Spreading love, joy, peace, faith & unity

Posts tagged ‘Animals’

Embrace Family Time

Embrace family time
Our relatives are God’s gifts
Cherish time with them!

Bob & me with our son, Ty,
his wife, Monika, & son, Sam,
and her parents, Ruthie & Darrell,
and our grand-nephew, Liam

Lake Tahoe fun
A beautiful blue sky day
Comfortable breezes

Combined ages equaled 112
Ruthie & Kyle celebrated together

Faith and Kyle have a new puppy
“Poppy” will be a big dog before too long!

Visiting Faithy
And her brand new big puppy
Was a real treat

Two legs on the stairs
The other two on the floor
Poppy knows comfort!

Our great-granddaughter
Figured out how to cool off
Showed pup what to do

Fun at Faith & Kyle’s in S. Lake Tahoe
Our grandson, Jordan, (Daddy of Cosette)
watched while Faith & Cosette cooled their feet…
And then Cosette got totally wet
and had to wear her dad’s t-shirt

Faith had great hors d’oruvres
Then they barbequed chicken
No one went hungry

The bear climbed a tree
To get away from people
Too full to climb far!

A view of Lake Tahoe
Jan & Bob at the lake
Monika & Ty (the gracious hosts)
Liam & Jodie (my niece & grand-nephew)
Faith (my granddaughter)

Darrell & Bob at Ty’s in Placerville
Celebrating family birthdays

When our son’s in-laws
Have time together with us,
Never lost for words!

Celebrate birthdays
Treasure the time together
Thank God for family

Children grow up fast
Get together as often
As possibly can

Store up memories
Write – so you do not forget –
Take lots of pictures!

They came from southern California –
They came from Pennsylvania –
They came from Sacramento –
We came from Montana –
There were 16 of us for dinner!
When it’s shared family time,
the more the merrier.
Thank God for gracious family
who share their homes,
their beds, their food, their car…
… and best of all, their love.

Next time we’re together,
it wouldn’t surprise me at all
if Liam is taller than Sam.
Like this sugar pine tree,
kids grow taller these days…
Must be all that family love!

I pray you have a loving family, too…
And you have many opportunities
To share family time together.

Cheers!
Have a great rest of your week.

I’ll see you tomorrow (God willing).

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Animals, blessings, children, Faith, Family, Gratitude, Haiku, Living in Harmony, Love, Memories, nature, pets, relationships

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Embrace New Beginnings

Mama Antelope with her babies in our front yard

Time for beginnings
Is now – this very morning
Baby animals

Baby platypus
Greets the world with a big wave
It makes me smile

Whether antelope
Or platypus or robins
Embrace beginnings

Mark 10:27

“Without God it is utterly impossible.
But with God everything is possible.”

Excitement revealed
These Eminent Beginnings
Readily perceived

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I’ve worked diligently for the 10 months with our Pastor Nominating Committee. We investigated more than 50 candidates, looking at their PIFs (Pastor Information Forms), texting, e-mailing, calling, ZOOMing, checking references, etc.

Our pastor of more than 30 years passed away over a year ago … and we have had the privilege of a wonderful interim pastor who stepped out of retirement to help us keep our church alive during this year of COVID-19. Not an easy feat!

We feel (as a Pastor Nominating Committee) that God spoke through the Holy Spirit to the young lady you see above. She is our chosen candidate – and we all love her! She will preach to our congregation this Sunday. The members will have a chance after meeting/hearing her to vote yay or nay on accepting her … and whether to accept the terms of employment that we and the church leaders (the Session) have put together for her.

This is definitely a time of “New Beginnings” for her – and for our church. Would you add your prayers to ours during this crucial weekend? I’d really appreciate it! I know God hears … and we just want His Will to be done!

The excitement is palpable!

Mary Grace – in front of the manse
(the church parsonage where she would live)

Bob (my hubby) has been working long and hard
(as the Elder in charge of Buildings and Grounds)
to get the manse ready inside and out for a new pastor.
He’s there now working on the stairs –
getting the old padding out
so the installers can come Monday
to put in new carpet.

It takes a village to accomplish all we’ve done.
Thank God for the church leaders
and our Nominating Committee
for their arduous work over the past year.

Have you ever served in one of those capacities
– selecting a new pastor –
or being in charge of buildings and grounds?
If so, you can relate
to what we’ve been through
– – – and are facing.

Prayers are really appreciated
for this exciting time in our church life.

See ya tomorrow.
Thanks for visiting JanBeek
– and lending your support!

Embrace New Beginnings, indeed!!
There I was in 1965
with new beginnings
for our son, Ty!!

