Blowing out some candles....

...Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

• I'm not 40, I'm simply eighteen with 22 years experience.
• Life begins at 40 -- but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times. - William Feather
• Few women admit their age. Few men act theirs.
• Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young.
• The best years of a woman’s life - the ten years between 39 and 40.
• Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.
• Women deserve to have more than twelve years between the ages of twenty eight and forty. - James Thurber.
• We don't understand life any better at forty than at twenty, but we know it and admit it. - Jules Renard
• At age 20, we worry about what others think of us. At 40, we don't care what they think of us. At 60, we discover they haven't been thinking of us at all. - Ann Landers
• Life begins at forty. ~ W.B. Pitkin
  

Ready or not...Merry CHRISTmas

Christmas Eve. Ahhh..Deep sigh of peace, excitement. It is here. Ready or not. Time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. My Lord and Savior. I love Christmas and I love celebrating his birth. This year, as one of my early Christmas presents, I was given something precious to my heart. I have wanted one for years and about a week ago someone dear to me insisted I open my Christmas present “early”. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why I needed it early, unless of course, it was Maggie Moos ice cream and would melt. Much to my delight here is what I found in the beautiful package:

A menorah. Awesome, huh? I am not Jewish, as a matter of fact I am as Gentile as you can get. However, as a Christian I have always been very interested and fascinated in Jewish Culture and History. After all, I believe Jesus is the Messiah. The Anointed One who fulfilled the prophecies and is the promised son of David. Though I love the New Testament and read the Bible as a complete book, I have a tendency to favor the Old Testament (please no hate emails..thanks!). I love to study Jewish history and I have a great love for Jewish people as well as Israel. I guess if I had a bucket list (which I don’t) two things listed would be to get a degree in the study of the Old Testament and to learn Hebrew (of course Greek too). But for now, I am happy to study the OT as best as I can. Oh the joy to read the prophecies of the OT and see how Jesus fulfilled them.

One thing I recently did this past week was to re-study Hanukkah. The origins of this celebration and I even read some history from the book of the Macabees from the Apocrypha. Then I concluded with reading the passage where Jesus himself was at the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah). In a nutshell, if Jesus celebrated it and it was part of his life then I want to know more!! Jesus Messiah!!

I thank the Lord for sending His Son to a lowly manger in order to die for our sins. Merry Christmas!

Isaiah 9:2-7 (Amplified Bible)
2The people who walked in darkness have seen a great Light; those who dwelt in the land of intense darkness and the shadow of death, upon them has the Light shined.(A)
3You [O Lord] have multiplied the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before You like the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil [of battle].
4For the yoke of [Israel's] burden, and the staff or rod for [goading] their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, You have broken as in the day of [Gideon with] Midian.
5For every [tramping] warrior's war boots and all his armor in the battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father [of Eternity], Prince of Peace.
7Of the increase of His government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from the [latter] time forth, even forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

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!