We live in a beautiful place with a beautiful view and wonderful neighbors.
Our property has about 4 acres and in the center of those is where our house sits surrounded by 13 evergreen trees.
The lawn and trees require a lot of care to keep the trees healthy year round and the sprinkler system working in the spring, summer and fall.
This is the time of year when turning the sprinklers back on and repairing broken ones and adjusting the direction of the water’s flow has to happen.
We couldn’t possibly do all this by ourselves.
Thank God for the helpful guys in our “hood” who volunteer their services annually because without their help, I’m sure we would find it very difficult to live here!
Is it hard for you to ask for help? Some people find it very difficult. Some people feel like they are a burden. They want to be self-sufficient.
Bob and I have learned Self-sufficiency is harder as you age. Asking for help is imperative, Especially when you are stuck!!
That red dot out there is the back – The back light of our car. We high-centered in.a snow drift. That’s about 50 yards out.
It is freezing out there – Brrr! We walked home and left the car. Brrrr… Help! We can’t do it – Can’t dig ourselves out.
It’s not the first time We needed help this week – Not the first time this year. What would we do alone??
Thank God for friends and neighbors. Thank God for Bobcats & snow blowers And friends who come to help. We would be toast without them!
Tomorrow’s sunrise promises us A better day – a chance to get out A chance to go to church and thank God For the HELP we receive from so many
Matthew 7:7
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Do not be afraid to ask Do not be too proud to admit You need help – can’t do it all yourself Let others help… and ask God for help, too!
No request is too small.
We reached out yestersay We asked our friend, Joe, for help He came and helped Bob Unbury our snow fence
Earlier this month I reached out And asked my friend, Susan P, For help with my Christmas decorations She came – we did it together – God bless her!
I couldn’t have done this without her!
May the Lord bless and keep you May your neighbors and friends Be the help you need when in distress Don’t be afraid to cry out: HELP!!
There is no joy in aloneness When you are craving assistance People want to help you They want to be asked. So do!
Do ask for HELP when you need it Ask for HELP when you want it You will be blessed and so will your helper We all need to be needed!!
This is my adorable 10-year-old friend Hailey helps to give me a sense of purpose Each week she joins me in my sanctuary We study scripture and read devotionals
I am so grateful for her and her mom They let me know they needed something In helping them, I am the one who is blessed You, too, can be the helper as well as the one who’s helped
Reach out today and make someone’s life better In the process, you will make your own richer, too. Help is a two-way street – Don’t miss it! God bless you, my dear WP friends… you help
You help by reading my blog and commenting You help by posting your stories and inspiration You never know just who needs what you write You never know who you’re he[ping today! Thanks for dropping by JanBeek today.
Your “likes” and comments lift my spirits. I’m headed to go see your blog right now, too. Thanks for your HELP!!
All talk and no action Makes for a sad friend indeed. A true friend steps up To help in our time of need.
All talk and no action Is a sorry commentary. We’re not called to pontificate; But what we do may vary.
Each situation’s unique And calls for a different plan. Jesus never hesitated – Likewise, do what you can.
Last Sunday a dear friend Fell in the parking lot at church. Someone fortunately saw her, So she wasn’t left in the lurch.
Friends jumped into action: Her son was called. “Come today!” Another brought her to the ER And got a wheelchair right away.
Their example of action – Stepping up when there’s a need – Was exactly what Jesus did. Remember the bread and fish feed?
Remember the blind man Who said he wanted to see? Jesus showed us how to act – His examples sure impress me!
I want to be like Jesus. I want to step up and be The person you can count on To act at each opportunity.
I’m grateful for the doctors Who saw Bob’s need and acted. Today they biopsied bone marrow. Yesterday a PET scan was contracted.
All talk and no action Allows health issues to grow. Emotional issues likewise fester When not addressed; don’tcha know?
Embrace action, my friends. Jump in when you see a need. Do it out of goodness – Not monetary greed!
