I was sitting quietly reading friendly posts When my dog, TazE, jumped like she heard a ghost. The FedEx truck had just left our house – The driver crept in our entry as quiet as a mouse. Before I could get to the door, he was gone. He left a box with a basket – no name upon.
Inside a note said “Thank you, Bob & Jan” But no greeting or signature of woman or man. The return address was Jorge Garcia of Amigo Foods. A clue might be Florida – It’s where I know a couple of dudes. So, Sofia, might this have been from you? The place where Vanessa & Federico live is a little clue.
Sofia in Palisades
If it is you, then here’s a return of Thanks… But, I hope you let us know so we can fill in the blanks! The card should have acknowledged who The box was from – so I could appropriate thank you!
Since I posted this blog originally, I received acknowledgement from Sofia’s parents, Adrian & Laura. They are the ones who sent it. Today, several months later, on a WONDER-ful Wednesday, I thought it would be fun to re-post this… because it IS another beautiful Wednesday … and the message below is as pertinent today as it was back in August of last year.
Loving elephants
It’s a beautiful Wednesday here, Blogging friends. I hope your day is going well, too, and transcends All your expectations. Pen on… read on… live and play! Wrap your arms around someone and hang tight today.
Listen for the FedEx truck or mailman He/She may deliver a basket to you from a fan!
Yesterday I posted a picture of friends who came to share this beautiful place in Rancho Mirage, CA with Bob and me.
This morning I logged in to WordPress and found the most delightful responses to that post, as well as the Sunday post about baptism. My blogging friends’ responses were so upifting!
Thank you, dear readers, for taking the time to read and respond. You warm my heart! I blog to share my joy, my love, my blessings … because they are overflowing. I can’t contain them! God gives me more than I can keep to myself!
Proverbs 3:10
“Then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”
Yesterday’s post from Derrick was a barn at sunrise that filled my heart to overflowing. I love his photography and blog. Do you know it?
And to have vats that overflow with new wine, I must remember to stay connected to the Vine!
Sharing the joy of God’s beauty with friends present and far away is prompted by my relationship to the Vine… Dear God who is the source of all joy. Indeed He fills my cup with love…
I pray that you feel the joy of God’s grace today, too. I pray that your cup is overflowing with love. I am so grateful for your visit to JanBeek and the sharing your uplifting comments. Thank you!
This week Bob & I visited El Paseo Drive in Palm Springs, CA. It was a beautiful day to window shop those exquisite boutiques. But, ooh-la-lah, heaven forbid we go inside!! The prices are out of sight! However, if is is not a lovely shirt or a cute, little apron with a cute saying on it, then it is a convincing salesman with a free gift he is handing out in sweet little bags.
I made the mistake of accepting the bag and then being drawn into his shop where he had a “Miracle Cream.” He invited me to sit down so he could put it around one of my eyes. “Look at how it removes the puffiness and lightens the dark bags,” he said.
Bob followed me in and the slick salesman invited him to come and see how much better that eye looked. “We men don’t care about the aging process,” he told Bob. “But women – they care – and your wife would love this cream. If it can do this much in one very short treatment, imagine what it can do with weekly treatments over a few months!”
The salesman offered to throw in an additional jar of “finishing cream” for FREE …. if we would buy one jar of the miracle cream.
“How much?” Bob asked.
“Only two hundred…” he paused before quietly adding “ninety-nine” at the same time Bob was gasping at 200 and missed the 99. Wow, only $300. for that miracle cream. A bargain! Just think it’ll last a month or more!!
Aging Like Sea Glass
Yes, I have a well-earned patina! Yes, I add a few wrinkles with each passing year. Yes, my skin lacks the freshness of my youth. Yes, I care about AGING. In fact, I embrace it! It’s not true that men don’t care about it. They want to age like sea glass, too.
I want the wrinkles that come with age to be a beauty that expresses my inner peace and radiates my inner joy. This dear photo by Nandhu Kumar depicts a lovely lady whose face sparkles with an inner beauty and a well-earned patina that is envious! Don’t you agree?
This sweet man’s face and his gesture of affection radiates a love so real, so dear, so beautiful that only the waves of time can achieve it. His face reflects his journey – and the changes he has gone through to achieve that beauty. Hers, on the other hand appears to have endured many fewer tumbles through the tide. Maybe she’s his daughter … or maybe she used that “magic cream.” Her face doesn’t reflect the inner glow, however wrinkle-free it may be, does it? She looks a little apprehensive to me.
Outer Beauty
Don’t get me wrong; I am not opposed to outer beauty!! I don’t knock those who get monthly facials or buy expensive creams or have face lifts. (I actually put a pretty costly cream on my face every morning. It’s a Lacome – designed as a sunscreen and wrinkle reducer – hah!)
