If I could leave a legacy that exemplified these six words, I’d die happy!
First, I want folks to say, “She loved the Lord with all her heart ❤️ and she sincerely loved her family and friends.” 🥰
(Yes, my family is a huge part of my legacy… they will live on and on … and hopefully exemplify the values I hold so dear!)
Additionally, may they say, “She was ethical and lived a life of integrity. Trying to avoid hypocrisy, Jan lived to show her faith on her sleeve, striving to behave in a way that would be pleasing to God.”
Gracious living means extending to others the undeserved love and forgiveness, the acceptance, inclusion, and hospitality that we received daily from the Lord. May they say, “She was gracious.”
I hope my legacy includes the idea of attentiveness to others, attentiveness to the details of the responsibilities assumed, and daily attention to prayer and Bible Study. I happily shared those with others. A desired part of my legacy would include, “Jan was attentive.”
Daily I asked God to help me shine His compassion through me to others. My heart reached out regularly to family, friends, former students, neighbors, and others in need. Strangers were just “friends I hadn’t met yet.” I would like my legacy to include, “She was compassionate.”
Yummy? It’s not that I want to be considered yummy, it is that I love to cook. As part of my legacy, may I be remembered as someone who delighted in preparing yummy meals for Bob and for guests in our home. May I be remembered as someone whose greatest joy was in serving others.
Hebrews 13:2 “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
When I leave this earth and join the heavenly angels, I am counting on seeing all those saints who went on before me… And we’ll feast on heavenly food and feed the scraps to all my Boston Terriers who’ll be there at the pearly gates to greet me.
Yes, you’re in my life for a reason. Thanks for showing up on my blog!
In his book, Ever Faithful, David Jeremiah was inspired by Psalm 145:16 when He wrote about hand gestures:
“Hand gestures can communicate our innermost thoughts and emotions. Clenched fists reveal anger. White knuckles and trembling are usually the result of fear and nervousness. We close our hands around things we want to hold on to and open them to receive and give gifts.”
My friends, Ed and Maria, open their hands to receive each others love and close them around each other to hang on to the one they love. Bob & I do the same!
David Jeremiah went on in his devotional to say, God’s generosity is described in Psalm 145:15…
“You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.”
It might be the prayer For a miracle to receive Or could be something simple You just have to believe
Believe that when you open Your hands to receive gifts God will fill them with wonders – With gifts that your heart lifts
Open hands are a symbol Of giving – giving our all And knowing in the process We’ll be standing tall
As a humble giver, Know what you give comes back And God knows your needs He will fill your every lack
David Jeremiah went on to remind us, “If we overlook God’s generosity, or find ourselves in the midst of a painful season, it’s easy for a mindset of scarcity to take over. We become afraid of losing what we have, and our hearts’ stance becomes one of grasping as we seek to control our circumstances.”
Grasp all the love you can get Then open your hands to give It all away – every single bit Because it’s refillable as long as you live
Bob’s hands are open to receive his “just desserts”!! Are yours open, too?
I pray for your hands to be filled Filled to overflowing Filled with love to give away Love that’s alive and showing!
God Bless you! Have a “Open Handed Day!” Will you?
11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” saith the Lord, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
God promises to give us hope and a future. Grace gives me a chance to clean up today’s messes and try again. Be ready for that prosperous, expected end!
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:6 (NIV)
Sprinkle the salt of peace. Express the joy of happiness. Smile and let the love of the One who wants only to prosper you shine forth!
Guidepost’s Mornings With Jesus challenged its readers yesterday to “Thank Jesus for seasoning you with His grace” – and “Write down specific ways He has prospered you so you can be salt and light in the world today.”
God provided blue skies. He sent rain to clear the haze. The grass is greening and the flowers are blooming.
I can’t make these things happen… Only God can control the seasons. He sends the sun by day and the moon by night. These are blessings I don’t take for granted.
What are some of the specific ways God has prospered you recently?
I am blessed by your visit here today. Thank you for following JanBeek.
I am gratified by the new followers who have joined us recently.
Beneath all the crap Lives the Word and the actions We should emulate
Let hope lift you up Take shovel and start digging Find the love in there
Fertilize your life With sincerity and grace Uncover the love
This song was recorded in 1961, the year Bob & I were engaged, the year I graduated from college. Love indeed made the world go round. We were married in 1962 and I left the west coast of the USA for the first time and moved to Germany with Bob (who was stationed in the army there). My world became bigger… filled with new love!
Let love uplift you Let love make your world sweeter Eliminate crap!
Uncover pony Rest in God’s peaceful pasture Send nay-sayers out
“Describe a risk you took that you do not regret.”
I had children.
Giving birth is risky business. Raising children is risky business. They’re expensive! They’re trouble.
Do I regret deciding to raise two children? No! They are a gift from God!
