Memory Monday

Time for me to pick back up on Memory Monday, hosted by The Simple Wife. (I finally got the little linky box to work!)

To keep me from getting too overwhelmed, I'm going to combine Memory Monday and the challenge to memorize scripture from Living Proof Ministries.

Currently, I'm working on Ephesians 6:12 (TNIV):

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

I've been working on putting this to a tune - Ode to Joy - how cheerful!! It's not the best tune for this scripture, but it's what I came up with.

How are you doing with hiding God's word in your heart?

“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

Let's have us a JESUS-Year!!

I really wish I could come up with some witty title that might just capture someone's attention, but I can't...(Isn't this a great picture of what you think Jesus looks like?)

Anyway, Mama Beth and the folks at Living Proof Ministries wants us to have a great JESUS year! On the 1st & 15th of each month, we are to check in with a new scripture that we will memorize or meditate on.

I felt led to work on this verse because I feel like I've been fighting this battle for the past several months - especially in my marriage - and if you've read any of my posts from the last two or three months, you have seen how God has been guiding me in this battle! I feel like I should know where to find this verse and what it says (since I've been referring to it!). (I think I can combine this with Memory Monday :-).)

Ephesians 6:12 (Today's New International Version)
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

I cracked up when I read the verse in The Message:

Ephesians 6:12 (The Message)
A Fight to the Finish 10-12

And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

Don't you just love that? Personally, if I was in an athletic contest, I wouldn't forget it in a couple of hours because I'd probably be half dead ;).

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We had a very low key last night. I had ordered several movies from Blockbuster.com but they didn't come in time to watch yesterday. I guess Friday night will be movie night! We watched Law & Order and CSI (Las Vegas & NY) and looked at concession trailers. At midnight, James had trouble getting the the champagne bottle opened and wished me a Merry Christmas...I was confuzzled by that. Maybe he'd already drank all the champagne and I didn't know. lol

Today we're going to have lunch with my mom at "the Legion". We'll all return asthmatic from all the ciggy smoke, but she'll be glad we were with her, and that's more important (for reals). (And I used to help make non-smokers asthmatic and was glad for that opportunity.) We'll be eating a traditional New Year's day meal of pork, black-eyed peas (for luck?) and greens (for wealth?) and then other unhealthy things that don't follow with starting the year with a healthy meal!

I hope you're having a great day and I recommend checking out Living Proof Ministries site if you haven't already done so.

“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

A United House

There is a reason Beth Moore is wonderful teacher and why I just love her so much!

She wrote this post - A United House. She took the words right out of my mouth (or the words I was trying to come up with).

_______________________________




To my beloved Sisters who I esteem so highly and consistently find to be part of the solution to our problems in the Church rather than the cause.


Please join me in praying for our President-elect Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, and his precious daughters, Sasha and Malia. Go with me before the Throne of our sovereign God and ask Him to grant wisdom from above to President-elect Obama and the indwelling presence and power of Jesus Christ. In the words of the Apostle Paul, "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior..."

Please also join me in the active and deliberate pursuit of unity and purity in the Body of Christ at this historical time in our country. I implore you in Jesus Name to have zero tolerance for prejudice whether it is regarding party-affiliation, color (whether you are Black, White, or Brown), economics or the like. Disagreement is not sin. Prejudice is. Satan has plotted events and planted attitudes that, should he be successful, will result in havoc. We must not stand for his schemes or cooperate in a single way. We would severely displease God and invite untold chastisement upon Christ's Church in our nation.

Speak clearly to your children and graciously but emphatically draw a line in your work places and social circles regarding your stand against prejudice of any kind. "Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.'" (Matthew 12:25) A united house stands. A divided house falls. The devil has much to gain. But he also has much to lose.

We are the Body of Jesus Christ and we have an opportunity to show His character. This is our watch. We stand for what is right not from our feet but from our knees. I humble myself before you and make these pleas under such bold direction of God that I could not resist it nor disobey it. He made it a fire in my bones.I love and esteem you so much. Shoulder to shoulder, Dear Siestas. Let's leave not one inch for the enemy to come between us.

