Hey Siestas! We’re two weeks out from our big launch and, based on the number of people who got Siesta spirals -not to mention those grabbing their own – we should have one titanic team! May God get much glory! (If you’re interested in a spiral and have yet to purchase one, click here for the details.) Numbers are nothing if they don’t translate into fruit displayed in our lives but if we truly decide to live out the words that are going to live in us, remarkable things are in store for the Kingdom of Christ among us.
Here is everything you need to know about how to participate in the 2013 Siesta Scripture Memory Team!
First, a few things up front since many people joining us have no previous interaction here:
*For you new comers, “Siesta” is just an endearment for “Sister.” There’s no club to join and no person you need to become. If you’ve trusted Jesus as your personal Savior, you’re a sister in Christ. If you don’t know Him, we’d love for you to stick around and get to know us and see if anything around here draws you. Everyone is welcome. Here’s a bit of our back-story on the weird name: When we first began the blog, it never occurred to any of us how much we’d come to love each other. As the community grew closer and closer and the participants more and more familiar with one another, one of you asked what name we should call each another. I tried to say, “I’ll tell you what we are: We’re sistahs!” but spell-check switched it to “siestas.” It stuck and that’s been us ever since. We even liked the thought that its actual meaning is to take a nap. We’ll know we’ve been a place of divine intervention if we’re a respite from the female competition and clatter out there. Only Jesus can give us that kind of relief in this exhausting culture.
*We call this a Scripture memory “team” because that’s exactly what we are. We’re a really long line of women standing shoulder to shoulder with our swords drawn. (For you newcomers, Ephesians 6 calls the Word of God the “Sword of the Spirit.”) And we don’t draw our swords to wound people, to convict our family members (God’s job) or to cut off the ears of our hearers. We draw our swords to fight the good fight of faith. While I was saw stacks and stacks of Siesta Scripture Memory Spirals being stuffed into envelopes for shipping, it hit me with fresh impact. What if thousands of women really did memorize 24 Scriptures in 2013?? What are the implications of that? What kind of repercussions might that have in our personal lives and our homes? That’s worth getting riled up over. SO, you bet this is a team. Don’t be too cool for it. Remember, God’s Spirit is a fire. If we’re too cool, we can’t help but quench it. If cheesy works around here, we’re not ashamed. Just throw in a can of jalapenos and grab a tortilla chip.
*Very often you will see me refer to SSMT. Just so nobody’s confused from the start, that is an abbreviation for “Siesta Scripture Memory Team.” If you’re not participating in SSMT, please know that we don’t limit the entire blog to our Scripture memory participants. It has a big presence on here because it’s twice a month but we still do lots of other things. Please don’t feel left out or forgotten.
OK, NOW FOR THE INSTRUCTIONS. You can cut and paste these somewhere if necessary. Here’s how it will go:
1. On the 1st and 15th of every month of 2013, you will find a post by 8:00 in the morning where I will ask for your memory verse and give you mine. This will begin New Year’s Day 2013. You are committing to 24 Scriptures in 12 months. In previous years, I’ve found this to be a very doable pace. If you do much more, you’ll tend to fall behind and not retain. If you do much less, the impact is negligible. You really can do this. So many of you will surprise yourselves with what you’re capable of doing in the power of the Spirit. Yes, it takes work but it’s tremendously fulfilling and the results are nearly immeasurable. Look at it this way: you’re going to be meditating on something: unforgiveness, toxic memories, misery, lust, greed, dissatisfaction, jealousy, competition. Choose Scripture! Christ Himself said as a man thinks, so is he. He also said His words are spirit and life. This is work worth doing, Sweet Thing. Never – NOT ONCE – have I ever known anyone to get to the end of a Scripture memory commitment and say that it didn’t make any real difference. Not a single time.
2.You are to enter the verse you’ve chosen to memorize for that two-week period within twenty-four hours of the post going up. I’ve been asked many times if it’s okay if you’re late supplying your verse and, yes, of course it is, but try to avoid doing it often. The people who make it to the very end of the year are overwhelmingly those who stay up with it month to month. Please know up front that one of the important parts of this process is the exercise of self discipline. This culture is mass producing wimpy narcissists. Year-long commitments like these that require punctuality and focused energy push back on that degenerating trend. All that to say, please don’t drop out if you get behind. I just want you to know that this will be much more successful if you treat it as a real, live commitment you are willing to work hard to keep.
3. When you clock in with your verse those two times a month, keep your comments limited to your name, city, verse and translation. Long comments on SSMT days are no-no’s. It won’t take you long to figure out why we maintain that rule. Wait till you see the powerful sight of hundreds if not thousands of verses flowing down the comment stream. It is a gorgeous sight. When you’re having a bad day, all you have to do is scroll down a few hundred of your sisters’ Scripture selections and I promise you, you’ll get a word. It’s a very powerful thing. Here is a sample comment:
Beth from Houston, Texas: “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” 2 Thessalonians 3:3 ESV
Always add your translation because so many of your sisters will want to know where you found the wording for your entry. One of the great impacts of this process is how much we reap from each other’s selections. Often you’ll see a sister say, “I’m doing the one so-and-so did last time!” (Yes, you can make a comment that brief. Those can be fun. Occasionally you’ll even see someone write, “For the sake of my marriage, I’ve chosen to memorize…” That’s okay, too, but try to keep it very succinct.)
4. THIS ONE IS KEY! As often as possible, choose a verse that means something to you in your present season or circumstance. This is the reason why we don’t all memorize the same Scripture. We’re not all going through the same things. The more you let God lead you to verses that direct you or edify your soul in your present circumstances, the more He will renew your mind toward your challenges. This is a huge part of 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 where we’re told to demolish strongholds and take our thoughts captive to Christ. If you don’t have a verse on your mind or you’re drawing a blank when the 1st or 15th rolls around, you are welcome to share mine. I will always include it in the post. You might also look at a few of the comments and see if one of theirs resonates with you. I say this next part with a grin: try to refrain from memorizing Scriptures that you think your spouse or your children need to learn. Memorize what you need to learn. That means do your best to avoid jotting your verse on a stick note and planting it on your bathroom mirror where your man can see it and repent of his sins. He probably won’t because he’s got your game. I bet you can guess how I know that.
5. I strongly recommend that you stick with only one verse to memorize each time. (This is just a recommendation and not a rule. You’re free to do whatever works for you.) Keep it simple and meaningful. (If I were addressing you live, I’d have you repeat that sentence back to me so just go ahead and say it out loud in order to nail it down. That sentence could be your best friend through this process.) If you do too many verses or get too complicated, you will soon be overwhelmed and want to drop out. Better to do 24 simpler verses over a 12 month period of time than a chapter over the first month then quit. We want this to be a discipline we practice for the rest of our lives. Think marathon. Not sprint.
6. Either shortly before or after making your entry each 1st and 15th in the blog comment, write the verse by hand in your own spiral. (Again, that’s a recommendation and not a rule. I’ve discovered that there’s something about writing it with your own hand and picturing it later in your own handwriting that helps it sink into your memory bank. I’m not entirely sure why.) Take that spiral with you everywhere you go. Read it and read it and read it and read it. Do mental gymnastics with it. Flip that baby over and over. Many women have told me along the way that they’re not good at memorization and I truly understand that. I also beg to offer two responses: First, that may change. Give the Holy Spirit a chance to do something brand new with you. Second, even if you don’t get your verses down word for word, you are still meditating on them as you read and reread them. You still, thereby, accomplish one of the most important goals: captivating the mind to Christ. You just can’t lose on this one. Either way, it has a powerful effect.
