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Embrace 5 Ways to Keep Long-time Friends

Bob & Victor

Victor Salazar and Bob have stayed in touch for 50 years. How has that happened?

Victor was Bob’s wrestling student when Bob coached at Hillsdale High in San Mateo, CA. back in the 1970’s. Every year at Christmas, we exchanged Christmas cards. Victor let us know where he was each year – and his career took him to over 30 different countries! What a joy to have Vic come from Alabama to reconnect with us here in Montana! (That photo was taken last year when I first posted this blog)

I have had the fun of that kind of connection with former students, too. This is Ty Stiles and his wife with Bob & me. He was my kindergarten student in 1962! I named our first child, Ty. We never let Ty Stiles out of our sphere of contact. He was in my prayers daily. He came with his wife, Roxanne, from California to visit us a few years ago. About a year after his visit, sadly, Ty left this earth for his eternal home. My memories of him and his visit warm my heart every single day as I look at the cross he welded and sent to us shortly after his visit.

There’s no greater joy
Than to reconnect with friends
From long, long ago

Look up for your purpose!
Look up to the cross
Recall its loving meaning
Embrace those friendships

5 Ways to Keep Long-time Friends

  1. Pray lovingly for them daily.
  2. Be sure to keep them in your address book and write to them often (don’t just rely on social media)
  3. Pick up the phone and talk to them, emptying yourself into them… it’s an investment. Be loyal and be confidential.
  4. Let them know how much they mean to you, but don’t force the relationship. It has to be natural. Don’t insist that the relationship is forever reciprocal. Some friendships are meant to be seasonal… and the season may last years – but maybe not. You can’t control that.
  5. Be honest and transparent with them … let them see your warts. It shows you trust them not to hurt you… and you are trustworthy in return.

Embrace Long-time Friendships
Never let those precious folks go
Keep them forever in your heart
How long we’ll be here, we can’t know

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

Embrace Long-time Friends
My heart’s covered with footprints.
How about your heart?

See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Love,
JanBeek

Category:

Bible Lessons, blessings, children, Faith, friendship, Haiku, Living in Christ's Family, Living in Harmony, Love, Memories, mental health, Poetry, prayer, relationships, Sharing, truth

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Embrace Need

When you think of the word, NEED, what comes to mind?
Do you think of what YOU need or what OTHERS might need?
Have you internalized the difference between NEED and WANT?

Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels.com

Often “Wanted” signs express what someone thinks is a NEED.
Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Pexels.com

Daily there are folks who think they NEED
their Starbucks coffee first thing each morning
or they can’t get through the day.
Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels.com

T’was a time when folks thought they NEEDED
toilet paper stacked up in their garages.
Photo by Dziana Hasanbekava on Pexels.com

Now there’s a belief in some parts of the USA
that gas cans NEED to be filled and waiting for future use.
Because of a security breach, stations were shut down.
Folks NEEDED gas to get to their jobs or wherever…



What is on your NEEDS list?

I NEED hugs.
Physical touch is sooo important!
My husband thinks he NEEDS ice cream after dinner each night.

Learning the Difference
Between Necessity and Luxury

When our son, Ty, graduated from high school, he spent a year as an AFS (American Field Service) foreign exchange student in what was then Yugoslavia. He lived with a family who was communist. They wanted their son to learn English because the next year he intended to travel to the USA to attend college.

The family was “well off” by that country’s standards. The father was head of what we might call our EPA: “Environmental Protection Agency.” They lived in a small (less than 500 square feet) apartment in Beograd (Belgrade). The family of four had two bedrooms (one for the parents and one for their daughter), a very small kitchen, one bathroom, and a living room which converted into a bedroom at night for their son. Ty shared that space with the son.

Our son learned very quickly how very privileged he was growing up with us in California with plenty of space and a swimming pool in the back yard. He learned overnight the difference between necessity and luxury. He learned his NEEDS were much smaller than he once thought – and people could live happily with soooo much less.

We all NEED a friend-
and if you have a true friend,
you are rich, indeed!

Happiness does not NEED a big house, a fancy car, or a lotta money in the bank.
But, it does NEED at least one true friend… and a bunch of ’em is a bonus!!

Happiness does not need a room full of toys.
Children who can build their own tent,
play together in the woods,
and go home at the end of the day of play
to a loving family
and a nourishing meal
are blessed indeed!

I used to think that I NEEDED
a glass of wine and a sushi meal
every now and then…

… or a cucumber roll

But then I googled my needs and I discovered:

Hah! What do you NEED?

A pup to snuggle with?
All you NEED for Christmas
is your two front teeth?
Maybe all you need is
a blanket and a good book!
Sometimes all I NEED
is a nice warm bath!!
A baby only needs
milk, loving hugs, a clean body,
and a swaddling cloth!

