinner at a delicious Thai Restaurant. Our grandson, Jordan, joined us.

If you’re ever fortunate enough to visit Amador County, I hope you will make it a point to visit those two wineries and enjoy a meal at the Tasty Thai. I know you’ll be as delighted as we were.

Now, I gotta get off my computer and join the fun. My family gives me a bad time when I am on the internet instead of interfacing with them!!

Enjoy the moment!
Have a very Merry Christmas!


Love,
JanBeek

Hooray for Destinations!

Love destinations
Especially arriving
Thanks for safety prayers

Stopped to deliver
Thank you gifts to our neighbors
Then we’re on our way

Leaving Montana
The bitter cold Arctic blast
Headed for our son’s

Clear roads were ahead
Beautiful scenery, too
Later came the drifts

Stopped for our breakfast
At Bella’s Coffee Shop, Wells
Enough food for three!

Fascinating skies
Entertained us on our way
Sun tried to peek out

Blue skies in Reno
Promised sunshine up ahead
What a welcomed sight!

O’er Donner Summit
Evidence earlier snow
Roads were passable

Praise God we arrived
All your faith-filled prayers answered
God hears and responds

So good to be here
Blizzard conditions at home
Warmth and love are here

Morning coffee’s hot
Family’s well and welcoming
Merry Christmas Friends!

Hooray for Destinations!

Summers here are great
When more of our family comes
Love those gatherings!

May your holidays
Be filled with love and laughter
May God bless you all

May God bless your life
With love, joy, peace, and laughter
Stay healthy, my friends

May you get to all your destinations safely.

Love and Best Wishes,
JanBeek

Help!!

Is it hard for you to ask for help?
Some people find it very difficult.
Some people feel like they are a burden.
They want to be self-sufficient.

Bob and I have learned
Self-sufficiency is harder as you age.
Asking for help is imperative,
Especially when you are stuck!!

That red dot out there is the back –
The back light of our car.
We high-centered in.a snow drift.
That’s about 50 yards out.

It is freezing out there – Brrr!
We walked home and left the car.
Brrrr… Help! We can’t do it –
Can’t dig ourselves out.

It’s not the first time
We needed help this week –
Not the first time this year.
What would we do alone??

Thank God for friends and neighbors.
Thank God for Bobcats & snow blowers
And friends who come to help.
We would be toast without them!

Tomorrow’s sunrise promises us
A better day – a chance to get out
A chance to go to church and thank God
For the HELP we receive from so many

Matthew 7:7

“Ask, and it will be given to you;
seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Do not be afraid to ask
Do not be too proud to admit
You need help – can’t do it all yourself
Let others help… and ask God for help, too!

No request is too small.

We reached out yestersay
We asked our friend, Joe, for help
He came and helped Bob
Unbury our snow fence

Earlier this month I reached out
And asked my friend, Susan P,
For help with my Christmas decorations
She came – we did it together – God bless her!

I couldn’t have done this without her!

May the Lord bless and keep you
May your neighbors and friends
Be the help you need when in distress
Don’t be afraid to cry out: HELP!!

There is no joy in aloneness
When you are craving assistance
People want to help you
They want to be asked. So do!

Do ask for HELP when you need it
Ask for HELP when you want it
You will be blessed and so will your helper
We all need to be needed!!

This is my adorable 10-year-old friend
Hailey helps to give me a sense of purpose
Each week she joins me in my sanctuary
We study scripture and read devotionals

I am so grateful for her and her mom
They let me know they needed something
In helping them, I am the one who is blessed
You, too, can be the helper as well as the one who’s helped

Reach out today and make someone’s life better
In the process, you will make your own richer, too.
Help is a two-way street – Don’t miss it!
God bless you, my dear WP friends… you help

You help by reading my blog and commenting
You help by posting your stories and inspiration
You never know just who needs what you write
You never know who you’re he[ping today!

Thanks for dropping by
JanBeek
today.


Your “likes” and comments
lift my spirits.
I’m headed to go see your blog
right now, too.
Thanks for your
HELP!!

