prayer requests

From time to time I am going to post this image. When you see it, feel free to leave your prayer request in the comment section. If you are not comfortable doing so, please feel free to email me at andreabeam@live.com. It is always good when you can share your requests with others and a lot of times, it reminds me that I am not alone in some of my battles.

I'll go ahead and share one of mine now. I am working very late every night (at home now that I have a new laptop!) preparing my portfolio of writing. I am sending many devotionals to several different magazines in an attempt to get them published. I would GREATLY appreciate your prayers! My hope is that I can eventually write as a full-time job. I have been writing articles/reviews for different Internet companies and making a small amount of extra cash, and while I am thankful for that, my desire is to phase out of the world of education in the (probably distant) future. It's just a goal as of now. Thank you so much for joining me...PLEASE let me know how I can pray for all of you!

We are home from Gatlinburg!! I will not be able to resume posting devotions until after the holidays. We are SUPER busy around our house preparing for Santa and other family functions!

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas so far!

sabbatical

I wanted to let everyone know that I am going on a MUCH NEEDED vacation with my husband and our son! I am soooo very excited! We are going to Gatlinburg until Friday. I will not have my laptop with me and I will not be answering my phone! So, devotions will resume after the holiday break!

So, I hope that everyone has a FABULOUS Christmas!!

DO NOT FEED THE ALLIGATORS!!!

Recently my mom and I took my son to Hilton Head for a long weekend. It was awesome! The weather was beautiful and the ocean was breathtaking, as usual. The condo we stayed in was equally as nice.

I had only one concern while there...

These signs were EVERYWHERE! Literally, they were posted on every corner of the grounds. Apparently, the alligators made their home in every body of water within the resort. Before I go any further, I'll tell you that we did not end up seeing any alligators. Thank goodness!

One afternoon, JP and I went for a walk. He was a little apprehensive about walking around the lake. I explained to him how there was nothing to be afraid of. We just needed to be cautious. I went on to say that the only way we would be attacked by the alligator is if we actually jumped into the water.

How stupid would that be?! With all the signs and warnings, who in the world would do that? (You can probably imagine what God had to say to me at this point!)

As Christians, we DAILY tread alongside Satan's murky waters. They are so filthy, most of the time we are not able to see what lies beneath. We do not need to see...God can! He places signs all around us warning us not to swim. And yet, somehow we are surprised when we are snapped up into the jaws of the reptile!

DO NOT SWIM!

STAY CLEAR OF THE WATER!

DO NOT FEED THE ALLIGATORS!

It would serve us well to pay close attention to the signs! The price of wading in the water with Satan will cost you a lot more than a $10,000 fine!

just because you can't see Him...

"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

John 3:8 (NAS)

I am always amused at how God chooses to speak to me. Could it be that if I spent more consistent time in the Word with Him, He would not have to go to such lengths to get my attention?!

Don't answer that!

My husband went to see the Carolina Panthers play today. (Courtesy of a SWEET friend!) He's not a die-hard fan of the Panthers, but he is a die-hard football fan. So, he was very excited to watch a NFL game live in their stadium. While he was gone, JP and I cleaned around the house a little and helped Nanny put the ornaments on her tree. When we came home, I put him in the bathtub and then we watched the Elf on the Shelf movie for the FIFTEENTH time! I'll admit, I was BARELY listening. I was just enjoying my five year old snuggling in my lap!

For those of you who are not familiar with the Elf on the Shelf, he is an Elf who comes to "live" in your home a few weeks before Christmas. Each night, while you're sleeping, he flies to the North Pole to report to Santa on your behavior. Good or bad. When you wake up each morning, he has moved to another location in your house and you have to find him. It is really cool! There is ONE rule, though. YOU CANNOT TOUCH HIM! He will lose his magic and will not be able to fly! How devastating that would be! Or, at least it would in my house!

In the movie, the older brother is having a hard time believing in Santa. In an attempt to "test" the Elf's powers, he dares him to fly around the room before his finger reaches his hat. Of course the Elf does not move, so the boy knocks him to the ground. You may be asking yourself the same question I did about this time in the movie...Why did the Elf not just fly? Well, after falling, his Elf friends sneak up and return him to the North Pole. Turns out, he had the same argument I did. "Why can I not just fly around the room and show him my powers?! It would be so easy and then Tommy would believe!" He screams in frustration. *This is the good part* The girl Elf looks at him, appalled that he even had to ask, and says, "You know you cannot do that! It is important that people not have to SEE Christmas magic to believe in it. It is something you feel inside your heart. That's when you TRULY believe."

How profound.

