Loving One Another

Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category

Eyes on Jesus – Just As I Am


Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light at the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the savior,
And life more abundant and free…

Dear Lord,

Go to this world that is dying.
Come to us who are sad and sighing.
Come to us who are weary and worried.
Just calm all of us who are hurried.

We come as we are to your alter,
Knowing without You, we falter.
Take what is broken and mend it.
Take was is wounded. heal and tend it.

Hold those who are desperate; rescue us.
Fill those who are empty; You treasure us.
We know we are guilty, so pardon us.
Help us to grow love as You garden us.

Photo by Ella Olsson on Pexels.com

Help us grow the fruit of compassion.
Where you find hate, please refashion.
Take what you see and improve us,
Let your Holy Spirit truly move us.

Move us to love unity and justice.
Don’t let divisions and rhetoric bust us.
Make us strong, wise and actively trying
To restore peace to earth. We are crying.

Crying for healing and restoration.
Crying for prejudice’s elimination.
Crying for every adult and child
To adopt Christ’s ways, which are mild.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

I am praying for you.
See ya later.
Hugs,
JanBeek





Category:

Belief, Faith, Giving, God, Jesus, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Living in Harmony, Love, music, peace, Poetry, prayer, relationships

Tagged with:

What’s Happiness?


Sometimes you design
A plan for your happiness,
But it comes from God.

Happiness bubbles
Up from a pure, grateful heart.
It’s being child-like!

Not childish, mind you!
Not irresponsible plans,
But innocent faith.

Happiness is life
Lived in anticipation
Of a bright sunrise.

It is the belief
That sunsets just mean rest time
And a new day dawns.

Christine Migneau Photography
Beautiful Montana

Happiness is faith
That flowers will grow in shade
And we’ll grow in storms!

Paul Holdorf Photography

When life gives you storms
Share your umbrella in love.
Feel your heart expand!

Photo by Designecologist on Pexels.com

Are you feeling blue?
Have the storms gotten you down?
Give it all to God.

Have a restful night
and a Happy Tomorrow.
See ya then.
JanBeek


Category:

Belief, blessings, children, Faith, flowers, God, Haiku, happiness, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Love, mental health, Montana, mountains, peace, photography, Poetry, relationships

Tagged with:

Walk the Talk


My 2020 resolution is to “Walk the Talk.” It is a daily commitment. What was your 2020 resolution?

Try to “Walk the Talk.”
Try to live your commitments.
Express them daily.

Today I walked with my TOPS friends. Here are two of them with me: Cherrie & Jeannie. We walked in our Lion’s Club Park. Did a lot of talking as we walked. Tried to solve all the world’s problems!

Valais, Switzerland

No, this isn’t my walking path… it’s my daughter, DeAna’s, in Sierre, Switzerland. She walks this trail up into the Alps – often joined by one or two of her three sons. Yesterday she sent this photo. Our grandson, Chris, was her walking partner.

DeAna “walked the talk” with Chrissy as they navigated the trail on the terraced mountainsides and enjoyed the outdoor time together.

Here is DeAna, our daughter, with her new haircut.
No, she’s not in Paris. That’s just her “photo op!”

.

And before that haircut:

She says she’d like to be on a tropical island!
I’d say being in Switzerland is not a bad option!

Today De’s walk was with Christine, a friend who was one of their waitresses for almost 20 years in the restaurant they once owned on main street in Sierre.

Christine – on the balcony overlooking the Swiss valley

Half way up the Alps from their city is a beautiful little place called Vissoie, De and Andre’ have purchased a new restaurant… new to them, but with a long history in this Alpine village.

It has that typical Swiss chalet appearance with a hotel attached above and on the right. They take possession in October, I think.

Isn’t this an inviting spot? As they plan for this new venture, they get to “Walk the Talk” of trust. Trust that this pandemic world will not always keep people sequestered and afraid to go out and dine together. Trust that the people of Vissoie and the surrounding communities will accept them and frequent their dining hall. Trust that visitors will stay in their hotel.

My prayers are with them, of course, as I encourage them in this exciting new time on their lives.