And we all need a dream –
Someone who believes in us –
and encourages us –
and teaches us how
to live our dreams.

I NEED time in the wide open spaces,
time each morning in my sanctuary to pray
and to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance,
and I NEED music in my life…
because it lifts my spirits and strengthens me.

I don’t NEED a tattoo!
But, isn’t that a hoot?
I NEED laughter!

Hah!

See ya tomorrow.
Have a great rest of your day
wherever you are.

Embrace NEEDS.
See the needs of others –
and fulfill them if you can!

Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
I NEED your comments!

What are your NEEDS?

Category:

blessings, children, Family, friendship, Giving, God, happiness, Love, mental health, music, pets, prayer, relationships

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Embrace Light

Can’t bring lasting light
If the light is not in you
External light fades

The light that sustains
Is internal light from God
Your face reflects it

It shines from your soul
Whose batteries are from God
They never expire

Matthew 5:16
“In the same way,
let your light shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Psalm 119:105

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

Photo by Negative Space on Pexels.com

Freely share your light
With all those who are near you
Let it shine brightly

May your light inspire
Those who need to know your Source
Let your light shed peace

You can let the Light
Shine through your soul to others
You have that Light, too

As a Child of God
His peace infiltrates your soul
Let that peace escape

Embrace the Light!

My 1962 kindergartener, Ty Stiles, after whom I named my first child, died yesterday. I told you about him in a previous post: https://janbeek.blog/2021/01/09/embrace-hope/ on January 9th.

We have been praying for Ty. He had stage 4 liver cancer that metastasized. He was home on Hospice Care with his wife, Roxanne. Ty was a Child of God whose faith was strong. He told Roxanne that he wanted to – and was ready to – go to Heaven.

In my “Embrace Blueness” post 3 days ago, I shared how a broken heart resembles angel wings… and I wrote, “Ty is ready to let go pain. God is asking me to let go my blueness. Release the melancholy that blue sometimes represents, and instead, embrace the “delicate hues of sapphire, turquoise, and indigo” – and the promise of the vast blueness of Heaven where “Healing power pulses” and God is ready to transform the broken heart into angel wings.”

Photo by Andreas Wohlfahrt on Pexels.com

My faith informs me that
Ty has seen a great light.
He is in heaven…
and one day I will see
“My Favorite Student” again.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

May light shine from you
As easily as birds’ songs
Cheering all near you

Thanks for visiting.
I pray you feel the warmth
of that LIGHT within you.
Let it shine!!!
Let it sing of God’s love in you.
See ya tomorrow.
Hugs, JanBeek

Category:

Belief, Bible Lessons, blessings, Faith, friendship, God, Haiku, Heartache, Life and Death, Life's Challenges, Living in Christ's Family, Living in Harmony, Love, music, nature, peace, Poetry, prayer, relationships

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Try Tanaga

‘Tanaga’ is a traditional Filipino poetic form comprising four lines of 7 syllables with an AAAA rhyming sequence. I learned about it today at:

https://jemverse.wordpress.com/2020/09/18/six-poetics-5-tanaga/

I decided to give Tanaga a try. You might enjoy having a go at it, too. Since my JanBeek topic is about Loving One Another, I decided to use love as my Tanaga rhyme.

For my country I have love
It’s not peaceful like a dove
Democracy needs a shove
We need help from God above

I need a yard sign that reads
Love is all the help one needs.
“Unity is Power” Plant seeds.
Turn off all divisive feeds.

Love, unity, and respect
Go farther than you suspect.
Wear them so others detect
The LOVE than others neglect.

Have a Fabulous Friday.
TGIF is my day
To stand for the straight and gay
In UNITY every day!

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Just Love One Another – Say:
“Do it the Tanaga Way!”
Poetry tells you what may
Spill from your dear heart today.

Photo by ATC Comm Photo on Pexels.com

How will you show your love today?
Try it with Tanaga!

Oh, by the way,
I told you Bob’s former student, Peter, was visiting, right?
He left today. Coach Beekman and I
really enjoyed the visit.

Nothing makes a former teacher feel more loved than to be remembered and respected, loved, and visited by a former student. Do you have a favorite teacher you could honor somehow today? Maybe that could be your Tanaga topic!

See ya later.
Love ya, JanBeek

P.S.
Bob lost a cap on one tooth.
It looks strange; that is the truth!
Don’t tell him he looks uncouth.
Ready for Halloween booth!

