**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!
Darl, Bakersfield, CA 1 Corinthians 10:23 “We are allowed to do all things,” but not all things are good for us to do. “We are allowed to do all things,” but not all things help others grow stronger. NCV
Micah 6:8 KJV He has told you, o man, what is good; and what does God require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.
Pam ~ Rome, GA
“Then I would be comforted,
knowing that in all of my pain
I have never disobeyed God.
Why should I patiently hope when my strength is gone?”
Job 6:10-11 (CEV)
Pam Hamilton, OH
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God: therefore, the world knoweth us not because it knew Him not. I John 3:1 (KJV)
Ann, Prior Lake, MN
“But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors ME. If you keep to MY path, I will reveal to you the salvation of GOD.” Psalm 50:23 NIV
Stephanie, Atlanta
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4 NIV
Christy T. – Hawthorne, CA
“for he knows how we are formed,he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,and its place remembers it no more.”
Psalm 103:14-16 (NIV)
Ps. 103: 10 & 11 NASB
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
Hilda in Pearland
Deborah, Kenenwick. “Everything is permissible for me” – but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me” – but I will not be mastered by anything. 1 Corinthians 6:12
Blaine, Magnolia, TX:
“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your own hand.” 1 Chronicles 29:14 HCSB
“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.”
Zephaniah 3:17a (NIV)
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
2 Cor 4:7 NIV
Becky, Charlotte (Soon to be Atlanta on August 5th!)
“No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his fatih as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.”
Romans 4:20-21, ESV
Kristie
Sandia, Tx
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)
Joy
Charlotte, NC
My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26, NASB
STACY, CHAPIN
THE LORD IS MY SOURCE OF SECURITY. I HAVE DETERMINED
TO FOLLOW YOUR INSTRUCTIONS. PS 119:57NET
MarySue, FL & NC
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
Amber, EUless TX
1 Samuel 2:8
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the garbage pile. He seats them with nobelmen and gives them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the lord’s; He has set the world on them.
Tara Chatham, Powder Springs, Ga
” I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.” Psalm 119:30
Kim, Anchorage, Alaska. Oh, Lord God, you did indeed make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. Nothing is too hard for you! Jeremiah 32:17 Net Bible
“Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.”
Ephesians 1:4 (The Message)
Erin- Denison, TX
That’s awesome! LOVE this translation!!!
Kim Eshelman Lewisburg, PA
Hebrews 12:14 NIV
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the LORD
changed my verse- also thank you for reminding us about restoration being one of the greatest gifts of the cross!
Is 51:3 Kathy, Austin
“The Lord WILL comfort me, He WILL comfort all my waste places;
He WILL make my wilderness like Eden, and my desert like a garden of the Lord
Joy and Gladness WILL be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody
Linda – Holts Summit, MO
1 Samuel 2:2 ESV
There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.
Lorraine
Tyler, TX
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)
Mariposa Sivage Albuquerque NM
In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.
Psalm 94:19 NKJV
Denise, Asheville, NC
Hebrews 4:12 (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.”
When you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. Jeremiah 29:12-13 (New Living Translation)
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2 NIV
Naomi – Ormond Beach, Fl
Todo el que cree que Jesús es el Cristo ha llegado a ser un hijo de Dios. Y todo el que ama al Padre ama también a los hijos nacidos de él. 1 Juan 5:1 NLT
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 1 John 5:1 NLT
Carolyn, Terrace BC Canada
Psalm 68:19 (NIV)
Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.
Tara
Greensboro, NC
He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land he had sworn to our forefathers.
Deuteronomy 6:23
Debby, Ellicott City, MD
“But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.” Psalm 103:17-18 NIV
Leslie, San Antonio: “I know whom I have believed and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” II Timothy 1:12b NIV
Sheree, Phoenix
“Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you becaue I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls” Matthew 11:29 NLT
Brenda, Greenville sc
Romans 8:1 NIV
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
June, Coarsegold, CA “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14 NIV
“Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 the message
nancy-LPM
Houston
Romans 12:21 (ESV)
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Sabrina
Morristown, Tennessee
“Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise Him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:11 (Good News Translation)
Donna Hill
Clarksville, TN
NCV
Psalm 115:1
“It does not belong to us, LORD. The glory belongs to you because of your love and loyalty.”
joshua 1:9
have I not commanded you? be strong and courageous. do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you where ever you go.
Dixie says:
Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
New American Standard
Now to him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly beyond all we as or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory!
Eph. 3:20-21 NIV
Cari, Huntington, WV
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 NIV
Faith, Safford, AZ. > ” But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord.”
Jonah 2:9 (NIV)
While I have slipped and fallen off the scripture-memorization wagon, God has been tugging at my heart to memorize the verses I failed to post since April 15th. He is restoring my spirit a day at a time, please forgive me for my tardiness. I am trying so hard to be a good Siesta. Here goes-
For April 15th- “Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.” 1 Peter 3:1-2, NIV
For May 1st- “And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.” Galatians 6:9
For May 15th- “If you abide in My word you are truly My disciples. And you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.” John 8:31,32
For June 1st- “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7
For June 15th- “Either make the tree sound, and its fruit sound, or make the tree rotten, and its fruit rotten, for the tree is known and recognized by its fruit.” Matthew 12:33
For July 1st- “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you.” Isaiah 43:2
For July 15th- “It shall be done for you as you have believed.” Matthew 8:13
AUGUST 1st (WHOO-HOO!!)- “For let him who wants to enjoy life and see good days keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from guile.” 1 Peter 3:10
I love what this group does for my spirit and the support it provides for myself. Thank you!
Amy
Norfolk, MASS
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7
NIV
Melinda, Oconomowoc, WI: May all who fear You find in me a cause for joy, for I have put my hope in Your word. Psalm 119:74 (NLT)
Gina;Houston
Psalm 118:8 NAS
“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.”