Wordless Wednesday – 8/12/20
Thanks for sharing a little
of my Montana Wordless Wednesday
with me.
It was a great day!
See ya tomorrow.
Love ya,
JanBeek
Archive for the ‘mountains’ Category
It’s Not Fair!
Sermon Notes
August 9, 2020
Rev. Steve Hundley
Jan’s poetic notes taken while listening
to Steve’s message based on John 21:15-23
“A Side-Long Glance”
Amen!
Jesus was with His disciples on shore.
Peter thought Jesus didn’t believe him.
Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep.
The answer failed to relieve him.
Have you ever felt misunderstood?
Ever had your sincerity questioned bare?
Peter told Jesus, “You know I love You.”
Jesus had asked him three times there.
Was Jesus expecting too much of Peter?
Does He expect too much of us?
A tithe is a tenth of what you make.
The visible return’s not much to see – why fuss?
Well, Jesus expected even more than a tenth.
“What about him?” Peter asked.
Like Peter, we question others’ faith.
We want Jesus to take ’em to task.
There has to be a difference between
Faith and foolishness – so it’s not fair
Those rich folks don’t seem to give –
They don’t seem to do their share.
We cast a side-long glance across the aisle,
And we ask, as Peter did, “What about them?”
And Jesus answers us as He did Peter,
“What is it to you?” From where does fairness stem?
Jesus says, “Feed My sheep -just love!”
Your side-long glance has no place here.
You do your fair share and don’t worry about
What others do. Give, love, and have no fear.
No side-long glances allowed.
Look ahead at the One who stands
Before a hurting world and says,
“Feed My sheep in all My lands.”
Just follow Jesus –
And what will happen today?
To tell the truth, I don’t know!
Just do it anyway!!
After church today we had a barbecue. It was the kick-off of the fiscal year’s drive for finances to fund the Pastor Search Committee and to consider our pledges for the 2020-21 church budget. Jesus said, “Feed My sheep!” and these sheep were fed in grand style out on the church lawn.
Charlie and his wife, Judy, were our greeters.
Ray and Barbara enjoyed the food and fellowship.
After the church BBQ, we went to my friend, Sue’s. Her birthday is tomorrow. We needed to sing “Happy Birthday!” while we socially distanced. She and her husband are being really careful around this COVID-19 … especially with Montana’s case numbers rising. They are being kept really busy at their beautiful home. Just look at their gardens!
Sue and Jerry joined the Madison Valley Presbyterian Church on the same Sunday Bob & I did nearly 15 years ago. We have been fast friends ever since. The two of them built this gorgeous house themselves! Just this summer they added that deck outside their bedroom window on the right.
Here is the front of the house:
They lived in it for a couple of years while they built their house.
We had more than a couple cozy dinners there.
Tell me in the comments section below.
Yes, we are blessed. We live in the gorgeous Madison Valley. We have a terrific church, a wonderful pastor who gives great sermons, beautiful friends, and a picture-perfect setting with glorious August sunshine and enormous “BigSky” drama. Ah, my friends, life is good!
No need for side-long glances. Keep your eyes on your own blessings, your own giving, and your own business. No need focusing on what’s “not fair!” Remember while you’re counting your blessings to share your love with others with your whole heart!
Do have a fantastic week ahead.
Thanks for visiting
and for sharing with me the sermon
and our visit with Sue.
Happy Birthday, Sue!!
Love you, Sue!!
Virtual Hugs,
JanBeek
Come Ride with Us!
Bob is a wonderful driver You can feel very safe going in our ATV, Lucille, up to Sureshot Lake and the lookout… with TazE in your lap. Here we are on the top of the world.
The following video was taken just outside of McAllister, Montana as we were headed up to Sureshot Lake and the lookout above it.
We had the fun of friends, Julie & Mike joining us … and Julie’s sis, Megan, & her friend, Martello. Julie & Mike brought their dog, Zeke, and of course, we had TazE.
This location on Sureshot Lake is about a 30 mile drive on our ATV from our home.
was a collection of fireweed.
Beautiful prolific lavender groupings –
God’s flower bouquets along the route.
Derrick, you & Jackie would have loved these.
From the lake we went up to the lookout at about 7500 feet and had our lunch.
The trip up to the next lookout (which is 9,600 feet) is rather scary for me… especially since it is so rocky and this was my first ATV ride since my hernia surgery about a month ago. But, I need to relax. Bob is a careful driver!
That’s Upper Twin Lake near our ridge view. As you look way out into the hazy Madison Valley, you can see Ennis Lake below.
Turn around from this view,
and you see the snow-crested Tobacco Root Mountains.
Martello and Megan enjoyed that view, but Megan was not content to sit there. She spied those rocks to her right and decided to climb up and see what it was like from up there.
and checked out the condition of the roof.
