Hey, Sweet Things! I hope you had the sweetest Christmas day. You guys had such special traditions. I loved picturing many of you yesterday doing the very things you described. Yolanda, I keep thinking about you coming from a sharecropper’s family and getting to pick out anything you wanted from the grocery store at Christmas. That you got the okra and your brother got the cool whip made me so happy. What a culinary pair. I hope so much I’m remembering those details right! If I’m butchering your story, correct me and forgive me.
Our family had such a great day! We stretched from a 22 month-old to two nearly 80 year-olds. We read the Christmas story together, prayed as a family, and tore into presents of all shapes and sizes. I was so whipped by late last night that I almost couldn’t make it to the mattress but the Moores, Jones, and Fitzpatricks had indeed celebrated the birth of Christ and shared much joy and laughter. And food. God lent me the cooking gift for 24 hours and my meal was so stinking good that I kept wanting to high-five my own self. Every time the conversation went to something else, I tried to subtly steer it back to my miraculous kitchen extravaganza and how it all came off at the same time. These are Christmas miracles, people. Not pearls before swine at the Moore house.
I don’t have a single picture to show you right now because I never picked up my cell phone. Melissa took great pictures with an actual camera but those will have to be uploaded. We’ll get them to you soon. So many fun things happened yesterday but I’ll mention the one that still had me tickled when I got into bed last night: Jackson’s first shot at karaoke. I got him a Phineas and Ferb Karaoke Machine and his parents thought it best not to get it out of the box until they got home at a later hour. Amanda videoed his debut last night and texted it to me on my I-phone. I’ve watched it over and over. I sent it to Travis and he had the good sense to love it, too. He thought maybe he noted a worship leader in the making based, I believe, on Jackson’s enthusiasm for the craft rather than his actual pitch. It is so hilarious and endearing that I can hardly stand it. Of course, little Miss is right up in his business but he occasionally acquiesced and put the microphone up to her mouth. She, too, sang with considerable gusto. The two main words of the kids’ song were “born again” (really LOUD) so the karaoke experience was the richer for its fine theology.
OK, I promised myself I wouldn’t do this because I need to stick to the task at hand and keep this post very focused so that we can direct people back to it in the future. SO, on with our important purpose: how to participate in the 2011 Siesta Scripture Memory Team! Here are a few things to know up front:
*For you new comers, “Siesta” is just an endearment for “Sister.” There’s no club to join and no person you need to become. If you’ve trusted Jesus as your personal Savior, you’re a sister in Christ. When we first began the blog several years ago, it never occurred to any of us how much we’d come to love each other. As the community grew closer and closer and the participants more and more familiar with one another, one of you asked what name we should call each another. I tried to say, “I’ll tell you what we are: We’re sistahs!” but spell-check switched it to “siestas.” It stuck and that’s been us ever since. We even liked the thought that its actual meaning is to take a nap. We’ll know we’ve been a place of divine intervention if we’re a respite from the female competition and clatter out there. Only Jesus can give us that kind of relief in this exhausting culture.
*We call this a Scripture memory “team” because that’s exactly what we are. We’re a really long line of women standing shoulder to shoulder with our swords drawn. And we don’t draw our swords to wound people, to convict our family members (God’s job) or to cut off the ears of our hearers. We draw our swords to fight the good fight of faith. While I was helping stuff Siesta Scripture Memory Spirals into envelopes on the 22nd, I said to my coworkers, “JUST THINK, what would happen if 6000+ women really did memorize 24 Scriptures in 2011?? What are the implications of that? What kind of repercussions might that have in our personal lives and our homes?” And we got all riled up. You bet this is a team. Don’t be too cool for it. Remember, God’s Spirit is a fire. If we’re too cool, we can’t help but quench it. If cheesy works around here, we’re not ashamed.
*Very often you will see me refer to SSMT. Just so you’ll know, that is an abbreviation for “Siesta Scripture Memory Team.” I also want the rest of you to keep in mind that we don’t limit the entire blog to our Scripture memory participants. It has a big presence on here because it’s twice a month but we still do lots of other things. Please don’t feel left out or forgotten.
