My family is the best part of my life, and I love our adventures together. I’m happily married to Mike, and we have a son, daughter, and son-in-law. Being with my two sweet granddaughters, Senna and Adina, and the rest of my family is one of the great joys of my life. I also am a nurse who works in an intensive care unit. Life is light and shadows. We walk in both. The great thing is that we can know the Light of the world, Jesus Christ. Thankfully, my mom introduced me to Him when I was very young. It is a joy walking through life with Him as Lord and Savior. I hope to share some of that joy with you through my blog, Sarah Bebes Blog.
Springtime! Don’t you love it? It was
just warm enough the other day for me to open all the windows and let the first
fresh breeze blow through my house in quite a while. This made me think about
opening other windows, like the windows of my heart. God promises us peace and
says that Christ himself is our peace (Ephesians 2:14). Yet, at times I think I
myself block out His peace, holding on to uncertainties. It’s always when I get
to looking around at things instead of looking to Him that peace flees.
By the end of the evening I went around and closed all those windows, because the air turned quite cold. May I always leave the window of my heart open, though. Are your windows open?
“You will keep in perfect peace him
whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3
Christ Himself is our peace.
Who doesn’t love dandelion bouquets?
These are just a few spring photos from the past. Hope you enjoy!
He went walking by very quickly as I
entered the store with my grocery cart. He looked only about four years old. I
didn’t see any adults nearby, so I watched to make sure he was with a grown up.
He wasn’t. His fast walk quickly turned into a run, and the tear rolling down
his cheek made it apparent that he was lost. I left my cart and caught up with
him just as he was getting ready to run out the door. A store employee joined
me, and we assured him that we would find whomever he was looking for.
By this time the poor boy was so
upset and scared that he could barely talk. After again reassuring him, he told
us his name. An announcement was made over the loudspeaker, and we waited with
anticipation for someone to come forward and be reunited with this little one.
A few minutes later a young woman came rushing up. Much to my surprise, she
began yelling and calling him a bad boy. I explained that he was looking for
her, and he got scared. She seemed to settle down a bit then.
I couldn’t help a tear rolling down
my cheek now. I had been expecting a happy reunion filled with relief and
reassurance for that young boy. Perhaps the young mother was simply distraught
and that is why she lashed out at her son. It was heartbreaking to see this
little boy practically shaking with fright get yelled at. Children are a treasure.
In contrast to this scene, Jesus told
a story about a shepherd looking for a lost sheep. This shepherd had 100 sheep,
but one got lost. You might think that he wouldn’t bother looking, because he
still had 99 sheep. This wasn’t the case, though. The shepherd left the other
99 and went searching for that one lost sheep. When he found it, he scooped it
up into his arms, carried it home, and called everyone together for a
celebration. What a beautiful picture of being found! Jesus loves each of us
that much.
Hopefully that young mother later
reassured her son of her love. Hopefully she realizes how loved she is.
Hopefully you realize how loved you are!
“And so we know and rely on the love
God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in
them.” I John 4:16
Please treasure your children.
Some treasures of my life are below:
Mom and Dad
Four Willis ‘ all dressed up for Easter.
Dave and Amy
Dan and me
Snuggles with sweet Senna and dear Adina (P.S. I am first and foremost an Eagles fan, but the Steelers are my second favorite)
The yell came from upstairs. I raced
up the stairs to find my husband, Mike, flat on his back with green paint
splattered everywhere. He was fine, but he had fallen off the little 3-legged
stool he was standing on to paint the walls. He couldn’t move without creating
more of a mess, so he had yelled for my help. After my laughter died down, I
grabbed some wet rags and helped him clean up. I still smile just thinking
about that scene. We were getting a room ready for our granddaughter, Senna.
Since that time, we gained another
granddaughter, Adina. When we moved to a new home a few years ago, I remember
how excited we were about making a special bedroom for our granddaughters’ visits.
We carefully chose a paint color for the walls and special forest friends decorations.
This time there weren’t even any mishaps, probably because Mike now uses a
ladder for his painting. We had so much fun getting everything set up to
surprise them and even more fun watching their excitement when they saw it.