Lion’s Club Park, Ennis, Montana

As my lady friends and I walked the trail in our beautiful park, we talked about family, commitments, future events, the racial injustice that is sparking protests all over the USA, and the COVID-19 situation that is far from over.

My goal is encouragement and positivity. I share my faith here on WordPress, and I share the Source of my Joy with my walking friends.

Photo by Andre Furtado on Pexels.com

Follow the sunshine
Follow the Almighty Son
Joy’s in commitment

Walk the Talk!
And be grateful for where you are!!


See ya tomorrow.
Have a Blessed Wednesday.

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

blessings, children, Faith, Family, friendship, God, Haiku, happiness, health, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Love, Montana, mountains, nature, peace, Poetry, prayer, relationships, Travel

Tagged with:

Each Man as My Brother


Each man as my brother,
Each woman as my sister
Each one as my friend
We need one another…

When I was in college back in the late 50s and early 60s, we sang this song in the A Cappella choir at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. I loved it then. I love it even more now. We need it!!

We need one another
So I will defend
Each man as my brother,
Each man as my friend.

Each woman as my sister,
Each one as my friend.

Lord, heal our nation.
Almighty God, step in and heal our divisions.
Help us understand our Oneness.
Help us just LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!

Lie down, my friends.
Put your feet up.
Fold your hands.
Click that arrow up there –
And pray this as a prayer with me
As we sing that song together,

“No man is an island…
No man stands alone,
Each man’s joy is joy to me
Each man’s grief is my own.
We need one another,
So I will defend
Each man as my brother,
Each man as my friend.”
Each woman as my sister,
With love that knows no end.

Beth Guckenberger,
from her book, Reckless Faith: Let Go and Be Led,

“Hope is reborn in the form of faith,
faith that God will take over,
even if you can’t see how.”

Rest in that thought!!

You are in my thoughts,
in my prayers,
in my heart.
Bee well.
Just love!

See ya later,
JanBeek

Category:

Belief, Bible Lessons, Faith, friendship, God, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Living in Harmony, Love, music, peace, pets, Poetry, prayer, relationships

Tagged with:

For the Joy of Human Love


For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies:

CHORUS:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise

Pray with me:

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our voice of righteous rage.
Hear our anguish, hear our pleas.
See us down on bended knees.

We are angered and hurting now
By the lack of love that somehow
Has made life unfair for our brothers,
Made life a nightmare for too many mothers.

The hymn says we are supposed to have
Love “from our birth.” We need a salve
To spread that love to ALL our kin.
We all are one – and we all live in sin.

It is the sin of overlooking
The hatred and the needless booking,
The deaths and harassment many face,
The fear and hatred in this place.

Take away our bent toward sinning.
Take away our need to be winning
An upperhand when we all are ONE,
ONE in Christ, Your Saving Son.



Check out this heart-wrenching account of what it means to be a black man in today’s divided, prejudice-filled society. God bless R. Eric Thomas and all those who feel the injustice he experiences:

It Does Not Matter If You Are Good

On Omar Jimenez, George Floyd, Christian Cooper and the myth of being non-threatening by R. Eric Thomas

R Eric Thomas is a Senior Staff Writer at ELLE.com,

Love is power within us all –
Do not let it be silent!

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light:

Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our voice of grateful praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to to sound and sight:

Lord of all to Thee we raise
This our song of grateful praise.

Look at the earth and all our blessings.
Let us thank God:

“All things come of Thee…
Help us, Lord, to be grateful
And to share our love and joy freely
With ALL God’s children.”

Amen

Work together for peace.
Pray together for unity.


Love ya lots, my brothers and sisters,
JanBeek

See ya tomorrow.

Category:

Belief, blessings, Faith, friendship, God, Gratitude, Jesus, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Living in Harmony, Love, music, peace, Poetry, prayer, relationships, respect, Sharing

Tagged with:

Wired for Connection


You know I need you.
We’re wired for connection,
Love and belonging.

Me (Jan) with Lexi, Bernie & Suz

Birthday girl needs love.
Friends need connectivity.
We crave relations.

We’re in the same nest.
We’re born in this together.
But don’t smother me!

I rise with the sun
Into a brand new morning
Facing a new day.

