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Posts tagged ‘children’

Gratitude

I am grateful for your excellence!

I appreciate you.
Thanks for your prayers.
God heard.
God answered.
Bob & I are so grateful!

Our WordPress family is so great! Our family and friends have been so comforting during this last year while we went to a gajillion doctors and finally got the reason for Bob’s congestive heart failure diagnosed = TTR Amyloidosis. Oh my! Never heard of it!

We are grateful for the expertise of the Bozeman, MT hematologist who suspected the problem after ruling out the need for a pacemaker or a stent. Neither of those was the problem.

Dr. Hool had encountered two other patients in her career with Amyloidosis. There are two types. One is AL. It is cancer of the bone marrow. Chemo is the only treatment and the life-expectancy is short.

The other type of Amyloidosis is TTR. It manifests itself as a collection of extra protein (it can happen in any of your organs – liver, kidney, brain, etc.). Usually it attacks the weakest of your organs. In Bob’s case it was TTR (thank God – not the cancerous type) and the protein collected in the heart muscle. It stiffened it, causing the heart to function insufficiently.

We are grateful for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and for Dr. Borgeson there who positively identified the TTR variety and prescribed a medicine to (hopefully) fix the problem.

We are grateful to Pfizer for developing the medication and approving Bob’s application for assistance to afford it. It’s outrageously expensive! So, thanks to Pfizer, the medication is on its way. And we are so grateful to all who prayed for this outcome. Thank you! And thank God!

Live in Gratitude! It’s a great state to be in!

Living with an attitude of gratitude
Can definitely change your life!
Focusing on your blessings
Instead of your challenges
Turns frowns upsidedown.
Try it!

That’s my great-granddaughter, Sienna.
I dare you to look at her and not smile!

So how does an attitude of gratitude change your life?

What does the Bible say about that attitude of gratitude?

22 Corinthians 9:11

you will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to god 2 corinthians 9 11

“You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”

Thank You, God. Thank you, dear friends. We are, indeed, feeling enriched in every way.

Hugs to you, my WP friends … let me know if I can be in prayer for you about something specific, will you?

I have a couple of specific prayer requests:
1) Please add my friend, Alex, to your prayer list. He’s in surgery to have a malignant tumor removed from his lung. God, bee 🐝 with him! 🙏🏽❤️
2) Please pray that the medication Bob needs is here (in the mail) soon – and pray that it does what it is designed to do – to help break up the protein that already is damaging Bob’s heart muscle – and that it helps to keep further protein deposits from forming.

Thank you from Bob and me –
JanBeek

See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Hugs!

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, Family, God, Gratitude, health, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Love, music, prayer, Serving One Another

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For Love of Gottfried

Humor wins the day
Conversation abounds there
Silly is the Champ

Check it out!
I mean, come on readers,
8,330 followers??
And the conversation flows.
Ya gotta love Gottfried!
Check out his blog site
and today’s post:

https://banterrepublic.blog/2022/02/21/parenting/

In his latest post (the one I sent you a link to up there), Gottfried says:
“Parenthood is the scariest hood you’ll ever go through.“
In that paragraph he said, “I’m convinced that all parents make shit up as they go along. Those who try to use a manual end up with meth addicts.” Does he get a reaction from his readers? You bet! Of course we parents make it up as we go along. Kids are too unpredictable to do otherwise!!
In the next paragraph Gottfried wrote, “Ninety percent of parenting is just thinking about when you can lie down again. The funny thing about kids is they’re the reason we lose it. And they are the reason we hold it together.” He has so much wisdom tucked into his humor. It certainly resonates with me!
“Everyone knows how to raise children except the people who have them,” he wrote. And he ended his comments by saying, “I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.” And he quipped, “Folks, I don’t trust children. They’re here to replace us.”

There’s no denying it, folks. Children ARE here to replace us! And Gottfried is here to show us all how to be replaced. Humor is king! Gottfried’s tongue in cheek humor rules. I love him!

If you’re not familiar with his blog, do check it out now. You’ll love him, too!

See ya tomorrow … maybe – – –
I might be too busy reading Gottfried’s humor to post on JanBeek, who knows?

Category:

children, happiness, humor, Love, relationships, writing

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Windows to the Soul

Photo by Gratisography on Pexels.com

Windows to the Soul
That’s what your eyes have been called
May I look deeply?

