Hey, My Darling Siestas! How’s your weekend been? You guys that keep up pretty well know that I blogged last on Wednesday while we were on our way six hours northwest to our acreage in the middle of nowhere. We are now heading back to Houston so once again I’m writing you from Keith’s truck. My man of 31 years is driving next to me, singing to 60’s music and our two dogs are snoozing in the back seat. (He just stopped me and held my hand for a minute because the song was so sweet that he felt romantic.) We got to be away for four nights. The perfect amount of time! I wish I could say it was vacation but I had to take a ton of work with me. That’s ok. At least it was from a different venue and that can help a lot.
(I just got a text from Travis with a picture on it of his youngest son who just lost two teeth. Just living a little life here. Had to stop and text back and tell Levi how cool he looks.)
My heart is full where you are concerned and full with the last four days of life out in the country with Keith. And that’s why I’m going to share a little of it with you: because I love you and love how we can share so many parts of our lives with one another. This is going to be one of those posts when the girls (Amanda or Melissa) might say, “Are you sure you want to share that? You might get hit by somebody for that.” We, the girls and I, provide checks and balances for one another. If we’ve written anything at all besides your garden variety kind of post, we usually run it by one another. Sometimes we talk each other out of an entire post because we’re afraid someone will get offended or out of sorts or just take the opportunity to be ugly or critical. It happens in the blog world which many of you know from your own blogs.
Other times we just talk each other out of a few sentences or a paragraph or two. Most of you should wish you’d seen Melissa’s original Song of Songs Valentine post before I talked her out of a whole chunk. (Yes, we did have a few little words over it. Not a fuss. Just a good, healthy discussion. All four of us are strong willed and opinionated. We just speak our minds back and forth, work through our differences, and, a whole lot of the time, end up making a private family joke out of it.) Those who wouldn’t have wished to see Melissa’s original post are the reason none of you did. (Laughing and with much love.) There was nothing wrong with it. It was just extra colorful – kind of PG13 – because the Scripts happen to be extra colorful – kind of PG14 – in that particular book.
I’m not complaining one iota. To tell you the truth, we get so little ugliness from our commenters. You guys really are so loving and encouraging and patient and understanding and leave ample room for several generations to express themselves here in very different ways. We think we have the most amazing community in bloggerville but we’re not immune, of course. Sometimes we just flat out ask for it and don’t even realize it. Other times we expect somebody may take exception but we just decide it’s worth the risk.
This is one of those times. I’m about to show you guys some pictures – poor quality ones just off my i-phone – to give you a small taste of Moore life out at the acreage our family has. I know in advance that I’m setting myself up for someone to say sarcastically “Must be nice” but I’ll just sigh when I get it and, if it doesn’t get too ugly from there, post the comment anyway and wish she hadn’t misunderstood. The thing is, I love biographies. Glimpses of people’s real lives. Parts of their stories. For instance, every time I talk to Georgia Jan, I wish I could see her surroundings so I could picture her better. Know her in her own world. Every time Mom of Eleven (actually has 12 now, we learned at the SSMT celebration) comments I wish I could see a picture of all of them. It’s one way we, scattered all over the place, take a virtual stroll through a mile or two of one another’s worlds.
Actually, the world I’m about to share with you really isn’t my world. It’s my man’s. But once a couple has been married over 25 years, you really can’t know the one without knowing the other. You can no longer tell for sure where one stops and the other starts. This isn’t land I would have chosen in a thousand years but it’s what my man chose and I chose him. SO, when I talk about us heading to what I call our cactus land, this is the kind of place I’m talking about. I’ll describe it a tad first then I’ll stroll with you through some shots.
It’s a place where your cell phone won’t work and your land line is likely not to.
It’s the kind of place where Keith and I use (or misuse) English in a way we’d never do it at home. We don’t do it to make fun. We, for those few days, say it like we mean it. Like that’s who we are. Like, for instance, just this morning on an early ride with Keith in the old jeep, I heard myself say, “We ain’t seen deer one.”
It’s a place where men are not limited to inside facilities…but I’ll not elaborate on that.
It’s a place where our favorite show is “The Duck Commander.” We laugh our heads off…and, perhaps most worrisome to some of you, totally get it.