Thank you for embracing action, my friends. Your prayers are faith in action. You’re the best!
Tell me about the last time you saw a need and jumped in! Could be as simple as what I did today. I was Bob’s chauffuess!! (He’s usually MY chauffeur!)
Have you ever listened to someone for a minute and thought “Their cornbread isn’t done in the middle” ??
My beef stew this noon needed cornbread to accompany it.
And the cornbread WAS cooked all the way through. What does this have to do with Palm Sunday? Sometimes I stew over the way the disciples led Jesus to his demise in Jerusalem.
It’s rather corny to suggest that they were half baked. But they were! They didn’t have a clue about what Jesus was about!
Even though he told them He was going to die and rise again in three days, they were as clueless as those peppers in my stew!
“Hosanna!” they shouted. “Hosanna in the highest!”
Do you know what Hosanna means? I thought it was an expression of celebration. Nope, it means, “Help me!” And that’s just what He did. But, like half-baked cornbread, they had no idea how He was helping them.
Today’s sermon notes from the message by Rev. Steve Hundley at the Madison Valley Presbyterian Church in Ennis, Montana was titled, “Going Through the Motions”
Imagine a small church in a small town. Imagine how the congregation is feeling down. Their brothers and sisters are being slaughtered. They’ve forgotten what Jesus did for their sons and daughters.
Imagine the preacher having just received Mark, The book that recalls Jesus’ light in the dark. The description of the first Palm Sunday Leaves out important things that happened that one day.
Mark doesn’t talk about the presence of crowds. He does write that some shouted aloud “Hosanna!” but he made the folks sound mundane, And he paints the disciples as being quite lame!
Abraham was asked what he thought of the telling. He said he thought it was just what they were yelling. “Hosanna” means HELP US and that is what Jesus did as He told them He’d empty His cup on the cross that day. Listen up!
He said He would rise again, but they didn’t understand. We’re like that – just marching along with the band. Help us this Holy Week to do more than go through The motions to recognize what You had to do.
Lord, You’ve known the clamor of over 2,000 Sundays When people wave palm branches as if it’s fun days. Allow us to stop just going through the motions, And instead prayerfully express our devotions.
You gave Your life on the cross, O Lord, So that we might understand where we’re headed toward. It’s not a deep dark hole for eternity without You. It is Heaven with You – fully baked – clear through!
Help us, O Lord, to live this Holy Week Fully alive – remembering You – the One we seek. You are the bread of life – who died and rose again. You’re the yeast in life who will come again. Amen!
EMBRACE the HELP that only God can give. Hosanna!
He came. He lived. He died. He rose. He will come again.
Don’t just go through the motions this Easter EMBRACE the HELP that Jesus offers us By His life, His teaching, His example, And let your example be “baked clear through!” Amen
You can be a point of light. You can make the difference in someone else’s life.
Shine light into someone’s darkness. Be the “Someone” who helps another cross the street. Be the first person who really SEES someone!
Twenty-twenty – the year of 20/20 Vision
My New Year’s Resolution for 2020 was to “Walk the Talk.” Little did I know on January 1, 2020 how many opportunities I would have to do just that!
You, too, have the chance every day to be the Point of Light for someone. You have the chance to be what God made you to be, “A Point of Light.” Someone is just waiting and listening… knowing you’ll be there.
Holy Spirit of God, come upon us on this Pentecostal Sunday as You came upon the disciples of old. We need Your help! Anoint our minds and spirits with boldness, that we may join our efforts to Yours for achieving peace in this world.
Touch our hearts with compassion, that we may see more clearly those who are struggling with anger over the injustice in our nation and world; show us how we can be instruments of peace and equality for all.
Enable us to be Channels of Your Peace in these changing times. Show us how to worship You together in safe and meaningful ways as we prepare to come together once again as a Body of Christ.
Visit our wills, O God, with the fire of Your Spirit that we may strive with boldness for what is right and just for the poor, the underprivileged, and the disenfranchised.