All this made me think of how Jesus
promises that he is preparing a place for us. If Mike and I had so much joy in
preparing a place for Senna and Adina, I can’t even imagine God’s joy at making
a place for us. I also cannot imagine how amazing it will be! Just think of
God’s creation – the colors, the variety, the beauty, the wonder. God made us
for forever. You and I are invited to have a forever home with God by accepting
his invitation. It is for whoever believes in him. I am excited to see what my
room is like!
“In my Father’s house are many rooms;
if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place
for you.” John 14:2
God made us for forever.
We added decals to make it a fun forest friends room.
Another view:)
Adina checking out her bed (no more crib!).
Senna was so excited for her sister!
A very special birthday celebration dinner for Mike at Buca di Beppo with the whole family. How I love them all!
It kept circling, soaring high above
our heads, then swooping down closer. This continued for several minutes. We
were about 3.5 miles into a 4.2-mile walk, and it seemed like the buzzard
anticipated us dropping over. We were cracking up laughing! Our walking pace
was definitely slowing down. Well, at least mine was. We joked together that we
had better keep walking.
This made me think of my dad. He is
in his late 80’s, and sometimes he gets discouraged about the things he isn’t
able to do anymore, like bowling. I try to encourage him to focus on the things
he can do. I’ve jokingly told him that if you’re not dead yet; you’re not done
yet. We all get discouraged at times, but we need to keep moving.
We did keep moving and finished our
walk, leaving the buzzard to go soaring elsewhere to find dinner. Later that
day Mike was looking out the window. When I asked what he was looking at, he
replied that he was just checking to make sure that buzzard was gone. Mike
always makes me laugh! The buzzard was gone, because we kept moving. How will
you keep moving today?
“He has showed you, O man, what is
good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
Keep moving! If you’re not dead yet,
you’re not done yet.
*This one was Mike’s idea. 😊
A circling turkey buzzard.
Grandad and Adina.
Super hero time!
Senna and Adina always keep moving…
…sometimes by letting Uncle Danny pull them along. 🙂
Mike, Senna, and Adina on adventure walking in Philly. (photo by Amy Chikwem)
The horses were gathered over in the
corner, looking almost as if they were huddling together. Dogs were barking
wildly and loudly. All this because of a deer. Apparently, it leaped over the
fence to get into the pasture but was having a very difficult time getting back
out. It was stuck.
As I watched, the poor animal ran up
to the high fence and seemed to doubt its ability to leap back over to get out.
It would pull up and stop at the last moment. Next it raced around and around
inside the enclosure with its white tail up like a distress signal. Then it
attempted to charge headfirst through the fence several times, to no avail.
Do you ever get stuck? We all do at
times. Sometimes it’s our own fault, and sometimes it isn’t. The question is
what to do when we are stuck? I think that sometimes you don’t know what it is
until you know what it isn’t, like the way the deer figured out it was penned
in, but that ramming through the fence was not a good exit strategy. If you are
stuck, know that you do not have to stay that way. You can look to God. He
cares for you and about you.
That deer knew it wasn’t meant to
live in the fenced pasture. Eventually it made its escape by going underneath
the fence. The horses ambled out of the corner and went back to grazing; the
dogs quieted down. The chaos turned to calm.
“Let the morning bring me word of
your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should
go, for to you I lift up my soul.” Psalm 142:8
Sometimes you don’t know what it is
until you know what it isn’t.
Sometimes taking a closer look gets us unstuck.
You might just have to crawl on through.
You may need to leap over.
Looking at things from a different vantage point can help.
All of a sudden, my two sisters and
my brother were yelling wildly! I had no idea why. We were exploring the woods
behind our house with Uncle Larry. He was only a little older than us,
actually, but we all looked up to him. Whenever he came to visit, he told the
most exciting, funny stories, and he was always ready for an adventure.
