Hi ladies! This week’s most frequently asked question has been whether we will make a DVD available of Beth’s teaching from the So Long Insecurity Simulcast. I finally have an answer for you!

There will be a DVD and the planned release date is July 1.

We have also been asked about The Promise of Security, which is a 40-page booklet of Scriptures that pairs nicely with SLI. It is sold out, but I’ve been told that the publisher, Tyndale, expects to have more of them in early May. They will be available in many bookstores and in our online store for $1.

In other news, I finished Francine Rivers’ Her Mother’s Hope this week and I’m already dying for the next one! Her Daughter’s Dream looks to be coming out in the fall. I just went to her web site to look for that release date and look what I came across! Ha!

This was taken at a book signing that Mom and Mrs. Rivers did together here in Houston.

And, because this post needs yet another topic in it, I want to thank you for praying for my family since Curtis had his surgery 12 days ago. He is doing much better and life is feeling a lot more normal. Sometimes Curtis and I get bored of “normal” but I can assure you we are more grateful for it now.

Have a great weekend, Siestas!

PS – There is a little present at the top of our sidebar for everyone who has asked me how to have the blog posts emailed to them over the last three years. Woo hoo!

Three weekends ago, Mom, Melissa, Annabeth and I headed north to Dallas-Fort Worth. Our co-worker’s son was getting married and we were excited to make  a girls weekend out of it. I realize the relevance of this post has now dwindled, but it’s been sitting in the draft folder for a couple of weeks and I would hate to waste it.

As always, we had many “That’s going on the blog!” moments, some of which I will document for you.

The first was when we passed the giant statue of Sam Houston just outside of Huntsville on I-45. If you’ve heard Beth tell about the night she thought she saw our Lord on the highway, you will appreciate this. At night Sam is lit up against the pitch black background of pine trees.

Too many hours later (Mom was behind the wheel and she drives like a granny), we finally arrived in the Metroplex. We went through Irving and got one last look at Texas Stadium. It was already very stripped down in preparation for Sunday morning’s implosion.

After a much needed stop at Starbucks, we stayed the course of our long journey until we arrived at the perfect Moore Girls Weekend destination – a hotel at Southlake Town Square. Praise the Lord and amen.

In this spot, please imagine a picture of Melissa and me unloading our overpacked bags and toddler paraphernalia out of the car while Mom visited with two really cute ladies who seemed a little surprised to be seeing her.

Right here, please imagine a picture of my mom’s face when they told her that their church was hosting a women’s retreat at that very hotel and – you’ll never believe this – Mom was the retreat speaker! Yes, you read that right. They were using the Revelation DVD’s for their women’s retreat. Isn’t that ironic/hilarious/crazy?

We didn’t waste much time unpacking. There was eating and shopping to do before bedtime!

We had a great time exploring Southlake and just being together. We met lots of really neat ladies and even a few Siestas!

Our time flew by and before we knew it, it was time for the Mattingly/Simpson wedding. We all got dressed up. Mom wore the gold dress that she’s worn to almost every wedding in the last 8 years. I wore a “new again” black dress that hadn’t fit since Annabeth was born. I also wore a brand new pair of heels that quickly became my nemesis. Melissa took a fashion risk and wore something less conventional. Halfway through the night, she saw a picture of herself and suddenly there was no convincing her that she didn’t look exactly like the wedding cake in her voluminous, tiered white blouse. She said she feared people would begin approaching her with their cake plates. I believe this was Melissa’s first time to experience fashion remorse. Unfortunately, all pictures of it have been destroyed. (I thought she looked beautiful!) Annabeth wore a sweet little dress that had pink tulips on it. Unfortunately, a toddler really limits one’s participation in a wedding celebration. Annabeth and I just walked up and down the halls of the church during the ceremony. Our time at the reception ended up being short and sweet, seeing as how my daughter was two hours past her bedtime and nothing could make her happy. At least she was cute!

The Lord allowed us to have a couple of unexpected moments with Adam and Laura, the beautiful bride and handsome groom, on our way out.

