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Posts tagged ‘Lighthouses’

A Place to Unwind

Today’s JetPack Prompt:

How do you unwind after a demanding day?

My home is my unwinding place
It’s a restful, peaceful haven
I can stay in my pj’s til noon
and my hubby can lounge unshaven

But if I lived near the sea,
I’d find a lighthouse nearby
I’d climb the stairs and vegetate
And watch the ships sail by

There’s something calming, something sweet
About the crashing waves against the shore
This scene soothes away all distress
Makes me long to go once more.

How sweet to know I can imagine
A lighthouse from my Montana home
His light shines bright and helps me unwind
I don’t have very far to roam.

The scene outside my window shines
God’s soothing light on me
A lighthouse out beyond the snow
Brings calm; God’s Grace unwinds round me.

Exodus 14:14

“The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

God can calm the storm in your life and in your heart. 

How do you unwind after a demanding day?
I hope you have a soothing solution.

Thanks for visiting JanBeek today.
See ya tomorrow.

Embrace Guidance

What does the word GUIDANCE mean to you?
What comes to mind?

Photo by Matheus Bertelli on Pexels.com

When I put the word “guidance”
in my Pexel image search,
this picture of a smart phone –
bringing the GPS image to mind –
came up on my screen.
Is that your idea of guidance?

Photo by Michael Block on Pexels.com

What kind of guidance does this second image bring to mind?
Maybe allowing your surroundings,
the sun and moon, the mountains, to guide you?
Do they give you a sense of direction?
Is that what guidance means to you?

Photo by Anand Dandekar on Pexels.com

A lighthouse guides ships through the night-
Especially in a storm when it is hard to see the shore.
This kind of guidance involves a light that points the way,
gives a warning, keeps the vessel from crashing into the rocks.

Photo by Prashant Gautam on Pexels.com

I searched through many photos
before finding the light
that spelled guidance to me –
and this one sort of does it.

It’s the Light that dawns
Each morning as I look to the heavens
And ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
It’s the light of God that shines in and through me.

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

Guidance that comes through prayer
And the study of God’s word
And time spent listening for His direction
Is the guidance I can count on.



Isaiah 30:21
21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left,
your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,
“This is the way; walk in it.”

Photo by Gratisography on Pexels.com

Where do you get your guidance?
Do you pass it along to others
Who are on the journey of life with you?
Wise guidance from fellow believers is treasured.

Photo by mentatdgt on Pexels.com

If you look to others for direction
And you play “Follow the Leader,”
Be sure your guides are tuned in
To the God of your Salvation!

In this Holy Week as we anticipate Easter,
Look for guidance in prayer and the scriptures;
Look for guidance in other Christ followers.
Give guidance to the lost and help them.

Help them find their way this Holy Week
To the foot of the cross where Jesus
Showed us with His death and resurrection
The true pathway to our final destination.

Jesus prays for our guidance daily

Let Him be your guide…
And rejoice in the path He shows you:
The LIGHTED Path to Eternal Life.
Hallelujah! May He be your Guide forever!

EMBRACE GUIDANCE

Amen!

Have a Happy Holy Week!
I send you lotsa love and hugs.
JanBeek

Live the Faith; Let Your Light Shine!

Live true to your FAITH
Show love to everybody
Daily Walk the Talk

Daily reminder
It is to me from myself!
You may borrow it.

Isaiah 9:2

“The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.”

Prov. 8:20-21

“… I was filled with delight day after day,
rejoicing always in His presence,
rejoicing in His whole world
and delighted in mankind.”

Photo by Ray Bilcliff on Pexels.com

“Don’t ever let anyone put out your light because they are blinded by it.”

― Shannon L. Alder

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

“I feel that we’re all lighthouses,
and my job is to shine my light
as brightly as I can to the darkness.”

― Jim Carrey

Shine for others
when they are in darkness

Lighthouses just shine
In the place they are planted
Just be still and shine

I will shine the light
I will hold you in my arms
Help you find His Way

I will shine the light!

