Lazy Girls

I love to bake. Yes! I love to bake. (side note: I hate to cook. HATE. To. Cook.) Though I have a four pound bag of chocolate chips chillin' around the house, I have not started my holiday baking. Time is ticking. Just call me a slug.

Last night I had a craving. You know the type that hits you about 10:30pm. Insatiable urge to stuff your face with chocolate anythings?

It was too late to bake but I knew Mr. four pound bag was calling my name. Hmm..what to do with the chips at 10:30pm. After staring blankly into my cabinet for about 5 minutes my eyes spotted a box of Ritz crackers. I had some salty and sweet right at my fingertips. Then suddenly out of no where, deep from within my baker's heart...a master piece creation was born. My creativity amused me (note sarcasm here) and thus another Beckums creation burst forth in my kitchen, "Lazy Girls"

Ritz crackers, sprinkled with chocolate chips. Pop into the microwave for about 30 seconds and top with a pecan. Voila! Instant gourmet "Lazy Girls".

Sweet 16

It is hard to believe but my baby is 16!! We celebrated the occasion last night with a Sweet 16 Costume Party. What a blast!! Here are a few pics from the party:

Jordyn dressed as Audrey Hepburn





Can you guess who we dressed up as??


What a Maverick. I think he is a hottie!! giggle

Fill in the blanks

It’s in the air….can you feel it? I’m not referring to the chilly temperatures this morning. I’m talking about the Christmas spirit! I confess, Jordyn and I have been listening to Christmas music for about 6 weeks now. I have put up my family Christmas tree. Decorated my blog with a Christmas theme.
Purchased my 4.5 pound bag of Chocolate chips (oddly enough, the bag of chocolate chips is a tad bit larger than my 4 pound Yorkie!!).




While I am eagerly awaiting Christmas and all the preciousness that surrounds the celebration of Jesus’ birth, I am also excited about Thanksgiving. This Sunday is our church’s annual Thanksgiving service. It is one of my favorite services at CCF. Certainly one service you don’t want to forget your Kleenex. Anyone who is willing to share, has an opportunity to take the mic. and give thanks to The Lord. If you had a chance to give thanks to The Lord, what would you say? Could you think of one thing? Would you be able to fill a minute, an hour?

Our friends and missionaries, The Fowlers sent me the neatest little Thanksgiving prayer card in the mail this week. (The card is produced by Family Life ministries. Click here to order your copy!)

I want to share a few things from the card in hopes that you will begin to give thanks to The Lord.

*I remember when we needed ________ and God provided _____.
(Read Philippians 4:12-13,19)

*I am thankful for _______that God gives us every day.
(Read. Deut. 8:3)

*Despite (and even because of)_________, I thank you for __________.
(Read James 1:2-4)

So, how would you fill in the blanks?

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; His love endures forever. Psalms 107:1

Just gotta say it.....

Just an FYI for Gov. Kaine...I pray in the name of Jesus!

(click here if you are in the dark at what has happened in good 'ol Virginia recently.)

Rock my vote!

I heard a new twist tonight on the "Rock The Vote" slogan. I heard a preacher sharing from from Matthew 7. His take was to vote on the "Rock" (Jesus) this election. As I pondered this thought, thought of my Christian beliefs, I was reminded of Psalms 18:2

The LORD is my ROCK, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my ROCK, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I, like many others, will be glued to Fox News tomorrow night. And as we intently wait the outcome, may we be reminded that no matter what happens in this election we can be sure of one thing: Jesus,(The name above all names. The King of kings. The name by which we are saved.) will still be on the throne!!

So read my lipstick: you can be "fa'shur" I will certainly 'ROCK' my vote tomorrow.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun......

Well, CCF's Women's Ministry "Flashback Friday" was awesome! (Like Totally!...oh, excuse my 80's lingo). We "cut the rug" and learned The Charleston, The Bop, The Hustle, and The Jitterbug. The women of CCF are the most amazing group of women I know (and some of the most fun women I've ever met!!) I love you all!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Flashing Back

I am getting pretty excited! Tomorrow night is our CCF Women's Flashback Friday event. In preparation for this fun time, I had an awesome time going to my parent's house yesterday and going through old pictures. Such precious memories. Needless to say, we had a good laugh at some of the pictures. I think my mom and I have covered every imaginable hairstyle possible. (Might I add that I am still very fond of the 80's BIG hair!!)

