Rick Beeman

I didn’t get to sleep til about 5a last night. I guess I didn’t want to face the fact of waking up alone again, but its inevitable for the time being. Jennifer woke me up about seven hours later in London. We spoke for a few minutes then she had to board her connection for another seven hour flight. Fifty years ago, this relationship simply would not have been possible. Now, half world away, by images and voice, we were able to find each other. Of course since it was God’s ultimate will for Jennifer and I to be together, Im sure we would have happened upon each other some other way. I mentioned this before and it bears repeating, because its kind of funny. If its God’s will for Jennifer and I to be together now, then why didn’t we just get married the first time around and to have each of us avoid our respective divorces? Well I don’t have the definitive answer for that. Maybe its as simple as God wanting to create three beautiful kids. The complicated answer is when I got ...

It’s 2:20 am and I just got home after dropping Jennifer off at the airport. The past day was a fitting conclusion to what is arguably the best two weeks of my life. Jennifer is everything I hoped she would be and a little bit more. I know that I know that I know that she is the one that God has made for me in this time in my life. We finished off the trip in grand fashion. My mother graciously offered to put us up in the Ritz Carlton hotel for our last night (now Im sure my sisters are jealous, especially Shari thinking…Where’s mine?) But before you go thinking anything, Jennifer and I have spent a lot of time together and we both agreed to wait for appropriate actions until we are married. Ohterwise I’d just be a big hypocrite (as others have accused me of being.) So far so good. It hit me yesterday around 3:00 PM, my life has come full circle…finally. It was September 2005 and I was at the San Francisco Airport about to board a flight for Saudi Arabia. It was clear that Go...

The reality hit us both earlier today. We only have four days left together this time around. It was a strange feeling that swept over both of us. We were sitting a five star Indian restaurant and we started crying. It was bizarre, we are so in love with each other yet the reality of our lives were hitting home. We’re not sure when we’re going to see each other again. We are totally committed to each other and long to be with each other again, we just don’t know when it will be. Jenni has to finish her dissertation, get a new roof on her house, take care of her dogs, figure out a job situation and I need a bit more resolution on my career. So there is so much to figure out over the next couple of months. I think I heard God tell me the other day that everything would be resolved in two months. Im not sure if I heard him correctly but it gives me something to shoot for. So that would be around April 23. I can manage until April 23. Even though Jennifer and I will be separat...

It was December 2008 I believe or somewhere around that date. I blogged about it. I had a few people even comment (AJB among others) to ask me what it was. I had just met Reji and we hit it off immediately. Which is rather strange since English is not his strong suit. Im constantly having to ask him to repeat himself. He doesn’t really open his lips when he talks. That said…His English is much better than my Hindi. So Reji had a connection because he used to read John Osteen’s books (Joel’s father) in fact he like John much better than Joel. When we found out that we were both believers with a connection with Osteen, we both became very excited. How does this happen half-way across the world? Well it happens with God and divine connections. So Reji felt like he had a word from God. He told it to me and I got really angry. He told me that I’d be reconciled with my family. I was finally over my emotional pain and now he told me that I’d be reconciled? I didn’t want to sho...

I want to apologize for not posting the blog lately, but my priorities were in a different order. I wound up going to Dubai with Jennifer. What a great experience that was. Jennifer Im finding is a truly different and wonderful girl. She has a genius level intellect, almost beyond genius. She is like rocket scientist type of smart. When you compare that to her quirky sense of humor, love for God, athletic body, and breathtaking smile you don’t have to look far to why I fell hard for her. But with like most super-geniuses they have their set of quirks. Jennifer is no different. We all have our little quirks. I think its God plan to match us with mates that help us deal with our own quirks. I know I have mine and Jennifer is helping me with them. The more time I spend with Jennifer the more I realize that she is the perfect one for me. She will be a little higher maintenance than most, but the performance will be that much better. I liken her to a Ferrari. I’ve told her th...

We arrive in Dubai and quickly immigrate into the UAE. Flying Business class with the Emirates is quite nice. But sadly, the quick entry into the country was the last thing that was expedited on our trip. I stood and watched the bags go round and round the turnstyle. Eventually new bags were no longer being spurned out from the hole, and still, no sight of the bag. I start to panic a bit. Rick and I packed our things into one bag so we had nothing but the laptops on our back. So we talk to customer service. All we get is told there is a 90% chance our bags are somewhere in Dubai and a 10% chance it never made the flight. Being the skeptical statistician that I am, I doubt these numbers are anything more than grabbed out of thin air to satisfy a worried passenger. I was not convinced. Where was her data to back this up? She had none. Clearly she didn't realize who she was dealing with, but i was so happy. Am so happy. I don't care. I didn't fight or fuss. I just accepted it...