It’s the kind of place with a VERY small town nearby that I have fallen head over heels in love with. It has one real grocery story, a “Super S,” and just yesterday while I was picking up a few items, as I live and breathe and without one hint of exaggeration, the woman at check-out got on the microphone for the store and said over the loud speaker, “Mr. Brown, your wife called and wants you to pick up a bag of potatoes.” Ain’t no doubt in my mind he got some. I was so happy I nearly got some, too.
It’s a place with a LOT of these, hence the name:
It’s a place where a woman (even a non-hunter like yours truly) sometimes dresses like this on an early morning ice-cold jeep ride (with no windows in it) with no make-up on:
It’s a place where, if the temperature’s right, a woman would be wise to wear snake boots like mine:
It’s a place where your man’s taller than usual and where manliness can sometimes be gaged by how old and beat up your vehicle is: (For those of you who can’t fathom it, that’s a corn feeder on the front of the jeep for feeding wild life. You guys just have no idea what my life is like at times. Or his, because of mine.)
It’s a place where your man’s favorite hot rod looks like this:
It’s a place where the gate might latch with a horse shoe:
It’s a place where that tiny one hundred year-old German farm house that I told you about in So Long Insecurity resides. My man went to great pains to restore this thing back to its original look. Every window and door in it is a century old.
It’s a place where the sunrise this morning from my little porch looked like this and this one’s not even an especially good one:
It’s a place with, I reckon, my favorite place of all tucked right in it. I swing here and think about all sorts of things and sing hymns and pet Star:
It’s a place where a woman can take her spirals and practice them loud without a single soul hearing or caring:
It’s a place I wish all of you who wish you had one, did. Maybe one day, when you’re older like Keith and me, you will. It’s a place others of you might be bored out of your mind. Maybe your wish list would be a tiny little bay house instead. It’s just all a matter of taste. Sometimes not your own.
It’s a place where my man seems to love me a lot.
So it’s a place I love to go.
Sarah 
Thanks so much for sharing your life with us! Love it! I'm a native Texan turned Arkansan due to my man taking me there! (Secretly though, I'll always be a Texas girl!)
I'm presently reading So Long Insecurity, so I'm delighted to see the house ya'll rebuilt. The things we do and places we go to make our men happy…it's well worth it!! 🙂 Thanks for your example to us..bless you!!
Sheryle
the mind doesn't stop…..i pray I/ we all hear and listen to my/our Joshuas and Calebs…..May God not send his joyous-tiding-bringers in vain!!!! Maybe turn that radio up as loud as it goes just to get my/our attention and then i/we must choose whom to serve…..go back to the "security" (false) of egypt or to the promised land and a sure footing on which to stand In Christ ALONE!
Thanks for sharing! It made my day feel more peaceful just looking at the photos!
Christine
Thank you Beth!!!! For sharing such intimate details of your life. It truly makes me love you more. It is those details woven into the fabic that makes life so worth living!How wonderfully fun to read of another woman's journey especially with her man. Everyone should appreciate the story for what it is and not cast judgement. It is a well deserved get away for someone that works so hard for us. I am so happy you have a small piece of heaven even if it has snakes in the gardens. :)It also makes me think, "If it is so beautiful and wonderful here on Earth, I can only imagine!" Keep these stories coming and dont feel as though sensoring is necessary. Us, girls are wearing those BIG GIRL PANTIES. Much love.
Patricia from King, NC
I came to your sight, heavy and fearful about my marriage. There as I live, I saw Christ's ideal for a marriage in living color. My man, of 10 years, would love your spread and loves his hot rods John Deere Green too. Bless you for reaching out to us, you'll never know how it helped today 😉
Thank you Beth!! I think this is wonderful, you showing us your special place and a glimpse of how things are in your life off camera etc. This is great and I am soo glad you have this place.
What a blessings this was this morning. I just read about this place last night sitting in bed reading your new book thinking I'd love to see what this place looks like. So I was tickled pink this morning to see pics. It's beautiful a hide a away from all the hustle and bustle. It's funny we live 10 months up care taking a ranch in the middle of nowhere. When I first arrived I complained I was so far from anywhere, complained about everything until God showed me how lucky I was I could spend all my times with Him. Funny I would shout out my verses to Him, the sunsets were breathtaking and time alone with your loved one even better. It became my little piece of heaven. We are no longer there and I miss it so much………………..
