When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
My prayers go out to Hope & Drew.
I look to the Lord in whom my strength and healing abides and helps me.
Pray with me today, will you? “Dear Heavenly Father, Be with Hope and Drew as they mourn the loss of their unborn baby. Help them understand Your will and know the blessing of the two they have. Be with me (Jan) and the finger that needs to heal… Provide comfort – – and the lesson to be learned. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Thanks for visiting JanBeek and expressing your love and concern for us.
I will hang this stained glass In my window when it arrives It will remind me to pray daily For the dear Ukrainians’ lives
It’s a worthwhile purchase It makes me feel like I am doing a little to help. A portion of the sale price Will go to recovery efforts And another part of the money Will help the artist rebuild her studio When she finally is able to return home.
This song and prayer are for them – The dear, innocent victims of this war – I pray for their safety and their courage For their lives and their ultimate victory. Join me in prayer … and sing along:
Sending love and visions of HOPE to you and to the people of Ukraine… God, give them peace.
Light Dispels Darkness Open His Word Let it enlighten you Brightness
Brightness Is yours If you ask Take it to others Share
Today at Madison Valley Presbyterian Church, here in Ennis, Montana, Pastor Mary Grace Reynold’s sermon was inspired by the New Testament scripture Matthew 2: 4-18
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”[a]
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”[b]
What a terrible scripture to focus on during this season of Advent! But… the “Take-away” from the message was this:
Sermon Notes:
If something unnerves you, pay attention! The realm of unpleasantness is not what we expect in Advent as we wait for the Messiah. Killing all the boy babies? Worse than unnerving!
The season of Hope, Faith, Joy and Love is not supposed to be unsettling. Let’s weep with Rachel over the loss of children. Let’s weep over the bleakest of backgrounds.
Life is frequently bleak, but take heart! Into this bleakness a star appeared in the sky. Into this bleakness the vulnerable baby was born. Into this bleakness, a cruel king felt threatened.
Herod, the king sat in the stain of his own shallow angst and envy. He looked foolishly to the stars, believing in his own deity.
Threatened by an innocent baby, reported to be coming as a king, Herod ordered the death of all boys under the age of two in Bethlehem.
God heard the cries of “the least of these.” Jesus remembered those cries when He reminded us to care for “the least of these.” And friends, we each are part of “the least of these.”
Jesus/God knows the hearts of the bleak. He injects hope in the hearts of the hopeless. He injects love, joy and peace into our bleak world today.
Rejoice in the brightness of God’s love. Rejoice that God claims us. Do not be surprised by God’s compassion. Bask in the warmth of His bright love.
May peace, love, hope and joy be yours this Advent season – and into the new year. May the brightness of Jesus/God be within you. Share His bright light with others.
Amen?
Wreath Advent Memories Light each candle Remember what each symbolizes Jesus
Rev. Mary Grace Reynolds & me
Embrace Brightness!! Thanks for visiting JanBeek. See ya tomorrow (God willing)
“Being confident of this, I take great comfort knowing He who began a good work in me will carry it out to completion…”
Philippians 1:6
Aren’t those comforting words?
God is doing a good work in me, this I know. But that doesn’t mean I am going to be without troubles. Hurt and pain are guaranteed in this world. Through scripture, we can be comforted by knowing that God is faithful, and is always looking over us.
Our Heavenly Father truly cares and is our protector and comforter in times of need. Whatever the circumstance may be, we can use comforting Bible verses to find a peace that passes understanding.
8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Deuteronomy 31:8
Are you facing a difficult circumstance? Something over which you have little if any control? Maybe it is job related. Maybe it is health related. You might be in a state of transition. Perhaps there are relational issues …
Whatever it is, know this: Loved ones who walked before you faced some of those same challenges. They walk with you today… And they intercede for you.
I believe that. I feel my mom and my sis, and I hear the Holy Spirit. I am not alone.
You Never Walk Alone!
This rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” always inspires me and comforts me. If Andrea, who is blind, can face his daily challenges and reassure us of life’s constant Companion with such sincerity and conviction, who am I to doubt the Comforter?
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Matthew 5:4
Maybe you, like my friends Scott & Cheryl, have recently lost a loved one – a parent, a sibling, a dear friend, a pet… If so, I pray you will feel the comfort of our Lord and His promises of Eternal Life. Be at peace.
