Cactus Flower

As I wash dishes, as I lie in bed waiting for sleep, as I ride my bike or as I sit waiting for my husband on a bench these are sweet memories that often come to mind: The time a bunch of us girls were sitting on the front deck of one of my uncle’s boats.  We lived in Baltimore, MD at the time near the Chesapeake Bay.   I think it was Uncle Gene's. We wandered into the shipping channels for some reason and got into the wake of a large ship. We were all sitting on the bow and grabbed onto whatever we could find. I was clutching the hatch with my fingernails for all I was worth. The wave covered the whole bow and us as well. There were a few moments before we hit the other side of the wave, but not enough time to run back around the boat and down to safety. We all jumped for the rails and wrapped our legs and arms all around to hold on better for the second one.  We lived!  Boy, were we scared! My Grandma Beckner's crazy little dog that would take a fit and run...

This is a very special story written for my three little nephews who live in Southern Brazil very far from where I live up in the Northeast of Bahia.  I hope you all remember this special day. Once upon a time there were three little brothers who lived in a far away place called Mountain Valley.  The three little brothers were the only sons of a man and woman who were getting ready to travel to a far off country.  They were going to be missionaries in a place were many people needed to hear about God and the Bible.  The three little boys had a crazy old aunt who was home from that same far away country.  She and her husband happened to have three sons just like the man and woman.  She and her husband were missionaries just like the man and woman, too.  They had been living in the far away country for many years and had never gotten to meet the three little boys before. One day while in the place near Mountain Valley where the missionary ...

I plan to post some old letters about our trips across Brazil over the years.  Traveling here is always an adventure.  Once when we lived in Fortaleza and all the boys were little I decided it would be neat to travel with some of our church members to the interior village where many had grown up.  Every year in January there was a mass exodus of people from our church being the month of vacations here in Brazil.  As I have been going through old photos lately, I also found this old letter about one of my trips to the backwoods of Ceará.  I believe the trip mentioned in this note took place in 2001.  The boys and I went back a few other times as well.  Each time was a wonderful experience for each of us! William, Taiana, and an interior cousin This was taken on another trip to Tia Neide's wedding. Dear Ones, I was invited to go interior with some of our Joao XXIII church members. Many of the people in our work all come from in and around the same ...

Mother's Day, 2009 Chamblissburg Baptist Church Bedford County, Virginia My mother, Ilawyn Mullennax Beckner, won the award for most grandchildren present in the morning worship service.  She had all 6 of her grandchildren present and accounted for - all boys, all missionary children - MK's.  She also had both of her children and their spouses with her. Both of her children are missionaries to the country of Brazil.  Both families are currently on the field.  This Mother's Day, Dad and Mom will go to church with no sons and daughters present and no grand boys to accompany them.  Oh, what a sad day!  No, it won't be sad!  Mom and Dad will be glad that they have raised their children well.  They can sit back and know they did their job!  They prayed and worked to see their son and daughter grow up to serve the Lord in full-time work.  But how do a father and  a mother send their children and all of thetr grandchildren off to a ...

Yesterday morning some of my "regular customers" came by to see if I had anything good to give away.  Reminded me of this story from a few years ago... Today, of all days, I had a beggar. He just wanted something to eat. We have lots of beggars here in Brazil.  Sometimes they seem to have a shopping list up their sleeve - Do you have any ... wait, wait, um ... coffee?  Okay, no coffee, well, how about some old clothes.  I usually help about one beggar a week.  Some are regular customers.  If I just plain don't have anything, I just tell them and suggest they come back some other day.  I try to be kind and do my best to be helpful.  I do not give money.  On this particular day my morning had not been going real well and I was trying to get lunch ready.  I had the ingredients for a new recipe I wanted to try for lunch, but my cupboards were a little bare otherwise.  I decided to give Mr. Beggar Man my nicest sob story about having ...

Tossed about on the sea of life. Tossed like a leaf in the wind. Tossed by people, circumstances and strife. Tossed with no meaning or hope to find.   Someone spoke the truth in love. Someone reached down from heights above. Someone gave His life for me. Someone came and set me free. Free from deceit and the plotting of men. Free from the futile winds of life. Free from the hurts and pain, and then... Free to grow and live in Him.   To grow in Christ and find true peace. To grow in Christ and know sweet release. To grow in fullness, renewing the mind. To grow up in all things, finally His peace is mine. Based on Ephesians 4:9-24 This original poem was written in September of 2007 in Sobradinho, Brazil.  The flower above is the first to blossom of some zinnias I recently planted in my little garden just outside my back door.  I am so thankful for growth.  To learn from past mistakes and to reach out to new things is a blessing....

Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take:  when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. This verse has been a favorite of mine since I was a teenager. When I was a high school senior at a Christian school in Virginia, Job 23:10 was chosen as our class theme verse. At our graduation commencement, the valedictorian and saludatorian in their addresses that day divided the verse in its two natural parts as a basis for the core of each one's address. I was the salutatorian of my senior class that year.  I chose to speak of how God would one day reward our faithfulness and thus, we should always strive to remain true. For many years though, the first part of the verse haunted me in a way. As a missionary especially when times were lonely or difficult, I assumed it was my "trial" or "test," and as such must be accepted in all humility. As I have grown older, I have begun to look more toward the pearly gates and have reconsidered the thr...