OK, NOW FOR THE INSTRUCTIONS. You can cut and paste these somewhere if necessary. Here’s how it will go:
1. On the 1st and 15th of every month of 2011, you will find a post by 8:00 in the morning where I will ask for your memory verse and give you mine. This will begin New Year’s Day. You are committing to 24 Scriptures in 12 months. In previous years, I’ve found this to be a very doable pace. If you do much more, you’ll tend to fall behind and not retain. If you do much less, the impact is negligible. You really can do this. So many of you will surprise yourselves with what you’re capable of doing in the power of the Spirit. Yes, it takes work but it’s tremendously fulfilling and the results are nearly immeasurable. Look at it this way: you’re going to be meditating on something: unforgiveness, toxic memories, misery, lust, greed, dissatisfaction, jealousy, competition. Choose Scripture! Christ Himself said as a man thinks, so is he. He also said His words are spirit and life. This is work worth doing, Sweet Thing. Never – NOT ONCE – have I ever known anyone to get to the end of a Scripture memory commitment and say that it didn’t make any real difference. Not a single time.
2.You are to enter the verse you’ve chosen to memorize for that two-week period within twenty-four hours of the post going up. I’ve been asked many times if it’s okay if you’re late supplying your verse and, yes, of course it is, but try to avoid doing it often. The people who make it to the very end of the year are overwhelmingly those who stay up with it month to month. Please know up front that one of the important parts of this process is the exercise of self discipline. This culture is mass producing wimpy narcissists. Year-long commitments like these that require punctuality and focused energy push back on that degenerating trend. All that to say, please don’t drop out if you get behind. I just want you to know that this will be much more successful if you treat it as a real, live commitment you are willing to work hard to keep.
3. When you clock in with your verse those two times a month, keep your comments limited to your name, city, verse and translation. Long comments on SSMT days are no-no’s. It won’t take you long to figure out why we maintain that rule. Wait till you see the powerful sight of hundreds if not thousands of verses flowing down the comment stream. It is a gorgeous sight. When you’re having a bad day, all you have to do is scroll down a few hundred of your sisters’ Scripture selections and I promise you, you’ll get a word. It’s a very powerful thing. Here is a sample comment:
Beth from Houston, Texas: “Forget about what’s happened! Don’t keep going over old history. Be alert! Be present! I’m about to do something brand new. It’s bursting out. Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road in the desert and rivers in the badlands.” Isaiah 43:18-19 The Message
(That was my first Scripture from last year so I wrote it from memory. If you choose that one, you better double check it. It’s at least 95 per cent accurate…I think. Yep. Double check it.) Always add your translation because so many of your sisters will want to know where you found the wording for your entry. One of the great impacts of this process is how much we reap from each other’s selections. Often you’ll see a sister say, “I’m doing the one so-and-so did last time!” (Yes, you can make a comment that brief. Those can be fun. Occasionally you’ll even see someone write, “For the sake of my marriage, I’ve chosen to memorize…” That’s okay, too, but try to keep it very succinct.)
4. As often as possible, choose a verse that means something to you in your present season or circumstance. This is the reason why we don’t all memorize the same Scripture. We’re not all going through the same things. The more you let God lead you to verses that direct you or edify your soul in your present circumstances, the more He will renew your mind toward your challenges. This is a huge part of 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 where we’re told to demolish strongholds and take our thoughts captive to Christ. If you don’t have a verse on your mind or you’re drawing a blank when the 1st or 15th rolls around, you are welcome to share mine. I will always include it in the post. You might also look at a few of the comments and see if one of theirs resonates with you. I say this next part with a grin: try to refrain from memorizing Scriptures that you think your spouse or your children need to learn. Memorize what you need to learn. That means do your best to avoid jotting your verse on a stick note and planting it on your bathroom mirror where your man can see it and repent of his sins. He probably won’t because he’s got your game. I bet you can guess how I know that.
5. I strongly recommend that you stick with only one verse to memorize each time. (This is just a recommendation and not a rule. You’re free to do whatever works for you.) Keep it simple and meaningful. (If I were addressing you live, I’d have you repeat that sentence back to me so just go ahead and say it out loud in order to nail it down. That sentence could be your best friend through this process.) If you do too many verses or get too complicated, you will soon be overwhelmed and want to drop out. Better to do 24 simpler verses over a 12 month period of time than a chapter over the first month then quit. We want this to be a discipline we practice for the rest of our lives. Think marathon. Not sprint.
6. Either shortly before or after making your entry each 1st and 15th in the blog comment, write the verse by hand in your own spiral. (Again, that’s a recommendation and not a rule. I’ve discovered that there’s something about writing it with your own hand and picturing it later in your own handwriting that helps it sink into your memory bank. I’m not entirely sure why.) Take that spiral with you everywhere you go. Read it and read it and read it and read it. Do mental gymnastics with it. Flip that baby over and over. Many women have told me along the way that they’re not good at memorization and I truly understand that. I also beg to offer two responses: First, that may change. Give the Holy Spirit a chance to do something brand new with you. Second, even if you don’t get your verses down word for word, you are still meditating on them as you read and reread them. You still, thereby, accomplish one of the most important goals: captivating the mind to Christ. You just can’t lose on this one. Either way, it has a powerful effect.
OK, I think that’s enough to get us prepared for January 1st. Now, let me tell you well in advance how to qualify for our Siesta Scripture Memory Team Celebration mid-January of 2012. (I’m writing this from my home on Sunday evening and I forget exactly which weekend in January 2012 we scheduled it. I’ll double check and let you know shortly so you can save money for your transportation and hotel. We do not charge for the event. Your entrance fee is your well-used spiral. By the way, Travis is planning to be there again to lead us in worship and my beloved LPM staff and daughters are looking really forward to it, too.) Here’s how you qualify:
*Clock in by first name and city at least 21 out of 24 times. (But please make your goal 24 out of 24!) Let me reiterate that you can be late with your entry on a 1st or 15th of any month but, by the end of the year, there has to be a record in the comment sections of you signing in at least 21 out of 24 times on a SSMT post. Make sense? Please give us 24 hours to post your comment before you assume it got lost. We still moderate all comments and the amount we get on SSMT days necessitates a slower pace. Thank you for your cooperation!
*Bring your spiral to the celebration. Again, that’s your ticket in.
*Be prepared to say any 12 of your 24 memory verses to another Siesta (of your choice) during the designated time at the celebration. (We get in pairs.) Some of you will be tempted to let this be a deal breaker but don’t back out! Siestas are really sweet and patient with each other and we are notorious for giving each other hints. We can even act out charades if necessary. If you’re one of those who genuinely struggles with memorization, just tell your memory buddy up front and she’ll give you all the grace you need. Tell her the gist of the verse as accurately as you possibly can. She’ll be able to tell that you are well acquainted with it and that the goal was accomplished even if you can’t say the verse word-for-word.
*Register for the event when the time comes. (December 1, 2011)
Whew! Have I exhausted you?? I’ve worn myself to a pulp. Sorry this is so wordy! We just want to answer as many of your questions up front as possible.
I want to tell you something before I sign off. You have impacted my walk with Christ. This community has given me encouragement when I was nearly down for the count. I am more disciplined because you are here. You make a difference in my life. You make me think, and laugh, and study. You offer me company when I am lonely. You stir me up to love and good works. You are used of God in my life to make this hard world a better place.
That’s what Siestaville is for. Women walking alongside women on our way Home, stirring up excitement toward that great day. SSMT is just one way we do that. AND IT’S A WHOPPER. Let’s do it, Sisters, starting this coming January 1st! I’ll talk to you again about other things before then but I don’t want the New Year to take you by surprise.
Your blog mama loves you.