I want to see you
Know you at your heart’s level
Open your windows

Seek and you will find
But what are you looking for?
Look into my soul!

Every week I have the privilege
of doing a Bible Study
with a few of my favorite
residents at the Madison Valley Manor,
our local nursing home.

We spoke about the importance of
EYES,
SEEING,
FOCUS,
UNDERSTANDING.

The lesson from In Touch,
daily reading for devoted living,
was based on Gen. 25:19-34.
The title was “Spiritual Shortsightedness.“

The lesson demonstrated how focus on the temporal
rather than the eternal can cause us to make decisions
based on today’s desires or needs without considering
tomorrow’s consequences. Notice the focus here:

This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son, Isaac, his wife Rebekah, and their twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

The consequence of Esau’s shortsightedness was disastrous for him.
If what we choose to focus on is temporal and selfish,
our lives can be turned upside-down, too.
What are you looking at?
What are you looking for?

My friends at the nursing home and I interspersed music with our Bible reading and sharing. I played my accordion. They sang along. Do you know this one?

“Open my eyes, Lord,
I want to see Jesus,
To reach out and touch Him
And say that I love Him.
Open my ears Lord,
And teach me to listen.
Open my eyes, Lord,
I want to see Jesus.”

When I look deeply
Into your open windows
Will I see pureness?

When looking at me
Seeing into my soul’s depths
Do you see the Lord?

He lives inside me
He helps me practice restraint
Who lives in your soul?

Open your eyes, Friend
Let me see into your heart
I know I’ll find love!

See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Thanks for visiting JanBeek
I send you love from my soul’s depth.

Look in my eyes – Hah!
(No, that’s not current!)

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Haiku, Jesus, Life's Challenges, Love, music, Poetry

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Changing the World

How am I changing the world?
That was the question for
today’s January 29th #Bloganuary prompt.

How would you answer it?

I changed the world when I was born
Because I am as unique as one can be
I change the world I live in
Because there’ll never be another me

I changed the world when I gave birth
to my first child, Tyronee Bee.
He changed the world around him, too,
Because he has deep faith, the same as me.

Ty is letting Jesus take him and Monika
To the place God has for them both
They tackle each day with perseverance
And let God guide their daily growth

They reach out to those around them
And share their wisdom with finesse
Their hearts are full of love and wonder
It’s obvious, those they touch, they bless.

I changed the world when I gave birth
to my second child, DeDe Bee
Her nickname is Miss Sunshine
Her sparkle touches you and me

She smiles at life through thick & thin
And “Carpe’ Diem” is her motto
Her days are filled with sweetest song
A smooth, clear tone with no vibrato

I change the world when I can travel
To see my kids and encourage them
I know the Good Lord guides their paths
And nothing can discourage them

I know if I am weak and needy
They’ll help me out however they can
They’ll do the same for all they meet
They know no stranger – child, woman, or man

I change the world when I reach out
To gather friends and take them in
Enlarge our family with additional members
Reach out, expand, let others just blend in

They change their worlds in return
And the circle just grows larger
Connecting lives where e’re they go
Giving others energy – a super recharger

I change the world when I give hugs
Virtually or in gentle person
Without the care and love of others
The world of loneliness would worsen

So, never doubt your worth, dear friend
Never imagine that you don’t matter
Every kind word that you speak
Is like seed in wind – let them scatter

Influence
You matter
You change lives
Of those around you
Love

Your world may involve only one
One other person to interact with
But that person means the world to you
And that’s the world you’re packed with

So never underestimate your worth
To just one – or to a world of plenty –
You change the world where you are
Folks who do not matter? There aren’t any!!

Many thanks to my faithful long-term friends here –
And a hearty welcome to my new followers!
You make me smile…
You change my world.

Have a great weekend.
It’s so good to be home!
Go out – or stay in – either way,
You change the world around you.

Never doubt it!

Thanks for visiting
JanBeek today.
See ya tomorrow (God willing)

Category:

blessings, blogging, children, Faith, Family, friendship, Giving, God, happiness, Jesus, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, mental health, music, Poetry, relationships, self-esteem, Serving One Another, writing

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The Rhone River Valley

We went down the Alps

On public transportation

Spending the weekend

Don’t let the sheer cliffs scare you. This driver knows what he’s doing! Thank God!!

You’d enjoy the ride

Putting trust in the driver

He’s quite talented

We’re just relaxing

In Grandmaman’s lovely home

So blessed to be here!

