Guess what!?!? I am blogging from the LPM office today! Isn’t that fun? I almost brought my camera to document the day, but I decided not to pester my co-workers with a camera flash on my first day back. The Jones family made the move down to Houston two weeks ago. I will still be working mostly from home, but on Thursdays Curt and I will switch places so that I can work in-office with the rest of the Village. I have been away for four years and I probably don’t need to tell you how good it feels to be able to see and talk to these wonderful women again on a regular basis! There is a lot of iron sharpening iron in this office and my spirit dearly missed that while I was away. These women have set the bar high and I benefit from their influence in countless ways.
Well, this has been a big week. Curtis started work at LPM, Beth flew up to the Dallas area to do a filming at the Life Today studios, and she heads back out of town again today. She is meeting up with her beloved LifeWay film crew to tape “intros and outros” for the Esther series. (Intros and outros are the little clips you see immediately before and after the teaching sessions.) They will film on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and then we will get her back home on Monday. Beth and the crew would love to have your prayer support during the next few days. The biggest request is for great weather and no rain!
In October of 2006, Beth and the crew filmed intros and outros for the updated version of the Tabernacle study. Beth wrote a really neat reflection about that week and, not having a blog at that time, we posted it on our devotional page. Here’s a link to it in case you’d like to check it out: Remembering in the Desert.
I pray the Lord will bless you with many blessings as you and Beth and the whole team serves HIM to advance HIS kingdom.
Blessings in Christ-
Oh, Amanda. I bet your mom is just beside (or behind, as she said in session 8 of The Beloved Disciple)herself to have her first born back close to home. And of course, Jackson. Now he will really be spoiled. But that is ok. I have two that are spoiled by their grandparents and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Grandparents are so special. I miss mine terribly. I pray God will bless you and Curtis for your obedience to him and following his will.
I so hope Curtis will write bible studies for the men. My man would love it.
How in the world are the newlyweds???? It’s like they disappeared from the world. Can’t wait to see more pictures and hear more stories.
Welcome back, sweet Amanda.
Bethie comes back Monday only to leave again for San Diego the following weekend. I’ll be enjoying her LIVE!!
Just checked out Remembering in the Desert and the glory of the Lord cries out in his creation! Beautiful pictures.
Welcome Home, Amanda!
I am so excited for you! We get the added benefit of “iron sharpening iron” in the LPM office as it is transferred to us through the blog!
Moving is hard, sometimes, even when we are moving toward the Lord and His blessings for us, but it is usually there that He dumps a whole heap of amazing things in our laps! I will praying for lots of blessings on you and your family in the days to come!
And I miss the pictures…so start shooting next week! 🙂
Keep us posted on your mom’s filming this weekend. The intros and outros are always such fun to watch (I like the change of clothes and hair through the years, personally)!
Blessings,
Paige
Being in the Desert right now, I am trying dearly to remember the Promised Land.
A little bit of joy and laughter went far for me today…I loved that devotional…and the last pic of them dressed next to the Ark really made me smile.
Glad to be a Siesta, among you all.
April
Welcome home! I know you have to be so excited. Now “Dancing with Granny” can happen more often! 🙂 Loved the devotion the first time I read it. It’s so good to see the faithfulness and love of God being poured out! May God’s blessings pour out on your and your family!
Amanda, how wonderful that you are able to live near your folks again. Wish my girls lived closer!!
Amanda,
I’m pretty new to the Bloggine world, but I love this blog and I love doing the bible studys, I work for Lifeway so I get a close look at them…
I know Beth loves having you close to home, I have lived in Ky for all most 2 years and all but one of my kids live in Utah, so we have our house on the market and we are moving back so I can be close to my kids and Grand kids… I love to spoil them…
Connie
I know Beth is so excited about you all comeing back.Grandparents are so neat sure miss mine, there watting for me in Heaven.Now Beth don’t spoil him to much ok.I know all are happy to have you back.God be with you in all you do & where all you go.God bless love sister in Christ Victoria N.C.ps pray my daughter & family will move closer.
Welcome Back Amanda !
Thanks for the link to the devotional page. My small group will be starting the updated Tabernacle series in May. What a treat to look into what Beth was feeling that week that she did some of the filming.
With praise on my lips,
Lynn
The Jones Journey Continues ~ 🙂
Thanks for sharing! Hey, I want to know if your mother has banners around the office for Jackson. I recall her talking to Curtis about that! Will the LPM staff have to be careful now ~ not to be tripping over Jackson toys in the hallway and Beth’s office area?
WE ARE THRILLED TO KNOW THAT YOUR FAMILY IS HERE TO STAY!
Blessings from the Central Coast of California ~ Sunshine!