On this particular day, Mom had agreed
to let us go on a hike with Uncle Larry leading the way. I was about 7 years
old at the time. We had been traveling through the woods for a while, when
suddenly we came upon a fallen tree blocking our path. There was no way around
it. Uncle Larry easily scrambled over; then one by one, we followed his
example. It was my turn, and I was only partly over when the others started
yelling.
I looked all around to find out why,
and then I saw it. It was a snake, and it was slithering right next to me!
Before I knew what was happening, Uncle Larry grabbed that snake by the tail,
whirled it around his head like a lasso, and threw it far away! I stared in
amazement. We all did. He had rescued us all! We continued on our hike, afraid
of nothing, because Uncle Larry, our hero, was with us.
Thinking back on this happy memory
makes me glad that more memories are ahead, just waiting to be made. This past
weekend, Mike and I had a bunch of adventures with our granddaughters. We went
bear hunting, were chased by lions, and built a whole town with an ice cream
store in it, all right in our house. What adventure will you have today? What
memories will you make? As the message from Australia goes: Life. Be in it.
“Sing to God, sing praise to His name, extol Him who rides on the clouds – His name is the Lord – rejoice before Him.” Psalm 68:4
More memories are ahead, just waiting to be made.
Uncle Larry (a little older than when we had our adventure:)
The command came from the backseat, and it
came in a rather whiny, demanding tone. “I don’t WANT music!”, exclaimed my 2 ½
year old granddaughter, Adina. We were driving to my house for a play day, and
I had the radio on. I explained to her that we talk to each other in a nice
way, because we love each other. “Don’t forget your please” is something that I
remind both my granddaughters (and myself) at times.
This made me think of an extremely demanding
patient I once cared for. Did I mention that I’m a nurse? Anyway, this
particular patient kept requesting things in a brusque, rude manner. It seemed
each time I entered the room, I was met with commands. I was thankful that his
condition was improving, but honestly, this was getting tiresome. At one point
after he made yet another demand, I automatically responded, “Don’t forget your
please”. After laughing, I explained that I often babysit my granddaughters and
that is what I say to remind them that good manners matter. After a moment of
silence, my patient actually apologized. The rest of my shift that day became
much more pleasant.
As for Adina, later that day I was humming
when I heard her nicely ask me to “please turn the music off”. How she makes me
laugh! The reason I share this is because we all have the opportunity every day
to show kindness, even in the way we speak to each other. Even God exercises
kindness! Kindness counts and really does make a difference.
“’…I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the
Lord.” Jeremiah 9:24
Kindness counts.
My Mike, the kindest man I know!
Photo by Amy Chikwem
Photo by Amy Chikwem
Photo by Amy Chikwem
My family riding the shuttle to surprise me at work.
Since you are reading this, I figured
you might like to know who is writing it. If things had gone according to
Grandad’s plan, I would be Jim. That didn’t happen. Jim (my little brother) did
come along about 1 ½ years later, though. My mom was very pregnant with me,
about 9 months’ worth, when Grandad said to her, “Well, I guess Jim will be
here tomorrow.” Perhaps he thought that after two baby girls it was certain
that this next baby would be a boy. Instead of Jim, they got me. Sarah Eileen
Willis. That was my first name. My next
official name was and still is Sarah Eileen Riddle. I gained that by meeting
and marrying the love of my life, Mike Riddle.
I’ve collected many more unofficial
names along the way, as we all do. My latest name is Bebes (pronounced
Beebees). This is the name given to me by my two sweet granddaughters. My older
granddaughter, Senna, used to call me G-mom. Then Adina, her little sister came
along. Somehow Adina pronounced G-mom as Bebes, and so that is me. Senna is the
one who came up with the spelling. I love being their Bebes!
Each name we have carries its own
significance. Each name characterizes a special part of our life – mom,
daughter, friend, employee, co-worker, and on and on. I think that your name
does not define you as much as you define your name. What are your names
associated with? What do they make people think of? You determine that, and you
can change it! As for me, I aim to be the best Bebes possible, making happy
memories every chance I get.
“Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10
Sweet Senna and Dear Adina, the joys I get to babysit.
Your name doesn’t define you as much as you define your name.
Sarah Bebes Blog 