Oh I am so ready for this! I haven’t gotten my spiral yet but I have a temporary ready to go…I just know God has got something brewing. I can feel it and I am so happy to be digging in God’s word with all you beautiful siestas that I love so much. Thank You Mama Beth for setting the rules. I am one of those who has to know the rules ahead of time.
love
Tammy
I will be new to the Siesta Team and am so excited. I have always wanted to be able to memorize scripture. This blog and all of these women have inspired me greatly to reach that goal. Today I couldn’t repeat one scripture if my life depended on it but I have faith and know that by the end of the year I will know 24. I am ready set to go 🙂
Chelle Willamor, Mobile, AL
O Chelle I will be so excited to see your scriptures! I’m going to find you in Houston and hear at least one! You will be saying I can repeat a scripture!!! grin
Yeah Yanna! My goal is to start saving for Houston! I’m gonna have my very own jar by my bed to start dropping a little here and a little there in. I’m sooo excited! This was just what I needed to start doing something I’ve always wanted to do.
You’ll love this Chelle! I promise! It’s been amazing when I’m faced with a problem or circumstance I’m not sure what to do, a verse that I memorized will pop right into my tho’ts! I love it and think you will too.
Beth, I can hardly wait to do this again and be in my “newlywed city” of Houston of the early 1980’s.
Thank you for your loves for us Siestas and being a beloved friend and sojourner on the road to heaven.
Have a wonderful week!
I want this! I can’t wait to jump on board with ya’ll and enjoy the community. This comment is written with the sole purpose of making sure everything works before January 1st when I will post my 1st verse.
Beth, you’ve inspired me beyond words… again!
me too, cathy! my comments have not been going through (i promise they’ve not been offensive & censored!) so i’m trying to figure this out. i’m replying to your comment so i’ll know just where to look.
i’m so excited about getting started again!
Tracey!!! wow, hi from OBU Alum!! I can’t find my post either! Are you posting from the bottom of this page?
Are you posting on Beth’s SSMT post from January 1st, or on this Instructions post? It would be best to post on the SSMT post.
Beth, I’m so thrilled to start the new year with the SSMT! A note to my fellow Siestas out there….I can testify that scripture memory will amaze you and bless your heart in ways that words cannot describe. As part of a Prayer Ministry team, I write cards that include scripture and after a year of doing so, I have written some verses that are forever etched into my soul and I have called on them in the most amazing moments….and I can hear the Lord speak His words to me. My 24 selections this year will be brand new to my heart! Blessings to all those who choose to participate.
I attended a private Christian school from kindergarten through 12th grade. When we were in elementary school, we memorized scripture as a class. In Friday chapel, each class would stand and recite their verse. I have such fond memories of that. I can still recite some of the verses by heart (even though I may not be able to remember the book, chapter and verse). It is thrilling to be making the choice to memorize Scripture again with a community of people. When I read all the different verses on the 1st and 15th, it will be like I am back in chapel hearing the other people recite their verses. Maybe I will try to read them aloud:)
Also, I am giving a spiral to my friend tomorrow in hopes that she will decide to participate.
I so enjoyed the 2009 SSMT! I’m still carrying that spiral around, with many added verses since then. As a spin-off of the SSMT, I formed a mini team with 5 members of my congregation. Every 1st and 15th I would remind them of the dates and tell them what verse I’d chosen and ask them to send me theirs. A couple of them posted on your blog, but some weren’t interested, which was fine since we were a local team together. Now for this year I’ve sent out an email asking who wants to belong to the 2011 group, with several responses already! I’m excited to be able to facilitate scripture memory on a local level. Thank you for leading me for God’s glory!
I am so excited to be joining the SSMT this time around! Thanks to my friend Heidi for the invite. Can’t wait!!
I’m praying and meditating on self change this year and will focus my memory scriptures on that purpose. My weight has become a huge issue and something I need to pray about for change. Thank you Beth for organizing and inspiring this!!
Beth,
I can’t wait to memorize my first verse and am looking forward to the peace and safety that Scripture memory provides: Psalm 119:165 – “Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.”
Laura K in SD
I am so thrilled to do this again. The last one changed my life and I met so many amazing Siesta’s at the SSMT Celebration. The whole trip was a gift to me from another Siesta, God totally blew me away with that one. I had never expected to go, my husband had been out of work, there was no money BUT GOD….He blew my mind. It was lavish and fun and much too short of a time to get to know so many wonderful woman!
Here’s to another amazing year of getting to know Him more!
I’m so excited about the SST! I have tried to memorize in the past and I am hoping toting a spiral around for a year and being head accountable to all my Siestas will keep me held tight to memorizing the word of God! Praying for all the ladies participating.