Thanks for sharing your special place with us/ oh! yours and Keith's and God's
Love ya
Beth – I just love you!! This post made me laugh out loud when I saw you in your "gear!" In fact, my little 3 year old son asked me why I was laughing like that!
I also wanted to let you know that I heard you recently on Homeword with Jim Burns. I feel like I was listening to an old friend. I was so proud of you in a strange sort of way and so encouraged at the same time!
My siesta's and I here Illinois (small group of 9) have done many of your studies…just finished Esther which PROFOUNDLY affected me.
Actually God used Esther to completely change the course of my life! My husband and I have been pursuing a domestic adoption for almost 2 years and back in November after many ups and downs, the Lord spoke to my heart. And in proper chiastic structure 🙂 he said to me. "Jami, it's not about bringing a child to your family, but it's about bringing your family to a child."
Our eyes have since been opened to the waiting child – the child living in foster care and we are in the process of becoming trained foster parents. We went into this adoption hoping to bring home a healthy newborn baby. But God is revealing a completely different plan.
SO much has changed and though there have been many heartbreaking and challenging moments over these past 2 years, I am forever grateful to HIM for His mighty work in my life!
Thanks for being a part of our story!
Oh Beth, being a misplaced Texan (I appear to be lost in Maryland), these pictures just made me so happy. Thanks!
Beth, your photos and descriptions are beautiful and familiar. It has always been a blessing for several generations of my family and my husband's family to gather in a hill country home and share our lives. Thanks for sharing yours and your ministry.
Thanks for sharing! There's nothing like being out in God's amazing creation! Everytime I step out the door I wonder at how creative He is!
Hi, Patti! Got your message. Yes, point taken. Thank you for caring so much. I'm blessed to be your servant.
Oh it is beautiful Beth and I am so happy that you and your man have a place like that to call your own. It blesses my heart to hear the joy that comes from the simple things that capture you and Keith. My heart is right there with you and funny thing…I have the same camo outfit you do.
My man has a dream place too. His hot rod is a fishing boat & I'm trying to get up the courage to go see it and share in the same type of joy with him. It is a little lake house by Lake Novia in Mexico where they love to fish. I will soon.
Love you much!
Sandy
Melba Jean
Thank you, so very much for sharing such a special time with us !!!!
Took me be back to some childhood deer lease times.My parents divorced when I was 13, so those are some good memories for me. THANKS BETH !!!!!!
Beautiful, thank you for sharing!
I enjoyed the visit with you………swinging was especially fun.
I'm with Penny, I'm totally feeling cherished by how intimately you have been sharing with us! You've always said how much you love us, but lately I have really felt it, and, girl, I'm not ashamed to say I can use it!
Thanks for letting us see your special place. It is not at all what I imagined. I love it. It looks like a great place to hang and to feel like you can just relax and get away from it all.
My husband was actually interested enough to come take a look. I must say he was just a tad jealous over the tractor. He was actually salivating over it. Boys and their toys!!!
We love you so and I for one am happy when you are happy! You give so much of yourself to us it is a blessing when you can get away and just be by yourselves. God Bless you both!
Lori
I just love it! Me and my man have a dream to own a place like that. A place that we can officially call home and be a constant in our lives. My husband flies jets for the Navy so we are moving constantly and crave some residential stability. One day…Thanks for sharing your special place! Gives me hope!
Oh, that's great! I'd like mine to be by the ocean, but that's just me! With my husband's career, I'll probably never be able to afford a place like that, in addition to my regular place, but that's okay. I'm sure I'll get to visit places like that sometimes. You look a lot like me the first time (and last) that I went hunting with my husband in that picture of you. I ended up spending most of my time playing a game on his cell phone. We found a particular spot he was looking for and we sat down…and we continued to sit…for an eternity! Finally, I whispered (since I was told we were supposed to be as quiet as possible), "What are we doing?" He whispered back, "Waiting".
Me:"For what?"
Josh: "The deer to come out."
Me: "When does that happen?"
Josh:"Soon. shh
After a few minutes, me: "I don't see any deer." At that point he handed me his cell phone and told me to play solitaire and be quiet. By the way, we never did see any deer until we left and we saw them somewhere else. But they got away. And the point was….