3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
“Embrace Comfort” And be the first to offer it to friends in need.
Every day we all need encouragement and words of comfort!
May you feel the loving arms of our God of peace and comfort embracing you – And may you pass along those comforting hugs to all you meet who need your love and kindness.
“You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.”
Life can beat us down with trials, sorrows and debilitating worries. God’s messages about our future hope can deeply encourage, inspire, uplift and motivate us.
Don’t worry; be happy!
“Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope.”
Psalm 16:9
“‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I hope in Him!’”
Lamentations 3:24
H ang O n to P ositivity and E ncouragement
As we prepare to return to Bozeman today for more lab work and a bone marrow biopsy for Bob, our hearts are full of gratitude for all the love and support extended to us during this time of tests, unknowing, waiting, and hopefulness. Our faith is strong and our prayers are many. Your prayers for Bob’s good results and proper/effective treatment are heard, we’re sure. Our God cares. Our God’s got this! We can rest in this knowledge. We can feel His loving arms around us. Thank you all!
I will keep you posted as we learn more. Yesterday the gastroenterologist (GI doctor) confirmed that the blood in the stool is not colon cancer… and the cause is more superficial. That was an answer to prayer. Today we are praying the bone marrow scan confirms that this is not AL Amyloidosis (a cancer in the marrow). The doctors are busy trying to rule things out so when they send us to Mayo Clinic, the experts there can move on to finding what type it IS (if in fact it IS that rare disorder)… and then a proper treatment can begin. The symptoms include a lower functioning of both the heart and the kidneys resulting in lack of stamina. That’s really hard for this guy who is used to hard, physical work and never having to think twice about what he is capable of doing!
Meantime, we start each day with grateful hearts for our friends here on WP, our supportive neighbors and family, and our God who holds us all in His care.
God bless you. Have a wonderful Thursday. Embrace Hopefulness!
Love, JanBeek
The Bozeman Library is a great place to be while I wait for Bob’s procedures to be finished!
Jesus began to weep. So The Jews said, “See how He loved him.”
John 11:35-36
This week we attended the funeral of a friend who died while we were off in Europe enjoying life. My friend, Jeannie, was grieving while I was obliviously enjoying life. We attended his memorial service when we returned. Many tears were shed. He was dearly loved and will be sorely missed. Over the past decade or so, Bob & I enjoyed many hours of four-wheeling on our mountain trails with him.
As many of you know, if you have followed my blog a couple weeks or more, we visited Jackie & Derrick Knight while on our three week excursion. If you follow Derrick’s blog, too, you know he had just lost his dear mom… and he took a break from planning for her funeral in order to host us. We understood the sacrifice of time and emotion that this delay involved… and we appreciated it so much! It was good to hear later that he was able to facilitate a very meaningful funeral for his mum.
A good funeral Shared grief in community Be sad together
Lie down in green pastures
Read 23rd Psalm Sing Amazing Grace with friends Embrace your grieving
Engaging in the grieving process with a friend caused me to do a lot of introspective thinking. What if this was my husband? How would I be handling this? How could I cope? Do I realize how blessed I am to have had these 60 years together? Do I cherish each minute we have together or do I take these blessings for granted?
1960 – at Bob’s sister’s wedding
1962 at our wedding
Us at our 59th anniversary last Feb.
Embracing grief also means embracing news that grieves us- learning to accept that news – and learning to give it to God. Last week we learned that Bob’s compromised heart & kidney functions are probably caused by “Amyloidosis.”
Oh my! Have you ever heard of that? It’s a condition that causes extra deposits of protein in your weakest organ(s). As I understand it, in some cases the weakest organ is the brain, so the extra protein gathers there and can cause dementia. In Bob’s case, the weak organs were heart & kidney.
The extra protein stiffens the heart muscles and causes them not to pump as efficiently. There are several kinds of amyloidosis. One is genetic. To the relief of our children and grandchildren, that one’s been ruled out!
Next week Bob will have a full body PET scan Wednesday and he will have a bone marrow exam on Thursday. The attempt is to rule out bone marrow Amyloidosis (we were told that version of it can be cancerous). So, the challenge is clear: Don’t grieve unnecessarily by worrying needlessly! Worrying about things over which you have zero control is a waste!
