Rick Beeman

Little bit of a disappointing day, especially for my parents. My daughter decided that she didn’t want to see me or them. Of course it is my fault. She does have an excuse. But its been a different excuse each time she’s refused to see me the last 18 months. I think they have an unspoken mantra in that house...if there is something wrong it must be my fault. I really don’t blame her…as much as the kids deny it, its parental alienation. Part of the alienation is that they kids defend the custodial parent and argue that their thoughts are their own. It took me three days to get the boys used to me again. This aspect of divorce is seldom talked about. It sucks. I refuse to talk bad about X in front of them. However, she allows them to read this blog when it suits her purposes. I’ve complained too much already. I have my boys, and Im going to make the best of my time with them. I love my daughter very very much. I wish I could have the normal relationship ...

The days with my boys just keep getting better and better. I know this blog might be getting a little dull because of it. Since my focus is entirely on them, I don’t have much else that is interesting to talk about. That is why I appreciate my life in Bahrain so much. Something cool happens to me every day. While here…what I’m supposed to do is be with my boys, and for me…that is plenty exciting. We slept in today then headed off to church. I love Lakewood church. I’ve been to churches all over the world. Nowhere have I ever grown as a believer more than when I went to Lakewood. Today the service featured the British group DELIRIOUS. This apparently was their last concert. So I was honored to be a part of it. They were awesome. The boys also really enjoyed it. We went to lunch after then back to the house. Im renting two more rooms out of my house so I have to interview tenants. We are very selective on who we allow in. We all get along and it’s a ...

I think Spencer said it best about an hour ago. This was the best day so far. It really was spectacular. I am a good dad…and I love my kids…yet X is trying to put in their head that Im a bad guy…and making mistakes as a parent. Apparently it is taboo for me to treat my boys like kids. They are 13 and 11. Don’t they have the rest of their lives to be grown ups. Isn’t ok that I’m silly with them? They have already lost so much of their childhood through the divorce. I don’t see any need to rush them growing up. Plus aren’t there more important things to be concerned with? So I try not to initiate being silly, trying to respect what they say what they want. They are naturally defensive because of the programming that X has put into their head. But what has happenened is something wonderful. They are just feeling secure to be themselves. They are initiating the playful fights, the wrestling, the laughing. Its great. They are my boys again. I told my ro...

It was another great day with my boys. The more time we spend together the more we get along. Its like they had to go through detox. I think there are a lot of negative things that are subtly influenced into their lives about me. Its all part of the Parental Alienation. Part of it is taking ownership of their own feelings and defending the other parent that they no influence on their feelings. So we have had to push through all the negativity to final get to the positive. Its like now, they are reminded of the special relationship that we used to have. Max has been extremely concerned about me treating him more like an adult and less like a kid. I think that house hasn’t been able to come up with any really negative about me…so they have to turn molehills into mountains to make me the bad guy. So silly messages…and being goofy with my children have become the ultimate taboo. So for the past few days I have painstakingly avoided wrestling, tickling, or doing an...

The boys slept on the floor of my room last night. I love that feeling that they don’t want to be a part from me and I love that feeling. Spencer was up at the crack of dawn wanting to go play wii. I had to force him go back to sleep til 8, so then at 8:01 boom he was up playing. That is the best alarm clock in the world for him. He could be dead asleep then in an instant wide awake headed to wii. Max and I got up and went to breakfast. That’s our special time. He’s really bothered by me keeping information from him. Not telling him the whole story. I took the boys to their counseling session with county services. This is something that X set up for the kids. I figured counseling couldn’t hurt. So Im glad she did that. When I walked into the reception area…It was culture shock in a major way. Most of the people waiting were people there to get services from the county. Unemployment, food stamps, domestic violence/counseling, job training were the norm...

