Hey, Sweet things!
It’s Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend and I’ve had a really full but good day. Not that great a week, really, but a mighty good day. God woke me up with a release this morning from something that has been pressing on my heart. I just sort of heard a “Stop it” from God so I decided to stop it. Anyway, I thought I’d end the work week up visiting with you guys a bit before we lock this place up for three days. I will probably say hi before the weekend is over but I’ll have to see how the unplanned festivities go. For now, it is pouring a deluge in South Texas so whatever we’re doing, it is decidedly not out doors. No telling what my two dogs have done to my house while I’ve been at work today. (Star, my Border Collie, has been keeping Geli, Keith’s bird dog, company lately when the really hot weather prevents Keith from taking her with him in his truck. I can’t bring both of them to work without mass pandemonium.)
Before I head to another topic, I want to tell you that you really knocked it out on that last post and I’m so proud of you. Way to tell a girl how she can know God loves her. I watched some real live ministry take place on that last post (and so many others before it). I believe in the ministry that takes place here. I couldn’t have fathomed it in advance but our gracious God has lurked here and so many other places on the web and I am so much the better off for it. You know, you guys are the only reason I’ve never done the Facebook thing. I’ve always wanted to. Are you kidding? What sanguine wouldn’t? But I thought I’d end up getting so distracted by it that I’d lose my vision here. I’m so blessed to be a part of you and, for now, you are one of my biggest serving priorities.
And that’s the reason why I need to stop and say something in protection of this precious, hardworking, sincere and tenderhearted community. We exist to encourage one another to know Jesus Christ as personal Savior and to follow hard after Him. We love big doses of healthy, good, clean fun. We love to laugh. We don’t mind having a good hard cry together. BUT, we can’t consistently be a ton more than that. We can’t replace face-to-face families to many people and certainly don’t exist to take the place of our local churches. Few of us are confused about that. Here’s why I’m bringing all this up. I don’t want you to start getting worn out here or start feeling like there’s such a heavy weight of responsibility that you can’t even bear to log in. I don’t want you feeling guilty or condemned because you couldn’t read every single person’s comment. None of us can. None of us can be anybody’s everything. Let me say that again:
None of us can be anybody’s everything.
To attempt it is to play Christ. To demand it is to expect somebody else play Christ. Minister here freely and freely feel ministered to. Freely give, freely receive, the Scriptures would tell us. But do not let this place become a burden or a form of bondage to you. I just can’t have that. I speak for most of us when I say that what I write here on these posts is to every single one of you, new and old. You do the same when you write general responses. When you or I get a chance to shout something out to someone in a comment, it is never because we found her worthier than anybody else. I don’t have favorites on here. I really don’t as much as we sometimes tease. You don’t either. I also don’t get to read every single comment. Neither does Melissa or Amanda. Neither do most of you. Please know that this community exists to bring you encouragement. Not to add to your insufferably long list of things to do nor, worse yet, to add to a feeling of insignificance. Lord, forbid it. All of you are so loved and welcomed here. I would be heartsick for anybody to get on this blog that was formed to build you up and feel torn down.
By all means, please let your Siestas know when you legitimately need prayer and edification or just a big fat hug. Ask your questions! (I LOVED Erica’s question!) Seek some solid insight! Get together on the side. That’s what this place is for. But I say this to anyone with an intense emotional issue (Believe me, I’ve been there and have sought sound Godly counsel and highly recommend it): please don’t demand more (and more and more) from this sincere community than most women on here can give. Please be careful not take advantage of my girls here in Siestaville. They’ll bend over backwards for you. Don’t put more on them than they can handle or expect of them what they can’t deliver. It is my responsibility to be protective of this community. With all my heart I pray that this will remain one of the very few places in many of our lives where we don’t have to feel guilty and like we’re not enough for people. Please, not here. I say that with love. And if your comments get posted on these entries, you’re probably not who I’m talking about. Let me say frankly that there is a reason why we moderate comments.
Ladies, as you minister on your own blogs and as you participate here, please keep in mind that people can play you. One way you’ll know is if they just keep on and on with it and no answer and no encouragement ever suffices. Sometimes you can just feel it in your gut. That doesn’t mean they don’t need love and prayer and attention. It just means you don’t need to get caught up in a loop. We aren’t meant to take the place of professional counselors.
I love you guys so much. God has placed the stewardship of this community in my hands. I’m the Mama here. And sometimes mamas have to lay some boundaries. This is for your protection.
OK, some of you may not be able to get past that but for those of you who can, this is the real reason why I got on here today. I don’t know why but I’ve been thinking a lot about my grandmother lately. Maybe it’s because I’m a grandmother now and I’ve seen some life come full circle. Whatever the reason, she’s been in my thoughts more than usual recently. My grandmother was widowed when my mom was just fourteen. Four years later, Mom met my Dad and fooled around and eloped with him. When they got back to town, my mother’s mom got revenge I suppose by moving right in with them. She didn’t move out until her mansion was ready in Heaven. I was sixteen years old at the time. Translation? She lived with my siblings and me all our young lives. And, boy, was she a character.
