A move always unearths interesting things. Curtis and I have spent the last month getting settled in our new house and unpacking everything from junk to earthly treasures. I found numerous unopened bottles of baby shampoo and lotion I didn’t realize we had. I also found photo albums that I thought had been eaten up by a black hole. One of the albums is from my trip to Israel with my mom in 1997. I was very relieved to find that. I happily unpacked this beautiful Lladro’ figurine that my dear Mrs. Mary Helen gave me when Curt and I got engaged. I’ve never had the proper place to display it (fearing destruction by a naughty cat or by a curious toddler), so I have been saving it for the right time. I finally have the perfect spot for it in my new house. One thing I was hoping to find but that hasn’t turned up yet is my Aggie Ring – a prized possession for any graduate of Texas A&M University. It went missing two moves ago when I was great with child and wasn’t wearing it on a regular basis. Only the Lord knows where that thing is.
Your Living Proof sisters are still in an unpacking frenzy. I went to work in the new office for the first time yesterday and things were in high gear. There was a large team of volunteers helping get the resource area in order. LPM has about thirteen paid staff members, but we have many, many more people than that who are critical to the operation of this ministry. That includes each and every one of you who prays for us, even though we don’t have the honor of seeing your sweet faces each week!
While I was at the office, I found some garments of praise (outfits for praise dancing) that someone had sent to us. Someone else found a box filled with hundreds of blue yarn Believing God bracelets. We did Believing God in the fall of 2002, so those babies are more than five years old. We wore the bracelets during the Bible study to remind us to believe God. My mom got the idea from Numbers 15:37-41. (The blue yarn frays at the ends and makes tassels.) The original bracelets we wore have long since fallen off, but when we need to focus intensely in prayer on a particular matter, we don’t hesitate to tie new ones on our wrists.
Curtis must have uncovered some bracelets during the packing phase because I noticed he had one on his wrist one day after work. “Yes,” I thought, “he is one of us now!” Over the weekend we both noticed that the bracelet had fallen off. Sometimes the yarn stretches out. You really have to tie it on tight if you want it to make the distance.
Last weekend the weather was incredibly beautiful and we felt inspired to go to the Texas Bluebonnet Festival in a tiny country town called Chappell Hill. The bluebonnet is state flower of Texas, in case anyone wanted to know. I bought a really neat, rather large wooden cross at the festival and Curtis and I took turns carrying it around.
Fast forward a couple of days. I hadn’t hung the cross on a wall yet and I picked it up to move it to a different spot. Something dark and stringy fell from it and imagine my surprise to find that it was Curtis’ Believing God bracelet! It was attached to the cross the entire time…just where it should have been. If our faith isn’t attached to the Cross of Christ, we’re hanging on by a thread.
I love it — our faith attached to the Cross!
Thanks for the reminder of the Blue Yarn. Beleiving God was the first Bible Study I had done in about 20 years. It really brought alive the hunger I have for God’s Love and Word. I still use the book mark that was in the back and tied to it is my Blue Yarn. Thank you all for all the LPM staff does.
I am in a community Bible study and we’re in the last week of Believing God. I so don’t want it to end!
I actually posted today about when your mom had the women come up on stage and put on their coats of shame, and then take them off.
Amen sister on this and Praise You Lord . I just found out my ninty-four year old Grandmother has lung cancer and is going to get chemo. Please join with me to pray for Her.
The Lord is so good went to bring the kids to school came back because I forget to get my older Son’s belt and our year old Beagle got into some prescription medication brought her to the vet and Praise God She is alright. It’s like having a child she eats everything.
I’m going to try the blue braclet maybe I can remind myself to calm down before I flesh out and to call upon the Lord instead .
The Lord is just so awesome to remind us that He is the whole reason for us just Being!
You know I still have my blue piece of yarn. It is packed in a storage unit in Abilene.
I am thinking I just may go out and buy a bundle of blue yarn. The reminder is great.
Do you think it would be too much to wear more than one? maybe 10?
Great Blog, Amanda!
What a great story with a great lesson. Thanks for sharing!
Very timely Amanda! I have been out on a limb hanging on by dental floss (which by the way, is where He wants me) for SO long, it’s beginning to feel like home. Last year on what I found out was, the first night of Passover, God gave me specific promises about people (a great number of them) leaving Egypt(captivity) and as we left, “plundering our Egypt”. I have watched all year as God set captives free in various ways. I knew the last person to leave Egypt was going to be my husband and his sister because they had been there longer than anyone else. On Sunday, my sister in law was set free in an amazing chain of events that had her meet THE LORD as Bridgeroom, Kinsmen Redeemer, a way she had never seen Him before. At that, she BELIEVED even though she’s been a Christian for 40 years! My husband is next. My birthday is Saturday. Guess what night Passover starts on? Yep, it’s that personal to me! God’s timing is perfect and personal! I have been “Believing God” with my blue bracelet and clinging to the Old Rugged Cross and my Jesus for the miracle that He is bringing about! To the Praise of His Glorious Name!
