Archive for July, 2009

Siesta Scripture Memory Team: Verse 14!

If it weren’t Scripture memory day, I wouldn’t have posted this fast after yesterday’s entry for anything on earth. If you didn’t get a chance to read Melissa’s post “Oh, Yes, Jesus Loves Me,” enter your memory verse here but be sure and go back and read the previous one. It was true ministry in every sense of the word. Thank you, Lis.

OK, Scripture Memory Team! Well, as it turns out for all of us, we really did need these verses this year, didn’t we? I’ve had a season I wasn’t expecting, packed with many challenges, concerns, and fears but, praise His glorious Name, it’s also been packed with a whole lot of Jesus. And that’s what I want, Girlfriend. More than anything on earth. Perhaps you’ll be able to tell from my selection this time that I am, once again, working on something in particular. I’m not just looking to memorize, Sister. I’m looking to change. Scripture memory alone will just make you arrogant. Lapping up those Scriptures like they are the only spring in your desert will make you different.

I’m doing two in tandem:

“I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.” Psalm 17:3b NIV

“Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” Psalm 141:3 NIV

I love you. Stay with it, Siestas!

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Oh, Yes, Jesus Loves Me.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1

While I was in Galveston with my family over July 4th my Mom and I got in an interesting conversation. Well, we got in quite a few interesting conversations, but one of them in particular has continued pestering me. There is a really old and intriguing graveyard in Galveston and I’m not sure if the bleak but somehow alluring glimpse of it was what got us going off on a tangent or if our own eccentricities pulled this conversation out of nowhere. Knowing us probably the latter, right? Anyway, the two of us were discussing how unique the child and parent relationship is in the human experience. How the unconditional love of a parent for a child is so matchless and so unique that it is difficult, if not virtually impossible to find something with which to compare it. She described to me the way her heart felt the first time she saw the two headstones of her mom and dad sitting side by side one another in the Davis-Greenlawn cemetery. The way it felt for her to be left alone in this world without any parents, the very human beings whose mutual existence brought her into this world. It sent a chill up my spine. Now, my Mom would be the first to assure you that her relationship with her parents was far from a perfect or idyllic one. It was, in fact, a very difficult and complicated relationship but still that truth didn’t shake or numb the dreadful feeling of being orphaned.

I got to thinking after Mom and I had this overly melancholy yet truly significant conversation how many of you feel or have felt orphaned. I bet there are several of you who don’t have anyone to go along with you to a really scary doctor’s appointment. I imagine there are a handful of you who have no one to share the burden of waiting months on end to hear back about what may seem to be a very daunting prognosis. And I wonder if there are even a few of you younger women who spend the entire day looking after and meeting the needs of several of your own children without the comfort of having even one of your own parents around to cheer you on and to tell you what a great parent you are.

I cannot presume to know what it is like to lose both parents or even to have inactive parents. But, I can say that over the past year or so nothing has resounded clearer to me than that sobering reality that I am officially an adult. I’m not talking about some of the superficial things that come along with getting older like getting wrinkles, I am talking about days when I’m sick as a dog here in Atlanta and I no longer have my mom around to tickle my back and bring me 7-Up, saltines and chicken noodle soup. I’ve had some moments when I want to lace up my running shoes and start sprinting back home to my Mom because I’ve finally decided that adulthood is totally overrated and the last thing I want to do is clean my kitchen. I’ve had a couple of days when my heart has been so broken that the thought of sitting on my dad’s lap or being in my mom’s embrace was the only thing I felt could really suffice. Many of those days Colin has been around to love on me but the Lord has made certain that he was gone on several of those days as well.

I can remember one week in particular several months back when I was tied to the bed with an incapacitating migraine and Colin was on a long business trip in Miami. In my misery, I had a revelation. I came to realize that at the end of the day, it really was just my Creator and me. You’re thinking to yourself, “Good night, Melissa, you majored in Biblical Studies, and you just figured this out!?!” How true it is that some theological truths can only be learned with time and experience. Anyway, the feeling of being all alone heightened the reality that ultimately God is my comforter. My doctor could only do so much and the pharmaceutical companies had all but failed me. I had some intense and providential moments that week slowly learning how to be consoled by a God who I cannot see or touch. For the first time in my life, in adulthood no less, I truly felt like a child of God. It may sound silly but every night of that week I listened to the album called Sing Over Me: Worship Songs and Lullabies (on very low volume, by the way). The most unlikely song was the one that I listened to repeatedly, “Jesus Loves Me” sung by Christy Nockels.