I Will
Live true to my FAITH
Show love to everybody
and
Daily Walk the Talk

Photo by Zac Frith on Pexels.com

May the light of peace
Shine on brightly in your life –
I will shine the light!

Thanks for visiting today.
If you have a prayer request,
please share it with me.
I will walk beside you in prayer.
Love, JanBeek

Trust & Step Out

In joy you step out
Trusting every step you take
Listening for His Word

Guided by scripture,
And not your understanding,
You can Walk the Talk!

Photo by Wallace Chuck on Pexels.com

Proverbs 3:5-6

“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.”

Listen for His Leading

In my Daily Guideposts 2020 devotional today, Kim Taylor Henry told us about her trip to the Holy Land. God took away her fear of traveling to that part of the Middle East. She listened to His prompting when an invitation showed up on social media. Signing up for the trip was a leap of faith.

Is there a place you would like to visit, a spot you’d like to go, but for whatever reason, you are hesitating? Take it to the Lord in prayer, and listen for His leading.

I have had Maine and Nova Scotia on my “Bucket list” for about a decade now. I am not sure why that part of the world is calling me. Is it the lobster? The ocean? The farm stays? A cruise opportunity? In my 80 years on earth, I have never taken a cruise. Many (if not most) of my friends have. I can die happy without ever going on a cruise, but I feel God calling me to that part of the world. I wonder why?

Photo by Flickr on Pexels.com

Maybe It’s the Lighthouses

I have had a long-standing love of lighthouses. I wrote about them back in November of 2018

https://janbeek.blog/2018/11/16/synchronicity/

Lead with Your Heart

God places in our hearts other reasons to have certain places on our Bucket List. Usually for me, the places I want to travel have little to do with the place. They have everything to do with the people. (That’s why we have traveled to Switzerland so many times… our daughter and her family are there!)

If you have followed my blog for awhile, you will recognize these people below as my cousin, Janine, and her husband, Cliff. I posted about Cliff’s battle with esophageal cancer last November 9th. Since that time he has been through Hell and back… and is a determined survivor.

https://janbeek.blog/2019/11/09/prayers-for-cliff/

Janine and Cliff moved a year or so ago from the Seattle, Washington home where we last saw them – about 5 years ago, I think – to Clinton, north of Seattle on Whidbey Island. Wikipedia tells me Clinton is on this 3.7 sq. mi. piece of land whose total population back in 2010 was less than 1,000. I am sure it grew by leaps and bounds in the last decade. Wikipedia has a few delightful pictures of it on their website:

But, it is not the scenery that draws me to this place. As I said, my motivation is the people I love. As I listen for God’s leading, God calls me to the love.

Faith Step

What is the next step you’re ready to take? Are you leaning on your own understanding?

Ask God to make your path straight. Listen for His leading. Then step out in faith.

2020 is a year for 20/20 CLARITY.
It is a time for New Beginnings.
What will they be?

THESE DAYS,
Daily Devotions for Living in Faith,
ended its 2019 entries with this prayer:

“God of all our beginnings,
plant your hope so deeply within us
that we never lose it.
Show us the beauty of small beginnings
and nurture Your life within our own lives.”

Walk in faith and TRUST

Where will you STEP OUT toward today?
Tell me!!

See ya tomorrow.

Shine Your Light!

In today’s sermon,
Elaine told a story of
A lighthouse keeper:

On a stormy night,
He climbed the rocks to the light;
Turned it on and fell.

He fell and he died
That night on the rocky hill
After doing his job.

A sailor that night
Saved his passengers and crew
Because of the light.

The lightkeeper died
So that others might be saved
From falls in darkness.

Is your light shining in the dark?

Elaine Hundley, who delivered the message in church today reminded us that, like this lighthouse keeper, Jesus died that we might live. He gave His life for us. Likewise, we are reminded to share our lives – give what we have – to brighten the lives of others.

Elaine read from Luke 12:13-21,
and she reminded us –
“All we have is on loan to us
From the Lord, the Almighty.
If we have extra, we are told
To give it away; don’t hold tightly.

