If I could leave a legacy that exemplified these six words, I’d die happy!
First, I want folks to say, “She loved the Lord with all her heart ❤️ and she sincerely loved her family and friends.” 🥰
(Yes, my family is a huge part of my legacy… they will live on and on … and hopefully exemplify the values I hold so dear!)
Additionally, may they say, “She was ethical and lived a life of integrity. Trying to avoid hypocrisy, Jan lived to show her faith on her sleeve, striving to behave in a way that would be pleasing to God.”
Gracious living means extending to others the undeserved love and forgiveness, the acceptance, inclusion, and hospitality that we received daily from the Lord. May they say, “She was gracious.”
I hope my legacy includes the idea of attentiveness to others, attentiveness to the details of the responsibilities assumed, and daily attention to prayer and Bible Study. I happily shared those with others. A desired part of my legacy would include, “Jan was attentive.”
Daily I asked God to help me shine His compassion through me to others. My heart reached out regularly to family, friends, former students, neighbors, and others in need. Strangers were just “friends I hadn’t met yet.” I would like my legacy to include, “She was compassionate.”
Yummy? It’s not that I want to be considered yummy, it is that I love to cook. As part of my legacy, may I be remembered as someone who delighted in preparing yummy meals for Bob and for guests in our home. May I be remembered as someone whose greatest joy was in serving others.
Hebrews 13:2 “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
When I leave this earth and join the heavenly angels, I am counting on seeing all those saints who went on before me… And we’ll feast on heavenly food and feed the scraps to all my Boston Terriers who’ll be there at the pearly gates to greet me.
Yes, you’re in my life for a reason. Thanks for showing up on my blog!
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
I’m never giving up I want to be proud Of who I’m becoming With God’s help I’m reaching for the sky I’m gonna get up Dress up Show up and Never give up
You, too?
I pray you have wonderful neighbors/friends who come, help, encourage and inspire you in your Daily Walk, like we do!
Yes, count your blessings!
I made green eggs and ham yesterday for St. Patrick’s Day and then we shared corned beef and cabbage with those dear neighbors who inspire us to get up, dress up, show up, and never give up.
What have you done recently to thank those who inspire you to show up everyday and never give up?
I send my love and encouragement to you. Thanks for showing up at JanBeek and encouraging me to keep on keepin’ on!
Hello beautiful sunrise from my dear North Carolina friend!
Hello Montana Snowdrifts!
Hello, dear friend, who walked over the 3’ drift to come say, “I’m here to plow you out!” (Oh my, look how the snow came in the front door!) God bless our helpers!
Hello Daughter#2 back in Maryland. Thank you for your love, hospitality, transportation, and luscious food! We miss you already.
Hello Lacey! You’re such a lucky pup to have your “People Grama” taking care of you while your parents are on their honeymoon!
Hello Daughter#1… So glad you’re back safely in Switzerland, enjoying a luscious dinner with your hubby. 👍🏽
Hello PicNick! Hey, DeDe, How fun that your #2 son came to visit and to show you his new car! Congratulations, Nicky (my #2 grandson). We’re so glad for you!!
Hello again, Lacey! Yes, I know, you need attention!!
Hello Montana sunset! Another day gone by, and we are so grateful for clear skies, for friends, neighbors, WP contacts and their comments, and for our local chiropractor who helped relieve my body aches!
(That was my first visit in my 83 1/2 years to see a chiropractor. I wonder why I waited so long!)
Have you ever been to one?
Whew! Feeling like an Angel just touched me! I hope you’ve had a blessed day, too, my friends.
Bee 🐝 well- and free of pain!
See ya tomorrow. Hah! It’s tomorrow already… I forgot to click “Publish” on this one yesterday ;o(
Bob & I went wine tasting with our son, Ty & daughter-in-law, Monika.
Winderotter Winery in Plymouth, Amador County, California has a wonderful selection of wines.
We tasted both reds and whites ended up taking some of each home with us.
Our visit to Runquist Winery, in that same area, was a delight, too.
Later, we returned to Placerville and had dinner at a delicious Thai Restaurant. Our grandson, Jordan, joined us.
If you’re ever fortunate enough to visit Amador County, I hope you will make it a point to visit those two wineries and enjoy a meal at the Tasty Thai. I know you’ll be as delighted as we were.