A make-up artist friend of mine told me the other day that she was on a photo-shoot with a young woman getting her bridal portraits taken. She relayed to me how the photographer instructed this young woman to think of her soon-to-be-husband while she was posing and the tears just started streaming down her cheeks. I feel about like that young woman did when I hear this version of “Jesus Loves Me”. I feel overtaken with emotion for some reason. Maybe it’s because the older I get the more I realize just how weak I really am and how dumbfounding it is that Jesus could really love me. Or maybe it’s because Christy sings the song with such conviction, like she means it. It’s really sweet to hear the song sung by a group of children but it’s wholly different to hear a grown woman sing it. To hear a grown person with fully developed mental faculties sing, “Yes, Jesus Loves Me”, well, it moves me. Don’t get me wrong, I love children, but when I hear a person who is fully aware of things like mortality, economic meltdowns and global catastrophes sing a song like “Yes, Jesus Loves Me” with such purity it slays me.

If you haven’t read or heard the song in a while, here are the lyrics:

Jesus loves me this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak but he is strong

Yes, Jesus loves me.
Oh, yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
For the Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves me!
He who died
Heaven’s gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.

Yes, Jesus loves me.
Oh, yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
For the Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves me
He will stay close beside me all the way
He’s prepared a home for me
And someday his face I’ll see.

Oh, yes, Jesus loves me.
Oh, yes, Jesus loves me.
He loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
For the Bible tells me so.

Pretty powerful, right? Perhaps we skipped a couple of those verses in kindergarten because I don’t remember the song being all that weighty. Maybe I was too busy eating a donut. The donuts were my favorite thing about Sunday school growing up. Yes, I was sinful at birth. The first line I love is “little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong”. I like to think of “little ones” not just as young children but as you and me. I figure I have some license since in the gospel of John, Jesus addresses grown men as “little children” (John 13:33; 21:5 “children”). Lately I’ve been reading a lot about being called children of God and what the implications of this reality are during our earthly journey. This past week I came across a sermon by John Piper in April 1995 called “The Depth of Christ’s Love: Its Lavish Benefits”. He comments on this text, 1 John 3:1 and I think you’ll enjoy reading it. I was most moved by the second half.

“Not only did it cost him his Son to save us from sin and death and hell and not only were we enemies so that God had to propitiate his own righteous anger in order to save us but he went way beyond the love of rescue and the love of sacrifice and the love of clemency to his enemies. In and through all this he had a greater design. He showed us another kind of love beyond all that. He might have rescued us, sacrificed for us, forgiven us, and not gone any further. But instead he showed us another kind of love—he took us into his family. He made us to be called children of God. Don’t take this for granted. First of all, he might not have saved us at all. He might have said, “Enemies don’t deserve saving, and that’s that.” He might have said, “My Son is too precious to pay for angels, let alone humans, let alone ungodly, rebellious humans.” But he also might have said, “I will save them from hell, and forgive their sins, and give them eternal existence—on another planet, and I will communicate with them through angels.” Nothing in us, or in the nature of the world required that God would go beyond all redeeming, forgiving, rescuing, healing love to this extreme—namely, to an adopting love. A love that will not settle for a truce, or a formal gratitude, or distant planet of material pleasure, but will press all the way in to make you a child of God. A member of the family. But even that is not an adequate description of this kind of love. When John writes about our becoming children of God, he is not thinking mainly in terms of adoption. He is thinking in terms of something more profound. He is thinking of new birth. There is no human analogy to this…The love that John has in view here in 1 John 3:1 is not the love that merely takes care of paper work and adopts. That would be amazing beyond words—to be adopted into God’s family. And Paul does describe it this way. But John sees more. God does not adopt. He moves in, by his Spirit, his seed, John calls it, and imparts something of himself to us, so that we take on a family resemblance” (John Piper).

Being called a child of God is not just a metaphor.

It is who we are.

Regardless of how self-sufficient we imagine ourselves to be.

Or how old we are.

Our Father is close beside us all the way.

In our darkest and loneliest hours.

Long after our earthly parents are gone.

During a string of seemingly endless doctor’s appointments.

And at the moment we draw our very last breath.

In Christ, we are never truly orphaned.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1

That we should be called children of God.

What a wonder.

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Living Proof Live – Rio Rancho, NM

Living Proof Live Rio Rancho NM from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.

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15 Years of Living Proof

LPM celebrated its 15th birthday on May 5, 2009. We praise You, Father, for all You have done!

