Spreading love, joy, peace, faith & unity

Posts tagged ‘Poetry’

Embrace Your Uniqueness

What makes you unique?
Your fingerprint and your eyes,
Your hair and your smile.

Your conversation,
And your own brand of whimsy.
Do you embrace these?

Bob Goff wrote today,
“God made you this way
On purpose, freckles and all.”

He had lots of spots –
As a kid, lots of freckles.
He was teased a lot.

His grandma told him
“Those spots are angel kisses.”
So be proud of them!

“Don’t tell anyone,”
She cautioned him not to share –
“Friends would be jealous!”

That very mean boy
Who teased Bob, calling him Spot,
Wilted his soft heart.

With grandma’s advice
His insecurities left,
Finding acceptance.

Accept uniqueness!
Embrace how you’re different.
Congratulations!

Love,
JanBeek

P.S. Bob Goff puts this message at the end of each of his books:

CONNECT WITH BOB
“Bob’s passion is people.
He’d love to hear from you
if you want to email him at info@bobgoff.com.
You can also follow him on Instagram and X: @bobgoff.
Here’s his cell phone number if you want to give him a call:
(619)985-4747.”

Now how unique is that??

Category:

blessings, blogging, Haiku, life, Love, mental health, Poetry, self-esteem, Sharing, writing

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In the Shadow…

Ps. 17:8
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
    hide me in the shadow of your wings

The smiling face below belongs to our interim pastor, Brian Conklin, who delivered a beautiful sermon Sunday inspired by the prayer of David found in Psalm 17. I posted my sermon notes here and then (while messing around on WordPress on my phone), I accidentally erased the post. Some of my friends saw it before the mishap, I hope. Anyway… heeeeeere’s Brian…

And heeeere’s “A prayer of David”

1 Hear me, Lord, my plea is just;
    listen to my cry.
Hear my prayer—
    it does not rise from deceitful lips.
2 Let my vindication come from you;
    may your eyes see what is right.

3 Though you probe my heart,
    though you examine me at night and test me,
you will find that I have planned no evil;
    my mouth has not transgressed.
4 Though people tried to bribe me,
    I have kept myself from the ways of the violent
    through what your lips have commanded.
5 My steps have held to your paths;
    my feet have not stumbled.

6 I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;
    turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
7 Show me the wonders of your great love,
    you who save by your right hand
    those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
    hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the wicked who are out to destroy me,
    from my mortal enemies who surround me.

Heaven knows, I need to be one of those protected chicks under “the shadow of your wings!”

Can’t redo what I lost… Need to get to bed.
Oh well…

See ya tomorrow. It’ll be a better day.

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, God, Jesus, Living in Christ's Family, Love, Montana, Poetry, sermon notes, writing

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Grateful Heart

If you start each day
With a heart of gratitude
You will smile more

If you end each day
With a heart of gratitude
You will sleep better

If you live each day
With a heart of gratitude
You’ll see more blessings

From early sunrise
To the setting of the sun
Have a grateful heart

Swiftly flow the days
So, live each one gratefully
Giving God the praise

Love,
JanBeek

I am grateful for you,
my blogging friends
who read and comment.
Thank you!

Category:

blessings, contentment, Gratitude, Haiku, Living in Harmony, Love, mental health, music, Poetry

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6 Sentence Blog Post

GirlieOnTheEdge invites us every week to “Write 6 Sentences.
No more. No less.
Use the current week’s prompt word.”

Today’s prompt word is “Trick.”
Here goes:

The innocence of young children captivates my heart.
Halloween is a time when a test on the innocence might start.
When children are introduced to “Trick or Treat,” treats are expected.
Some years ago tricks were handed out – no innocence respected.
There were apples with a razor inside, or popcorn balls with poison inserted.
Many children have had to stop the door-to-door so danger was skirted.

Let’s just love, shall we?
Protect the innocence.
Love,
JanBeek

Category:

blogging, children, Heartache, Life's Challenges, Love, Poetry

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Finishing Well

Run the race with grace
So you know you’re finishing well
Goal: the finish line!

Today’s sermon at church was titled, “Running the Race”
But the main topic of interest was “Finishing Well.”
So my sermon notes today reflect that focus.
Come and read the highlights as I heard and recorded them:

2nd Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
“6 As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. 8 From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing… 16 At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Why do people run? Pain, elation,
Personal challenge, delirium…
Concentrate on how far you’ve come
Rather than on where you’ve been.