Lisa in Kirkland, WA
Um, awesome!
Great writing, Amanda! And thought provoking, too.
Hanging on to the cross!
Loved your last sentence. How it is. We have to hold on to our faith and at the same time, carry our cross. By the way, I love Lladro. A few years ago I stated buying Nao by Ladro figurines. I have about four.
Such a cool word picture, Amanda! I love it!! Cling on, oh stringy bracelet. : )
I also love bluebonnets, hence my header at my site.
Living in Texas is unmatched. A part of my heart will always live on there, regardless of my current address.
My red boots are a testimony to my unadulterated love for the home state of my first born.
A hearty AMEN!
When we find ourselves hanging on by a thread… grasp a hold of His garment!!!
What an awesome story! God IS who He says He IS!!!!
very cool!
What a great story! Isn’t God awesome how he gives us these great illustrations in life?
My husband and I moved April 1st and are still digging ourselves out of that, I have thought a few times to call up FEMA for a little help. Blessings to you and the office as you get situated in your new home.
LOL Praise God! Love that story. I did Believing God nearly 4 years ago and it set my faith on fire anew. That study was a mountaintop experience if ever I’ve had one. I love my blue yarn and praise God for all of you.
Melanie
Thank you for this Friday update! Faith, attached to the Cross – I’m Believing God . . .
Take time today to smell the roses – what a gorgeous Big H day we have! Rain is good . . .
Was just outside taking a few pics of the amaryllis with rain drops on them . . . continually amazed this spring with all the flowers and colors . . . and glorious smells.
By the way, I only lived in TX for 2 years, but I sure miss stoppin’ along the roadside for family snapshots in the blue bonnets. 🙂
thank you for sharing~ I have LPM Blog set as my home page so I come and read daily.
Praying~
Blessings,
Teena mom to 1/2 dozen
I still have on my “Believing God” bracelet! I made mine out of blue lacing string so it is hanging tight. We all have to cling to the Cross of Christ, despite what the “Big O” says.
Wow, God is amazing to remind us of that truth! What an encouragement~thanks for sharing that with us. I wish I still had my blue threaded bracelet. It’s been 3 years since my Christian walk with Jesus was forever changed through “Believing God”. The other night I was reading through my B.G. homework and I was reminded how God stretched my faith in a huge way during that study. I was believing God for my wayward son throughout that study and it was such a painful time for me~(I had almost given up on him, by the way!) Anyway,God moved in a very HUGE way during that study and after I finished it with my Small Group, my son actually did the study with me, just the 2 of us! It also changed his life and he has returned to the fold 100%. Thank you Jesus and thank you Beth for allowing the Holy Spirit to use you through such an amazing Bible Study!
I still have my blue ribbon in my old Bible! The Old Rugged Cross – I have always loved this song! If any of you want to see an old rugged cross, drive over to The Bridge Fellowship in Sugar Land – 802 Brooks Street right off Hwy. 6. It is a beautiful tall stainless steel cross with scripture all over it. I call it “the old rugged cross.”
And this last part is for “hisfivefooter” – sister – don’t you ever stop your believing! I have written down your birthday for this Saturday, and I’ll be in prayer for your husband! Happy Birthday sister! I prayed for my father for years and at the age of 84, he became a Christian! He is at home with Jesus now! God is faithful – don’t stop believing and praying!
Oh yes ma’am! Praise God for the cross…and the empty tomb.
Hey, we should come up with some empty tomb figurines and jewelry!
Have a good weekend,
Lisa
Wonderful! And thank you for the tid-bit about tying on a new bracelet in intense times of prayer…I will remember that.
I do have my Believing God bookmark in one of my bibles. Not one I used everyday, but in my devotionals now the bible translation is what they used so I am using it to. What a blessing to find the bookmark and to see it pretty much each day when I open my bible.
So timely that you mention the blue bracelet.
I LOVE IT!! I want my faith attached to the Cross of Christ.
I am glad you reminded us of LPM’s volunteers. I am going to include them in my prayers along with the staff. May God bless each one beyond your expectations, dreams and imaginations!
Have a great weekend Siestas.
AMEN sister!!!!! I did that study not to long ago and my bracelet fell off as well. I really miss wearing it. I think I will make me another one. This season of my life I feel like I am hanging on by a thread. I am praying hard and I believe that God will stretch out his right hand and pull me out of this, in His time, not mine.