Category:

Aging Gracefully, blessings, children, friendship, Giving, Gratitude, happiness, Living in Harmony, Love, Memories, Poetry, relationships, writing

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The Trinity

The Trinity – My Motivation

 

Looking around for motivation I see

A glorious cross looking back at me.

Its stem and crossbars represent

The trifold Diety – the trinity.

This unique symbol of my faith

Was a gift from a student dear to my heart.

He created it as a thank you to me last year —

That was nearly 50 years since we had our start.

He was my kindergarten student

When I began teaching in 1961;

And I was so enamored with him

That in 1965 I used his name for my son.

.

Now, some 50+ years later,

He and his wife came to visit us here

In Montana where we’ve retired.

His thank you cross keeps him here – ever near.

Do you have folks from your past

Who remain ever near in your heart?

If so, have you reached out to them lately?

Do it now! It’s never too late to start. .

Have a good night… And a wonderful weekend.

Tell me about someone who has remained near to your heart for as long as you can remember!

See ya tomorrow.

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blessings, children, friendship, Love, Memories, Poetry, Sharing

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Throw-Back Thursday

CF 2nd graders- 1999

Throw-Back Thursday

When you think back to days

Long gone, in their haze

Do you think of all the ways

Your life impacted others somehow?

.

Do you look into the faces

And see the hopeful traces

Of love and learning in the spaces

Between the distant then and now?

.

Some of those sweet smiles

Transcend the time and miles-

They “friend” their teacher while

She clicks the happy “Allow.”

.

Today I reach out in love

With Facebook’s help and God above

Smiling down like a cooing dove

Singing “I’ll love you forever!” (That’s my vow)

.

God bless all my former students –

What a privilege it was to walk with you

Through learning and growing –

And live to this age knowing

You remember me, too.

.

Just love one another… and let that lesson live on the longest…

What teachers do you remember fondly?

pexels-photo-887349.jpg

See you tomorrow!

Category:

blessings, friendship, Gratitude, learning, Love, Poetry

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Throw-Back Thursday

Christian, Loreal and Tiffany, Adrian And Nicholas (and is that Tanya and Kevin?)… ah, students from way back in the ’80s … or was it the ’70s?

As a teacher, my students (about a quarter century of them) live in my heart.

Some are FB friends who still stay in touch.

But whether they write to me or not, they are a part of me.

Every time they see an accordion, they’ll think of me.

Some will remember the word “Eye-vix-L-cidm” whenever they see Roman numerals= IVXLCDM. They will lay them out and remember:

I = 1

V = 5

X = 10

L = 50

C = 100

D = 500

M = 1000

Yes, 1, 5, 1, 5, 1, 5, 1

Add one zero

Add two zeros

Add three zeros

Helps to know this when reading old copyright dates or the production dates of old movies or the construction dates of ancient buildings!

Others will think of me when their math skills were not up to par with their reading and writing skills and they got 7×8 mixed up with 6×7. They’ll recite:

“If 7×8 makes you wait, 5678, lay them straight!” 56= 7×8!

Others will remember how often I said, “The question is not – Are you smart? – The question is – How are you smart?”

(Thanks Madeleine Hunter for that!)

Ah yes, on throw-back Thursday I remember the Stefans (actually he was a one-of-a-kind – I can’t pluralize him!), the Kevins and Lorei (oh, she’s unique, too), the Hillary and Heidi, the Bucky and the Johnnys… I’m grateful for each one.

 

What teacher or student or classmate do you remember?
What stands out about him or her?
Share!

Category:

children, friendship, Gratitude, happiness, learning, life, Love, Memories

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F = Friends

Day #6 of the A-Z series on “What Makes Me Happy”

FRIENDS

IMG_5138

Friends who go fishing with my hubby (Thanks, Ray & Charley, CG & BW, Gerry & Steve)

Friends who are fabulous cooks, invite us over, and serve fabulous food, wine, and conversation

Friends at TOPS who reach their goal weight and inspire me

Friends who share their birthday happiness with us

Friends who worship with us at church, share their husband to fish with mine, make me smile, give great hugs and are just plain FABULOUS

Friends who are family – what a blessing when that happens!

Friends who are grown up former students and have kept in touch through the years

Friends who bake beautiful pies and who love the Lord as I do

Friends who serve the community, support FUND-raisers, and give generously to make our world a better place

Friends who donate zucchini to the Sr. Center – and the dear friend who plans, cooks, and serves our seniors with such grace and skill

Friends who live into their 80s and 90s and set a beautiful example of vitality and grace for the rest of us

Forever friends who are FAITHFUL forever and continue to love us in spite of our FLAWS (ah, don’t you love that F word?) … and who are as lovely inside as these FLOWERS are outside!

