2013

Well, I can't believe another year is over and gone and what we have is our memories.  I hope that those memories are good ones and I hope every day of 2013 brings wonderful recollections.  

To all of us, Happy New Year!  

And to Jesus Christ, come quickly! 

Destination Heaven

My daughter, Christina, recently wrote a book called, "Destination Heaven", this book is awesome.  With the help of the Holy Spirit, she writes about things that are so important to all of us these days.  I am adding a bit of this book below so you can get a taste of Destination Heaven.  Enjoy, then go out and get your own copy of her book on Amazon.com.

Destination Heaven
By Christina M. Beebe

Believing: Like seeing the 3D Image in the Magic Eye Design

Do you recall those Magic Eye books that were popular back in the 90's?  Did you ever try to pick out their 3D images?  You stare at the flat paper design-for seconds, minutes, or even hours-until your eyes relax just enough for you to be able to see the 3D image pop out at you.  Once you get it, you can usually move your eyes around slowly to see all around the complexity of the 3D image.  The power of belief and its role in attaining salvation is kind of like that.  

That relaxing of your eyes is like a child's humility, the flexible creativity of a mind unhampered by adulthood.  Spiritually speaking, you humble yourself, relaxing your inner eyes just enough to believe and enter into the kingdom.  The 3D image of God's kingdom now pops out at you.

What happens when you are trying to see the 3D image, but you become distracted or someone interrupts you?  You lose focus.  All your effort at seeing the image is gone.  It takes concentration to get your eyes into just that place where you can see it.  Similarly, faith requires focused humility to see God's kingdom.

In 1 Corinthians 1:21, we learn how important it is to center our attention and heart on the Bible.  There are worldly distractions all around us trying to keep us from grasping the truth and making it our own (Believing): "For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe."

Believing God's word is not to be taken lightly, nor is it meant to be an arduous ordeal.  Just like seeing the 3D image, it takes deliberate focus and attention to believe.  Jesus tells us that unless we humble ourselves and become like little children, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3-4), and that the kingdom of heaven "belongs to such as these"  (Matthew 19:14).  Have you ever noticed that little children have no trouble believing what is told to them?  They are flexible and creative in their thinking and willing to let others lead them.  Just as the grown-up Peter Pan was not able to partake in the feast before him until he was able to believe, so we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven until we believe.  But that's just the beginning.


Now, get on line and order your copy!

My Car

My parents are the best, when my car stopped running, they helped me to buy a used car.  I don’t know what I would have done without them.  But my parents aren’t what this story is about, this time, it is about my car.

This was the first semi-new car that I ever owned, so, I was very happy and I drove that car proudly.  I guess the key word would be proudly, I looked at people driving crummy cars, like I used to have to drive, and I felt good about myself.  I can tell you now that I was having some really wrong thinking.

Being proud about driving a nice car wasn’t the only problem I was having with my Christian walk, I was also complaining, a lot.  I was complaining about everything and the more I complained, the worse I felt, physically and mentally.  So, here I am, going along thinking that I was doing fine but all the while I was a sickly, proud, woman.  God opened my eyes to this in a few ways, one of which was with that car that I was so happy to have.

Now, there is a song that I really like, and listen to a lot.  This song talks about knowing real wealth through being poor and knowing joy through hard times.  This song talks about losing everything, but gaining Jesus and how that is such a good thing.  God also used this song to talk to my soul.  

Well, I had just taken my son Elijah to school on a Thursday, we were on our way home when I slammed right into the back of the van in front of me.  I don’t know what happened, I think I got too close and then when I put on the break, it made a grinding sound so I quickly took my foot off the break and then I got confused and I hit the gas instead of the break and plowed right into the back of a woman driving a huge van.  I jumped out of the car to make sure she was okay and to say sorry, because I knew it was all my fault.  We exchanged information and I went home, shakey, sad and very depressed; I felt like giving up.  When I got home, I slid into bed, and cried.  I didn’t want to get up and the thought of driving again made me sick to my stomach, but I had to.  My husband Mark, was at dialysis, and he needed a ride home.  I couldn’t just leave him there.  

I picked Mark up, and in the next few days, I learned an important lesson.  

The front end of my car was smashed in, it looked really bad.  Surprisingly, the damages were all cosmetic.  I’ve been driving my car since the accident and it has been running fine.  

What the Lord has impressed upon me since my accident is this:
To realize that God is in complete control.  

My car, still drivable, may not look as good as it once did. But, what is more important, a good looking car, or a car that runs?  My answer; a car that runs.  

What does all of this mean when it comes to me?  It means that I have been so worried about my outside self, that I was neglecting my inside.  I needed to change my attitude. 

