Rick Beeman

This is the third part in a series where I am examining my life in detail.  This is in part to evaluate my past so I can learn from my mistakes as well as give me hope for the future.  I have answered who am I? and What have I done?  Now I will examine marriage and relationships.  I was very fortunate to grow up in a God fearing home.  I understand that I won the genetic lottery as I lived a very privileged life growing up.  I didn’t really appreciate all the blessings that I had, and I don’t think many kids do.  For me it was just normal.  I think if you have a healthy childhood, no matter how you grow up, rich or poor that is normal to you.  I have taken many parenting classes over the years.  I have surmised from these several things.  But the principal thing is unity for a parent.  The most important aspect of being a mother or a father is for the husband to love the wife and likewise.  This will give the...

This is the second part of a multiple series delving into self-examination and evaluation.   I never want to grow stagnant in my spiritual walk nor my personal development.   By looking back at both my failures and the successes I hope to learn from the past to not repeat negative behaviors.   God’s blessings upon reflection also serve to propel me forward to even greater heights.   I believe my best days are still ahead of me.   Starting at ground zero or rock bottom in 2007 with the loss of my family, I can honestly say each year has been better than the last.   With 2011 bringing the birth of my child and a marriage where we are both on the same continent, it was my best year ever.   There is no reason for that not to continue in perpetuity as long as I remain faithful.   What I have done.   From as far back as I can remember I always found the most fulfillment in being creative.   Even as I child I loved ...

I am doing this exercise with my men’s group at church.   The purpose behind it is to take an honest valuation of who you are right at this very moment.   It is so hard to be self-aware sometimes especially if we don’t like some of the things we see in the mirror.   So many of us live in denial.   It might not be full denial but partial.   We can all justify our actions.   I remember watching an old Maury Povich show where they were interviewing a murderer.   The killer admits that he murdered the guy.   But it wasn’t the murderer’s fault you see, at least in his mind.   The victim shouldn’t have been standing on the corner that day.   So in the murderer’s mind it was the other’s guy’s fault for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.   We all justify our actions. That is why it says in Proverbs that “A man’s ways is right in his own eyes, but God weighs the heart.”   We can put on a full mask or part...

The is the last of the three part installment of my top 10 list of 2011.  At first I didn’t think 2011 was all that great.  But on careful recollection in going over the list I have discovered/remembered that 2011 was actually quite remarkable for me.  I think that is the value of counting your blessings and looking back for a short time.  One shouldn’t live their life in the past, but rather use it as a springboard for justification of their optimism that their future will be brighter.  My father always said, “May the best of your yesterdays be the worst of your tomorrows.”  Again, I reference Romans 8:28, as a believer each year should get better and better otherwise you’re not doing it right.  Sometimes the Lord works in mysterious ways.  Actually in my life, that’s the norm.  God doesn’t always make sense in the present.  Only in retrospect I see how His perfect plan had unfolded.  Take Tim Tebow for instance.  I am a life...

This is a continuation of the my top 10 list of 2011.  I would greatly encourage you, if you haven’t already started doing one of these of your own, that you do so.  It can be a great reminder of God’s faithfulness and blessings.  As a Christian I believe in the tenet of Romans 8:28, “All things work together for good for those who believe and are called according to His purpose.”  But the catch is… ‘for those who believe.’  So if you are a Christian that essentially means you are in a no lose situation if you are living your life right.  Even in the most dire of circumstances you know eventually that everything will come up positive in the long run.  That promise I’ve seen evident in my life over and over again.  So no matter how bad things appear, I know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I’ve been so brutally honest in this blog about my own struggles with highlights and lowlights to prove this.  I hope it has been co...

2011 was a real year of transition for me in so many ways.  For me following up 2010 was difficult, as 2010 has gone down as the best year of my life, so far.  The key here is “so far” as I believe that if you are doing it right, life should get better and better.  That isn’t to say you won’t have setbacks, rather the setbacks will not be debilitating.  With the right attitude you will be able to build on them.  I certainly had my share of setbacks this past year, but I refused to do be identified with the setbacks.  Instead I think of setbacks as just setting the stage for the comebacks.  If you would like to read the highlights of the aforementioned 2010 it can be found here.  http://rickbeeman.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html Jennifer gave me this idea about doing a top 10 list.  I think it’s a fabulous idea for a number of reasons.  First of all, it will be nice in a few years to look back and see what the actual highlights wer...

Sloan helping me write my blog. Three nights ago Jennifer and I were about to eat dinner.  We heard the doorbell ring.  Both of us were surprised as we hardly ever get unannounced guests.  So I yell to the door hold on, and I finish what I was doing and go to answer it.  When I opened the door, no one was there.  Doorbell ditch was my first thought until I looked down.  On the porch was a small basket with two wrapped pears.  The note on the outside of the package said, “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a partridge in a pear tree.”  I thought it was cute.  I showed it to Jennifer and neither one of us had a clue to who it was from.  Jennifer thought one of the neighbors, I thought maybe someone from the new church we are attending.  Later that night was trivia.  That is my regular thing on Tuesday nights.  Not really sure why I enjoy it so much.  Perhaps it makes me feel smarter or I am g...

Jennifer and I have been searching for a good church for the past few months.  We thought we found one then something just didn’t feel right about it.  At the same time we got a flier in the mail from some small church in a corporate district right around the corner from my house.  The timing was impeccable.  So we decided to give it a shot.  This was different for me.  I am used to mega-churches.  If there is not more than 1000+ that attend, then I won’t feel right at home, or so I thought.  Its not that Im trying to avoid interpersonal contact, but a lot of these mega churches allow you to come and go without being noticed.  Even the church I call home while I am in Houston, Lakewood Church, can be characterized by this.  Lakewood is the largest church in the U.S. at approximately 40,000 members per weekend…plus all the millions of television viewers.  I know Pastor Joel Osteen comes under a lot of criticism, especially within th...

I haven’t written in this blog for quite awhile.  Its not because there hasn’t been big things happening in my life, because there have been many big things.  Rather, I don’t want this to become like a Christmas card.  Christmas cards are when you get those form-like letters telling you how great the sender is, and what amazing things they accomplished over the last year.  But the truth is, this is Christmas card, its unavoidable.   I just feel so incredibly blessed right now.  Things in my life are going very well.  That is not say that my life is perfect.  My life is far far far from perfect.  Yet I have developed an attitude and methodology of looking at life and it really works.  I’ve said it many times before in the space of this blog and it bears repeating.  Instead of focusing on what I don’t have, I simply focus on what I have.  I have a beautiful wife, a healthy and happy baby girl, a new house, a dog that lo...