Here’s that spunky boy in today’s world:
Our son and his wife also took the risk. They decided to raise a family. But they were not able to have biological children. So, they took the risk of adopting… Not just one, but four children! Adopting is risky business!! God bless them!
Do they regret it? You’ll have to ask them!
But, I know that decision of theirs impacted our whole extended family!
When our granddaughter, Hope, was 18, she decided she was grown up enough to make her own decisions, so she took a risk and left home. She decided to live with a girlfriend. (That’s her in stripes in that photo, and the two little ones are hers: Xander & Sienna.)
Well, that living arrangement didn’t last. Moving out is risky business. In just a few months, Hope was homeless, couch-hopping, and in trouble. We took the risk and invited her to come to live with us in Montana. It’s a risk we “do not regret.”
That little baby you prayed for this week is Hope’s #3 … Charlotte. Thank you, Hope, for taking the risk of raising a family. As David Jeremiah wrote in “Ever Faithful” this week:
Life Takes Time…
“Be patient with yourself and with others. Put down roots. Stay in one place. And remember… nothing takes the place of God’s work over time.”
Yesterday I texted Hope:
“Hope, how are you and Charlotte doing?” “We are doing good!!! She’s eating and sleeping well!” “How are Xander and Sienna?” “Ok! They’re doing good! I’m recovering well! And the kids, too. They love her!“
Yes, life is risky business. Raising kids is risky business. And we never stop parenting as long as we and our children are alive.
Yesterday that little girl in Santa’s lap up in that 1968 photo was driving to a lunch date in Switzerland (where she lives) when a car dashed out into her path.
Oh my! Learning to drive is a risk. Do you ever regret teaching your kids to drive?
Now, I need you to pray for DeAna and her transportation, OK?
And don’t forget to praise God. She’s OK, even if the car is not!
See ya tomorrow. Love, JanBeek
No, I don’t regret having children. Yes, Ty & De are God’s gifts. But, every day’s a risk, isn’t it?
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.”
Come down to the Living Waters. We welcome you!
Have a blessed Tuesday evening – and a Wonderful Wednesday!
My home is my unwinding place It’s a restful, peaceful haven I can stay in my pj’s til noon and my hubby can lounge unshaven
But if I lived near the sea, I’d find a lighthouse nearby I’d climb the stairs and vegetate And watch the ships sail by
There’s something calming, something sweet About the crashing waves against the shore This scene soothes away all distress Makes me long to go once more.
How sweet to know I can imagine A lighthouse from my Montana home His light shines bright and helps me unwind I don’t have very far to roam.
The scene outside my window shines God’s soothing light on me A lighthouse out beyond the snow Brings calm; God’s Grace unwinds round me.
Exodus 14:14
“The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”
God can calm the storm in your life and in your heart.
How do you unwind after a demanding day? I hope you have a soothing solution.
Yesterday our granddaughter gave birth to our great-grandbaby #5, a perfect little girl. Hope and Drew named her Charlotte. Don’t you love that name?
Psalms 127:3-5 3 Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. 4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.
Dear Baby Charlotte, this poem is for you:
Bob & I have two children, Ty & DeAna. Also God blessed us with a beautiful, smart, loving daughter-in-law, Monika, and a clever, fun-loving, creative, talented son-in-law, Andre’
From those two children and their spouses we have seven grandchildren and now five great-grandchildren.
We feel so blessed to have lived long enough to see our family expand in such a beautiful way.
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This is some of the California crew two Christmases ago before our granddaughter, Faith (in the white hat), had our great-granddaughter, Mable. But, you can see great-granddaughter, Cosette, in there. Bob & I are on both sides of our daughter-in-law, Monika. Monika’s parents are behind us. Our son, Ty, is at the back. Only granddaughter, Hope, the new mommy, is missing here. Also, missing are DeAna, our daughter and her family… they are in Switzerland.
That’s our oldest grandson, Mike, with his wife, Tania, in Switzerland. We went last year to their wedding. We are looking forward to their gift of great-grandchild #6!!
Here’s De, with her hubby, Andre’, who is THE CHEF EXTRAORDINAIRE in their chalet (hotel/restaurant).
We love going there to enjoy our daughter and her family (three boys) !!!
Let me know if you ever decide to travel to Switzerland. I’ll put you in touch with this wonderful Relais des Mélèzes. (You can check out their facebook page, too).- Just type that name in the search bar.
Here are Andre’ and our DollyWolly, DeAna.
Oh, and if you are blessed as much as we are, you have adopted other “kids” to be part of your family, too. Here is our dear Daughter #2, Lainalainalaina, with us!!
Yes, we are blessed indeed! She is such a sweetheart… and she has blessed us with two other granddaughters, as well.
Children are such a blessing. Babies are such fun, aren’t they? Are yours all baptized?
Here I am with DeDe. Ah, what a sweetheart she is, too!
Thanks for visiting JanBeek today. See ya tomorrow.