To me, God is sort of like that. I shouldn't have to SEE Him to know He's there. Yet, too often, I ask Him to "prove" Himself to me. I want Him to PROVE to me that He's listening. It is easy to believe God exists and loves us when we see Him working around us. It's not until things turn bad, or don't go our way that we question His "magic." I am thankful that God used this cute movie to remind me tonight that just because I may not feel His strong hand or see Him working, it doesn't mean He's not!

Just like the Christmas "magic," I can feel Christ in my heart. That's all I need to know to TRULY believe.

P.S. If you have young children, the Elf on the Shelf is a GREAT investment! He comes in a box with a book to read. It explains the story of the Elf. As a parent, I HIGHLY recommend it!

coming soon.....

Things have been CUH-RAZY at my house this week!! Man, Satan has been working OVERTIME! I have a devotion I want to share with you guys, so be patient with me, please!

I hope everyone is doing well...

re-post

* This is another re-post from my family blog. I thought that it would be an appropriate post here at Christmas time. I wrote this in honor of my cousin, Jonathan.*


We've probably all wondered before what we will see when we get to Heaven. I know I have. Well, I saw a glimpse of it tonight. We had the opportunity to go to the Christmas program at a local church. My uncle is the minister of music and my cousin, Jonathan, was making his drama debut as a Wise Man! We heard through the grapevine that Jonathan was so excited he had trouble sleeping the night before. I had to see this! Jonathan has special needs. He has a hearing impairment and learns differently than most. I don't have enough time to type out how special he is to our family, or all of his challenging abilities. However, what I can tell you is that EVERYTHING Jonathan sets out to do, he does it with excellence! Everything is important to him. Well, tonight was no different.

I was on my way back from the nursery about to take my seat when I saw him standing in the dark hallway awaiting his cue.... It wasn't hard to recognize him even though he was disguised in a beard and sandals. He was the most handsome of the three. No offense to the others! I found my seat just in time to watch the Wise Men make their way down the isle...towards the manger. Jonathan only has full use of his left hand. With that hand, he carried his gift to the Baby Jesus. He completed his mission with pride! He stood on the church platform proudly for more than half an hour with the rest of the cast making us all proud!

I was reminded tonight of how we all look different to God. We all come to Him carrying different gifts. None are the same. I may be blessed enough to carry my gifts with TWO hands, however, when I reach the Throne, all that matters is that I've brought my best. Like any other church Christmas program, I am sure that countless hours went in to the preparation. Some of the participants may have filled in for someone or decided to join at the last minute. Some may have felt obligated to join. I don't know. What I do know is that for Jonathan it was a precious honor that he did not take lightly. He carried his gift to Jesus with his whole heart. Jonathan has traveled a very long and difficult road to get to where he is today. Thankfully, he is oblivious to a lot of what has taken place. He's always just been happy. He loves God and his family. He loves life. I could learn a lot from Jonathan.....

He really is a Wise Man!

out of the mouths of.....smurfs?!

My son and I watched the Smurf Christmas Carol movie this morning. It was pretty cute. Aside from the obvious "cuteness", there was also a very profound lesson in it.

Grouchy smurf hates Christmas. In an attempt to find out where his hatred originated from, he is visited by the infamous three spirits. Christmas past, present and Christmas future.

Grouchy has asked Papa smurf for a hang glider every year. And every year, along with the other smurfs, he receives a new hat. And so begins the bitterness. "I hate Christmas!" Grouchy exclaims as he storms off to his mushroom hut.

Later in the movie, when Grouchy is visited by the ghost of Christmas present, he finds out that Papa smurf makes the smurf hats by hand and has tailored them specifically for each individual smurf. At the end of the movie when Grouchy resumes his yearly duty of hanging the star on the top of the tree, he falls from the ladder. While falling, his hat balloons up and he glides through the air. A hang glider. While it's true that Papa smurf didn't buy Grouchy an actual hang glider, the hat Papa made for him serves the same purpose.

If you watch the movie, you will also see that because he hates Christmas, Grouchy refuses to hang the star on the tree. This causes a ripple effect. Clumsy smurf knocks over the whole tree while trying to hang the star. The tree falls on the power lines and the lights go out in the whole village. My point? It's two-fold. 1) God may not always give us what we ask for, but like Papa smurf, He has uniquely tailored special gifts for each one of his children. 2.) God also has a job for all of us to fulfill. When we do not do our assigned part, it alters His original plan.

The point of me watching this movie with my son was to spend time with him and get into the Christmas spirit. I left having been reminded of a much more valuable lesson. Thank You, Lord, for speaking to me...