Only embrace grief when such sadness is called for! We weep when we see the depth of sadness in those around us. We all need space to be in our sadness. But don’t invite it! Don’t anticipate it! Take time for “good grief” when it is right to do so, just as Jesus seeped beside us when my friend’s husband died. But know Jesus is beside you, sharing your grief, but also fueling your hope.
Believe His power to create change.
Maintain your hope, dear friends. When disturbing news is shared with you, don’t imagine the worst.
Instead, give it to God, knowing He is with you, working for your good.
Trust in His Light which shines in the darkness.
Turn to our Savior in prayer!
Lord, grant us the courage to open ourselves fully to your word’s power and lean on your mercy. Amen
Lord, thank You for sharing our suffering. Help us channel our pain toward you. Help us embrace grief when appropriate, but focus on HOPE and Your MERCY always. Amen
Do you have a prayer request that you are willing to share with me? I’d be happy to pray for you. Please add Bob and his situation to your prayer list. Thank you!
Your pastor plants seeds With each sermon presented. You fertilize them.
You add nutrients To the soil where they’re resting By watering them.
Water the ideas By ruminating on them. What was the message?
Each week I take notes. I capture the main ideas As they resonate.
Today’s seeds that Pastor Mary Grace Reynolds sowed were inspired by Ephesians 2:11-22 and enhanced by the experience she had Friday night and Saturday morning with a group of young bicyclists who were traveling 4000 miles for cancer research. Here are my notes that I took while listening this morning.
TENACITY
Serving 400 hours as a hospital chaplain Was required in my seminary studies. Why God – why? What’s the answer? With integrity and stamina, just serve!
Ephesians 2 is not about empty connections. It’s talking about the death of our worst instincts. It’s talking about getting on board with Christ. Paul believed Christ would come back yesterday!
We’re still here thousands of years later… Wondering when that victory over death And division will come to this earth. The Kingdom of God didn’t come in Paul’s time.
It hasn’t come in our time, either. Addictions, abuse, fires, death, wars continue. Where is the world where all divisions are erased? We’re here to put our feet on the ground and be hopeful.
Moments of hope will come to you. The U of Austin bike riders were my moment. Stories of lodging needs and cancer research, Tenacity, friendship, and HOPE scenarios entered.
Hope is a screamer and fighter. Sometimes it works out for the good. HOPE is the reality that God is love. Evil will not win. God’s hope will!
Say YES to what pulls on your heartstrings. Say YES to the reality of God’s hope. Say YES to Truth and love and reaching out. Say YES to cancer research and to helping.
Every inch gained in the fight against cancer Is an inch toward life and hope. We are building the Kingdom of God here Where violence and oppression will be foreign to us.
With tenacity, hang in there. With tenacity listen to God’s response to Your questioning… Why God? Why? With tenacity and stamina and love, just serve!
Amen
Let’s just grow flowers of love.
Embrace Your Pastor. He or she needs your support – And needs your feedback!
Happy Sunday. Thanks for visiting JanBeek See ya tomorrow (God willing).
On her post, Marion Driessen invited her readers to try it… try writing a six word story.
Oh, I discovered later that the invitation was posted on Posted on . Do you suppose it still is valid?
I’m going to try it… just a short trial. I can embrace the fun of it… Even if it is out of date!
She challenged her readers, “Write a story about SUPERSTITION in just six words. Let a photo or image inspire you to write a story. Or first write the story, and then make or search for a picture to go with it.“
Then she suggested, “Publish your Six word story on your own website/blog and paste the link to that post in a comment to this one here at Figments. I will include your contribution in this post, forming a list of stories.”
In a world of self-reliance, Where “I can do it” is king, Being reliant on others Is construed as a “weakness thing.”
But, as Christians we are taught To rely not on our own strength. “Lean not on your own understanding.” God is within a prayer’s length.
In today’s prayerful message, Our wonderful pastor, Mary Grace, Talked about God’s will and love, And seeking our Lord, face-to-face.
“God of forgiveness, hear our confession to you. You have called us to excellence in compassion and we fall short of your confidence in us. You grant us grace and we abuse your gift. You expect us to align our hearts with your will and that our love will be genuine. But we trust our own desires rather than rely on your goodness. We look after our own comfort instead of our neighbor’s needs. In Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us our sins. Amen”
As you know (if you’ve followed my blog for a couple of weeks or more), I take copious notes as I listen to the sermon through my fingertips each Sunday. Sometimes I translate what I am hearing into poetry. Today’s doesn’t rhyme. It’s free verse. But it poured out as I tried to capture the main ideas. First, look at the scripture on which the sermon was based.