Thanks for the update on Colin & Melissa. I am so glad to hear they are happy.
God Bless
I’m wearing a blue elastic “pony tail” band right now as my Believing God reminder bracelet. I bought a pack of ’em awhile back after finishing the Believing God study. I take one out ever so often as I commit to pray and believe God for certain things. They really help me to remember to pray and believe each time I see it on my arm. It’s amazing how wearing this little blue band has helped to deepen my prayer life. And it’s a great testimony too when others ask me about it!
So thankful God gave the idea to Beth and she passed it along to us sisters.
Sue Sue
Gotta love the blue stringy bracelets! I wore my frayed, tattered, lint-grabbing string for 5 blessed years. I got married in it (photographer tried to encourage me to take it off–he lost) It was on my wrist for the birth of my son. I had a “beloved” relative ask me why I was wearing trashy string on my arm and I refrained from inflicting bodily injury by doing my Believing God hand gestures. She now gives me a wide berth believing I have tics and twitches. So halleluJAH for blue strings and Gilgal moments! You have inspired me to tie another one on today!
what a great word picture. thank you God for invading our everyday lives through little blue yarn bracelets!!
It was the summer of 2006 that I did Believing God and I’ve yet to take it off.
Amanda – that last paragraph was so good, girl. What an analogy!
I wore my Believing God bracelet during a season of praying and asking and believing God for a grandbaby. HE is coming sometime this August – his daddy is my oldest son. What a blessing – I can hardly wait to squeeze him!!! My son is a pastor and we have had a great faith walk these past 3 years – my daughter-in-love is a precious woman.
Believing God is my next favorite study after Living Beyond Yourself. WOW –
Praying for you all during your move…
GEORGIA JAN
Loved this story…thanks for giving me a reminder of my time during Believing God…I am going to find a blue bracelet and BELEIVE GOD for a miracle in our infertility battle…Thank you so much for reminding me to BELIEVE GOD in ALL things!!
Thank you Amanda for keeping us updated and also giving us “gems” to hold onto. Faith attached to the cross is powerful.
We did the Believing God Bible Study just a few months ago. I called LPM to see if anyone could give me an idea for the blue bracelets….I could have used some of those you found. So anyway, I ended up researching silicone bracelets, (no tassels), but the girls could wear them without the bracelets looking to worn. We loved our bracelets, as I had inscribed on them, “I’m Believing God”. This was my second time through this study and I learned as much if not more this time. I find I can repeat the studies and just “keep on learnin'”, like the Everready Bunny.
We will pray your volunteers each get a special blessing for helping with the move and making things run as smooth as possible.
Blessings & Prayers,
Georgia in MI
Love, love, LOVE, your ending analogy. Hangin’ on by a thread, oh yes…
I lost a ring in a move one time. It was a very precious ring to me (though I have found little besides wedding/ engagement rings that rival the love you Aggies have for your rings — gig ’em!) A friend suggested I pray that God reveal it to me. At the time, I thought that was the craziest thing I had ever heard. But I did it anyway. A few days later, moving a shoe organizer, I noticed something sparkling in the depths of one of the ‘cubbies’ for the shoes. There it was.
Praying He’ll bless you with the desires of your Aggie heart!
(My Coffee Group just recently spoke in College Station in the AFC gym — wow. That is an entire town built around a college obsession!)
AMEN!! If our faith is not attached to the Cross of Christ then we are headed for some trouble. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith!!
There has been alot of talk around here about “O” and her belief of many different ways – that Jesus was just one of the ways or paths. I felt overwhelmed to write this poem in response to her remarks about Christ not being the only way.
ONLY ONE WAY
THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO OUR HOLY GOD ABOVE
MANY PATHS THERE ARE NOT TO HIS GOODNESS AND LOVE
SOME BELIEVE YOU CHOOSE YOUR WAY – IT’S ANY ROAD YOU TAKE
THAT JESUS IS JUST ONE OF THE PATHS AND IT’S YOUR CHOICE TO MAKE
WOULD GOD SEND HIS ONLY SON IF THERE WAS ANOTHER WAY
THE SACRIFICE HE MADE WOULD JUST HAVE BEEN IN VAIN
WHY WOULD HE SUFFER AND DIE ON A CROSS
ALL THAT HE CAME FOR WOULD BE NOTHING BUT A LOSS
CHRIST SAYS THAT HE IS THE WAY, TRUTH AND LIFE
STAND ON THIS FACT WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT
IF WE BELIEVE WHAT HE SAYS IN HIS WORD
THEN CHOOSING ANY OTHER WAY WOULD BE ABSURD
JESUS ENDURED THE PAIN OF EVERY SIN THAT WOULD BE
TOOK IT ALL UPON HIMSELF SO WE COULD BE FREE
IT’S IN JESUS CHRIST ALONE THAT WE ARE SAVED
THROUGH ONLY HIM THAT WE CAN SING GOD’S PRAISE
DON’T LET THIS WORLD CONFUSE YOU
STAY GROUNDED IN HIS TRUTH
HE’S NOT JUST A FEELING
HE’S TO BE BELIEVED AND PURSUED
HE WAS, HE IS AND HE WILL ALWAYS BE
JEHOVAH, THE ALMIGHTY, THE KING OF KINGS
JESUS CAME TO BE OUR ONLY WAY
TO HAVE ACCESS TO THE FATHER – OUR PRICE TO PAY
God Bless and have a great weekend
Isn’t it funny how God works out object lessons right before our eyes?