Her name was Minnie Ola Rountree. With a smirk on my face, 30 years ago I suggested to Keith that we name our first daughter after her but he didn’t go for it. Minnie Moore. Don’t you think that would have been darling? Anyway, to us she was “Nanny.” (Not our first child. My maternal grandmother.) She was born before the turn of the 20th Century and lived long enough to ride a horse-driven carriage to town and watch a man walk on the moon. She believed until the day she died that we had a party line (you young Siestas don’t even know what that is. It’s not direct dial to Party City) and would stand over us when we talked on the phone for more than five minutes and say, “Get off that phone! Someone’s probably needin’ an ambu-lance with you on there chewing the fat!”
There were eight of us in all and by the time Dad would let us get two phones in the house (on the same number, of course), Nanny decided if she couldn’t beat us, she’d join us. We’d be on one phone with our boyfriends and she’d be on the other just listening in. You’d walk through the kitchen and there she’d be, sipping on her perked coffee, tuning in like it was her business. Oh, man, she dearly loved gossip. Watched her “stories” on the black and white from noon til 3:00 and only President Kennedy better interrupt her and, even then, it better be good.
She’d been raised in the country and mostly by her big sister. Her second parent was cold in the grave before she was out of grade school. Once a tall, educated man happened through those parts and took a liking to her and married her before she could think better of it. I guess she loved him more than anything in her entire life. His name was Micajah Rountree. They had seven children together. And buried three of them. Under two and a half years-old. Can you even comprehend it? She told me once that every woman she knew with a large family had gone through the terrible agony of at least one loss. They couldn’t have imagined medical care like we have today. In the cemetery where she is buried, she is one of many moms laid to rest near the graves of infants. It’s almost too much to bear to see.
But they had many good times together, too. My grandfather was quite the catch, becoming a mighty fine lawyer and serving in State government. He probably would have been a man of means if not for the Great Depression. Family legends made him bigger than life to me and, even though I never knew him, I set out to be just like him, majoring in political science and minoring in English. God ended up having other plans but not before the man’s legacy had left his mark. I am told he never saw his left palm for a book in his hand. My mom was just like him. I am just like her. Amanda and Melissa are just like me. We live to read. We are so amused that Annabeth can’t put a book down. Rountree blood has trickled down five generations.
My grandmother was a smart woman but her formal education did not quite match her man’s. We moved that woman out of the country but we never moved the country out of that woman. And we are so glad. She used sayings that my siblings and I still employ on a continual basis. When we moved all the way from Arkansas to Houston, Texas (I was 15), her world split wide open. She’d never been to a city you could call a melting pot. She’d say, “Don’t them ferners beat all!” Ferners = someone born in a different country. Of course, what Amanda and I love best about Houston is that it’s such a glad mix of ferners but that’s our taste. Nanny didn’t quite know what to do with such a big world. She never understood that they were just as American as she was.
My favorite thing she ever said – and she said it CONSTANTLY – was this: “Some folks, you just can’t learn ’em nothin’.” (Please use a long “a” sound on the “can’t.” It’s more like “cain’t.”)
I don’t want to be one of them folks that you can’t learn nothin. I want to keep learning as long as I live. Don’t you?
Now that I’ve talked on this long, I might as well tell you what’s kind of had me down this week. For the last several months, we’ve been working on the up-dated version of “A Heart Like His.” (Do not even talk to me about my hair in that video. Believe it or not, I did not do that hair. Another story for another time. Anyway, I happen to really love who fixed that hair so I’m going to keep my mouth shut.) I’ve enjoyed being back in the study of the life of David so much. Scripture doesn’t get any wilder or richer or more applicable than 1st and 2nd Samuel. What’s gotten to me over the last few weeks is not what I said in the original written version (17 years ago!). It’s what I didn’t say. Lord have mercy, I had just come out of one of the worst trials of my entire life. I cannot even express the pain I’d been through or the defeat that had threatened to engulf me. But try as you might, you could not find a single hint of it. (My Nanny would say, “Narry a hint.”)
“Woman,” I said to myself as I was recently reading through the original version and updating it, “Where on earth is your testimony about the grace of God over your pitiful, messed up life? Huh? Huh?” At one point, I read such a down-played version of some misery that I’d been in that I wrote out in the margin, “Rewrite, you big liar!”
It wasn’t really a lie. But it didn’t even begin to measure my true estate. As I’ve read over some of the early writings, I can still see a woman who wasn’t sure she could yet be herself. Thank God, the Scriptures speak loudly and clearly and they’re all we really need. But most of us could use a teacher who owns up to her own struggles and own defeats. Most of us need to know we’re in this together. Way back when I originally wrote “A Heart Like His,” I think I was too close to the fresh graces of God to truly recognize them. I hear a crescendo after that in studies like “To Live is Christ” but, not coincidentally, I don’t hear the full throttle, volume 10 testimony of what God had done for me until “Breaking Free.” There’s an obvious reason for that.
For some reason that missing element broke my heart yesterday. I’d teared up over it several times as I edited “A Heart Like His” but finally yesterday I just got up from my desk, went face down on the floor and bawled my eyes out before God. “I am so, so sorry.”
