Hey, Siestas! Thank you so much for all those wonderful birthday greetings! I am blessed beyond words! You’ll never know a soul on the face of the earth God has graced more than me. Truly “God’s love is meteoric, His loyalty astronomic, His purpose titanic, His verdicts oceanic. Yet in His largeness nothing gets lost. Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks. How exquisite Your love, O God!” (Ps. 36:5-7 The Msg) Yep, that was one of my memory verses. They sure come in handy, don’t they?

I had such a fun day! Around here, we all say that there’s no birthday like a birthday at LPM but, actually, anywhere you have some best girlfriends that make you laugh your head off and love Jesus twice as much is a birthday just like the ones we have here. Girlfriends are one of the dearest gifts of God in all of life. Besides the great fellowship and intercession, I got the neatest gifts! Keith gave me a very delicate necklace and a leg press. (How do you like that combo? That says it right there.) My staff gave me all sorts of things for my battered back yard. It used to be so gorgeous B.P. (Before Puppies). BUT, it’s slowly bouncing back with all my beautiful new birthday accessories. I had so much fun arranging all of them when I got home from work. I bet I didn’t make it in the house for half an hour and it was HOT. For once, I was too happy to care.

In addition to all my yard and porch gifts, I got the cutest note cards from one of my beloved correspondence assistants. Isn’t that perfect? I also got three gorgeous frames because my dear friend, Nancy, knew that my family is growing so fast, I haven’t been able to keep up with the framing. I promised her that I would not put dog pictures in them but she said I could if I wanted to. Michelle got me a really fun pink flat-iron cover for traveling (she got tired of waiting for it to cool off before I could pack it, I think) and Joel Rosenberg’s new book signed by the author! I was so pumped! I’m a huge fan of his and got to meet him when we were in Washington D.C. I also got a pair of summer sandals that are unbearably cute. Jenn, I changed into an outfit that matched them when I got home and put them right on my feet.

So much stuff, y’all. So much stuff. It was a grace extravaganza and I am so grateful for these fellow sojourners that I’d have to bawl to describe how I feel about them to you. You and all your greetings were icing on the Living Proof cake.

Then, we had family birthday last night at our house. Keith asked where I wanted to go out to eat and I requested something entirely different this year: carry-out Italian so we could just eat here at home and let the babies play. What’s a birthday without Jackson and Annabeth? This year I let Houston keep its fancy restaurants. I’d rather have the kids. I had a first yesterday: Jackson sang “Happy Birthday” to me on the telephone. It’s on tape and I’ll try to keep it forever…along with the one from nine months ago where he told me, “Bibby, I poo-poo on da potty! Got a race cah!”

Melissa and Amanda conspired on my gift this year and it was supposed to arrive Monday but never made it. I would have been plenty happy to receive it today but Melissa was beside herself about it getting here right on time. The package finally arrived at the Joneses at 6:45 this evening and they headed straight over with it. Then I knew why they were so excited! IT WAS A KINDLE!! This book nerd’s joy knew no bounds! I cannot wait to get some great stuff on that bad boy. I’m almost in a frenzy. I’ve probably told you before that I feel like a whole cheerleading squad lives in my head most of the time and at moments like these they act up the worst. Each girl immediately wanted to read something different so I’m not sure where we’ll start.

OK, THAT’S ENTIRELY ENOUGH ABOUT BIRTHDAYS. I don’t want to hear another word about it! I promise you I’ll give it 12 months before I bring that subject up again.

Now, for the main reason I got on here today. I thought, since I went on and on about Sunny and Beanie here recently with the anniversary of their sweet passings, I better update you on our darling and mischievous one year-olds. They are a scream. Sometimes literally. (“GIRLS, GET YOUR TAILS OUT OF THAT…!!! Fill in the blank with absolutely ANYTHING: pot roast, plants, toilets, diapers, mail, watermelon, etc. They even chewed some holes in my Slanket. I don’t care. I just have more places to put my arms through. Or my feet if I’m getting a tad warm.)