Christmas Spectacular

Yesterday Bob & I were treated to a wonderful opportunity.
Our friends, Ann & John, drove us in to Bozeman
to enjoy the phenomenal “Christmas Spectacular” by the Bozeman Symphony.

The players were joined by the Symphony choir
and an amazing tenor soloist, Tamar Green.
I broke the rules, held my phone down where no one could see it,
and recorded a bit of Tamar’s extraordinary voice. You just have to hear him!!

I held the phone down in front of the chair… Oh, please listen.
His voice is amazing!!

His personality is as enchanting as his singing voice.
When he is not here, he is in New York, on Broadway,
playing the part of George Washington in the musical, Hamilton!!

I had to peek between two tall heads to see him –
and lean over between two other heads
to see the amazing conductor, Norman Huynh,
but I managed…
and was mesmerized by the lighting,
the staging,
and the quality of the musicians.

We are so blessed to have this delightful, talented conductor here with us in Bozeman, MT. He is such a gift to our music community! Thank you, Norman!!

The light show on the walls left, right, above,
and on the stage
was such an enhancement
to the show!

As you can tell by the menorah,
the music was varied
and celebrated many of this season’s traditions.

The concert ended with a rousing singalong.
I wish you coulda been there with us!

Did you sing along? Could you hear it?

Try not to let my scratchy alto voice distract you
from the fun of an auditorium of music lovers singing with gusto!

Silent Night is my favorite carols.
What is yours?

I hope you have a chance to attend a spectacular Christmas concert in your area, this season.

God bless you, dear friends!
Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas!

Love,
JanBeek

Montana Snow

The Christmas cards are done
They’re ready to be mailed
But we can’t leave our home
We’d surely be derailed

The winds were 40 mph gusts, and
The drifts have blown like crazy
I’ll have to ZOOM church tomorrow
And it’s not cuz I am lazy

I’d attend if I could get out
And after church I’d go
To the post office to mail the cards
But I can’t get through the snow

So we are at the mercy
Of a kind and helpful neighbor
When he comes with his bobcat blower
We’ll watch him work and thank him later

He’ll blow out the driveway
And clear a path for us
So we can get to church
Without shoveling and lots of fuss

But if you don’t see us
And if our card to you doesn’t come,
You might send out a sled team
To rescue us… we’re frozen and numb!

That’s our driveway that’s the culprit
The wind swirls the snow in piles
Inside between the rabbit brush
It blows in from many miles

That photo was a light snow
This time it’s at least two feet tall
After our neighbor plowed us out
The piles were a five foot wall!

We haven’t seen a winter like this
This storm has been a doozy
It started way too early this year –
The freezing wind makes me woozy

The Christmas cards are done
They’re ready to be mailed
But like I said, I’m stuck in here
Our Christmas travel might be curtailed

Try coming in through the drifts
I’ve some hot chocolate to share
But if you don’t make it here
Mr Snowman will be content floating there

Hope you’re having a happy December so far.
God bless you! Stay in touch.

Love ya,
JanBeek

Take a look at this photo I found!
That’s me – pregnant with our 1st child, Ty.
And that’s my sis and her hubby with my niece, Denise
and my mom and dad…
1964 Christmas …
Sweet memories!

OOOPS!!

Ooooops! In yesterday’s post on “Waiting” I made a real boo-boo!

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

I was up in my sanctuairee this morning reflecting on the subject of waiting, anticipating the coming of Christmas – and I realized, Oh Lord, help me my God!! I mixed up Lent and Advent!! I said we had 40 days of waiting for the Christ Child during Advent! No, no, no… Lent is the 40 days of waiting for Easter, Advent is the 4 weeks before Christmas with 4 Sundays to celebrate the coming of the Baby in the manger. It might be the period of time the Wise Men followed the star to find the manger scene and present their gifts to the Savior.

But there is a mystery about the Wise men and their travel to follow the star. The wise men arrived after the birth. If they saw the star at the moment of Jesus’ birth, then it would have taken at least a few months for the wise men to arrive.

Regardless of the time it took the Wise Men to travel, since when did Nov. 27 to Dec. 25 equal 40 days?? Sheesh!!