I told him I didn't see what was so fun about sitting somewhere in complete silence and staring at an empty meadow!
Beth-I love to see things like this in your lives-it's something I can share with my man and he can see why I love you so much! Actually, I live in a 100 year old house all the time, sometimes I wish for a new house but I love my old house because my man loves it! We don't have the cactus or the rattle snakes but we have a few pretty acres, pretty sunrises and sunsets, dogs, cats, horse and a few garden snakes! I haven't had to learn to shoot yet:) I love knowing that if you could visit us, you probably would and you would be comfortable here. We'd have a camp fire and coffee on the porch. Just went snowshoeing on Sunday with the dogs and a friend and the peaceful silence in the woods was AWESOME!!! Thanks for sharing and inviting us to share.
Okay, I'll be one to say it…"It must be nice…" Now, as that is said picture that I'm sitting in a big comfy chair, chin resting on my hand, elbow on the arm of the chair looking dreamily out a window. And, it is said with my best wistful southern drawl. (I am a Southerner and can adopt the proper southern belle drawl as necessary.)
Seriously, what an awesome place God has blessed y'all with! A place where you can go and just be Keith and Beth and Beth and Keith!!!
My prayer is one day to have such a place to retreat to. I'd just as soon live in isolation and would be happy as a pig in muck doing so but God doesn't feel that is the best thing. So, hopefully one day my husband and I can have a little piece of nowhere where we can be RT and Betsy and Betsy and RT.
I also want to say thank you, Beth, for sharing bits of your life with us. It helps all us who study under you realize you are a woman just like us…and the type that we could invite over for coffee and not fret if the kitchen isn't spotless.
Oh Beth! This hit SO close to home!!!
My man has his special place in West Texas….near a very small town where the people just stare at us when we enter the restaurant on Sunday just in time for the home cookin' buffet lunch. They know we "ain't from aroun' them parts!"
My man is a different man when he's there…no other world exists but that place and his blinds and his meeting alone with God in the early morning, before the sun comes up. He says God is closer there.
I do have to say that your "Hill Country Hilton" looks way better than our "West Texas Marriott!"
Thank you Beth for sharing your life with us. I fully "get" everything you said about your land. We don't own "land" of our own but my hubby and my boys enjoy a leased "deer camp". I can so relate to "my man loving me more" at the camp than any other time. 🙂
Love it! Thanks for giving us a glimpse of what makes the Moore's happy! My hubs loved to camp…and so now my happy place is our RV parked in the middle of a forest of evergreens on the Maine coastline. Thanks so much for sharing that.
Beth, I just love you! Enough said. I wish we could sit down and have coffee together:-) I will give you major kudos for braving a land full of rattlesnakes!!! I don't believe I could do it! Hugs!
I can totally relate to the small store, my closest grocery is The Skull Valley General Store. They aren't big enough to need a microphone. In the winter, the store is warmed with an old wood burning stove where the retired cowboys sit close and play checkers. If you want coffee just pour from the pot as there is no latte machine. (I actually tried to remedy this, but they like things just the way they are. If you need buttermilk to cook with they'll tell you how to make it with milk and vinegar. The eggs are fresh and they are not open on Sunday because it's the Lord's day! I love this store.
Beth,
I love your "getaway". It kind of reminds me of where I grew up. A lovely farm in West Virginia. It's where go when I want to relax and live kind of differently. Not so much stress and a slower pace of life–where I can smell a farm and it actually smells good–where I can take a walk back on the mountain in the early spring and through the poplar forest and "hunt" for morels–where I can pick paw paws during season–where I can "go and sit a spell" with a neighbor–just a wonderful place to go especially when you need a fresh look at life. Thank you for sharing so much with us. You and your family are such a blessing.
Much Love,
Tisha
Pilot Mtn, NC
P.S. I love my home here in North Carolina mostly because it too reminds me of my getaway back to my roots.
That thing on the front of the Jeep – for feeding wildlife – is that really what it's for? What do you do, just drive out and they come up to eat and you shoot them? I am totally at a loss looking at this thing. I love the peacefulness in these pictures – you can just feel God all over the place.
Love.it.
Thank you for such precious transparency. It makes me feel very special that you share parts of yourself. I am pretty new to this community and love the way you draw me in by the love and acceptance that you share. Thank you for that.
Theresa Conner…our Dear Beth has a CD on marriage that you have to have. After praying one morning during my quiet time for God to change my man…I,too,thought I had to have a pastor,deacon, elder, etc. I was driving to work and plugged in a CD I had received from LP the day before…I'm telling you Beths words were straight from our God to me! My man of 29 years is not a pastor, elder, or deacon but he's mine and he loves me and he loves God…that day freedom to accept my man and love him right where he was washed over me in a way words can not describe. I literally had to pull off the side of the road I was sobbing so hard. I asked God to forgive me and then ask my man to also.
Beth, I love that you really read these blogs, I love that you really love us and I love the way God has used you to bring so much healing to my life and so many others…I'm writing through tears of joy…I hope you remember the CD I'm referring to (you asked Keith to forgive you too and can you believe my man responded in the same way?) He has loved me through so much…he is much, much like your Keith. We have a hunting club and I can relate to your get up, boots and all and he loves when I go and I like you love it because he does…thank you Beth! Simply love you to pieces!
By the way, I am doing the "So Long Insecurity" with ya and this is my first blogging…
OH. I ladore you, Beth. TAs a teacher, a godly woman, a sister in Christ, just – a REAL mentor! That's all I can say. I cried. I've been praying and standing for a healed, restored marriage since a 2005 divorce. My husband is an avid bow hunter and the photo of you in the camo reminded me of how I used to adore walking fields with him and how God literally filled my heart for a love for hunting solely because my beloved brown-eyed man has a passion for it. Your post just brought back memories like a flood – as did your sweet photos. So, I thank God for the reminder because it IS beautiful to love what your beloved loves in such a way and I continue to pray by beloved "healed, whole" and home – to his Savior and to me.
Masses of love in Him!
so i feel like you're writing my story ten years from now. my man is ALOT like your man. he is a hunter at heart and has a special place he like to go and wishes i would join him. our son is eleven (i actually had to back up and erase ten because he just had his birthday!) and it seems like the days are fleeting away. we just went away for the weekend to the beach and it seems like we had our second honeymoon. it was FABULOUS! (without any pg-14 details of course!) i love my man with everything i've got! i just do not feel worthy? (INSECURE? hmmmm?) i look forward to our growing older days, just seems like it takes alot more of my giving lately – but i'm beginning to become more and more ok with it. sounds silly right? bottom line? I LOVE MY MAN and i thank God for him every day. thank you for posting your every day life – once again, i feel normal…
P.S. – my man is a georgia boy at heart but is alot lke your texas man!
ks
Love it! I'm fixin' to go to the Piggly Wiggly and buy me some
pork-n-beans. You done put me in the mood, Bethie!
Jan
(sooooooiiiiiiieeeeeeeee…)
Thank you so much for sharing your life with us. I am so happy you have a place of quiet and rest. Your teaching is so anointed that there is never a doubt how much time and effort you put forth to serve the body of Christ. It makes me happy you can get away and rest. Those of us who consider you our best friend (I know there are thousands of us) want you to be happy and healthy and continue to do what you do for a long time! So get he respite you need, it sets a good example for the rest of us "Martha" types.
Wow, thanks so much Beth! I loved reading about that! Exactly what my hubby and I would enjoy doing except in Alberta! Our dream is to visit Texas some day though. God Bless!
I was reading SLI, today at lunch and was reading about the little German house and how cool is. I was thinking, "I wonder why she keeps saying…it's so far out there, it's cactus country, it's rattler-mania?" Then after I saw the pictures, I realize those comments seem so strange to me, becuase it looks like where I grew up AND I live in a town that looks about like that, but with about 5 times fewer trees. LOTS of cactus (cacti?)! I for get that isn't the way everywhere looks! Anyway, when me and my man moved to our little town…with NO chain grocery store, no DQ (that's Dairy Queen, for all the non Texans) and only one gas station (which most people use as the grocery store), most people we knew thought we were crazy. I'm sayin' though, I think I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets…no trees, no buildings, no nuthin' to get in the way—just big sky.