I had a nice day with my boys today. The more time I spend with them the more time we grow closer together. Spencer crawled in bed with me in the morning and we cuddled again. That is so special to me. He’s still my little boy. I was wondering if he had grown out of that, but I’m glad he hasn’t. I wish I could have more time with my boys, but I’ll try to make the best of it. Max and I went and got breakfast at Sonic. I’m determined to go to all the fast food breakfast places I can while I’m here. Spencer always wants to stay home when possible so he can play Wii. He’s so addicted, and he’s pretty good at it. So we went off to see Monsters vs. Aliens at the Dollar movie theater. You can still watch a movie for $1.50. So that is a bargain. Movies are so stinkin’ expensive these days. It’s an effort to take a family of four out, after popcorn and drinks…you’re looking at nearly $100. It’s a shame really. Sports are even worse. So during the film Spen...

It’s been a wonderful 24 hours. I was so anxious to see my boys. X said they would be ready to be picked up by 6. So I got home, showered and talked to the roommates. The roommates are two great guys. Oh I should tell you. One of the roommates (who recently moved out) flooded the downstairs bathroom, which means the whole first floor flooded. That was the drama of the past month. So I’ve had to deal with insurance companies and contractors. The end result is I have new carpet, new paint, and virtually what seemed like a whole new house. Plus the new roommates have taken really good care of the house. So it seemed like I moved into a brand new house. My tenants/roommates are really taking care of it. So I hadn’t driven my car in about 9 months. I had two flat tires, I had to take the car in for a service just in case. They were so slow at the mechanics. It turns out they took 90 minutes to do a 15 minute job. To make matters worse, my car get dying...

Im waiting at LAX airport ready to get on the flight to Houston. Im so excited to see the kids. It reminds of five years ago when I couldn’t spend more than two days away from the family, it made my heart ache. I remember being so anxious counting down the moments in the plane until I could run into the arms of the former spouse and have the kidlets at my legs. Every flight seemed so long. I was so anxious to get home. I feel that sort of anticipation today. It’s a little different obviously because I’m just seeing my boys. Hopefully I’ll get to see my daughter but Im not sure if I’ll be able to do that. God has so prepared my heart for these moments that are about to happen. Please keep me and the children in prayer. I’ve written about the early warning detection systems in the past. This particular trip is no exception. I just have to not worry about what will happen but trust that God is directing my steps. I sincerely don’t want any sort of conflict. I...

I have about an hour left before I get to LAX. The flight has been very pleasant. I think its all about the mindset. If you prepare yourself for a long journey then you aren’t miserable. I think that is the key to overcoming adversity. I have prepared myself that the Middle East is a very hot place to live, because of that the extremes in temperatures have not been that uncomfortable. Keep in mind that the temperatures have only topped 120 with the July –August months getting up to around 130. You never really know how hot it is. All the thermometers there stop at 130. According to law you are not allowed to work when it gets over 130. Thus if all the termometers stop at 130, they can keep working all the time. It really sucks for the laborers. The Sri Lankan, Indian, Pakastani laborers toil in the iincredible heat and make only about $300 per month and then send most of that home to their family. It really sucks for them during Ramadan. Ramadan is differen...

Not sure if I’ll be in a position to update this blog regularly for the next couple of weeks. Im not sure what my schedule will be. Its 1:15 am, and I just got finished packing and am heading to the airport for a 3:50 am flight to Dubai…then a 6:50 am flight from Dubai to LAX. Its weird…I leave on July 4 th , spend 18 hours in the air and still arrive on July 4 th . What a way to celebrate Independence Day but back on U.S. soil. I’m going to meet Miss So. Ca, so that will be an interesting experience to say the least. I have a pretty good routine for overcoming jetlag. Guy, gave me a nice compliment a few months back when he returned to the U.S. He said he was wiped out for a week, and didn’t know how I bounced back after a day or two. I think its practice plus God’s grace. I try not to sleep that much on the plane. I have all these movies to watch. So that passes the time. Plus I have the last seven episodes of Lost Season 5 downloaded and ready to watch…Wo...

Last day in the office before my vacation. It’s a short two week vacation. Most people vacation here for 1 or 2 months and fly to their homeland. I can’t be away from the office that long. I realized something last week. I need a vacation. I’ve been working hard. Again its difficult to determine how hard I’ve been working because it really doesn’t feel like work. The only way that I can gauge it is that Im tired. I am so looking forward to seeing my kids. I went out to lunch with a girl that comes to my Positive Living group. She’s a sweet girl that is headed back to Texas soon. She lost her job as a private flight attendant because of the recession. She mentioned that I made such a positive impact in her life. She went on to say how appreciative she was for helping me get her back on track. Now granted this is nothing I intentionally did, so I’m not trying to take any praise here. All I was, was open and willing and God drew the people to me. I thi...