Category:

Animals, God, Gratitude, Haiku, Life's Challenges, Love, Poetry, prayer, relationships, Serving One Another

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Embrace Uniqueness

Aren’t you totally amazed at how
The Creator made us each so unique?
No two fingerprints, no two zebra’s stripes
Are the same – – – just take a peek!

No two sets of eyes, not even twins
Have exactly the same DNA.
No two cats – and no two dogs
Are just the same – no matter what you say.

No two leaves – nor clouds in the sky
Are just like any other one.
How did God create such uniqueness
In this world beneath the sun?

No two ways of looking
At exactly the same motivation
will result in the same response –
Some see sadness others elation.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

It is our uniqueness that makes us
An interesting, diverse, beautiful world.
We fly our flags in different colors,
But in reality we’re all one world unfurled.

Let’s embrace our uniqueness
And celebrate how we see things differently
While remembering we are more alike
Than not… and we’re all designed magnificently!

I am grateful for the unique qualities
Of each bird and fish and friend –
And I thank God for His imagination –
For His Creation – that has no end.

There’s no one on earth like me;
No one in the whole world like you,
So embrace your uniqueness, my friend…
Share with others your point of view.

No one sees life quite like you do.
No one can paint or write as you do.
Let your expression of life splash out of you
And help others see the world anew.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything beautiful in its time.
Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart,
yet so that he cannot find out
what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Just as no pot created on the potter’s wheel
Ends up looking just like another pot,
And yet each is beautiful in its own way,
So each of us beautiful – no one is not!

Something beautiful, something good –
All my confusion He understood.
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife,
But He made something beautiful of my life.

Give your brokenness and strife to God.
Let Him make something beautiful in you.
Then share it – as only you can do –
So others can appreciate their uniqueness, too.

Use your unique qualities to make the world a better place.
Don’t judge others or turn them away because they’re different.
Embrace them. Love them. Appreciate the way they add color to your world.
Know God designed each of us intentionally … be reverent!

I love you, my friend.
Thank you for adding your uniqueness to my world.
See ya tomorrow.

Hugs,
JanBeek
(& Bob – my unique hubby)

Category:

Animals, Bible Lessons, friendship, God, learning, life, Living in Harmony, Love, mental health, music, optimism, relationships, respect, self-acceptance, self-esteem

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Embrace Hugs

Doesn’t it feel good to meet with your friends
Who have had both their COVID-19 vaccines
And feel comfortable hugging again?
Don’t lose sight of what hugging means:

When I hug you my squeezing says,
“I love you! I have missed our touch.”
When I hug you my body says,
I am so happy to be near you. I’ve missed you so much!

Song of Solomon 2:6

“Let his left hand be under my head
And his right hand embrace me.”

Sometimes the hugs from our pets
Have to take the place of others we love –
But it’s that feeling of unconditional caring
That’s wrapped in a hug – whether human or dove.

Mark 10:16

And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

There’s nothing quite like a threesome hug!

Genesis 33:4

Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him,
and fell on his neck and kissed him…

Yes, when we see a cuddly little soft and sweet baby
We just want to hug and squeeze and kiss them all over!

Photo by Madeline Bassinder on Pexels.com

Photo by William Fortunato on Pexels.com

Embrace One Another
Embrace Hugs

It’s so good to be able to hug again!

Love to you,
my sweet blogging friend.

See ya tomorrow

Category:

Animals, Bible Lessons, children, friendship, happiness, Living in Harmony, Love, pets, Poetry, relationships

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Embrace Animal Photography

Magpie – A Haiku

by JanBeek

Cloudy break of day
A large, angry magpie dives
Down on peaceful dove

Best Friends

A pup and kitty
Best friends – inseparable
Love that matching pair

Simple Love

Tucked under your chin
I feel completely secure
It’s true, simple love

Watching

Watching for a friend
Positioned so demurely
Aren’t I attractive?

Fawn is Flower

Tucked in beautifully
Fawn waits patiently for Mom
Remember Flower?

Beautiful Buck

Beside the lake’s edge
A beautiful buck listens
Are you thirsty, too?

Embrace Animal Photography

Embrace animals
And those who photograph them
They’re a happy lot

I hope my animal photographs
Most of which are taken by an anonymous photographer
Made you smile the way this darling baby and her pup are smiling
They certainly cheered me!

Thanks for visiting JanBeek today.

Have a Fabulous Friday.

See ya tomorrow (God willing)!