Kim Safina
ps. I can’t believe that because of the ministry & my siesta’s and now miesta, I now have my own blog! pathetic!
http://www.kimsafinathejourneycontinues.blogspot.com
Amanda,
Congratulations on being back at LPM and in Houston!
Yes, you have to take a picture of you sitting at your desk updating the blog or something.
It would be so fun to see you doing that!!
I will be praying for your Mom as she travels. I know the road probably does get a little weary for her at times!
Blessings,
Dori
I will be praying!
My oldest just turned 16 and just drove out of the driveway… I am sitting here bawling! I think this is by far the hardest thing I have had to do yet as a parent! So if anyone feels led… I’d love the prayers not only for him but me!!!! : )
God Bless- Emmy
O Amanda i bet your mom is sooooooo stkin happy to have her baby, her baby’s man, and her grandson back home! What a blessing! ill be praying for ALL of you, the moores,Jones,your sister and her huby, and all of you down in texas! I love you all so dearly!
Welcome home Amanda! I’m sure the team missed your presence as much as you missed them. Congrats on the new position for your hubby as well.
Will pray for good weather and Divine inspiration!!
Val
NC
I’m so excited for you! Thanks for sharing “Remembering in the Desert”- I enjoyed it. I’ll definitely be praying for them this weekend! 🙂
What a Blessing for you to be back “home” with your family and your “fRamily” (friends as close as family, family you would choose for friends). And I am SURE that they are just as Blessed – especially your parents!!! They get to see the little gut all the time – YAY!!!!!!
As for that devotional – I cried! We did the updated study just last fall and it is still so fresh with me. I think I caught the same thing your mama did! Plus, the visuals had me laughing – she has such a way with words.
We are currently on week 8 of Jesus, The One and Only. It has occured to a few of us that in a few weeks we will be done til next fall … and that just won’t do!!! We had already agreed to have a playgroup this summer, but it is now a play/Breaking Free group, and I CAN NOT WAIT!!!!!!
I got a few serious issues that I am looking forward to breaking free from. That pit of self condemnation calls to me every single day. Psalm 139 is on every mirror and said out loud on a regular basis. I just need to get it through my HEART that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Here’s praying that we can all break free from our pits!
Again, welcome home Amanda!!!!
Becky Jo
PS – that man of yours can give a WORD!!!!! Yes, he CAN!!!
So excited for you! What a neat season ya’ll are entering – Praise the Lord!
I’m so happy you get to be back in Houston! When we moved to Tennessee from Arizona two years ago, my in-laws decided to move here also; hubby is their only child, so our kids are their only grandkids. There is such a great bond between my in-laws and my kids that just comes from spending time together… Of course, the fact that Granny and Poppa SPOIL MY KIDS ROTTEN contributes too….. Jackson will be richly blessed by living close to “Bibby” and Keith :o)
Hugs,
Adrienne
Amanda
It is so great to know that you are back in Houston. What is interesting is I was watching session 3 of the Patriarchs yesterday while I was on my lunch and you mom was talking about how much she missed ya’ll because you had been in England for 3 months and how she was looking forward to having grandchildren. Now she has both. It is always a blessing to see how GOD is working in your families life and all of ours.
I will be praying for you mom on her trip this week. Can’t wait until we get to see the finished product on Esther.
Becky
Attalla, AL
How wonderful! What a joyful returning!! Soak it up, dear Amanda. Let them love on you a ton.
Praying for the filming and look forward to hearing about it!
I can’t wait to read the devo later in the day, when children are not swarming around me 🙂
Amanda,
You must feel great being back over there. 🙂
Hope your mom has a fun and safe trip and enjoys all the tapings. I will definetly for no rain.
I am at work right now but I’ll check out the link you posted as soon as I go home 🙂
I just love you guys to pieces and like to think that as much as I love you, I get to feel at least a quarter of how God loves us ……….
What a blessing that God opened those doors for y’all to serve in Houston together with your mom and the whole crew. Praying for a smooth transition, but it doesn’t seem like it will be too difficult! thanks for sharing the devotion too. It’s neat to get a mental picture of what some of those trips are like for Beth and of course, to hear what the Father tells her during those times. I’m glad he keeps asking her to do the studies, because there are oodles of us gals who are SOOO thankful!
glad you are back amanda. i know your mom is happy too.
How wonderful that you get to go to the office one day a week. That just (overly used phrase by me) rocks.
Heavenly Father, I ask that you would be with Beth and the Lifeway Team this week as they work toward advancing Your kingdom. Thank you for sending them THIS weekend, YOU know ALL. I trust You for the weather and all of the technical stuff that goes along with what they are doing. I thank YOU that YOUR Holy Spirit is there in the midst of them and that they can depend on YOUR wisdom in all situations. I thank You that they trust You. They depend on YOU and that they love YOU first! Father, I also pray for the health of everybody who is involved in the taping this weekend. Keep them. In Jesus name, amen.