These are recent pictures of Geli (soft “g”, short for Angelina) and Star (real name, Queen Esther). They are so much fun. We would not trade them for anything on this earth. We just might not necessarily recommend getting two puppies at once but, then again, they are such BFF’s! Inseparable! They insist on eating and drinking out of the same bowl and often…how shall I say…potty at exactly the same time right beside one another. As in love with Beanie as we were and as special a place as she will always hold in our hearts, Geli just may be the most beautiful German Shorthaired Pointer we have ever seen in our lives. Well, Keith won’t admit that but, pressed for truth, I will. Star is absolutely adorable, too, and, honestly, so smart you can’t even believe it. She has an IQ higher than most humans. She is my constant shadow, just like her predecessor. I tell Star and Geli all the time that they have very big paws to fill. Just wanted you to know how in love with them we are and how you can picture them these days.

PS. Btw, watching Marley and Me was a big mistake. I put my face in a big red beach towel and wailed my head off. Didn’t sleep a single wink and that’s the shape I went to Pittsburgh in. Y’all tried to warn me but NO! I just had to do it! But, now that a few days have passed, I’m so glad I did. Not doing it again.

Amanda, here are a few specific things I’m thankful for on our anniversary…

-I’m thankful you chose to spend the summer of 2000 doing missions instead of lounging by a pool somewhere.

-I’m thankful you canceled your flight from Springfield to Houston to drive twelve hours with someone you had known for a week. I would punch myself in the face if Annabeth did that. No wonder your dad didn’t like me.

-I’m thankful you accidentally told me you wanted to marry me three weeks later.

-I’m thankful you cried when it was time to head back to our respective colleges at the end of the summer.

-I’m thankful for AT&T long distance cell phone bills.

-I’m thankful for through-the-night drives to Texas for weekend visits and the C+ grade point average they produced.

-I’m thankful for 14 long months of engagement.

-I’m thankful that when the doors flew open at the back of the church, you were the one who came out.

-I’m thankful for ten toothbrush holders and paying our rent with the money we got for returning them.

-I’m thankful for four years of just you and me.

-I’m thankful for T-ball sets and footy pajamas.

-I’m thankful for the white house with black shutters I share with the world’s greatest wife.

They say year seven is the hardest. Let’s roll it up, beat it into submission, and show it who’s boss. I love you and would pick you all over again.

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” Prov 31:25

WE’VE MADE IT HALFWAY, SIESTAS! This is verse 12 of our 24! Can you believe it? I am so stinking proud of you that I don’t know what to do. And there is no doubt in my mind that God is as pleased with this pursuit as anything we’ve ever done on this blog. I’ve enjoyed it like crazy.

I’ve practiced Scripture memory and used index cards for many years but now, when I recite my verses, I think of so many of you out there doing exactly the same thing. I picture you darling college girls, a bunch of you single siestas, tons of you busy moms, and a terrific band of grandmoms all practicing your Scriptures as you balance the demands of your crazy lives. I think of all our Canadian Scripture memory-siestas and our beloved missionaries in other countries and how they sometimes record their verses in their new languages. There’s so much joy and motivation in community.

I keep thinking about a woman I met at the Pittsburgh event. She’d made the life altering decision to receive Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and I had the joy of getting to visit with her and pray over her for a few minutes. In her lap, she was holding a very nice large leather Bible still in the box. She had the top off the box and had stacked it underneath so that the Bible was in open displayed.

“Did you just get that beautiful new Bible here at the event?”

She rubbed the leather on the top of it then took it out of the box for me to smell how wonderfully aromatic it was. She shook her head and said, “No, I’ve had it for a while. Isn’t it beautiful?”

I could have cried. She’d brought it to the event in the box so it wouldn’t get messed up. I’d never seen anyone do that before in all these years of speaking. Her reverence for that Bible was stunning and, yet, there was something also very childlike about her. I didn’t think it was going to do much good to try to talk her into scribbling all over those gorgeous gold leaf pages so we offered her another Bible, a hardback Life Application NIV, so she’d feel like she could ruffle it up, mark verses, and write in the margins. I don’t know if she will or not.