I thought that what others saw on the outside was the most important thing, in my car and in myself, but now I know the car doesn’t have to be beautiful to get me to my mom’s house, or to take Mark to dialysis.  And as for the complaining, I’m dealing with it on a day by day basis.  I’ve been working hard on the inside, (my soul and my spirit), and not making my focus cosmetic.

My goal is to have the thoughts, and the ways of God. I’m finding that the ways of God are so different than the ways of man.  The world is consumed with appearances. What is seen on the outside is all important, while God is concerned with our inner man, our spirit/soul.  Being a Christian sometimes means re-learning things so that we fit in when we are in God’s presence.  

In Isaiah 55:8, the Lord says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways.” 

That doesn’t mean that His ways will never be our ways, it just means that I have to stop, and put my focus on the spiritual world.  Instead of trying to find joy and riches in the carnal side of life, I need to cultivate happiness, and a wealth that can’t be destroyed. This eternal satisfaction can only be found at the right hand of God.    



  




   
  

  

For Elizabeth

I pray that God comforts you
I pray He heals your heart
I pray that He will make you whole
And lend a brand new start

I pray tomorrow you will wake 
To sunshine and a smile
I pray tomorrow you will find
Strength to walk that extra mile

I pray for you to find a love
Who'll treat you like a queen
I pray that he will always give
With nothing in between

I pray you take your children's hands
And hold them in yours, tight
I pray they give their loving hearts
To cherish with all might

I know through all these trials and grief
You'll soar to heights above
Petty motives, hardened hearts
Defeated before a mother's love

So in these darkened hours
When it's dawn you're searching for
Keep your focus on Jesus Christ
He's standing right at your door

Another Christmas

“Have them take any presents that they would have given to me and have them give those presents to a little kid.”  He stressed the word, “little”, as he answered me.

His words didn’t surprise me, that wasn’t it, I guess I just felt so blessed to have such a good hearted son.  I didn’t know what to say back to him after I told my son Elijah about the church that might help us out this year for Christmas.  We have never really had a Christmas like the kind you see on TV.  Decorated tree, presents for Christmas morning, lots of good food.  As long as I have been with my husband, Mark, we have struggled so Christmas has always been very lean and I have never minded taking charity, when it came to all of my kids.

If it was just for me, Christmas would be just another day.  Jesus wasn’t actually born on December 25.  There are many things that show that it couldn’t have been in the winter.  I try to thank God every day for the gift of his son, Jesus, so I don’t need one special day to do that, but I have to admit, I do get caught up in the hoopla of the season, and Elijah’s words brought be right back down to earth.

I saw a banner the other day it said, “Jesus is the reason for the season”.  What a great reminder, I would like to put that banner up in my living room, that would be all the decoration that I need.  But it just isn’t the way things are, Santa could never out shine Jesus but he tries with all of his presents and the fun stuff that he tempts all of us with.  

So for me and for this Christmas, I have put my thoughts into, “What can I do for someone else” instead of what can I do to make my own Christmas great.  My kids are one of the best presents that my Heavenly Father has ever given me, and I will spend time on Christmas morning thanking Jesus for them. It looks like my children are learning to appreciate what God has already given us, too, and that is another wonderful gift from our Father.     

    

Our Children

What is happening to our children?
What is tearing up this land?
they need someone strong to lead them
Someone's got to take a stand

There's the child afraid of living
And the one who's scared he'll die
All so different but the truth is
All have asked the question, "Why?"

babies crying cause he's lonely
The kid who's eyes have turned to hate
And the fear is running rampant
Tell me, what will be their fate?

It's nearly time for Christmas
This should be what fills small heads
Not death and dying or disaster
Love should fill their life instead

So take a hand and put it in yours
Give a hug and don't let go
Put aside your cares for this night
Let's help these little ones to grow

My Daughter

My daughter is a funny girl
She has a lovely man
Some things I want to spell right out
I hope you understand

She crochettes awesome presents
She wraps up gifts real neat
She's thin and tall, I tell you all
What can't that girl complete

Her heart is big as Texas
Her soul as sweet as pie
The love she holds, it's true I know, 
Could fill the earth and sky

Christina is a treasure
A living pot of gold
She makes my heart swell, 
A gift I do tell
I'm forever blessed, behold

The Orange Tree

When I was two years old, my family moved from Iowa to California.  My parents found a beautiful home in LA County, In the sweet little town of La Mirada.  The house was a few years old but no one had lived in it yet.  I was told that the owners did landscaping, and this house had many plants, bushes and trees that the other houses in the neighborhood didn't have.  One of those trees was an orange tree.  

