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Quiet Time

Gone from home for three weeks
Wonderful holidays and birthdays
Shared with family and friends
Missed my daily sanctuary quiet time

Back home and falling into routine
Up around 8: and make coffee
Climb the stairs to my “sanctuairee”
Spend time with Jesus and His Word

Spend time with David Jeremiah
Spend time with Guideposts devotionals
Spend quiet time with God in prayer
Ask God to be with each of you

Meditate with “All God’s Creatures”
Contemplate love and life with Bob Goff
Compare scriptures with Eugene Peterson
“The Message” paraphrasing inspires me

What’s your favorite way to spend
Quiet time?
Do you carve out space for it
everyday?

Where?

When?

With whom?

Regardless of when, where, and with whom,
May your day always include space for
Quiet Time


Pray with me, will you?
For all those who are in distress:
the homeless, the sick, the frightened,
the lonely,
those who feel helpless or hopeless.
“Bee” the Light.
Shine His Light
wherever you go in this world.
Lord, help us to reach out
and
to love as You love!
Amen

God bless You!
Love,
JanBeek

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Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, Family, Giving, God, Jesus, Living in Christ's Family, Love, music, Poetry, prayer, relationships

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By the Beautiful Ocean

🎶By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea 🎶

Actually, the beautiful Pacific Ocean…

Happy New Year’s first week

You would smile too

If you could see this sunset

It’s spectacular

Pacific Grove on the Asilomar’s part of the 17 Mile Drive
We captured its beauty minute by minute
Phenomenal!

Amazing sunset

Lining Ocean Avenue

Enjoyed by hundreds

Meanwhile back in Baltimore…
… and in Alaska

There are cold places

Being enjoyed by many

Unless they’re snowed in

Start packing now, Jan

Tomorrow it’s Montana

Brace for the coldness

Pray for our safe travels and a cease of snow for a bit!

See ya tomorrow. Love, JanBeek (& Bob)

Thank you, Ty & Monika, for your gift of love & hospitality

Category:

Haiku, Life's Challenges, Love, Montana, nature, Poetry, relationships

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Greatest Gift

What is the greatest gift someone could give you?

Love

Love, joy, peace… the greatest of these is love.

Show love in your food preparation & presentation. Yummy dessert at The Fish Wife in Pacific Grove, CA last night.

The Red House Restaurant in Pacific Grove showed love this morning!

Bob shows his love to me every day. What a gift!

My friend, Lisa, gives the gift of love as she allows us to travel vicariously with her.

Bob’s older brother, Bill, gave the gift of love as he picked the oranges and squeezed fresh orange juice for our breakfast yesterday.

Our bonus daughter, Laina, gives the gift of love with daily communication.

Thank God for the Internet! It allows us to share love with one another daily across the world!

And the greatest gift of all is God’s love ❤️

Happy, peace-filled, love-filled New Year to you all. God Bless You🥰

Love,

JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, friendship, God, happiness, Living in Harmony, Love, relationships

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Who Am I?

“I am a Treasured Child of the Most High God.” That is what Steve McNitt wrote in his book, Simple. Enormous. Love.

I adopted that definition. I agree 100% with Steve’s next statement: “The more I learn about that, the more I feel like I understand myself, my God, my roles in life, and how I make a difference in this world.”

I am a Treasured Child of the Most High God.

Steve McNitt elaborated: “Where did I learn about who I am? The Bible holds a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome. The eighth chapter of that letter… revealed a boat-load of life-changing stuff about me. In Romans 8 I found out about God, about myself, and about how , when we mesh together, I live a better, more purpose-filled life. Yes, I said God. He is the key to this whole thing: my life, my purpose, my role in the world, and who I really am.”

That’s me… with my lovely sister-in-law, Margie.

As a Child of God, I am called to be a loving sister, a loving wife, a loving friend, a giver of love and compassion to all. Not just to the Margies of this world, but to everyone! Even those I might choose otherwise to dislike or to ignore. God’s greatest commandment, according to His Son, Jesus, is simply that: “Love one another.”

So, that’s who I am. I am a lover! I love you!! And I wish you a 2025 filled with nothing but LOVE ❤️ You, too, are a Treasured Child of the Most High God. Let’s live to show the world our love everyday. Okay?