...out of the mouths of Smurfs!

mount up with wings like eagles

*The following is a re-post from my jpbeamer blog. I wrote it while I was waiting for my adoption to be over. I was waiting on JP and I was MISERABLE! I wanted to re post it for two reasons. 1) It means so much to me and represents a time in my life that I will never forget. 2) It is appropriate for this time in my life as well. I remember those LONG days of waiting, and at the time I thought it was the most painful thing I would ever go through. Unfortunately, I was wrong.*

There is a reason the Bible refers to eagles so many times. Did you know that during a storm eagles fly straight up in the air until they rise above it? It's not always easy for them. They struggle, but they never stop flying. Their goal is to get through it. How easy would it be for them to hide out somewhere in a tree or something? Avoiding the storm is not an option. With the wings God has given them, they fly right through it.When eagles get sick they fly to the top of a rock. Once there, they lie on their backs, spread their wings and allow the sun to beat down on their chest. The sun drains the poison out of their bodies.

Eagles are very smart birds. According to what I have learned about them, they are definitely smarter than me! The first thing they do when there's trouble is fly straight up. When they are not feeling well, they go straight to the rock. They understand where their energy comes from.I do not always do that. Sure, I know the Source of my power, but I do not always utilize it. I am in the middle of a storm right now and I am having trouble flying. I would rather hide out somewhere until it's over. How can I change this? I should probably start by planting myself on the Rock. While I'm there, I need to stand under the Son with outstretched arms and allow Him to fill me with His strength.That is my prayer for myself and all of my friends who are flying through this storm with me.

We need to find the Rock and place ourselves under the Son!

"..but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."
Isaiah 40:31

God is beautiful

I love the scenery at the beach. You noticed, I'm sure, that I have a slight obsession with seagulls. I think they are so pretty and interesting.

We had such a nice time. The weather was perfect. Things have been so crazy around our house over this past year. It's been so easy to lose focus. So often I miss God. I found Him on Hilton Head Island. He was all around me.

Thank You, Lord, for allowing me to enjoy Your beauty this weekend. I needed to see You. What a precious gift...

We had a great time in Hilton Head! I will upload my pictures tonight or tomorrow! Stay tuned for pics of beautiful scenery!

If you are interested in pictures of my mom, my son and I, you can click here. If you own a time share or would be interested in reading a review of our resort, click here.

I hope everyone is having a happy Monday!!

This is a picture I took this summer while on vacation with my husband's family. I love the ocean. To me, it is one of God's most amazing creations. So strong and powerful, and yet peaceful and calming at the same time.

My son, JP, and I are heading down to Hilton Head tomorrow for the weekend. I am really looking forward to getting out of town for a few days. It is a much needed mini-getaway. While I am there, I plan on taking lots of pictures of the beach. I will post them on here for you to see. If you are like me, you love to marvel at God's artwork.

So, stay tuned and join me in praying for safe travel!

thankful

We've established that life can be hard at times. However, even during the rough times, I can usually find something to be thankful for.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought I would share with you some things that I am thankful for in my life.

God- Without Him, I do not know where I would be. Well, I do...I just don't want to think about it. I am so thankful for the sacrifice He made when He offered His Son for MY sins.

My husband- I've been with Scott for ten years now. It has been a very long and bumpy road. We've made it through financial woes, one medical trauma after another, adoption, and the normal day to day stresses. He is my best friend and I love him more now than I did ten years ago. (And he probably won't even read this, so I really do mean that.)

JP- Where do I begin? I remember sitting in the swing on my front porch crying my eyes out while waiting for this little guy. The anxiety and anticipation and pain that accompanies International Adoption seems, at times, unbearable. But, oh the joy that floods your heart when you have them in your arms. Finally. He is so smart. So thoughtful and kind. So unique. He is the bright spot in all my days. (And the reason I went back on my anxiety meds, but I digress...) Ha!

Family- To say that I am close to my family would be quite the understatement. I am not sure how I would "do" life without them. Let's just say I do not have to look too far to see God. He shows Himself daily in our lives. I wouldn't want to share this earthly journey with anyone else. We are crazy, and at times very dysfunctional, but I love every minute I spend with them. And this also includes my in laws, and my extended family! Each person holds a very special place in my heart and I am very blessed and thankful that there are too many to list. Thank You, God.

Friends- I do not take for granted that I have been blessed with great friends. Most people are fortunate enough to go through life with a best friend. At least one. Sometimes two. God has, once again, gone overboard in this department. I have several handfuls of REALLY GOOD FRIENDS and several I would consider BEST friends. These friends bring out the better part of me. I love each of them and the uniqueness they add to my world.

