Loving One Another

Posts tagged ‘gratitude’

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:

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:

Free to Do, Free to Bee…


Thank you, Guideposts, for your inspirational daily messages. On this Memorial Day that is so different from those past, I am grateful for the men and women who sacrificed for our freedom.

Free to Live and Build

I am grateful for the freedom to live in this beautiful place in Montana where the robins sing, build their nests, lay their eggs, and feed their babies right outside my dining room window! I’m free to just bee… free to do nothing but sit and watch today… if that’s my choice!

I see that wall to the north of my dining room table. The window there leads to our bedroom.
I watched Rita and Robbie, the robin duo, build the nest and lay the eggs. Fifteen days later, they hatched!
Now Rita Robin brings worms to the babies.
They are hungry little robins, begging for more.
Rita Robin leaves… and Robbie Robin comes to feed them next! Robins mate for life. It is such fun to watch them take turns caring for the nest. Rarely is it left uncovered like this these days.

Free to Bee… Free to Recover…

I found this beautiful, stunned bird sitting on the front porch this morning. Is it a wren? It’s really tiny. Even when TazE (our Boston Terrier) went out to sniff at it, it didn’t move. It was free to just bee… bee still for a while. A half hour later, it was recovered – and thankfully flew away. Free to recover. Free to fly.


Free to Marvel

As I sit here and watch the robins take turns in the nest, I am eternally grateful to those service men and women who gave their lives that I might enjoy the peace I have today. Peace to sit here and marvel at nature. Free to enjoy the peace, and to FaceTime with my daughters across the continent and across the Atlantic.

De & Laina

Peace to watch Bob head off with a neighbor to fish the Madison today.

I hope he is free to catch a big one, like my friend Susan Phillips did this week… and then free to catch and release so someone else can be free to have the thrill of catching this beauty! Our Madison River has a “Catch & Release” policy because the trout all are natives… no “planting” allowed. It’s a world-class fly-fishing mecca!!

The pristine Madison River in Madison County, Montana

What are you free to do today?
Tell me about it.
And what are you most grateful for?

Bee grateful
You are free…
Free to
Bee silly…
Free to just Bee!

See ya tomorrow.
Have a Meaningful, Peaceful Monday.

Category:

Animals, blessings, children, contentment, Family, Fishing, friendship, Gratitude, happiness, holidays, Living in Harmony, Love, Montana, nature, peace, relationships, Serving One Another

Tagged with:

You: Kind, Smart, Important


Yes, you is!!
And you is well, too.
Hooray!!
You is smart like a fox!

Thank you, Paul Holdorf, for your beautiful photography.

Yup. you is so smart –
And you is intelligent –
You make a difference!

You is courageous –
And you is adventuresome –
You is goin’ places!

You is not perfect
But you know perfect moments,
And you make them count!

So now bee grateful
For all that you know you is –
And go change the world!

You is gonna tell
How is you gonna do that…
Tell me one thing NOW!!

Category:

Belief, blessings, Giving, Gratitude, Haiku, humor, Life's Challenges, Love, mental health, peace, Poetry, Serving One Another

Tagged with:

Switch the Channel


Your mind is like a radio –
You can tune it as you like:
Rap or blues, talk or news,
Sadness of a virus spike.

Your mind has endless channels.
It’s a miraculous machine.
It can distort the truth and scare you,
Or explain what “Do Love” can mean.

Our Bible feeds our radio
With thoughts from God above.
He tells us to tune carefully
To the stations that spread love.

Photo by Eduardo Braga on Pexels.com

Philippians 9:8

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true,
whatever is noble,
whatever is right,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable,
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy,
think about such things.”

Photo by Victoria Borodinova on Pexels.com

This verse in Philippians got me to thinking.
What are the things that I would consider in these categories?
Think about them… add your thoughts after each word.
Where do these words take you? What is:

  • true
  • noble
  • right
  • pure
  • lovely
  • admirable
  • excellent and/or praiseworthy
Photo by Suliman Sallehi on Pexels.com

Lift your thoughts to the highest peak.
Let your mind’s radio tune in to the thoughts that are
uplifting and worthy of consideration.
I tried that this morning.
Here is what I came up with.
I encourage you to come up with your own.
How are your thoughts different from mine?

