Hey, Everybody!
I am writing to you on Sunday afternoon since this post needs to go up first thing Monday morning and I am typing away on my laptop from Jackson and Annabeth’s room in our home. It’s the room where Keith and I get the best internet hookup. I like it anyway because it is filled with expressions of the only two kids on the earth I love as much as the two that I birthed. From Annabeth’s twin bed where I’m sitting, I can see a pink and green doll house, a blue and yellow race track, a dark green, fairly-convincing rubber lizard, a kids’ brightly colored exercise bike, a cardboard playhouse and a cardboard castle. It’s full on here in this room and, boy, has it had a work out in the last week.
Keith and I are blessed out of our minds to do lots of life with our grandkids because they only live about 20 minutes from our front door. Delightfully, their voices often reverberate off of these walls and their sweet feet are slap-happy on these wooden floors on a regular basis. We get to have sleepovers on occasions through out the year but once every summer Keith and I have them for the better part of a week and let their darling parents get some time together all by themselves. This last week was that segment of time – Camp Bibby we call it – for the summer of 2013. We kissed them goodbye on Friday night after a good, solid 5-day dose of them. I hate to admit to a small lump in my throat when they drove off with Amanda and Curtis, although I needed a nap in the worst way. Grin. It may be of some encouragement to you mothers of young children that, on Day 1, I did not shower until 3:00 PM. Yes, I do indeed remember what it was like to be a busy young mom whose life is not her own and when I forget, my two sweeties help me remember. Good grief, I would not trade them for anything in this world.
We do not have the time or space here for all the new quotes that have been added to my repertoire in the last week. Jackson and Annabeth are each hilarious, even when they don’t mean to be, so I try to have a pen nearby at all times. Annabeth announced to me on Friday afternoon that, when she grows up, she most definitely does NOT want to have a baby. “Why not?” I asked. “Because you have to go to the hospital,” she replied. And I thought to myself, whoa baby, that’s not all you have to do. As my mama always said, you also have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Translation: you think you’re going to die but, ordinarily, you do not, although at times your husband could be in considerable harm’s way if he spouts another word. Of course, I kept these thoughts to myself.
Annabeth paused for just a moment then spoke back up. “I just want a chihuahua and a cat.”
And that was that.
Jackson asked me how old I was while he was here because I recently had a birthday. He’s asked me that kind of thing before and it always ends up following the trail of whether or not I will still be his Bibby when he is in college. Curtis’s grandmother died a couple of years ago and I think he’s got it in his seven year-old head that grandmothers are tenuous creatures, here today, gone tomorrow. So, I said to him, “You know, Jackson, both your grandmothers are actually pretty young to have a grandkid as old as you. Because we all started so early, I think you can probably assume we’ll be around a while and see you grow up.” He sat on that a few moments then said, “Bibby, that makes you a rookie grandma. Do you know what a rookie is, Bibby?” Ah, yes, I do, Mister. I was a rookie mom with your mommy and a rookie grandma with you and I cannot think of two people on the planet through whom I’d rather be cast into those auspicious, busy, and often humbling roles.
I guess you’re wondering what all of this has to do with our Scripture memory. Well, I am getting to that right now. We have a daily verse at Camp Bibby and Psalm 32:9 out of the New Century Bible was our verse for Day 3 and the immediate favorite and clear winner for the fastest memorization. I taught the whole verse to Annabeth and Jackson but we only memorized part of it. Perhaps you will see why Jackson all but claimed it as his life verse. Kids totally love this kind of thing:
“Don’t be like a…donkey.” Psalm 32:9a
It made them almost as happy as talking about bathroom sounds. If I heard this verse once out of their mouths since Wednesday, I heard it 50 times. They could tell you what it means, too. I’ll stick the phrase back in the wider Scripture segment so that you’ll know what it means, too:
8      The LORD says, “I will make you wise and show you where to go. I will guide you and watch over you.
9      So don’t be like a horse or donkey, that doesn’t understand. They must be led with bits and reins,
or they will not come near you.”
Jackson would tell you that it means that God doesn’t want to have to tie us all up, or sit on us, or be all hard on us to get us to come to Him and to walk in His gracious and good will for our lives. He doesn’t want to have to make us obey Him so He can bless us. His deep desire is that we’d want to go with Him because we know that He is always for us, always leading us to triumph, always trustworthy, always right, and forever wanting to crown us with love and compassion and lead us away from bondage and such unnecessary harm.
I know it’s basic. But my mind’s been on the basics this last week with a seven year-old and a four year-old either one foot from me or on my person. I guess the question I’m throwing out on the table this week is this: Why do we continue to fight God and lash about in His grasp like He’s a big Taker instead of a Giver? What is it we think He’s trying to rob us of? To whom have we compared Him so that we’ve assumed we cannot trust Him?
Don’t be so stubborn, the psalmist is saying. Cooperate and go with God some place beautiful. Some place almost magical.