Praise His Name, He really does grow us up in knowledge and in grace. He is so patient. So merciful. But just in case some of you have only done one of the earliest unrevised Bible studies and didn’t hear it as clearly as you should have, hear me clearly today: GOD IS THE ONLY REASON WHY I CAN HOLD MY HEAD UP LONG ENOUGH TO DRAW A BREATH. ANYTHING IN MY LIFE OF VALUE IS FROM HIM ALONE. HE IS MY DECENCY. HE IS MY ONLY HONOR. WITHOUT HIM, I’M A TOTAL WRECK. I DO NOT DESERVE TO BE IN MINISTRY. I DID NOT EARN IT. ALL THAT I HAVE TO OFFER IS HIM.
He’s it. Plain and simple. Gorgeous and complex.
Some folks, you just cain’t learn ’em nothin.’ And I don’t want to be one of them. Lord, protect me from myself.
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18
Dearest Beth,
I can so relate to the idea of growing in the Lord Jesus. I have been leading summer Bible studies for teachers for about 10 yrs. We have done all the studies you wrote and some of the original group are repeating the older ones for those who are just joining. We are currently in the middle of “Believing God.” I told the group that this one would change their lives and sure’nuf there have already been things that each of us has had to let God deal with. I am particularly concerned with a younger member who has had a very difficult life (her mother abandoned her and her brother when she was 5) and she has had substance abuse issues. In the middle of session 4 she broke. She didn’t come back for session 5. I need to know how to encourage her. If any of ya’ll have any suggestions I would really appreciate it. It doesn’t help that we are related. Anyway, Beth, you have been such a blessing to all of us and I love watching my group grow in their walk with the Lord.
Leslie,
I would keep praying for her and encouraage her. She may just be embarrassed she broke in front of everyone. It makes think of the women who broke the perfume bottle as Jesus’s feet. Sometimes we think everyone else have it all together, it’s refreshing to know that we don’t have it all together and we are all a hot mess in one way or another.
I’ll be praying it all works out
Beth,
I have been leading womens Bible study now for 5 years (done a few of yours:) and I have noticed a similar thing in my life. When I first started leading I kept all my hurt inside and shared very little. As time has progressed though, I am getting much better about sharing from my past hurts. It isn’t that I have any major life tragedies but everyone has things that have hurt them and shape them into who they are today. I am not sure if it is age, a growing trust for women over time, or the desire that I not be a fake to new Christians or non-Christians attending the study that have gotten me to open up more, but I think it takes time to get to the point where you are a little more free to share. I did A Heart Like His – actually it was the first study I led:) – made me love David to pieces. You may not have shared all but you sure shared enough for me to know that your life was full of bruises and God was your everything. Thanks for your ministry – it is such a blessing to me!!
Hey Beth,
I just had to share with you my great grandmothers’ names, that my mother so lovingly wanted to pass down to me. One was Addy Mae and the other was Olla Mae, so mom wanted my name to be Addy Olla Mae!
Can you imagine that? Thankfully my dad put a stop to that named me a name a bit less country…well sort of.
SheriAnn
Oh how I needed this this morning. I know I have been freed from something that has plagued me just about my entire 33 years of living. I just plain love food too much and after praying off and on about it for 10 years I’m getting it. God is so very faithful. But this morning, after 2 glorious weeks on that mountain – I woke up thinking about food and was starting to get overwhelmed. I begged God to send me a verse and some encouragement. Thank you, Beth. I knew this would be coming and the high would not last long. B/C of what God has taught me through His Word and your studies, I was equipped and refused to give in to the enemy’s schemes again. Dear, sweet Jesus – I do so love Him and will no longer believe the enemy when he tries to convince me that I don’t. I know this was kinda random but the point is THANK YOU!!! God used all those studies to reveal Truth to me and it has set me FREE!!!
Rachel…It was scripture meditation and memorization that God used to eliminate 20 pounds off my body in 2009. I didn’t even realize how much I was losing until I had an unexpected doctor’s visit in early Nov last year and they always weigh you. I had my regular visit in Feb 2009, and since that time I was down 15 pounds. They were concern about my health but when I told them I was intentionally watching my food and exercise habits with scripture meditation they were relaxed and happy for me. God allowed me to witness to my doctor and his staff. Then by Jan 1 of this year I was down 20 pounds and a healthier person. I give God the Glory for His Amazing Grace and Mercy in My Life.
In Jan this year God has set me apart. I am now dealing with another issue but am maintaining my weight loss from last year. I am continuing my scripture meditation and memory which is helping me work through my issues this year.
There is no one like Jehovah God.
This is a Song I Must Sing, Sylvia
HI Beth and Siestas,
This has been on my heart since I was reading the post by the Siesta who was questioning the doctrine of election. While I loved the responses, and God is love the doctrine of election if biblical and peppered throughout the scriptures. It’s a tough pill to swallow, I agree but it is in God’s word and I believe in it (even though I don’t understand it fully). Eph. 1:3-5, Mk 13:20, Rev 13:8, Ex 33:19, Deu 7:6-7, Rom 9:10-24,Act. 13;14 all point to the fact that God chose to save some and leave others to the consequence of their sin. Rom 9:15-16, Rom 9:11,Rom 10:20, 1 Cor. 1:27-29 2 Tim 1:9 all show that b/c of God’s sovereign will some will chosen. People believe b/c they belong to God. In Romans 8;29 this verse refers to God bringing the salvation relationship into existence by decreeing it ahead of time.
