**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!
Tilley in Franklin, TN
“This is my command — be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9 (NLT)
Shawna in Alabama “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! ” Psalm 139: 8-9 ESV
Jennifer, Kodak, TN
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
Isaiah 30:18 NIV
Madelin, Thousand Oaks, CA
“You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.” Psalm 119:114 NIV
Karen, Wildwood, MO
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27, NIV
Paige, ATL, Eph. 4:24 NIV
Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness
Amy Storms
Santa Clarita, CA
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13, NIV)
Nikki in Richmond, VA
Job 19:25
“I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.”
Suzanne, Decatur, Texas
“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go,for to you I lift up my soul.” Psalm 143:8 NIV
Emily, Thibodaux: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:26 NIVUK)
Kate from Cheney, WA
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.
I Peter 4:8-10, NIV 1984 🙂
Martha / Albertville, AL / “You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope.”
Psalm 119:114 NLT
Leslie G.-Warner Robins, GA
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”
Psalm 91:1 NAS
Vivian
Birmingham, Alabama
Again, however, pay very careful attention, lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren. Deuteronomy 4:9 The NET Bible
Tina Marie
Gig Harbor, WA
Acts 4:12
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.
NASB
Anita, Hartsville, TN – Because of the Lords’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22 NIV
Brittany, Dallas
“Cease striving, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10, NIV)
Teresa, Austin, TX
Matthew 11:29-30, The Message
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.
Psalm 116:6 NIV
The Lord protects the simplehearted;
When I was in great need he saved me.
Jennifer, San Antonio. “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14 NIV
Melissa, Miles City, MT: Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you: he will never leave you nor forsake you.
Michele-Lubbock
Matt 23:39 For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say,”Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” NASB
Jana, Tampa. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” NIV
Letty, Puyallup, WA
“the Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him sincerely and in truth.” Psalm 145:18 (Amplified)
Erin, Seattle. Psalm 32:8 NIV “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”
Evangeline, Loveland, CO
I have no greater joy than to hear my children walk in truth. 3 John 1:4 KJV
Amanda, Pine Bluff, AR
We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all. (1 Corinthians 8:3 MSG).
Stacey – new orleans
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. – 1 Peter 3:9niv
Holly C, Longview, TX
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:18 nkjv
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Vanessa, Rio Rancho NM
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 NIV
Kendall-Huntsville, AL
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
Ephesians 2:1-3 NASB
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4 NIV
Merredith; champaign……the lord is very compassionate and merciful. Jas 5:11b NKJV
Kay Everett, Wa
Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Colossians 3:16&17 NLT Bible
Lisa Waikele 1 Timothy 1:15b Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. NKJV
Lisa Auten; Rogers, AR: “If it is encouraging, let him encourage, if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is mercy, let him do it cheerfully.” Romans 12:8
Odessa, TX
Matthew 12:36-37 NIV: But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. for by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.
Betty, Wendell, NC
Psalm 40:5 The NET Bible
O LORD, my God, you have accomplished many things; you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us. No one can thwart you! I want to declare them and talk about them, but they are too numerous to recount! Psalm 40:5 The NET Bible
Missy, Tulare, CA
1 Peter 1:5-8 (NIV)
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:11 NIV
Mackenzie, Tulare, CA
Psalms 119:9
9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
Cindy, Yakima, WA
NIV, Romans 12:10
“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
Marie, Albuquerque, NM: (NIV) Galatians 6:9-10 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Dawn W. – Famouth, KY
Job 23:10 (NLT)
“But he knows where I am going.
And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.
Shannon, Parker, CO
“Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!” 1 Chronicles 16:11
There is no fear in love, But perfect love drives out fear.
1John 4:18 NIV
Dianne, Moose Jaw, Sask
Consider him who endured such opposition from sindful men, so that you will not grow weray and lose heart.
Heb. 12:3 NIV
Linda – Boulder CO
And from His fulness have we all received, grace upon grace.
John 1:16
Karla~Sedro-Woolley,WA~HCSB~James 1:19a
“My dearly loved brothers understand this:everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.