Look at this lovely “elderly” model. She has a job that requires special care of hair and skin. Gotta look good on camera! A few lines add character, don’t you agree? The only way to avoid those lines is to stop smiling, stop frowning, stop expressing emotion. Even Botox doesn’t take them all away!!
Yes, I’d like to reduce my frown marks (those railroad tracks on my forehead). I was warned when I was in my twenties that this would happen if I didn’t stop frowning. But how do you keep a straight face when you’re teaching a room full of twelve year olds or scolding a 4th grader who just punched a classmate? Why should you keep from smiling when you’re confronted with a class of giggling kindergarteners? How do you avoid the wrinkles on your nose when that’s what your face does a million times a day? My dog, TazE, doesn’t seem to mind!
Ride the Waves and Go With the Flow
I want to age like sea glass. I want my hard edges to soften. I want to be picked up gently and admired by those who appreciate what these 80 years of life have meant to them and to me… what I’ve learned, and what I can pass along. I want to enjoy the journey, and always remember to be grateful for each day the Good Lord gives to me. I want to ride the waves and go with the flow.
Here I am – comfortably settled in this beautiful condo in Rancho Mirage, California. Southern CA is so beautiful! The temperature outside is a wonderful, windless 73 degrees and warming. Join me!
Share some poetry with me. I love poetry. Lately I have been engaging in a series of Haiku using the three lines of 5-7-5 syllables to pour my heart out. But, is that the intent of Haiku? Does each form of poetry have a built-in intent?
Free form seems to be in vogue these days. I have enjoyed exploring it.
“The most important thing I have learned about being a poet is that writing poetry is more about attending than intending, more about silence than sound.”
But is listening something we do with headsets when we are out in nature? What about the rustle of the leaves and the sound of the birds? What about listening to the silence?
Welcome to My World
As I sit in the quiet of my patio In the sunshine of southern California, A golf cart buzzes by, A club whacks a ball, A ball flows silently toward its target, A hummingbird hovers near the feeder, Unsure of my presence, it lands And sucks silently from the red nectar.
As I sit in the comfort of our living room, In the ambience of southern California living, A symphony plays Boyce Concerto Grosso in B Minor, The dishwasher runs quietly behind me, My fingernails tap those damn keys, And Cristian is proud of my persistence – It’s the key to successful blogging, he says. I am attending – and so are you.
It did not occur to me until yesterday that the decade to come, the 2020s, lends itself so perfectly to the idea of CLARITY. When you have 20/20 vision, you have CLARITY. You have perfect eyesight.
The message at the “Jesus Culture” church in Folsom Sunday was delivered by a dynamic young woman named, Debra Giles, whose topic , “Every Word,” was all about looking into scripture, and looking at ourselves, and looking toward the future with Clarity.
20/20 VISION (12-29-19 sermon notes)
This is the end of The fuzzy and mean teens decade. This is the beginning of 20/20 Clarity. You are made In God’s image and you’ll see Clearly in these next ten years. You are made in God’s image, And you will hear through 20/20 ears. You are made in God’s image And this is the decade to say What is in your heart. Speak clearly from your 20/20 heart today. Speak, hear, and see with Clarity.
Amen? Amen!
20/20 Clear Vision or Blurry?
As you welcome this new year, this decade of the 2020s, are you wiping the clouds from your life? Are you sweeping the fuzzy deterrents from your path? Are you putting away the distractions that keep you from moving forward with clarity? Have you decided what those things are?
Looking Clearly Forward and Backward
I am looking through 20/20 lenses at the freshness of this new day. I am looking at opportunities with clear anticipation. I am taking a backward glance at the things we have given away… and am grateful for the love and joy those things are bringing to others.
An example of such a thing given away is the little red Porsche that Bob & I used as our only means of transportation when we were first married. It is definitely a California car and I can see with clarity that it belongs here, with our son, Ty, and not parked in a garage in Montana because the dirt roads and snow-covered terrain are not conducive to safety for its low-slung frame. Our son loves it… and is taking such good care of it. Clearly, it belongs here!
With clear vision, I am looking forward to a future filled with new joys, new opportunities, and new friends. I see our church growing in love and filled with the Holy Spirit. I see our neighborhood enhanced by new (and old) friends building new homes and moving into our “hood” with their uniqueness and their hospitality a welcomed addition.
Welcome to Ennis
Happy New Year
It’s New Years Day, and many people are creating their list of New Year’s Resolutions. Can you see with clarity what your 2020 commitments need to be?
We were asked at dinner last night what our plans for the new year are. What are our commitments/resolutions? We went around the table. My grand-son-inlaw, Kyle, had a wonderful, impressive list. I commend him for his 20/20 vision of what he hopes to accomplish. When it came my turn, I said, “Walk the Talk” – – – see why?
What is your 20/20 Vision?
Have a wonderful January 1st – and do “Walk the Talk!”
