Spreading love, joy, peace, faith & unity

Posts tagged ‘joy’

Take Joy!

The following poem was inspired by the message from our visiting pastor this morning, Phil Taylen.

Be anxious about nothing
Let your requests be known
To God who hears your pleas
In you, His love has always shone

Read one chapter of Philippians each day for a week
Your life will catch the contagious joy
God has a plan for your life
He’s sending that message daily through His Boy!

Don’t let your struggles pull you down
Lean on Jesus and celebrate His love
Behold, the Savior of the world is here
God sent His Son for us from Heaven above.

Philippians 2:2
New International Version
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
New Living Translation
Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
English Standard Version
complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Hallelujah!
Take Joy!!

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Love, Poetry

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I Can Let Joy In

I can let joy in
Joy doesn’t cancel out pain
It gives strength pockets

Little joy pockets
Give us strength to carry on
Regardless of pain

Make room in your heart
For joy whenever you can
Let your joy expand

Let joy consume you
Let it lighten heavy heart
Smile at what joy brings

Not PollyAnna
Not ignoring life’s struggles
Just rising above

Looking down on pain
From a higher perspective
Puts it in its place

Fill your strength pockets
With the perseverance gained
By letting joy in

Smile!
God loves you
And so do I!

Hugs & Joy to you,
JanBeek

Category:

blessings, Haiku, happiness, Love, Poetry

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Sharing “The Best of March”

Category:

Animals, blessings, food, friendship, Love, Memories, pets, relationships

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The 31st Already?

Time flies when you’re having fun. I believe that! Carpé Diem!!

Believe
My prayer for you today.

Enjoy each beautiful moment. Extended family is so precious!

Our daughter, De, her hubby, André, and our Swiss daughter, Sylviane, with Bob & me.
Back in CA, our daughter-in-law, Monika, with our great-granddaughter, Mable. So precious!!
Time with #1 grandson, Mike, at a wine tasting yesterday. Precious moments!!
The house across the street from us. Look closely at the label there!
Can you imagine what was happening in the USA when this house was built in Switzerland?
This is Sierre in the Rhone River valley. We’ve perfect weather this entire week we’ve been here.
These are the flowers next door to us. That kind of color is long gone by Oct. 31 in Montana!
The snow-peaked mountains back in the Madison Valley looking up at the Madison Range … today the valley is snow-covered, too.
By the time we return home, all the autumn leaves will have fallen.
No, I’m not missing the first days of winter which come late Oct. in MT!
And I’m not sad to be missing Halloween!🎃
Here they celebrate the Day of the Dead by taking flowers to the graves of their loved ones.

May your Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 be days of loving remembrance.

We send our love. 💕 and hugs 🤗

From Bob & JanBeek

Category:

Family, flowers, friendship, happiness, holidays, Love, Montana, mountains, relationships

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Your Fragrant Scent

In today’s Ever Faithful 365 day devotional
by David Jeremiah,
he asked his readers,
“Have you heard about the man
who smelled good no matter
where he was or what he was doing?”

His skin and clothing and very being
seemed to exude a pleasant fragrance.
He worked in a perfume factory
and breathed its aromas every day.

The aromas filtered into his clothing,
penetrated his skin, and even filled his lungs.
He became a walking perfumery.

David Jeremiah said,
“That’s the way we should be as Christians.”

The Bible says,
“For we are to God the fragrance of Christ
among those who are being saved
and among those who are perishing.”
2 Corinthians 2:15

“We exude the aroma of joy,
for in His presence is fullness of joy.”
Psalm 16:11

You might have heard that “Jesus wept” (John 11:35)
is the shortest verse in the Bible,
but that’s only true in English.
In the original New Testament Greek,
1 Thessalonians 5:16 is shorter –
“Rejoice always.”
The two verses are related.
Because Jesus wept, we can rejoice.

In today’s world with all the hate,
divisiveness, floods, hurricanes, and wars
it’s easy to get bogged down.
But, David Jeremiah reminds us,
“Jesus doesn’t want us to live
in perpetual discouragement, sadness or doubt.”

“The joy of the Lord is the strength of our days,”
Nehemiah 8:10

We have reason to rejoice.
Count your blessings, my friends.
Be a walking perfumery!
Exude the aroma of joy.
I pray that you will
let the love, joy, and peace of Christ
shine through your face
and radiate from your clothing everyday!
Let your fragrant scent invite
others in to the love, joy and peace
that can be theirs, too.

You are lovely.
You are loved.
You smell good!
God bless you!

Hugs,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, God, happiness, Jesus, Living in Harmony, Love, mental health, relationships

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Daily Routines Help Us Cope

This week one of our writing prompts was:
What strategies do you use
to cope with negative feelings?

My daily routine helps me nip any negativity in the bud! I invite you to adopt this 12 step program, too. You don’t need a 12 step staircase like mine to do it. You can do it sitting in a chair! I say this 12 step prayer every morning on my way down the circular staircase from my sanctuary:

1. Thank You for the love
2. the joy and
3. the peace that are mine. Help me with
4. Patience,
5. Kindness,
6. Goodness, and
7. Faithfulness that brings blessings.
8. Gentleness and
9. Self-control.
10. Help me live humbly with an attitude of gratitude, and
11. a response of generosity, forgiveness,
12. Obedience and integrity.