Its getting harder and harder to write in this blog. Yet I feel like I still need to write in it as there are amazing things happening to me. Historic and poetic things. Im so grateful for the life that I’m living right now. God is truly faithful. I am having so much fun with Jennifer right now. We truly are living a fairytale. The article in the paper came out today. I have so many friends and associates commenting on it. They all have so many wonderful things to say. Its not front page…but its page 3 at the top, that is the best part of the paper so its featured. You have to know something about Bahrain. No one watched TV here so all the information is done through the newspaper. So this type of coverage is fantastic. There is even a little mention in the paper about “God directing my steps.” Which is a cool way to witness. I hope this doesn’t come across as egotistical, because I really am humbled by all the attention. But I have gained a lot of notoriety and press s...

The day started off really well. We had the interview scheduled with the newspaper at 9:00 am. The reporter was late so the photographer wound up taking a bunch of pictures. He was trying to pick my brain about being a director, and I tried my best to help him with a few tricks of the trade. Mainly its confidence that you need. We have had so many pictures taken of us over the last three days. I would say, between the airport proposal, the Palm Ball, The Arabites video shoot, and the interview today we’ve probably had over 500 pictures taken of us since Jennifer got here. Im not sure why, but I think we’ve captured the imagination of a lot of people. Ours is truly an amazing fairy tale. Im touched because I’ve had dozens of friends wish me congratulations and other wonderful tales of encouragement. This blog has had its normal hits tripled over the course of the past week. If I can have a bigger forum to talk about God…all the better. Its like so many people are living vic...

By the way. If you would like to see some of the photos at the airport they can be seen on my facebook page. If we aren't friends, send me a friend request. Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=196053&id=751722138&l=bb33975053

What a great couple of days it has been. I haven’t been writing as much because I haven’t had the free time. Right now Jennifer is making Lasagna for tomorrow’s night Small group. So I decided to get away for a bit. But the funny thing about Jennifer is she just can’t get away from me. As Im walking around the flat she just tends to follow wherever I go. I think its really cute. Its just indicative to how we can’t get enough of each other. Im really crazy about this girl. She’s perfect for me. On Friday we went to church so she met all of my church friends. I have a lot of different grouping of friends here. As we were leaving I introduced her to Pastor Graeme. Once I told him that she was a statistician he got very excited. He had been looking for a statistician to study the church’s giving history to see if there are any trends so he can make the budget for the church for future years. It was a total divine connection. He needed someone and its like Jenni dropped out o...

What an amazing weekend it has been. I appreciate all the congratulatory emails that I have received over the past weekend. It really is nice that all of you are on this amazing ride with me. As Jenni and I have decided to continue our lives together, we have decided that ultimately we'll merge the blogs too. Jenni is probably a better writer than me, which kind of sucks since I bill myself as a professional writer, plus Im not an expert on statistics either. In fact there is a lot of things that Jennifer does better than me, perhaps that is one of the reasons why i chose her as she will help me improve myself. One thing that Jennifer is attracted to me is the size of my heart. I have a lot of love to give. So here is the blog where she posted today. 12 FEBRUARY 2010 I said yes.... Arriving in Bahrain was quite a blur. I arrived to Heathrow at about 8AM London time and found my gate. After finding my gate, I went to the bathroom and took my time changing my clothes and try...

My life has been pretty dramatic as most of you faithful readers know. But I believe I am a living, breathing testimony to God’s faithfulness. So since Im a writer, and since my life has been so full of drama (some of it self-inflicted) I wanted to do something bold, fairytale-like as I am in the process of going after the happily ever after part. It really didn’t hit me that Jennifer was arriving later in the day until I told the girls in my office. They got so excited for me. They really like me, and they so want for me to be happy. I didn’t get hardly anything done of note today (don’t tell Nader). I planned on getting everything done the day before so there wouldn’t be any pressure on this very special, momentous and life changing day. I left the office early and got the key to the executive apartment building we’re staying at. This is owned by the same company that I used to rent from for the past year. So for a daily rate at about half the cost of a hotel, I get a ultra...