Isn’t that the paradox of the whole thing? Sacred words etched on the page by the breath of God so folks like us with feet of clay can wallow all over them. Not just live by them but live on them. Not just thrive through them but sometimes, in tragedy and storm, survive through them. Life lived with Bible out of the box, off the shelf, flipped wide open and pressed to the heart.

And committed to memory. That’s how we press it to the head.

I’m working on the second half of my June 1st portion out of Psalm 112 NIV. Here are Vv.4-8:
Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.

His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.

OK, Siestas, hit it! Let’s have your Verse 12! Name, city, verse and translation!

DILIGENCE, SIESTAS! DILIGENCE!

Hi, Girlfriends! I hope your weekend is full of joy and laughter and recreation and that God’s shown up in the middle of it one way or another. I just got home a little while ago from Pittsburgh and I am overwhelmed with gratitude to God. Yet again, He granted us the most fabulous group. I’ve had the joy and challenge of 25 years of speaking and 11 years of Living Proof Live and I’m going to tell you that God has given us some of our neatest groups this very year. I have loved every single one of them, starting with El Paso in January.

These 6000+ Pittsburgh sisters were like bird dogs on point from the very beginning. Totally focused and into it. They came for Jesus and I pray with all my heart that they got Him. I loved them like nobody’s business. A ton of really young women. And, of course, plenty of sisters in their 70’s and up. They always bless me so much, especially as I see them worship. There is something so dear about it that it makes me want to bawl. We had women from – get this – 28 States (mostly PA, Ohio, NY) and representing something like 378 different churches. Amazing.

We had something happen this time that is a total first at Living Proof Live: A PUBLIC PROPOSAL! Our drummer, Kevin Jones, who we’re totally nuts about, got down on his knee right on the stage this morning and asked his gorgeous girlfriend, Ashley, to marry him. Opened the ring box and everything. Travis had set them up so, needless to say, he’s beside himself. Taking all the credit. I’m so ticked that it wasn’t me. You’ve got to understand that we have all (including Keith) been wondering when the woman of Kevin’s dreams was going to show up. He’s like the catch of the century and it was amazing that he’d made it to 30 as an eligible single, handsome, GODLY guy. This was a really big deal to all of us because every wonderful young woman we’d meet would raise our eyebrows on Kevin’s behalf. Nope. Not the one.

Then Travis invited Ashley to a worship event where he and Kevin were serving and that was it. Get the tux. So, Trav called me this week to let me in on the secret that drummer man had gotten a ring, and that’s when the conspiracy took shape. Because Kevin has been such a big part of our team for so long, it was only fitting for him to have that platform for his proposal if he wanted it. There was a big catch though. It also had to work out for Ashley to come all the way from Tennessee to the event. (You wouldn’t believe how many things had to go exactly right for this to pull off. God loves them. That’s all I’m saying.)

Lo and behold, because it was Kevin’s birthday, Ashley just happened to come to “surprise” him. To really get this scenario, you need to keep in mind that she thought she was the tricky one and that he’d never expect her to show up. Kevin took the chance that she might hop on the plane and had leaked the word to both their parents that, with their blessing, he’d pop the question this weekend at the event if she did. Right on cue, both sets of moms and dads snuck into Pittsburgh last night and to the front row of the arena this morning to watch the whole thing first hand.

Here’s how Travis set it up: we’d sung two praise songs this morning in our first session when he called three of us having birthdays to the platform. One of them was Kevin himself. The others were Tammy Jenson (one of our terrific singers) and yours truly. He led the whole arena in a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday to us and then staged the brilliant part: Travis had asked Ashley to come up on the platform and present each of us birthday folks with bouquets of flowers. After she’d put them in our hands, Trav gave all of us that “clear the platform!” look and we scurried off. When Ashley naturally tried to follow us, Kevin grabbed her hand and told her to stay and the rest is history. I wish you could have seen her face. Honestly, Siestas, it was so romantic you wouldn’t have believed it. It made me want to march straight home and marry Keith Moore again.