There happened to have been some red and pink tulips nearby that matched Annabeth’s dress. What a great photographic opportunity, right? Annabeth did not agree.

The next hour held one mishap after another. I got us terribly lost, Melissa dropped a room service tray on the floor and broke some plates, and Mom and I accidentally ate  her dinner while she was cleaning it up. (We thought it was an appetizer for all of us.) Bless her heart.

Soon we called it a night. Early the next morning I woke up to a rumbling sound. I glanced at the clock and realized it must have been the stadium coming down. You can see a video of the implosion here. People cheer at the end but I thought it was pretty sad to watch! (I used to live by this stadium and even though it was u-g-l-y, I felt sorry for it.)

We dropped Melissa off at DFW airport so that she could fly home to Atlanta. Then Mom, Annabeth and I made our way toward the stadium so we could see the pile of rubble. It was so freaky! It looked like there had been an earthquake. I tried to imagine how horrifying Port Au Prince must be with most of the buildings looking like that. Awful.

A highlight on the way home was stopping for lunch at the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana. One word – YUM! There was a big field of bluebonnets (our celebrated state flower) next to the parking lot, so we did what every self-respecting mother and grandmother in Texas would do. We plopped ourselves and our baby down in the middle of it and took some pictures!  Ideally, these would not have been taken with an iPhone and Annabeth would have been wearing a cute summer dress. We also had to hurry because we could tell the church crowd was about to arrive at the restaurant.

And this concludes the semi-annual Moore Girls Weekend recap.  Our DFW trip was a great success. Thank you, Adam and Laura Mattingly for getting married and giving us a great reason to get away. We love you guys!

He was one of the “ones” at the SLI simulcast last weekend.

Siesta Lavonda says, “Melana sent Moose with Adrienne to the simulcast, and during the lunch break, we took this picture of him (with the cup holder that makes him feel more secure about his hair.)”

You can check out one of his previous adventures here.

Colin and I just dropped Mom off at the Atlanta airport.

I was secretly hoping the strong rains in Atlanta would last just a day longer so I could hold on to Mom for just a few more hours. And a cleansing of the final layer of inch deep pollen paste that has coated my car and bronchial tubes would have been a nice little bonus as well.

Colin and I took Mom to the Flying Biscuit in Midtown this morning for breakfast. We really wanted to take her for “brunch” but her flight was leaving a bit too early for such a special event. Brunch is a big deal to the wonderful folk in Georgia and I have become quite fond of it myself. Admittedly, I had to get over my initial aversion to the word “brunch” because it appears to be a combination of the word “breakfast” and “lunch” which sorta-kinda-I-mean-really gets on my nerves. I swiftly got over my petty annoyance, however, the first time those creamy dreamy shrimp and grits touched my lips. Enough about “brunch” though. Except for one more thing, the word “brunch” is far better than “bruncheon” on the velveeta scale. My cordiality comes to a screeching halt with “bruncheon”.

Back to breakfast. In predictable Beth fashion, Mom ordered the Flying Biscuit Breakfast with the Orange scented French toast on the side. Please note that the Orange Scented French toast is actually not a side dish but a full meal. While we were waiting for Mom’s several dishes to come out we were talking about really urgent issues, like how complex and intricate the Flying Biscuit motif was on this little ceramic jar.