The season of Advent is celebrated over four Sundays before Christmas
– this year, those Sundays are Nov. 27 and Dec. 4, 11, and 18.
The Advent season ends at sundown on Christmas Eve.
The end of Advent marks the beginning
of the liturgical or church year for Christians.

Photo by Kevin Bidwell on Pexels.com

So, this season of “Waiting” is a time when my Jewish friends wait, too. They celebrate Hanukkah. The word Hanukkah is Hebrew for “dedication,” which refers to the rededication of the temple after the Maccabees’ victory. They need to wait for that season to begin on December 19th. Hanukkah, (Hebrew: “Dedication”) also spelled Ḥanukka, Chanukah, or Chanukkah, also called Feast of Dedication, Festival of Lights, or Feast of the Maccabees, Jewish festival that begins on Kislev 25 (usually in December, according to the Gregorian calendar) and is celebrated for eight days. Hanukkah reaffirms the ideals of Judaism and often involves a festival with lighting of candles each day of the festival. Although not mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures, Hanukkah came to be widely celebrated and remains one of the most popular Jewish religious observances. Hanukkah is celebrated from Monday, December 19 to Monday, December 26 in 2022.

The menorah is a symbol of Hanukkah. The menorah is meant to spread light to others. It is traditionally placed in a window,on a table or outside your door. Jewish faithfuls are supposed to light the menorah just after dark each night of Hanukkah.



As Christians, we pause and take time to put up our Christmas tree, decorate our home, our church, our community, and purchase the presents we want to give to our loved ones. Santa Claus has usurped the place of Jesus Christ as the central Christmas figure in many homes. It’s not Santa’s birthday we wait for and celebrate, however.

It’s not 40 days til Christmas! It’s coming sooner than you think… sooner than I imagined! We need to approach this season as innocent children… a Child of God … waiting expectantly. Focusing on the real Reason for the Season.

Jesus actually tells us to be like children and to come to Him full of faith and trust. The popular children‘s song “Jesus Loves the Little Children” reminds us that “all are precious in His sight” and no matter your race, gender or nationality, God wants to see all children come to Him.

Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Pexels.com



So, forgive my “Ooops!” from yesterday… and get busy, my friends. Finish up those Thanksgiving leftovers, and get in the spirit! And let’s look – as through the eyes of a child – at what Advent really means:

Thanks for visiting JanBeek and my OOOPS today!
See ya tomorrow.

Hugs to you and your loved ones!

By the way, I am missing the Bell Choir this year.
Our director, Jan Thomas, is moving from Ennis to Bozeman.
Tomorrow the moving van comes.
Keep her and her hubby in prayer, wouldja?
They are going to be sorely missed in our community.


We are WAITING for a new bell choir director to emerge.
Got any recommendations?

Embrace Christmas Memories

Time with family is memorable, indeed
We’re grateful for the ones who embrace the holiday mood
We’re blessed to have them open their home
And share their love and delicious food.

Our daughter, De, in Switzerland
shared photos of their beautiful meal
Imagine how plates like these
enchant your guests (think how they feel)!

The family in far-off Europe
included our grandsons with our De
I’m grateful for the internet
and the pictures she shared with me.

Nick, De, Mike & Chris

Here in California
Eleven of us gathered round –
add two big, rambunctious dogs
and laugh as kids and animals clowned.

Christmas Day was a time for fun
with love and gifts exchanged
Friends shared photos of their day
Our family did, too … we got arranged!

Thank you, Ty & Monika
for your gracious hospitality –
we’re blessed to have our son & spouse
share their life & love with Bob & me.

I pray your day was blessed
and you celebrated Christ’s birth
with those you love gathered round –
good food, warm hugs, and lots of mirth!

A note for this day-after-Christmas-morning: Faith (our granddaughter) and Kyle were headed home to S.Lake Tahoe last night and about 3 hours later had to turn around and come back to Placerville. The road ahead was closed due to heavy snow and lots of accidents ahead. The good news is that they were not involved in one of them… and we’re all safe and sound… feeling blessed!

Merry Christmas!
Bee 🐝 well!
Bee blessed!

Keep the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love in your heart year-round! May Jesus remain alive in you!

See ya tomorrow (God willing) –

Love,
JanBeek

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