Amen!


For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer. 29:11

Thank you Mama Siesta!

Over at AllAccess, they have a blog where you can leave a message for Beth, Travis, the praise team, Living Proof and the Lifeway team and thank them for the ten years of ministry amd how your life has been changed or just to say thankies!

Not wanting to lose what I wrote, I'm posting my message to them here. I encourage you to go over and leave them a message, if you feel so lead.

Like everyone else, I wonder where to begin. Without starting from the beginning, I can only imagine how Mama Siesta is going to feel when she reads all this about her. Truly a humble servant before our Lord, that one is. Sophie, I thank you for opening up the blog this way and allowing us a place to thank Mama Beth and let her know how much she’s meant to each of us.
Several years ago, when I was going through a horrible season in my life, my attendance at church was pretty spotty - at best. I had lost my brother, wasn’t sure if my mom was going to live and was going through an excruciating divorce too. I did get away on a Women’s Retreat and met a few ladies from our church. One of them was doing a Beth Moore study and everyone kept talking about how great Beth Moore was. So, to be quite honest, and I’ve never told anyone this, I thought the lady leading the class was Beth Moore. See, small groups and bible study outside of Sunday School were very novel to me. (This lady who I thought was Beth Moore has been my mentor the last couple of years and she has no idea I had the misperception!) Well, I went to the first class of her study, but no more. As a matter of fact, I didn’t really even go back to church for over 3 years!

In August 2006, I totally surrendered my life to Christ and just in time for the starting of new small groups! My friend (and mentor, whose name is Laura, not Beth) was leading a Beth Moore study, and well, Laura was about the only person I knew from church, so it was a given I would do her class. I really had no idea what I was in for, and it’s probably a good thing I didn’t, because I don’t think I’d ever have done the study! But, in August of 2006, I met one of the most of godly women I’ve ever met when I started Believing God. I finally met Beth Moore and thought she was the most precious woman ever (still do!). I got to hear stories about her love for God, her family, her heartaches, her Redeemer and how to believe God.

There are so many beautiful traits Beth has that I find so endearing. What stands out the most is how God turned her ashes into a picture of beauty and how He gave her such a gift to teach all of us women how to love Him wholeheartedly. She could very easily be put way up high on a pedastal, but she tells you NOT to do that. I admire her so much and I think the world of her, but I pray that I give her the credit she deserves and glorify the One who gave it to her!
In the last 2 1/2 years, I have gone from being so lost to being a small group leader! I’ve had an awesome and dear friend and mentor (Laura), and a wonderful godly teacher, Beth Moore, to help me grow in my relationship with Christ!

Mama Beth (and her precious family), I love you so much (and I told you that at the Siesta Fiesta, even if you just knew my name b/c I had on a name tag, I’m believing that you & Amanda really knew my name, whether I had on a name tag or not!), and I thank you for listening to our Father and for using the painful childhood you’ve had to turn it into a true living proof ministry. Words really are inadequate to express to you what your teaching has meant to me and how life changing the lessons have been. Thank you for sharing your journey with me and teaching me all along the way. I didn’t ever realize such a godly woman could still be so stinking silly and FUN!!! Thank you for showing me how to a godly woman and still love life in a fun and loving sort of way.

To the Moore family, the peeps at Living Proof Ministries and Lifeway, I can’t even begin to imagine how much work each of you invest into this ministry. I thank you for all your support and prayers and sacrifices that you’ve poured into the ministry to help touch so many lives. And to the Moore family, thank you so much for sharing your Mama with us and Amanda, thank you for the blog!!!!

Travis - I’m a new appreciator (is that a word? sure it is) of your music and I just love you and the praise team! Your music has really touched my soul!