Mark 5:21-43.
Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman
21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
36 Overhearing[a] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” 40 But they laughed at him.
After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.
The sermon title was “Fools for Hoping”
“Secondhand Lions” was a movie with Caine and Duvall. The fictional characters were replicas of my grandfather and uncle! The film is wonderful and whimsical (don’t believe the critics). Believe what you want to believe… and here are some essentials: “What every boy needs to know” – a speech worth hearing…
People are basically good
Money and power mean nothing
True love never dies
Integrity means everything
Love, truth, and integrity are essential
True or not, those are worth believing!
We don’t see much love in the news these days. The news is full of the ways we are really awful to one another. Recent news revealed 751 unmarked graves of indigenous children found this week in Canada. Children taken from their families and forced to attend the former Marieval Indian Residential School.
Survivors, community honour 751 unmarked graves at Sask. residential school site with vigil
Seven-hundred and fifty-one lights spanned the entirety of the unmarked graves discovered on Cowessess First Nation in southeast Saskatchewan where a large group of people, many wearing orange clothes, gathered on Saturday night in honour of the remains.
An elder in the community who spoke at the vigil likened the finding of 751 unmarked graves to a scab that had been “slowly healing” being ripped off.
Not one of us is wholly good, so the natural inclination When confronted with our sinful nature is despair. Confession and repentance are the next steps, but Where do we go after confession?
We need to define our beliefs and act on hope… Even when it seems foolish to do so. Be ready to be made fools for your integrity. Stand up for what is right… stand up for Truth!
The woman in Mark 5 took the show! Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” The disciples laughed, “Everyone’s touching you!” Jairus was impatient, “My daughter needs you!”
He wondered why Jesus was taking precious time To deal with a woman with a 12 year infirmity. Let’s assume the woman just happened to be Outside the crowd that day and heard of Jesus.
She heard Jairus – with hopefulness in his voice – Asking Jesus to help his dying daughter. His hope inspired her hope as well. Two lives were saved that day.
Our speech, our attitudes, and our actions Can have a positive affect on others. We need to consciously lean on God With hope and trust and mindfulness.
Jairus could have listened to his tears, But he stepped up and listened to hope. His act of believing in the power of Christ to heal Allowed other to respond in hope, too.
“Your faith has made you whole,” Jesus told The woman whose hemorrhaging stopped. The only way out is reaching out in the hope That God’s love will make life better.
I’ll stay a fool for hope!
EMBRACE RELIANCE
Rely on God
I’ll stay a fool for God.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Thanks for sharing a part of your Sunday with me. I hope you have a wonderful week.
This quote came in the mail today from Billy Mills, national spokesperson for “Running Strong for American Indian Youth” – a project associated with Christian Relief Service.
The synchronicity of the arrival of this in mailbox today was not lost on me. I already had spent my hour up in my sanctuary reading my Bible, devotionals, and praying for you – and other family and friends on my prayer list (yes, you are there!). Among the names on my list is “Native American Youth.” Lord knows their needs and yours.
The word that was my “Take-Away” from that time upstairs today was “Perseverance.” And that’s BEFORE the mail came with this gift! Go back up and read it again… “Collective Perseverance…” and HOPE …Resilience and Certainty in tomorrow – – – Tomorrow: a better day!
Persevere in those choices!!
It’s perseverance That changes maybe’s to YES. Chase the doubt away!
To make an impact Just practice perseverance. Keep your dreams alive.
God says you are Unique… Designed for Greatness!!
Being persistent As you work to problem solve: The road to success!
I can’t just sit here Expecting success to come. Gotta go get it!
It’s perseverance – Working to make it happen That completes the goal.
What are you working To complete with great success? Live with that purpose.
Persevere with Purpose
But tenacity Ain’t easy when we don’t see The results we need.
Positivity Is hard to always maintain When we keep failing.
But unless we fail, We’re not trying hard enough! Gotta fail to learn.
3 “Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance,character;andcharacter,hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.…”
Romans 5:3-4
Don’t let the fact that There’s certain failure keep you From taking chances!
Folks who developed The vaccines we are using Failed many times.
Before succeeding, They conjured up their courage And kept on trying.
That’s the way it is! So Embrace Perseverance And live your purpose.
1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” Hebrews 12:1
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