CALLING ALL SAN DIEGO SIESTAS…
No, I can’t be there with you guys, BUT, my daughter is moving to your beautiful area the end of this month. She’s 24, going to be a young married woman. She’s is in the Social Worker field..an MSW..just graduated. Husband is in the computer programming thing.
BUT, I need you San Diego Siestas to tell me great churches that love GOD and have young couples that are outgoing and then…pray my daughter and her husband will want to go!! I have been praying for their salvation and I KNOW GOD is in control here.
PLease pray…and let me know if you know a church that they can’t help but love…
My e-mail is [email protected] if you feel GOD leading you to let me know!
Thank you and praying for you to show up big time for a light of hope in this Mom’s prayers!
Teri
p.s. Amanda…love that you are back at LPM and that you guys are happy. Praying for you and Curtis and of course Jackson…AND Ms Beth. Truly love and pray for you guys like family!!
I’m asking God to continue to pour out blessings on this ministry and each family that is represented in that office.
I know you are glad to be back at the homebase! We are really looking forward to what God is going to do through Curtis at LPM!
(And I bet the free babysitting is going to be an added perk for moving back!!!”
Blessings!
stephanie
Amanda…though we’ve never met, I am so happy for God’s moving you back to Houston with your husband and son,where you’ll be closer to your parents, and am so happy that you will be able to go to the LPM office!! I was excited to see that Curt will be on staff too!! How awesome! Also, my prayers are going up for Beth’s work this weekend, that it will go very well and that there will be NO RAIN. God Bless you!!
Welcome home AJ . . .
Agree on all the comments on editing Beth’s studies for men – Breaking Free is applicable to ALL of us and could so easily be adapted.
Will be praying for selling houses, buying houses and all those adjustments inherent in a move!
Congratulations on your move! I bet your parents are over the moon to have Jackson near them! Oh, are you and Curt there too? (Smile!) Do you ever wonder if the same person you see as “grandma” to your kids is really the same “mom” who raised you? The grandparents seem so much more laid back and generous then you remember your parents being! Your kids are all of a sudden allowed things they wouldn’t even have dreamed of letting you have!
On a serious note, I hope you are getting settled and unpacked! God bless you all!
Lisa in Kirkland, WA
Welcome Home. It is always good to go home. I pray that God will continue to bless you and your family as well as the LPM team. God has a bigger dream for you all than you could ever dream for yourself!
Amanda,
There is nothing like living near your mom when you have kids of your own. I can’t imagine my children’s life without my parents nearby–seeing them almost everyday! It will be such a blessing for you,
Nicole
in Michigan
I wondered if you were going to be still working from home. Sounds like a great arrangement. I’m so excited for you that this has worked out the way it has.
Congratulations on being back close to your parents. I have lived away from my parents now for many years and would really enjoy the experience of everyday life with them. I wish my children could experience everyday life with their grandparents. I do know that God’s will is best, and I know that living away from my parents is really the best thing for my family. We are not terribly far away and can get there easily for a weekend and do so quite often. I am thrilled for you all. Enjoy this special first day back!
Amanda! Congrats on your move home and working with your Man! I can only imagine what it would be like to live in the same town with our daughter, her family and our son and his new wife! I know your Mom & Dad are VERY excited to have y’all back in Houston and yes, Bibby will get to do a lot of Granny dancin’ with your little dude. 🙂
Prayers for your Mom & the crew–can’t wait to have the Esther study in my praying hands!!
Blessings to you all–send Melissa our best!
Bobbie
I am a mom that lives very close to her parents, and my kids don’t think they can go a day without seeing them. It is such a blessing! It is also a good way to be assured that their faith will be carried into the 3rd and 4th generations!
As for the desert… I don’t know if all of you are aware, but April is Autism Awareness month. Due to the fact that autism is being diagnoised at epidemic rates, I know that I am not the only siesta that is faced with this desert. I want each of you to know that I am praying for you and your child. I don’t know you by name, but God does. I pray that your finding the help for your child that they need, and that God will comfort you on your journey. Remember that this life and its struggles are not forever. We (and our babies) are promised an eternity of being whole, happy and healthy. If any of you want to contact me please follow my blog link and we can begin to be a support for each other. May God be glorified through us as we go through this desert journey, otherwise we are just marching in place and may never reach the Promise Land.
I left a comment a few days ago on the previous post that has bothered me since. I said that I hoped this remained a “girls club”; that was selfish and small and I apologize.