Feeling stiff and in pain, but knowing
I have the ability to endure hard things
Gives me the ability to show up for myself
So I can therefore show up for others.

Let’s end our journey with peace in our hearts
Knowing we have run the race well.
The Lord stood by us, gave us strength
And gave us perseverance as we served with trust.

Serving in faith, fighting the good fight
For mercy, for love… We often stand alone.
Feeling lonely and isolated in life’s race,
We reach out in ministry to others.

Christ calls us to run the race in faith.
Faith transforms us in our disappointments
Into opportunities of grace and hope.
So finish the race with faithfulness.

See through the things we’ve started
With integrity, keeping the faith through change.
The glory of your finish will last forever.
Run the race… and finish well.

Amen?

Love to you – and best wishes for a race well done!
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, Faith, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Love, Poetry, sermon notes, Serving One Another, writing

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A Tanka: Open Book

One of my blogging friends today wrote this message,
“Wrote a tanka today to get into the rhythm
of saying more with less.
It’s a japanese short form poetry system
with 5-7-5-7-7 syllable scheme.
Give it a try!”

So I decided to do just that.
How about you?
You wanna give it a try, too?

I’m an open book
Filled with whimsy and color
Easy to be read
Very hard to be ignored
Noisy and provocative

God bless you, my friends.
Have a Super Saturday.
It’s “No Kings Day” here
No, not “Hate America!”
Protect our Constitution!

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Aging Gracefully, blogging, books, Haiku, Living in Harmony, Love, mental health, peace, Poetry, self-acceptance, self-esteem, writing

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Are You Crispy?

I’m just crispy!

Yes, I am not old
No, I am not young either
Except in my heart

Mentally, I’m young
Every day I learn something
Something new each day

My day’s not wasted
If, at the end of the day
Something new’s added

So, what have you learned
That is new for you today?
Crispy is an age!

And extra crispy
Is an advanced age for you!
So, please enjoy it!

Hah! Enjoy your day!

Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Aging Gracefully, blogging, Haiku, humor, Life's Challenges, Love, mental health, peace

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Great is Thy Faithfulness

Sermon notes on Sunday is a regular habit of mine.
I used to share them here every week.
I don’t know why I got out of the habit.
Time to start doing that again.
I hope you find them enlightening and inspiring.

Sermon by Brian Conklin at Madison Valley Presbyterian Church

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Lamentations is a beautiful book
Each of the five chapters is a poem
It’s a reflection of encouragement and hope
Written out of the pain of total loss

Rubble, grief, and despair are the topics
But in the middle of the book is a word of hope
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Great is Thy faithfulness; it is new every morning

But we can feel letdown in the midst of hope
And God would rather have our honest tears
Than fake smiles. We live in times of pain…
The things we see in the news weighs us down.

We’re allowed to walk through pain and share
We can walk with empathy and compassion
See the loss and pain in others and empathize
Acknowledge your own – and remember God’s promises.

God is consistent and unchanging. He said
His mercies are new every morning, and so
We have fresh grace again and again and again
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.

This week, keep track; look for moments
When you can see God’s grace at work.
Praise God! Thank God! Accept your inheritance.
The Lord is my portion. Take hope. Have faith.

Amen?

Lotsa Love,
JanBeek

Here’s Brian,
the dear interim pastor
who delivered the message today.

(I hope my notes did it justice)
God bless him!

Category:

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

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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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I Can Stay in Touch

I can stay in touch
Though miles separate us
Thanks to internet

I love the selection of memes available

I can stay in touch
Thanks to the power of prayer
I feel close to you

I can stay in touch
Using WhatsApp on my phone
It is a great tool

Photo by Matheus Bertelli on Pexels.com

When I stay in touch
With the help of my iPhone
Distance disappears

I can stay in touch
Across wide, long, deep spaces
Nothing can stop me

You can stay in touch
Through the power of WordPress
Come on, write to me!

I’ll write back to you
You are not too far away
We can stay in touch!

img_2095

Cheers, my friends!

Hugs,
JanBeek

Category:

blogging, Family, friendship, Haiku, Living in Harmony, Love, Poetry, relationships, Sharing, writing

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