The Bebees

Summer Fun!!

2009-07-18T11:25:00.005-05:00

Last Friday was Cow Appreciation Day! We had the whole Bebee HERD present!! The VanCourt girls got to join us too! Love me some Chicky-fil-A!!Aburndale has been having playdates throughout the summer! Last week we visited Graeter's main location where they MAKE the ice cream!! We had so much fun and were able to sample some GREAT ice cream! Afterwards we headed to the park! Love those ABC ladies!

Brookylnn was DIVING for the grass!! She loved being outside and at the park! (Thanks Emily for hanging with her and keeping that grass out of her mouth! :o)

Girl Talk Blog

2009-07-12T09:18:00.004-05:00

Carolyn Mahaney (C.J. Mahaney's wife) and her daughters have a blog that is extremely encouraging and informative!! I recommend all women to regularly check-out there blogs and learn from their wisdom as mothers, wives, and women of God. You will love it. I have enjoyed their love for truth, their recipes, and their humor! But especially this week, because each Friday they have the Friday funnies - and one of my close friends, Cara Croft MADE the Friday funnies this week!! So check it out here!!!

4th of July

2009-07-09T15:27:00.004-05:00

Our 4th of July started early this year! We were out of the house and ready for our 5K by 7:45!!! Brooklynn had her first race, and even "won" a medal for being a part of it!! We live within walking distance of a huge 4th of July celebration in our neighborhood. We had a cookout and enjoyed fireworks from Michael Riedl's window!! All in all, a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of our country. We are definately reminded of the blessing it is to live in America where we have such freedom to love Christ openly and publicly. May we be more persuaded to boldly share the gospel as we reflect on our great opportunities here!

TEXAS!!!

2009-07-07T17:23:00.023-05:00

Brooklynn and I had a Wonderful time visiting family in Texas! We spent lots of time with my mom and sister, and we had the utmost pleasure of seeing so many family members that Brooklynn and I both feel entirely loved!! Here are a few of the highlights! Enjoy!

Cousins!!!

The little cousins LOVED Brooklynn and let her know with lots of kisses! They were both SO sweet to her the whole trip!

Aunt Bambi!

Aunt Susan & Aunt Deborah

Our sweet Meme!

Brooklynn's 1st Visit to the Pool!

She was completely exhausted afterwards!! Took a little snooze!

We had a Gourmet meal at Bam's house -

with stuffed mushrooms, steaks and grilled onions! No place like Texas eh!?!

Gigi got lots of loving in and Brooklynn took it ALL in!

We were able to visit my daddy's sister and niece as well! We love Aunt Linda and Kristi! Lindy and A.J. got to meet Brooklynn too and we had a great visit!

Trip to Texas

2009-06-14T23:05:00.004-05:00

So...Brooklynn and I are flying to Texas on WEDNESDAY! We are excited to see family and friends as we visit Canyon! We are flying in on Gigi's birthday!! As I am thinking of flying with sweet little girl alone, I have to imagine there can be nothing as long as going to Texas in the car....with a dog...

Bella did good traveling to Texas last Christmas, but things sure do change when you have a kiddo! Keep posted for some good Stephens family pictures!

Also - for those that haven't discovered skype yet...it rocks! We have LOVED talking to friends and family - and actually getting to SEE them!! Plus - everyone gets to meet the Brooky!

Womanly Dominion

2009-06-11T11:20:00.003-05:00

I have recently finished a book called Womanly Dominion: More than a Gentle and Quiet Spirit, by Mark Chanski. After Ryan was recommended to read Chanski's book about Manly Dominion and LOVED it he picked this up for me. While many of us will quickly cast aside the thought of reading another book on how to be godly women, let me say that this is NOT like all the other books. I found it encouraging, thought provoking, convicting, and enthralling. He does a great job of debunking our cultures subtle, and yet pervasive attempts to convince even well-meaning Christians of feminism. Now I may have been more highly exposed having received a degree in science, which is not the best atmosphere to find a Christian worldview. But you might be surprised how YOU react to how Chanski presents the Bible's instructions on a woman's role in the world.

Have you wondered:

Does culture influence how I am to act as a woman?

What Biblical role models am I to follow in this pursuit?

What lies have I believed about being a godly woman? or even what it means to have a gentle and quiet spirit?

Submission?

How to approach my husband boldly and yet humbly if I don't agree with a decision or action?

What does this look like if I'm single? a wife? a mother? a single mother?

Chanski challenges women to "Play their position". But to play your position, you first have to know your position. Chanski's book is a great place to help you understand scripture and the Biblical call for womanly dominion.

Check out the Girl Talk's blog post also recommending this book!

Nonnie & Bawbaw's Visit

2009-06-09T16:53:00.008-05:00

Don and Debbie were able to fly in from Texas on Saturday and spend a long weekend with us here in Louisville!! We loved getting to have breakfasts (Brooky's FIRST meal - see below), lunches, dinners, coffees, and desserts! It was a fun-filled and packed few days.

We spent lots of time with Aunt Boo and Uncle Cheeze! Ryan had the opportunity to preach at ABC on Sunday night, and it was a blessing having friends and family in the pews. It will be posted here later on this week. He did a great job preaching on Psalm 128. On Monday, we made the rounds to Sunergos, Nord's Bakery, and then the BOOK NOOK! All three are must visits for all Louisville tourists!

Here are a few picture highlights.

Time with Nonnie...
and Bawbaw...Brooklynn getting ready for the summer in her SWIM SUIT!! We are headed to the zoo tomorrow with the Auburndale women, and we are prepared for the splash park!And the very first rice cereal meal!!!

4 Months

2009-05-31T16:31:00.010-05:00

Brooklynn is 4 MONTHS OLD! It is amazing how the time has gone by so quickly, and my little snuggly peanut is already growing so much!! We had our four month check-up with our doctor last week. Brooklynn weighed in at 13 lbs. 1 oz (she even has rolls on her thighs now!!) and 24 1/4 in. long! She is in the 50% of everything pretty much! Had a few shots, a few tears, and out we went!!

Updates? Well on Sarah's end - I am done with school and spending night and day at home has been Fabulous! We have been doing projects on end! I have rearranged a few rooms, and finished Brooklynn's nursery (hehe!). Kristen Booth and I worked on her artwork.

Ryan is working at Chicky-fil-A and at Auburndale each week. It has been a pleasure to serve our church! Ryan is also getting to teach a few Wednesday nights this summer on our series through 2 Corinthians. His last one a few weeks ago was awesome!!
Now for the updates Everyone is Really tuning in to this blog for: Brooklynn. In the past week she has become an official thumb sucker...

Brooklynn is all giggles and laughs now! She is super content and loves to laugh!!!

And has perpetually been rolling over! Although each time I tried to catch it on video she was mesmerized with the camera -- this is the best we could document! So cute! Soon enough she'll be mobile!

Ode to Buckner

2009-04-22T10:44:00.012-05:00

While in Texas Ryan and I were able to visit to Buckner and see a few friends!! We had breakfast with Charlie, Rose, Peggy, Josie, Tom & Jose! What a treat! Plus, who can pass up some of Charlie's good-country cookin'! Afterwards we gave Brooklynn the royal tour of camp...and had her participate a little!

At the Ropes Course!! (gotta love that spider web!)
Getting ready for Campout!!
HEAD SHOTS COUNT!

And the look out!
We miss it terribly, but it was good to spend time with friends and share memories! Love you Bucknerites!

TEXAS!

2009-04-20T10:23:00.010-05:00

Pictures from our week in Texas!

Brooklynn did GREAT on the plane! She slept most of the time, and took a bottle going up and down the first few times. She even got her first pair of wings!!

GREAT - Grandparents

And a generational picture:

Easter Pictures

2009-04-18T12:50:00.005-05:00

We have much to post on from the last few weeks!

TEXAS! Brooklynn, Ryan and I travelled to the Austin-area for our spring break. It was filled with family, friends, and fun! We miss Nonnie and Bah-bah (Shea help me with spelling), and all of the Politte family already!!! Expect some Texas pictures this upcoming week.

Brooklynn is getting bigger each day! She has started laughing and smiling more. She can raise her head when lieing on her tummy. And man does she get excited to see her dad each day when he comes home! She is sleeping through the night and has been such a joy!

Our friend Cara took some pictures of the family at Easter. Here are some favorites!

Gigi's Visit to Kentucky

2009-03-23T13:14:00.012-06:00

Brooklynn and I had an eventful week!!

We had our GIGI with us ALL week!!!

We miss you already Gigi!

Here are a few highlights from our week!
Mom got to come to school with me and meet all of my students!

Here are my third grade girls!

Thursday night we went to Southeast Christian Church's Easter Pageant (the largest in the world)! Many of my students were in it and we enjoyed our time! It reminds us to think on Christ during this time of the year and His sacrifice!

Last week we had Brooklynn's six week check up and she weighed in GREAT!

Weight: 9 lbs 3 oz.

Length: 22 1/4 in.

50 percentile on everything!!

Yeah Brooklynn!!! She is growing and changing each day! She is more expressive and talkative (baby gibberish!) as well!! She has her first visit to Texas to see the Bebee family a week from today. We promise to take pictures and keep you all updated!

Uncle Larry

2009-03-09T08:44:00.008-06:00

Thursday night we had our second visit from Uncle Larry!!! It was such a blessing! We had all Friday morning to eat breakfast and visit. We went to Northend Cafe to eat!! With Larry being in Florida, it has been a treat to get to see him as he checks on his Crusade campuses here in the Louisville area!!

Also - two more pictures from the past couple of weeks! Brooklynn in her cute sweater and our first EVER walk with Bella two weeks ago!

Brooklynn's Picture Gallery

2009-03-08T16:34:00.008-06:00

Due to a popular request, here are some more pictures of Miss Brooklynn!! Expect an updated blog this week as well with a picture from this morning's Sunday service. Ryan preached during the morning service at Auburndale! He did a Great job and looked Sharp in his suit! I'll post pictures and a link to hear his sermon soon!

For now...some more pictures!!

Proud Grandparents!!

Our sweet Brooklynn!

Update on week 5:

Brooklynn is approximately 8 lbs!! (We go to the doctor on Wednesday, so I'll give you an official udpate.) She is sleeping and eating great. We even had two nights in a row with 5 hours sleep uninterrupted! Whoo-hoo!! She visited Dorothy Sayers this week for the first time - meeting lots of students and loving parents! She went for her first official walk with the entire family - Ryan, me and even Bella. On Friday we ran around with the Crofts and prepared Brooklynn for sibling-hood. And to top it off - she got to hear her daddy preach this morning (Cara Croft did a great job keeping her snuggled and sleeping during the entire service! Thanks Cara!) It's been a great week, and right now she is exhausted and sleeping! You have to love newborns!

The Delivery Details

2009-02-25T08:28:00.006-06:00

Brooklynn is 4 weeks old today! And I think if it were possible, she is already more cute and more loved than when she was first born! I thought I'd give you a run down of that very eventful day as we are now having a little more time to relax and get back to life!

January 27th, 2009 - Labor begins...

Ryan and I were staying home, as it had snowed and iced the day before. So when I started to get contractions that afternoon, I thought it may be from the sedentary day. A walk was in order. Ryan and I decided to head to Heine Brother's Coffee up the street (maybe half a mile). The contractions weren't hard, but didn't seem to be going away, so I timed them to see how long it would take for them to go away (I really thought there was NO way I was in real labor). Finally at Heine Brothers it had been over an hour of contractions, so I began time them...and they were Exactly three minutes apart, and getting stronger. We headed home to call Dr. Fisher, who directed us to the hospital due to the ice storm coming in that night.

