love – BeanSpired Editions

A beach lies in deep shadow, with distant houses silhouetted against the beginnings of a sunrise. A patch of orange and gold in the middle of the horizon heralds the rising sun. The dim blue sky above is full of gauzy clouds, with some denser, darker clouds low on the horizon to the right. Dark waves break on the shore to the right, their crests glowing in the dawn.

Disability & Rare Disease, God, Gospel

Loved Beyond Fear

February 28, 2023March 7, 2023 Megan Bean

Because we're loved in the midst of our frailty, we can live well in the midst of our frailty.

A Bible lies open in the seat of a power wheelchair in an outdoor setting. Fallen leaves in the grass indicate it's autumn.

Disability & Rare Disease, God

When the Bible Meets Disability

October 28, 2022February 1, 2023 Megan Bean

How we view disability and treat those who live with it matter. And, as with every other life topic or ethical question, our best guide is the Bible . . . All our best intentions and attempts at inclusion will miss the mark unless they grow from and by biblical truths.

The green heart-shaped leaves of an Eastern Redbud tree fill most of the photo. The closest are mere inches from the camera. Some leaves are in sunlight, others in full or partial shade. A few bits of blue sky show though the canopy of leaves. The leafy branches cast shadows on the grass below.

God

A Love That’s Easily Pleased

July 29, 2022February 1, 2023 Megan Bean

When we truly, deeply love someone, we’re easily pleased with their gifts. They could give us a rock and we’d treasure it—because it’s from them. If their heart’s in it, our heart responds. I wondered: How pleased am I with what God gives me? What does that say about our relationship? And how does He respond to what I offer Him?

A single set of footprints cross the damp sand of a beach, parallel to the line of the water. The sand is strewn with seashells and sticks. To the left, gray-blue seawater is rippling onto the beach.

Life, Relationships, Tough Times

When Obedience Comes First

May 20, 2022February 1, 2023 Megan Bean

Sometimes action has to precede emotion. Sometimes we have to trust the power of obedience to shape us, instead of trying to get ourselves in shape to obey.

Donkey Devos, Relationships

Why We Need Good Friends

May 19, 2021June 1, 2022 Megan Bean

It sounds obvious, yet sometimes we seem to forget. We get caught up in work, routines, and family duties and relegate friendship to luxury status. Or we get plunged into pain or struggle and try to soldier on alone. We think we have to do it, that our burdens are ours alone to carry, that no one can ever understand, that no one should ever have to share our struggle.

Relationships

Be Offended, And Do Not Sin

April 26, 2021June 1, 2022 Megan Bean

We can’t always control the way we feel in contentious situations. But with God’s help, we can control how we respond.

God, Gospel, Tough Times

Only Goodness and Mercy

February 19, 2021January 31, 2023 Megan Bean

Yes, trouble may chase us. Pain may nag us. Sorrow might ambush us again and again. Guilt and shame may nip at our heels. But the only things that can keep up with us, day in and day out, all the days of our lives, are the goodness and faithful love of God. And like the Good Shepherd He is, He will send them after us relentlessly. No, scratch that – He’ll come after us Himself, bringing them with Him. Because that’s who He is.

Relationships

The Root of All Virtue

September 28, 2020June 1, 2022 Megan Bean

You'd be surprised how many other important qualities and experiences worth having hinge on this one attitude.