Now every year that orange tree got hundreds of buds and every year, every last bud would drop off, and we never even had one orange.

Around the time I was 11, I was in the 6th grade, I became interested in this process.  I started to wonder why the orange tree didn't get any oranges and I decided that I was going to help this tree and this was going to be the year it would produce baskets full of oranges.

I really took care of that tree.  My mom told me to give it egg shells and coffee grounds for nutrients, so I gave it plenty of the tree food.  I watered it every day and I gave my new best friend pep talks.

Just as every year the orange tree was filled with blossoms and just as every year the blossoms dropped off one by one until there was only a handful of blossoms left.  I got a little discouraged but I kept watering it and one by one those blossoms turned into tiny oranges, unfortunately that is as good as it got.  Each little orange dropped off until there was one orange left.  

I'm not sure but I think God looked down on me and had pity because that tiny thing did become an orange. And one morning I got up, went into our beautifully landscaped back yard and I picked my full sized orange.

In the years to follow, my orange tree produced many, many oranges.  I guess the little tree just needed someone to love it.

The Forest

I don't understand why the things that have happened in the past two months, did happen.  I'm hoping some insight will come, in time, but for now this is a record of the wild, stormy walk down the yellow brick road through the forest of our life.  The four of us just trying to feel at home, again.

We moved into our new apartment on October 1st.  I was slightly worried about the move, but it all went very well.  It wasn't more than a few days in our new place, and the problems started.  I even mentioned to my husband and boys that I wanted to go home, this new place was strange and different and it didn't feel like home, yet.

It all started when we found some soaked boxes in my son, Elijah's room.  We thought it might be something inside the box, but it turned out to be a broken pipe in the wall between the bathroom and our two bedrooms.  Our complex was great about it, they were very nice and they came right out to fix it.  They moved all of our furniture out of the way, took down a shelf and cut a big hole in the wall.  We did the clean up after the maintenance man finished patching the wall, one problem down.

The next morning I came out into the kitchen and both sides of the sick were full to the top, with water.  I tried the disposal, but the water wouldn't budge.  Maintenance came right out and fixed that too.  Turned out to be our up stairs neighbor's clog.

A few more things that stressed us in the next weeks were, a sticking garage door, the discovery of roaches, tons of little flies all over my son, Elijah's room, and ants in our room.

Then there was the problem with the cable company.  By this time we were deep into the forest and all seemed dark.  First we couldn't get them to come out to our apartment because we didn't have phone service.  I used my mom's number, we waited all day but they didn't show up.  I borrowed several of my son's friends phones, but the cable company didn't show up.  I finally went down to their business and I talked them into meeting me out in front of our apartment, in the morning.  I only had to wait outside an hour, and then after having no phone, internet, or TV for five weeks, we had them all.

So, we were thinking that the worst was behind us, what could happen now?  Well, I will tell you, Thanksgiving morning we were up at around 2:00 am. We noticed that the floor in our bedroom was soaked, "Here we go again!"  I thought.  Thanksgiving Day, we had a big hole in our wall, another broken pipe!

A few more things that added to our frustration, were, a traffic accident, I crunched our car, about four inches of water outside our apartment door, when it rained, and our garage door got soaked with water and now would not stay open, I had to get someone to hold it every time I went somewhere.  Things were still tough but we kept going down that road.

 I have to mention that I have had bronchitis for three weeks so far, which has made everything seem so much worse.  We didn't have any money to get our car smogged or registered, so I have been driving it with expired tags, and I almost got towed, the officer just gave me a warning that time.  We needed tires badly, and I was just plain afraid to drive that car anymore.  My Mom helped us out with the tires and getting it registered.  You may think we were on our way out of the forest, but instead, the flying monkeys attacked!  We came home from the DMV to find that our phone, cable TV and our internet weren't working, again!  We spent another day trying to settle that.  It seems that the cable company didn't turn off the cable service at our old apartment the six times that I called and asked them to, and the four times that I went down to their business.  They were trying to charge us for all of that time at our old apartment that the cable should have been turned off.

This apartment is also about half the size of our old place, so we spent days and days deciding what goes and what stays, then making many trips to the dumpster.  We don't have a couch or a dining room set, yet.  We all worked so hard but this wasn't fun or exciting, it was discouraging.

I know that I shouldn't be trying to read God's mind, but I feel pretty sure that God is trying to get me to trust Him.  Not just in the good and happy times, but also when I come up against something wicked in my life.  Until I get this message into my heart and soul, I might stay trapped in this forest.  I know everyone has problems, once in a while, but what we have been going through has been unbelievable.  Don't count me out just yet though, I do plan on finishing this and coming out the other end, better for this experience.