Let us not be content merely to have what we have and not share it with others, merely to enjoy what was given to us and not realize it was intended for all.
Infuse us with the zeal and dedication that were in Christ Jesus our Lord, that we may not merely take for granted the life and freedom and opportunities that are ours.
Lift up those who have fallen victim to COVID-19, and those who are grieving the loss of loved ones. Though we are thankful for the health we have enjoyed, help us not to become blind to the suffering of those who have found themselves on the frontlines of the pandemic. Lift up the fallen, heal the sick, comfort the bereaved.
Give us strength in our weakness, illumination in our darkness, and hope in our despondency. Empower us to be all You created us to be.
In this crucial time We need to stop, look, listen Stop now and bow down!
In kindergarten, we were taught to stop, look and listen. We made traffic lights as an art project. As a kindergarten teacher in the 70’s, I taught the children to recognize their colors, write their numbers, sing their ABC’s and listen for the sounds the letters made. I taught them safety features. Looking out for themselves and for one another. Yes, we had partners who took care of each other when we went out on field trips.
It’s time once again For us to stop, look, listen Practice safety rules
It’s time once again To look out for each other Hold hearts across miles
Just STOP, everyone! Stay sequestered and stop now Look for ways to help
Listen for the cries Of people less fortunate Look for solutions
Kim Taylor Henry is one of the contributing writers for Daily Guideposts 2020. This week, she has taken us through her devotionals on a journey to the Holy Land. We stopped with her in Jerusalem and bemoaned the way “the city bustled on.”
Kim thought of the words of Jesus: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem… how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”
She wrote that when she traveled to Jerusalem, she “had expected to feel connected to God through tranquility.”
Instead, as she stood on a hill looking down at the expanse of the city, she wanted to cry out, “Stop everyone! This is holy ground! Bow down. Worship. Praise.”
The city is still The children are in their homes It seems the world stopped
Take time to bow down Reconnect with your Maker Let His Will guide you
When Kim Taylor Henry left Jerusalem and traveled on to Gethsemane, she expected to find “a hushed highlight” for her trip. She wrote that she thought she would find “a spot where I would reflect on our Savior’s suffering, a place of pain, yet serenity.”
“Instead ,” she wrote, “I saw a fenced-off grouping of knobbly olive trees… It didn’t feel peaceful.”
Opportunity or Tragedy
We have the opportunity during this COVID-19 pandemic to create in our homes a place of peace, a spot where you sense a “hushed highlight” in the opportunity to just BE… just BE together with family or alone in your space…
OR
We can create a tragedy where we feel “fenced off” and we can be resentful, and we can worry and let our fear blind us to the opportunities that are before us.
Traveling on the Via Dolorosa, the road to Calvary, the place outside the city of Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified, Kim Taylor Henry wrote in her Guideposts devotional,
“I felt irritated by what I viewed as near oblivion to the sanctity of the path. Crass crowds and the array of souvenir shops disturbed me.”
But she went on to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Golgotha, the hillside where Jesus and the two thieves’ crosses remained, and she felt a sense of hush and respect.
Kim asked herself, “Why is the Via Dolorosa bustling with indifference and commercialism while the sites of death and resurrection are worshipful?” And she postulated, “Perhaps it’s a reminder that I, like so many wrapped up in the world… realize my errors too late, and bow down after the fact – when crisis has already struck.”
Is it Too Late?
Help us not to wait Until the crisis has struck Devastating us
Help us to heed NOW The directions we’re given And let us bow down
Stop, look and listen Like kindergarteners did No, it’s not too late!
Thank you, Kim Taylor Henry, for permission to quote your writing. Thank you, Guideposts, for your wonderful DailyGuideposts 2020spirit-lifting devotionals. I appreciate this resource that helps me each day stay focused on the positive ways we can remain in His Word and “Walk the Talk” as we learn to better love and care for one another.