The point it is God is always in charge, He chose us b/c we would be incapable b/c of sin to choose Him. I just want you to think about this and let the spirit convict you. I have a brother who is unsaved with the hardest heart I’ve ever met and I wonder all the time will he ever know God. Since I don’t know if he’s part of the elect I pray for his salvation and hope God performs a miracle inside him so this doctrine is very real to me too.
Just felt like I had to air my thought on this topic b/c I felt like so many of you don’t believe in it.
Don’t you know it…..I tell myself and my family I am my largest detriment pertaining to my growing in Christ. My flesh likes so much to get in the way! Can you just imagine? ha ha he he he
Dear Beth, I’ve been pondering your post for the past couple of days. First, you brought up dear memories of my paternal Grandma J. Her name was Berta Belle Bratcher and she was from Texas! She married Ernest Clementine Johnson (who was also Texan–aren’t those names great?), and she lived till she was 103, I believe. We’re not sure of her age because she kept changing her birthdate as she didn’t want anyone to know she was older than her husband :). They moved to Southern California (where I live) during the Depression.
The real reason I wanted to comment, and now that there are more than 500 comments, I doubt you’ll see this, but I’ll go ahead anyway. I know you’re heartbroken over your lack of transparency on the original Heart Like His study, but I so want to echo what one siesta said (I think she quoted you): God uses us where we are. You gave what you were able to give at that time. AND it blessed many, many others. Now God has shown you more and you are in a different place, and so you now give out of that abundance. Isn’t that amazing? Our relationship with Him keeps growing, and we keep growing!
You said something else that penetrated my soul that evening. The paragraph that ended with: “All that I have to offer is Him.” I have been stuggling with my feelings of inadequacy in returning to graduate school for a master’s in pastoral care and counseling. I believe God has called me to work with women who don’t usually get solid spiritual care, like those in jails, prisons, or mental institutions. But the enemy has been plaguing me with doubts regarding my computer skills, age (I’m your age), and even my calling.
But after I read your post and the early comments, I heard God speak so clearly to me: “Of course you can’t do this on your own. I am the only reason you can do this. I brought you up out of the pit, and I will get the glory because this is My work in you. So don’t worry about your shortcomings. I called you, I will be with you, and I will see it to completion.” So all I have to offer is Him. To God be the glory.
Sorry this is so long. It helps to write it out, even if no one sees it :). May God richly bless you today, Beth, as through you, He has blessed me. You and your studies are the primary reason that I fell in love with Jesus all over again about three years ago. I’ve done old ones and new ones, and they ALL spoke to me where I was at at that time.
Love, Karene
Great point Karene!!! We keep growing with Him!!! And the unbelievable Grace that HE gives, when you think about how long we spend letting the inadequaces of us mull over in our brains…I loved how you put it, “of course you can’t do this on your own”?! I always feel so foolish when I realize I have wasted time thinking I was the one, but I feel the safest at that time to just say, LORD I am an idiot, I am so glad you love me in spite of me”
Oh how I love your heart! I have often wondered, how do you possibly read ALL of these posts….just the thought overwhelmed me! 🙂 I loved this post!
Oh, DITTO, DITTO, DITTO your capitalized words! And everytime I’m reminded of those truths, like you just reminded me, I can’t believe how freshly it hits me! It’s brand new every day! How I love Jesus!
Ok….THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I am currently being broken from a major bondage that I have been praying about since I did your Breaking Free here in Houston, I believe 2 years ago…Initially I knew I was in bondage but wasn’t quite sure the center of it…But, as Jesus has it he started peeling the layers as I kept asking. This past week I have entered the center of this layer and boy it is a tough one. Fear, insecurity, the feeling of being inadequate have all poured over me. But I have fallen to my knees and asked Jesus to love me through it and help me. As scary as it is I am excited and hopeful that the other side is going to be grander than I could ever imagine. Beth, the story you just told just confirmed to me we are always learnin and trusting Jesus is the only way. He will get us there…You have been a blessing by sharing it has really encouraged me to not give up in continuing the fight to break the bondage that keeps me from experiencing Jesus even more…THANK YOU!!!
Dearest Beth, how refreshing your honesty and love for God is!! I know that the Lord is smiling at you and is going to bless you for it! I love you. And what your (God’s) ministry is doing in my life. We have a ladies’ community Bible study and in the past year we did your Daniel and Ester studies. God has used these greatly. As we have some family issues going on and the Lord has done some directing through these studies!! Thank you and praise God.
Just had my morning cup of coffee with you, Beth, and I have to tell you my heart was so touched by all you shared…and I am thankful for this blog and the wonderful “mama” you are for us who lets our Father guide her every word!