  1. Think on things that are TRUE:
    a) The Bible
    b) The love of my family
    c) The need for friendship
  2. Think on things that are NOBLE:
    a) Active, Honest, Capable and Fair government leaders
    b) Bob Goff’s “Love Does”
    c) The work of doctors, nurses, caregivers
  3. Think on things that are RIGHT:
    a) The innocence of little children
    b) Agape Love (as demonstrated by the unconditional love of my pup, TazE… and my devoted spouse, Bob)
    c) The obligation to reach out and help the needy
  4. Think on things that are PURE:
    a) The motives of devoted, loving friends
    b) The love of Christ for us sinners
    c) Blessings from heaven
  5. Think on things that are LOVELY:
    a) Signs of spring = green leaves, daffodils, crocus, tulips
    b) Kisses from my grandchildren (and great-grandchildren)
    c) Phone calls, letters, texts from our children
  6. Think on things that are ADMIRABLE:
    a) The work of classified staff (such as nurse’s assistants and custodians) in nursing homes and hospitals
    b) The volunteer work of pastors, elders, deacons, and others who give so much time/effort to the church
    c) The donations of those who give time, food, and resources to help the needy
  7. Think on things that are EXCELLENT or PRAISEWORTHY:
    a) The efforts of teachers who are committed to continue helping students learn via ZOOM and other technology during this pandemic
    b) The scientists who are working tirelessly to find a COVID-19 vaccine
    c) The dedication of people who continue to serve in spite of the virus – – – food service workers, truckers, pharmacists, etc.

Your mind is like a radio –
You can tune it to what’s good.
Find the Philippians 9:8 channel
And think of love. You should!

Change Your Mind’s Channel
to Thoughts of Gratitude

Thanks for tuning in to JanBeek.
Tell me about your uplifting thoughts
based on Phil. 9:8

See ya tomorrow.

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, friendship, Giving, God, Gratitude, happiness, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, mental health, peace, Poetry, relationships, Serving One Another, truth

Tagged with:

A Crappy Day


It’s a crappy day
A gray and cloudy Tuesday
There’s no place to go

California’s far
For a one day drive in car
And flying is out

Switzerland’s too far
To drive, fly, or even swim
It’s a crappy time

I want to hug them
I want to see my grandkids
One has a birthday

This week is her day
To celebrate twenty-six
No, I can’t be there

Are you feeling it?
Is your separation tough?
Is your day crappy?

We just want to love –
Love one another right here
Is there a good way?

Thank God for the Net
Thank God for phones and e-cards
Thank God for your life

Gratitude’s the key
For changing crappy to good
Do you feel thankful?

Thank God you’re alive
Thank Him for your daily bread
Reach out to your friends

Write a card today
Put it in the mailbox
Brighten someone’s mood

Personalize it
With a special note from you
Let shared love cheer you

And if you live close,
You might deliver a piece
Of your berry pie

Or the cinnamon
Sticks you learned to make from Mom
Who never wasted

The left-over dough
Does that memory bring smiles?
It does that for me!

Day’s not so crappy
When you reach out with a smile;
So, try it yourself!

Don’t think of crappy
Think of happiness instead
You are what you think!

Thanks for visiting
JanBeek
and sharing below a little bit
about what you did
to change
crappy to happy
for you and your loved ones today.

Just Love One Another!

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, children, Family, food, friendship, Giving, God, Gratitude, Haiku, Life's Challenges, Living in Harmony, Love, mental health, Poetry, relationships, Serving One Another, Sharing

Tagged with:

Little Things


What are the Little Things?

  • blossoms
  • strawberries
  • wine
  • tomorrows
  • joy
  • today

Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine,
I’ll taste your strawberries, I’ll drink your sweet wine.
A million tomorrows shall all pass away
‘Ere I forget all the joy that is mine, today

Photo by Posawee Suwannaphati on Pexels.com


I’ll be a dandy and I’ll be a rover
You’ll know who I am by the song that I sing.

  • music
  • songs
  • singers (like Johnny Denver)


I’ll feast at your table, I’ll sleep in your clover,
Who cares what tomorrow shall bring.

I care what tomorrow may bring!

I can’t be contented with yesterday’s glory.
I can’t live on promises winter to spring.
Today is my moment, now is my story;
I’ll laugh and I’ll cry and I’ll sing.

  • promises
  • winter
  • spring
  • this moment
  • stories
  • laughter
  • tears
  • singing

Play it again… sing along… think about the little things.

Rejoice in the JOYS that are yours today.
And don’t forget to thank God for all your blessings.

I’m praying for your health and safety,
and asking God to watch over you and your loved ones.

What “little things” can you add to that list
of things for which you are grateful?

Have a Wonderful Wednesday.
Thanks for visiting JanBeek

Share our site with your friends who need a lift!
See ya tomorrow.


Category:

blessings, contentment, God, Gratitude, happiness, Life's Challenges, Love, Memories, music, Poetry

Tagged with:

Tag Cloud

%d bloggers like this: