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!
Amy, Houston
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 NASB
“and these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart;
And you shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up.”
Pamela from Arlington, TX
Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. NLT
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Joshua 1:8 ESV
Natalie, Trussville, AL: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.” Philippians 1:9-10 (NIV)
Kristy, Mauriceville, TX:
“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14 NKJV
Kelli / Fort Gratiot
2 Timothy 1:7 (New King James Version)
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Greenville,NC Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. Psalm 95:6 NIV
Kelly, Winchester TN, Exodus 25:30 NIV
Put the bread of the Presece on this table to be before me at all times.
“Turn, Lord and deliver me, save me because of your unfailing love” Psalms 6:4
Debbie Millen, GA Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Hebrews 12: 12-13 NIV
Kelli, Sutherlin, OR
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requestis be made known to God:
Philippians 4:6 NKJ
Shannon, New Orleans
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.
(Philippians 1:27 ESV)
Sarah, Moravian Falls
“Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your gracious Spirit lead me on level ground.” Psalm 143:10 (HCSB)
Edie,Franklin, Tennessee “Whether you turn to the right or to the left your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21 NKJ
Cheslee, Greenwood, NIV, Isaiah 55:9 “As the heavens are highe then the earth, so are my ways higher then you ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Kim, Salem, OR – Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 NIV
Malinn: Houston
Psalm 51:12
“Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.” NASB
Kim, Nashville
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever!
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
Monica, Anderson – The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him. My Father’s God, and I will exalt Him. Exodus 15:2 NKJV
Jena, Chattanooga, TN
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Phillipians 4:6-7 NIV
Missouri
My Brothers & Sistrs, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our Lord Jesus Christ James 2:1 NET
Andrea Tustin, Ca
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37 NIV
“Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.” – Lamentations 3:32-33 (NIV)
AmyLu, Evansville
pinkmommy, Arkansas
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!” Psalm 27:13-14 NKJV
Dwynne, Chapman KS
Philippians 1:6 (NIV) Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Tanya, Englewood, OH
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.”
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
Many are the plans in a person’s heart but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21 NIV
“The LORD is near the broken-hearted; he delivers those who are discouraged”. Psalm 34:18 (NET)
Michelle, Clinton, TN
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about what happens to you.” 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)
Lucy – Houston, TX
The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands. Psalms 138:8 NKJV
Anna, Winston-Salem, NC
“For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.”
-Deut. 8:7-10 NASB
Janine, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:18, NIV
Stephanie: Mammoth Lakes, CA
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. (Therefore we will not fear…)” Ps 46:1 NIV
Danielle, Atlanta – “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1, NIV
Meg.
Stanford, CA
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men.
Ephesians 6:7
NIV
Alisa from Clinton,MS
See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. Hebrews 12:15 NASB
Ryan Zwicky, Houston
Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–
(NIV)
Lindsey, Hamshire, TX:
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9, NIV
Shawna, Odessa, TX
Isaiah 26:3 NIV – You wil keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast,because he trusts in you.
Megan–Kansas City, KS
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 of them, they would be too many to declare. Psalm 40:5 NIV
Michelle, Manassas, VA
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14 NLT
Kim, E. Granby, CT: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it say. James 1:22, NIV
1 Peter 5:8 HCSB – Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
Marianna Clinton, MS
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.” Romans 12:2 (NLT)
Hamburg, AR
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31 NIV
Wendy from Albuquerque: You, friends, must not become tired of doing good.
-2 Thessalonians 3:13
Sandy K., Mansfield, TX. “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.” Ephesians 1:11-12, The Message.
Gayle, Atkins, Arkansas “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power,of love and of self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7 NIV
Psalm 27:1 NIV The Lord is my light and my salvation,whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid?
Bellaire, TX in the ESV
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
Galatians 5:16