Connected to God.
Learning to live cautiously,
Leaning on my Lord.

Proverbs 27:17

“As iron sharpens iron,
so one person sharpens another.”

When is it Time?

If baby robin #4 in that nest up there doesn’t sharpen her will, poke her beak up with the rest, and open up, she will be doomed to the nest forever!

So, we who need one another are asking ourselves, “When it it time to open up? When it it time to let our courage and our natural need for connections take hold? When can we do it safely?”

Should we wear a mask or not? Should we join the protestors or not? When it is time to believe COVID-19 is safely at bay?

Each Person is Different

Not only is each person different, but each area of our world is different, too. Here in Montana, I could join my friends for a small birthday gathering outside (only 7 of us) and feel safe. I realize everyone in the world does not have that luxury.

But while we each are different, so are we all alike in many ways. We all crave genuine connection.

Matthew Lieberman, a Harvard-trained psychologist wrote,

“The human brain is wired to be social. Love and belonging might seem like a convenience we can live without, but our biology is built to thirst for connection because it is linked to our most basic survival needs.”

Birds of a feather
Flock together, connecting
Love and harmony.

Likewise, we humans
Crave times to touch each other.
Isolation hurts!

Photo by Yogendra Singh on Pexels.com

Pray for Opportunities

We need connection.
Pray for opportunities
To safely gather.

I pray for your health.
I pray for our world’s return
To safe gatherings.

I pray for world peace,
For racial equality,
God’s intervention.

Lord, help us all to
Turn to You for our guidance.
Lift us safely up.

Open every beak
To receive life’s sustenance
And sing Your glory.

Have a Hallelujah Day, my friends.
I feel your presence…

See ya tomorrow.
Jan Beekman

Category:

Animals, Belief, Bible Lessons, Faith, friendship, God, Haiku, health, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, mental health, music, peace, Poetry, prayer, relationships

Tagged with:

Expand Your Peripheral Vision


adventure conifer daylight desert
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Expand your peripheral vision
To see blessings in unexpected places.
How could Jonah in the whale do so
While he was down under – sleeping?

Reading the first chapter of Jonah,
I discovered Jonah sleeping below deck.
The sailors found him there, too.
They found he was the cause of the storm.

They tried to save the ship and him
By aggressively rowing  toward shore,
But God turned up the turbulence.
Finally, they had to throw him overboard.

The storm ceased. The seas calmed.
God sent a whale to swallow Jonah.
Inside the big fish, his vision widened!
Jonah was able to see the big picture.

You can’t hop a ship to get away
From the tasks God puts before you.
You have to stay and face the storm.
He sends turbulence to teach us.

We are in the midst of a storm today.
There is no end in sight for this virus.
God needs us to grow spiritually, and
Learn to rely on Him for our rescue.

Take comfort in knowing He’s in control
Of every storm that comes our way.
His mighty power and unfailing love
Governs whatever comes your way.

1 Timothy 4:4 helps us realize the truth:
“For everything God created is good,
And nothing is to be rejected
If it is received with thanksgiving.”

Are we to understand that this storm,
This COVID-19 is sent by God? No!
No, I do not believe God wills evil.
I believe He uses it to teach us lessons.

I do not understand the reasons why
Bad things happen to good people
Or why death rains down on our world.
But, I know God’s love surrounds me.

I know if He can send a whale
To swallow up Jonah and save the crew,
He can send a vaccine to cure this virus.
That’s how much He cares for me and You.

Expand your peripheral vison.
Look around you, don’t focus on what was.
Look to see the ways God is at work today.
Focus on what we have, not what we’ve lost.

Thank God today for all your many blessings.
Thank Him for the people who step up,
The courageous ones who make lives better.
Don’t get caught down under – sleeping!

photo of brown dog lying on throw pillow
Photo by Enrique Hoyos on Pexels.com

It’s not the “Dog Days of Summer!”
Wake up to a new day – 
A new chance to live and serve Him.

See ya tomorrow.
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, God, Gratitude, Life and Death, Life's Challenges, Love, Poetry, Serving One Another

Tagged with:

Tag Cloud

%d bloggers like this: