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.
So glad the Lord planned for you and your family to move to Houston.
I participated in the Esther Study, I am looking forward to seeing the workbook and the extra segments which will be filmed.
God’s blessings to you, your family, and the Living Proof staff.
Beth is in Dallas?!?! After reading this blog and “Feathers for my Nest” I would have loved to talk to her.
Hoping for cooperative weather for the filming, and for Beth’s hair to look good. 🙂
Enjoy your one day off a week from being Mommy. Jackson will give you the best hugs ever when you come home.
Amanda:
I am so excited for you. I think it is so cool that you get to work in at the LPM office again and not just at home. I also think it is so cool that you all are living closer to your parents. I am sure that Jackson is just loving being closer to them. I am also sure that your parents are equally as excited( and probably more so) to have you all so much closer. In fact I am guessing that your mom is down right beside herself with excitement.
Yes I will pray for your mom and the team. I love to read things like “remembering in the Desert”. Reflections like that are usually choke full of incite and you get to know more about the person who wrote it.
Glad to be able to participate in Siesta land again. Kim B. in AZ
Soo um…what I meant to say earlier this morning when I commented was that I would defeintely pray for no rain. Left out a word or two there in my hurry to comment. 🙂
Andreea
What an appropriate post this is for me as my small group Bible study just finished “A Woman’s Heart” today!! So with that Beth and the LPM crew I have this to say to ya’ll:
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace!”
I didn’t even know you could buy robes at Walmart!
Amanda, I’m so happy for you. What a great place to be in life, surrounded by other believers who love Jesus more than anything else. AWESOME!!
And this from your mom’s blog:
“I said God is happy. He’s writing it in the sky. I think He’s gotten a kick out of us tonight. Right this glorious second, the God of the universe is happy with us. Take it in, y’all.” And we did.
That’s a hard thing for an insecure, self-condemning, low self-esteeming girl like me to say but it was so unmistakable that we’d have insulted God not to acknowledge it.
God nearly kicked my tail about something last week so don’t get the idea I feel that way all the time. But I felt that way last night. And I reckon I want you to feel it when it comes your way, too. God smiles. God even laughs.”
I could totally relate to that.. especially the part about the insecure, self-condemning, etc. etc.. Funny how God really does use repetition to get things through to us. Just the other day, I was sharing something very personal with a friend and she said, “I think God really likes you. He looks down and says ‘I really like my little Linda and I’m going to bless her.” I was dumb-founded and didn’t know what to say. I mean.. I know God blesses me. I’m humbled by it and brought to tears by it often.. but I rarely ever consider that it’s because He LIKES me. I just attribute it to His grace.
Thanks for the reminder today that YES – God likes me. He likes you. He likes all of us, siestas!! Praise His Holy Name!
Linda
Congratulations Amanda. Sounds like a wonderful set up getting to work from home and be with Jackson most of the time, but also getting to be in the office one day a week. God is indeed good!
Thank you Amanda for sharing that lovely devotional. I’m currently in week three of the Daniel study and it is amazing! I plan on taking the Tabernacle study this summer, and I can’t wait!
Many blessings,
April \o/
We’re so excited for all of you in this new opportunity. Will definately be praying about the taping. In Jesus’ Love Kathy Knoblock
Welcome back Amanda – and all the Jones. What FUN!!! We look forward to Curtis’s male input – my husband has done several of the studies with me! I know you are thrilled to be back with your siestas at LPM – as much as they are to have you! Beth must be compeletly overjoyed and filled to overflowing with your family being back in Houston!!! Both my girls and husbands live in Dallas and I pray that when grandchildren are born that we can be closer – there is nothing like family – and we all are the family of God!
Please take that picture of you sitting at your desk!
BEBE
Amanda,
I will be praying for a hedge of protection around your family during this transition. I pray for specific unity between you and Curtis as you flesh out this new season, location and otherwise.
Love to you!
Jina
That’ll be so nice to have a day that you can trade with Curtis and go in to the office! I’d seen the “Remembering in the Desert” before but enjoyed reading it again after completing that study (except I missed the carrying of the Ark reinactment was it in the videos?)