Through doing all of your Bible studies, I have seen how you have grown more in love with our Lord Jesus, through each one, and how “real” your wounds, and life experiences that God has brought you through are. GOD is the I AM in all this life and in a very painful tragic loss of my sweet Samantha, ONLY God is healing my broken heart, it is because of Him that I can face today, tomorrow…
I so loved reading about your grandma, what memories you have to treasure in your heart!
Keep learning, keep growing, keep teaching us what He is showing you and thank you Beth, for the passion you have for only Him!!!! Love, Tammy
Thank you Siesta Mama for protecting this community!
Beth, Thank you for your example that we should be open to God pruning us throughout out lives. To be stagnant is to be dead spiritually. You have blessed my heart with your honest words and great reminders that we should be “out there” living our lives as Christ has comissioned us. This blog is a great outlet for support and fun! But it should never take the place of personal relationships.
Beth,
Can I just say “Thank you”? Thank you for your protection of this place.
I am new here, flying solo through the Ruth study here in the mountains of Colorado because I need a safe place to be real.
Thank you for guiding and protecting the ministry of Siestaville. I need to see and to know that relationships and ministry can be healing and healthy. I hurt for this in my own life and for the women in my church.
Thank you.
Wow… It is funny looking back at the studies I have done and thinking why did she stop short of transparency. I did not spend a lot of time wondering, but the thought did go through my mind every time I did a “Beth Moore” study. I took a small group of women to San Jose CA when you were there with Kay Arthur and Priscilla Shrively. Kay’s transparency blew me out of the water… It convicted me and to be completely transparent… have never been completely transparent with anyone (with the exception of my late husband) about how far or how much God has done to restore me….I have thought that bringing up past sin, that I am forgiven for, would be some how seen as attention getting… if that makes since. I love to teach and minister to women, and love the women in my church with all my heart… and work at transparency..but fear the risk of it…I trust God, but the reality is I don’t trust women…at least with everything that God has done to restore me…I don’t want to be a liar..and I want to learn and grow…but this is sorta tricky…
Good point, Kim…the situation can get tricky. I don’t think there’s really a right or wrong way to testify, but sometimes I do think testimonies get bogged down or even sidetracked by the confession stage. Personally, I love it when a person spends a sentence or so stating their sin or stronghold in general, and then spends the remainder of their testimony on what Christ did to deliver them from it. He is so glorified through this method and Satan is so whipped!
Beth,
There is a time to every purpose under heaven as the Scriptures say and God is doing this new thing for a reason. I pray that as you find yourself in Him more and more that He, too, will reveal to you a greater revelation of Himself. (I already know He always does… But, I’m just agreeing with it.) I appreciate so much your honesty and the way you are thinking on us and your heritage from your dear Nanny. I can’t wait to see the fruit of your labor on the David study. It was the third one I did in my journey with the women I served in ministry.
How sweet. I have spent the weekend with my mother and father and my daddy and I have been having some good old fashioned heart-to-hearts. God is healing us up through these times of refreshing, and well, if you would pray for my momma. She is a dear, sweet woman. But, her childhood was sodded with pain and suffering. She grew up with a big whole in her heart and God has been healing it over the years, but each time she gets an ounce of Freedom the enemy hits her with a salt bomb that just grinds into those old wounds and opens them up again. Would you and the Siestas be so sweet to pray for her?
I love her so much and it kills me to see her suffer so much when I know our God is working this out to deliver her from all the pain she has experienced in her life.
Blessings,
Michelle Bentham
Dear Beth, I am sending you a hug. I am not trying to down play anything God is teaching you, but He is a God of mercy and grace and TIMING. I am suggesting that it may not have been the right time for you or your audience. God has done such amazing things through your Bible studies and He has SO MANY TIMES spoken directly into a situation, like miraculously, no matter when you wrote or filmed the study. I understand your passion to live in freedom, honesty, and integrity and that is evident in all your work. Praying you’ll feel a God Hug today. In Jesus’ Love Kathy Knoblock
I just wanted to thank you for your blog and your willingness to be so transparent and vulnerable in your ministry to women. There isn’t a single time that I don’t get tears in my eyes when I read a post or comment. Also, thank you for your faithfulness to do regular updates and posts. Your comment that you had not “don’t the facebook thing” so you can be faithful to the blog community brought tears to my eyes. Some other blogs I followed regularly kind of fell apart after the blogger got on facebook. May the Lord richly bless Living Proof Ministries.
Love you, sweet Beth. Your heart for HIM and all He has done for you, is so clear to all of us who study along with you. Thanks for your transparent, precious life and ALWAYS givin’ the glory to the One who deserves it. xo
My paternal grandmother’s name was O’Linda Wrausman, named after a race horse of all things. Like you Beth it boggles my mind what she saw in her lifetime (1895-1992)
I just love you…with tears in my eyes.
I studied, “Breaking Free,” in 2002 (just married, new to CA) and then “Esther” this past year (married 8 years, we’ve moved back to AZ). I have other books you’ve written (“Further Still” for one) and my Mom and I attended the LPM conference in Tucson this past spring. I’m so thankful God is using you to walk alongside us as women encouraging us/me to cling to Him for everything.
Thank you for your honesty, your blog, your ministry, your love for women. I am one who has been blessed beyond measure by His work through you.
I would like to ask for prayer… Sometimes I think I am moving along… smooth sailing… then the rug seems to get pulled out from under me and I wonder “why me”… It seems every time I take 2 steps forward it is one step back… at least if my math is correct… I am still moving ahead even if it is at a snails pace… In my mind I find that difficult to accept… but at this point I will take anything that is a step forward… This past week has been a tough one… It has been one where I feel “beat up” by a dominant person in the church I attend… only to see that the others in the church just let it happen and tend to have the attitude of let God “work” on her heart… In the past I would have totally dramatized the situation and extended the bad behaviour of one to the entire “body”… I guess God may be growing me up… and I am learning to not bite back when bitten… not impulsively… so this time I am trying to handle things differently… but it is SO HARD… I am hurt… please pray that I will continue not to bite back or gossip… to be totally honest… in the past… those were my two favorite weapons when hurt very deeply… may I ask that you would pray that God would somehow create in me an ability to choose to love and forgive her… and that I will continue to pray blessings on her… Thank you so much!
Hi Sheri,
I am praying Colossians 3:12-14 for you. These verses have helped me tremendously because they remind me and tell me that even when I am not ‘feeling’ love or compassion or a forgiving spirit that I am to ‘put’ them on anyway. I just love the mental image of putting on love and forgiveness.
Praying for you.
Blessings,
michelle
Thank you Michelle… I am going to read that over and over until my heart is free and I am daily going to wake up and put on my love and forgiveness for her… thanks for the reminder and your prayers…
Sheri
Your welcome Sheri!
Hey Beth! I just want to say that God used that study in such a mighty way in my life…I wouldn’t change a single thing in your teaching. To think back all those years ago…brings back the sweetest memories for me as a young mom and going to Biblestudy with my mom. Thank you for what you did teach and what you shared…God was glorified through the study…and I grew closer to Him in that study of David. The neat thing about what you have just shared is that you have grown in your walk with Him all these years…and are allowing Him to do and teach you new things. That is awesome…and something He wants us all to be prepared to do…for His glory! Thanks for being so sweet! I’ve been in your Bible studies for over 13 years now…and have enjoyed each one! You were such a blessing to me as a young 20 year old mom…to this now almost 33 year old mom of 3 boys!! God is soooo good:)Big hug, Christy
Thank you for sharing from your heart. I appreciate your instruction given in love, & your reminder to be transparent when sharing our faith. God bless you.
I am a former facebook addict in recovery – I had to actually gauge my eye out and cut my arm off, ie: delete the account:)(You can do that instead of deactivate, but you have to search for the option) Anyway, I miss my cyberfriends and the constant source of companionship, but for some of us,,, me mE ME! well, I let myself get very distracted and my house nearly fell apart…broken clear in two by dirty laundry and dishes, and neglected children 🙁 The strangest thing to me has been that I got off of it for one reason and the Lord has placed many many more reasons to stay off it on my heart. So I write this to encourage anyone else struggling with a facebook addiction. I know it’s real and I am here to say there is life after facebook! Disclaimer: I am only speaking to those w/ facebook issues like myself and not making a general statement for anyone using it. BUT, I do believe with all my heart that the deciever has decieved a lot of people on there and it is one of his most potent arrows for distraction hurled at our world today. Bless the Lord, oh my soul.
Oh Beth! You are such a breathe of fresh air. I love your honestly and I love how you love our God! Thank you for loving your siestas and watching out for us. You are a blessing.
oh – and I was a fan of Beth Moore on facebook, so just so ya know, you didn’t lose a fan – you gained a siesta!
Here’s what boggles my mind about grandmas… In 1897, my great-grandma gave birth to a little girl who would become my grandma. My mom got sick when I was 12 so my grandma played a huge part in my life. She lived to be almost 96; died in 1993. Now here I am in 2010 (113 years after my grandma’s birth) raising my kids (ages 4 & 6), still heavily influenced by my grandma and the steadfast faith she taught and showed me. I tell my kids stories about my grandma and the way she lived out her faith in God over nearly a century.
You know that my great-grandma had NO IDEA that the way she was raising her daughter in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s would reach into the next century and directly affect three generations later. She had no clue. Great-grandma could not have imagined the world I live in and yet the faith she passed on is as relevant as ever.
If Christ should tarry – what if the way I raise my kids is still having an impact in 2110? Exciting. Terrifying.
Loved this post!
Oh, Beth. My eyes tear up just reading this.
Thank the Lord for your transparency and your willingness to learn. And your willingness to teach others by your example.
Bless you, Sweetie!
Beth,
I am amazed at how well you are able to communicate your heart…having “learnt sumthin” under you for the past 15 years and seeing you at LPL events, I see it loud and clear. And I’m one to get frustrated sometimes because I feel some conversations should be done in person vs. e-mail (or Facebook) because the intent is lost in translation.
However, I get the point loud and clear and I appreciate you re-stating the boundaries for our protection…Lord, we need people like that in our lives. As women, we can sure get out of control.
Thank you for sharing your heart, your struggles, and always pointing us to the One who can truly save us.
Valerie
Louisville KY
Amen!
Amen!