It was so much fun. One of my favorite LPL memories of all. God loved it. I could feel it in my spirit. He got as big a kick out of it as we did.

Kevin & Ashley at Living Proof Live from Kris Seidenkranz on Vimeo.

Would you believe that the big proposal coincided with another LPL “first”? We had a young bride (22 years old) named Emily Venesky in attendance from the Pittsburgh area with her entire bridal party and get this: her wedding was TONIGHT. She would have walked down the aisle just 6 hours after she left the conference. When was the last time you heard of a bridal party opting for a Christian women’s event over getting their hair and nails done on the big day? I was floored. They were absolutely adorable. I pray that God blows their minds with favor over what they prioritized on this pivotal weekend.

Well, that’s all my news for now except for the fact that I got a brand new I-phone. And I am completely obsessed with it. I was a total power-texter on my Verizon Voyager. I knew it so well I didn’t even have to look at the darn thing when I jotted a text. My new I-phone has a totally different keypad, though, so I’m really having to adjust to texting on it but you just wait. I’ll be the reigning queen in five days flat. I love it! I love it! I love it! I love it! There’s still a lot I have to figure out like how to answer it and stuff, which, of course, Travis knew. That explains why he grabbed it and took a picture of himself that looks sorta like he’s picking his nose with both index fingers and put it on my wallpaper. So, for now, that’s what I see every time somebody calls me. I’m getting Michelle to deal with it first thing Monday morning. In the meantime, I’ll just laugh my head off. I love my team. It’s like trying to work with a group of Godly 8 year-olds.

And, to our Siesta that very sweetly asked me if I was using a hands-free device while driving and talking to Melissa on my cell, yes, as a matter of fact I am. Blue Tooth. I’m so cool that I’m going to have to sleep in my sweats tonight.

Obviously, my team is working with a veritable 8 year-old, too, that looks suspiciously like she’s about to turn…

Are you looking to connect with other Siestas for our summer Bible study? If so, we’re opening up comments in this post just for you. Beth, Melissa and I are not going to be able match people up, but we do want to give you a chance to connect on your own. Maybe you’re looking for people in your area to do the study with in person. Or maybe you’re looking for people to discuss the study with online. (How you’d do that is up to you.) We think meeting in person is preferable, but we know that’s not possible for everyone.

I’m not sure how well this “Connect Here” post going to work, but I want to give it a chance! If it works well, we can try it again for other things. When you leave a comment, don’t forget to provide a way for others to contact you.

Ready, set, connect!

PS – LifeWay let us know that the Me Myself & Lies workbooks are no longer on backorder. Orders are being shipped.

I only have the quickest moment to be on here today because it’s my new assistant, Michelle’s, 29th birthday and we’re taking her to an early lunch in just a few minutes. The staff planted a tiara on her head when she walked in the door this morning and she still has it on. That tiny little fact would be so much funnier if you new our darling, athletic, ultra-professional new employee. Her former coworkers at the Whitehouse would fail to recognize her amid the Living Proof Ministry madness. She is an incredible delight to me and never moreso than today with her very business-like demeanor and that plastic crown on her head. We love you, Michelle! And we hope to celebrate your big 3-0 with you next year!

This very, very happy day is also a tad sad for my man and me. Melissa, too. She’s talked about it incessantly. Amanda’s too busy with babies or she’d be thinking about it, too. (Please, all cynics and non-pet lovers stop here for your own sakes!) We said good bye to our beloved bird dog, Beanie, a year ago today. I hate to be melodramatic (why should I stop now?) but it nearly killed us. We’d just lost my constant companion, Sunny, 21 days before that but she was almost 18 years old and, as much as we cried, we knew it was coming. She’d been sick off and on for a month. Beanie took us by surprise. She was 9 but we could have had a lot more time with her. Right after Sunny died, Beanie started laying in the bushes in the back yard like she was going to die, too. We kept telling her she was most certainly NOT going with Sunny. Then ten days later she was diagnosed with cancer all over her body and ten days after that, it had gone to her brain, causing constant seizures.