Now, I gotta get off my computer and join the fun. My family gives me a bad time when I am on the internet instead of interfacing with them!!
Happy Day after Thanksgiving! It’s a heat wave – we’re finally above freezing! The icicles are melting.
Time to “cool it” and let the turkey and stuffing settle while making turkey soup with the leftovers.
Our dear friends, the Humphreys, invited us to share the Thanksgiving feast with them. Such a lot of food! God bless them; they sent half the leftovers home with us. We are enjoying them a lot!!
Bob and I tried not to overstuff ourselves. Not easy!!
Kathy set a really pretty table.
Meantime, in Maryland, our friend Laina is recuperating from surgery, so her daughter, Katy, came over and created a phenomenal meal. Take a look at that turkey. Isn’t it beautiful? Katy’s sister and her fiance’ joined them. Thank God for our technology, we are able to share photos and greetings with one another.
In California, our son, Ty, and his wife, Monika celebrated Thanksgiving with his in-laws, two of his kids and two grandkids at a time-share in Napa. Here is a wreath they made with expressions of their gratitude. Don’t you love it?
On Thanksgiving Day, Ty and his son (our grandson,Jordan) plus his daughter (our granddaughter, Faith) and her husband participated in a “Turkey Trot.” Good for them, huh?
I have a wonderful picture of the whole family, but with my two great-granddaughters in the photo, I can’t post it. You’ll just have to imagine it!
I hope your Thanksgiving weekend is filled with more family and friends gathering to celebrate your blessings with you.
Dig deep in your brain Remember November now It’s gratitude month
In Novembers past Remember who you shared with Then count your blessings
Time has changed a lot Large gatherings here are gone I hope they’ll return
Family is so precious!
Family: the people you choose to love
Remember the yummy spread of food?
Photo by Anna Tukhfatullina Food Photographer/Stylist on Pexels.com
Remember the days When decorations were seen All around the house?
Will we still create A festive mood this season Without the big crowd?
Don’t cry for me! We won’t gather round this table this year for our Thanksgiving celebration… but we will be with dear friends – and our son will be with family in a lovely California destination.
My heart goes out to family and friends who will experience The Empty Chair this year.
Several of our friends Relate to the empty chair Missing who was there
If you’re only two And the group is not around Be grateful for two
Thank the Lord you have One another and rejoice Then join friends of choice
Have a Memorable and Blessed November!
God bless You! Lotsa Love, JanBeek
God Bless My “friend of choice!” I’m so grateful to have him here… (That was our 60th anniversary photo!)
The last two days of our marvelous three week trip to Switzerland were a bustling, busy, blessed time. Our daughter, DeDe, and her hubby, André, treated us royally with a trip to Chamonix, France on Monday and then a tour of the Gruyère Cheese Factory in Gruyère, Switzerland on Tuesday.
Up, up, up and over!
That’s the Rhone River Valley below. We were headed through Switzerland to France. It was a surprise gift for us plus De’s best buddy, Laina (our daughter#2), and her daughter, Katy.
Wow! Look at this chalet next to ours. We stayed in one named “Soli.” (That’s De’s hubby’s nickname) Enjoy the views out of every window!
See the snow covered peaks up there? We took a cog train up to that glacier!!
After settling into our beautiful chalet, we walked to the place where the cog train (tram) took us up to the top of the high peaks where the glacier is. With climate change, it is melting fast!
Here are Laina, DeDe & Katy – taking the tram up to the glacier that you could see from that first window view.
Bob with Laina & Katy at the glacier.
Here’s a live view of that trip up in the tram to the glacier…
That night we were treated to a phenomenal dinner. My choice was veal with mushroom sauce. Mmmmm! Thank you, De & Andrê.
We’re so grateful for their love of us and one another … and their generosity!
Tuesday morning we drove back up and over the mountains into Switzerland to another surprise destination: the town of Gruyere. Gruyere is our favorite cheese. How fun to see the place where it is made!
Wow! Look at the gruyere cellar where the rounds are aging!
De is showing us how heavy a round of gruyere is!
Tuesday night we returned to De & Andre’s chalet in Vissoie. We packed, and prepared to go to Geneva to fly home. Wednesday was supposed to be a smooth set of flights home. However, with the Queen’s Procession, our flight to London was delayed, so we missed our connecting flight from Denver and had to spend the night there. This morning we finally made the flight to Bozeman where our kind neighbor, Gary, met us and drove us home. It’s a gray, dull, cool day … not like the warm, blue sky days of Switzerland. We’re spoiled! But our hearts are filled with the beauty and warmth of our fabulous trip.
