**Siesta Celebration is January 20-21, 2012**
Hey, Darling Things!
I’m writing you from about 28,000 feet in the air, glancing out at a sunset heavy with steely thunderheads and striped in army blues. I am on my way home the long way from Columbus, Ohio. After our Living Proof Live ended and we ate lunch at the arena, we all headed to our various vans so we could make our ways to the airport. I hopped in the front seat with Rich because Ron and his darling wife Nancy had already headed home. Several of our other buddies were in the back chattering away when Rich overheard me say to my man on the phone, “Honey, I won’t be late! My fight is at 3:47 and I’ll pick back up an hour so I’ll have a nice long evening with you.” Keith was feeling poorly with a chest cold and laryngitis and I really wanted to get back to him.
(Rich) “Beth, you have a layover.”
“A what?”(Like I don’t know what that word means after nearly 30 years in thin air.)
“A layover in Denver on your way home. I think you get home kind of late.”
“But I had a nonstop flight to Columbus!”
“Well, you don’t have a nonstop flight home.”
And he was right. I hadn’t even looked at my arrival time in Houston. So, this afternoon I flew from Columbus all the way to Denver and now I’m on my Denver flight making my way to Houston. This weekend I’ve lost an hour, picked up two, then given one up again. Try to do that math.
But to say it was worth it is an understatement. We had 7000+ women in Columbus, Ohio who were in the mood to lift up some high volume praise to the God who is worthy. We knew we were going to love them within 15 seconds flat. And they were my favorite kind of group in Bible study, too, because they got involved the way a small class would. Super interactive. God so graced us in Ohio and we will remember the time we had with those believers for a long time. I knew God was up to something good when I looked at the stat sheet that K-Mac prepared for me and noticed that the six biggest groups attending the events were six different denominations. There are no words to express to you what that means to us. To God’s credit alone, that’s becoming more the rule than the exception in this season.
I’ve had a very interesting flying day. If you’re on Twitter, I tweeted that the people watching had been extraordinary. You know, I struggle a tad with eavesdropping as it is but when everyone is sharing very big feelings at a very high volume, what is a woman to do? But stare? And so, I nearly cried while a young 40 something Dad with shoulder length hair hugged his varsity baseball-type looking son goodbye as he took off for college for the first time. Both of them had tears streaming down their cheeks. It was a most moving scene and one that I had to restrain myself from joining. Of course, I don’t know if the young man was going away to college or not. I made that part up because it was the best possible scenario to fit the high EQ. The part about the long-haired dad and the varsity baseball-type son was true, however. And they were both crying. If I wouldn’t have to stop and explain when I’m making something up, my posts would go smoother. But somehow I feel an obligation toward confession.
What is indeed an absolute fact is that there was a little girl about six years old that nearly made people punch the windows out of the plane and parachute to Beulah Land while her mother chatted with a friend. Mind you, a six year-old little girl would have to work hard to push me over the edge. I love that age in the largest way. But I was nearly overwrought with the teeming desire to give that darling child a spank offering. But, of course, I wouldn’t have. Goodness knows, I have a deep commitment to all things politically correct.
Well, guess what day it is? August 15th and you know what that means! Spit out your next Scriptures, young ladies, and do it with some fervor. His words are Spirit and life to us. Let’s give them some respect and expect them to do the kinds of things He promised they would. Here’s mine:
Beth, Houston. “Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:13 The NET Bible
A loved one and I are memorizing this together as he seeks to take the next step in a victorious life that demands sobriety. For some of us, it’s all or nothing. Jesus is the only reason some of us are not passed out in an alley with a newspaper over us. If you have struggled to stay sober and the enemy is doing everything he can to suck the life out of you and steal everybody you love, one by one, don’t stay in the shadows. Get out in the light. Own up and let some people cheer you onto sobriety and victory. YOUR GOD IS ABLE TO DELIVER YOU. Do what you have to do so that you can do what you want to do. You have a calling to fulfill.