Arrived at the hospital around 6:00 p.m. with no one else in the registration area. Checked in and went upstairs. I was still only dilated to a one, so the nurse told me it would more than likely be over 24 hours, but feel free to walk and we'd check soon. Ryan and I walked and walked, as the contractions got harder and harder. Back at the room, the nurse said, keep walking. As the contractions got harder, I finally went to a 3 and they gave me a little bit of meds through the IV. At that point I rested some, but waited for the shift change of nurse around 11, when they checked me again, and I was a 4. At this point - the nurse said I could have an epidural if I wanted. And my mind went...

We are having a baby!! Today!! (I was still convinced up to this point I was NOT in labor! So...)

Epidural @ 3:00 a.m.

Naps for Ryan and I both from 3:00 - 5:00 a.m.

Doctor arrives (after driving OVER TREES to get there) at 5:00 a.m.

Progressed to completion by 5:30/40 a.m.

Brooklynn Grace Bebee born at 5:52 a.m.

Dr. Fisher is Amazing!

We were so thankful she was able to make it to the hospital in the ice storm!!

Ryan didn't take his boots off for over 24 hours - as he wanted to be ready when needed! So cute!

Ryan is SUCH a great DAD! We love having her at home, and I try not to cry everytime I see our sweet girl in Ryan's hands! So for those of you that haven't seen the facebook pictures, here are a few. I will try to update with more recent pictures soon!

And lastly for now - Brooklynn's first ride in the car seat and heading home to Kentucky!!

Happy Birthday Brooklynn!

2009-02-05T15:19:00.006-06:00

Brooklynn Grace Bebee is HERE!!

She was born on January 28th, at 5:52 a.m. She was 6 lbs and 19 1/2 inches long!! We are absolutely delighted with her. The Lord was faithful throughout the entire labor and delivery. We are now home recovering and enjoyinig family!!! I'll post with more detailis, but for now - here is her CUTE LITTLE FACE!!!

Counting Down!!

2009-01-21T14:17:00.003-06:00

Our little girl is considering FULL TERM!

We are now at two & half weeks and counting (15 days to be exact!). I have no ambitions that she will be coming early, so it seems I will have plenty of time to get the house ready, my substitutes ready for DSCS, and finish reading all of those baby books!!

For those of you following about the name, I think we have officially decided on:

Brooklynn Grace Bebee

Although I suppose nothing is final until it is on the birth certificate! But I did purchase some letters to put on the wall for her initials: BGB! I promise to include pictures once I'm finished with the project.

No other news to report, except that I DID take down my Christmas decorations today! I figured if I didn't get on it quick, Brooklynn would be very confused about what month she was born in if all the pictures had Christmas decorations in the background! Thank you all for your love and support during this time!!! We seriously can't wait for the new addition to arrive!!

Brookelyn Bebee

2009-01-07T08:44:00.009-06:00

Brooklynn or Brookelyn? We are definate on the name, but the the spelling and middle name are still being debated! But here are some pictures of our sweet little girl and her nursery (which her loving dad will be sharing as an office/nursery! - gotta love seminary!!).These are all from our week 20 sonogram! We now have 4 weeks and 1 day until the due date!!!

The nursery!!

The bed came from our good friends the Crofts, the bedding as a baby gift from my momma, and the beautiful hand-made quilt is from Ryan's mom Debbie! We love you all SO much and can't wait to put our little girl in her new bed!!

Good friends Corrie Ann and Kristen Booth completely redid this dresser for the nursery. It involved an entire Saturday of stripping the wood, priming, painting and destressing! And now it's AWESOME!!!

We promise to keep you updated as we approach the delivery date!! Still feeling great and thankful for the Lord's goodness in this pregancy!! We are so amazingly blessed!

Throwback to 2003 Camp Buckner

2009-01-03T19:29:00.005-06:00

You seriously have to check out this Teen Girl Squad Episode...and for those from camp, it will remind you of better times!!! My favorite: what was being celebrated on yearbook picture day......

4th Anniversary Trip!

2009-01-02T14:31:00.013-06:00

Ryan and I took a mini-vacation to celebrate our four years of marriage!! (It also was our little baby-moon!!) I am extremely thankful for the Lord's goodness in giving me Ryan James Bebee as a husband. I am completely undeserving, and the Lord continue to show His faithfulness to us in our marriage and in our growth.

So to Cincinnati:

The first day we visited the Freedom Museum that featured information about the underground railroad and the history of slavery in America. I would recommend this stop to ALL that go to Cincinnati as it was informative, sobering, and very well constructed! It gives you a great picture into this dark time of our history and makes you appreciate the freedom we now have.

On New Year's Eve we went to Newport on the Levee to visit the Newport Aquarium, then to a movie and hanging out! It even snowed on us on the way to the Aquarium!!

Ryan wore his UT apparrel to spite the Ohio State fans in Cincinnati! He got a few weird looks, but nobody had the guts to take him on! (as dictated from Ryan...)...But don't forget to cheer for Texas on January 5th!

At the aquarium we loved seeing all of the animals...

But the kids all enjoyed the plastic reindeer that were spread throughout the aquarium. You would hear the shouts, "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM....it's a reindeer!!!"

We enjoyed eating out thanks to some great students at DSCS and their loving Christmas gifts!! The trip was a great break away from everything for a little while, and to celebrate our marriage as we enter into this new season of our lives!

Good friends of ours Josh and Christina kept Bella on our trip. Bella played to her heart's content with their welsch corgi, Oliver. Bella was so exhausted that as soon as we got home she was passed out on the couch, and was out of it the rest of the night!

Happy 2009 to all of you!!!!

(And especially thanks for still checking the blog after over a year of inactivity...but skeptics, you can stop holding your breath! :o)

A Christmas Gift TO YOU!

2008-12-27T08:34:00.006-06:00

Merry Christmas to YOU!! This is my Christmas gift to friends and family who are still faithful enough to check this blog every few months to see if it has been udpated!!!

The good news - I'm back in the blogging world! So here's your first post...a little picture of cute Ryan and I from Christmas. I hope to keep everyone updated with cute pictures of our little girl when she arrives, but until then - just pregnant Sarah pictures for a little bit!

We are now officially 34 weeks and 2 days! Less than six weeks until the official day that the Bebee Baby will be here! We can't wait. We feel so blessed to be supported by friends, family, and a wonderful church home! We love you and hope to do a better job staying up-to-date on here!!

Kentucky! the updates...

2007-08-16T08:56:00.000-05:00

Okay -- so I should officially be given an demerit for waiting this long to post my first Kentucky blog, however, I'll try to give a summarized update!!

Things have been great here so far. We have moved into our duplex and we are still decorating and going through a few boxes (as Ryan said in his update -- we seriously have a lot of JUNK, so if you live here in Louisville and might have some stuff to sell in our garage sale here soon -- let us know!). Ryan's parents came up the day we moved in and helped us paint, and update the rooms with new ceiling fans, ect. I'll send pictures soon! I think the Plevans are really enjoying their new home as well! They have painted and made it super cute. Check out her pictures! It's been such a blessing to have them so close, and to share time out on our porches together. The only downside may be that Eron and Ryan are like little magnets to each other and would talk to all hours of the night...but honestly, that is such a blessing to us!!

Ryan started school on Monday. It is like Christmas in our household...new books, new professors, and I cannot tell you how joyous Ryan is to be here!! We have met many new people and can't wait to grow our relationships here. Ryan started at chick-fil-a last week as well. The Lord has been gracious to provide jobs and give us great environments.

I'm working at Dorothy Sayers Classical School this next year. It a very unique (well, for me at least) school that partners with homeschool parents to provide curriculum and teaching within the classroom two days a week, with three days of curriculum at home. We still are not sure the exact subjects and classes yet, but I'll be working Tuesdays and Thursdays out at the school. In the mornings I'll be teaching Math and Literature to third graders. And in the afternoons I'll be teaching some science courses. I've already made some new friends in Corrie Ann (my third grade partner teacher) and Suzanne (1st grade teacher). We are all three new and had to have phonogram training last week.

We bonded through this experience, as we struggled through such phonemes as /ough/ - o - oo- uf - off - aw - ow. We laughed SO hard at ourselves...but I think it really will help with my own spelling. But to get an overview of classical teaching check out this essay. It is by Dorothy Sayers back in 1947. If you are like me, you may stop and say -- I seriously wish I had been taught like THIS! It's a great read!

Ryan and I have been praying about my taking another part time job throughout the rest of the week. We had a opportunity come up this week, but we really feel it's not the right place for me this year. So please keep praying for the Lord to continue to guide us in these decisions. I am very thankful that I have a husband that leads and that I am made to follow -- even though it is hard for my foolish heart at times.

I'm sucked into a book called Stepping Heavenward: One Woman's Journey to Godliness, but Mrs. E. Prentiss. Jamie Moore recommended it, and has posted a short commentary. I'll post on it in the upcoming days...I may have included enough in this post for now!

Last Day in Texas!!

2007-07-27T20:30:00.000-05:00

We are headed to Louisville, TOMORROW MORNING! After much deliberation of packing and rearranging, and getting trailers, Ryan and I are packed and ready to go for tomorrow! It is rather bitter sweet leaving friends here, yet starting such a great season of our lives! I'll try to keep you updated about the move with pictures, stories, and anything else we can think of to post. We were going to a step-by-step road trip picture book for you guys but we have lost our camera in all the visiting of friends...so, words it will have to be...and as we say goodnight and...

GOODBYE TEXAS!!

We appreciate your prayers, and I'm sure you will all be hearing from us soon!!

Ryan & Sarah

CANYON!!

2007-07-09T12:29:00.001-05:00

We are officially in Canyon Texas up in the panhandle...and as you might see from the posts and Ryan's new blog -- we've had a little more time on our hands. PS -- Ryan also has facebook now...and consequently we stayed up until 3:30 or so looking at it and setting it up! We had my nephew Michael's first birthday this weekend, and it was so much fun!

We even had a fireworks show at the end at my sister's house in the country. As you might imagine -- we all looked forward to the cake eating portion of the party...

My mom has VBS this week at her church, so Ryan and I have been helping out. And also a new addition -- my mom and my Meme are teaching me how to play bridge (I know I know -- its kind of an old ladies game -- but it is seriously challenging and I'm loving it so far!!

Plus -- my brother plays and can't wait for me to get to play with him!)

Louisville updates:
We are nearing our August 1st move in date!! And we are still preparing for all the events leading up to the move. I'm still on the job searching committee, so please pray the Lord opens up a position for me!! I'd love to work on campus, so we are pursuing that route right now!

Beeb'z Blog

2007-07-07T01:07:00.000-05:00

Check out my new blog here. Take the time to scroll down and catch up on the last few blogs we posted. We have put a few up over the last few days.

Suffering for the Sake of Christ

2007-07-06T16:04:00.000-05:00

My sister Cara (I call her Caraboo) had a near death experience in her last trip to Mexico. I love her zeal for Christ and His gospel. Please take the time to check out the story here.

Happy 4th of July!!!

2007-07-04T12:52:00.000-05:00

Happy Indepedence Day

-- from Don and the rest of us Bebees! We have been celebrating the past few days here in Liberty Hill, learning about our past and the origins of our country. It has been encouraging to see how the founders of our nation and state were God honoring and fearing Christians. Their bravery have given us the liberty we now have in our nation. But we have been celebrating how our liberty in Christ is even more important and vital in our lives. Don has been working on a four day celebration for all of our nation to celebrate our past and our future as Americans. Check it out at American Family Reunion. I hope you guys enjoy the fireworks tonight -- my favorite part of the 4th of July activities!!!

Exercise in Dominion

2007-07-03T16:06:00.000-05:00

My nephews Jacob, Ty and Kyle have come to spend some time with us.

Ty got into some ants and the end result was this:

So, in order to demonstrate our God-given dominion over animals, I showed them how to properly execute our dominion:

I love dominion, and I hope no animal rights activist find this blog. Peace...