The rolling hills and milk-producing cows of the Gruyere area.
Here’s the fun of cheese fondue and having our grandson, Nick, join us. Our 3 grandsons & their sweethearts were with us for so many fun and delicious occasions. What a joyous three weeks we had!
Goodbye, France and Switzerland… thanks for the memories!
Thanks so much for traveling with us. Back to reality in Montana now. (Not a bad place to return to – just a little smokey and cool right now)
This is “Lucille.” Yesterday we joined 12 friends and went on a trail ride into the Gravelly Range above Antelope Basin.
Lucille is our ATV (all terrain vehicle). Because she’s a redhead on whom we have a ball, we named her after the actress/comedian, Lucille Ball.
Are you old enough to remember her?
Anyway, we met at Antelope Basin about 50 miles south-west of Ennis, and took the trails through the Gravelly Range to our destination of Hidden Lake.
It was a blue-sky-perfect day with temperatures not rising above 80 degrees. We had not been up to this site for over a year. In the meantime forest fires had ravaged the trees and changed the landscape.
This tree was lush and green last time we were here.
We stopped and chatted with our friends awhile before taking a lunch break.
Good buds: Sherry Riggs and Penny Hocking
TazE was quite interested in what Rex & Penny Hocking were getting from Linda Schott. Mmm … fresh and yummy Flathead cherries!
TazE was interested in Bob’s Cheetos, too!
After lunch we traveled on up to the lookout above Henry’s Lake.
The wildflowers were prettier than I have ever seen them this late in the summer. We had quite a wet spring and that helped!
Traveling back down, we could see our Madison Valley in the distance.
We gathered to take a group photo of our ATV friends. And then some couples and quartets, too.
Top left: Kris & Bob (CG’s cousin) with CG & Caroline Bottom left: Penny & Rex Right: Sue & Bob Welna
Here are our five ATV’s. You can see that Lucille stands out among all those earth tones!
Most of the way to and fro the trail was a road also traveled by cowboys in their pickups, tending the the cattle up in the verdant fields.
Some of the trail was rocky, steep and pretty hairy. But, we managed just fine… and I am so grateful that Bob and I both had enough stamina to enjoy the trip.
We Thank the Lord for our neighbors/friends (the Welnas and Hockings) who came to help Bob prepare Lucille for the trip, and then returned this morning to help him put her back away. God bless them!!
Maybe you’ll come join us one of these days for a Montana trail ride. Ya think?
I’d be tickled to see you!
Just give me a call and let me know when you’re coming. We’d love to see you and treat you to a Montana trail ride!
Thanks for visiting JanBeek See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Click on the link below if you’d like to enjoy Dale Evans & Roy Rogers (my favorite cowboy) singing “Happy Trails to You.”
Enjoying Sunday Remembering Saturday And Fish on Friday
Sunday began with this prayer-filled good morning photo from my friend Lisa in North Carolina
After church, Sunday continues with our TazE needing attention and us trying to just relax!
Saturday memories include a wonderful evening shared with Bob and dozens of friends at the Madison Valley Ranchland’s annual “Noxious Weed Dinner and Auction.”
Check out Bonny Morningstar Guzzo on Facebook to see her wonderful pictures of that highly successful event.
Friday memories include our walk along the Madison River in Lion’s Club Park where this beautiful painted fish sculpture greets us.
The painting on the fish inspires the Haiku poet in me.
“Father, please teach me I want to learn how to fish To fish like you, Dad“
Back home, the clouds keep the day cooler as the sun plays peek-a-boo The trees provide welcomed shade And the birds serenade you
The breeze causes the wind chimes To sing a lullaby Reminding me of my sis, Sally She’d love this place as much as I
The deer come quietly to rest Beneath the shade of verdant trees They promise not to nibble But who can trust deer like these?
Time to think about a meal Don’t know what I’d like to cook Need to go check out the fridge Maybe left-overs -Have a look!
Mmmm… I can see shrimp Waiting for the coconut Time to make the sauce
Hope all is well with you. Thanks for sharing my weekend memories vicariously with me.
Now it is your turn What are your best memories Of this great weekend?