**Siesta Celebration is January 20-21, 2012**
Hey, Sweet Things!
Finally, August 1st! I’m always so glad to see it come so that it can GO. But it’s not just the end of a long, hot summer for everybody. It’s also the last couple of weeks of summer vacation. Those of you with school-age children will soon find yourself back in carpool lines and going over spelling words. In just a couple of weeks, Jackson will start kindergarten and will catch our whole family by surprise even though we’ve known it was coming for five and a half years. We just cannot fathom it. We have a picture framed in our bedroom that I see everyday with Keith and I cuddling him between us when he was just a few hours old, and we brand-spanking-new grandparents are kissing over his head. Something was reborn in that couple of 25+ years that day. Our interests have always tended to be different and were getting increasingly so, but, that cold February afternoon in Dallas, Texas, we somersaulted right back into one another and tumbled into a well of love with a seven pound man-child.
Keith and I got to have Jackson and Annabeth Friday night while Curtis and Amanda went to dinner and a movie. They’d been gone for 10 days to Wyoming and, even though we’d seen them at a Mexican food restaurant the day they got home, we’d not had them to ourselves yet. We made a date right away. They delight us to no end and cause us to laugh until our sides split. Don’t get the idea there’s no work involved but investments don’t get better than this one. We have real, live conversation over dinner these days and, when you’re grandparents, not a single word gets wasted on you. All of it’s solid gold. Jackson told us at the dinner table Friday night while stuffing a piece of warm French bread into his mouth that butter is his “temptutation.” And, sure enough, it was dripping off of his chin and looked so good that we all shared that same temptutation and gave right on in to it.
We have an empty room in our house right now because we wanted Melissa and Colin to have her bedroom furniture and it’s turned into the perfect playroom. Nothing like an empty room to fire up the imagination. Jackson and I built an obstacle course Friday night that ended with a dizzying spin in my swiveling desk chair. It was so much fun. Amanda and Curtis walked through the door at 10:15 and we were all four still up in the kitchen, Paw Paw popping popcorn on the stove. It’s so good to have the Jones’s home. Melissa and Colin have been out of town for a week, too, and I can hardly wait to get my hands on them. They’re flying home from California this very moment. Most of the time they were out of cell phone range so we’ll have plenty to catch up on.
On to the business at hand! Our year is flying by! It’s time to check in with our fifteenth verses for our Siesta Scripture Memory Team. For some reason I’ve seen the word “gentleness” turn up a number of times in my Scripture reading lately so I’ve decided to choose a memory verse that makes especially important use of it. Here goes:
Beth, Houston. “Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.” Galatians 6:1 The NET Bible
Restoration is one of the most powerful, intentional works of the Cross of Christ. Let’s never refuse anyone his or her right to be restored. Here’s to a little gentleness in a harsh world. Everyone could use some.
Stay in the Word, Siestas! You are so loved here!
Christina – Edgewood, Kentucky
Psalm 111:10 (NIV) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; and all who follow His precepts have good understanding. To Him belongs eternal praise.
Melissa, Vicksburg Ms: “A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1 NIV
Melissa, Glasgow, Ky — “My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.” – Psalm 7:10, KJV
…”To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever. Revelations 5:13b
Terri from Mechanicsville,
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, becasuse fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18 (NIV)
Lacey, Leonard TX. ‘Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.’
Heb 10:23 NIV
Lichelle, Austin, Texas
Everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible but I will not be mastered by anything. 1Cor 6:12 NIV
Joan, Fredericktown, OH NIV
Isaiah 55:3
Give ear and come to me that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.
Wendy, Orillia, Ontario, Canada
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Luke 6:31 NIV
Patti, Colorado
“Yes my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.”
Psalm 62:5-6
Laurie Chester
A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient. 2 Timothy 2:24
Stacey -Morocco,in
“You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait for Your word.” Psalm 119:114 NASB
Robyn, Viola (moved from Wichita last month) “Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.” Joel 1:3 NIV
Teresa, Peoria, IL Romans 14:10-12, NIV, “You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'” So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
“The Lord within her is righteous. He does no wrong. Morning by morning he dispenses his justice and every new day he does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame.” Zephaniah 3:5 NIV Pam in San Diego
For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Heb. 4:12 ESV
Kim-Wylie
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James 2:26
NIV
Brianna, San Antonio, TX:
“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Ex 14:14 NIV
Traci, Vadnais Heights, MN.
Isaiah 55:8 (NLT)
“My thoughts are completely different from yours, says the Lord, and my ways are far beyond anything you could ever imagine.”
Cindy, Lexington, KY – In God whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; What can mere man do to me? Psalm 56:4 NIV
Janet, Longmont, (currently on internet in Bangalore, Karnataka, INDIA 10:15pm after a wonderful day with church planters wives!)
“When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” John 11:4 NIV
(p.s.I found out I have breast cancer 5 days before we left for INDIA)
I will be praying for you!
Will be praying for God’s glory to shine right on you.
Will keep you in prayer!!
Janet, I’m writing your name in my prayer journal right now and will be praying for with the verse you have listed above.
Much love to you in Jesus Mighty Name!
I will be praying for my sweet sweet sister in Christ.
Amy Ann, Tulsa, OK “and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority” Colossians 2:10 NASB
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8 NIV
Diana, Seekonk, MA
Woodstock, VT
michelle
Philippians 2:13 NLT
For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases Him.
Melanie Toups
Bridge City, TX
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the LORD of hosts.
–Malachi 3:10-11 NASB
“I thank God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:3-6 NKJV
Deborah ~ Nashville, TN
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
~ Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
Karen, Columbia, MO
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
I Corinthians 2:9 NLT
Kathy, Hendersonville, TN.
“What, then, shall we say in response to this?
If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31 NIV
Pamela, Missouri
The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will. The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me, and I have listened. I have not rebelled or turned away. ~ Isaiah 50: 4-5 (NLT)
Kay, Greenwood, SC
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
Angela, Mansfield, TX
“God has also highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.” Philippians 2:9-10 (NKJV)
Vicki, Colleyville, TX.
“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:30
Psalm 42:8 New Living Translation
But each day the Lord pours His unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing His songs, praying to the God who gives me life.
Ann from Indiana
Rachel * Nashville, TN
Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
*Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV)
Tisha
Pilot Mtn, NC
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)
Colleen, Lyndonville, NY
Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here…” Ex 33:15 NIV
Kayla
Cleveland
The LORD gives his people strength.The LORD blesses them with peace.
Psalm 29:11 NLT
candifer, sd: and so the Lord says,“these people say they are mine. they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. and their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.” -isaiah 29:13 (NLT)
Psalm 27:13 NIV
“I am still confident of this; I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
Andrea Woodstock, GA
Christelle, Delafield, WI
Ps 119:114 NIV
“You are my Rock and my Shield; I have put my hope in Your Word.”
Lauren, Malvern, PA.
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 (NIV)
Kristy
Princeton, NC
From Charlotte LPL 🙂
Rev 3:11 “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Kathy, Cochran, GA
But if we confess our sins, He will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.
1 John 1:9 (NCV)
Christy – Justin, TX: Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 – “So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized these pleasures are from the hand of God. For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from Him? God gives wisdom, knowledge and joy to those who please Him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please Him. This, too, is meaningless, like chasing the wind.” NLT
Philippians 2:9
Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name.
Marci in Amsterdam
2 Corinthians 4:7-9
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (NIV)
Lewisville, TX
“O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows.”
Psalm 130:7 (NLT)
Baileigh, Spartanburg, SC “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23 NIV
Chris, Seattle, WA
Isaiah 48:22 NIV
“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”