**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!
Mitzi
Kannapolis
Show me Your ways, O LORD, teach me Your paths;
guide me in Your Truth and teach me, for You are God,
my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long.
Psalm 25:4-5
Kathryn, Glendale AZ, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 4:7 NIV
Psalm 51:10 NIV
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me
Rachel, Ft. Smith, AR: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11 (NIV)
Kathy, Lake Jackson, Texas
James 1:22 NIV
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Ps. 27:14, NIV
Sue from Forney
He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.
Proverbs 21:21 (NIV)
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” Romans 8:35 NIV
Melissa from Midland, MI
Sara, College Station TX – Romans 5:3-4 (ESV) “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope”
Mariyn, Bradenton, FL
Psa. 119:133 (NIV)
“Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.”
Linda says,
Praise be to the Lord my Rock,
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.
He is my loving God and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me. Ps.144:1-2 NIV
Deborah, Markham, VA: “Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalm 37:4
Kadie- Tinley Park
In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.
Psalm 25:1 TNIV
Rachel- Frankfort
In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.
Psalm 25:1 TNIV
Barb, Ontario Canada “Patient endurance is what you need now, so you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised.” Hebrews 10:36 NLT
Oops this is late – out of town! Joy – Georgetown, TX “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Colossians 3:12 NIV
Marti, Loganville, Ga
He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness and honor. Proverbs 21:21 NKJV
Kristin, Carlsbad, CA “…a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.” Titus 1:2 NIV
Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing. My dear brothers and sistes this should not be. James 3:10 NIV
Kim B. – Orlando, FL
“The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love
O LORD endures forever – do not abandon the works of your hands.” Psalm 138:8 NIV
For I am about to do something new. See… I have already begun!Do you not see it?
ISAIAH 43:19
Tammy
Cncinnati, Ohio
Shannon Michaelis, Houston.
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten…You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you;” Joel 2:25a, 26a
Proverbs 17:22
New International Version (NIV)
22 A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Pam
Brighton, CO
“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 entrust my life.”
Psalm 143:8
Linda, Ft. Collins, CO
Shannon Buda, TX
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. Psalm 84:10 (NIV)
Tracy S from Wheeling, WV
Julie from Abilene
Galatians 6:10
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Kim Banks, Newbury Park, CA
“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
Philippians 2:3 NIV
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
Cindy, Broken Arrow, OK
“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts them into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”
Psalm 33:6-9 NIV
Valerie, Quantico (was Yuma)
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:7-8, NIV
Pam; Campbellsburg,In So he answered and said to me, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel….Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord of Hosts. NKJV Zechariah 4:6
Oh man I am so trying to keep up! Lord help me:)
Ok..I think I missed posting my last one
July 15…NIV..ISA 58:10
Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as day.
Aug 1st….NIV..ISA 58:11
The Lord will guide you continually, watering your life when you are dry and keeping you healthy too. You will be like a well watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.
Cindy, Laguna Niguel. “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'” John 7:38 ESV
Leah, Houston,
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.”
Isaiah 53:6, NIV
Michelle, Seattle: “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.” Psalm 141: 2 NIV
Bunnie, Hume,CA
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 NASB
Philippians 4:13
I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (NIV)
“For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6 NASB
Karie, Glen Allen, VA: “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.” Gal. 6:1, the Net Bible
Cheryl, Uganda: “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.” Psalm 130:5 (NIV)
Debbie, New Delhi, India: He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity. Proverbs 21:23 NIV
Nancy, St. Petersburg Fl
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord my God, you are very great, you are clothed with splendor and majesty. Psalm 104:1 NIV
“For Your loving kindness is great to the heavens, and Your truths to the clouds.” Psalms 57:10
After leaving the Charlotte conf. (Liiving Proof), I cld not help but picture the commercial when the dust bunny (rep’d as a person) was so glad to be sucked up by the Swiffer. He had no choice but to CLING to the apparatus. He was filled with joy & solace that he was
finally found. That is how I feel as I am learning to CLING 2 Christ (adhere, HOLD FAST).
The Charlotte conf. refreshed, recharged, and renewed so many aspects of my “walk.”
On the drive home, I listened to a Beth Moore $1.99 disc. I learned to say, “I love You, 2, Father! I love You, 2!” HOLD FAST: God has set His love upon me.
The struggles that I face at home didn’t change while I was in Charlotte but recharging
made me want to CLING to Him even more fervently. God bless His message through you.
Cheryl from Hattiesburg, MS
Phillipians 4:6 (ESV)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
Lisa, Baton Rouge, LA
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.”
Isaiah 43:1-3
The Message
Karen: Cookeville, TN. Psalm 27:1 NKJV
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
1 John 5:11, NKJV
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
AmyLu, Evansville
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Romans 13:1 (NIV)