Church- I love my church. I love it because I have not been able to be as active as I would have liked to be over this past year and they understand. My church knows that Jesus is more important than activities and calendars. They understand that family is top priority and there are seasons in life when serving doesn't always take place within the walls of the church. There is a reason my church is growing by leaps and bounds. It's because it is good. Really good.

Well, there you go. Please understand this is not the complete list of things I am thankful for. I could go on. And on. I would like to encourage you to sit down and make a list of your blessings. You may be surprised at how many there are. When you're done, post it somewhere in your home and read it often.

I promise it will make you smile!

Ephesians 5:20
"Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ..."

Devotions will resume when I am feeling better! It appears that the stomach bug has hit me...UGH!

I have been trying for a WEEK now to post the lyrics to Laura Story's song, Blessings. Every time I've tried to copy and paste them, they disappear. It's weird. I will continue to try and post them, because it's worth the work! Have you heard the song? If not, I encourage you to go to You Tube and watch, or Google the lyrics. It is truly an amazing song.

At this point in our lives, the words in the song REALLY hit home with my family. With everything that's gone on physically with Laurie (my sister) and Scott (my husband), it is easy to miss the blessing. It is overshadowed by the pain. I'm sure you've been there. You may be there now.

I have no advice. No profound thoughts on the subject. All I can do is give you a homework assignment.

FIND THE SONG AND LISTEN TO IT. Today! You'll be very glad you did.

intersection of the unexpected

"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord."

1Thessalonians 4:16-17

I love this verse. It reminds me of the prize. The ending. It serves as a reminder that we were not created for this world. It should be no surprise that we do not fit in. Sure, we have friends, family and joyous times, but ultimately this world is harsh. Sad. And a lot of people are just plain unhappy. I've been there. I know people who are there right now.

Seasons of pain or unhappiness are never planned. I venture to say that no one wakes up in the morning praying that things will NOT go their way. No one I know prays for the accident to happen or the cancer to come back. No one goes to work each day in hopes that it is their last. But, nevertheless, it happens.

The unexpected.

The question is, how do we deal with it when it comes? Jesus told us in His Word to, "Cast all our cares upon Him..." Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong. It's not easy at all. We want to handle things on our own strength. On our own time table. I know I do. Problem is, we were not meant to. Before Eve took a bite of the apple, our only job on this earth was to worship God. That hasn't changed. The only thing that did change was that sin came into the world. And boy did it mess things up!!

There is a reason Jesus woke up early in the morning to pray and spend time with His Father. All of us WILL find ourselves at the intersection of the unexpected. Could it be that when we are in constant communication with Him, it makes the drive a little less dreadful. Makes sense to me.

I enjoy traveling a lot more when I have someone to share the drive with.

Lord, help me to meet with you each morning before getting into my "car." It's been proven that I am a terrible driver. I need your help. Thank you for your Son and your Spirit. Amen.

Book Review

*While you are so patiently waiting for my computer to cooperate with the uploading of a devotion, I thought I would provide you with a book review. *



I STRONGLY recommend this book. I read it this summer while at the beach. It is a very easy read and VERY powerful. I read it in ONE day! Basically it is about a little boy who had a major surgery and went to Heaven while in the operating room. I do not want to share too much, but the book is filled with stories from his journey. If you do believe in Heaven, Christ and the presence of angels in our daily lives, this book will grab your heart. Heaven Is For Real will challenge your walk and your life will be blessed as a result. I promise.

My laptop will not let me upload the content I am using for my next devotion. I will have to use another computer. Normally it's no problem to use the one at my parent's house, but things have been crazy the past couple of days. Our little Preston (my nephew) has been sick and I have been pitching in to help with him.

So....stay tuned!

Shovelin' Dirt

My son, JP, loves to play outside. I love to sit on our porch steps and watch him run around the front yard. At some point, we usually end up playing a game of chase or hide and seek. Today, he wanted me to help him dig a hole in the dirt so that he could bury one of his toys. And by "toy" I mean a bundle of drinking straws. Don't ask! Being the lazy mom that I am, (after working all day), I protested. Being the persistent five year old little boy that he is, he won. He handed me a shovel and we began to dig. Once the hole appeared, JP threw the "toy" down and we covered it up. He was pleased.

I just stood there. No more hole. The ground looked as if it had never even been tampered with. No one would ever know that there was a toy buried beneath it's surface. If you were passing by, all you would see is dirt.

