Hey, Sweet Things!
You guys are so much fun. Thanks for getting excited with us about the app. I’m just thinking about how this whole technology thing was in the mind of God centuries ago when He inscribed His words on the sacred page through the pens of men. Too much to wrap our minds around, isn’t it? He is the One who knows “the end from the beginning,” and “from ancient times, what is still to come.” He says, “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” (Isaiah 46:10)
At the moment I’m typing up this post, we have a whopping 9250 entries under Verse 1. Never in my wildest imagination did I picture this. I was pretty blown away by our strong and steady couple of thousand in 2009. Keep in mind that the 9250 is not an exact reflection of participants because there are some replies under comments, like, “I’m copying yours!” and “I’ve never even heard that verse!” I’m not going put a restriction on that because community in Christ is what makes Siestaville work. We do know, however, that way over 8000 are participating because that many women ordered spirals or downloaded the artwork. Others who are participating grabbed their own spirals the easier way from the store. I also want you to picture the many preadolescent girls we have on our team. Don’t you remember loving stickers and pens and school supplies when you were that age? I should have known they’d take to the spirals. Just close your eyes and imagine them reciting some of the verses dearest to your heart. Many of us have lived long enough to know by life experience what they are reciting by faith. It’s such a precious thought to me. They will find Jesus faithful just as we have. Yep, we have junior Siestas but we also have plenty of senior Siestas which delights me just as much. Our joy in standing shoulder-to-shoulder with this mighty band of women is indescribable. I wonder how many football fields we would stretch across. Whew. For just a split second I saw us all in my bright red college drill team uniforms. Scratch that thought.
OK, before I call for your second verses, many of you asked for the exact date of the SSMT celebration next January. I double-checked the weekend with Sabrina and it’s January 20-21, 2012 from Friday evening until Saturday noon. Of course, we’ll get you the proper information starting early next Fall but, if you think you might want to come, put it down on your calendar, start saving your expense money, and plan to memorize your darling little head off. The event itself is our gift to you and your ticket in is your well-used spiral (of either kind).
Are you ready for SSMT Verse 2? I’m giving you a heads-up that I plan to target a lot of James verses this year so, while I’m still going to tell you mine each time, I’ll also suggest a good alternative for those of you who could use an additional idea. Remember! Limit your comments to Name, City, Verse, and Translation. Here’s mine:
Beth, Houston. “My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.” James 2:1 The NET Bible
Here’s an alternative I really love and memorized a couple of years ago. My dear coworker, Diane, is memorizing it right now so it’s washing back over my mind:
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done. The things You planned for us no one can recount to You; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.” Psalm 40:5 NIV
And that, O Lord, is the gospel truth.
OK, Sisters! Bring on Verse 2!
I pray that Christ is so pleased. I feel in my soul that He is.
Have a great weekend!
Thomasine, Rio Rancho: You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11 NIV
Psalm 23 4-5
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Eph. 4:29 NIV
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Jane,
Cuba, Missouri
Angie, Orlando, FL
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you, says the Lord.
Psalm 32:8 (NIV)
Hey sis!
Brittany, Morton, IL
He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young. Isaiah 40:11
Bridget~ Bloomington, Illinois
The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,reasonable (willing to yield), full of mercy and GOoD fruits,unwavering without hypocrisy. James 3: 17 NASB
Jeannette, New Jersey
Psalm 139: 23-24 (NIV)
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Hebrews 10:35-36
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. (NIV)
Ronda, Granbury, Texas
But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
Psalm 73:22 ESV
That is Psalm 73:28
Katie, Memphis, TN
“Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done. The things You planned for us no one can recount to You; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.” Psalm 40:5 NIV
Heatherly, Massachusetts
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV):
“Forget the former things,
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up: do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.”
Carrie, Pueblo, CO
“The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it” Prov. 27:12 NIV
Amy, St. Augustine, FL: “He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.” Isaiah 33:6 NIV
Judy, Ridgecrest
“They will make war against the Lamb but the Lamb will overcome them because He is LORD of lords and King of kings – and with Him will be His called, chosen and faithful followers.”
Revelation 17:14 NIV
2 birds with one stone 😉
“How can I repay the LORD for all of his goodness to me?
I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD. I will fullfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.” Psalm 116:12-14
Houston, TX
Allie from Sulphur:I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the Lord.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know th plans I have for you, DECLARES the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm your, plans for a HOPE and a Future.
Sharon, Frederick, MD
“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10 NIV
Tanya Lakeville,Ohio
Amy, Norfolk Va
The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him.
Lamentations 3:24
Karla, Cedarburg, WI: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV
Becky, Russellville. Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. 1 Cor. 2:9 NIV
Emily, Spring Lake, MI, Hewbrews 10:35-36 New International Version “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”
Kate, Zeeland, Michigan
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
Romans 12 vs. 9-10, TNIV
Kelli, Bowling Green, KY
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)
Amy, Easley, SC “Everything is permissable” – but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissable” – but not everything is constructive. 1 Corinthians 10:23 NIV
Kristen – Russellville, AR
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 NIV
Kim Lessig, Lititz, PA ( Jesus said,) “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 NIV
Karen, Richmond, VA, “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against these things there is no law.” Galations 5:22-23.
Meredith, Trabuco Canyon, CA
Your promises to me are my hope. They give me strength in all my troubles; how they refresh and revive me. Psalm 119:49. (LB)
Carrie, St. Louis, Mo.
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Romans 1:16 NIV
Becca, Alma: Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:5-6 HCSB
Diana Plyley, Fountain, CO
“But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” Micah 7:7 NIV
Karen, Tucson
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3
Karen, Tucson
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 NIV
Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do knot know. Jeremiah 33:3 NIV
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Isaiah 26:3 (ESV)
Jill; Pasadena CA —
Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. NIV
Autumn, Louisiana- “If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” Pslam 139:9-10
Joyce, Ooltewah, TN
“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Philippians 4:11 (NIV)
Anne, Tyler, Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand. Romans 5:1&2 NAS Bible
Julie, GA
2 Corinthians 12:9
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness ” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
power = enduring strength
Patty from Vicksburg, Ms…”I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Your name forever. For Your lovingkindness toward me is great…Psalm 86:12-13a NASB
Theresa, Columbia, SC “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.” 1 Thess. 3:12 NIV
Rebecca
Seneca, SC
Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good,
and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.
~Proverbs 16:20
ESV
Jennifer Greensburg, La
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 ESV
Kyle, Texas
They will wage war with the Lamb but the Lamb will triumph over them
because He is LORD of lords and King of kings and
with Him will be His called, chosen and faithful followers.
Revelation 17:14 (NIV)
Sharon from Atlanta
Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:14 NAS
Debbie, Westerville, OH
Ecclesiastes 11: 10 (NIV)
So then banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.
Sandy – Brentwood, TN “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
Sherri, Modesto, CA Psalm 23:7 (NIV) “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.