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Posts tagged ‘life’

Holy Saturday

I asked AI for a picture of Jesus in the tomb.
No, AI, Jesus was not lying in the tomb with his eyes open!
So much for artificial intelligence!

We know He was crucified.
We know Nicodemus was one of two men who prepared his body for burial.

John 19:39 – “And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.”
John 19:40 – “Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.”

Today, known as Holy Saturday, also sometimes referred to as “Silent Saturday” is a day when His followers were stunned by His death on the cross. Puzzled by the way the Man they expected to save them was suddenly gone… and in such a cruel way.

We, too, would be puzzled if we didn’t know “The Rest of the Story.” The ladies went the next morning to the tomb. Not sure what they expected to see, but it definitely was not an empty place where Jesus had been laid! Imagine their surprise!

We can endure Good Friday and Holy (Silent) Saturday because we know.
We know He is risen indeed! Happy Easter, my friends! Tomorrow we celebrate!
Sure, we’ll see a lot of bunnies and Easter eggs and we’ll wonder if they have the whole picture.
We’ll wonder if that bunny is a distraction or a blessing. Think about a few ideas that make the idea of Easter bunnies and eggs OK:
1) Bunnies are prolific – alive and lovable. (Well that’s a stretch!)
2) Eggs are a symbol of new life… and one of those plastic Easter eggs empty can symbolize the empty tomb.
3) See the meme below:

What is your mood this “Holy Saturday”?
How are you feeling about the Easter egg hunts and the focus on the bunny?

I pray your Holy Saturday was a time of quiet meditation…
A time to focus on why Jesus had to die
And what His death means for us all.
Without tomorrow, without the resurrection,
He’d just be another forgotten martyr.
But, He is risen indeed!

Happy Easter, my friends.
God bless you!
Love,
JanBeek

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Category:

Belief, Bible Lessons, Faith, God, holidays, Jesus, Living in Christ's Family, Love

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Remembering Mona

This week my dear friend, Mona Durham, age 96,
died peacefully with her family gathered round.

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Mona’s family and the leadership team of our church
decorated the sanctuary and fellowship hall beautifully
for her memorial service today.

Her ashes, in a container under the purple cloth,
were sent into the hands of God
as Jesus and St. Peter must surely
have welcomed her into heaven.
She was a True Believer.

The floral arrangements were spectacular.

There was a beautiful display of photos
depicting Mona with many of her beloved family.
She had four children and seven grandchildren.
Four of the grandkids shared stories about how her life
impacted theirs in such loving, meaningful, lasting ways.

I took notes (as is my habit) as I listened to their stories.
Here are my notes:



Mona Durham’s was a 96 year life well lived.
She lived heartily loving and laughing;
Tough, fair, sarcastic, always available,
Humble, reliable, stable, and always hospitable.

Mona wasn’t delicate or sheltered.
The last of three daughters, she was the son…
The son her dad never had! How he loved her!
Oh how she loved him, others, and this Madison Valley!

She was a woman of grit and grace, loyal and hardworking.
Volunteered with church, History museum, blood draws,
Elections, Women’s Club & Cattle Women’s Association.
Her later years were less busy, but never less purposeful.

She gave her life to quietly helping others.
Her strength, honesty, love, and strong values
Were the glue that held the family together.
Also the fact that she always had fresh cookies!

Mona’s strength was grounded and rooted.
Her faith was deep, honest and clear.
She carried struggles quietly with endurance.
Her life will endure in each of us who loved her.

Following the service, there was a time of fellowship with beautiful trays of meats and cheeses (prepared by Deemo’s in Ennis).

Deemo’s also prepared this beautiful, tasty tray of veggies.

The family extended a special thank you to the caregivers at Home Park and Madison Valley Manor for the dignity, kindness, and care they showed Ramona in her final years. In lieu of flowers, they asked that donations be made to Madison Valley Historical Museum (where Mona was a faithful, treasured volunteer) or Bear Creek Schoolhouse (where she attended 1st to 4th grade and then later volunteered to help with fundraisers to maintain it – and organized pinochle parties every March). She loved playing cards, doing 500 – 1000 piece puzzles, and keeping in touch always with her family and friends. She will be sorely missed by us all!

