Today a team of five willing helpers moved every bit of our furniture and appliances from our kitchen, dining room and living room. It was a monumental task!
Beekmans’ bare house
New wood flooring will be installed over this old, soft fir, scarred floor while we are gone to CA for Christmas and New Years. This is what the new/old wood will look like when it is finished:
That’s our friends, Julie & Mike’s new floor.
The wood is from a hundred year old silo in Malta, Montana. Bob saw it and fell in love with it. He decided it is what our house needs. When all is said and done, I hope it is as lovely as he anticipates – and it is worth the time, money, effort, and stress involved in such a major renovation! Our existing floor doesn’t look bad in the video, but it really is in bad shape – and the wood is soft – scars really easily. The replacement wood (going right over the top of this) will give us a brighter, lighter look. Happy New Year!
God bless our willing helpers who are making all this possible!
1921 silo in Malta, Montana
The crew who did all that work to move things today are saints! As I said, it was a major task! And the man who is harvesting the wood from this old silo is a wizard! His name is Paul. Do keep in in prayer. I just pray he maintains his health and is able to finish the project. It was originally planned for when we were on our trip to England and Switzerland last September, but Paul, FELL while doing the wood harvesting and broke some ribs and had other health issues that required surgery. So, of course, our project was postponed while he recuperated.
1921 silo
It’s fun to know the history of the wood – and to look forward to a new look in our home. But, it involves a whole lot more than what meets the eye… because one thing always leads to another, you know? I am reminded of Derrick & Jackie Knight’s recent renovation of their kitchen and entry and upstairs rooms. Derrick shared the step-by-step, day-by-day progress with us on his blog. Quite an undertaking!
We’ll be gone and Paul will be living here in our absence – – – doing his magic. I’ll show you the finished product (God willing) when we return next year, mid to late January. Meantime, do keep our safe travels in your prayers, will you? I’ll keep in touch along the way.
Have a Blessed Sunday. Bob & I will attend church this morning … and then do a little clean-up in our kitchen area to have it cleared and ready for Paul’s arrival tomorrow. What are your Sunday plans?
Us – looking forward to fun with family in sunny California
God bless you and keep you safe. See you tomorrow (God willing) Tomorrow is our day to pack! Love, JanBeek
Grandson, Nick, and his girlfriend, Céline, joined us for Thanksgiving. I am so grateful for family who come all the way from Switzerland to share time with us!
(See the bottom of the post for numbers 2-9 explaining the rest of the photos. Try to guess what you think I may say about each before you peek down there!)
2. Neighbor/friend, “Whooter” (Greg Winden, came at 8:30 am to help Bob prepare the smoker and to help me put the finishing touches on the turkey. I am so grateful for such caring, generous folks. We are blessed to live in this “hood!”
3. Thanksgiving is a day to be shared. I am thankful for those who joined us to make the day festive.
4 – 5. There’s Whooter helping Bob get the bird in the smoker. And there’s the turkey ready to be carved. I am grateful for Whooter’s tip: stuff the turkey with chunks of apple and orange! It kept the meat so moist! Have you ever done that with your turkey or baked chicken??
6. That’s our friend, Kathy, with Nick & Céline, and our pastor/friend, Mary Grace enjoying a few before dinner refreshments on Thanksgiving Day. Those hors d’oeuvres are part of Thanksgiving “trimmings”!
7. Meantime, in Switzerland our daughter, DeAna was having her own reasons to give thanks. Duchess (Pipo’s queen cow) gave birth to a healthy calf (a future queen for sure) and we gave thanks for his gift of naming her after our De! The calf ids (Diana – pronounced Deanna in French)! It’s quite an honor!!
8. That’s SureShot Lake … frozen over and dehydrated. We gave thanks for the fun of driving up there yesterday, but we’re disappointed to see how low it is. Those dirt mounds out there generally are under water!
9. Most mornings I start my day with a very special “Good morning” and a picture of the sunrise with prayers from my friend, Lisa, in S. Carolina.
Do you have a special friend who prays for you daily and greets you with his/her sunrise? If so, you are blessed indeed! I know for sure that I am!