Hey Siesta Mama, thanks for looking out for us and warning us so we are not ignorant of the devil’s schemes. At first, the temptation to replace my face to face friendships with blog relationships was there. Limiting my time on here on purpose helps. I just want to be healthy in my relationships! Online or not. Encouragement, exhortation, yes, I’ve received that here. Ultimately, He has to be it for me. I am glad you shared about your grandma’s life. That is some hard, long living, but rewarding to her, I’m sure:) Sometimes, when I’m telling people about how I was blessed with my baby, I tend to word it in a way that just doesn’t give God justice. I want to give Him that glory. When I was reading the end of your post, that part touched me. I really can’t function without Him, I know that.
Blessings to you today,
katiegfromtennessee
I was first introduced to you when I did the Bible study “A Heart Like His” about 10 years ago. It tendered my heart (a Bethism I love) in a new way as I experienced how your words seemed to be just for me…and then I realized that everyone in the room felt that way. You make it all about Jesus so your words have great power and connection…I know Jesus better and love him more…thank you!
You may have left out your full-fledged testimony of God’s grace in your life at that time, but you said enough to drag this broken-hearted young women through her grief and crisis of faith. My first-born was still-born (36 weeks) in Feb. 1997. My mother was doing this Bible study with a group from our church at that time. She drug me to a replay of the videos each week. When I wondered where my God was in the depth of my grief, why he wasn’t answering my simple prayers after the baby died, your words, the scripture you taught kept my head above water. I was reminded that He is good. He is all those things I’d spent my childhood learning, even if I didn’t feel it at that time. You may see what is missing in the manuscript, but know your work was a mighty tool in the hands of our God to begin binding up my broken heart. I am forever greatful to you both!
Thank you for writing that. I have stated in many of my Beth Moore studies homework that “God has saved me from myself.” Only God would be able to forgive how self destructive I was to the “apple of His eye.” This is true and why I so enjoy this blog, the honesty. Thanks for being our Siesta Mama, sometimes you have to say something that is uncomfortable, but then again all Mamas do. Love you lady!
Hey siestas! Okay, so I have checked/read this blog almost daily for at least a year now and I think this is the first comment that I’ve ever posted. But I still feel like I know y’all somehow so I just have to share this really cool news!
So, I was sitting in my room yesterday listening to the last part of Session 2 from the “The Heart of our Desire” Simulcast that I purchased online while the lady that helps clean for me was cleaning upstairs…or so I thought… I heard a knock on my door and pushed pause to see what she needed. She (my cleaning lady, Jenny) just stood there and said, “Could you please push play on that sweet lady with a southern accent again so I can confess with my mouth that I want Jesus to be in my heart? I’ve never done that and have always wanted to”. Whoa!!! ABSOLUTELY!! So she and I talked a little bit about what that meant AND THEN SHE PRAYED WITH THOUSANDS OF OTHER WOMEN WHO HAD LISTENED TO THAT SIMULCAST TO RECEIVE JESUS AS HER LORD AND SAVIOR! I’m still undone over it and wanted to let you all in on the celebration that’s taking place in heaven! And in our home!
I love y’all and this community! Thanks for celebrating with us!
What an awesome story Emily! That touched my heart today.
Amen Beth on all accounts! The web can be a slippery and danger, or wonderful thing. We need to be careful on it. And as for being teachable, as you stated in the opening of your To Live As Christ study, it is very true. We can grow and become great in Him, if only we let him teach us.
Amen Beth!!
Beth,
I want to start out by saying, God has used your Bible studies and books to change my life and draw me closer to Him. Thank you for allowing God to use you in such a mighty way! My very first exposure to one of your studies was when a dear friend from church invited me to come to a session of Daniel to see what your studies were like. It just so happened to be the session where you were beginning the eschatology portion. My mind was spinning after that session, but the Holy Spirit convicted me that I needed to be involved in that type of Bible study. That was in 2006. I signed up for the next series that my church offered and I have completed several of your studies, since that time. I am currently completing “A Heart Like His.” I have noticed in the video sessions that you don’t seem to have that same “fire” that you have in some of your newer studies – and I have missed it. I won’t comment on the hair. *Grin*
Please know that even though you feel the way that you do about this study, it was not in vain. God is still using that study. This morning, I completed Day 2 of Week 7. The last sentence, “Pray for yourself, then pray for someone you know who is being mightily used by God.” As someone who has been rescued from a pit, I pray that I never find my way back there again. I also prayed for you this morning. May God continue to bless you and use you in a mighty way.
Dear Beth,Thrilled to see that you are working on A Heart Like His. Do you have an idea when that will go to publication and be ready for us?
Just wanted to thank you for your submission to Jesus, by sharing who you are and who and what God can do.
I am the women’s ministry director at our church. Last spring, we offered Breaking Free.(new rewrite) I had a young quiet gal join at about lesson 3. She did not share much, but at the end of the whole study she shared with me that this study had hugely helped her to recognize her stronghold. A month later, I recieved a note from her from the Remuda Ranch adult residency program for eating disorders. You do make a difference. I have actually participated or lead Breaking Free probably 7 times, and each time, the LORD shows up big.