Here’s Nick & Céline

They treated us yesterday

Pink Asian in Sierre

Great breakfast again

At Grandmaman’s lovely home

Sierre, Switzerland

Listening to bells

Is such a rare privilege

I wish you were here!

Our DeDe is such a blessing!

This is a typical scene of flower boxes in Vissoie. They are beautiful at De & André’s chalet.

Did I show you that brief video earlier? It was in my saved drafts.

This afternoon we had a wonderful lunch with Theu and Célia. Their son, Aurélien, lived with us in 2004-5 when we took a motorhome trip from CA to MT and UT and found our Ennis home. We have such wonderful memories of that year with him as he gained air hours to get his pilot’s license 

Live sweet memories 
of beautiful days gone by 
cherish the friendships
Thank you, Theu & Célia!

There you see Denise happily engaged in conversation with Célia who was across the table from her. They hadn’t seen each other in a while. We had not seen Theu & Célia since Aurélien’s wedding 8 years ago!!

I hope you are able to maintain long-term relationships like this one. Tell me about a special one you treasure.

Did I tell you yesterday about Sylviane? We started calling her Syli in 1982-3 when she lived for a tear with us in California. She took DeDe to live for a year with her family after she left us.

Young, naïve, beautiful, impressionable DeDe!

The lesson learned here: unless you want your daughter to go off to a foreign country to live the rest of her life, do not invite a foreign exchange student into your home when your dollywolly is young and impressionable!

Here I am with ZuZu, our 1980-81 Swiss son.
So… on the other hand…

… if you want to enrich your life exponentially, you might consider just that! Check out AFS and tell them what country you’d like to have change your life!!

My friend, Dana, said she wanted to hear more alpenhorn. Here you are, Dana:

Thanks for vicariously traveling with us one more day! See ya tomorrow. Meantime, have a blessed Saturday.

Love, JanBeek

Category:

children, Family, Haiku, holidays, Love, mountains, music, Poetry, Travel

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Advice to Teenage Self

WordPress started a new program called Bloganuary each day they’ll give us a writing prompt. I’ll see if I can find inspiration in this new program – and share comments with some fellow bloggers I haven’t met before.

My 2021 blogs all began with my word for the year, “Embrace.” We had spent 2020 with the absence of hugs … and that was really hard for me. It was not difficult to think of a subject to embrace each day.

Our daughter, De, at age 19.

Now, let’s see what my life experience can do with these new daily prompts!

What Advice Would I Give to My Teenage Self?

I wrote a poem for my daughter, DeAna, when she was 19, married her sweetheart, André, and left us in CA to go live with him in his home country of Switzerland. My advice to her was wrapped up in this poem. It’s the same advice I would have given to my own teenage self:

I hope you are able to read that, dear blogging friends. And I hope you have been given (and can give in return) “Gifts Your Kids Can’t Break”

God bless you this New Year’s Day. May 2022 be a memorable year of many hugs and many blessings from Our Lord to you and your loved ones.

Please pray for my husband, Bob, who is in ER right now with congestive heart failure.

Love, JanBeek

Category:

blogging, children, Family, God, learning, life, Life's Challenges, Love, Poetry, relationships, writing

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Embrace Christmas Memories

Time with family is memorable, indeed
We’re grateful for the ones who embrace the holiday mood
We’re blessed to have them open their home
And share their love and delicious food.

Our daughter, De, in Switzerland
shared photos of their beautiful meal
Imagine how plates like these
enchant your guests (think how they feel)!

The family in far-off Europe
included our grandsons with our De
I’m grateful for the internet
and the pictures she shared with me.

Nick, De, Mike & Chris

Here in California
Eleven of us gathered round –
add two big, rambunctious dogs
and laugh as kids and animals clowned.

Christmas Day was a time for fun
with love and gifts exchanged
Friends shared photos of their day
Our family did, too … we got arranged!

Thank you, Ty & Monika
for your gracious hospitality –
we’re blessed to have our son & spouse
share their life & love with Bob & me.

I pray your day was blessed
and you celebrated Christ’s birth
with those you love gathered round –
good food, warm hugs, and lots of mirth!

A note for this day-after-Christmas-morning: Faith (our granddaughter) and Kyle were headed home to S.Lake Tahoe last night and about 3 hours later had to turn around and come back to Placerville. The road ahead was closed due to heavy snow and lots of accidents ahead. The good news is that they were not involved in one of them… and we’re all safe and sound… feeling blessed!

