**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!
“Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” Galatians 6:1 (NIV)
Nancy- Yonges Island, SC “The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV
Heather, Hot Springs, AR, 2 Timothy 2:21, Amplified,
“So whoever cleanses himself will be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work.”
Whew- it’s hot enough outside to melt your insides…
Dianne, Waycross, GA
“Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.” 1 Corinthians 10:24 NIV
Sarah from Brownwood, Tex.
Romans 8:28 NLT
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him, and are called according to His purpose for them.
I John 4:4 – NIV
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
Suzanne, East Bernard, TX
“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
Hebrews 1:14 NIV
Martha, Florida
Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. In all your ways remember Him.
Then He will make your path smooth & straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 NIrV
Linda from North Fort Myers, Florida: “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29 NIV
Trish L. West Linn, Oregon
“Ah, Sovereign Lord, You have made the Heavens and the Earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.
Jeremiah 32:17 (NIV)
Dena’ Davis, HIndman, Ky ” Encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Holman Christian Standard
Dee, Muncie IN
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8
(NIV)
Cathy, Houston, TX. You will pray to him and he will hear you and you will fulfill your vows. What you decide on will be done and light will shine on your ways. Job 27-28 NIV.
“I am The Lord, The God of all mankind. Is anything too
hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27 NIV
Suzanne, Summerfield, Fl.
Heb. 23:4,5 Let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: The LORD is my helper; Iwill not fear, what can man do to me? NKJV
Rachelle Ankeny, Iowa
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-” Ephesians 2:8 NIV
Col. 1:3-6 NIV We always thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints. The faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven, and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.
Bethany, Clyde, TX
Romans 6:6–
“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”
Pikeville, TN — “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9
julie, ky. Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands. Psalm 119:73 NIV
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being. Rev. 4:11 (NIV)
Bunny from Fithian, IL:
Matthew 11:28-30
The Message (MSG)
28-30″Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Susan Corbin., ky. Brothers and sisters, if any person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention to yourself, so that you are not tempted too.
Denise – Meredith NH
Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD. Psa 31:24 (NKJV)
Port St. Joe, FL
Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.
Philippians 4:5 HCSB
Beverly in Bayou Vista, TX
“Because you belong to Christ Jesus, God’s peace will stand guard over all your thoughts and feelings.”
Philippians 4:7 ERV
Joni Princeton WV
The weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguements and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. -2Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV
Amy, Granby
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
2 Cor. 1: 3,4 NIV
Karen, Centralia, Mo: The Lord gives strength to his people. The Lord blesses his people with peace. Psalm 29:11 NIV
Liz, Lexington KY
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.”
2nd Timothy 1:7 (NIV)
Shannon,Kissimmee,Florida
Dear Children, let us not love with words or tongue but
with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18 (NIV)
Beth Clark, La Verne, CA
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.
2 Corinthians 9:8, NIV
Salina, Hindman, Ky
Proverbs 31:25 “She is clothed in strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” NIV
Karen, Lynnwood, WA – “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”
Isaiah 12:2 (NIV)
Dee, Zeeland, MI from the NIV:
“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord is the Rock eternal.” Isaiah 26:3 & 4
Debbie Laureen, New Port Richey, Florida
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 NIV
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James1:23(NIV)
Karen, Hewitt
“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:6 NIV
Jessica~ Jacksonville, Florida
“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.”
Psalm 138:6 NIV
Susan/Hillsboro
Psalms 121:1-2
“I lift my eyes to the mountains–where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.” NIV
Lanie, Perry, Georgia Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:13 KJV
Caitlin, Tulsa, OK
Ephesians 4:25- “ Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with this neighbor, for we are members of one another.” (NASB)
Cheryl, Austin: “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” Col. 4:6 (NASB)
Starla, Parsons
If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.
Exodus 33:13 NIV
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
Jennifer Boddie-Conyers,GA
James 4:8 NIV
Draw near to God and HE will draw near to you.
Carolyn, Charlotte, NC.
Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. Deut. 10:20 (NIV)
Lynn, Lake Villa, IL
Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV
“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord, ” plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Pam in Texas using The Everyday Bible
Work willingly at whatevery you do, as though you
were working for the Lord rather than for people.
Rachel- College Station, TX
“And I am sure that God who began a good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in His grace until His task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns.” Phil. 1:6 TLB