(From Jennifer's Blog) Bahrain! Im home... I am here in Bahrain. What I will call home for the next few weeks... for now. There are great things happening and while I will blog about it these things later. I just wanted to say that I am here, safely, and totally protected. I have NEVER felt so emotionally and physically safe in my life. I was greeted at the airport with the most handsome man i have EVER SEEN and handed the most beautiful bouquet of all of my favorite flowers. There are pictures to post as well, and an amazing story to follow, but I have the rest of my life to write it, so we will just have to wait. The real deal is wayyy better than the skype deal. I can't begin to express my visual pleasure. Rick is so much the man I thought he was going to be and then so much more. He is much better looking in person, and I think he is just as thrilled as I am that I am here. Maybe even more so. He has probably thanked me about 10 times for coming out here, but for love, i...

So much has happened today…its all good. But Im so tired. Its 1:00 and Im just about to head to bed. Im talking with Jenni, who is getting her nails done at DFW. She’s just about to board a plane to London, then a three hour layover then as six hour flight to Bahrain. All told she’ll be here in about, well, 16 hours. She is very excited to get here. Im excited to have her here. I’m going through a rush of emotions including fear and excitement. We have talked about spending the rest of our lives together a lot, and now the moment seems to be at hand. It’s a pretty stupendous occasion. This is a “rest of my life” decision. I think the romance is giving way to reality, which is fun too. I think so much will be conveyed the first few moments that we meet. Then we will know that we know that we know. I think this weekend is gearing up to be one of the biggest weekends of my life. With Jenni, meeting my friends, and the Palm ball. I’ll be sure to share the details tomorrow…...

What a frustrating up and down day. I got real excited to go into work today. I really like having a project to work on. I should say I like it when the project works and this one is working. It makes the whole process a lot of fun. We had a very important meeting today. I think it went very well. Its hard to sell these personal video biographies here. But I think we sold one, when I mean we, I mean Tanya. This could be a very big one too. Once we get one like this in the can, then others will see it and then hopefully the projects will sell themselves. I got back to the office and edited the rest of the day that was kind of fun, then it was off to play the Finn, Annti, in squash. While Darren and I are evenly matched, Annti kicks my butt every single time we play. I do make it competitive every once in awhile, but this guy is really good. Squash is great exercise. If I can win every once in awhile, that is a bonus. I was heading back to the apartment when things went a ...

After the Superbowl I was able to come home for a bit. I should have went straight to sleep but I wound up talking to Jenni. We were both having a rough time trying to get everything done before her trip. So I took about an hour nap before work. Im not sure if I actually fell asleep or just laid there. I did wake up and I had a great talk with God. I’ve been talking with Jenni so much, and working I have been neglecting my listening time with God. That doesn’t mean my devotional life has been off. Rather I haven’t been taking the time to stop, and listen. I really should have been listening as God is my strength. This is the primary mode how he encourages me. You’d think I would have learned by now. I was so frustrated at work. Im supposed to be editing the Palm Association fundraising music video for this Friday’s ball. It’s a pretty exclusive ball. The Who’s who of Bahrain are all gathered in one place. There are a lot of important people there so it’s a pretty importan...

I am blogging live at the halftime show from my friend Darren’s house. We are watching the Super Bowl and its 4:15 am. There is a house full of about 15 people. Its primarily a bunch of Americans including Lamond and Pat. I have to watch when I go the the bathroom or get food. I don’t want to miss any commercials so I’m going during the game. The commercials are really the best part for me even though I love the game. I was really planning ahead for this. After I got home tonight, I talked to Jennifer then took a couple of Tylenol PM’s and was out by 9:00 PM. So I got in a five hour sleep. So tomorrow I shouldn’t be too wiped out. I was hoping for a blow out so I could leave a little early and get another hour or so nap. But if I don’t get it, I’ll still be able to function. I have a lot of work I need to do before Jennifer gets here at the end of the week. I was supposed to be editing the Palm Association video all week, but Im having technical difficulties on one project...

