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Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category

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

img_9531

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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Dec. 13 Word of the Day

Happy Friday the 13th 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 I put the prompt in AI, it generated the word above.
What image would you display if you were depicting enough?
Here is my choice:

Bob Perks wrote that poem
Unfortunately, he often doesn’t get credit for it.
He has a book by the same title,
but it is no longer in print.
I love this poem… and Bob Perks!

Several others have used his theme
and written their own “Enough” poems.
Here is another.

This poem was posted on New Years Eve 2013
Posted by blogger, Doina , at 11:11 PM 

I want to join the bloggers who are wishing you enough.
May you live with a sense of “Enough” by:
1. Counting your blessings
2. Knowing you have more than 99.9% of all the folks on earth
3. Focusing on your can’s, not your can’ts
4. Appreciating your HAVEs and not worrying about the HAVE NOTs
5. Reaching out in love to those who have less
6. Prioritizing your needs – and allowing your faith to guide you

My office used to look a little like this:

Obviously I had more than enough “stuff.”
Getting rid of the excess,
Clearing out the clutter
Helped me receive that sense of ENOUGH.

My desk will never look as clean as these:

If I had to maintain that level of cleanliness,
I would be fired in a nano-second!
So, there is a middle ground on this sense of “enough.”
God does bless us with “stuff.” It’s not all bad.
But the key is moderation, don’t you think?

Share what you have. Reach out to those without.
God will bless your generosity.
Ask for what you need. That’s okay!!
And remember, YOU are enough, too!!

If you have “enough,”
make your requests
on behalf of others’ needs!

God bless you, dear blogging friends.
May this be a day of “Enoughness” for you.
Friday the 13th can be your lucky day!

See ya tomorrow
with another
“Word of the Day.”

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, God, Gratitude, Love, optimism, Poetry, prayer

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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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Shop with Love

Let us Shop with Love
For it is the thought that counts!
That’s my “take-away.”

It’s the thought that counts
December’s gift-giving time…
Choose gifts carefully.

Select gifts with love
Let’s not get caught in frenzy
Of merchandising

My “Walking in Grace”
The Daily Devotional
Encourages me

Each day’s “Take Away”
Gives me a thought to ponder
Let’s do a review

of the last half of November:

  • Boldly share God’s love
  • Fix your eyes upon Jesus; look into His face
  • Let generosity be your natural resonse
  • Pray about your temper; control it!
  • Whatever your pain, God’ll get you through it
  • Lord, keep my heart and hands open!
  • Overlook annoyances; Focus on the good
  • Don’t let feat or anything separate you from God
  • Follow the path God has set before you
  • Pursue peace always!
  • Sing hymns of praise
  • Take joy in celebrations
  • Rejoice and give thanks always
  • Take everything to God in prayer
  • Shop with love; It’s the thought that counts!

“Every good gift and perfect gift is from above.”
James 1:17

“LORD, all good gifts come from you,
even little ones.”
-Gail Thorell Schilling
Walking in Grace

May your gift choosing
be blessed activities
Selected with love

Choose the perfect gift
for each person you shop for.
Have a blessed time!

Here’s to a glorious time!
A Happy Advent!
You are a blessing!

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, Christmas, friendship, Giving, Haiku, holidays, Love, Poetry, prayer, Serving One Another

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Celebrating in Italy

It was my #2 grandson’s 31st birthday yesterday. We celebrated in a 5 star restaurant dripping with elegance.

That’s the birthday boy with his sweetheart, Céline.
Delicate appetizer
Yummy shrimp in curry sauce
Scrumptious ravioli
Fish with sautéed lettuce – beautiful!
You just have to taste it! That’s a pomegranate sauce!!
Too pretty to eat!
Lemon puffs – mmm!!
Happy Birthday, Nick!
A beautiful setting right on the peninsula of Lake Garda
Amazing!

Wish you were here!

Love, ❤️ JanBeek

Category:

blessings, Family, food, Love, Poetry, relationships

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Tired of Broken Systems

At our Bible Study yesterday,
Rev. Mary Grace Reynolds
shared a prayer she found on
the internet somewhere.
It was inspired by Jeremiah 2:13
“They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

The prayer was part of
our Lenten Study last Easter.
It meant a lot to me then…
but is even more meaningful today.
Today I am reaching for answers
to the endless wars
and the destructive climate change
and the hurricanes that are so terrible.
Reaching for answers…
But they escape me
like birds that take flight…
just out of reach!

for when you’re tired of broken systems

Oh God, I am done with broken systems
that break the very people
they are meant to serve.

Harness this anger!
Channel it into worthy action and show me
what is mine to fix and what boundaries to patrol
to keep goodness in and evil out.

Blessed are we who are appalled
that brute ignorance can so easily dominate
over decency, honesty, and integrity.

Blessed are we, who chose not to look away
from systems that dehumanize, deceive, defame, and distort.
We who recognize that thoughts and prayers are not enough.
We who stand with Truth over expediency,
principles over politics,
community over competition.