Last fall we offered Deeper Still and I began to get to See the David , God’s annointed one in a new light. Little did I know that my husband would be handed 4 tickets for poaching from a hunting trip in Nov., charging him with something he did not do..These tickets arrived on day two of his new job in March. He returned to work for our Congreesman in the congressional office as the state Dirctor for our state.( a job he held for 7 years previously).. He is a retired police officer, an avid hunter for the last 45 years, and well known in our community for the last 37 years as a man of integrity and honesty. His charges made 5 nights of tv coverage, and on it goes. We chose for hime to plead innocent in March, rather than pleading guilty for something that was impossible for him to have done.( it would have been much cheaper) Because this is an election year everything has drug out as far and as close to the election as possible. Trial date is set for Aug ll. Meanwhile, he was asked to take a leave of absense without pay until everything is finished.
In Breaking Free, on day 2 of our saga, the LORD gave me Is 54:10,NLT”For the mountains may move,and the hills disappear,but even then, my faithful love for you WILL remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken.”
vs 17, “But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the LORD. Their vindication will come form me. I, the LORD have spoken..” I guess that sums it up. In the meantime, the LORD has provided for our needs, been an anchor that we could hold on to by our teeth. I am learning to trust and rest in a GOD that can do anything.
When you head to the Wyo vacations, look to the north at the blue skies of Montana, from mountains to plains and pray for us that justice will prevail and that the LORD GOD of those heavens and earth will be lifted high and glorified. Hope to see you in Spokane in Oct, Blessings on you, Christy Vogel
GOD WILL BLESS YOU!!! HE IS JUSTICE! Bless you both in the time leading up!
I can’t believe no one (that I’ve seen) has commented on your Nanny’s name!
“Minnie Ola”? I love it! That is a type of tangelo here in Florida; it’s also a town close to Orlando.
God bless grandmothers!
Beth, you have no idea how the Lord used that post to minister to me. I had just told Him how I was trying to be everything to everyone and I knew I could not do it. Then He used you to remind me that I was out of my league. That’s His job. Not mine. Praise God for you! You speak the truth about being a woman and don’t try to pretty it up. I thank God for you today!
I deeply loved a Heart Like His bible study. It is still my favorite.
I have always been captivated by David,
who was a deeply flawed, wonderfully complex, multi-talented individual with a heart like His. I love the story of Hannah, the story of Jonathan and David, the story of Abigail and even Bathsheba.
I am glad this one is coming back for a remix. I sure love you Beth.
Oh Beth, I get you! I was just thinking that last night. Upon receiving a letter to pray over being a Women’s Bible Study leader this next year, it dawned on me, “how on earth did I do it last year?”
See I had been handed different ministry opprotunities, like being a group leader, and jsut like you said, my heart and soul believed it, but now reading thru these guidelines about waht a group leader should be and what she is representing, it occured to me, if I am to say I am a Women’s Bible Study group leader, that means that I am living Coram Deo (oh yes I did!) to even try to lead a group of women that are learning to study the Bible. I better be reading it, praying it in and leaning on GOD more than ever. I am embarrassed to think how I was before this revelation. But then it occurs to me, GOD graces who HE pleases. And the very heart that responds to a revelation like this, is the heart HE knew HE could trust. If we knew to be all that we could be all the time, our tesitmony wouldn’t be HIS complete light. HE has given me opprotunities to both grow me in grace and knowledge. (At the Deeper Still in Denver, HE put me on the prayer team – why? Perhaps to get me to start really praying to HIM) How embarrassing and merciful at the same time.
BTW – I loved what you brought up about commenting here. Insecurity gets the best of us so often, but GOD called me out one day on that. Upon whining that I was making any connections, GOD said, “do you read anyone else’s comments and try to connect there?” NO! Well I started to and have been blown away by friendships and just seeing what people are living thru! I am humbled and embarrassed at the same time.
Can’t wait to see you this Friday and Saturday in Irvine!!! Its my mom’s first time seeing you in real life, she is playing her outfits already!!!
Beth – thank you so much for this post…I SO desire to keep on learning…i’m a S-L-O-W learner unfortunately, but i never want to stop.
Thank you Beth and all the siestas for your openness and your vulnerability in sharing your lives and your hearts for all of us who want to love Christ more and to cherish Him like you do. I am free to share my hurts and my humanness and my weaknesses because you open your heart and yourself to us. When I see you, Beth, and all that you are for all of us in the name of our precious, loving Father, and hear your passion and love for Him, you encourage me to be more, to love Him more, and to be more real where He is concerned. God has so richly blessed you and you make me want to know Him like you do and to continue to grow in my relationship with Him. Thank you!
Woot Woot! ha! I love you ladies!
Beth,
I LOVED this post! I read a lot but rarely post. I have been going through some major attacks here lately myself and realizing God is calling me to a new place. It can hurt and be hard and lonely! My hubby is doing amazing growing in the Lord as well so Satan is pressing us extra hard! Jesus is showing me I have some things from the past the need to be dealt with and have caused me to be hard and not focus enough on God’s grace and that I REALLY BELIEVE GOD!! This post was very encouraging. Thank you as you and your family are a blessing!