Marriage the second time around is a lot different from the first go around. God only intended us to get married once, but **it happens (or Satan Happens take your pick) and 53% of us are divorced. Im approaching marriage #2 a lot differently than marriage #1. This is a bit unromantic, in fact its incredibly unromantic. But its my reality. Now, I love Jennifer, very very much. My friends are having a hard time believing it. They are all taking a “wait and see” approach to all of this. I completely understand this. But Im approaching it differently than most. You see God and I have these conversations. God has clearly told me, that Jennifer is the one for me. In fact, for the last three weeks, I’ve prayed about 10 times, God if she’s not the one, please send me a sign/roadblock to stop this train from moving forward. Yet each time I pray that, the opposite happens, something occurs that confirms to me that Jennifer is indeed the one. So this is a total God thing. Even my ...

It’s the weekend for me. This usually means very long talks with Jennifer. We are now less than a week away from her being here. Im pretty excited about it. The only visitors I’ve had have been my parents. While they were nice to have…something tells me I’m going to have a lot more fun with Jenni. I stayed up til 4 am talking with her. Then again at 9 am (my time) and we spoke for another two hours. I just can’t get enough of her. That is such a good feeling to have. I went to lunch with Pat. He really is a good guy to talk to. I told you he is the coach out here for the Professional basketball league of Bahrain. He’s been coaching internationally his entire career. It’s a pretty good gig. He gets to see the world and meet all sorts of people. Throughout his career he told me that in all the leagues he has coached, his teams have won 20 championships. By any measure that is impressive. Especially because each stop he has he has to learn a whole new team, immediately. ...

What a very cool day it was for me. There is so much uncertainty professionally for me right now. But Im not worried one bit. There is so much confidence inside of me, not because of my own ability. Its not because who I am, but rather its because of Who’s I am as Lakewood church puts it. It is such an incredible advantage to have God in your corner. I have such an extreme confidence, almost a sense of invincibility in knowing that whatever path that God leads me down, will be the absolute right one. Now that doesn’t mean Im going to step in front of a bus professionally or emotionally speaking to tempt him. Rather it’s a testimony to my faith being sky high right now. God has seen me through so many tight spots before. In the bigger picture this is nothing. In times past, I might have been worried, but now I feel like Im walking in big giant “no-lose” situation. Im so excited about the future. I really feel like the windows of heaven are about to burst open with blessings...

A special message to my former wife: My former spouse left a comment on the Twas the Night before the funny people” blog below. She is pretty aggressive in her wording in trying to discredit me. Yes comedy is sometimes risqué, and I often put myself in situations where I go where other Christians don’t ordinarily go. Who do I use as a model for this? Jesus. Who did Jesus hang with? The Prostitutes, Cheats, and all the other unsavory characters. He stayed away from the religious community for the most part. So Im not going to apologize for who I hang with and where I go. Because these people are seeing Christ through me in a way that they might never see him. My lifestyle, while Godly and Biblically sound puts me in situations where I can connect with a lot of people. I don’t hide my faith at all…and people think Im real and that has an impact. Yes, some of the sketches that the artists came up with are risqué. We even had a joke about that because Tariq, always gravitates ...

I don’t have much to say tonight, so I’ll probably keep it short. There are so many things going on in my life. Where I’ll be in three months will be pretty darn interesting. Wait…I know what I’ll talk about or write about. Our Funniest Person in Bahrain contest is pretty important. We are getting a lot of really good press out of it. Here are a couple of quotes I gave Gulf Weekly which is one of the most respected papers in Bahrain. "Working with the cast of the Funniest Person in Bahrain has been an incredible experience for me. We have cast members from over 10 different countries/nationalities all coming together with the common universal bond of laughter. What we are doing simply has not been done in anywhere in the world before." "Our cast includes people from Bahrain, Finland, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Holland, England, Seychelles, India, Pakistan, Ecuador, and some guy from the United States directing all this lunacy. Its truly been one of the most rewarding e...

What a great day it was. I sure do like starting my day off with wonderful emails from Jennifer. Actually that is not how we usually start our day. I get up about 45 min. early and while I put on my robe to dry off from the shower that is when we have our morning webcam chat. Its 7:00 am my time, and 11:00 PM her time. Its our routine. It’s a really good way to start off the day…D’oh..i keep messing up, my actual routine is the start the day off on my knees..as I roll out of bed. That is my way of denying myself and asking God to bless me and keep me from evil, then I start the day. Tanya had some good news which kind of made my day. She sold a Legacy biography. That is our first one here in Bahrain. These are turning out to be very difficult to sell. Arabs need to see it to be convinced. So once we get a couple made and they see what they look like, they’ll want one for themselves/their family. So that was good, and we recorded some vo with a new voice talent. I really ...