Category:

Animals, children, flowers, friendship, Haiku, happiness, Love, pets, photography, Poetry

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Embrace Haibun

There are days when it seems harder than others to put on a happy face, don’t you agree? I don’t have a lot of those, so when I do, they usually are memorable.

I remember one such day when my dad was out of sorts. He was a business owner. Not the typical image of a “business owner” that comes to mind when you hear that description. His business was a Tallow Works. Do you know what that is? It’s a place that picks up dead animals from farmers and ranchers and meat scraps from butcher shops. All parts of those animals and scraps are processed. It’s a smelly business.

It’s devastating
Beloved animals die
Someone hauls them off

This is called a Haibun. It is a brief couple of paragraphs of prose, followed by a Haiku that adds dimension to the prose!

Oh, Lordy, Lordy!! My blog is supposed to share love, joy, peace, faith, and unity. How I got off on a kick of wanting to share various forms of poetry is all Dwight Roth’s fault! Blame him! He tried my Shadorma poetry and invited me to try his Haibun.

https://rothpoetry.wordpress.com/2021/04/08/on-fire/

But he can’t be blamed for my morbid Haibun and photo today. My mind just went there after reading a post by someone who was recalling a sadness from their childhood. That day when Dad and I went to pick up a dead horse sticks in my memory because the horse was a child’s pet. It wasn’t like one of a herd of beef cattle or some old cow that got into the clover field, ate too much, bloated, and bit the dust!

My experiences with my dad, riding with him on weekends as we went to various farms to pick up the dead animals, usually were not sad times. I treasured one-on-one time with Daddy, and I was happy to get that time under whatever circumstances! The death of animals didn’t seem morbid to me. It was just part of the cycle of life! You know – like egg to tadpole, froglet to frog!

But on that particular Saturday, the animal’s young owner was there, crying as Dad hauled her beloved horse into the truck and we drove away. The horse did not represent the cycle of life. It was too young, and so was its owner! That was a day when it was harder to put on a happy face, you know?

This weekend Bob & I are headed to my brother-in-law’s funeral. He was 86. He led a good life. He was a believer who knew where he was headed when he left this earth. But, he had just had a knee replacement – just a week before – and he thought he had a lot of years left to enjoy the greater mobility that knee would give him. However, it is not our privilege to count our days!

Dying is, indeed, part of the cycle of life!

“Everyone who lives
and believes in me
will never die.
Do you believe this?”

— John 11:26

S’pose that horse and sweet little girl will be reunited in Heaven?

It’s the life cycle
Beloved animals die
Are they in Heaven?

Bye for now.
See ya tomorrow –
God willing!

JanBeek

Category:

Animals, Bible Lessons, children, Faith, Family, Haiku, Life and Death, Love, Memories, pets, Poetry, relationships

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Embrace Easter!

My day started with a 7:00 am Sunrise Service at our Madison Range putting green.
The sun worked to peek out through the cloudy sky.

A small, but appreciate gathering
lifted voices to sing
“He Arose!”
and
“He Lives!”

Mule deer gathered close by to listen to our singing
and nibble at the emerging greenery.
Spring is just thinking about making its debut here!

Usually right after sunrise service, we go as a group to the Baptist Church and enjoy a yummy breakfast of assorted baked goodies and egg casseroles. This year, because of COVID-19, we had to be content to go home and make our own breakfast. Afterward, we went to church where we wore masks, socially distanced, and enjoyed the sermon of the day delivered by our pastor, Rev. Steve Hundley.

It was Communion Sunday as well as Holy Easter Sunday.
A very meaningful ritual … being able to partake in person with other Christian friends.
Our sermon topic was “Sometimes It Causes Me to Tremble.”

What are your earliest
Memories of Easter Sunday?
Yellow crocuses, dogwoods,
And eggs hidden slightly away?

What are your earliest
Memories of recognizing in your life
God, the Risen Christ?
Do you have to think twice?

My memory was on a morning
When I’d victoriously ridden
My bike down a steep hill –
Suddenly God was not hidden.

I’m reminded of Mary Magdalene
With the other Mary who saw
That Jesus was not in the tomb.
An angel said He’d risen – such awe!

They were terrified to realize
You can’t escape God in Jesus.
They told no one what they heard –
Too scared… a Savior to relieve us?

They thought their hopes and dreams
Had been buried and sealed away,
Buried with Him – they believed.
They all deserted Christ that day.

Peter had denied Christ three times.
The other disciples hid in fear.
Have we also denied the messenger
Who told us Jesus is alive and here?

The Easter miracle assures us
Our crucified Lord is running free.
He is waiting for us to come out
Of hiding to see Him. He waits for me!