It’s been a beautiful day.here.
Thanks for joining us.
Someday you need to come to Montana
and take this ATV ride for real!!
See ya tomorrow.
Love,
JanBeek
Bee Kind to Yourself
Bee kind to yourself –
You are a special person.
You “moose” treat yourself with love.
Bee kind to yourself –
Wrap yourself in perkiness.
Smile in the mirror.
Bee kind to yourself –
Find the most perfect head wrap.
Wrap yourself in love.
Go to 720Royal.com and treat yourself …
Be Kind to Yourself!
There’s where I found those beautiful head wrap pictures.
I may have to “Shop Now”
to find that perky, beautiful fabric.
Will you teach me to tie it that way?
Will they make me a gorgeous as those lovely ladies?
a perfect “head wrap”
for her hubby, Andre’
Bee kind to yourself –
Hug your sweetheart every day.
Don’t let life skunk you!
Photographer extraordinaire!
Bee kind to yourself –
And share your love with others.
Reach out to loved ones.
With today’s virus,
Social distancing’s a must.
Don’t let it stop you!
Sharing’s essential –
And loneliness is rampant.
Kindness is two-way!
Share kindness with friends.
‘Cuz what you give blesses you.
Imitate Jesus!
Kindness lifts others.
Just as Jesus lifts you up,
Imitate His love!
Be kind to yourself –
Go find a beautiful spot,
And share it today.
Julie and Lisa
Shared with each other the view
And walk in the park.
Beauty’s more lovely
When shared with one another.
Who might walk with you?
Or who might visit,
Enjoy the flowers and porch?
Reach out to someone.
Let your love brighten
The life of those around you.
Be kind to them, too.
Share your gorgeous views
And notice how your love shines
And kindness returns.
Love and prayers sending your way.
Bee well … Bee Safe … Bee Kind!
What did you do to “Bee Kind” to yourself or others today?
(Or what do you plan to do?)
Live intentionally.
See you tomorrow.
Hugs,
JanBeek
Come On In!
Revelation 3:20
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
Come on in!
I can have a meal ready for you in minutes.
Our home is a place where we welcome all who welcome all!
We want you to feel at home here!
Or just walk right in – because we don’t have a solid wood door where I can put a beautiful knocker. Our front doors are glass. The entry welcomes you with words on the wall that say “The greatest of these is love.” The word art was a Mother’s Day gift from our son & his wife, that first May after we moved here.
Hah!
You can’t read it… it’s backward for some reason…
and it’s blurry… but trust me,
it says, “The Greatest of These is Love”
right above the windows.
Those are the stairs that lead up to my sanctuary –
my “Angel Room.”
to paint a red rose next to those words.
So, that is what you see when you enter our home here in Ennis, Montana.
Our Dream House
But, this house has not always been my “dream home.” I don’t have a photo of my original dream house. It was in Heber City, Utah. I lived with that house on my screensaver in California for a year. We were ready to retire, looking for a place away from the growing congestion of California. We saw it near Salt Lake City, Utah. We toured it, fell in love with it, put a bid on it, and I dreamed of living there. But, the Lord had other ideas, I guess. The owner never responded to our perfectly generous offer, even after we went back a year later and put another bid on it.
The house was made of logs from the 1988 Yellowstone fire. Many of the logs still had the scorch marks on them. The front door was a massive wood entry with no handle. It had a lovely knocker like the one pictured at the top of this blog.
When you knocked on the door and someone came to let you in, a painting of Jesus (clearer and more beautiful than the one below) was on the wall just inside. The scripture from Revelations 3:20 was written beneath the painting.
The house seemed God-inspired – and I longed to live there.
However, it seems that Utah was not the place God had in mind for us.
This house, in this Pintail Ridge neighborhood, with lovely neighbors, this church in Ennis with these friends… this was (is) God’s dream house for us. When we put in a bid here, everything went like clockwork. (By the way, the trees were much smaller 15 years ago, and you could see the house from Mallards Roost Road clearly. Now we have a lovely forest!)
and that back porch where I invite you to sit with me.
In God’s Will
Have you ever noticed that when you are walking in God’s will, the path seems smoother?
When you are walking in God’s will, deals ultimately work out better than you could have dreamed.
When you tune in to God’s will for your life, you end up in a better spot than any place you could have imagined for yourself!!
So, come on in, my friends!
Mi casa es su casa!
Thanks for visiting JanBeek today.
Thank you – so many of you-
who sent your love following yesterday’s blog
when I told you about my heavy heart
following the death of my cousin, Cliff.
Your outreach warmed my heart.
God bless and Keep you!
See you tomorrow.
JanBeek
Successful Independence Day
There were two d’Versepoets.com prompts for today. The instructions are “Write a piece of prose (flash fiction, memoir, nonfiction) that is 144 words or less and includes, word-for-word, ONE of the lines indicated above from Carl Sandburg’s Jazz Fantasia. I chose this line: “… a red moon rides on the humps of the low river hills.”