I never want to get where we’re playing church around here. The salvation of Jesus Christ is real and it has huge practical ramifications in everyday life here on this fallen planet. Let’s not just talk it. Let’s do it.
Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober.
Lisa, Plano, TX: Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me. Psalm 86:17 NIV
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.”
John 15:4 (NLT)
Heidi – Lancaster, PA
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17 (NIV)
Erin, Albertville, AL
“A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent mand overlooks an insult”. Proverbs 12:16 (NIV)
Chris, Seattle, WA
Laurie Chester, MD
“Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope compleely on grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
1 Peter 1:13
NET Bible
Linda, Bend, OR. James 1:27 NIV
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29 (NKJV)
Jennifer, North Charleston, SC, Phil. 4:6-7, NIV
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
MK
Gig Harbor WA
Isaiah 41:13
For I am the Lord, your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you. Do not fear I will help you.
It stuck with me the other day:
Lauren, Malvern, PA
Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult.
Proverbs 12:16 (NIV)
Allyson
League City TX
Romans 8:3-4 NIV
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature, but according to the Spirit.
Marsha, Lexington Park MD
When I remember Thee on my bed,
I meditate on Thee in the night watches,
Psalm 63:6 NAS
Karlys, La Place, LA
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12 ESV
Amy; Tacoma, Wa
“Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Pet. 5:7
Mary Kay
Fulshear
“”Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.”
Romans 12:16
NASB
Suzy, Wheelersburg, OH “For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.” I Thessalonians 4:7 NIV
Wendy, Cody, Wyoming NAS I John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins”
Charmaine, Miami,FL — “I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” Psalms 16:8 NIV
Roberta, Fanshawe, OK
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)
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,says the Lord.” NKJV Is. 55:8
Karina, Victoria/Vancouver BC, CANADA
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:13 (NASB)
Vickie, Baytown, TX
Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. Isaiah 64:4 NIV
Gail, Phoenix
If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Romans 14:8 NIV
“Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4b, NIV)
Valerie
Sparks, Nevada
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:31 NIV
Still on a spiritual high from LPL-Columbus!
Therefore, I do not run like a woman (my adaptation) running aimlessly; I do not fight like a woman beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
I Cor. 9:26-27 The Message
Lis, London:
I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1 ESV
Kim, Chicago, Il “She is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come.” Prov.31:25 NIV
Toni, Morgans Point, TX
Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Job 38:4a NIV
Diana, Surrey, BC Canada
“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
“The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Deut. 31:8
NASB
-Lacie
Chesapeake, VA
Adele-Alys from Matthews (Charlotte) , NC : As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. Luke 8:15 ESV
Linda Perry
Annville, KY
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved
Romans 10:9 NKJV
Andrea, Saskatchewan Canada
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:35,37 NIV
Sharon
South Charleston, Ohio
Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. ~ Deuteronomy 4:39 (NIV)
Cindy, Rock Hill, SC
O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness. Isaiah 25:1 (NASB)
Chris, Seattle, WA
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”
Isaiah 58:6 NIV
Bethany S.
Modesto, CA
Psalm 121:5-6 (ESV)
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
Kathy, Hendersonville, TN
“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all-how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:32 NIV
Melisa, Roanoke, VA
My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead. – Philippians 3:10-11 HCSB
Heather, Lewiston:
“I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” Psalm 130:5, NIV
Deidre
Hickory, NC
“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy”
Psalm 107:2 KJV
Viola, Lubbock TX But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. NIV
Elizabeth, Grove City, PA:
Revelation 19:6-7 (NIV):
6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.”
Kem, Memphis
See, I am doing a new thing; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19, NIV
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 NLT
Judy, Apple Valley, CA…
“If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.” Ex 33:13A NIV
Jennifer Monroe, GA
“March on, my soul; be strong!” Judges 5:21b NIV
L Diane, Indianapolis
Therefore my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and act according to his good purpose.
Philippians 2:12-13 NIV
Lynn, Bossier City. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:6-8 NIV