Oh God, how blessed are we who cry out to you:
Empower us to see and name what is broken,
what is ours to restore.
Guide us to find coherent
and beautiful alternatives
that foster life, hope, and peace.
Help us to use our gifts with one another in unity.

Blessed are we who choose to live in anticipation,
our eyes scanning the horizon
for signs of Your kingdom –
heaven come down –
as we wait.



Heaven come down!
Amen

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, God, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Living in Harmony, Love, Poetry, prayer

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Favorite Pastime

The prompt for today asked me to identify my favorite pastime…
I am doing it: writing.
Especially writing on my blog, but also
writing text or e-mail messages to family and friends
and sending greeting cards for all kinds of occasions
ie: Birthdays, Anniversaries, Get Well, Thinking of you…

Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite hobby or pastime?
View all responses

Writing poetry is another favorite activity.
If you’ve read my blog for awhile, you know
I like to take sermon notes in church on Sundays.
Sometimes they rhyme… but more often lately
they are free verse. It’s my way of capturing
the main message as I hear and understand it.

Rev. Mary Grace Reynolds
used Matthew Chapter 5:13-16
as her springboard for today’s message.
Here’s what the sermon said to me today:

Be Salt and Light

Salt preserves.
As Christians,
We, too, must preserve
What is right in the world.

We must become
Salt and Light.
Salt that exists
For a specific purpose.

Light that shines
As a witness to Jesus.
Salt that creates
A thirst for what is Good.

Fight for each human’s
Right to live in
The light of Torchbearers –
Lighting the way for others.

Blessed are the merciful.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
Think first to help someone else.
Be a light who blesses others.

Don’t lose your saltiness.
Don’t cover your light.
Create pathways to
Wholeness in this world.

Amen?
Amen!

Are you Salt for a specific purpose?
Does that influence your choice of
Favorite Pastime?
Does your purpose shed
Light on your pathway?
Is it peaceful?

What is your favorite pastime?
Don’t tell me you don’t have one!

Hah!
Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, blogging, God, Jesus, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Love, peace, Poetry, relationships, sermon notes, Serving One Another, writing

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Happy October

Happy October, my friends.
The month has begun wonderfully.
Cool cool mornings and warm afternoons.
Colors changing – and autumn in the air.

The grass still is green
And the aspen leaves still quake,
But the green shrub outside our entry
Has turned a brilliant magenta.

Antelope are out grazing
Finding green nibbles in the browning fields
And trees are turning a brilliant yellow

Autumn is my favorite color
The gold and orange cheer me
From head to toe!

I scolded my daughter
When she thought my shirt was pj’s!
No, it’s comfy and ushers in fall colors.

Our local newspaper published
An article I submitted this week
Inviting writers to come and join us.

Madison Valley Writers are meeting
Every first and third Friday at 10:30 am
At the Madison Valley Bank fireside room.

If you are near, I hope you’ll come.
If you’re too far to join us,
How about submitting something?

I will share your poem or short story
With those who come next week.
Here’s the one I wrote last week.

It was published in today’s “Madisonian.”

Winter comes too early
And it lasts too long.
When God created seasons,
He got it all so wrong.

The seasons should be equal –
Spring Summer Winter Fall.
Each has its own beauty
And I love them all.

But here in our Montana,
Winter comes way too soon.
We barely get a summer
When we see the autumn moon.

The leaves turn gorgeous golden.
The wild flowers die on the vine.
The frost kills the mosquitoes.
But what joy is left is mine.

I take joy in getting ready
For winter’s cold but glorious snow.
Begging neighbors to be willing
To plow us out, you know?

Winter boots and jackets
Come forward in the space
Where sandals and sundresses
Once occupied that place.

So enjoy what little autumn
We are fortunate to see
Because before you are read
Winter’s here for you and me.

Sleigh bells ring and children gather
Near the fireplace to hear
Reindeer bells and Ho-ho-ho’s.
Are you ready? Winter’s near!

Bundle Up!!

Photo by Madeline Bassinder on Pexels.com

Enjoy Autumn!
Enjoy all the color changes.
Write about your favorite season.

Let me hear from you.
Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Animals, children, Montana, nature, Poetry, trees, writing

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Answered Prayer

Today I thank God
For His faithful answered prayer
We feel very blessed

Imagine waking
To a toilet filled with blood
And a scared husband

A trip to ER
Three hours with competent staff
Myriads of tests

Here are your results
Please come back tomorrow, Bob
Our hospital’s full

Good thing it’s only
Less than five minutes from home
Very convenient

While I sat with Bob
In the emergency room
I texted family

From California
To DeDe in Switzerland
I contacted friends

Everyone sent prayers
Asking God to oversee
And of course He did

We are encouraged
The loss of more blood has ceased
Yes, friends, God is good!

;o)

Psalm 66:19

“But truly God has listened; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.”

Keep on praying, friends
And know God is listening
He hears and answers

Love ya,
JanBeek

Our 59th anniv. in 2021 –
Now happily living our 62nd year together. God bless Bob!

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, Family, God, Gratitude, Haiku, health, Life's Challenges, Love, Poetry, prayer, relationships, Serving One Another

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