New Laptop

2007-06-26T13:56:00.000-05:00

Sarah and I are sitting in a coffee shop in Waco, TEXAS posting this blog from our new laptop. We were pretty excited to receive it in the mail today when we were on our way out the door. Sarah is in a mock-trial this afternoon for a friend who is finishing up her law school degree from Baylor. She is a little nervous, but at least her first time in court is a mock trial.

This morning I taught a Counselor Bible Study at Camp Buckner (still the best camp in the world). I had the privilege of teaching on marriage. They are going through 1 Corinthians this summer and they assigned me chapter 7...all 40 verses. I had about 40 minutes to teach. For those of you who know me, this will come as no surprise, but I only got to verse 16 and I went 10 minutes over time. Oh well. More on that later.

The house buying is still in progress. Based on all the other houses purchases I have made in my life this one is going fairly smooth.

Our nephews Jacob and Ty have been with us at my parents house for the last week or so. They are a blast but a lot of responsibility. Eron, "little baby Shakov" is getting pretty big. He takes offense to the name "Shakov" because it implies that he is a "little baby." But is sure is funny when he gets all angry about it (although his anger isn't anger at all, just a show).

We are still Longing for Louie. (just for you Kari)

Adios Amigos,
Ryan and Sarah

Trip to Louisville!!!

2007-06-12T11:10:00.000-05:00

Well, as many of you know, Ryan and I had the blessing of once again visiting the great state of Kentucky. We went up last week on Wednesday and came home late Saturday. It was encouraging, productive, and well....we just wanted to stay the rest of the summer!! Our sweet friends and family were so hospitable towards us, and we enjoyed some great fellowship (yes, we did partake in the "Real Men of Genius" links with the Plevans...). Here are some of the fun updates and things that were accomplished during this trip:

1) I got to see the duplex for the first time in person!! Loved it and can't wait to move in. We are literally .3 miles from the seminary! We had the inspection on Friday (which was great to be present and meet with the inspector) -- and we are requesting some repairs, but nothing too major! And we JUST heard from DeAnna that almost all of our requests were granted. So we are headed to closing on July 30th!

2) Had a great meeting with our mortgage broker! If any of you are considering purchasing a house near Louisville, we would highly recommend this guy! We met for about two hours and he explained all of the details, ect...it's a lot!

3) Ryan and I went job searching...some. I applied on campus, and now really looking for something in my field of chemistry -- but we will see. However, Ryan already HAS A JOB!! Working with Chick-fil-A! (Yes, yes, the Greens, Gerlts, and Smiths willall be rejoicing quite enthusiastically at this moment!!) He will be working at the mall store linked, or at a free standing store a little farther away. But it should be a GREAT environment for Ryan (the owner hires a large percentage of seminary students) and we really like the owner already. PS. his son was in Mrs. Jamie Butts class this past year -- how small our Christian circles can be!! So yes, the Lord is so gracious and faithful to provide.

4) Went to see Ryan's cousin Blake and his wife Brianna. Blake is on staff at Wellington Church in Lexington. We are so thankful to have family close by when we move north! Our time was invaluable. Ryan and Blake enjoyed some theological conversing, and man we had some of the best pizza in Kentucky (I'm convinced). We cannot wait to visit again.

We are now back in Texas, although shortly for me. Ryan gave me the best birthday gift EVER this year! He planned a weekend get-away to California to visit two of my best friends, Mara and Bethany. So on Thursday, away I go to the sunshining state of Cali!!! So pray that Lord continues to grant us favor as we make decisions about the house/duplex, jobs, and moving! We are sincerely enjoying this time off from working to visit family, friends, and just read!

I Get Fired Up

2007-06-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

Well, we offered on the house, and the seller counter-offered, desiring us to pay a little more to buy out the current renter's contract. This is where I get fired up. I love it when somebody wants to try to take advantage of a first time house buyer who is a future seminary student. It could get interesting. Anyhow, we are counter offering, and you can bet your seminary book money that I won't be paying him more than his asking price. More later.

You know what, there are times in the Psalms when David implores the Lord to judge him according to His righteousness. "Judge me, O Lord my God, according to your righteousness..." Ps. 35:24. Are you so confident in your walk with the Lord that you could implore God to judge you in His righteousness with the assurance that He would be pleased? Apparently it's an attainable state that we can acquire. Where are you at? Are you dealing with sin swiftly and righteously, are you washing your heart with the water of God's word? Can you say with David, "Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, And I have trusted in the Lord without wavering." Ps. 26:1.

John Owen from The Mortification of Sin

"Now I say when a man comes to this state and condition that lust is weakened in the root and principle, that its motions and actions are fewer and weaker than formerly, so that they are not able to hinder his duty nor interrupt his peace; when he can, in a quiet, sedate frame of spirit, find out and fight against sin, and have success against it; then sin is mortified in some considerable measure, and notwithstanding all its opposition, a man may have peace with God all his days."

Blessings,

Ryan

John Piper's God Exalting Grammar

2007-06-01T16:17:00.001-05:00

Wow...I was moved to tears, and the more you hear it the more real it becomes.

Buying a House

2007-05-31T10:33:00.001-05:00

Does anybody other than me find it interesting that the most important financial decision you will probably ever make is the one that you know the absolute least about? Hmmmm, maybe that is why you have to sign all these papers that say you believe that your realtor and mortgage broker are acting in your best interest, because I think that they are. Our realtor has been nothing but WONDERFUL and I am thankful for the hard work she has been putting in on our behalf. Not to mention the fact that she is a believer and it's nice (biblically compelling as well) to work with the Body of Christ. BUT, the down side to knowing very little about a large purchase is that you could lose a bunch of money. Knowing that, read on...

Sarah and I have been running around like crazy, trying to fax this here and that there, sign this here and date it, get this information about such and such, and make a decision about this and if you mess up, there is a possibility that it could cost you thousands. That seems a little crazy, but we just have to do that to make an OFFER on the house, not actually buy it. I can't wait until the day we close on it, should be interesting (if it all works out). Anyhoo, if you plan to buy a house in the future, start making friends with a mortgage broker (if you're not related to one) so that they can help explain things, cuz it gets a bit confusing. My uncle is a mortgage broker and he gave me a 30 minute lesson over the phone today, and man, it was helpful. Just something to think about. AND if you ever start looking at purchasing a house, you may go ahead and ask your realtor to give you a copy of all the paper work that you will eventually fill out. Sarah and I would like to have been a little bit more acquainted with all the forms and whatnot. I am not saying that our real estate agent or mortgage broker is doing a bad job. In fact, I bet they are ready to work with someone who knows what they are talking about. What I am saying is take some initiative to prepare yourself for the most important financial decision you will ever make, it will pay off big time (and I mean it will pay off monetarily and it will lower your stress level).

More on house purchasing later.

No pregnant jokes this time.

Longing for Loui,
Beebs

I'm in

2007-05-28T15:17:00.001-05:00

Saturday afternoon I received an envelope from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary that said, "We would like to congratulate..." that's the only part I really read. Then Sarah and I were jumping up and down all excited that the Lord had confirmed the call for us to attend seminary in the fall of 2007. Instead of calling my friends in Kentucky, I just ran to the airport and flew in to tell them about it. Everybody was really thankful that I flew in just to inform them of my acceptance.
Not really, I flew up there to take a look at a house. We found a very promising duplex that is very close to the seminary, the price is right, and it looks like we will have good renters (I hope). It is a beautiful redbrick duplex. You can take a look at it here. Hopefully we will make a bid on it tomorrow, Tuesday, and start drawing up a contract by the weeks end.
By 1:00 am Saturday night, Eron and I had registered for my fall classes. I will be taking 10 hours total.
-Biblical Theology with Dr. Wellum
-Systematic Theology with Dr. Moore
-Written Communications with (I can't remember)
-Personal Spiritual Disciplines wit Dr. Whitney
It ought to be a good time!!
Right now Sarah and I are in the process of moving to Liberty Hill for the summer and finishing up staff training at Camp Buckner (still the best camp on the face of the earth). Things are busy, but that's probably good for me.

Sarah's preg...naah, just kidding.

Beebs

Quick Update

2007-05-15T17:38:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd give you a quick update. Sarah and I are waiting anxiously to hear from the seminary. We should find out sometime this week, if the seminary is correct in telling us that it will take 8-10 days from the time they have all our info.

Last week I should have spent a lot of time reading, but I spent a lot of time fishing instead. You can't blame me right? Pretty soon I'll be reading enough to make up for all the lost time of that past. But I don't really consider fishing to be lost time either. I caught enough fish (with the help of Jason Shaw) to feed 15 people Friday night. It was nice to fish with a purpose.

Sarah is still laboring intensely to get things ready for summer camp. The Lord has faithfully brought the needed staff together for camp and things are looking great. Continue to pray for her and the other summer camp staff; right now is a very stressful time of year.

I have 7 and 1/2 days left of school and I love it. 67 out of 68 of my kids passed the TAKS Math test (I'm in charge of all of 4th grade math). And 47% of those kids earned a commended performance (they missed less than 4 problems). I have to be honest here...I was more excited about my kids succeeding than I ever was over winning a ballgame of any sort. 180 days is a long time to spend with 80 kids, pushing them to learn math, and then find out that they paid attention and learned. It's quite satisfying.

Sarah's pregnant...just kidding.

I'll let you know if Southern accepts me or slams the door in my face.

Ryan

Been a While

2007-05-03T18:08:00.000-05:00

Good Grief and Honor...It's been forever since I last posted, and I have fully come to terms with the fact that I deserved to be kicked off Eron's blog list.

Well, my kids have all taken the TAKS test and now they have absolutely no motivation for learning. This results in a husband who is worn out at the end of the day and praying that for the last 4 weeks of school corporal punishment (or maybe capital) will be reinstated in elementary schools. We have a Soap Box Derby coming up, the Science Fair going on right now (literally, as I type), an archeological dig field trip coming up as well as a swim party all in the next 4 weeks. Oh yeah, and a musical production that we are putting on with the 4th graders. A busy month is ahead and I am ready, I mean READY, to be in Looeevill.

So I told Eron that I would like to contribute to his new blog on books called The Booked Blog. This is good for me. You see, I am a bit of a competitor and it might be good for me to see Eron and friends blogging about books they have read. Check that out, it will be great.

Sarah is meticulously laboring in pursuit of summer camp. As it draws nearer the pressure is really building but it is nice to know that we will not be there all summer (although we would love to be). It would be pretty tough to try to move to L'ville while maintaining our jobs at camp.
I just finished a book by Joseph S. Carroll called How to Worship Jesus Christ. For anyone who needs an encouragement to just savor Christ and ascribe worth to Him, this book is for you (by the way, that's everybody). I'll post more in depth on it later (probably on The Booked Blog)

Sarah caught an 8 pound bass Sunday. Yeah, that's right, 8 stinkin' pounds. That made for a lot of fried fish as well as one humbled husband!!

Love you guys, hope all is well. Adios...

Praise the Lord for sound doctrine

2007-03-30T20:49:00.000-06:00

All too often we forget what many have gone through in the past to give us such polished theology for today. God has used those in the history of the church to expose truth to many who were in spiritual ignorance. This book is about just that. John Hooper, Rowland Taylor, Hugh Latimer, John Bradford, and Nicholas Ridley all took a stand for the truth of God's word and they were burned at the stake in return. I am amazed a the stand that these men took and the opposition they received yet they stood strong on the foundation of truth that we often times take for granted. This foundation of truth was not taught to them from years of tradition as well as thoroughly articulated systematic theology books. They were taught these truths by the Holy Spirit through the word of God in a time when hardly anybody thought that was an option. I will leave out the specific doctrines that they stood for (in hopes that you will seek it out) and just encourage you to thank God daily for good doctrine and the easy access that we have to it. I just want to give you a few quotes from the men this book was written about.