Happy New Year!

Love,

JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, friendship, God, Jesus, Living in Christ's Family, Love, relationships

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Happy Dec. Birthday

December birthdays shared with Christmas and New Years celebrations often are slighted, but not Bob’s!

Bob was treated royally by Brother Bruce, his wife, Ann, and their son, Nephew Matt & his wife, Sarah.
He may not look delighted here, but he was!

We started our day with the former pastor of this church in Ceres, Brent Mitchell. Sooo good to see him. Then we attended service and saw old friends at Harvest Presbyterian in Ceres, CA. Pastor Jim Stochl gave a delightful sermon.

Then we met friends at a Mexican restaurant for lunch. So good to see Isy & Dick again. And the wait staff sang to Bob & gave him an ice cream treat. Happy 86th, Bobby Bee!!
And a Happy New Year to you all. God bless you!

Love, JanBeek

Category:

Aging Gracefully, blessings, Family, friendship, Gratitude, holidays, Love, relationships

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Sending C’mas Love

How are you creative?

God

created me

Unique and creative

You are creative too

Blessings

Our extended Beekman family
Cosette with her YaYa
Us with Ty; Laina w GoGo
Our granddaughter, Faith & her hubby, Kyle
Our daughter, De’s Swiss scene

And a creative, blessed, Christmas to you & your loved ones, too!

Category:

blessings, Christmas, Faith, Family, Gratitude, holidays, Love, relationships

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Dec. 15 Word of the Day

Using the prompts from @sanctifiedart,
I am enjoying the opportunity to share
the “Words for the Beginning”
each day with you during this Advent season.

Today’s Word is:
WORTHY

AI generated that picture above when I put in the prompt.
The guy looks a little like my grandson, Jordan.
Jordy was adopted into the Beekman family as a 3 year old.
His birth mother couldn’t stay off drugs long enough to keep him.
What a shame, huh?
The courts took him away and put him in foster care more than once.
His birth mother was given many chances.
He was worthy of a loving, drug-free family.
So when I think of the word WORTHY, our grandchildren come to mind.
Our son and daughter-in-law adopted four worthy children.
We are so blessed!

Ty is on the left. Monika is on the right.
They are the “worthy” adoptive parents
who opened their homes and hearts
to those dear children…
and the blessings continue.
What picture comes to your mind
when you think of the word “worthy“?

“Worthy is the lamb”
came immediately to my mind…
but it’s not that kind of lamb,
It is the Lamb of God.
Do you know that song?

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
Revelation 4:11

You are loved.
You are blessed to be a blessing.
You are enough!
Have a blessed Sunday, dear friends.
And tell me,
what image comes to your mind
when you think of the word, worthy?

Come back tomorrow for the Monday Word of the Day.

Hugs,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, children, Faith, Family, God, Jesus, Love, relationships

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Dec. 14 -Word of the Day

Using the prompts from @sanctifiedart,
I am enjoying the opportunity to share
the “Words for the Beginning”
each day with you during this Advent season.

Today’s Word is:
GOODNESS
When I put the prompt in AI, it generated
an assortment of blond, blue-eyed,
smiling 20-year-old females.
I kept asking AI to try again until finally it
generated something different.
I got this!

Goodness me!
That’s not what the word conjures up in my mind.
When I think of goodness, I think of the innocence
of babies and young children
and the unconditional love of our furry friends
(maybe that’s what that AI image is depicting).

These are the images that come to my mind
when I think of the word GOODNESS.

I also think of the goodness of a meal lovingly prepared
and shared generously with friends.

Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

I asked Bob what image comes to mind
when he hears the word GOODNESS.
His answer surprised me. He said,
“Mothers… and the loving environment a good mother creates.
THAT’S GOODNESS!”

The goodness a good mother exudes
is certainly multiplied when she has
the support of her children’s father, too.
Loving families RADIATE goodness!

What does the Bible say about goodness?

There is more about the root word, GOOD,
than there is about GOODNESS.

So, goodness is a God-like quality in people.
It is a purity and innocence in children and animals.
It is a gift of delectable taste from a skilled chef.
It is a unifying force in a family.