So, I guess I figured it out…I'm always thinking, "that doesn't sound that out there" becuase I LIVE THERE. hahaha
By the way…I think your place looks adorable (don't tell Kieth I described it that way) AND I'd take it over the big city any day! God Bless YOU!!
I forgot to say, I was telling my husband about what I was reading in SLI and he said, "Man, she sounds like a wise woman." sooooo…kudos from me AND the man!
Oh, Beth. I live in Southeast Kansas and that is so nothing new. (Except maybe the cacti. Not so much around here.) And I love it as much as you. Glad you enjoy the ruggedness of my real life! 😉
I love seeing other people's lives through pictures! So often, when driving through a town, I'll see a house and think, "I wonder what their story is". I especially wonder about people in big cities. I live in a small town of 3,000 people in northern Minnesota. Thank you for sharing with me!
a lovely place :o)
How fun! I love being with my husband in places he loves. He seems so content. You are an awesome wife to be open to enjoying what your husband enjoys, just becasue you love him.
Miss Beth,
I want to thank you for your courage to post your pictures. I have been struggling a lot lately with my purpose in this life and recently ran into the scripture you have on your index card. When I scrolled down to that particular picture, I felt the Lord was speaking directly to me. If you hadn't posted it, I would have not seen it and felt that wonderful connection with my Lord and savior. Thank you for that. I encourage you to keep posting pictures or personal snapshots when you get the urge, you just may be touching someone in a way you never thought you would.
Your sister in Christ.
Amanda
I love that you wrote this post, we have been hearing about this place for so long…beautiful. I love, love, love, that you showed us your pictures and yourself in camo, I get it. 3 girls, and my hunter, I put camo on occasionally and watch those crazy hunting shows with him too…because I love him, The Lord knows there is no other reason I would!!!!
Oh Beth,u r so wonderful,truly a blessing…i pray that God would give me a double portion of your spirit !!
Love it and love you for sharing.
Beth, thank you for sharing a special part of your life at your cactus ranch. I must say I love the scarf with the camo outfit. We have to be girly even when we try to fit into our man's world. I try to fit into my man's world but he would rather go fishing alone, or with his dad or our boys. I am glad he wants to spend time with them but it seems like we never have something we like to do together. I would love to have a place to go like that. But trying to convince my husband of 32 year would think I was crazy. He is in sales and is gone all time. I was a stay at home mom who is now an empty nester trying to find her place in the world. For him relaxing means staying home, for me it means getting away from home. I am glad you and Keith take the time to get away as you do so much for so many. I think you are a hoot and enjoy all your stories. Keep them coming Beth and don't worry about what other people think. Can't wait to read your next blog. Your girls do an amazing job also.
Thanks, Beth, love the pictures and the post! I am reminded to love my husband for who he is and accept and value his uniqueness. We even talked about this last night.
When I turned on the TV this morning, there you were teaching from Hebrews 10 on encouragement. It was just what I needed to hear! Yesterday my office was told about a young co-worker who passed away at home getting ready for work. We are all in shock and so needy of encouragement.
Thanks for sharing your joy with us!
Beth, I looked at the blog today with a feeling that I needed to see something on it. These pictures are what I needed to see! Thank you so much for sharing. My blood pressure dropped just looking at them! I love small towns and I love big wide open spaces. Of course it's great when there is a mountain in the background, but this Kansas City girl can even get into Texas!
Donna in Kansas City
Wow, Beth! I had just finished reading the chapter w/ your descriptions of your retreat and wanted so much to know what it looked like- esp. the 100 year old house restored! Wonderful! I love that you share yourself with us so openly. My hubby and I have a thing for old stuff- houses included. We live on a little stake of acreage in VA and fixed up a 1930s farm house over our first 9 years of marriage. The last 1/3 of the house remained unfinished for about 4 years- life, work, you name, it always seemed to get in the way… And people would comment on "when will you ever finish this place???" Well, two years ago when I told Doug I was pregnant with our daughter- talk about lighting a fire! The house was finished in 3 months! 🙂
Love you!
Monica
PS- Absolutely LOVED the picture of the tractor! My man is quite proud of his big machines too! Nothing makes him happier than an hour or two on the zero-turn mower… can't wait for the big thaw to finish up here so he can get out and mow!!!