If I have not said this on the blog before, by far my favorite time to hang out with my Mom is right after some kind of big event like a videotaping, Passion, Deeper Still, or a Living Proof Live. In this case it was the Simulcast that was evidently extended to over 300,000 women. By the way, I told my Mom yesterday never to utter a number like that to me again without a serious warning and that if she even attempted to introduce me during the second session of the simulcast, I would take her to court for her wrongdoing. As you can guess, Mom did not listen and it turns out there really are restrictions on lawsuits. But seriously, Mom is super fun to be with right after a big conference. For starters, right after a big event she hasn’t slept in about a week and so after she steps off the stage she plunges into a very advanced case of delirium. If I thought she could handle the stress I would use this priceless state for my own advantage and literally take her from the church directly to a venue for her to do stand-up comedy. Also, since her stomach is usually pretty weak right before she speaks since she doesn’t have much of an appetite, usually the first thing she says to us after a session is, “I AM SO HUNGRY!” Then we sit down at the table and she says, “I’m going to order sixteen things.” For some reason, she always uses the same number, sixteen. I’m not sure why she has this affinity for the number sixteen but she does and it delights me to no end each new time she throws it out there, almost like it is the very first time she has ever come up with this golden number “sixteen”. You can ask Amanda. I am not making this up.

My heart is so full from such a wonderful weekend. After Colin and I left Mom’s hotel last night and had gone on home, Amanda and I called my Mom three-way from my cell-phone. It was like 1993 sans landline. We talked and giggled and carried on and on about little snippets and stories from women we had encountered throughout the day until it was past Mom’s bedtime. When we hung up the phone I realized I had a giant lump in my throat. The Lord’s ways are truly remarkable.  His intricate and elaborate pursuit of each of us just blows me away.  Yesterday as I sat listening to my Mom’s message in the second session I noticed a woman a few rows behind me who quietly streamed tears the entire hour and a half. As I watched her emotionally absorb words that were far too weighty for her to bear without a physical response, the gospel in its most unadulterated form was preached to my heart once again. That God, in the cross of Jesus Christ, has forgiven us and brought us into fellowship with Himself is the most compelling news our ears will ever hear and our minds will ever conceive. That He esteems us and deems us valuable is just beyond comprehension. I mean, we’re pretty bad.  Okay, we’re really bad, and even a tad bit unlovable a lot of the time.

Paul told the Corinthians in his second letter, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our heart to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (4.6). God’s work in us through Jesus Christ is nothing short of a new creation. The same creator who sculpted the sun shined his very own light into our hearts by means of the knowledge of Christ’s gospel. This is not the kind of news one just sits and coldly anticipates with a forced half-smile but one that should be absorbed in a manner that cannot be controlled, contained, or folded up neatly like linens in a closet. I thank my dear sister who was sitting several rows behind me, wherever she is now, for reminding me how vast, enrapturing, and beautiful the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ really is. It is a profound experience to ponder the gospel anew in the face of someone who has just internalized God’s indescribable gift. The gospel is not safe and predictable, although we have most often rendered it such. It should turn every aspect of our lives completely upside down. Jesus has thrown everything utterly off balance. Perhaps more often than not the Gospel should completely undo us to the point that we cannot act altogether civilized. It sounds a little bit unsettling or even grotesque for those of us who are especially self aware but the bright side is that the community of God has been a peculiar people from the beginning, so we really don’t have all that much to lose.

Hi ladies! Mom just sent me the commissioning statement to post on the blog. She also wanted me to tell you that you’re the teachers pets. We love you! -Amanda

My Dear Sister

If Christ is Your Savior

You are the dwelling place

Of His own Spirit

You have it IN YOU

to be secure.

Every day of your life

You have a choice to make

You can live in your old defeat

Or you can turn from your unbelief

And choose life

Make up your mind

To put off the old you

And put on the new you.

Never, ever, ever forget

That the Lord is your security.

He will keep your foot

From being caught in a trap.

He will take care of you

To your very last breath.

Now, leave this place

And go out into the world

And act like a person

Who knows she’s dearly loved.

You were born to be exceptional.

So, Girlfriend, go forth

And walk worthy of your calling.

You are clothed in strength and dignity!

Now unto Him

Who can keep you from falling

Be glory and majesty

Power and authority

Through Jesus Christ our Lord

Now and forever more

Amen.

So Long, Insecurity!

UPDATE from Amanda: SIESTA MEET-UP INFO
Ladies, I’ve been told that there’s a Siesta meet-up on Saturday night called “Connecting the Dots” at Latimer Hall at Woodstock United Methodist Church. It lasts from 6-9 and the cost is $10 to cover food and festivities. The organizers have lots of room left for Siestas who would like to join them. You can get more details on their Facebook page.