Some of you will remember that Beanie provided illustration after illustration in the Bible studies and sessions. She was stinking hilarious and had some of the most human-like antics you have ever seen in your life. (She loved to hold hands and take bubble baths, for starters.) She stole our hearts for good. We love our 1 year-olds, Star and Geli, so, so much and wouldn’t trade them for anything. But there are a couple of little graves out in the back yard of my home that I wish were not there today.

I’m picking up Marley and Me at Blockbuster today. I read the book when it first came out and adored it but the movie was released soon after we lost both dogs and we were still bawling our eyes out. Tonight’s the night. I’m giving way to it. Then I’ll get up tomorrow and get on with it.

Good morning, my dear Siestas! Because of our wonderful Siesta Scholarship Fund, we would dearly love to give away 10 MORE TICKETS specifically to Siestas for the Pittsburgh Living Proof Live this very weekend. If you’ve been wishing you could come but didn’t have the money for an event ticket, you’re exactly who we’re looking for! These scholarships only cover the tickets and not the traveling or lodging costs so they are best suited for ten of you who live close enough not to have to incur a ton of other expenses.

If that sounds like you and you’d love to join Travis, the worship team, and me in worship and the study of God’s Word this very Friday night and Saturday till noon, be one of the first ten Siestas to call Living Proof Ministries at 281-257-3344 or toll free at 888-700-1999. Ask for Kimberly or Susan and they’ll fix you right on up.

We love you and delight in serving God through serving you. Stay in the Word, Girls!

PS. I’m going to keep comments closed on this post so that people won’t get confused and leave their information here instead of calling.

Hey, Siestas! How are my favorite bloggers on God’s green earth?

Keith and I just got home from our cactus ranch about six hours from Houston. I joined him there on Thursday because he’d been gone for several days and I missed him like crazy. He’s been putting in a bunch of new water lines and troughs for our wild game (that means animals in case you’re not familiar with the terminology) and was basically stuck until the job was finished. Hence, I headed West. You tend to get more attached to your mate when your kids are grown because you’re all you have left within your own four walls. It’s really important that you darling young wives and moms remember that one day, God and couple-willing, it will be just the two of you again. It will happen before you know it and, if you don’t have anything left, it’s hard to know where to start again. It’s one reason some folks just start all over but there’s no need. There are all sorts of adventures to have together. Just keep investing. Anyway, I didn’t mean to get off on that subject. Today I mean to just chat with you about nothing.

Needless to say, I took my laptop with me so that I could sit on the porch and work on the (overcoming insecurity) book. I’m all the way to chapter 11, praise You, Lord. I’m guessing I have about five more to go. I hope to have the creative part of the writing wrapped up in a month and then the editing madness begins. Writing is not for the fainthearted or those with a strong affinity for instant gratification. Or, come to think of it, for those who can’t take criticism. It is a hard profession that you only want to take up if you absolutely can’t keep from writing to save your life. That reminds me, I read the coolest book recently by Jerry Jenkins called Writing for the Soul and it’s penned specifically to writers OR to those who think there might be a writer deep inside somewhere. If that’s you, you ought to think about grabbing a copy. I think you’d be so blessed. I read constantly but I can’t say I’ve ever read anything specifically on writing before. I enjoyed it like crazy.

If you really want to write, you might think of tracking down some cactus and pulling up a lawn chair next to it. But not too close in case you doze off. A simple landscape is sometimes best of all. Our little piece of Texas is a great place to write because it’s out in the middle of absolutely nowhere and all you can hear are birds, crickets, cows (on the ranch next to us), sheep (mostly on the ranch next to us and a few on ours), dogs (definitely ours), rattlesnakes (unfortunately also ours) and Keith’s John Deere tractor.