Well I felt a little silly about being angry yesterday. What a strange emotion that is. Doesn’t really accomplish much except get you and everyone else miserable. I am, However, a believer in righteous anger. I get very upset when there is injustice in the world in any form. I’ll fight against that. That’s why I am so glad I’m in the field that I am in. Media is a great tool to fight against social injustice and raise cultural awareness. One person can make a difference. One person with a well placed microphone or camera can exponentially influences dozens, hundreds, thousands and even millions. Its my prayer that God will use my skills and passions for that purpose. I had so much activity today. I don’t want to say I was busy, because busy is a state of mind. Too many people find their identity with being busy. Come to think of it, I am rarely ever busy. Even running a company of 20, staying ahead of the recession, teaching 100 or so kids, kayaking, vol...

I rarely get angry and hardly ever lose my temper. I think I’ve lost it three times in my lifetime and I can’t even remember why I was angry. I think I get that from my father as he is very even tempered as well. Thank God I didn’t take after my mother that way (she’ll read this and get angry at that.) Kristen got all of that. So I think I must have been under some sort of test today because there were many things that happened that just got on my nerves. I think I must have passed the test as I didn’t lose my cool and reacted calmly and rationally some of the time. The first issue happened at work with two co-workers. I suspected something was up. I don’t want to get into details but their actions made me angry. When they got into the office we all talked it out. I think they were quite concerned that I was angry and they wanted to tackle it head on. It was very responsible for them to do so. I think they were kind of surprised to see me so bothered. T...

We had our positive living group tonight. It was a special one. I told everyone that it was the last one for a couple of weeks, because Im headed to the U.S. So my dear friend Mrs. India came by just to say goodbye. She was going home to India, so I won’t see her for nor her kids for about 6 weeks. She has invited me to come visit their family in India. I would love that, but im not sure if I can swing it. Mrs. India really means a lot to me. She is always so supportive and encouraging. I love her kids and her husband too. They don’t make too many families like this one. I went to her son’s birthday party the other day, which I blogged about. She told me that the little Donald Duck that I bought him has been with him non-stop since that time. That really made me feel good. You never know what a small little gesture will mean to someone. This was the topic of our group tonight. We watched a video where Joel was extolling the virtues of being an encourag...

Im hangin out at my friend Darren’s house. Darren and I are squash buddies. We played yesterday in fact. Boy after a day of kayaking and then an intense game of squash, I can hardly move today. Darren is engaged and is from Dallas. We go to church together and can relate on a number of different levels. Turns out he’s a real big sports fan as well. I was planning on a nice quiet evening but that had gotten blown up. Had a long chat with Ms. So Ca. She’s a flight attendant so she usually calls on layovers at certain airports. Turns out she’s a film buff too. So we have lots to talk about with the film industry. I was about to blog and head to bed when I checked out ESPN. The U.S. was up 1-0 in the Confederations cup against Brazil. What???? Is this even possible. I didn’t want to miss anything historic, and I don’t know how to get some of the channels on my TV, so I rushed over to Darren’s house to watch it with him. We watched the Superbowl together, s...

This is the first Saturday that I’ve had off in four months. Its been a pretty grueling schedule, but its fun while I work so it doesn’t sting as much. So I had two days off this weekend. I sure had a lot of fun. Yesterday I forgot to mention, I was invited to a couple of birthday parties. One for a 6 year old and the other for Muneer who’s I think 29. I was kind of surprised by the 6 year old party. His mother, who is a dear reader of this blog, called me at the last minute to tell me how special it would be for me to show up for her son. So I made it just at the end of the party. I was fortunate that I found a store just outside and bought a little Donald Duck stuffed animal. So I get to the party and the grown ups kept asking me which is your child? Um…..no, Im here for the cake and ice cream. So I kind of stood out, but still had a nice time. The 6 year old called me this morning to thank me for the gift and to also let me know that he slept with it last...