John Hooper wrote these words on his prison cell wall:

"Content thyself with patience, with Christ to bear the cross of pain: Who can or will recompense a thousand-fold, with joys again. Let nothing cause thy heart to fail: Launch out thy boat, hoist up thy sail,Put from the shore; And be thou sure thou shalt remain, for evermore.

Fear not death, pass not for bands, only in God put thy whole trust; For He will require thy blood at their hands, And thou dost know that once die thou must, Only for that thy life if thy give, death is no death, but amens to live. Do not despair; Of no worldly tyrant be thou in dread; Thy compass which is God's word, shall lead thee, and the wind is fair."

Rowland Taylor just before he was attached to the stake:

"Good people, I have taught you nothing but God's Holy Word, and those lessons that I have taken out of God's blessed book, the Holy Bible; and I am come hither to this day to seal it with my blood."

Hugh Latimer, who arose at 2 am to study each morning, left the world with these words:

"Be of good comfort, Master Ridley (another reformer he was burned with), and play the man; We shall this day light such a candle. By God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."

John Bradford spoke of his being wrongly condemned:

"When I consider the cause of my condemnation, I cannot but lament that I do not rejoice more than I do, for it is God's verity and truth. The condemnation is not a condemnation of Bradford simply, but rather a condemnation of Christ and His truth. Bradford is nothing else but an instrument, in whom Christ and His doctrine are condemned."

Nicholas Ridley offered up a final supplication as he was at the stake:

"O Heavenly Father, I give unto Thee most hearty thanks, for that Thou hast called me to be a professor of Thee, even unto death. I beseech Thee, Lord God, take mercy upon this realm of England, and deliver the same from all her enemies."

The price these men paid for the doctrines we cherish today should not be forgotten. Read about the martyrs of the past; It will excite your hunger for spiritual growth and deepen your love and commitment to Christ and His truth. May we never take for granted sound doctrine. Praise God for His wonderful grace!

To Every Tribe Ministries

2007-03-25T21:33:00.000-06:00

What's up y'all? (I said that because I won't be in TX to much longer)
Just thought you folks in Kentucky might want to know that the founder of "To Every Tribe Ministries" will be speaking at SBTS chapel soon. His name is David Sitton and he has recently set up the Center for Pioneer Church Planting. My little sister Caraboo (her real name is Cara) is enrolled and she loves it. They recently returned from a mission trip to Papa New Guinea where the Lord was pleased to save his people. Read about it at my sister's blog right here.
David loves the Lord and is fully committed to the unreached people groups in Mexico and PNG. Check out this quote of his - I am on a crusade right now to recruit martyr missionaries for the least reached people groups of the world. -David Sitton. I guess maybe that should worry me since my sister is being trained at his school, but it doesn't. Cara would love to die for the gospel of Christ and that is one thing I love about her.
Sarah went on a mission trip to Mexico with TETM and she roughed it, sleeping in a one-person tent with torrential rains slamming down on top of her only to find out that her tent wasn't water proof and hoping that her body weight and the tent pegs could withstand the winds. Ask her about it, she'll tell you.
Anyways (so much for a short post), David spoke at John Piper's pastor's conference and I think you would really enjoy hearing him. You can check that out here. The dates he will be speaking are April 14-17th. Sunday the 15th he will be doing a presentation/teaching at Auburndale Baptist Church. Then, Tuesday morning the 17th he will be speaking at chapel at Southern. Check it out, you will not be disappointed.

Resting in His providence,
Ryan and Sarah

Late St. Patrick's Day

2007-03-21T10:37:00.000-06:00

Ok -- please hold all of your tantrums about the tardiness of the post and the title, but when you look at this picture, you will exclaim to yourself -- "MAN, I'm so GLAD they didn't keep this to themselves."

Some background:

We have a man in our church that is a former Catholic priest, Richard Bennett. He has an extensive ministry now to catholics, and preaching all across the nation, and even internationally. His testimony is simply encouraging and convicting. (P.S. He is Irish as well!!) You can check out his ministry at The Berean Beacon!!! His website is awesome! Great resources about catholic apologists, testimonies, church history, and much much more! So I encourage you, visit the site, listen to some of his resources, and be encouraged!

And now for the belated St. Patrick's Day gift to you all:

Our Sufficiency in Christ

2007-03-19T17:09:00.000-06:00

What one word would describe this book? Solid, nourishing, meaty..I have no idea, but it was excellent. I cannot think of a better book to read if you want to be exposed to the problems facing the church today and their biblical answers. This book is amazing. I finished it on the flight home from Kentucky and I have to say that it made me long to be in a church somewhere and see to it that the Christ is preeminent through biblical preaching, teaching, counseling and study (not psychology or psychotherapy or any other psycho- word). J-Mac really hits the nail on the head with this one.

The thrust of the book is this; Christ is sufficient, stop settling for all the worldly gimmicks such as psychology, legalism, asceticism, exorcisms, pragmatism, quietism vs. pietism, and the like. I mean, you name a problem in the church and it is dealt with in one way or another in this book. That's the beauty of Christ, He sufficiently meets every need we will ever face! That is precisely what MacArthur is probing us towards. Be satisfied in Christ! Please, don't let me exalt this book over the bible, the scripture index is only eight pages long. In every chapter Johnny is expositing LARGE chunks of scripture to refute or expose the problems he is mentioning. After reading each chapter you will have a greater understanding of key scriptural texts necessary for the resisting of these sinful tendencies in the church as well as outright heresies that are creeping in unnoticed.

Probably the most entertaining chapter of the book (not that the book is meant to entertain) was chapter 3, "Does God Need a Psychiatrist?" Now you talk about scary. Macarthur exposes some problems and contradictions that exist within psychiatry. He discusses the professionalism of it all and questions whether or not it is a science at all. Here are some quotes from Time magazine in their article called, "Psychiatry on the Couch" pulled from chapter three.

"Psychiatrists themselves acknowledge that their profession often smacks of modern alchemy--full of jargon, obfuscation and mystification, but precious little real knowledge..."

"Scottish psychiatrist and poet R.D. Lang is sure that schizophrenia is real--and that it is good for you. Explains Lang: it is a kind of psychedelic epiphany, far superior to normal experience."

"The article went on to chronicle the failures of psychiatry, noting that, 'of all patients, one-third are eventually "cured," one-third are helped somewhat, and one-third are not helped at all.'"

Are you kidding me? Schizophrenia may be a good thing? Only one-third are actually cured (and that according to the psychiatrists standards)? Wow, that should make you thankful for Christ. The whole book is not an assault on psychiatry. I only chose to mention those quotes because they were extremely interesting to me.

This book is a must read for all Christians. Entire chapters are devoted to the sufficiency of Christ and His word as well as sanctification and obedience. To this date, this was probably the most insightful and encouraging book I have read, save God's Holy Word. I'll leave you with a few more quotes. If these do not make you love Christ more, read them again:

"We must hold fast to Christ's sufficiency -- never adding to it or taking from it. In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). In Him dwells all the fullness of deity in bodily form (2:9). We have been made complete in Him (2:10). And nothing can ever separate us from Him (Rom. 8:35-39). What more do we need?"

MacArthur closes the book with this:

"My prayer is that you won't exchange the fountain of life from which flow rivers of living water for the broken pots being sold today-which hold no water." Jeremiah 2:13

Our Trio is down to Two

2007-03-14T08:39:00.000-06:00

I love random, bizzare, creepy, scary pets. I keep them in my classroom so the kids can ooh and ahh over them. I have a tarantula named Fuzzy; but that's not the bizzare pet that I am referring to. I also have three Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. I mean these things are hideous. Sarah won't even eat lunch within 10 feet of these things. This will help you get an idea about how big they are. Remember those rectangular pink erasers that you used to have in elementary school? These cockroaches dwarf those erasers. They are "ginormous" as some of my kids would tell you. The coolest thing about them is this; when they feel threatened they hiss really loudly. REALLY loudly. You know when grease falls off a barbeque pit, hits the fire and makes a loud hissing noise? You know how loud that is? They can hiss that loud. No lie. It's intimidating. You can check out Hissing Cockroaches at this sight:

http://www.angelfire.com/in/ghcfaq/

Well, their names are Larry, Moe and Curly and believe it or not, they have become loved by many in our classroom. Sadly, over spring break Larry passed away (Yes, I know them by name. Larry was the larger of the two brown roaches; Moe is the black roach). Funeral services will be held this afternoon as we bury him behind the school. Visitation will be all day today. Right now he rests in peace in the bottom of an empty goldfish box. He deserves the best. Comforting comments and prayers will be appreciated as it will be a tough day for all cockroach lovers.

Peace,

Ryan

Kentucky

2007-03-07T13:46:00.000-06:00

WOW! Sarah and I are in Kentucky right now enjoying our visit to the seminary. This place is absolutely amazing. The staff is full of STUDS that authored many of the books that are on our bookshelf. Hanging out with all our friends and family has been a great encouragement and a confirmation of the Lord's calling on our lives. I cannot fully express in words what the Lord is doing here but I know one thing; this seminary is training men who will faithfully preach the word of God, rightly dividing it and bringing it to bare on the souls of all in the church. We are absolutely pumped about moving here sometime this summer. Well, i'm off to turn in my application in person so that I don't have to pay the application fee!! Oh, by the way...the REAL reason we are moving here is this: Every restaurant has sweet tea. Makes me feel good all over more than anywhere else.

Keep the dream alive,
Ryan

Thousands Saved, Millions Rededicated

2007-03-01T12:07:00.000-06:00

Well, things are good in the Bebee household. Just wanted to let everyone know we haven't fallen off the face of the earth or anything. We are headed up to Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday and staying until Thursday. We hope to spend time with our family and friends that are living there, view the seminary, and look for a place to live in the Fall (as well as just get away from everything). We are extremely excited and can't wait to see everybody.

I preached on Super Bowl Sunday, the evening service. That's right, I preached during the Super Bowl. I thought it was probably a test by our pastor to see if I was really commited to preaching the word. If you want to hear the sermon click here.

Look down under the sermon descriptions and you will see it. It is labeled Ryan Bebee - 1 Pet. 4:1-6. If you have trouble finding it let me know. Thousands really were saved, and millions really did rededicate their lives...so be prepared, the same could happen to you.

Ryan

Ryan's preaching & surgery

2007-02-04T10:16:00.000-06:00

Well, in the next two days we will be having quite a bit going on in the life of the Bebees. The first and most important though, is that tonight, YES TONIGHT, Ryan will be preaching at the evening service at Dayspring Fellowship. I will let you guys know if they record it and if it will be available on their website.

Please keep Ryan in prayer if you read this before tonight. He is preaching on 1 Peter 4:1-6. It has been late nights and lots of studying, but praise the Lord that He gives great joy in the reading and studying of His word! We have already had some great conversations, and I have been blessed by the preparation that Ryan has done already!

I am currently reading a book called "Acquainted with Grief". It is a biography of Wang Mingdao, who was a leading Christian pastor in China in the past centure. I'm not sure that we would all agree with all of his doctrinal stances, however, I have been so amazingly encouraged by his boldness to uphold truth, to not compromise when it comes to the gospel, to speak boldly when needed and yet seek to live a quiet life in the midst of the turmoil and dissention of communist china (1 Thes 4:11-12). I read this quote to Ryan and i wanted to share it with you all b/c it is the prayer that we have for our church and pastor, and for any church that Ryan and I have the blessing of joining!