OK, Sisters, let’s hear it! If you’re attending Saturday’s simulcast, sign in with your first name and your host location (church/school name and city) . Not only will this heighten our sense of community that day, it will also let each of us know if we have fellow bloggers at our same location. (I hesitated to use the word “Siesta” on this particular post because I don’t want a newcomer to think I’m referring only to those who have somehow “joined” our community like a club. Remember, it’s just our term of endearment for sisters in Christ here on this site. If you’re reading this blog and you’re attending on Saturday, you are just the person I’m talking about.) Maybe some of us can meet face-to-face!

If I may ask your gracious cooperation, let’s please limit the comments on this post to those attending on Saturday so that the list will be easier to peruse for common sites. We’ll move forward to plenty of other things very shortly.

I love you guys so much. My heart is huge toward you right now. For one thing, this message (SLI) was birthed out of this community. For the other thing, it has to be love when so many of you said that you could well get a spiritual application out of “Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.” Now, THAT’S sisterhood.

Here is my one intention on Saturday: that Christ Jesus, the Son of God, is clearly identified and glorified as our ONE and ONLY means of steadfast, soul-deep security. Pray with me to that glorious end.

Praise our gracious God, Curtis Jones is home! Thank you so much for copious prayers! His parents did make it safely to Houston and his wife is one happy and exhausted woman. We so appreciate the privilege to live life with you. I’ll keep this post short because I need to get to the roll call straightaway.

Thank you for your prayers, my dear sisters! No news yet on whether or not Curtis might be able to come home tomorrow. We’re so hoping he will. His parents have already begun their long trek south from Missouri. They will drive late into the night, check into a hotel, then get up early in the morning and drive the rest of the way into Houston. AJ just walked through the door of her house and I’m about to pack up my car and head home to my man. Yes, he’s back. Jackson got to have a blast with him tonight. He needed some man time in the worst way.

I got a little more preparation for Saturday’s simulcast done during nap/rest time today and will turn my attentions to it completely first thing in the morning. Thank goodness, it doesn’t start on Friday night like a regular LPL would. You’ll know I didn’t get all my preparation accomplished if I resort to reading “Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs” as an illustration. Please have my back on it though. Turn to the woman sitting next to you, nod, and say, “Inspired!” I could also run through all the animal sounds I’ve perfected into an art form in order to keep Annabeth awake in the car until we made it home for naptime.

OK, signing off and heading home! Btw, did you guys know that Travis will be joining us this weekend? You don’t really think I’d try serving you without him, did you?

I’ll talk to you soon!

Sisters, I just thought I’d better shoot you a quick update. I told you earlier today (see previous post) that CJ was getting better but he’s back up to 103 degrees with an elevating white count. They’ve just put in a call to his doctor. Thank you so much for your concern. We are humbled that you’d join us on this journey and expend the extra energy for intercession. I’ll let you know something some time tomorrow.

And, since so many of you mentioned the simulcast, please know that I, too, am super excited about Saturday and counting on God to come through for us. Your anticipation fuels mine! I trust Him to settle my mind about the Joneses in time to have at least forty-eight hours of solitude leading up to the event. I got in a couple of hours of study today while AB was napping and Jackson was at Mother’s Day Out. If, for any reason, we’re still turned upside down around here, I also trust God to show His strength in our weakness. He’s preparing for Saturday even while I’m keeping these babies. Their Nana will be on her way Thursday and God willing (and I know that He is), I’ll see you then! It’s by no means up in the air.

You are precious to us.

 We’ll do a roll call on Friday to see which Siestas are attending and from which locations. I guess you know by now that I love roll calls! I dearly love to imagine you in all your walks of life and all your cities and towns around the country doing the same kind of thing on the same day in Jesus’ great Name. Most of all, I think He loves it. (Which reminds me, it’s almost time for Siesta Summer Bible Study III! Stay tuned for more information. Yes, I’ve already chosen a specific series. I’ll tell you which one in May.)