I think I’ve written a novel, but I do want to make sure Mama Beth knows how much I just love her! She’s the one who helped teach me about Agape love so it’s only fittin’ I give her some!
I love me some Mama Beth!! Thank you so much for your ministry

(P.S. Did y'all know that Pink's real name is Alecia Beth Moore?)

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer. 29:11

Pictures from Siesta Fiesta

Here are some pictures from the Siesta Fiesta from August. I can't remember now what's prompted me to post them - probably a thought that I never showed anyone (and that could be b/c I am not happy with the 50+ lbs the camera always seems to add to me). Anyyyywayyyyy...

Outside the Alamodome

Our reserved seating signs!!

My view!

Our group's picture from the Siesta Fiesta Q&A. There were over 1,000 Siestas there!

Aren't they darling?

This is from the Siesta Fiesta/Q&A Time. You can see my little face in the corner. That's JennyHope from Pelham talking to Melissa about hair! (I didn't realize I was surrounded by people I lived really close to!)

So, there you have it. I wish I hadn't forgotten my camera, but, alas, I did. Thankfully, Rich from Lifeway took great pictures and we got to snag them!

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer. 29:11

Pretend I have a creative title ~

I wish I had a creative title, but creativity isn't one of my gifts or talents, so let's pretend it's creative.

I don't even know where to begin a post about the weekend. The conference was phenomenal. Wait, I don't want to start there. I want to start with the peeps God put in my path this weekend. On my flight were some ladies (Siestas!) from Birmingham. It was nice to have someone to walk and talk with during our layover. (We also shared the flights back!) We rode the shuttle to our respective hotels and met a couple of other ladies too who were going to the conference. One of them didn't blog, but she had met Beth Moore when Beth stayed in her FL house! How cool!

On Saturday, a couple of Siestas were in the hotel lobby and we caught a taxi to the Dome together. After the Fiesta, we ran into each other and they invited me to go eat some really good Mexican food with them! Thank you, Deb & Heather, for inviting me and listening to me babble. (I pretty much chattered the whole time we were together - the downside to my being by myself for too long.)

There were two sweet women who I sat with on Friday and Saturday, D'Ann and Holly. We didn't have a whole lot of time to chat, but I could just tell they were nothing short of precious. They made sure I was loved on during the conference! Thank you, ladies, for making sure I had someone to sit with and for showing me love!

We were split into groups for group pictures with Beth, Amanda & Melissa. Can I just tell you that they are all so tiny??? Size 0 maybe? I got to hug Beth & Amanda! I was telling my daughter that they knew my name, and she said "Were you wearing a name tag?" *sigh* I had already come to that conclusion, but I was trying to think they knew my name because of my witty and snazzy comments on the blogs. Oh darn, who am I kidding? I'm going to keep on thinking it's because of my wit!

The Siesta fiesta was fun. It was neat to put some real faces to some of the blog names AND I just loved seeing Amanda & Melissa interact with each other and their momma! After hearing so much about them through the various studies I have done, it was just neat to see it first hand. I could so picture Melissa saying to her mom, "Are you going to boss me today?" tee hee hee

Beth said "peeps" during the conference and said Melissa told her she should never say that again! I loved it (the fact that she said peeps).

The conference was out of this world. When Travis started the worship music, I started crying. I was so overwhelmed with all the beautiful voices worshipping at the same time. We had a song that we sang a Capella and none of the praise team was singing, and I thought that the sound was so sweet that it must be the sound God hears when we sing His praises. Ummm ummm mmmm.

I didn't get to see a whole bunch of San Antonio AND I missed the PJ party! I was so tired when I got back to my room last night and I was sinusy feeling that I fell asleep! I think all the non-sleep of the last month and the past couple of days just caught up with me.

Oh, the topic of the conference was about inheritance and how I'm an heiress of God! Yahoo-Jah!

I have to get ready for my first day of work :-)! Mary, you're the only commenter (and probably reader), so I hope you've enjoyed a tiny recap. Oh, I forgot my darn camera!!

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer. 29:11