"I have no desire to do something great. It is simply my hope, in this world where truth is beclouded and where teh lusts of men have broken their banks, to be able to testify to God's truth and to live out His life. I wanted to be faithful unto death; in my own particular sphere I want to glorify God; and I want to spread the fragrance of Christ wherever I go. It is not so much a large church that I want to build; it is rather to build up a church according to the mind of God. Two needs stand out in the world today. One is for model believers; the other is for the model churches. My prayer accordingly, is that we may be model believers, and that ours may be a model church." -- Wang Mingdao

And one more quote that I thought was so precious to our view of the gospel:

"What is the greatest need of manking? It is extravagant clothes? Is it lavish food? Is it a congenial occupation? Is it adequate medical provision? Is it upright politics? Is it a comprehensive system of law? Is it a higher level of society? Is it harmony among the nations? Is it the reform of our habits? Is it the establishment of virtue? All these are the needs of mankind. But the greatest need of all is not among them. Mankind's greatest need is to come to God for forgiveness of sin in order to have eternal life. Whether people acknowledge it or not, their greatest need is to be brought into touch with God. For God is the source of all happiness. But they have been cut off from God by sin and they themselves are unable to bridge the gap. What else can people do but endure pain and await the onset of death?" -- Wang Mingdao

I pray that we will be as passion and have the zeal that Wang has for the church, and the gospel. May we also fight the onset of a "Social Gospel" that seeks to meet people's NEEDS, but NOT THEIR GREATEST NEED!

ALSO -- tomorrow, Ryan goes into surgery for his shoulder. You can check out what happened if you return to the post from last year. He will be in surgery for an hour and a half, and they will reconnect an existing ligament to help support the shoulder and connect it to the clavicle. They will clean up some things in there, and will shorten his clavicle so that there is less possibility for arthritis and to aid in the reconstruction. We have to be in Fredricksburg at 11:00 and he will go into surgery at 1:00. You're prayers will be greatly appreciated, and I will keep you all updated when I get back to a computer! Thank you again for your support of Ryan and I!!!

New Attitude Conference & Mohler's blog

2007-01-25T08:29:00.000-06:00

New Attitude
Registration Opens: Theme -- HUMBLE ORTHODOXY
The New Attitude conference for singles and young married couples returns to Louisville, Kentucky, May 26–29, 2007. Registration is now open, so join us as we gather to rediscover God's truth and recommit to living it humbly. They want to examine our lives in light of God's Word, because humble orthodoxy takes discernment. Joshua Harris, Eric Simmons, C.J. Mahaney, Mark Dever, Albert Mohler, and John Piper will teach main sessions.If your church or organization would like to help them spread the word about New Attitude, send them an email. (For those of you in Louisville -- this would be REALLY GREAT!)

Also -- many of our friend bloggers check out Mohler's blog often, but let me TELL you...his blog yesturday was inspiring! I absolutely LOVE to read, and it was encouraging to see how important reading is to our Christian community, and how we NEED to encourage it in our children, student, friends, ect. Check it out! (PS -- it was Jan 24th post) And praise the Lord for God's healing hand on Al Mohler as well!!!

Do Not Love the World (Part 2)

2007-01-23T12:45:00.000-06:00

I couldn't pass this up. I listened to part 2 of the sermon today...and MAN was it good! Here's some more:

Two Possibilities If You Don't Feel Much Love for God
Perhaps even as I say this, some of you are saying, "I don't feel very much love for God right now." There are two possible reasons for that.

1) You are not born of God...

2) The other possibility is that you have indeed been born again, but that your love for God has simply grown cool and weak. You've tasted what it means to have a heart for God. You can recall how once you felt that to know him was better than anything the world could offer. But this morning the wick is smoldering and the reed is bruised.
The prescription for your ailment is not much different than the prescription for seeking new birth in the first place. The same Spirit that begets life, also nourishes life. The same Word that ignites the fire of love, also rekindles love. The same Christ who once brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light, can take away the long dark night of your soul. So yield yourself to the Holy Spirit. Immerse yourself in the Word of God. Cry out to Christ for a new vision of the glory of his grace. Don't be content with lukewarmness. Pursue a new passion for Christ.
......

St. Augustine captured the heart of our text when he prayed to the Father and said,

"He loves thee too little

who loves anything together with thee

which he loves not for thy sake."

Do Not Love the World

2007-01-22T11:13:00.000-06:00

Ryan and I had a great weekend! We worked up at camp as weekend directors. It was the last weekend of spike and doe season (as some of you may or may not know)...and Ryan was in his deer stand despite the misting and hazy conditions. It proved to be successful!! Ryan shot a spike on Sunday morning! I good ending to the deer season, when the last weekend is always a little sorrowful for Ryan..as the end of a joyous past-time goes by another year.

This morning I have been enjoying a little bit more of some BIRTHDAY POSTCARDS! (No shudders please...). This has become one of my favorite duties of my job, b/c it gives me the time and attention to listen to some good sermons. Today's was from Mr. John Piper...Do Not Love the World. It was definantly to the point, and bold, and convicting, and encouraging all together. I encourage all of you if you have time to listen to this, and be reminded as I was, that our desire should be upmost to LOVE God, and this will be our motivator to turn away from teh things of the world. Here's a great quote:

In other words it is our love for God that overcomes the obstacles of disobedience and makes the commandments of God a joy rather than a burden. "Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her" (Genesis 29:20). Love for God makes his service a joy and overcomes the forces of disobedience. -- Piper

The Lightlings

2007-01-19T15:10:00.000-06:00

I forgot to talk about the
best part of our trip! While spending time with the Moore family we had some Great conversations about the gospel. Ryan and I both had some one on one time with Aundera and Jonah to talk about Christ, baptism, and some essentials of the Christian faith. We talked about my dad, and blessing of knowing that he was a believer. I told them about the funeral, and how it was a time to really celebrate by dad, and his character, and how much we loved him. But even more than that, it was a time to talk about how much my dad loved Christ, and the truth of the gospel!! It was so neat to see how the Lord has already begun to soften their hearts. Aundera was baptized this past year, so we have been really continuing to talk about the gospel. While in the car with Jonah, we listened to this children's book, narrated by R.C. Sproul, called the Lightlings. It is a GREAT children's book about our state as humans, and the story of Christ! Love it! Jonah asked all kinds of good questions afterwards, and then said, can we listen to it again!!! So definantly check it out! We downloaded it on our ipod for free...so share with your young friends and family!!!

Baby FEVER

2007-01-19T14:24:00.000-06:00

Little updating from the Bebees.

Baby FEVER!! Ok, for all of you dieing and hopeing that this will read...
WE ARE PREGNANT...it will be rather disappointing. However, Ryan and I have had some serious baby fever (def: the distinct desire to immediately have your own child or steal someone elses -- I mean adoption of some sort -- but you need a baby NOW). We spent the past weekend in New Mexico skiing with my sister and her family!!! Great snow, great weather, and man can my niece and nephew tear up the mountain. Aundera is parrallel sking blues like an ace, and she's even brave enough to go down some blacks!! Jonah is loving sking for the first time in his life -- (small run down of Jonah's life in skiing)

Year 1 -- Jonah is 1 year or so...spends all day at a daycare
Year 2 -- Jonah is roughly 2-3. spends the day at the daycare/ski school/spend a day in skis but just throw snowballs
Year 3 -- Jonah is extremely sick, and is unable to participate in the Stephens' family most beloved past-time sport
Year 4 -- Jonah now 4 tries skiing again...while his aunt Sarah is holding him and skiing down, close to the lift line -- projectile vomit begins from his mouth...yes, all over the ski run.
Year 5 -- well the past year, I think he did better, but he still was definantly not thrilled with skiing...
Year 6 -- THE BEST. Jonah learns to ski BY HIMSELF down the mountain. Greens are NOTHING for this kid. And his beloved response: "Sking is fun when you can do it. I can even ski around someone Aunt Sarah".

So back to baby fever. Ryan, with the seperated shoulder, offered to keep our 6 month old nephew Micheal while we hit the slopes. Yes, you heard right, Ryan babysat for two days, our little beautiful nephew. Diapers and all. It was like Daddy Daycare (although don't stress, I'm not ABOUT To ask Ryan to quite HIS job so we can have kids -- although we did discuss it...). And Ryan did an AWESOME job. Micheal LOVED him, and it was a huge blessing of a trip to spend time with the Moore family. I'll include pictures soon!

Other than that, you people in Kentucky probably can't believe that they closed Austin/Marble Falls/Llano schools for two days for icy conditions down here...and there were even reports of snow. Ryan and I spent two WHOLE days sealed into our little apartment..and loved every minute of it! -- although we began to run out of food!

Update on my Aunt Deborah. Many of you know that my dear Aunt Deborah has had hepatitis C for many years, and it has slowly completely demolished her liver. A few weeks ago she had reached the point where she was put on a recipient list in Baylor. This weekend, she was called in to recieve her new liver. It is a very hard and at times, risky procedure for the patient. But the Lord has been so gracious to work out all the many details, schedules, family flights/departures, weather, and in his goodness, my Aunt Deborah is in a recovery wing walking and talking, and her new liver is already working in her body! I am amazed at the ingeniousness that the Lord has given man to bring such blessings into our lives!!

So keep Ryan and I in your prayers as we continue to make plans for the upcoming year. Ryan has his shoulder surgery on February 5th in Fredricksburg, and we will keep you updated on that as well!

Reunion 2007

2007-01-05T14:03:00.000-06:00

So for those of you that are not in the all consuming, and rather enjoyable Buckner circle...WE JUST HAD CAMP BUCKNER REUNION. (No, not a cult meeting!)

Ryan and I were able to spend time with his family for Christmas, then head north to spend a week with my family. It was exhausting, and yet one of our best Christmas ever! Christmas day was actually spent with my sister's husbands entire family...hehe! We are a weird group. Ryan and I even did the gift exchange and everything. It was great! I am sure many of you had as many Christmas days as we did, but I counted about six (including the one where we weren't family).

Ryan and I made it back into Kingsland in time to celebrate our SECOND anniversary! PF Changs treated us right!! Congrats to all of those that with us celebrated during this time -- Riedls (Happy TWO!), Polittes (Happy SIX -- I think), Franklins (Ashley and Ryan!!! TWO TWO!), Jones (Teesh and Stepho -- THREE!), and my sweet friends the Gossetts (Three!)!! HAPPY ANNIVERSARIES to them all!

Reunion went GREAT! We had roughly over 80 people come through our gates for the infamous get together...even as oldschool as the Dawson, Bethany Howe, the Cates!! Ryan's Bible studies were great. We were all challenged and definantly encouraged. Let us know if you want the notes, and we would be glad to share. I look forward to lots of great conversations with you Kentuckians about these subjects.

Some memorable moments from 2007 reunion:

1) Yes Brent, the sick-out game of twister. Cliff, Ryan, Brent and K-Chap spinning the wheel.

2) As Mindy stated on Jamies blog...tons, and tons, and TONS of games.

3) We set up the back kitchen area for those looking for their significant other. We had thirty minute conversation slot times open (although I think you guys talked WAY more in 06), and then you could exchange e-mail and phone numbers if you desired...in honor of none other than my best friends the Butts.

4) And just plain fellowship. I was SO amazingly encouraged by all of the counselors and friends I was able to catch up with, share life events, and search out wisdom in life's decisions! Can't wait for camp!!

--I hear there are some great pictures on facebook...although I can't see them yet. HOpefully soon!

For those of you that couldn't make it...sad day...but know you were missed, AND you missed out!

Buckner Reunion

2006-12-31T12:19:00.000-06:00

In obedience to Bethany, I will post something new. Sarah and I are in the middle of a Camp Buckner Reunion. I cannot tell you how fun this is. I love seeing all these camp people come in during their Christmas break and go crazy during reunion. There are lots of games being played, plenty of snacks consumed (in fact, I suffered from a "hooch hangover" this morning. It's when you feel like your stomach is one solid chunk of junk food because you ate so much the night before. It is not enticing to say the least and it will greatly influence what I eat tonight between 8 o'clock and the time I go to bed), tons of catching up with old friends and the occasional Bible study. Well, three to be exact. I was blessed with the responsibility to do all three so I thought I would let you know what I have been teaching on. The studies are on the imputation of Christ's Righteousness and they are broken down as follows.