What else contributed to your day of turkey and trimmings? I’m still celebrating… just finished a bowl of turkey soup made from the leftovers. Yum!
Enjoy your Saturday night, my friends. See ya Sunday. When I count my blessings, you’re right up there with the turkey!! Yup, part of the trimmings!
Bob & me on our 59th anniversary- It’ll be 60 in February!!
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving week, too. Can’t let this weekend pass without telling you how much I appreciate your visits here. Posting on WordPress is one of my favorite hobbies – and it wouldn’t be worth a darn if it weren’t for you. God bless you! Thanks for commenting and telling me a little about those things that count on your list of blessings.
Bee well! See ya tomorrow (God willing)… Love, JanBeek
Some days it takes courage to get out of bed! Some days it takes courage to look yourself in the mirror. Have you had days like that? Today was one of them for me!
So, I could go back to bed and feel sorry for myself – – or I could get up and face the day. I had to ask myself, WWJD?? (What would Jesus do?)
So, I began with that simple prayer…
Jesus said to me, “Get up and face the day! Be courageous!” So, I did… and by noon the one black eye was better and the color had shifted so it was on the other eye, too.
Not near as frightening looking!
Matthew 9:22
“But Jesus turning and seeing her said, ‘Take courage, daughter…’ “
My devotional for today in Mornings with Jesus reinforced the prayer response. So, up and out I went!
We have been having day after day with skies filled with smoke from the fires that are all around MT, ID, CO, CA, and OR. The mountains have been invisible to us weeks on end. But today I could see the mountains!
The view of the Madison Range from our Pintail Ridge here in Ennis.
By the time I spent a little time with a friend and returned home this afternoon, we had the clearest blue sky in months! See, if you have courage to face the day, God is good – and He will make you glad you did!
The beautiful view of blue sky above and around our home…
The moral of the story is, EMBRACE COURAGE!
Don’t let your hesitancy keep you from facing the day.
Get up, Get going, Get out, and Get happy!
God is good. Trust Him!
Oh, and remember those fires in CA? They are not over…
Please keep the firefighters and those in Harm’s Way in your prayers. Our son and his wife are sharing their home with a family of 8 who were evacuated from their home… but it is not destroyed… just in the evacuation zone … and the fire is still headed toward our granddaughter’s in S Lake Tahoe. So keep the prayers flowing!
See ya tomorrow – God willing!
EMBRACE COURAGE – and reach out to do what you can to help others…
Where would we be without the helpers in our lives? Yesterday a young lady came and helped me clean my house. Climbing ladders to get to light fixtures and getting down on my hands and knees to do floors is just not in the cards for this 82-year-old body any more. God bless my helper!
While I was getting help inside, Bob had two helpers out in the yard. Like my inability to climb ladders and spend time on my knees, Bob has discovered that his body has some new limitations, too. It’s just not wise for him to try to trim the trees or do all the weeding and hedging on his own. Thank God for the young, strong helpers who are willing to come and lend a hand!
Our daughter, DeAna, in Switzerland, had need of repair this week. She had polyps in her uterus. Thank God, they were benign, but they needed to be removed. Thanks to the “helper” who used her gold dust to repair/scrape De’s uterus and bring her back to full health… more beautiful than ever!
Just as we need help with the physical work as we add years to our bodies, so do we need help with tasks that are beyond our skill levels.
Today our daughter, Laina, discovered a problem she couldn’t fix. A neighbor’s tree had lost a limb during a recent storm, and the limb crashed through her guest bedroom window. With the help of a gracious and talented helper, she now has a new double-paned glass. Thank God for helpers!
I am reading a book titled, “Life is Messy” by Matthew Kelly. In it he describes the Japanese art of Kintsugi. It is repairing broken objects with glue that has gold in it.
He wrote, “When a vase or bowl or cup is broken, artists gather up the broken pieces and glue them back together. …They mix gold dust with the glue. They don’t try to hide the cracks. They own them, honor them, even accentuate them.”
Matthew Kelly’s point in bringing in the concept of Kintsugi is that we all are broken and in need of repair.
He asks the question, “Can someone who has been broken be healed, and become more beautiful and more lovable than every before?”