Friends who go FOUR-WHEELING with us

Friends who never forget us and who are FAITHFUL friends to our children

Here’s another one of those… our Friend who is our #2 daughter… Yes, FAMILY is more than blood relatives.

FAMILY is FRIENDS we choose, not just those we inherit. And if we’re truly blessed,

We have family who are friends in all parts of the world

We have grandchildren who are friends and are FUN to be with, and

We have children who keep in touch with love and gratitude daily, even if they move across the sea thousands of miles from us.

My prayer is that the ones who live close enough to see us daily will come by at least once a month, and let our great-grandson grow to know us as his FRIEND, too.

Ah, my blogging friends, I hope you are truly blessed with the FUN of FAMILY and FRIENDS who make you happy, too! I love making new blogging friends!

And never FORGET (that’s a troublesome F word) the Friend who is your constant companion. If you have this kind of a FRIEND you are blessed indeed

And don’t forget the faithful furry four-legged friends, too!

What’s the F word that makes you happiest?

Category:

blessings, Family, Fishing, friendship, happiness, Living in Harmony, Love

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Teacher Perks

Happy Summer Time to all you teachers out there! I love teachers! More than a handful of them made a significant difference in my life. The dedicated, creative, caring ones made me want to become a teacher, too. Then the administrators who were teacher advocates made me want to become an administrator who supported her staff and students and made their school days happier, more successful, memorable times. Teaching is a profession with perks that keep on perking – forever! Dedicated teacher/educators give from the heart. They care about their students and their students’ families. They care about their colleagues. They care about the profession. Dedicated teachers are educators who never really retire; they just teach from a different platform, in a different venue, on a different stage, to a different audience. But, they can’t help themselves. They teach wherever they are.

Like millions of educators around the world destined always to teach, I discovered that the perks of teaching never stop. No, the perks are not “Summers off.” No, they do not include getting rich quick… at least not monetarily rich. But richness comes in many forms. The perks for educators come in the form of feedback – from students, from family members, from colleagues, from community, from life. The perks are in the lifetime of memories, the feeling of making a difference in the lives of others, the blessing of hearing now and then that you did, in fact, matter in the life of one of your students… or a parent … or a colleague.

I retired officially from public school education in 1999. One of my favorite “jobs” during my varied and interesting career was as a teacher/principal in the central valley of California. Last week one of my former colleagues (a teacher at the school where I served nine years as principal) came to visit me here in Montana. What a joy! What a perk!!

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Then, as if the week was not already special enough, out of the blue came a text message from the parent of a kindergarten student that I had in the 1970s! She found me on Facebook. It’s one of the perks of allowing your postings to go “public” instead of limiting the viewings to only those identified as “friends.” This former room mother from the San Francisco Bay Area wrote to compliment me on my recent weight-loss and ask me how I did it. We did the finger-tip chat for a while and then she asked if we might talk on our cell phones. “There’s something wonderful about hearing each others voices,” she commented. I agreed and we chatted on the phone – catching up on each others lives – for almost an hour. It was the best perk imaginable!

Now, you’re probably thinking that during that conversation I heard stories about things she remembered about me as a teacher, right? That would be the usual expectation. Nope! Not really… not as much as, “Do you still fry pork chops with green bell peppers using a splatter guard?” That was my trade-mark meal back in those days! And yes, I do still have that splatter guard 40+ years later. It saves hours of stove top cleanup! She said she bought one after coming to my house for dinner – and still uses hers, too. Pork chops with green peppers is her husband’s favorite meal! Do I remember inviting her and her family to dinner? No! But she does! And “little” gestures like that are some of the things that help me live on in the lives of the students I have taught. Who would’a thunk it?? See, you never know! You just never how know what you say and do will live on in others. When a parent, student or colleague takes the time to find you years later – and tells you about your impact – that’s worth more than a million bucks!Some of my former students from those days in the classroom back in the 70s are my Facebook friends and my on-line Scrabble partners! I love keeping in touch!

Feedback – – – in all kinds of forms – – – it’s the “Teacher Perks” we educators live for!

Take time to contact a teacher who was memorable in your life. Give a teacher a perk. And while you’re at it, take time this Father’s Day weekend to give a “Parent Perk” to your dad (if you are fortunate enough to have him still with you) or your son or son-in-law, or to some other “Dad” figure in your life. Tell him what makes him memorable. It might be the way he fries pork chops! And if he doesn’t have a splatter guard; that’ll make a wonderful gift! Order one today!!

Photo on 6-15-13 at 11.31 AMhttp://www.wdrake.com

P.S. No, this is not a paid advertisement; just one of the perks from a retired educator bent on being a life-long teacher!

 

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