1) Our Need for the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness
- This deals with mankind's representatives, Adam and Christ, as well as inherited or original sin. We need Christ's righteousness because God demands righteousness and we cannot provide it due to the effects of sin. I also portray why this doctrine is important and the need to understand it and apply it to your life.

2) The Imputation of Christ's Righteousness -- The Basis of our Justification
- The title pretty much says it all. I go into the specifics of Justification and Christ's righteousness: His perfect obedience (both active and passive), justification being a legal or forensic declaration by God, Christ's righteousness being an alien righteousness totally outside of ourselves. God can declare us just on the basis if Christ's righteousness alone being credited to us.

3) How This Righteousness Becomes Ours and the Benefits of Possessing it
- This is pretty straightforward. It comes as a gift, through the instrument of faith (which is NOT a work). I will spend quite a bit of time reviewing the previous Bible studies during this time as well as explaining in greater detail the practical application of understanding our position in Christ.

Those are the three studies and I will come back later and fill you in a little on each one. But for now, that's all you get because I am supposed to be putting together the last one right now. I will leave you with a few quotes that I ran across during my study that are quite a bit encouraging. Eron and Kari, if you two are in Burnet while I am giving these Bible studies I will feel really bad. I would have loved to have had Eron staring at me from the audience insuring that I am speaking the truth.

Take it easy and boast only in the righteousness that Christ provides.

John Bunyan “Our righteousness is both imperfect and short of continuance. But Christ’s righteousness will abide forever, it is a garment that will never wear out, or wax old, it is a righteousness that will last our lives, be of service at death, appear fresh at judgment, and will answer for us in a time to come, and give us an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

John Murray “Regeneration is an act of God in us; justification is a judgment of God with respect to us. The distinction is like that of a distinction between the act of a surgeon and the act of a judge. The surgeon, when he removes an inward cancer, does something in us. That is not what a judge does—he gives a verdict regarding our judicial status. If we are innocent, he declares accordingly.
The purity of the gospel is bound up with the recognition of this distinction. If justification is confused with regeneration or sanctification, then the door is opened for the perversion of the gospel at it’s center. Justification is still the article of the standing or falling of the church.”

Christmas Lights

2006-12-01T15:03:00.000-06:00

Well, most of you know that I will dearly miss Texas when I move to good ole' Looeeville to go to seminary. I just wanted to give you guys a tast of what I will miss. Three things have really caught my eye this year as I have been driving around the Kingsland/Granite Shoals area (which is where we live for those that don't know) admiring the beautiful Christmas decorations. Let me remind you that this area is made up of Jeff Foxworthy's favorite kind of people. REDNECKS!!

#1 - Yesterday I was driving home from my deer blind when I saw a partial nativity scene in a front yard. I saw Mary and Joseph admiring their beautiful baby boy who was lying in a manger. Each figure lit up and it was really great. At first glance I thought their were two animals gathered around but upon a closer inspection I found that not to be true. Guess who was present at Jesus' birth! Rudolph and one other reindeer!! Yep, according to one family in Kingsland, Rudolph and a fellow reindeer were present at Jesus' birth.

#2 - This one just makes me laugh. Jason and I were heading home from a football game and we examined a decorated yard near my house. Jason made the comment that he didn't think that it looked very good and I have to agree. This family took the approach to Christmas decor that requires no order or planning. It looked like the house threw up Christmas lights and the trees in the fron yard caught them. Come on, take some pride in your lighting.

#3 - My personal favorite. Some people put figures in their yard that are outlined in Christmas lights. A very common figure is the classic white deer with white lights along every contour and curve to bring the animal to life. There are many other figures such as Santa, Christmas trees, crosses, reindeer, stars, bells and holly. One individual in Granite Shoals has really put to shame any Christmas figure this side of the Mississippi. I laugh every time I drive home and see the CEMENT TRUCK lit up in his front yard with the MIXING BUCKET spinning and CEMENT pouring out the back!! All done with red and white lights. Whos decorates their yard with a Christmas Light CEMENT TRUCK? (rednecks)

So anyway, I will miss Texas...but I'll be alright.

SNOWPEOPLES!

2006-12-01T12:07:00.000-06:00

This is in honor of Kari Plevan! Thanks for the link, I LOVED making my snowman. Check her out HERE!!! And make sure to click "make her move"!!! Thanks Kari for the holiday links...I think I"m going to hang out at Better Home and Gardens TONS!

Suffering and the Sovereignty of God -- a Good Christmas present

2006-11-30T08:39:00.000-06:00

I know, I know, you missed me!! Well, I'm back!!

First, let me just tell you, Ryan and I had the most wonderful thanksgiving ever! We had all the goodies to eat, we had a house full of Ryan's family for four nights straight, and two kiddos (Jacob and the Ty-man) ready to play at the first signs of life in the morning. I absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving. And I love the Bebee family that is now my own. We had a time of really just sharing what we were thankful for, and praying for one another. It was encouraging!!

FRIDAY! And for those of you girls that love to shop, Friday was IT! Shea, Cara and I woke up a little before 3:00, and were shopping at the Roundrock outlet mall directly after. There were SWEET deals, and for those of you saying "is it REALLY worth it"??? I have to respond with a resounding YES!!! I am almost completely done with my Christmas shopping, and man, there were some great gifts.

Other than that, Ryan and I have been super busy with school and camp. I'm in the middle of Junior Counselor applications/interviews which has been a blessing to me. And Ryan has been jumping in the deer blind every opportunity he can (PS. my sister and her husband are coming down next weekend to hunt -- boys hunting, girls shopping and well, being girls!! LOVE IT).

For those of you looking for a good book to give for Christmas, I ran across a Piper book on his website. When my dad died, I read almost everything I could get my hands on regarding this subject, but as I went through some of the pages online again this morning, it was so heart warming and comforting to see GOD for the sovereign ruler that He is. So check out, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, by John Piper. It's only 7.00 bucks on his website. And here's a little snippit of the good stuff.

"The impetus for this books comes from the ultimate reality of God as the supreme value in and above the universe. God is absolute and eternal and infinite. Everything else and everybody else is dependent and finite and contingent. God himself is the great supreme value. Everything else that has any value has it by connection to God. God is supreme in all things. He has all authority, all power, all wisdom -- and he is all good "to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him" (Lam. 3:25). And his name, as Creator and Redeemer and Ruler of all, is Jesus Christ." (Chapter 1, pg. 17)

"And what I mean in this chapter when I say that God is sovereign is not merely that God has the power and right to govern all things, but that he does govern all things, for his own wise and holy purposes." (Piper, 19)

We all of those people in our lives, or ourselves, who are going through hard times, suffering, or have experienced great loss. May we point them to Christ. And may we know that "our comfort is abundant through Christ." (2 Cor 1:5).

Ohh yeaaaah, I have a blog...

2006-11-20T13:08:00.000-06:00

Well, I guess I should post something every now and then.

-- Sarah and I met with our pastor last week to discuss the call to ministry. We had a wonderful time discussing the hardships that a pastor faces and the calling that the Lord has placed on mine and Sarah's life. It was extrememly encouraging as well as enlightening to the daily life of a pastor. There is a lot more to it than studying and preaching the word! The first thing that he wanted me to do was read chapter 6 of Preaching and Preachers by Martin Loyd Jones (sound familiar Eron?). I did, wow, and it too was encouraging and confirming of the call to the pastoral ministry. I will be preaching at Dayspring (our church) on a Sunday night sometime in January.

-- I got to explain The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe to about 6 teachers today in the teachers lounge. It really paint a great picture of the gospel and sharing it was easy. I think that tomorrow I will explain the Lord's redemptive work using some other movie. How about Bull Durham.

-- My shoulder is getting much better, I don't think I am going to have surgery until I let it heal and see what I can and can't do. It feels pretty good, and although Sarah might not be to thrilled to hear this, I might even hunt with my bow during the Thanksgiving break.

Note: Sarah and I will discuss this long before it ever happens. I am not encouraging that husbands do anything that their wives wouldn't encourage them in (especially in non-spiritual matters such as bow-hunting).

-- Life is good. I don't have any crazy stories to tell you about school (at least none come to mind), but if anything happens I will let you know.

-- Sarah is still the most wonderful girl in the whole world. She is recruiting in Abilene today (HSU) and will be back late tonight. This also means that I will be hunting this afternoon (always a good time).

-- I still get sick to my stomach when I think about the Texas - K-State game.

I hope that you all have a great thanksgiving.

Sola Deo Gratia,

Ryan

AC Joints Part II

2006-11-09T11:26:00.000-06:00

Update on Ryan: Our first orthopedic guy, Dr. Hurt saw Ryan on Tuesday. He did some extras, and did some measurements. Turns out Ryan is officially a Grade Five AC joint injury. Meaning, the separation between the clavicle and the scapula is larger than 200% of the other side. Pretty major, and it also means that he has torn all of the ligaments in between. The surgery for reparing this is rather major, so we were advised to let it heal for 4 weeks and come back and see the progress. Then we will do physical therapy if needed for 4 weeks, and then will look at surgery as the last result. Most AC injuries heal on their own, but the shoulder will not pull back up to the clavicle, but he would gain all motor and physical skills back. We are going to another guy in Fredericksburg on Wednesday (the best in the area we hear) to get a second opinion, and make sure we can't do anything else to help the healing. We may even travel down to San ANtonio due to the Patyraks (some best friends of mine, who are also in the medical field) recommendation. We love you guys and thank you for the prayers.

Other than injuries ect...we have been having a great time reading! Ryan is obsessed with some real documentary style hunting books about Africa, and he has had a lot more time to delve into his theology books, and I've been reading some classics!

For those of you in the area too...we are still looking at the Jingle Bell 5K in Zilker Park on Dec. 17th (Sunday night). We'd love for you to join us! :o)

Flag Football Injury

2006-11-03T10:04:00.000-06:00

Last night the thundercats lost their last game of the pre-tournament season. However, they put up a good fight, taking the team into overtime. They now, I believe are fourth in the tournament. Unfortunately, one of the first plays of the game injured Mr. Ryan Bebee. Ryan laid out to catch a low pass and landed on his left shoulder as his arms were extended out. Ryan finished out the drive (even scoring on the two point conversion), and then came out of the game. A trip to the ER, some MAJOR pain killers through and IV, and a few hours later we were headed home with X-rays and a name of an orthopedic surgeon. Ryan has separated his shoulder, (not to be confused with dislocating a shoulder, which can be realigned into place). It is where your acromioclavical joint is seperated -- the joint between your acromion (the little nob off of your scapula) and your clavical (collarbone). He has a bump on his shoulder where the clavical is not aligned correctly, and the injury causes some immense pain. Ryan is a grade III of IV. Not the worst, but we have to see the orthopedic next week to see if he might need surgery, or if it will heal on its own. (Just for your amusement, the doctor we have an appointment with is appropriately name Dr. Hurt. We found this rather comical last night!)

Here's a healthy shoulder:

Here is what is going on in Ryan's shoulder (x-ray and then a picture):

and...

Please be in prayer that the Lord will heal Ryan quickly, and that he will be able to return to physical activity (and hunting) soon. We are not sure how much or what is torn in the joints, but this could determine the invasiveness of the procedure. Thank you for your prayers, and we will keep you updated!

Animal Kingdom

2006-11-01T15:04:00.000-06:00

A little late, but here is a slide show mostly of our safari ride. So if you want to go to the zoo today, jump on board! By far our favorite ride at Animal Kingdom was Mount Everest. If you ever visit, it is a must!!! (Click on the Animal Kingdom to go to the slide show.)