And his resounding YES is illustrated by these repaired bowls.
He makes this point very clear: “We are each other’s wounded healers. We posses the gold dust needed to glue other people back together, making them more beautiful and lovable than ever.”
Where would we be without the helpers in our lives? Our broken souls would remain broken… and Our sad hearts would break in two… without those who love us with their gold dust of love that glues us back together again!
Embrace Helpers… Those who help us clean, Those who help us garden, Those who repair our cars or fix our broken windows… Those who help us heal… God bless them all!
God bless YOU for being a helper.
I made sandwiches for those young people who were out there helping Bob with his yard work. We each can do our part – we all can be helpers!
How did you use your gold dust to help someone else today?
I hope the link above will take you to this very inspiring post. In the face of a world-wide pandemic, our lives seem at peril. Our world is changing. So many events are being cancelled. We’re told not to shake hands and to keep our distance from others. We’re worried about whether we might be carrying and spreading the Coronavirus. The National Basketball Association just cancelled future games until further notice. Tom Hanks & his wife are filming in Australia and they just found out they have the virus.
We can live in faith or fear. The choice is ours. Be prudent. But, be positive, too. Choose happiness – and make that contagious! Go up and click on that link. It’s just what I needed to see/hear tonight.
When Bob & I first moved from California to Montana back in 2006, I was a recently retired educator with over 30 years of teaching/administrating under my belt. I was not really ready to “hang it up.” You know, “Once a teacher, always a teacher.”
So, when I joined the Friends of the Library and received a message from a young man who was seeking help to earn his GED (I think that stands for: General Education Diploma, but it might be Graduation Equivalence Diploma) … anyway, I was all in.
Zahid was a 19 year old from Pakistan whose English was sketchy enough that he had trouble understanding the questions, let alone knowing the answers. I agreed to help him with the English/Language Arts/History areas while a good friend worked with him in the areas of Science and Math.
His host mom would drop him off at our house at 7:30 AM three times a week, and after an hour of study, I’d drive him to his place of work, just five minutes away. During our hours together, one of my greatest challenges was teaching Zahid that it’s OK to say, “I don’t know.” He tried to bluff his way through answers. It was often quite amusing!
Once Zahid learned to say, “I don’t know,” and admit to needing help with the answers, we made great progress. He eventually passed and got his high school equivalent diploma. Hooray!
2.It’s OK to… Feel all the Emotions
Zahid tried to hide his lack of knowledge and his feelings of discouragement. He tried to hide his frustrations. He attempted to bluff his way through the quizzes. It didn’t work. When he learned to let his emotions show, when he opened himself to being “real” with me, we made great progress.
3. It’s OK to… have Bad Days
Life is not always fair. Even with hard work and the best of intentions, our dreams don’t always pan out. The first time Zahid took his test for the credential, he failed. Without encouragement and a shoulder to cry on, he might have folded. He might have said, “Give it up! I can’t do this!” But, we didn’t let that happen. His host mom and dad joined our Positivity Club – and together we helped “Z” keep at it, learn from his mistakes, try again, and ultimately pass.
4. Its OK to …Let Yourself Cry
Once “Z” passed his GED, the next goal was to pass his driver’s behind-the-wheel and written tests and get a driver’s license. He worked hard at it.
My husband, Bob, is a retire teacher. (If you’ve followed my blog for awhile, you know he also is a retire beekeeper. But before he went back to the family bee farm, he taught driver’s education and coached wrestling for nine years in California.) So, Bob was a natural to help “Z” get his driver’s license.
Once that goal was accomplished, the next step was to buy a car. Zahid had saved the money he earned working at the local grocery store. He had enough to pay for a good “starter car.” But the problem that emerged was that he had no idea how to take care of a car. That’s where the “It’s OK to let yourself cry” comes in. He burned up the car’s engine by not checking the oil, the water, etc. The tears were real! It was a sad lesson in the reality of truth #5…
5. It’s OK to …Ask for Help
Bob would have been more than happy to help “Z” learn the basics of car maintenance, but Zahid never asked. It was a tough, expensive lesson. But “Z” learned it. He asked Bob to help him find a new engine. He did… and “Z” learned to ask for help in car maintenance in the future. That car gave him several years of reliable service and actually made it from Montana to Alaska when “Z” moved there for better job opportunities.