OK, both kids are in bed and the dishwasher’s going. I’m going to set my broken toe up for a while. Grin. I love you. (Btw, an adult son of one of our Siestas got word to me recently that his mother swears and declares that I really do love her. And she’s right.)

Remember me, anyone??? Your very own Siesta Mama??? BOY, are we busy around here! You know by now that Curtis Jones, the King of Pain, dropped Amanda and the kids off at home after teaching Sunday School and drove himself to the emergency room only to learn that his appendix had not just burst. In the words of the surgeon that I heard with my own ears, “It went off like a grenade.” I immediately moved to Amanda’s with Jackson and Annabeth and she immediately moved to the hospital with her man. Several days later, this is still our arrangement as we wait for Curtis to successfully fight that infection and lose that fever. He has been one sick dude. He seems to have turned a corner today. We appreciate your prayers and could still use them until we get him all the way through this storm. If his temperature doesn’t climb back up today, we are hoping they will release him to come home tomorrow.  His mom arrives on Thursday and I know he will be so glad to have her. I’ll also be relieved for Amanda. As many of you know, because a number of us have a date this weekend (SLI simulcast), I’ll be in Atlanta and so thankful to know that her wonderful mother-in-law will be here lending a hand.

Here are a few random tidbits I’ll share from my last few days as a single mother of preschoolers (yes, Keith was out of town):

1. I never had my quiet time yesterday. Nope. Not one word of it. Never even opened my Bible. In fact, I did not know where it was. (Turned out to be in my car which I had traded off with AJ so that I could have her car with both of the kid seats.) My day started at 6:20 AM with Jackson, who had slept with (on) me all night, getting one inch from my puffy face and saying, “Bibby, it’s morning time. Mr. Sun is coming up!” Oh, really? It was pitch black (the same color as I, minutes later, chose to have my coffee). But the boy’s darling face was as bright as the sun and who could resist?? So, up we came. The day was action packed. He didn’t go to sleep that night until pretty late at which time we both fell in the bed. He has such a fabulous personality. 100% sanguine. The only way I’ve been able to tell that he is having a hard time processing his Daddy being in the hospital is that he is having a hard time sleeping. He adores Curtis. And Annabeth? She adores her MOMMY! The first morning she woke up to me, she had the strangest look on her face like, “Would someone fetch me the younger version of this woman?” Don’t get me wrong. She knows her Bibby well but I’m not usually the first face she sees in the morning.

2. Any eavesdropping neighbors overheard Jackson and me on the swingset yesterday having a preschool-level conversation about how his mommy got in my tummy. (No, of course, I did NOT bring up the subject. He did. ) He wanted to know if they tied off her belly button with a stick like Annabeth’s. I assured him they did.

3. Annabeth has missed her mother sorely but her hair has never looked better. I’ve experimented on a few hair products while I’ve been here and in charge (what every grandmother loves on occasion to be). I feel we’ve made great progress.

4. I broke my little toe. I don’t want to talk about it. But I apparently really do not cuss.

5. The LPM staff brought us chicken spaghetti for supper. We’re so excited. They also brought us a Ding Dong cake for dessert. Yep. A cake that looks and tastes like a gigantic Hostess Ding Dong. We are pumped.

6. Mommy is taking Jackson to see his Daddy at the hospital. She’s been here visiting us for the last little while which is the only reason I got to jump on the blog and say hello. SO Bibby’s got to say good-bye for now and get back to her job.

And her great joy.

This is family. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything…unless we could have saved CJ some considerable discomfort.

Oh, one last thing. Jackson just overheard his mom telling a friend that Curtis was getting so much better and, as of today, is feeling like a new person. “What new person, Mommy? What new person is Daddy?” He was very disturbed. When you’re four years-old, you just want your Daddy to be the same old person.

I love and miss you guys so much! I’ll say hi again before I head to Atlanta.