I love that you all encourage one another at work. “Iron sharpens iron”. Sometime, I would love for you to share details of how ya’ll do that.
I work with a wonderful group of believers, but we want to keep growing!
Thanks for sharing that story, it was a long one, but good one. I had not read that one yet and it touched my soul today. Congrats on the move, and I pray you all will get settled into your new home, new life, etc.
w
Where are you living Amanda? Have you met the neighbors with brownies yet? Am sooo excited about the possibility of Man’s bible study – so very needed! Love, DQ Nana
What a happy time for your family!! I’m finishing up the Woman’s Heart study and enjoyed the writing from Beth and the pictures – they made me laugh out loud several times!!
Praying for the whole LPM team – Ya’ll are great!
I wanted to share this encouragement with all of the Siestas:
YOU ARE
YOU ARE MY STRENGTH AND MY REFUGE
THE ONLY HELP IN TIMES OF TROUBLE
THE SOLID FOUNDATION ON WHICH I STAND
MY ROCK THAT CAN’T BE CRUSHED OR CRUMBLED
YOU TELL ME NOT TO PANIC
THAT THERE’S NO NEED TO FEAR
STRENGTH AND HELP YOU’LL GIVE TO ME
YOU’RE NOT FAR BUT ALWAYS NEAR
MY LIGHT AND SALVATION IS WHO YOU ARE
THE STRONGHOLD OF MY LIFE
YOU WON’T LEAVE ME OR FORSAKE ME
WHETHER THINGS ARE GREAT OR FULL OF STRIFE
FEEBLE HANDS YOU WILL MAKE STRONG
THE KNEES THAT SHAKE YOU WILL STILL
YOU, MY GOD, SUPPORT ME WHEN I STUMBLE
IT’S YOUR HAND HOLDING MINE THAT I FEEL
AS I PRAY INSTEAD OF CHOOSING TO WORRY
YOUR PEACE WILL GUARD MY HEART AND MIND
YOU ARE WITH ME WHEREVER I GO
I WILL NOT BE DISCOURAGED OR TERRIFIED
FEAR IS NOT SOMETHING YOU HAVE FOR ME
YOUR PERFECT LOVE TAKES ITS PLACE
WHAT YOU GIVE TO ME IS JOY AND STRENGTH
AS I PRAY AND SEEK YOUR FACE
Thanks for sharing Amanda. I know your mother is so very happy you are back home and nearer to her. I truly enjoyed reading Beth’s writing about the retaping of the Tabernacle Study. That, of course was my first bible study she did and WOW how it changed my life forever. I have done everyone she has done and can hardly wait for the “Esther” study.
I am praying the taping of intros and outros!!!
I am also praying for you, as you set up your new home in Houston.
Blessings to you and yours.
Royana
Welcome back home! I’m glad to hear you are settling in.
I’ll be praying for you and your family as you “transition” and for Beth as she does her intros and outros (cool word!)
blessings!
karen
Oh, I love it!!!
Bethie,
Honestly, I don’t know how you do all that you do! And at our age. The Lord’s annointing is on you, girlfriend! We’ll be praying like crazy.
Blessings,
Jan
Amanda, I am so happy for you! I think LPM has the sweetest staff hands down! How fun to be back in the office. I am excited to read about the intros/outros of the Esther study. I will be praying for them. Not sure where they will be filming but in Nashville it is raining and raining a lot through tomorrow but our weekend looks to be beautiful! May God give Beth safety in her travels and favor with the taping. I pray for a smooth weekend of filming for her and the LifeWay team.
Love,
Patty
What a blessing! Thanks for sharing!
Will pray for your Mom and Congrats on the Move to Houston atleast you’ll be closer to Your Mom and Your Son can see His Bibby more.
Will Pray for You to make the transition from Home to office. You are an awesome mentor. I too have friends that are helping me stand up to the bar .
So Amanda, with your move to Houston, I’m a bit concerned about your new door that you just got a few months ago!
Well, first of all, Welcome Home Amanda!!! I bet I know a happy grandma and grandpa.
My prayers for the taping, already doin’ it.
The reflection Beth wrote on Remembering in the Desert, gave me a lump in my throat. The ending about the sunset and God’s pleasure…. Don’t you just know He was pleased!!! We finished A Woman’s Heart in February. With every study, I think, it’s the best one ever. (Right now we’re doing Breaking Free.) My 10 year old daughter and I pray everyday, that everythin we say and do, would please Him.
I’m rambling. Just wanted to say all this to say, Thanks for the ministry of LPM. My life has changed because of it.
Melana in Wyoming
Welcome back, Amanda & family!!!
And yes, I’ll be praying for the taping to go well.
Thanks for sharing the link….gonna go check it out now….
Blessings,
Karen K.
Houston
I am so glad you are back in Houston and that you and your bff will be working together. Does Jackson come to work with you? I wish I could be a part of that awesome picture. I am praying for wonderful weather as the filming for Esther develops. I loved that entry from the Patriarchs. That had to have been one of my favorite studies that Beth wrote. Right now doing “Living Beyond Yourself” for the second time but this time it had a video at my ladies bible study. It is neat to see some behind the scene pictures that you graciously provided us with.
Blessings to a great week and filming.
Welcome. Sorry you had to leave Dallas ( my home town ) Im now a Texan in exile here in Ms. Thank you for the “Remembering the Desert” I went to bible study today, session 1 of A womens heart and stayed after by myself to do session 2 because I will miss the next meeting. I have come to the conclusion this old women is going to take Hebrew. After I left I called my husband and asked him how he would feel about me auditing a class at the Baptist Univ and he said go for it! So sunday Im going to step out of my comfort zone and walk up to the Pres of the Univ who sits 2 rows behind us in church and ask permission to audit hebrew next fall. Lord willing he will say yes! I had to ask my son first how he felt about it because I would be in his class….we will just pretend we dont know each other. 🙂
So happy for you, Amanda!!
Hi Amanda. What fun to hear from you and picture you back with your friends at LPM. The devotional you linked us with got me looking forward to seeing that sunset when I do the study.
I’ll pray for this weekend for Beth and the crew. And I’ll be praying for your family in transition. How’s Jackson doing? Does he like his new home and room?
Praying for your sweet momma and the crew! May the Lord be sweetly upon them and His presence bring joy and life to them!
Welcome home Amanda! I know you are just thrilled. Praying for you too as y’all settle in.
We want pix of the new digs too! 🙂
Hugs~
So happy for you and the LPM family! I know you are all excited to be together again.
Thank you for sharing “Remebering in the Desert.” It touched my heart, for the second time.
I will be praying for everyone this week-end involved in the Esther shoot.
Much love!
Kristi B.
Thank you so much for including the “Remembering The Desert”! I am right in the middle of the Tabernacle study and I just laughed until I cried!!! I can’t wait to get to our next session this weekend and really watch the intros and outros. I know I will be thinking of the “priests” and laughing hysterically! Thank you all for all you do! And PLEASE DON’T stop!!! We need you too much!
Glad you are back, Amanda! Even if that means you had to leave your red door! ha!
I’ll pray!
Once again I am happy for you my dear siesta.
Amanda,
I am so excited for you! Praise the Lord that He has allowed you to return to Houston and so closely knit the Jones family into the LPM family. Your Mom has got to be thrilled beyond words!!! If only Melissa were still in Houston…
My sister and I are the same ages as you and Melissa. We used to fight like cats and dogs growing up. But now that we are older, we are the best of friends. We talk everyday on the phone. It is now that I wish we were closer- I’m in Raleigh,NC and she’s in Atlanta, GA! Anyway, I know that you must miss Melissa the way that I miss my sister!
Please know that I am praying for your Mom as she travels to record the intros for Esther. We just finished the Daniel study and I loved the intro where she was driving in the convertible on Rodeo drive. So neat!
One last thing: I am so excited that Curtis is going to be studying “cultural events” for LPM. After doing the Daniel study, it has become so apparent to those in our group that we have to know what’s out there, and even more importantly to know the Truth! Just recently, there is so much coming out about Oprah and the Course on Miracles that she is sponsering on her website. The claims she makes are so scary, denying the deity of Christ and the redemption of his crucifixion. To have someone devoted to studying “cultural trends” affords LPM true insight into ministering in our present day culture.
I’m so excited for your family and all that the future holds! Thank you again for all that you do for this blog- It is such a blessing!
Praying for you all!
Love,
Tara
Welcome home.
Loved the pics, and the stark white socks.
Have a wonderful weekend,
You all are in my prayers.
hugs and blessings,
bethany in wv
Thanks for the post Amanda. This siesta misses you all when she’s not been blogged to for a while.
I wish you all the best back in Houston. And how exciting for you to get to be at the office.
Can’t wait to see what God has in store for us!
I thank you a ton for sharing that reflection or the “ins” and “outs” of the Tab study. My home girls and I are just finishing up the New revised study and have been wondering where they have been filmed. I definately got my laugh on while I read it! When will Esther be available for study? I am just waiting…waiting…waiting ;o)
You are a blessed woman to be able to be home with your son, but still be able to work so closely with these women. I’m so glad to hear you’re home.
Thanks so much for sharing. Amanda, I am so excited for you and your family at all of the doors the Lord is opening for you. I know it is so good to be home for you. Beth, thank you so much for sharing your heart. I love how the Lord has given you the ability to put into words what many, many times I feel, but I just don’t know how to say. Blessings!
How fun! You must be in heaven back at your home base. Treasure this season, you never know when the next season will pop up and how much more glorious it will be than this one.
Welcome back Amanda! Hope you are settling in and enjoying your new house. I am so excited Beth is finishing up Ester. I was at the bible study when she was writing and I am so looking forward to the finished product. Blessings on them, and Lord God hold the rain!
Amanda, Beth and Melissa
I am having one of those days, the Lord has called my little family to live here in TX and we are and have been with out family near since we walked down the aisle to wed…we visit and it is nice, but some times the reality hits me as like today my father drove off to the airport. The ache in my gut is so full, I am so missing that my kids grow with out a constant presence of their godly legacy. I have read your news and as Melissa you start your life away and miss so much you mom and dad I ache with you and rejoice with you in the things God will do in you and through you, Amanda I rejoice with you as you move back to “home town” Beth mama Beth, I know you miss your sweet Melissa I pray the Lord ease your heart, and I am so delighting on the Lords timing for bringing the Jones family and that precious Jackson where you can touch him and love him when ever he needs that touch. My son hurt so bad as his Papa left today. So much I feel we walk alone as this family unit and I ache to belong to a family that is close by. I have joy because Gods Word is true and He is using us powerfully in ministry here but ministry is hard and somedays I need to put my head in somebody’s unconditional lap and just be loved not constantly criticized. thanks for listening and letting me take this comment space. I love you guys. I am so thankful for your ministry. Tiff
Amanda,
I will certainly be praying for good weather – but safe and on time flights, as well. I know your mom is so glad to have you home. Seeing someone at a different point in life has helped my “overwhelming emotion”. A siesta in the blog mentioned her 16 y/o driving. My son just got his first pair of shoes that didn’t come from Stride Rite! I almost burst into tears in the shoe store. My husband and son simply said, “Here she goes again.” And now your mom gets to celebrate her “recycling” – family coming back home. Praise HIM, HE is awesome!
Kim in Apex, NC
I’m so excited for you Amanda. There’s just something about coming home, there really is no place quite like it. Blessings to you and your family.
Deanna
p.s. If anyone would like to order a Siesta t-shirt, please email me at [email protected]
We are wearing them to the Atlanta Deeper Still conference.
“That’s a hard thing for an insecure, self-condemning, low self-esteeming girl like me to say but it was so unmistakable that we’d have insulted God not to acknowledge it.”
I love this! It’s the same reason for my blog. I want to acknowledge Him for Who He is, no matter who I am.
Amanda –
What about your new fabulous door you bought just a few months ago? Did it make the move too? 🙂
Hi Amanda, This has absolutely nothing to do w/the blog (however, I did read it and enjoyed it!). But I read that New Kids on The Block would be getting back together again and had to find out just how excited you must be!!!! I’m pretty pumped!