Mona’s smile was infectious!

Mona’s granddaughter, Tori,
summed up what most of her family
would agree was an important take-away:


“I see so clearly that her impact
isn’t simple or singular, it’s generational.
What she has given us goes far beyond memories,
she’s given us a way of living.”

“She never once told me how to live,
but she sure as hell has shown me!”


Your shared love inspires us
to pass it on.
Thank you, Mona.

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

children, Faith, Family, flowers, food, God, Life and Death, Living in Christ's Family, Love, Memories, relationships, Serving One Another

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Which Path Do You Choose?

If you have followed my blog for awhile, you know that I used to share my sermon notes after church every Sunday. I still take sermon notes every Sunday, but not always in poetry now, and not always shared. I just got outta the habit. But, today’s sermon begs to be shared. It’s Palm Sunday… the start of Holy Week for us Christians. It’s a time to share our faith. That’s one of Jesus’ commandments! So here’s what I heard our interim minister, Brian Conklin, say today:

Jesus rode a donkey on a path of pain,
Not a magnificent steed’s ride of triumph.
The crowd expected a powerful leader –
Not a man who would die a horrific death!

Was Jesus alone in His heartbreak?
Was He alone asking, “Take this cup?”
Was He alone saying, “Not My will…
But Your Will be done?”

Jesus died a “flop” in the eyes
Of His followers. They misunderstood.
They didn’t believe the message:
“I’ll die, but in three days I will live again.”

Obedience, care, compassion, humility –
These were the Lordship of Jesus.
Peace… and a willingness to suffer…
These were His expressions of Power.

The Way of Jesus wasn’t domination.
Not then – not now – So tell me,
Which parade are you following?
Which path do you choose?

Complacency, complicity, cruelty, pride?
Love, humility, obedience, compassion?
I choose the latter path – but the road is painful!
Really? The Via Dolorosa… the way of suffering?

What path do you choose?

Back at home, I decided to do a little research.
That path of suffering is sometimes known as Via Crucis
(Latin for “Way of the Cross”).
It is a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem.
It represents the path Jesus took, forced by Roman soldiers
On His way to His crucifixion. It’s the winding route
from the former Antonia Fortress to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
It is a celebrated place of Christian pilgrimage.
The current route has been established since the 18th century.
It is marked today by 14 Stations of the Cross.
Nine of them are outside, in the streets, with the remaining five
being currently inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

AI generated this image of Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem.
My “Path of suffering” doesn’t look like that. It’s not paved.
It is much more like that first one: dark, barren, windey, foreboding.
Jesus didn’t promise us a bed of roses. During this Holy Week,
We are asked to travel with Him as He is arrested, tried, scorned,
rejected by His very followers, denied by Peter three times, and
Ultimately put to death. That’s the path. It’s not a pretty one.
But, don’t stop there! If Jesus had done so, He’d be a forgotten martyr!

Walk on with confidence! Remember where your chosen path leads!
Amen?

Love, JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Jesus, Life and Death, Poetry, sermon notes, writing

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Treasure Every Day

Treasure every day
Know it will not come again
Make sweet memories

Lady in middle
Just died unexpectedly
Yesterday was fine
Man of the hour
Being treated for cancer
Shows his gratitude
Flowers in springtime
Bloom quickly then fade away
Life can be like that
Life can be a ball
When you are loved and cared for
Every child should be
Even as moms work
Their babies can know they’re loved
Hold and cuddle them
Nourish your loved ones
Treasure every day with them
Tomorrow’s not clear
Flush out the toxins
Left from our sad yesterdays
Embrace healthy days


Thank you, dear Lamiel
For your encouraging words
Applicable now!

Bob & I send love
To our faithful WordPress friends
So, Carpé Diem!!