We did Believing God in the fall of 2003, after it released that year! I have blue braided yarn bookmarks still with blue glass fish beads for my Bible. I run across one every now and again.
I made a public statement about who is Lord in my life in February 2005 – mostly because I had become very educated about water baptism since my salvation in October 1982 when I was 12 years old. I wanted to bury all that was my past and walk in a brand new life as my pastor always says… I had never really made that committment before that day (and me a Women’s Ministry Leader among other roles in my church, God is so Good!)
I pulled the picture off my room divider picture frame last night and found that, yes, tied to my wrist was the blue bracelet I was wearing during that early part of 2005 believing God for healing in my back – that is a praise report and another LONG story that I will withhold for the time being! And, I was believing God for answers to prayers about my son, who would go home to be with the Lord after an auto accident only 6 months later!
Yes, my sweet siestas and friends, Beth and her Bible studies have walked me through every imaginable aspect of my life.
I have recently begun to realize that God is drawing my dependence on Beth’s teaching to a conclusion – because He is opening the door for me to step into a role where I will be imparting truth — beyond that, I still intend to do her Bible studies… I have three left to do before I am totally out of “new” material.
I have a copy of Grudem’s Systematic Theology on my china hutch/desk… waiting for me to crack the binder on my own discovery of truth and doctrine… I am so grateful to be able to still walk this journey with you all in such a new way! Be Blessed sweet friends!
I loved having my blue bracelet! I told my husband my next present I want is a real “I’m Believing God” bracelet! (hopefully not yarn… maybe some sapphires… we need blue don’t we?!? )
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amanda–You mentioned Mrs. Mary Helen in this posting. I was a volunteer during Tuesday night Bible Study for several sessions and always worked with Mrs. Mary Helen. Unfortunately, I have not been able to attend in a couple of years. I absolutely LOVE Mrs. Mary Helen. She is one of the walking saints on this planet. I was just wondering how she was doing. I think of her often and when you guys post pictures of the staff, I crane my eyes to catch a glimpse of her.
Amen! Amanda!
Look at you, Amanda, giving goosebumps with that last line.
I still have my old blue bracelet, too; in the drawer by my bed.
Great analogy about our faith. We’re a military family and have moved 11 times in 17 1/2 years of marriage. It seems like we always find something we thought we lost when we unpack. Maybe your ring is in an old coat pocket or purse. I’ve found a lot of “lost” things that way.
Whoa! That is just like Him to send us picture illustrations like that in our lives:) We are a clingin’ to Him!:)
Psalm 63:7-8 Amplified
“For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice. My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me.”
katiegfromtennessee
Cool story. We did that study when it first came out and I made blue beaded bracelets for each of the ladies who participated. One of my sweet older ladies still wears hers to this day.
Praise God for all His goodness!!! From the big move to the beautiful building to the “little” but precious things you’ve been finding. Our Mom’s in Touch prayer group is always in awe that God cares and is involved in the details of our lives. SO AWESOME!!! Praying for you all to be strengthed and kept physically safe during the move. In Jesus’ Love Kathy Knoblock
I love this story, I love to see how God works, he provides the illustration himself!! 🙂 Please pray for us, Hubs and I are teaching a “Parents of Teens” class for our Youth Parents!
THanks!!
When I taught Believing God while back I made all of my girls a blue glass bead bracelet.
We are going through a particularly trying time right now and so I pulled mine out so that I could start saying my five points out loud again. It sparks a fire in me and the flames drive my enemy away.
Love how you tied the blue string into our need for the cross.Don’t want to be found hanging by a thread or a bead.
All I can say is WOW!!!
I look so forward to coming to the blog and finding some new encouraging nugget! You guys and gals R-O-C-K!! I am so gr8phul for your ministry! Thank You!
Amen Sister Friend!!!
Thank you Precious Jesus that we get you hang our burdens on the cross.