These are eleven of the WordPress bloggers
who provide sunshine in my life –
They share the writing talents they have been given;

They are my choices
for the Sunshine Blogger Award :

  1. Cristian Mihai, The Art of Blogging
  2. derrickjknight
  3. lilie215, Tea and Toast with Kindness
  4. Sandra, Into the Light Adventures
  5. MeRaw, The Journey of My Left Foot (whilst remembering my son)
  6. Claudia, Humoring the Goddess
  7. Dr. Perry, Dr. Eric Perry, PhD
  8. Betul Erbasi – To Write or not to Write and What to Write
  9. Marts, for much deliberation
  10. Ann Koplow, The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally
  11. ELLE, elleguyence
Here’s my Sunshine Award for you!
Congratulations for being such a great blogger!
You shine your light on my life each time you post!

Dear Readers, you will enjoy checking out the blogs listed above. They are always inspiring. If any of these people wish to accept the award (Big Sky Buckeye already did – he sent this to me) and put it on their blog site, check back to see the rules posted yesterday on JanBeek.

Among the rules, I was asked to answer 11 questions and then create 11 questions for my Sunshine Award recipients to answer. Here are my questions:

  1. When did you start blogging?
  2. Why did you start blogging?
  3. How often do you generally blog?
  4. What’s the main topic of your blog (your “niche”)?
  5. Is there a particular time of day when you generally blog? If so, when and why?
  6. Who is your most faithful follower?
  7. Do you have a tendency to post with that person in mind? Or do you have a different technique for personalizing your message?
  8. Of all your posts, which one would you save if all were lost except one?
  9. What’s one piece of advice you can pass on to beginning bloggers?
  10. Where do you get most of your ideas?
  11. If you could improve one thing about WordPress, what would it be?
Thanks for being a light in my day!

See ya tomorrow.

Synchronicity

SYNCHRONICITY

“… the simultaneous occurrence of causally unrelated events and the belief that the simultaneity has meaning beyond mere coincidence.”

Has such synchronism happened to you? Can you think of a time when there was a coincidence in time/events/things that was too synchronous to be coincidental? I can!

white lighthouse

Photo by Ray Bilcliff on Pexels.com

Just last weekend, I watched a movie on my Amazon Prime Video that was titled, Lightkeepers. It was a delightful film starring Richard Dreyfuss in which he played the role of the lighthouse keeper. Love lost and love renewed, life lost and life renewed, heartwarming and real. I highly recommend it.

81+XZiRS32L._RI_SX300_.jpg

But what does this have to do with synchronicity? Well, in the four days since I watched that movie, I have seen lighthouses at least once each day… in a TV ad, in the newspaper, in the centerfold of my November issue of In Touch Magazine… this photo by Charles Stanley:

image_56400288084178

I posted it accidentally in a post of its own, titled Lighthouses, just a few minutes ago. I was trying to save it to use in this post and I ended up posting it alone – – – and losing everything I had written so far on this subject of Synchronicity. Hmmm…

Then, this morning, before I could redo the post that I started, my friend who comes once a week for prayer, praise, study and devotional sharing time with me, arrived with a new cloth bag in which she carries her books, etc. What do you think the bag had pictured on the cover?

white lighthouse during golden hour
You guessed it!

What do we do with such synchronicity? Does it make you think? Do you ask yourself, “What are these reoccurrences trying to teach me?” I do!

Charles Stanley’s photo had this scripture printed below it:
“O send out Your Light and Your Truth, let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your dwelling places. Then I will go to the alter of God, to God my exceeding joy; and upon the lyre I will praise you, O God, my God.” Psalm 43:3-4

I don’t play the lyre, but I play the accordion. Upon the accordion I will praise You, O God, my God. I will bring exceeding joy to the people in our local nursing home. I will accept the call, and be the light that God has given me. Yesterday I wrote about Reciprocity … receiving and giving back. Today it’s time for me to “Walk the Talk.”

woman in stripes holding hands with person wearing bracelets

Photo by Artem Saranin on Pexels.com

Come – and Go shine forth!!

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