❤️👌🏽❤️

Category:

blessings, Faith, Gratitude, Haiku, kindness, life, Love, mental health, Poetry, relationships

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This n That

Happy St. Patrick’s Day
My bonus daughter, Elainè, certainly knows how to celebrate
And our daughter, DeDe, in Switzerland does too
Our son, Ty in California, knows how to have fun with his granddaughter
I hope your day is filled with happiness, too
Send some snow or rain our way, will you? We are very concerned about our missing winter and lack of moisture.
Love,

JanBeek

Category:

Family, Living in Harmony, Love

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6 Sentence Story -Prompt: “Fly”

Weekly we are given an invitation to write a six-sentence story using the word prompt from GirlieOnTheEdge. This week the word prompt was “Fly.” 

I had fun trying to write about as long a sentence as I could for each of the paragraphs today. And I enjoyed giving you, my faithful readers a glimpse of my childhood from kindergarten to sixth grade. What do you think?

Time flies…
but I can recall when I was a little girl of about five, my sister Sally and I walked from Fig Lane (where we lived in a lovely little two bedroom, one bath home with our parents) to P Street School in Newman, California where I was a happy little kindergartener.

Time flies, but I can recall… when I was six, my sister and I continued our daily walks (it was about a mile each way) to P Street School where I was a very happy, very outgoing first grader in Mrs. Awe’s classroom, my favorite primary grade teacher who kept in touch with me for the rest of her life, even after our family moved away.

Time flies, but I can recall… when I was seven, my dad quit his job as a mechanic at Newman Garage and he sold our lovely little two bedroom house on Fig Lane and we moved into an old house next door to my paternal grandmother, about five miles out of town.

Time flies, but I can recall… when I was eight, we moved to a remote house twenty miles from anywhere except the stinky Tallow Works that my dad owned with three sorta relatives who also had old houses moved onto the remote property and my sister and I walked about two miles to the bus stop every morning to go to Crows Landing’s Bonita Grammar School where Mrs. Yetter (who was almost bald and looked as old as Methusalah) was my 3rd grade teacher.

Time flies, but I can recall… when I was nine and ten we still lived out there in the sticks by the smelly Tallow Works and we still had that long walk to the bus stop every morning – and walked back at the end of the day – but my life was much better because Mrs. Horwedel was my 4th and 5th grade teacher and she was a wonderful square dancer who taught us all to square dance and she let me be the “caller” – – – I was in 7th heaven!

Time flies, but I can recall … when I was eleven and twelve Mrs. Marlow was my teacher and she let me fly to my highest potential by recognizing and rewarding my talents by letting me go every day during spelling time (because I didn’t need it) to the kindergarten where I volunteered to help the teacher … and learned early on that I wanted to be a teacher, too, someday.

Love, JanBeek
Smile! Aren’t they adorable?

Category:

children, learning, life, Memories, teaching, writing

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In the Wilderness

The sermon title at church today was “In the Wilderness.”
The message by our interim pastor, Brian Conklin,
was inspired by Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Here are the sermon notes I took as I listened to today’s message:

It’s no accident
That Jesus ends up
In the wilderness

It’s a place of clarity
He spent forty days –
Forty days and nights there

These forty days of Lent
Are our chance, like Jesus,
To stand up for our beliefs

What happens in the wilderness
Doesn’t stay in the wilderness
Jesus rejects political power

The promise of the Gospel
Is that God has gone –
He has gone ahead of us

Like our Lord Jesus,
We venture into the wilderness
It’s a place that propels us forward

In seasons of disorientation
We wander without a clear end in sight
We feel alone, but God is ahead of us

Instead of feeling overwhelmed
Accept Jesus’ inspiration
Let God catch and shape us

Gain inspiration in the wilderness
It comes when we walk with Jesus
May we gain clarity of purpose

May we walk with courage
May we wander with a clear end in sight
And let the wilderness propel us forward.

Amen?
Amen!!


What’s your wilderness experience?