When I’ve written about all my blond brain can handle, I go riding with Keith, Star (Border Collie, for you new ones), and Geli (Bird Dog, also for you new ones) in our broken down jeep with old fashioned air conditioning that comes from holes in the floorboard. We look for any animal or critter we can possibly find. This time we got to see a baby bobcat, 2 feral cats, 2 armadillos, and I have no idea how many deer. The sweetest thing of all is that we came upon a mom who’d just dropped a fawn. It was the most precious little thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Keith said it could only have been a few hours old. We scurried off quickly so we wouldn’t upset them but I went back later to make sure the mom hadn’t abandoned him. I reckon I’d have tried to feed him with a bottle and take him home with me. It would be so fun to have a pet deer in the back yard of the ministry. No, I’m not too serious. Maybe just a tad serious.

Oh, and Keith killed a rattlesnake in the barn. He was reaching right down toward it to move an old tire when he saw it. The ugly thing was rared up and ready to strike but didn’t make a sound because its rattler was missing. We think one of the feral cats probably bit it off in a fight when it was much smaller.

The temperature really skyrocketed there this weekend and I must have mildly complained because Keith piped up with, “Why don’t we go swim in the river?”

“We don’t have our swimsuits!”

“Baby, can’t you swim in shorts?”

“I don’t know if I can or not. I’ve never thought about it before.”

“I bet you can. Let’s go get in and see if you float.”

So we blew up a couple of tubes then Keith cut a pair of his Wranglers off at the knee (Big Mama, does this sound like your man? I think our men are twins separated at birth). I put on my gray running shorts and we headed to the San Saba river not far from our place. We splashed and talked and dreamed and planned two or three more grandkids and had the greatest time. My firstborn loves water so much. I pined for her the whole time. No, I didn’t get my hair wet. I twisted it up in a clip because he’d said he was taking me to dinner afterward. It was one thing to swim in my shorts. It was another thing entirely to go into town with river hair. Not on your life.

I can’t get internet there (or cell service) which is one reason it’s a great place to write but I invariably miss being out of touch with Siestaville. Melissa called me and told me about the blog she posted (the one right before this one) and gave me a run down of a number of your responses. I could hardly wait to get home and take a look for myself. She and I both marveled that God has given us such a tremendously diverse community here. What a rarity in this polarized world! How many communities of believers like this do any of us get to be part of? We are blessed indeed. It’s so incredibly boring just to hang with people exactly like ourselves.

One Lord. One Body. Five thousand people and one fabulous time.

Amanda, Melissa, and I love you so much.

PS. I nearly flipped over that Esther cake. Unbelievable!! Now, THAT took some talent!

My ladies.

How are you? Ready for the weekend or what? So am I.  It has been a long week, hasn’t it?

As some of you may know, one of my greatest joys in life is to sit around a table, coffee in hand, discussing biblical and theological issues.  This is why my dream job is Research Assistant at Living Proof.  Now most of my closest friends are not really into these sort of endless rants and I need them in my life because without them I would drive everyone including myself absolutely crazy.  But, I am curious about YOU.  So I have two questions to ask you. 

What biblical/theological/doctrinal issue(s) do you wish you were more educated about?

What biblical/theological/doctrinal issue(s) are you tired of hearing people bicker about?

Talk to me.  Each of you have your own unique voice.  And I want to hear it.

Love,

Melissa 

P.S. If you were by any chance getting a little prideful about your baking skills and you need a power-packed dose of very sweet humility, check this out.  

A lady who loves decorating cakes and who has five children under the age of 8 baked this lemon cake covered with fondant for her Esther study group.  She was inspired by the work-book design. Look at the incredible detail.  Not to mention the worn out work-book.  Absolutely stunning. You are my hero!!! 

Houston Siestas! Curtis and I want to invite you to attend MetroLIVE 2009 this summer. MetroLIVE is a Thursday night Bible study at Houston’s First Baptist Church. Curtis will be speaking and Roger Cullins and Tommy Lynch will be leading worship. MetroLIVE is geared toward people in their 20’s and 30’s, whether in college, single or married. And, this is my favorite part, there is free childcare for kids up through kindergarten. MetroLIVE begins in the sanctuary at 7:30. You can check out the web site for more information. We hope to see some of you tomorrow night!