6. It’s OK to …Make Mistakes
Looking back over our experiences with that young Pakistani, we know we made mistakes, just as he did. We backed off when we should have moved forward and been more assertive with him. He tried bluffing and exercising independence when admitting his lack of knowledge and asking for help would have served him better. But, he learned – and so did we.
As long as we learn from our mistakes, it’s OK. In fact, making mistakes is sometimes the ONLY way we learn. Knowing what doesn’t work helps us eliminate some options and seek better solutions.
Don’t be ashamed of your emotions. Be real. Let them show!
Don’t let the bad days get you down. We need valleys in order to appreciate the mountain tops!
Don’t hold back the tears. Let them flow when they need to. Let them cleanse you!
Admit your ignorance. None of us is an expert at everything. Ask for help when you need it.
Don’t let mistakes get you down. No one is perfect. We need to make mistakes in order to learn and move forward.
It’s OK to … select friends who lift you up, encourage you, and give you a shoulder to cry on when you need it.
It’s OK to … BE one of those friends. Happy, warm, genuine. Even long-distance, over the miles, through cyberspace, you can reach out and be the positive friend others are seeking.
Just do it! It’s OK…
Thank you for your visit, your comments and your friendship,
My child, you are worrying too much. remember who I am there is nothing too hard for me. You may not see it, but I have everything planned out for you.
Verse of the Day:
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” -Proverbs 3:5-6
Each morning I begin my day sitting in this old rocking chair that Bob’s great-grandpa built. It’s up in the corner of my favorite room in the house – my sanctuary.
Sometimes I call it my “Angel Room.”
You can see Mornings with Jesus, my #1 devotional, on the chair in front of my “All Things Grow with Love” pillow. The picture above the photo of room is today’s page. My bookmark reminds me daily of my 2020 resolution: “Walk the Talk.”
Prov. 3:5-6 is the verse on that card. It’s one of my favorite scriptures. With it tucked firmly under my belt and in my heart each morning, I read the daily devo and write in large, fat letters the 2 to 6 words that are my “take away” for the day. You can see “SIMPLY TRUST HIM” is today’s message.
Daily Plan
At the top of my devo page I write my plan for the day … the part of it that God directs to my angelic perch from His heavenly Holy Spirit’s leading. It helps me to “Walk the Talk” when I put my trust in what He has “up His sleeve.”
What are your plans for this beautiful Sunday? I hope you take time to pray. The Faith Step that’s partly covered by my bookmark in the devo picture says, “Recall the times when Jesus answered your prayers in ways you didn’t expect. If you’re praying for something right now, don’t keep Him in a box. Expect Him to answer beyond your expectations.”
Step Out
Go ahead. Listen for His leading. Step out confidently today with plans God sets before you.
John 11:40
Jesus responded, “ Didn’t I tell you that you would seeGod’s glory if you believe?”
My view from my rocking chair
Our Prayer
Pray with me, “Thank You, Jesus, for praying with us and for us. Thank You for Your presence in our lives. Now, as we walk the talk, guide our feet where You want us to go today. Help us meet who You want us to meet. Whisper what You want us to say. Help us be who we were made to be. Show us what You want us to do as we walk in Your will. Amen”
While perusing FaceBook this evening, I came across this article that I thought was so well written. The author, Nancy Guthrie, said what many of us know, “… for those who’ve recently lost someone they love, the holidays can seem more like something to survive than to enjoy.”
Nancy Guthrie is a guest writer on the FB page, desiringGod. She goes on to write,
“While those of us who surround grieving people can’t fix the pain of loss, we can bring comfort as we come alongside those who hurt with special sensitivity to what grief is like during the holidays. Grieving people wish we all knew at least five truths, among others, at Christmas.”
You can click on the link below to see the full article, learn what those five truths are, and learn a little more about Nancy Guthrie.
If you know someone who recently lost a spouse, a child, or a close friend, you may be interested in passing this article along to their loved ones. I found it very helpful.
Written
on November 27, 2021