Love ya,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, God, Jesus, Life's Challenges, Love, Poetry, sermon notes

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Fairness

My friend, Lilie, posted a comment today touting her belief in “fairness to all, and justice.” I responded in affirmation. Wouldn’t our world be a better place if everyone practiced fairness to all, and justice?

Fair to all!
Celebrate fairness
What’s not fair in your life right now?
What can we do to promote fairness?
Speak up!

Promote fairness for all. Exhibit unconditional (Agape) love!

Just love!

And hugs 🤗 from

JanBeek ❤️

Category:

kindness, Living in Harmony, Love, Serving One Another

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February Festivities!

First February Festivity: the 11th for our 64th anniversary-
A reason to celebrate and share a fabulous memory.
The year was 1961 and Bob was stationed in Germany
I was teaching a 1st grade in CA; he was in the US Army.

I married that handsome fellow when he flew home.
I left my darling first grade class in Stockton, CA to go roam.
Left my apartment, my language, Suzie, my roommate,
My family and friends… all that was familiar. Not great!

The wedding was spectacular and the reception would make
Family and friends smile & cheer us on and marvel at our cake.
At our 50th anniversary we asked a bakery to duplicate it for us.
One after another they said “Impossible” in an incredulous chorus.

I landed a job on the army base school in Germany, a first grade class,
And finished out the year joyfully, learning a new culture. It was a blast!
Back in California, I continued to teach the little ones in Turlock
And then in San Francisco & Hillsborough… while Bob graduated from SF State.

We started our family during those SF years… a boy, Ty, and girl, De.
They were a delight to us then … and still are a blessing each day to me!
Here’s a picture of Bob & me with Ty when he was a sweet little babe…
And one of DeAna with me in matching dresses I made!

Mother-Daughter

As the years have gone by and our children have grown
We moved from the Bay Area back to the place we had known
As children and young adults; Bob joined the family with bees
While I continued to teach and moved to principal and District Office with ease.

Our 50th anniversary was a time to gather five decades of friends & family
For a weekend in Palm Desert where we golfed, ate, and reunited happily.
The memories of that grand occasion are alive and well in our hearts,
And we continue each February to connect with friends from our life’s parts.

When we retired, we continued to celebrate our February dates with flare!
But we’re doing it in Montana. Twenty years ago we moved ourselves there.
We love living in Big Sky Country, Ennis Montana, where the antelope roam.
We celebrate life every day and invite you to come share the joy in our home.

February 11th is a day each year to celebrate the joy of being together.
Valentine’s Day we celebrate at a Wine Pairings dinner – regardless of the weather.
It’s at Madison Valley Ranches, a beautiful setting for sure, with great food and friends.
Come join us if you wish… spaces are available … right out here where the river bends.

Time to celebrate! This February Festivity is my favorite one.
Having you here to join us would make it extra fun.
Call Manu at 406-660-2959 for your Valentine’s Day reservation.
It’ll make us so happy to see you! Come share in our celebration!

Love ya,
JanBeek (& Bob, too)

Category:

blessings, children, Family, happiness, holidays, Living in Harmony, Love, Memories, Montana, Poetry, relationships

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Five Ways to Have Fun

List five things you do for fun.

1) Texting with my daughter in Switzerland and enjoying the fun of watching her with her grandson & the neighbor’s little boy
2) Communicating with Laina, our bonus daughter in Maryland, and watching her enjoy Leo, her grandson
3) Volunteering at our local nursing home and watching the residents’ big smiles as they get dolled up for glamorous photos in front of this lovely backdrop
4) Playing with my Boston “Terror” Kenny (he’s such a character)

5) Visiting with my dear hubby (Bionic Bob) and appreciating his recent improved hearing due to his cochlear implant

That’s the exterior that is magnetized to the magnet implant… and the new aid for his other ear. Amazing new technology! Learning to make full use of these? Not fun! A work in progress!
What are your top 5 ways to have fun? My morning chats with De & Laina and my quiet time up in my sanctuary always start my days on a fun, happy note. I hope yours start happily, too.

Love, JanBeek

Category:

blessings, Family, friendship, happiness, Love, mental health, pets

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