Happy Belated Haloween/Reformation Day to all of you as well!

This ought to make you laugh...maybe...

2006-10-27T07:56:00.000-05:00

The Evolution in Teaching Math Since the 1950's:

1. Teaching Math In 1950

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is
4/5 of the price. What is his profit?
------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Teaching Math In 1960

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is
4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

-------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Teaching Math In 1970

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is
$80. Did he make a profit?

-------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Teaching Math In 1980

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is
$80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Teaching Math In 1990

A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and
inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the
preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of
$20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class
participation after answering the question: How did the birds and
squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong
answers.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Teaching Math In 2005

Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la
producciones es $80.

Adios mi Amigos,

Ryan

God First, Then Extras -- some spurgeon

2006-10-25T10:55:00.000-05:00

"But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you"(Matthew 6:33).

See how the Bible opens: "In the beginning God." Let your life open in the same way. Seek with your whole soul, first and foremost, the kingdom of God, as the place of your citizenship, and His righteousness as the character of your life. As for the rest, it will come from the LORD Himself without your being anxious concerning it. All that is needful for this life and godliness "shall be added unto you."

What a promise this is! Food, raiment, home, and so forth, God undertakes to add to you while you seek Him. You mind His business, and He will mind yours. If you want paper and string, you get them given in when you buy more important goods; and just so all that we need of earthly things we shall have thrown in with the kingdom. He who is an heir of salvation shall not die of starvation; and he who clothes his soul with the righteousness of God cannot be left of the LORD with a naked body. Away with carping care. Set all your mind upon seeking the LORD. Covetousness is poverty, and anxiety is misery: trust in God is an estate, and likeness of God is a heavenly inheritance. LORD, I seek Thee; be found of me.

C.H. Spurgeon

~this was WAY encouraging to me this morning, and I had to share!

Pictures, pictures, pictures

2006-10-25T09:49:00.000-05:00

For those of you that are DIEING to see pictures of Orlando, Disney World, and the Wedding...look to your hearts content! (Click on picture above to see album!)

Key actors in the pictures:
My mom --> Ginger Stephens (the cutest mom EVER!)
My sister, Victoria (Bambi), and her husband Wes --> Aundera, Jonah and baby Michael.
My brother Larry and the bride Amanda!

Enjoy! PS --> I offically became "cool" by joining facebook yesturday! I'm learning to relate to those I work with...

Alligator Hunting

2006-10-18T13:02:00.000-05:00

Little update about Orlando! The trip was WONDERFUL! We visited Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. We ate alligator bites. We were able to walk along some of the lakes, and visited Mount Dora (a cute little town outside of Orlando). My brother's wedding was beautiful, and it was such a huge blessing getting to meet Amanda (my now sister-in-law), her family, and many of my brother's friends we had never met before. I LOVE WEDDINGS!!

A few funnies for those of you that didn't hear in person:
1) instead of bringing my dress for the wedding, my mother brought me a very long sash -- but granted it did look like a strapless dress with sequins, just isn't quite the same thing when you go to put it on....(don't worry, I didn't have to wear the sash -- Thanks Aunt Bambi)

2) my mom, in the course of being nervous for the wedding, and making sure she was doing her part, accidently lit her candle (representative of Larry's family), and then proceeded to light the middle unity candle as well....eeek! The wedding planner had to inconspicously go and blow it out...Mom handled the whole wedding extremely well!

3) Lilo and Stitch, for those of you who have gone, are planning on going, or never in their wildest dream of going to Disney --> I DO NOT recommend the Stitch ride. If you do go to this ride --> clear and simple, hold your breathe and nose when Stich eats the chili...or you might have the same reaction I did...nausea!!

I'll post some pictures later on this week. For now, those of you that are interested can check out these two videos of my brother and his wife in Maui, and one of them scubadiving! Pretty awesome!

And Happy Birthday Miss Cara Bebee yesturday!! Whoo-hooo!!!

God's Word in the 4th Grade

2006-10-12T17:17:00.000-05:00

Well, I have a kid in my class that memorizes scripture for church. Whenever he has to memorize a scripture, I have him tell it to me and we memorize it together. This week he has memorized Heb. 1:1-2 and I have to say, it takes him less time than me to memorize scripture (To those with kids, get them started early, their minds are much more absorbant than ours). Well, my buddy wanted to read today but he didn't have a book handy. I asked him if he wanted to read the bible and he said yes. He went to his desk and began reading and what I am about to tell you really knocked my socks off. No lie, this is exactly what happened.

My buddy comes to my desk and has the bible (a camo Camp Buckner Bible) opened to Zechariah. He had cross referenced the word "forefathers" (one of the words in Heb. 1:1-2 is "forefathers") and had wound up at Zechariah 1:2. He was a little confused about who was speaking and I explained that God used to speak through prophets (Heb. 1:1-2) but now He has spoken to us in Christ. He understood this immediately (because he had already memorized the Hebrews verse) and made a comment about God being mad at the forefathers. I encouraged him to keep reading and he left my desk and I continued to grade papers. Not 5 minutes later my buddy (a name I frequently call the boys in my class) comes up to me and says, "I know why God was mad at the forefathers, (by the way, he is not reading this out of the bible, he is telling me what he read without looking) they wouldn't pay attention to the Lord and turn from their evil ways and their evil practices. So God was mad at them for not turning to Him and hearing His word." That's a better explanation than one you might hear from a pulpit!!! How encouraging it is to see the Lord at work in the lives of 10 year olds.

"In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight." Lk. 10:21

Praise the Lord for His infinite goodness and mercy and for crowning us with lovingkindess and tender mercies, including kids in my class!!!

Sola Christus,

Ryan

Florida Here We COME!!!

2006-10-04T10:02:00.000-05:00

How many time have you heard...
"You've won the world series", "you have an olympic medal", "you've climbed Mt. Everest", "you've won the Boston marathon"...."
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW???"

GO TO DISNEY WORLD!

And guess what, we didn't have to do ANY of those things, and we still get to GO TO DISNEY WORLD! We are headed this afternoon to Orlando Florida, for days in the sun, rides at Disney, and the best of all, the marriage of my brother to Miss Amanda Hitchcock!! What a huge answer to prayer, and what a huge blessing the Lord has poured out on my family! We can't WAIT!!!!!

Last Week's Itinerary

2006-10-02T10:42:00.000-05:00

Ok -- so maybe we've been a little busy!! :o) But we still want you guys to be involved in our lives, so here's some updates!

Last week (the nitty-gritty):

TUESDAY -- big double header for the THUNDERCATS!!
**the Thundercats are a flag football team that Chris Gomez from Camp Balcones Springs has put together. They play in a league in Burnet. The team has all kinds of camp people from Balcones, Peniel, and now Ryan and Jason Shaw from Buckner! Lots of fun to watch, and I think more fun to play for the guys**
--the Thundercats pretty much killed the first team, and then ran a VERY close second game to an undefeated team, but lost.
--the Thundercats are 2-2, and I'll keep you posted. We haven't started the official bracket yet, this is all just for placement in the tournament!!

FRIDAY -- CABELAS!!

Ryan's birthday gift (a little combination of his family, my family, and me) was a new compound bow. We headed to Cabelas Friday to pick it out, and get it all set up. They fix everything in the store!! You shoot in all of your sights in their shooting range, and they shave down your arrows, and pretty much set you up for hunting.

Saturday -- Ryan practices on his bow...and I get some much needed rest time at Don and Debbie's! Love those kids!! :o)

Sunday -- Ryan wakes up at 5:45 and goes to his blind on the treeline. By 7:15, he has shot his first buck with a bow/arrow!!!! His arrow went right through the lungs. I'd show you a picture, but our digital camera doesn't hook up to the Buckner computers! It was an eight inch spike for those of you that know your bucks. He was the outcast buck that was bugging all of the does. You would have thought it was Christmas all over! CONGRATS RYAN!
--Ryan and Don cleaned up the buck, then we headed to church! All in a day's work!

So on Wednesday this week we are headed to ORLANDO FLORIDA for some vacation time with the family, and for my brother's wedding on Saturday! I'll keep you posted on the events if I can!!

Southern?

2006-09-22T14:58:00.000-05:00

Well, since Sept. 21st was the day that prospective Southern Seminary students make their announcement of attendance official and public, I guess that I will have to wait until Sept 22 of next year to tell you guys that Sarah and I are planning to attend seminary at Southern in the fall of 2007! Sorry, you'll have to wait until then to get the news.

By the way, my fourth graders really frustrated me today so I took them to PE early and challenged them in basketball. Dude, they were nothing. I smoked them like Billy Madison playing dodgeball. It felt great. Here's the best part, everyone thinks I am just being a good teacher!!!

Adios,

Ryan

Self Control: Chapter 3

2006-09-22T09:17:00.000-05:00

I had to share some of this with you! Chapter 3 in Feminine Apeal is SO stinkin' good. I'm only a few pages into it. Here are some of the highlights and some points that hit me HARD.

1. self control is hard; is it thought of poorly in our society; not taught often, even in churches

2. TITUS 2 -- SELF CONTROL IS ESSENTIAL!
--it is inferred/directed to EVERY group mentioned in Titus 2. "We cannot afford to ignore it."
--if REQUIRED, it is ATTAINABLE through God's grace!

3. Self control requires effort, but it is based on the strength God provides
--"For this I TOIL, struggling with all HIS energy that HE powerfully works within me." Col 1:29
--Charles Bridges..."effective self control is divine grace"..."Have not repeated defeats taught us the need of calling in a better strength than our own?"

4.

What a huge need we have for self-control. How extremely important it is to learn self-control, practice self-control, and be disciplined in this area!!!

RYAN BEBEE TURNS 25

2006-09-21T13:14:00.000-05:00

Congratulations Ryan for officially being a quarter of a century old!!

Some important facts about the day Ryan was born and this 25 years of joy:

1. Your car insurance could drop almost 20%!!
2. September 21 The Declaration of the Republic of Armenia State Independence Day.
3. September 21 is the 264th day of the year.
4. TODAY - SEPTEMBER 21 - Is The International Day of Peace HAPPY PEACE DAY!
5. 1827 - Joseph Smith, Jr., claims that the angel Moroni gave him a record of gold plates, one-third of which is "translated" into The Book of Mormon. (on this day!)
6. 1921 - Oppau explosion, a storage silo at a fertilizer producing plant exploded in Oppau, Germany, 500—600 killed.
7. 1937 - J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is published.
8. 1970 - Monday Night Football premieres. (VERY IMPORTANT!)
9. Ryan has the same birthday as Luke Wilson, Faith Hill, Liam Gallagher (oasis), Nicole Richie, Rickie Lake, and Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (1411)
10. Sept 21, 1986 Prince Charles admits on TV that he talks to his plants

And there is much more I am sure, but most importantly, Ryan James Bebee was born on this day!!!!!!! And I love him, and I am so thankful the Lord has blessed me with such an amazing husband!!

Happy Birthday Ryan!!!

Encouragement

2006-09-20T17:30:00.000-05:00

Do you ever wonder why at times it is so hard to receive encouragement, or maybe a compliment? I'm sure you have friends who always counter an encouraging word with some kind of self-demotion; as if they are trying to keep themselves from seeing God's work in their lives (which is what encouragement is meant to do, point others to see God's gracious activity in their lives).

I'm not really sure why we respond this way, but my initial thought is that we are not used to encouragement. Maybe we aren't encouraging one another enough so we aren't accustomed to respond in the proper manner? I blame this on everyone else. You guys just simply don't encourage me enough, so please step up to the plate and dish out some encouragement so that I will learn to respond biblically. Please, do this for me (that sounds like a modern book on Christianity. I bet it would sell!). Not really, but I have been thinking about this a lot lately.