What do people see when they look at me? Would anyone ever guess that I had something, or in this case Someone, living beneath my surface? Or do I blend in with my surroundings. When we become children of God, He takes His shovel and cleans out all of our trash. He fills in the hole with His precious Son and covers us up with the Holy Spirit. A transformation takes place. We are different. At least we are suppose to be. That should be our goal.

When people cross our path, they should see more than just dirt.

Season of Blah

Ecclesiastes 3:1 "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven..."

Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Out of the four seasons, I think my favorite is Fall. I love to drive through the mountains as the leaves are changing. That's part of the reason I love living in South Carolina. You can drive one way, three hours or less, and be on the ocean. OR, you can drive forty five minutes and be in the mountains. What a blessing.

There are also spiritual seasons. You've heard of them. Here are a few:

• Fired-up! This is the season in your walk when you are the closest to God. You set aside a specific time in your day when you spend one on one time with your Maker. You let nothing get in the way. You long for it. Your day is blessed because of it.


• Consistent- During this time, you may not be beating people over the head with scripture references, but you sit with God each day and pray without ceasing. You are able to hear God when He speaks, or see Him throughout your day to day activities. Although you're busy, you are reminded of Him often.


• Distant- Life gets in the way. We find ourselves drowning in our jobs, our families and sometimes even in church activities. Before you know it, you have floated so far away from God in the sea of life, you have trouble seeing Him. Unfortunately, when you find yourself in this season, it takes some time before you realize just how far you've drifted. You're too busy to notice.

Sound familiar? It does to me. I have lived in every single one. I would like to add one more to the mix. The season of BLAH. I'm there now. I'm not even sure how to describe it. I guess if I had to define this season using only one word, it would be nothing. I know how I ended up here. I flew in on the coat tail of my husband's recent illness. Due to his extensive medical issues over the past year, my family has gotten out of the habit of attending church and being involved each week. Don't get me wrong, I am not one that thinks church attendance equals salvation. It doesn't. However, for the first time in my life, I can see why it is so important to God for us to BELONG to a body of believers. When you allow yourself to drop the "habit" (for lack of a better word) of meeting together each week, satan will use that to slither himself into other areas of your walk.

So, spiritually I am in a very blah place. I do not like it here. It has to change. We will be at church this Sunday. Step one.

What season are you in?

Shhh!

"Be still and know that I am God..." Psalm 46:10

I have a five year old son. I love him with my whole heart. Sometimes it even physically hurts. He is the most precious thing. He is kind-hearted, mannerly, smart, handsome, HILARIOUS, and very spirited. My husband, Scott, and I prayed for him for several years, (before we knew who he was), and finally brought him home from Guatemala in the summer of 2007. He is the light in our lives.

Having said that, HE NEVER SHUTS UP! Seriously...never. He talks from the moment his little head rises from the pillow to the time it falls back down at night. Don't get me wrong, I love talking with my child. But what parent doesn't long for a moment of peace from time to time. Most of the time I wonder why I even bother speaking to him. He rarely hears what I have to say. In fact, pretty much the only time he crawls up in my lap and intently listens is when there is something in it for him, or when he wants something from me. I know, I know, we all know what this sounds like. Every 5 year old child in the world. Right?

Wrong.

It hit me tonight while I was getting him dressed and ready for bed. While this behavior IS typical of most 5 year old children, it is also very typical of most Christians. Think about it. How often do we shut up and really listen to God? I don't know about you, but I can tell you that I tend to "crawl up in His lap" and really listen when I need something from Him. Just like my son. I am always telling my husband that I would give anything if JP would just stop talking for ONE MINUTE and just listen to me.

I wonder how often God says the same thing about His daughter.

Father, I know that I am not a very good listener. Remind me, daily, to "be still.." in Your Presence and listen for Your voice.

Hello!!

Okay, here it is...my blog for devotionals! I have to say though, you are going to have to hang in there with me..it is a work in progress. I am playing with the design and I'm getting very frustrated because the blog site is different. I am not happy with the blog color, so that will definitely change.

Please be patient with me!

There are so many new things going on with me right now. I am aggressively pursuing different freelance writing jobs. I have several good leads that I am excited about. I say that because I am so busy in the evenings. Because of this, I do not have any type of schedule drawn up for this new site. I would love to tell you that I will post a devotion every single day, but as of now, I do not want to commit to that. For now, I will promise to update at least every couple of days. As I get my other jobs organized, I will hopefully post every day. That will be my goal.

This is new to me, so please let me hear from you. I would love to know who you are and how you learned of this site. You can also email me at andreabeam@live.com or abeam@greenville.k12.sc.us.

Thanks for clicking on and I look forward to "Walking in Grace" with you!