In Jesus name,
Amen!

May your day be filled with love and joy!
May you adopt a daily routine that helps you chase any negative feelings away!

God Bless You!
Hugs,
JanBeek
(and Bob ‘n Owen, too)

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Gratitude, happiness, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Love, mental health, prayer, relationships

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Enjoyable Job

Today’s prompt was: Do you enjoy your job?

“Enjoyable Job” – hah! For some that’s an oxymoron! But not for me. My job (as an educator for over 30 years) was mostly enjoyable! 👌🏽

I submit that I would be lying if I said I enjoyed my job every day! Some days, as a teacher, I didn’t have enough corners in the classroom to separate the trouble-makers! Then after 24 years in the classroom, I changed my job to educating teachers… and mentoring parents. That’s what principals do as effective administrators! Some days I didn’t have the patience I needed in order to enjoy the role of principal when it came to disciplining a recalcitrant teacher or suspending a troublesome, disruptive student and helping the parent know how to follow-through at home.

My job now is to take care of my hubby and our home – and to house-train our new puppy, Owen.

Owen and Bob

Do I enjoy those jobs? Not always! I’d be lying if I said wiping up “mistakes” always is enjoyable. But, do I feel blessed to have them both? You bet!

Every job is a blessing!

“Enjoyable” is not always the most important definition for an important, successful job. How do you define it?

Owen is our new Boston Terrier. Seven months old, born on my birthday last July 24, he is an 8 lb. bundle of energy. Our home is new territory for him. He was part of a kennel litter of seven in Springfield, MO. Being in a home with snow covering the outside areas is new to him. My job is to teach him to be a reliable family member. Teach him to walk on snow. Teach him to signal us when he needs out!

His jobs are to learn how to live inside, how to play with his new parents, how to communicate with us, where to “go” and where not to. His favorite spot is my lap! I’m learning to “read” his needs. It’s a challenging, but rewarding job!

Meet Owen!

Sweet pup! You are bringing such joy into our family!

What are your current jobs? Don’t try to convince me that they’re always “enjoyable” 🤪 !!

Hugs to you,

JanBeek

Category:

Animals, blessings, Family, Life's Challenges, Love, pets

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Take & Spread Joy!

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit
you may abound in hope.”

– Romans 15:13

One of the devotionals I read every day is from “The Upper Room,” a book of daily devotionals printed every other month, and a gift many churches provide for their members and guests. In today’s message, the topic was “Words of Love.”

I can think of no better way to “Take & Spread Joy” than to speak and read and hear WORDS OF LOVE. How about you?

“Pleasant words are like honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul
and health to the body.”

Proverbs 16:24

In the Upper Room,
the thought for today is:
“With God’s help,
I will speak words
that build others up.”

The Upper Room devotional reminded me that
“Words carry weight.
How we use them
deeply impacts
the people around us.”

But, I am aware that my words
also deeply impact me!
I can speak words of love to myself…
or I can speak disparaging words
that discourage me!

The devotional ended with this prayer:
“Loving God,
we pray that You
will empower us
to speak love and life
to those around us.
Give us compassionate
and encouraging words.”

My word for 2024, some of you may recall, is the acronym SIFT.
The T stands for “Take time to think” (and pray) before I speak or act.
I carry that “T” thought with me every day.
And I hope you, too, will be inspired to
use compassionate and encouraging words
directed at yourself as well as others.

Your caring and thoughtful words
will lift your spirits
as they lift the hearts of all you meet.

Take and spread joy!

Love to you,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, God, happiness, Living in Harmony, Love, mental health, optimism, prayer, relationships

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Music Lifts

Photo by Papa Yaw on Pexels.com

Nothing lifts my spirits more than beautiful music. Do you want to be lifted up this day? Click on this link. Goose bumps guaranteed!!

youtu.be/2esOJcVEhL0

I hope that link opened for you – and I hope you were inspired to sing along!

What does the Bible say about singing?

Singing is part of our human experience. Songs have been used to express some of the deepest human joys and sorrows from the beginning of time. Of course, the Bible has a lot to say about music and singing. You may wonder what God thinks about that toe tapping song you sing every Sunday morning. What does the Bible actually say about singing? Here are a couple of m favorite scriptures:

Psalm 71:23 

“My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed.”

Psalm 105:2 

“Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!”

Do go back up to that youtube link, if you didn’t click on it before… and this time, do sing along!
Nothing will lift your spirits quite like that! Sing to the Lord… He’ll lift you up and you’ll smile in spite of yourself. Really!! Try it!

Sending Love
and happy songs your way,
JanBeek

Category:

Belief, blessings, Faith, Living in Harmony, Love, music, Sharing

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You Matter

I hope you know

How much you matter to me

Your presence in my life

Whether real or virtually

Makes my life better.

Thank you!

Have a really Merry, Healthy, Happy, Blessed Christmas!

Sending lotsa love,

JanBeek

Category:

Animals, blessings, Christmas, friendship, Gratitude, holidays, Love, relationships

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