Am I ready to believe the story
Of a man who dies, but rose again?
Am I ready to understand that He
Suffered that agony to free me from sin?

The Risen Christ stands before me
With nail prints in His hands and side.
Am I ready to hear the Good News
And know there’s no where I can hide?

With fear and amazement this Easter,
I will not go away from the empty tomb-
Back to daily routine, forgetting Him.
No, with reverence I acknowledge Christ in this room.

Crown Him the Lord of years,
The Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres
Ineffably sublime.

All hail, Redeemer, Hail!
For Thou hast died for me.
Thy praise shall never, never fail
Throughout eternity.

Amen.

EMBRACE EASTER

It comes but once a year
Yet its significance
Lives in our hearts daily…
Thank God for the gift
of His Son
who secured my spot
and yours
in heaven.

Praise Him! Alleluia!
Amen!

Oh, and in the afternoon,
we had the joy of a visit from our granddaughter, Hope,
and her husband, Drew, and their two children
(our great-grandchildren, Xander and Sienna).

And for a larger crowd,
how about this one?

Did you send out and receive a few Easter cards this season?
I did.. and I enjoyed every one.
I thought I’d share one of my favorites with you:

That was decorated with a glitter cupcake by our darling Ruby…
with a note added from her big brother, first grader, Cord.
So precious!!

And now,
the eggs are gone.
The Easter ham left-overs are in the fridge.
The family departed.
The dishes are looming large –
Begging to be done…
But first, join me and the Easter bunny, will you?
Sit down and relax.
Contemplate the day…
Think about what Easter means.
Thank God for the gift of His Son.
Let’s drink a toast to Eternity in His Heavenly Kingdom.
The dishes can wait!
My computer’s about to run outta battery…

Hope you had a Happy Easter weekend.

Have a good night.
See ya tomorrow.

Sending lots of love,
JanBeek

Category:

Belief, blessings, children, Faith, Family, food, God, happiness, holidays, Jesus, Living in Christ's Family, Love, Montana, music, Poetry, relationships, sermon notes, writing

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Wrdless Wednesday

Category:

Animals, Love, pets

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Embrace Wonder

Do you ever wonder what’s real and what’s not?
Do you wonder what’s truth and what’s fiction?
Do you wonder why certain things happen?
Do you wonder what tomorrow will bring?

What if you grew up with a dad
Who was a Special Effects Artist?
What would the world seem like
To you if this was your daily reality?

Special Effects Video

Ever wonder what life would be like
If you had not met the person who
Is front and center in your life now?
Who would be with you instead?

Ever wonder how God created
The beauty of a rainbow or sunset?
The colors of the variety of birds?
Or every zebra’s stripes unique?

Photo by Jessica Lewis on Pexels.com
Double rainbows – no less!!

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
No two are alike!!

Ever wonder how He could make
Each snowflake different?
Each eye unique – unlike any other?
Each voice to sound like no other?

Photo by Egor Kamelev on Pexels.com
No two are alike… amazing!!

Each eye is unique.
No two are the same.
Amazing!!

Did you ever wonder if our eyes grow over our lifetime? When we’re born, our eyes are about two-thirds smaller than they’ll be when we reach adulthood. People’s eyes stop growing in length by the age of 20-21, when they reach about 24 millimeters. But the weight of the eyes’ lenses continue to increase over time. Isn’t that a wonder?

Ever wonder how I knew that? Used to be we had a huge set of encyclopedia that we bought from a door-to-door salesman. Encyclopedia Britannica. Outdated by the time it was published. Ask Siri today. Ask Alexa. Carry your encyclopedia in your pocket. Ever wonder how our kids could survive without their cell phones?… And about those voices:

Ever wonder what life would be like
If the only thing we bothered to talk about
Was the good that we see in others?
This is a poem my mom had memorized:

Wouldn’t this old world be better
If the folks we meet would say
“I know something good about you,”
And then treat us just that way?

Wouldn’t it be fine and dandy
If each handclasp warm and true
Carried with it this assurance,
“I know something good about you”?

Wouldn’t life be lots more happy
If the good that’s in us all
Were the only thing about us
That folks bothered to recall?

Wouldn’t life be lots more happy
If we praised the good we see?
For there’s such a lot of goodness
In the worst of you and me.

Wouldn’t it be nice to practice
That fine way of thinking, too?
You know something good about me!
I know something good about you.

(Louis C. Shimon)

Mom posted that poem along with many others on a cardboard that she had hanging inside her kitchen cabinet door. She gathered the poems as a new bride in 1937. They were cut from the weekly newspaper. I have that cardboard posted inside my kitchen cabinet door here in Montana. It’s fading fast and becoming harder and harder to read… but I have most of them memorized now, too!

