**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!
Audrey, Kings Mountain, NC : ANd if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also… John 14:3
Gay Beck, Plain City, OH
Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Dawn, Zionsville
The Lord your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17.
Kelly~Hermiston, OR
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy.
James 3:17 (NKJV)
Beth, gentleness indeed….wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, GENTLE…. 🙂
Bobbie, Ft. Walton Beach:
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17 (NIV)
Sarah, Colorado Springs
The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
2 Chronicles 15:2b (NIV)
Laura, Savannah, GA
2 Timothy 2:25 “Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth” (NIV)
Donna Marina, Ca
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Erika
St. Marries, ID
For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3 NLT
Margie Allen, TX
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
1Cor 15:58 NIV
Soorin
Eugene, OR
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday.”
Psalm 37:5-6 (NIV)
Lori, Owasso, OK
Romans 11:33 (NLT)
Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!
Madeleine,Corrales,NM Praise be to the Lord,to God our savior who daily bears our burdens. Ps.68:19 N.I.V.
Laura, Little Rock. Jesus said…”Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31 (NIV84)
KaRetha
Denham Springs, LA
Psalm 55:22 (NKJV) Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you. He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
Kierstan
Portland, Oregon
True wisdom and real power belong to God;
from him we learn how to live,
and also what to live for.
Job 12:13
The Message
Thank you Nicole Keller for posting this scripture.
I was planning another, but I knew this was for me today after reading your post… 🙂 🙂
Paddy Plattsburgh, NY
…and by Him all things hold together.
Col. 1:17b Holman Christian Standard Bible
Tina, Gahanna, Ohio
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves or you also may be tempted.
Galatians 6:1 NIV.
Tanya, Killen, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,” 1 Peter 1:14 ESV
Leigh, Montgomery: “People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works.” Matthew 6:32 MSG
Anna, Montgomery: “Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see – how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him.” Psalm 34:8 MSG
Ephesians 4:32NIV
Be kind and compassionate to one another;
forgiving each other,
just as in Christ,
God forgave you.
Susan, Chicago. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23.
Katie, Winston, Gal 5:13 nkjv
For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Jo, Fremont, CA
“Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to Your Name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness.”
Psalm 115:1 NIV
Lauren, Senoia
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Romans 12:18, NIV
Tricia Faison Wendell, NC
Ephesians 6:14-15 NIV 1984
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
Barb, Shelby Twp.,MI
Isaiah 49:15-16a
“Can a mother forget her nursing child?
Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?
But even if that were possible,
I would not forget you!
See I have written your name on the palms of My Hands.”
Amy, Moncks Corner, SC. “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29, ESV
God help me to live this verse!
Meredith, Fayetteville, AR
“If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of thesea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for the darkness is as light to you.” Psalm 139 9-12 NIV
But he said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. 2 Cor. 12:9 NET
Beth, Dyersburg Tennessee
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2 NIV
Becky, Wixom, MI
I did NOT drop out on the last post… just had my second baby and missed the post… this verse is particularly timely as I learn to balance my beautiful 2 year old with a new born : )…
“Understand (this) my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry. For man’s anger does not promote the righteousness God” James 1:19-20 The AMP BIBLE
Jeri, Stillwater,oklahoma
Who am I , O Soverign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?
2 Samuel 7:18 (NIV)
Madge, marietta, ga
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. Prov. 3.5-6 NIV
Naomi, Acworth, GA
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. Prov. 3.5-6 NIV
Pat W, Green Bank, WV
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God;.
1 John 4.1; HolyBible,NRSV,p.226N.
Helen W, Dunmore, WV
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psalm 23:1,KJV.
Jill in Alabama
Since we live by the Spirit,
let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galations 5:25
Paige, Overland Park, KS
“He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of wisdom and salvation and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.”
Isaiah 33:6 (NIV)
Praising God for healing! My husband is home from the hospital and his transplanted kidney is working again! To all of you who prayed for him – Thank you!
Mary, Chattanooga:
I Thess. 5:15 NIV
Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
Tami, Michigan
2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)
“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
Psalm 28:7 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.
“Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of nations.” Revelations 15:3
Melissa Terry
Austin, TX
Marilyn, Albuquerque
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Heb. 11:6
Laura, Greenville: “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”
Psalm 62:1-2 (NIV)
linde, dallas
18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
i john 4:18 NIV
Diane, Ocala, FL
Romans 5:5 NKJV
“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
Angie Kendall, Cynthiana, KY
By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35 NKJ
Susan, Atlanta, GA
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant. I Corinthians 13:4 ESV
1 Exodus 14-14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Sacha, Midland, TX
“I raise my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1,2 (HCSB)