Now if I can just decide on which scripture to start the year off with;)
Hello! This is my first time doing siestas and reading your blog! What a wonderfully uplifting thing to read! My best friend since birth and I are going to do the siesta memory team as sort of accountability partners! I’m so excited and thank God for placing such a wonderful siste inCHrist in my life! This is Definitly something we are going to share with our MOPS group! Thank you so much for all you do! I thank God for your gift of womens ministry and how you have taught me and so many other so much! Many blessings to you and your family! Can’t wait to get my spiral! Much love! Your sister in Christ
Liz
Okay, at the risk of sounding “cheesy,” since you said we shouldn’t be too cool for cheesy, I just read the recap of last year’s SSMT celebration and my stomach got little butterflies of excitement. I so want to go next year!
Wow, this morning that sounds even cheesier than it did last night! We should have a cheese meter…like from mild cheddar on the low end to limburger on the high end. I would maybe just be sharp cheddar, but even that level of cheese is pretty out of character for me 🙂
Count me in!! I didn’t order a spiral from you because I bought extra ones at Wal-Mart two years ago and need to use them. I plan to give one to my college-age daughter and encourage her to participate with me. I so need this activity in my life!
I did this in 2009 and am excited to come back and memorize in 2011! Thanks for doing this!
Beth,
My daughters and I are looking forward to being a part of the SSMT as well as a couple of my BFFs (blessed, faithful friends). Our spirals are ready to go, thanks for sending them so quickly. I took part in 2009 and it made a big impact in my life, so I can’t wait to get started again. Thank you for the LPM blog, your books and Bible Studies. Have a Happy New Year with your beautiful family! Debbie in Olathe, KS
Thanks for the encouragement. I am looking forward to memorizing scripture with y’all in 2011.
This is just what I’ve been looking for!! I can’t wait to join you all!
Love it! Can’t wait to begin the New Year with Scripture Memory with ladies from around the world!!!
Beautiful Beth,
Remember this ~ ????
The Journey Continues with “Heaven Bound” Blessings !!!!
Looking forward to another year of the Siesta Memory Verse time.
Down, SET , HUTT !!!!!!!!
To all the Siestas who have never done the memory verse ~It will give you a TOUCHDOWN that you will score big on!!!
We should learn a Praise song per month too.
We would have 12 songs for Travis to sing for us at the SSMT celebration in January 2012!!!!!!
((((((((((( HUGS ))))))))))))))
I have to tell you what Dave blessed me with for Christmas ~
It is a Prayers ~ Stairs ~ Derrieres handmade out of walnut bench. It is actually a prayer kneeling bench that flips up into a step ladder and has a little seat. Soooo, Dave put a plaque on it and called it Prayers,Stairs,Derrieres. I Love It!
Now, I can pray for ALL MY SIESTAS and not have sore knees 🙂 I told him he should market the bench.
Praying Siesta Daily ~ PSD ~ Prayers Stairs Derrieres
Have a Prosperous and Blessed NEW YEAR 2011
1-1-11 Best way to be #1 start with scripture memory!!
Oh I can not wait to start again. I will be here on the first day of 2011. Until then be safe.
Love you,
Meggie
I feel the love, hope your feeling it too..
Bless your heart for what you do for us!
Beth, thank you so much for doing SSMT again. I started in 2009 but didn’t finish, and when you didn’t have it this year I thought I’d missed out on it forever. 🙂 I first became serious about memorizing scripture when I did Believing God several years ago, but since then I’ve slacked off more and more. My heart so longs to be back in God’s Word again, and I can’t wait! I am determined to make it to the end this time so I can come to Houston in January! See you there!
Super duper excited!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) Did this last time and while I’ve had a spiral this year, I haven’t been nearly as consistent actually memorizing what I’ve written there. The Body of Christ is such a beautiful thing. I know I’ll be better at this again with everyone else! : )
(PS… 176!!!!) 😉
I almost dozed off into my true siesta for the evening when I came across a message on FB from a far away friend who encouraged others to join her & the SSMT in a year long adventure! I am looking forward to thinking on praiseworthy things with hundreds of women in 2011! Buenas noches siestas:)
I am very excited to memorize scripture with all of you!!