Revel in the two preceding verses in the same psalm (32), this time from the NIV:
6Â Therefore let all the faithful pray to You
while You may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7Â You are my hiding place;
You will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Surround sound. Oh, if our spiritual ears could only be opened for a few glorious minutes, what a musical score we’d hear all around us. To go with Jesus is to go the way of deliverance. The way of music. The way of symphonies. The way of ascent amid mighty rising waters. So, I’m going with Jackson in my memory work this round:
Beth, Houston. So don’t be like a horse or donkey, that doesn’t understand. They must be led with bits and reins, or they will not come near you. Psalm 32:9 NCV
So, what’s yours?
You are loved around here, Sister. We are honored to serve you.
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Sue, Carmel, IN
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Cor. 9:8 NIV 84
Linda from Lincoln NE. “I have spoken and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed and I will do it”
Isaiah 46:11b ESV
Angela, Warsaw
But thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin, you have now come to obey from your heart the teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. Romans 6:17 (NIV)
Kelly from Hollidaysburg, PA
“But be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the Lord has promised you.” ~Deuteronomy 9:3 (NIV)
James1:4 NIV
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Bridget, Cadillac, MI
You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not have. James 4:1 NKJV
Diana, Seekonk,MA
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NIV)
Lise, Cumming, GA, But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James 1:22 NAS
Lyndsey, NC
Isaiah 49:25ish-26ish (NIV)
“…I will contend with those who contend with you…Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
(Sorry for the delay. Was out of the country.)
Esther. Jonesborough, TN. Isaiah 2:22 ESV. Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath for of what account is he?
Rita Brown
Midland, TX
Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,
always giving thanks to God the Father for everything
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:19b-20 NIV
Regina, Birmingham, AL
The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty One who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing. (Zepaniah 3:20 – ESV)
Waycross, NIV, “Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Phil. 4:6
Linda, Mobile, AL
Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
Peggy from Cheyenne, Wyoming
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
II Cronicles 7:14 NIV
Debra – Dahlgren, IL
LORD, You have been our refuge in every generation.
Psalm 90:1 HCSB
Sue Nutter, Standish, ME
Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow.
Psalm 5:8 (NLT)
Carolyn
Kearney Nebraska
1 Peter 1:8
Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And even though you don’t see Him now, you trust Him and are filled with a joy that is glorious beyond words.
Janice, Tulsa. So don’t be like a horse or donkey, that doesn’t understand. They must be led with bits and reins, or they will not come near you. Psalm 32:9 NCV
Ashley, Memphis, TN Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom i trust.” Psalm 91:1-2 NIV
Tricia, Conroe, TX
“Listen, God! Please, pay attention! Can you make sense of these ramblings, my groans and cries? King – God, I need your help. Every morning you’ll hear me at it again. Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar and watch for fire to descend.”
Psalm 5:2-3, The Message
Carolyn R
Houston, Tx
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love. 2 John 6 NIV
I sought the Lord, and he answered me, he delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4 NIV
Dana
Boerne, TX
Amy from Noble, OK
Psalms 32:8-9 (New Century)
The LORD says, “I will make you wise and show you where to go. I will guide you and watch over you.
So don’t be like a horse or donkey, that doesn’t understand. They must be led with bits and reins, or they will not come near you.”
Cindy Gandy
Hazlehurst, MS
Psalm 31:14 NIV
But I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.”
Erin, Bella Vista, Ar
I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:3 NIV
1 Cor. 13:13 “So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” ESV. Sandy, Denver, CO.
From DFW, With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort. (1 Corinthians 15:58 MSG)
Taylor, Elma NY
Song of Songs 8:4 (NIV)
“Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you; Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.”
GOD LOVES YOU! 🙂
“Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him.”
Psalm 34:8 NLT
Pat
Crawfordsville, IN
Stephanie from Carmichael, CA
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all.”
1 Chronicles 29:11 (NKJV)
Kelei Liggett. IowaPark. PSALM 23:5 NIV
You prepare a table in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows!
Patti, Fort Walton Beach, FL, “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 NIV
Tara
Columbia, SC
I can do all things through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17 ESV)
Penny, Cincinnati. “Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.” Psalm 25:4–5, NLT
Becky, The Woodlands, TX
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105
Natalie Patton, Leawood, KS
Every word of God is pure, He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Proverbs 30:5 NKJV
All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. Psalm 25.10 KJV
Sarah from Jay, OK
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 13:15 ( NIV)
Christy, Zionsville, IN:
Colossians 1:15, NIV
For he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Elizabeth, Pittsburgh, PA:
Colossians 3:15a, NIV:
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…
Anna Elkhart IN
John 15:16 (NKJ)
You did not choose me, but I chose you & appointed you that you should go & bear fruit & that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name He may give you.
Tajuana ~ Texas
Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the
desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4 (NIV)
Tina
Waxahachie, Texas
Exodus 33:14 (NIV)
“The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Vicki, Lake Jackson, TX:
For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers.
1Peter 3:12 NIV
Susan, Carbondale, iL
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. (Romans 12:17 NIV)
(8) May the LORD show his constant love during the day, so that I may have a song at night, a prayer to the God of my life.
-Psalms 42:8 (GNT)
Sarah, Dallas
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 ESV, Martha from Van Buren, AR
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV, Dusti from Van Buren, AR