Amanda, You bet I’ll lift your mom and her crew up in prayer and for the weather to be perfect. I truly enjoyed “Remembering in the Desert”
the pictures were wonderful. Beth I am so glad that you get behind the keyboard and write for stress relief . . . I absolutely am blessed time and time again by your love and enthusiasm for life and for Jesus. May it be through this wonderful blog, your awesome bible studies, books, the list goes on & on… Amanda you are so blessed to be a part of such a precious ministry. God bless.
Thanks, Amanda, for posting the piece from the devotional page from the Tabernacle. I was absolutely brought to tears. I’ve one more week to go to the end of that study and it has been a blessing indeed.
My Bible study group just took a tour of the Tabernacle replica located at the Mennonite Visitor Center in Lancaster, PA (in case you ever get this way). It was awesome and a great end to the study.
It’s also funny that the devotional page mentioned Beloved Disciple as I’m about to start that one with another group.
Beth, I’ve said it before but I just love you to pieces. It’s hard to articulate all that God has stirred in me through your studies. Thanks for sharing your heart and for the inspiration to believe beyond mediocrity.
Proud to be a Siesta.
Melanie
Thanks for posting the Remembering the Desert on the devotional page. The pictures were great and God does laugh sometimes!!
BETH! AMANDA! CURTIS!! (yes, I am screaming your names! Please forgive. I wish I could share my bug-eyed excitement in person!)
Last night I had the most incredible thought! As a single mom, I pray and long for godly male mentors for my son. He’s 10 now, so while I would love for someone to take him and consistently teach him “guy” things now and guide him in this early part of his walk with Jesus, those critical teenage years are fast approaching. I even direct a mentoring ministry and I long for the day when God sends someone(s) into my son’s life to fill that role on a deeper level. I’ve shared with both of you ladies how Beth has mentored me from a distance through these years of Bible study and raising my son, and I suddenly see the potential is there that God could use Curtis in very similar ways to mentor my boy as he grows into manhood!! OH MY WORD! I have very good reason, then, to pray for Curt and his ministry, and will gladly do so. I don’t know what God has in store, but He reminds me often that He has a plan for this precious boy. If it turns out that he can learn from Curt, or if it doesn’t, the mere thought is enough of a blessing and a hope to fuel me for a while! Glory to God and prayers for a faithful, fruitful, far-reaching ministry through Curtis.
Lisa in Ft. Worth
PS – Beth, I just want to make a connection — I am the one wearing pink who was so surprised to turn around and find you right there in front of me when you and Keith were leaving the Life Today studio Tuesday night. I know I looked shocked. I was behind the risers looking for a cell phone that someone dropped, turned around and there you were! Thanks for the quick hug. The story behind that at that particular moment in my life is one for another day, but I just wanted to help you know it was me. 🙂 My group loved the shows y’all taped. Each of us can see exactly why God wanted us there! He is so kind to speak to us!
Oh, I remember reading that “post” (pre-post?)! Anyway, I will definitely be praying this weekend. And to think that Beth has a daughter in town again – and Curtis and Jackson, of course – …. how is Melissa?
AJ,
How wonderful for y’all to be back home–especially for your parents. Looking foward to the men being able to have living proof especially for them.
I tried to access “Remembering in the Desert,” but the parental controls kicked in calling it an “Adult” site. Now I’ve got to go find the password I entered which I’ve forgotten. (I am well into my adult years.)
God’s richest blessings on the new endeavor.
Nancy
Congratulations on the move Amanda.
You and Curt have to be so excited to be coming “home”, sort of.
Of course Bibby must be beside herself to have that grandson so close. I have three grandchildren and I can’t imagine them living far away. Currently they are only five miles away. 🙂 Having you and Curt with the rest of the LPM Siesta’s is such a blessing for all of us. I envy you having lots of “iron” around you. May God richly bless the whole ministry even more than He has.
Blessings,
Georgia in MI
Amanda, Curtis and Jackson,
Welcome Home!!
What an amazing thing our Lord has put into place in the lives of His faithful. I pray that He will delight in blowing your minds as He works in and through your lives.
And I know that He will witness a wonderful sight as all at LPM give Him praise.
God bless your adventure,
Celeste
Oh, I’m so glad you’re back. How nice for you. I wish I could say I’m in a good mood, but I’m not. You can pray for me if you think it will help but I doubt it. I told you I’m in a bad mood.
Oh my goodness…I just love ya’lls family! Halle-stinkin’-lujah!! I’ll be praying for sure. Much love sisters…much love.
Amanda,
I am just thrilled that God’s plan for the Jones family was getting you back to Houston!
YIPPEE!
God is amazing.
I will be praying for Ms Beth and the crew!
Kim