I am so excited about this. I have never participated in anything like this before. I am a very insecure person and I’m always saying “i can’t do that”. In fact when I read your first blog about the spirals and what they were for, I thought wow that sounds like a really neat thing to commit to but of course I told myself that I was not good at memorizing and just brushed it aside to not do it. Then I read this blog and it was so encouraging and uplifting, it spoke right me. So with the Holy Spirits help I’m facing my insecurity and going for it. So thank you for your continued encouragement through your blog.
By the way I missed out on the first send out of spirals, any idea when you will have more ready to send out?
Welcome to SSMT, Ginger! Check back online next week as we should be back in stock and shipping spirals! (www.lproof.org)
Ginger,
I am so excited that you are participating in SSMT this year. Satan is the one telling you you can’t and he is a liar! My life was made so much richer becuase of the SSMT 2009 and the celebration in Houston was icing on the cake. I’ll be looking for your posts on here and cheering you on.
Linda Lexington, KY
Dear Beth and LPM staff, I`ve been visiting your blog for more than 3 years.I am a 31 woman from Romania and first heard of Beth on my trip to US in 2002. Not once I`ve been more than encouraged by the words you are posting on this blog and helped in my walk with God.Because I am a stay-at-home mom with my 8 months old daughter, after 7 years of marriage to a wonderful man,and because i`ve been attacked so much in my mind by the devil, I decided to do the SSMT this year with you, even I won`t be able to participat to any of your events.I Love the word of God.I tried to find some books by Beth Moore in Romania but I coudn`t find any yet.May God bless you in all you are doing. Love, Diana
I will be new to the Siesta Team in 2011. I look forward to empowering my mind and my heart with God’s Word on a more disciplined and consistent basis!
I will be a newbie SSMT but an oldie to the blog. I can hardly wait. I am dedicating this year to my 23 year old son who is struggling dearly. Dec 19 he was arrested for a DUI. He struggles with depression, anxiety and social environments. The last two years have really been difficult. I’ve been praying for him but I think it’s time to take it to another level because I refuse to let Satan take over his life. I know how powerful our God is and I will do everything I can to help him. Father, I know you are there and are taking care of him. Please never leave his side. He NEEDS you, Lord. And I need you too. In Jesus name, Amen.
Hey All! Beth, can I just say I love that your verse says “badlands” –not like I’m even sure exactly what that word means other than “bad lands” – a rough, hard, not-fun place. I want a river in my badlands, for sure. In fact, I’ll take a flood. Looking forward to a most excellent Twenty-Eleven!!!
Warm (and very tired) in Alaska ~
Hope to see you in Houston again!
PNW Washington — I am excited to be a part of the Siestas team this year. I am looking forward to God using His word to breathe new life into me.
Gave myself and my sweet daughter-in-law a LP spiral for Christmas; trip to Houston will be 2011 gift. Looking forward to participating with the entire Siesta community!!
Beth- I am so excited for the memory verses to be starting up again. I have shared with so many people the tremendous impact that this discipline has had on me. I even did it last year when the blog community wasn’t. Even when I skip a beat and don’t do a good job of keeping up with my verse for a 2 week period (or longer)God has been so faithful to teach me and nudge me back into it. I can’t wait to see what 2011 brings.
Oh………….and I have to say that I laughed out loud at your comment about not putting the verse on a sticky note on the bathroom mirror for your man to read each morning and get convicted. Early in my marriage you convicted me (well……..not you but words from you given to you by God) in one of your bible studies (I think a Heart like His or maybe the tabernacle) that I am NOT to be my husband’s Holy Spirit. Boy………have I tried it though…………..HA! Thanks for your ministry and being so faithful to God’s leading in your life.
QUESTION–I really have a strong desire to memorize Psalm 139 in its entirety. Can I use that as my scripture for the year?? It happens to be 24 verses long, which means I could break it down into 2 verses a month…or…do my verses need to be more varied?
You chose what the Lord is speaking to you, Ginger. This sounds like a very achievable goal!