Part 1

15 Years of Living Proof – Part 1 from LPV on Vimeo.

Part 2

15 Years of Living Proof – Part 2 from LPV on Vimeo.

Part 3

15 Years of Living Proof – Part 3 from LPV on Vimeo.

Part 4

15 Years of Living Proof – Part 4 from LPV on Vimeo.

Part 5

15 Years of Living Proof – Part 5 from LPV on Vimeo.

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Ten-Ticket Giveaway for Albuquerque Living Proof Live!

Sorry I’m delayed on getting this invitation out there, Siestas! My life is a roller coaster right this minute. Among other things, my wonderful hair stylist didn’t have enough time this morning to do both color and a cut and I had to decide between the two. What do you mean, which did I choose? Are you kidding? Color! Still, it was entirely too much to ask of a person. After all, I paid out with great highlights and hair nearly to my waist. Of course, I’m overblowing this whole thing in case you’re thinking I need to get a life. And if you’re not thinking that and, instead, feeling sorry for me, you may be my best friend. Anyway, I studied my commentaries the whole time I was there. I’m not just blonder than I pay to be. I’m a real student. I just want to be a real student with great hair. Now you’ve gone and made me feel defensive. Sniff.

Even this late in the week, I still want to pitch the opportunity out there for anybody who wants to go to the Albuquerque LPL this Friday night and Saturday till noon but can’t spare the money for a ticket! If you’re among the first ten women to call, I’ve got you a seat, Girlfriend. Please call Living Proof Ministries toll free at 1-888-700-1999 and ask for Susan or Kimberly and, thanks to the Siesta Scholarship Fund, we’ll get you fixed right up. Call any time till 4:30 CST today or from 8:30-4:30 CST tomorrow (Friday). IF YOU WANT TO COME, WE WANT YOU THERE.

We love you, Siestas!

PS. I’ll be the 52 year-old with the long hair.

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4th of July

Finally! I’m not exaggerating when I say that this post has been five days in the making. We’ve been adding pictures to it slowly. Sorry it’s taken so long! Our family had a blast at the beach in Galveston. It was just the girls from Wednesday through Friday and then the boys joined us for the rest of the weekend. It was everything we hoped it would be. We relaxed, swam, built sand castles, played with hermit crabs, walked along the beach, shopped, laughed, ate Dad’s famous gumbo, watched fireworks from the top deck of the beach house, played games, and enjoyed each others’ company very much. It was a very happy 4th of July!

Our quiet time spot.

Our view from the beach house.

Girls lunch at Willie G’s.

My boys in the waves. We meant to take a lot more beach pictures but it never happened!

Annabeth’s new jammies. They say “Berry Berry Sleepy.”

Baby Girl was very taken with her Auntie.

Mom, Lis and I played a gamed called Whoonu while we were waiting for the boys to arrive. When Melissa excused herself to answer a phone call, Mom and I rigged it so that she would get these cards. We picked 4 things we thought she hated and she had to rate them in order of how much she liked them. We thought we were hilarious. Turns out the joke was on us because apparently my sister loves her some four square. Whoonu? But, having been the second born daughter, she does despise hand-me-downs.

Mom and Dad at the pool.

Jackson has been learning how to swim this summer.

We’ve finally found something that tires him out!

Apparently it tires Annabeth out, too.

Aunt Melissa got Jackson a treat from the ice cream truck and simultaneously became his best friend.

A visit to Galveston is not complete without a meal at Gaido’s. Mom and Dad have been going there since before they got married. We took the opportunity to celebrate Dad’s birthday, which is actually today! Happy birthday, Daddy!

Some fun in our backyard after we got home.

We all missed Colin so much! His presence was the only thing missing from a perfect weekend. But as you can see, he was having no shortage of fun on his getaway with some college buddies. You can probably tell by his fleece jacket that he was nowhere near Texas! 

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Siesta Bible Study: Gathering II

Siesta Summer Bible Study (Weeks 1 and 2) from LPV on Vimeo.

Hey Summer Bible Study Siestas!
It’s time for Gathering II! Remember, all comments to this post are meant to come AFTER your small group meeting as a way of sharing a highlight with us from your time together. Try to limit your feedback to one regular-size paragraph and be sure to remind us where you’re from and how many are in your group. Only one group member is requested to give a report but if something huge is happening in your life through the study and your leader didn’t share it, by all means, post an individual comment so your Siestas can give God the praise He’s due.