Ever wonder what your life would be like
If you were born to a different mother?
You wouldn’t be you, would you?
What if your mother had different attributes?

My mother loved poetry (obviously) –
And so that love of words well spoken
Rubbed off on me – and I wonder
What would life be like without poetry?

I wonder what life will be like
when there is no more COVID-19.

Laura Sullivan is a musical artist
Whose poetry and piano expertise
I shared with you in a previous blog:
https://janbeek.blog/2020/12/15/shared-poetry-music/

Ever wonder what this world would be like
Without the wonder of music?
The streams would have to stop and
The wind would have to cease.

Ever wonder how one could live happily
Without having a sense of wonder?
What do you wonder about, my friend?
What gives you a sense of awe and wonder?

(By the way, that “Nature Sounds” video will play for 10 hours.
Do you think the image or sound will change after a while?
Ever wonder how they did that?)

Sending my love and hugs.
Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
Wonder which of your friends
would like a link to this post?

Bob & Jan
at breakfast
on our 59th anniversary
yesterday.

Thank you for all your positive comments and good wishes.
I wonder what blogging would be like if I didn’t have YOU in it?
Not a pretty thought!

EMBRACE WONDER!!
Come back tomorrow.

Category:

Animals, blessings, blogging, Faith, Family, friendship, God, Gratitude, happiness, learning, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, music, Poetry, relationships, Sharing, truth, writing

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Embrace Prayer

In today’s Daily Guideposts 2021, the writer, Amy Eddings, wrote about a time when she prayed relentlessly for guidance and courage – and felt her prayers were going unanswered. Have you ever felt that you were praying relentlessly for something and your request(s) seemed to be falling on deaf ears?

I remember last year when Australia was on fire and so many animals were dying and losing their habitats. I prayed along with the rest of our world for rain… but the fires raged on.

I have recently been praying incessantly for our Pastor Nominating Committee at our church. If you have followed my blog for awhile, you have read my sermon notes on Sunday from our Madison Valley Presbyterian Church. You know our pastor of 32 years died a year ago and we have a wonderful temporary pulpit fill who came out of retirement to help us. Rev. Hundley needs to be able to re-retire. So, we are searching for a solo pastor and I am praying hard. I believe in the power of prayer – and I believe in God’s perfect timing. Don’t you?

So, will you add my prayer request to your prayer list?
“Lord, help the Madison Valley Presbyterian Church
Pastor Nominating Committee
find the person God already has in mind for us.
Help them find the right new pastor
to lead the congregation into renewed spiritual growth in 2021.”

My husband, Bob, has been praying incessantly, too.
He is on our church’s leadership board
and as such is the “elder” in charge of Buildings and Grounds.
Our church owns an old church that is about 10 miles out of Ennis
in a tiny little village called McAllister.
The church was built in the 1880’s.
MVPC uses it once a year to maintain its
tax-free status as a “place of worship.”
It is in a serene country setting on a little over an acre of land.
It has electricity, but no water or septic system.
The church is for sale. We’re praying for the right buyer.

Please add this to your prayer list, too, will you?
“Lord, send the right buyer to Rikki at Berkshire-Hathaway in Ennis, MT
– a person who will treasure this historic building
and use it for wholesome purposes.”

Gerry Mooney Photography
McAllister Church

When we EMBRACE PRAYER
and pray with a right spirit,
God hears, God cares, God answers.

Philippians 4:6,7: Pray about everything

“Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything,
by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving,
present your request to God.”

1 John 5:14: God always hears

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God:
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

EMBRACE PRAYER

GOD BLESS YOU
and keep you safe and healthy.
That’s my prayer for you today.

Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
Have a blessed Monday.
See ya tomorrow.

This is my favorite prayer… and I pray it fervently.
It spells out my purpose in life … to be an instrument of God’s peace…
TO SPREAD LOVE, FORGIVENESS, FAITH, HOPE, LIGHT AND JOY…

Sing along … and be blessed!

EMBRACE PRAYER

Category:

Belief, Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, God, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Living in Harmony, Love, music, peace, photography, prayer, Serving One Another

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Spreading love, joy, peace, faith & unity

Posts tagged ‘Animals’

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Magpie – A Haiku

by JanBeek

Best Friends

Simple Love

Watching

Fawn is Flower

Beautiful Buck

Embrace Animal Photography

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Philippians 4:6,7: Pray about everything

1 John 5:14: God always hears

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