Merry Christmas!
Bee 🐝 well!
Bee blessed!

Keep the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love in your heart year-round! May Jesus remain alive in you!

See ya tomorrow (God willing) –

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

blessings, children, Christmas, Faith, Family, food, God, Gratitude, Jesus, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Living in Harmony, Love, Memories, music, Poetry, prayer, relationships, Travel

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Embrace the Flow

Although the flow
May feel like a free fall,
Embrace the flow.
There’s Someone at your call.

He’s right there to catch you
When you’re about to land.
He won’t let you crash –
He’ll hold out His hand!

Yesterday Bob & I dashed off to Bozeman for three reasons –
and there ended up being four… oh actually five:

  1. Drop off his pickup at “Dark Horse Snug Tops” to replace the hinge on his hatch cover
  2. Go to an appointment with the nephrologist (what’s that? -the doctor who deals with the branch of medicine related to physiology and diseases of the kidneys-)
  3. Keep an appointment with the cardiologist (you all know that’s a heart doctor), and an unexpected
  4. X-ray of his abdomen… oh, and I was there for a 5th reason:
  5. To shop for the veggies to make vegetable soup for tomorrow’s fellowship at church

We were hoping that the nephrologist would say his kidneys show no signs of protein or amyloid deposits – and so a biopsy would not be necessary. God answered that prayer!

We were hoping the cardiologist would say all the preliminary tests are done and show no signs of AL Amyloidosis (the cancerous kind) – and so no more labs and scans before our trip to Mayo Clinic in January. God answered that prayer.

The unexpected x-ray showed yes, the abdomen area is full of air (that’s why it sounds like a kettle drum when you tap on it) – but it’s not fluid – and he’s not showing signs like pain or vomiting – so we won’t deal with that issue right now. God is good! We trust His timing on this – (and all our other decisions).

I got my veggie shopping done (Thanks, CostCo, for your lovely fruits and veggies) – and …

The pickup latch cover hinge was fixed and BONUS: they replaced the key mechanism that was troubling (God answers prayers you didn’t know to mention … He’s way ahead of you!)

So, go with the flow…

John 7:38

“Out of the believer’s heart
will flow rivers of living water.”

Today’s word in Unity‘s Daily Word is FLOW. The introductory thought is, “I flow with the nourishing life of God.” John 7:38 is the featured scripture. The devotional (quoting Lao Tzu) says, “The supreme good is like water, which nourishes all things, without trying to.”

As believers, we know that “supreme good” is God. We know God is “The Flow.”

Unity‘s Daily Word goes on to say, “Whether I experience this flow as a current of a river, the swelling of ocean waves, or my body’s life-sustaining circulation, I am in sync with this flow, which by its nature knows which way to go and what to do.”

How refreshing is that thought to you? It nourishes my soul. By the Holy Spirit, I know God’s life is in me – moving, changing, dancing and singing. I am one with the flow. I need not dash and rush and worry about things happening on time! I need not worry about Bob’s heart and kidneys, his abdomen or his pickup. I need not worry about his lack of stamina on the drive home. Just go with the flow – and trust. Follow along in the car – and honk if his pickup drifts and he seems to be falling asleep!!

Sometimes the flow is slow and steady … and I am out there in a fiery mood, trying to rush it along.

Don’t be in a rush
To try to get too much done.
Let the smooth flow of God
Stop you mid-run!

Delight in the sneakiness
Of a red sunset’s glow,
And take time to relish
The soft taste of snow.

Embrace the joy
Of vegetables’ texture and smell,
The magic of herbs as they cook,
And bid stressing farewell!

Embrace the flow
Of God in your life.
Let Him slow you down
As you eliminate strife.

Don’t worry about health.
Don’t stress over unfinished tasks.
Just go with the flow –
And take time for some laughs!

Overflow this Advent season
with the love of Christ Jesus,
the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
and the easy flow of God
answering prayers
in your life.

See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Love,
JanBeek

Embrace the Flow!

And Have a Relaxed, blessed Advent Season!

Category:

Belief, Bible Lessons, children, Christmas, contentment, Faith, Family, God, Gratitude, happiness, health, Jesus, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Living in Harmony, Love, music, nature, optimism, peace, Poetry, prayer

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Embrace Great-Grandkids

Oh, the joy of being great-grandparents is a joy many never live long enough to experience. We do not take this for granted. An afternoon with our granddaughter, Hope, and her two children, Xander and Sienna, reinforced for us why God gives children to the young!!