Looking at these pictures made me even more thankful for the love of Jesus. I am not who I used to be. I have changed on the outside and inside! AMEN and Hallelujah. I have been transformed by the power of Christ who lives in me. And, the good news is that He is not finished with me yet! I am a work in progress.

I will post some pics from our Flashback Friday but until then...here are a few funny ones! (check out the hair, will ya?)




(BTW, Jim is not wearing a helmet...that is his hair!)

We are Family...I got all my babies with me

Okay, so I had to change the lyrics to that song (We Are Family) but I was one happy Mama this afternoon to have my girls with me and my man by my side. It's not often we Burtons get all "fancied-up" so here are some pics from this afternoon's wedding Jim officiated (and Amanda was a bridesmaid).

Fire Extinguisher – Hubby say WHAT?

I feel the need to preface this blog. You see, I tend to be a tad bit on the HM side (high maintenance). I am the gal who loves the fact that the 80’s glam rock hair styles are coming back in style (they ARE coming back, right?). I love me some hair products, teasing combs, hair spays, etc. Like Beth Moore once said, “I can love Jesus and lipstick!”. Amen Beth!

Anyway, Friday we were preparing to head out of town to Maryland to participate in a missions conference. All was packed and we were just seconds from walking out the door when the following conversation took place:

Becky: Hey! What’s this doing sitting on the piano? (referring to my favorite hair product: super-duper root pump spray). I packed this in my bag already! (priorities, right ladies?)

Jim: I took it out.

Becky (gasp): You did WHAT? Why would you do THAT?

Jim: Do you really NEED that stuff?

Becky (eyeballs rolling, neck craned): NEED?

Jim: Yeah, you don’t need that stuff, do ya?

Becky (feeling her blood pressure rise): Yes, I NEED it!!!

Jim (examine the product in question): Well, it’s the size of a fire extinguisher!!!!!

My man has a point!

Stolen Trailer....counting it joy

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

Our church meets in a school and this is our 4th year of doing so. Since we meet in a school, we have a trailer that is pulled weekly to the school that we store all of our church belongings (i.e, sound equipment, microphones, keyboard, children's toys, play pen--basically anything you may need for a church). When we arrived at prayer meeting tonight, it came to our attention that our trailer was gone....yes, someone has stolen our church trailer with all of our church belongings. We had been parking the trailer at a nearby church (who has been nice enough to let us leave it on their property). Sure enough...it is gone. Crazy.

But, praise The Lord we have a place to meet, a place to gather together...we just have no stuff. Basically, all CCF used for church is in the trailer. Everything but the chairs and people. But that is okay. It is so reassuring that our God is not dependant on our stuff--any stuff, including the "stuff" in that trailer for church to happen. No indeedy. After all, He is not in the box!! He's not even "in the trailer"! ha ha

I tell you our prayer meeting tonight was powerful, especially our group prayer time when we all gathered in a circle and lifted high the name of Jesus despite the enemy trying to destroy us all and our church. **Comically enough, yours truly (Ms. Joyful Noise herself) led the pack at the end of group prayer in a verse of "How Great is Our God". Imagine the surprise when we opened our eyes and found the police officer (who had been called to take the report) standing there waiting on us. Poor guy...bet his ears will never be the same. ha ha**

We appreciate your prayers...please pray for our church during this time. Pray for my husband, Jim (the Pastor of CCF). Also, pray for 'the person or persons' who stole our trailer. We pray that whatever their situation may be that during this time they will come to know The Lord as a result and surrender their lives to Him.

We have an incredible group of people at CCF and we will continue to trust in the Lord and in His provisions during this trial. (Count it all joy, right?) We will hold to our faith and keep pressing on in the name of Jesus. We pray for The Lord to be glorified.

New use for a Math book?

Who said home schooled kids are not creative? As you can see, three weeks into school and Jordyn has found a new use for her 'much dreaded' Algebra 2 book. I think she looks rather cute as she strikes a pose.

Our family has been invited to take part in a Mission Conference in MD. In addition to leading P&W with her dad, Jordyn has been asked to speak and share a few songs with the youth group during one of the break-out session. Needless to say, she is a tad bit nervous. But God is so good! He has been preparing her the past two weeks during her Humanities Class (in Richmond once a week for four hours) with public speaking-style presentations. If you think of Jordyn, pray for her to have God's peace as she speaks and shares from her heart!!.