If at all possible, please watch the video for your instructions for this week’s gathering but, just in case you can’t get it to work or can’t spare the time, here are the activities in writing:

1. By now you’ve been well introduced to the concept of the study. We’re cleaning out our thought closets. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you individually need this particular subject matter and why?

2. Look on p.13 at the quote in the margin: “Who I am and what I struggle with are not the same thing.” In what way did that statement resonate with you? What struggle do you most tend to define yourself by?

3. Look on p.23, Day 4 of Week 1 at the interactive where Jennifer says, “In your own words, describe worry.” What was your answer?

4. Go to p.44 in Week 2 and focus on the part of the study where Jennifer talks about “faulty assumptions.” I thought this part was incredibly insightful. What is one of your faulty assumptions?

Have a great time with one another and may Christ’s Presence and power be evident in every gathering! You are loved and prioritized here at LPM.

*Previous posts:
Summer Bible Study Sign Up
Summer Bible Study Kick Off

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Good Morning From The Beach House

Good morning, my favorite blog community on the planet!

The “Moore” girls are all together at a rented beach house having the best time! AJ, Melissa, Annabeth and I got here yesterday and all the boys will join us tomorrow. Til then, girls just wanna have fun. We’ve already laughed like crazy, made a ton of fun of each other (it’s usually AJ and Lis making fun of me in particular but I got in a few good ones). We also got especially tickled at Annabeth who was in her jammies last night at about 10:30, sitting on our laps in the den where we were watching TV. She was smiling big enough to eat a baby elephant, squealing, kicking her legs and looking from one of us to the another – Mommy, Aunt Lissy, and Bibby – as if she were about to bust out with “Par-tay! Par-tay! Par-tay!” She’s just killer cute. AJ brought her camera so we’ll try to post some pictures while we’re here. AJ and I brought our “Me, Myself and Lies” workbooks so we won’t fall behind. A five day stint is way too long to take a vacation from the Word lest our men arrive to the 3 Brides of Frankenstein. I am not sure what Melissa brought for spiritual enrichment but I saw her Greek New Testament in there by her bed. Maybe we can spend some rich devotional time parsing verbs this morning.

Speaking of “Me, Myself and Lies,” AJ got an email from Jennifer Rothschild’s husband yesterday saying that she is going to be on the Dr. Phil show this very day. Can you believe your summer Bible study teacher is going to be on network television like that? I think I’m scheduled to be on Jerry Springer at some point with my family. I’ll keep you posted on when. We’re waiting for a couple of situations to come to a head.

OK, we’re going for a walk and I need to get Annabeth’s diaper changed and her swim suit on if I can bear the love. I also need to pull Melissa’s hind end out of the bed. We did not come here to sleep. We came here to “Par-tay!” I’ll check in with you really soon so that, just in case you didn’t get to head to a beach with a temperate climate of 105 degrees for the Fourth, you can live vicariously through the Siestas Sledge.

We love you, Darling Things. I especially do but I only get to say that because neither AJ or Melissa know I’m posting this.

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Siesta Scripture Memory Team: Verse 13!

Hey, You Scripture Memorizing Siestas!

Can you believe it’s already July 1st? FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Where has the summer gone? Well, actually, in Houston we’re ready to say good riddance to it but I don’t think it’s going anywhere soon. As if we didn’t already have the hottest summers in the Wild West, we are setting record temperatures here this year. There is no font big enough for me to type the word “Bummer” as large as I feel it. I do not like hot weather. Especially hot, HUMID weather. But I’m not one to complain. I just walk out the door in the morning and yell at the top of my lungs, “GOOD GRIEF!”

On to much more important things! It’s time for Verse 13! We’ve made it over the hump to the second half of our commitment and I’m really pumped. Yesterday morning on the way to work, I said all the verses in my spiral out loud to God. To His great glory, I did indeed get my Psalm 112 segment memorized and it has been no small delight to me this month.

My selection this time around is coming from our SSBS, Me, Myself and Lies. Jennifer mentions it in Week Three. I’m a little ahead of you so, if you’re staying on schedule, you probably haven’t seen it yet. It’s Proverbs 7:4 out of the NASB. Since I primarily use the NIV, I had never seen it worded like this before.

Say to wisdom “You are my sister” and call understanding your intimate friend.

That’s what I’m saying! “You are my sister” to wisdom and “You are my intimate friend” to understanding. Now, that’s what I call some mighty fine soul mates. Try hanging out with them, why don’t we?

OK, let’s hear yours! Name, city, verse, and reference with translation abbreviations. Hit it, Siestas!

I love you and I’m so proud of you.

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