Successful Independence Day
It is a hot July 4th afternoon. My husband and I are on the shady side of the bleachers. Across the arena sun-lovers shade their eyes and strain to see the gate open as the rider emerges on the hump of an angry, cinched bucking bronco.
One by one they buck out of the gates. The audience holds its breath as the rider tries to stay on the required number of minutes before the whistle blows and they are free to dismount. Too often, the rider is bucked off before the whistle. We pray no one gets trampled as the clowns emerge to divert the horse’s attention and the rider scrambles out of harm’s way.
Back home in the pasture, the horse nibbles its reward as a red moon rides on the humps of the low river hills. Another successful Independence Day!
http://www.JanBeek.blog
Thank you, d’Versepoets.com for this inspiring prompt!
You Lift Me Up
When troubles come…
Where do you go to be lifted up?
I go into the mountains.
There God fills my cup.
I was not able to go with Bob these last couple of weeks when he took our ATV up into the Tobacco Root Mountains and the Gravelly Range.
If you’ve been following my blog, you know I had surgery to repair a hernia a couple of weeks ago. The doctor said those bumpy rides on our four-wheeler, “Lucille” (she’s red-headed and she is a BALL), were off-limits.
So, Bob took our friend, Julie, last week… and this week he took our friend, Elaine. Both of them loved it. I’m so glad he shares the fun with friends who appreciate the beauty of Montana’s mountains as much as we do!
Elaine is the wife of our minister and friend, Steve Hundley. I share my poetic sermon notes each Sunday with you. It’s Steve who preaches those captivating messages! Elaine took the pictures I am sharing with you today. She has some real beauts here!!
You can see the tip of Lucille’s tire here … obviously Bob stopped many times along the trail so Elaine could get out and snap a shot of the view. As you can see, they traveled up above the tree line into the snow. It’s mid-July and Montana’s mountain tops still have snow. Bundle up! Yup, it was cold up there while I was enjoying a 75 degree day down in the Madison Valley.
But, you get the idea.
No camera lens is as miraculous as the lens God gives each of us with our eyes… especially if we have 20/20 vision. But, a skilled photographer can come close with a good camera. I love the composition of this one with the rocks on rock in the foreground, don’t you?
Thank you, Elaine, for sharing with us your day with Bob and God! We are so blessed to be friends with one another and with nature and with our Creator! I love you! ❤
And thank you, my WordPress friends, for going with us into the mountains where we can all feel closer to God. There, He fills my cup! Did He fill yours, too?
God bless you!
I added the words below here to my blog from a couple days ago where I had a video posted of Susan Boyle singing this song… but some folks weren’t able to access the video.
I leave you today with this wonderful Peace Prayer by St. Francis of Assisi. Make Me a Channel of Your Peace…
Thank you, Lord, for your great creation. I find such peace in Your mountains!
I hope you did, too, my friends.
See ya tomorrow.
JanBeek
Having it All
What is it you have?
What is it you want to have?
Ask and you’ll receive.
Is it that simple?
Is that really all it takes?
Why isn’t it mine?
Why isn’t WHAT mine?
A yacht – a million dollars –
A villa in Italy?
Do those things matter?
If I have love and my health,
I DO have it all!!
Ponder that!
See ya tomorrow.
Hugs,
JanBeek
Travel With Me
Please travel with me
To some far away places
Escape for a day
Dream of the places
You can virtually go
And venture out there
Play with animals
Get up close and personal
Through someone’s lenses
But beware the heights
The danger that lurks above
The eye of the storm!
I prefer my feet
To securely stand on ground
Imagination!
You collect the rocks
You dive to the sea’s bottom
I’ll enjoy your find!
Thanks for visiting
And venturing out with me
Have a lovely day!
Come again tomorrow.
Let’s see where we feel like going then.
Love, JanBeek
Living in Paradise
Move to Montana
Where deer and antelope play
Live in Paradise
This buck greeted us
As we traveled to Jeffers
Enjoying our friends
Hors d-oeuvers, smoked chicken
Wonderful conversation
Such beautiful views
Enjoying silence
Looking out from the front porch
Relishing summer
Doe with her two fawns
Sauntered across open field
Fish jumped in the pond
The Madison Range
In its shades of gray and blue
Was mesmerizing
Trees line the river
Cattle graze on the green grass
Thunder calls us home
Storm is a comin’
Better go and get tucked in
Wake fresh in the morn
Say a prayer to God
Ask Him to help you find peace
Rest in Paradise
Rest in warmth, my friends.
I hope a glimpse of my day
Brought you peace tonight.
See you tomorrow.
Sleep tight!
Love, JanBeek