You don’t have to be a 20-something, blue-eyed blond
to exhibit goodness!!
You are in the land of the living…
and goodness is in you
and all around you.
All you have to do is open your heart to it
and exhibit the goodness that is in you!

Aren’t you grateful for that?

What image does the word GOODNESS bring to your mind?

Join me again tomorrow for another
Word of the Day.

Love ya,
JanBeek

P.S. My maiden name is DeAngeles.
It means “Of Angels.”
Do you see the angelic goodness in me?

Category:

Bible Lessons, children, Faith, kindness, Living in Christ's Family, Living in Harmony, Love, pets, relationships

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Dec. 12 Word of the Day

Happy Thursday to you!
Using the prompts from @sanctifiedart,
I am enjoying the opportunity to share
the “Words for the Beginning”
each day with you during this Advent season.

Today’s Word is:

When you think of that word,
what picture comes to mind?
I asked AI to generate a picture
and this is what they sent:

I was happy to see AI’s first response
was people connecting, not some mechanisms!

I imagine the image below
is not the kind of connection that
@sanctifiedart envisioned when they
selected CONNECTION for
today’s Word.

When I think of connection,
I think about social media
and about telephone connections
and about the way we feel
when we maintain
long-distance relationships.

Media type connections
can be a blessings
or
they can be a curse.

When we see people
ignoring their companions-at-hand
while they keep their focus on their cell phones,
it feels like such a waste!


For me to make connections
that really matter,
connections that last over time
and that satisfy my heartfelt needs,
I need physical contact.
I need hugs.
I need face-to-face.
I need kisses.

How about you??

What images does that word
CONNECTION
conjure up for you?

What connection in your life
fills your heart with
love
hope
and
joy?

Besides my dear husband
with whom I will celebrate
63 years next February,
the other vital connection
is described in
this scripture:

I imagine myself as a
Child of God,
reaching out constantly
to connect with God.

My fingers grasp His Hand
just like a little child
reaching for his or her father.
My connection to God,
my Heavenly Father,
is my most important
CONNECTION.

WHAT’S YOURS?

See you tomorrow
with the next Word of the Day.
Thanks for visiting
JanBeek
and following along.
I appreciate my connection with YOU!

God bless you!!

Category:

Bible Lessons, blogging, Faith, friendship, God, Gratitude, Living in Harmony, Love, relationships

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Dec.10 Word of the Day

Using the Advent devotional from @SanctifiedArt,
I am posting the Word of the Day between now and Christmas.
These are “Words for the Beginning”
– beginning again
– looking forward to the coming of the Christ Child
– finding daily inspiration

Today’s word is:

That’s the image AI generated
when I gave the word to
Artificial Intelligence.

If I go to my WordPress photos,
here is the one I would select:

When I think of the word “journey,”
I think of this life I am living…
and I realize it is a journey
of major proportions.
One worth savoring.

To savor this life’s journey,
We must slow down.
To get the most of of it,
Wipe away your frown.

Travel each day with a smile,
With positive expectations.
Open your heart and your hands
To all God’s glorious creations.

Journey with your loved ones.
Embrace every endeavor.
Travel with the assurance that
Every step is sure and clever.

Don’t try to go it alone.
We’re all in this together.
Journey with a song in your heart
And dance in every kind of weather.

What images might you imagine for each of these words of the day?
Words of the Day:
Dec. 1- Begin
Dec. 2 – Bless
Dec. 3 – Courage
Dec. 4 – Possibility
Dec. 5 – Remember
Dec. 6 – Marvel
Dec. 7 – Go
Dec. 8 – Together
Dec. 9 – Embrace
Dec. 10 – Journey

woman standing on green grass
“Journey” Photo by Krivec Ales on Pexels.com

No, don’t go it alone!
See ya tomorrow for Dec. 11th Word of the Day.

Love,
JanBeek

(That’s Lorei with me!
She was my first grade student in 1961!!
Stay in touch!!! You’re not alone.)

Category:

Aging Gracefully, blessings, Faith, friendship, God, Living in Harmony, Love, Poetry, relationships, writing

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