Ginger, I did that last time with a passage in Colossians. And I probably will do it sometime this year because I want to memorize Psalm 46, and there’s no way I can memorize the whole thing at once. You will be so rewarded by having committed your psalm to memory!
I am new to this but I NEED this! I have been going through some major struggles this December and feel like God is hiding his face from me during this for whatever reason and that makes me more sad and scared right now. I NEED to feel God again and I am praying that He will reveal himself to me again through this SSMT. Thank you so much for this opportunity!
Susan Edwards, Storm Lake, Iowa
I can’t wait to get started! Thank you so much for hosting this again…wishing you joy in the new year!
I am so excited for SSTM this year!! I faltered last time and the enemy tries over and over to keep me from scripture memory. But I will not let him have this year!
I’ve got my spiral ready to go…and thank you for making them so cute and girly!! 🙂
Blessings,
Dori
I’m in! Looking forward to taking this journey with all the other Siestas!!
I did this with you in 2009 and enjoyed the celebration so much and then continued in 2010, and am so ready to begin 2011. I tend to choose a lot of extra scripture to meditate on, but don’t really have it memorized. I am praying that this next year, I can really commit it to memory.
I didn’t order one of your spirals, though I would have liked to. I picked up one from LifeWay yesterday that I like. Last year, I got an expensive one from there that has love is patient, love is kind. . .1 Corinthians 13:4-7 on it, and it is worn out!
I got one for $3.99 yesterday that has Proverbs 16:3 on the front. . .Commmit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.
If you read this, I would appreciate your prayers for my 17 year old son who is on his way, with a small group, to Nicaragua for a week long mission trip. He is on his way to Houston from Dallas right now, scheduled to leave Houston around 9:00 a.m.
Thank you, Beth, for all of your encouragement to all of us to memorize scripture and study God’s word.
Happy New Year to you and all of your family!
Sandy, I’ll be praying for your son on his mission trip. This is such a wonderful experience for our young people and though he will be a blessing to the people of Nicaragua, he too will be blessed.
Thank you so much Bobbie! They had a 3 hour delay in Houston, but they have arrived in Nicaragua now!
I’m glad they arrived safe, sometimes God gives us a ‘delay’ to give us a rest! 🙂 Keep us posted!
I just got my spiral and it is soo cute. Can’t wait to begain!
Beth, or Siesta’s I have memorized scripture in the past but have the hardest time remembering the address. Any suggestions? It has helped me to read before and after the scripture (like if it’s a quote from Jesus or a person) to have the scripture in context of the story but I still have trouble later remembering where the verse lives. Thanks Siesta’s! I am so excited to see how this works and the words God gives us so I can add to loving Him with all my soul, heart, and MIND!!
Yanna,
Last time it didn’t even occur to me to memorize the “address”. I could recite all 24 of my verses to Charlotte in Houston but I didn’t have the addresses except in my spiral 🙂
Linda Lexington, KY
Thank you Linda. I just read Beth’s latest blog post and she’s right to give God my problem and He will help me. Lord I’m officially asking right here help me to remember the address. In Jesus Name I ask. grin
I’m excited about this. God’s Word is so precious, thanks for inspiring us to do this, Beth!
I cannot wait for this!!!! I have my flashcards ready and I’m ready press God’s Word on my heart.
Jean of Gloucester: I observed this last year. At a Living Proof Live event in Richmond, I met a participant. Her excitement motivated me to give it a try. I am so excited, and nervous, and anxious to see God work through His word!! Thank you Beth .
I’m in. See you on January 1.
I am totally in! I love your studies and it is one of my goals to memorize scripture in 2011 so this will totally help! I am in Alberta, Canada!
This sounds sooo fun! Can’t wait to get started and drag my friend and daughter along for the ride. It is always exciting to start a new journey with the Lord…He’s always full of surprises!
SSMT was such a blessing to me last year. I am SO looking forward to doing it again this year. There were countless times during the 2009 SSMT that the Scripture carried me through. I already know my theme for this year…unless, of course, the Spirit carries me in a different direction. I can’t wait to begin and see how powerfully God works through this year’s Scripture memory.