In Genesis 17,
when God

himself appears to Abraham
and tells him that Sarah will bear a son,
Abraham falls on his face laughing
and exclaims,
“Can a child be born to a man
who is a hundred years old?
Can Sarah, who is ninety years old,
bear a child?”
(Genesis 17:17).

(Genesis 18:13-14)
After Sarah laughs,
God turns to Abraham, asking,
“Why did Sarah laugh, and say,
‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old? ‘
Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?”
Sarah has been caught
in the act of her private
laughter and mocking commentary,
a response which catches God off-guard.

We understand why when God granted Sarah the child she longed for all her life (she was in her 90s – so it was quite a miracle), she laughed (not believing God could really do that) and then she gave Isaac to the church. The priests there raised him!

Oh sure…. she gave her child to God in gratitude for God’s generosity. Suuure!!

I’ll bet she didn’t have the stamina to care for that lively little guy!

Hah! We loved visiting with our great grandkids, but we’re sure grateful it’s Hope who took them home – not us! Embrace those great-grandchildren… and then kiss ’em good-bye. You bet!!

I’m headed to bed. I’m exhausted!
See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Love, JanBeek

I couldn’t lift her!!
Her mama had to help me
get her in my lap!

Category:

Aging Gracefully, Bible Lessons, children, Family, God, Gratitude, humor, Life's Challenges, Love, relationships

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Embrace Gladness

He has made me glad!
This is the day the Lord has made,
And I rejoice with each breath.
I treasure each beautiful memory.

Memories are God’s gift to us.
Activities are life’s treasures.
Highlights are those that make us smile.
My highlights and Bob’s are different.

Ask him about his favorite time
During our three weeks away,
And he will not hesitate.
It’s the Swiss fighting cows!

(Actually, he corrected me:
Cows are in second place…
Family comes first – whew!)

Visiting Pipo, the Swiss cowboy,
And seeing his award-winning cows
Was a unique, memorable experience.
But it was not MY favorite!

As I have shared in prior posts,
It’s the people who rise to the top.
It’s the people who make me glad.
I will enter their pictures with thanksgiving in my heart:

First of all it’s family:
Our daughter and her husband
And his mom, dear Denise…
How blessed we are to have them in our lives!

Do you have family far away?
So far that it’s hard to see them often?
So far that you missed them during the COVID crisis?
But always in your heart, making you glad?

Of course, in our case, the scenery
Is a huge source of gladness.
DeAna married a Swiss, so we HAVE TO
Go there to visit as often as possible.

Being able to see our children
And spend time with our growing,
And maturing grandchildren
Is my greatest source of gladness.

Throw in the bonus of meeting up
With my cousin, Tommy, in London
And visiting with Derrick & Jackie in Downton,
And you have gladness on steroids!!

You’ve met some of the folks below already.
If you had a chance, and you could post
A picture of the folks who make you glad,
Who would they be?

These boys make my heart sing!!

Mike is our oldest. Here he is with his fiance’ Tania.
Tania gave us a walking tour of Sierre –
And they took us to brunch & to their apartment –
Along with Mike’s middle brother, Nick.

Nicky, the middle grandson, is such a sweetheart
And so is his girlfriend, Celine.
He & Mike created a spreadsheet of our daily activities –
And made sure we were taken care of!

Wouldn’t that make your heart glad?

Our youngest grandson, Chris, is busy –
Busy with his work and his schooling,
His girlfriend in Colombia, and also
His school’s extra-curricular activities.

We treasured the few times he was
Able to make time to be with us.
Here he is with his mom, our DeDe.
These two definitely make my heart glad.

Embrace gladness, dear friends.
Cherish the time you have with your loved ones.
Remember the days of joy and shared love;
Tuck them in your heart – and thank the Lord!

Here I am with our son, Ty.
He makes me glad, too.
Time with him and his family
is a treasure to cherish.

Take time to share your gladness.
This is the day the Lord has made,
So treasure it in your heart…
And sing with me, “He has made me glad!”

What or who makes your heart spill over with gladness?

See ya tomorrow (God willing) –

Love,

JanBeek



Category:

blessings, children, Family, Giving, God, happiness, kindness, Living in Harmony, Love, Memories, music, relationships, Travel

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