"...and let us consider how to stimulate (spur) one another to love and good deeds..."

A couple of things strike me in this verse. One of which changed my entire approach to encouragement.

-- First thing is the phrase, "let us consider." For too long I have been waiting for opportunities to pop up for encouragement. This verse tells us to consider how we may spur one another on to love and good deeds. That word consider means "to fix ones mind on" or "to give all attention to." This is an all out cognitive effort on our part towards encouraging others before we are ever even around them; although considering ways to encourage people while you are with them is a perfect time as well. This kind pf encouragement prescribed by the Lord takes diligence, thought, intentional planning and on top of that, the ability to carry it out, to deliver the premeditated encouraging words or actions.

-- The other thing that stands out to me about this verse is the desired goal of spurring one another on; love and good deeds. These are godly things we are talking about here. You want to zone in on the work of God in the lives of people, and spur them on to continue growing in godliness. My good friend Jason is a great basketball player, he smokes me every time we play. If all my encouragement towards Jason is towards his athletic ability I am not spurring him on to love and good deeds. If I see Jason handle a situation at school with a child with the love and compassion that the Lord has for us, I need to draw His attention to the fact that he dealt graciously with the child, demonstrating the love of Christ, and encourage him to continue doing so. True encouragement is locked in on drawing attention to the Lord's work in others lives and spurring them on in their God glorifying activity.

The easy thing to do is compliment people in areas of little or no significance because that's the first thing that comes to mind. Train yourself to see the Lord at work in others lives. Think about ways to encourage people. Many believers struggle in their faith because they don't feel like the Lord is using them at all (I know I do). Be faithful to the Lord in drawing others attention to God's gracious activity in their lives.

Last but not least, remember the context of this verse. We have a great High Priest who has inaugurated a way for us to enter the holy place, where our hearts our sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Or how about this one, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore let us encourage one another and build up one another, just as also you are doing." 1 Thess. 5:9-11. If your struggling to see the Lord at work in others lives, just point them to the Gospel, the good news of Christ absorbing God's wrath in our place. You will find no greater encouragement than what you find in the gospel. Thanks be to God, who delivered us from darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, and the forgiveness of sins.

Thought, comments? Let me know what you think. I told you I would post something spiritual soon, but I didn't even think it would be this long.

Sola Deo Gloria,

Ryan

My mistake

2006-09-20T16:54:00.000-05:00

Just copy the link and paste it in your URL box (or whatever that thing is called).

Humble Pie!!

2006-09-20T16:52:00.000-05:00

Ok, I know I talk about teaching a whole lot, but this is pretty cool. Click on this link http://www.pibmug.com/files/map_test.swf, it will take you about 4 minutes to complete, and see if you could pass 3rd grade geography. Just grab the state name and drag it to it's state. Go ahead, let me know how you do. By the way, it took me 4 tries to finish. If you're at all like me, it will serve you a dish of humble pie; eat it and enjoy!

Ryan

Happy Birthday Ty!

2006-09-15T11:32:00.000-05:00

A SHOUT OUT TO.....Ty Politte today for turning TWO!!

Happy Birthday my Ty-man from Uncle Ryan and Aunt Sarah!!!!!!

Here's a big thumbs up and "good job" from your "Bubba"!

4th grade stuff again

2006-09-14T16:31:00.000-05:00

Well, today was a good day. A mouse was loose (a pet mouse) in class today and it ran up a girls pants; then something frightened it and it peed, on her undergarments. Gross huh?

We are having a bookfair at school this week and a student bought me a book. The name of the book is The Truth About Poop, by Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by Elwood H. Smith. This book is a hit in the 4th grade so I am glad that I have it. I thought I would share with you some of the things that I have learned from my new book. This is gross, but rather funny.
-- One jokester in the 1920's made a toilet seat that played the national anthem everytime someone sat down, forcing them to stand up again.
-- In the ancient city of Ephesus, rich citizens sent their slaves to the public bathrooms to warm up the cold marble toilet seats for them.
-- Geese poop once every 12 minutes.
-- Scienctists recently found a fossilized chunk of T-Rex dung that weighed 16 pounds. (don't ask me how they know it's t-rex dung)
-- Mole rats use the smell of each other's poop to distinguish between family groups (by rolling in it).
--Sloths are so slow that they devote one day a week to making their way down a tree to the ground where they poop. They make the most of the trip though and poop out 2 lbs, over 1/4 their body weight.

Many people say that whatever grade you teach, you start to sound and act like them. I hope this isn't true about me, although I know that it is.

Well, someday I'll post something spiritual, but today you get poop.

Mark of Divine Approval

2006-09-14T11:16:00.000-05:00

Our church sends out an e-mail each day with encouraging articles. Always included is a small word from Spurgeon. I found this extremely encouraging today, and I pray that you do as well.

Mark of Divine Approval
"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the Crown Of Life, which the LORD hath promised to them that love Him"
(James 1:12).

Yes, he is blessed while he is enduring the trial. No eye can see this till he has been anointed with heavenly eye salve. But he must endure it and neither rebel against God nor turn aside from his integrity. He is blessed who has gone through the fire and has not been consumed as a counterfeit.

When the test is over, then comes the hallmark of divine approval -- "the crown of life." As if the LORD said, "Let him live; he has been weighed in the balances, and he is not found wanting." Life is the reward: not mere being, but holy, happy, true existence, the realization of the divine purpose concerning us. Already a higher form of spiritual life and enjoyment crowns those who have safely passed through fiercest trials of faith and love.

The LORD hath promised the crown of life to those who love Him. Only lovers of the LORD will hold out in the hour of trial; the rest will either sink or sulk, or slink back to the world. Come, my heart, dost thou love thy LORD? Truly? Deeply? Wholly? Then that love will be tried; but many waters will not quench it, neither will the floods drown it. LORD, let Thy love nourish mine to the end.

C.H. Spurgeon

Prayer

2006-09-13T09:39:00.000-05:00

I LOVE MY JOB! This morning I was decorating birthday postcards (yes all you past counselors cringe just a little...but it's not that bad) and I was listening to John MacArthur!! Love it! I encourage you to check out Prayer and the God Who Hears You: Luke 11. It was so amazingly encouraging to seek our God in prayer, for HE hears, to pray according to His will, pray to exalt HIS NAME, pray that our lives might exalt His name, and prayer that the promises of God will be be real in our lives (sustaining bread, forgiveness..ect.). So convicting to PRAY more. Here's some good little quotes:

God is NOT a celestial vending machine;

Jim Packer -- The Christian prayer is "not an attempt to force God's hand, but a humble acknowledgment of helplessness and dependence."

Jamie Moore posted yesturday about journaling, and I too desire to journal more, b/c it draws out my mind to PRAY, to realize as she said, God's faithfulness!

UT Football

2006-09-11T15:01:00.000-05:00

To borrow a line from Eron Plevon, "Texas is still #1 in my heart." The game was incredible. I have never seen or heard anything like it in my life (and I will probably never again). The noise level even exceeded the cheers on a sunday afternoon at Sovereign Grace Baptist church when Randy would hit home a point in his sermon. Wow, I was amazed. My voice was left at Royal Memorial Field and now my 4th graders have to listen very carefully to hear their instructions. One thing that was really cool; buckeye fans are true sportsmen. They were very respectful and said only good things about Texas. I was in Austin all day saturday and never heard cross words exchanged about the two teams (except playful joking at times). All in all it was a good day Saturday. Texas has a lot to learn this year and I am looking forward to it. Well, one thing I can say for sure, had Tarell Brown used his head last week the ballgame would have been completely different. It's rediculous that one player would jeapordize his teams season because of foolishness. Well, they need Jesus just like I did.

Hook Em,

Ryan

4th grade activities!!

2006-09-11T13:05:00.000-05:00

A girl peed in her pants today while sitting in class. I called on her to give me an answer and she immediately started crying and said, "I had to pee really bad and I peed in my pants." I sent her to the nurse where we have extra clothes. It was crazy, especially the trail she left while leaving the room, as well as the aroma that followed! I just thought I would keep you posted on life in the fourth grade!!!

Ryan

Feminine Appeal

2006-09-08T13:12:00.000-05:00

Ok ladies! All of you wives out there HAVE to read this book! Shea Politte and I have started Feminine Appeal by Carolyn (CJ's wife) Mahaney. Let me just tell you, we are on the second chapter, and it is both encouraging, and convicting, and such a huge blessing all in one.

It focuses on the principles in Titus 2, and expands on them. This week was the Delight of Loving My Husband. I'm not sure about some of you, but in my life, I missed out on many mentoring opportunities from older women. And now, I'm not surrounded by very many...so I have loved hearing such sound and practical advice from this godly woman, and then having Shea keep me accountable to put into practice these principles. (PS for San Angelo folk, you may be jealous at this, but on Wednesday I visited none other than the beloved Bakerstreet and went to the Phi Lamb rush to meet with the officers...lots of fun! Then went to Eldo to see the Polittes!)

So let me just tell you: I LOVE MY HUSBAND RYAN BEBEE!
And I know many of you love your husbands as well, but we have to CONTINUE to LEARN how to love them (that's what it says in the verse -- teach them how to love). So convicting. B/c sometimes I think I already KNOW how...so if you have the time...pick it up (and maybe even get a partner) and get going!

There are some GREAT Spurgeon quotes in the book that I will have to share with you after the weekend.

Weekend agenda??
--Strawn vs. Abbott tonight at 7:00; we'll update you on the results. It's a Dawson brother show down
--UT vs. Ohio tomorrow at 7:00; Ryan is excited about actually GOING to the game tomorrow!
--Sarah will be swimming and hanging out tomorrow...and watching the game in the air conditioning and a comfy chair...can't wait!

Something New

2006-09-07T17:12:00.000-05:00

I learned something new today. When you type something in Microsoft word, and then cut and paste it into your e-mail and post it on the blog, all the apostrophes will turn out to be little boxes. Cool huh?

Sola Gratia -- Ryan

Encouragement

2006-09-07T16:31:00.000-05:00

As I endeavor into the world of blogging, I think of the one thing that happens almost every time I read anothers blog; I am encouraged. Often times when we read about our brothers and sisters in Christ we find great encouragement from the Lords work in their lives. For example, Eron Plevans blog always encourages me towards greater understanding of Gods word as well as fleshing out previous thoughts or conversations that I have had. Dustin Butts has great poetry that I truly enjoy. Since I am new at this blogging thing, thats all Ive got right now, but there will be more I am sure. It is my desire to encourage with this blog and be encouraged from your comments and blogs.

On a side note, we practiced skip counting today in fourth grade. Since I only teach math, that means that I practice skip counting with 80 kids. For those of you who don't know what skip counting is (i hope you do), it is a tool to help kids with their math facts. Example: To remember their 7's, we chant as a class: 7,14,21,28... until we get to 84 (7x12). That being said, if the Lord ever chooses to bless me with a flock that requires three services every sunday morning (with the doctrine that I believe and preach, that's not likely), I don't think that it will ever be as straining on my voice as today was. Praise the Lord for using 80 fourth graders to prepare me for His greater calling on my life! Thanks for reading this.

Sola Deo Gloria,

Ryan

The Beginning of something GOOD

2006-09-05T08:12:00.000-05:00

After a long debate, and an extremely long discussion in the car on the way to work this morning, Ryan and I officially decided......

(if you are guessing right now...hold your breath--it was a hard decision, and many people will be affected by this decision...the ramifications are hard to determine even at this time)

...to start our own blog! Yeah! So check us out! We'll keep you posted on the Camp Buckner life, the Bebees in general, Tales of the 4th Grade Nothing (the Mr. Bebee classroom), and all other important events in the Hill Country.

1st off -- for those of you who dont know, you can officially shoot the white winged dove (with a proper hunting license of course).

More posts to come soon!