OK, I think that’s enough to get us prepared for January 1st. Now, let me tell you well in advance how to qualify for our Siesta Scripture Memory Team Celebration on January 17-18, 2014 which is the biggest blast ever. I’m telling you about it now so that you can have it for a little extra incentive. Our main incentive is the will and good pleasure of God, of course, but He Himself authored great celebrations in His Name so feel free to be excited at the thought. Also, I want you to have plenty of time to start saving your money for your transportation and hotel. We do not charge for the event. Your entrance fee is your well-used spiral. By the way, we hope to have Travis back again to lead us in worship and Amanda, Melissa, my whole LPM staff and volunteer team will be there to serve you. Here’s how you qualify throughout the year:
*Clock in by first name and city at least 21 out of 24 times. (But please make your goal 24 out of 24!) Let me reiterate that you can be late with your entry on a 1st or 15th of any month but, by the end of the year, there has to be a record in the comment sections of you signing in at least 21 out of 24 times on a SSMT post. Make sense? Please give us 24 hours to post your comment before you assume it got lost. We still moderate all comments and the amount we get on SSMT days necessitates a slower pace. Thank you for your cooperation!
*Bring your spiral to the celebration. Again, that’s your ticket in.
*Be prepared to say any 12 of your 24 memory verses to another Siesta (of your choice) during the designated time at the celebration. (We get in pairs.) Some of you will be tempted to let this be a deal breaker but don’t back out! Siestas are really sweet and patient with each other and we are notorious for giving each other hints. We can even act out charades if necessary. If you’re one of those who genuinely struggles with memorization, just tell your memory buddy up front and she’ll give you all the grace you need. Tell her the gist of the verse as accurately as you possibly can. She’ll be able to tell that you are well acquainted with it and that the goal was accomplished even if you can’t say the verse word-for-word.
*Register for the event when the time comes. (December 1, 2013)
Whew! Have I exhausted you?? I’ve worn myself to a pulp. Sorry this is so wordy! We just want to answer as many of your questions up front as possible.
I want to tell you something before I sign off. I may sound like a broken record but you have to let me say it again as we embark on this wild journey together. You have impacted my walk with Christ. This community has given me encouragement when I was nearly down for the count. I am more disciplined because you are here. You make a difference in my life. You make me think, and laugh, and study. You offer me company when I am lonely. You stir me up to love and good works. You are used of God in my life to make this hard world a better place.
That’s what Siestaville is for. Women walking alongside women on our way Home, stirring up excitement toward that great day. SSMT is just one way we do that. AND IT’S A WHOPPER. Let’s do it, Sisters, starting this coming January 1st! I’ll talk to you again about other things before then but I don’t want the New Year to take you by surprise.
Your blog mama loves you.
Suzanne from chesapeake Va – i keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Ephesians 1;17 niv
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20
Isaiah 41:10 (NASB)
Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you,
for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will upold you with
My righteous right hand.
We demolish every argument and every pretention 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
Lynn Greene, Villa Rica, Georgia Ephesians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (NIV) study bible
Sally from Denver says:
You will keep him in perfect peace , whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3
I’m on board!! So excited!
Memory verse: 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 1 & 2
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. Psalm 19:8
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. Psalm 19:8 Mom and Daughter tag team 🙂
Sue from Saskatoon, SK, Canada: Isa 40:31 NIV but those who hope in the Lordwill renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Littleton
“Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; We are His people, The sheep of His pasture”
Psalm 100.3 NIV
1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
Misti from Carlsbad, NM says:
“Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.” Psalm 103 (NIV)
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 TNIV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
And so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. NLT
I got so excited, I forgot my scripture address, Romans 12:1 in the NLT
” Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world.”
Philippians 2:14&15
Jessica from Washington, IN
Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord! Psalms 31:24 ESV
Oregon, Il. No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. 1 Cor 13:3B
Misti from Lubbock,Tx
Proverbs 31:25 She is cl
Misti from Lubbock,Tx
Proverbs 31:25 she is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. NIV
Sarah, Lufkin, TX
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:12, 13 NIV)
My name is Jessica and I am from Georgia. The first verse I am going to memorize is:
“And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.”
2 Corinthians 9:8 NLT
Madison, AL
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 NIV
Corri from San Diego says:
Jeremiah 17: 7-8 NIV
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, who’s confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; it’s leaves are not always green. It has no worries of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. – Philippians 4:6
Rene’ from Altadena, CA ~ Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring [you] quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy.” (Holman Christian Study Bible)
Kathleen from Yuba City, CA: Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalms 46: 10 (KJV)
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.
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
Lisa from Burbank, CA
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:12 ESV
Dawnya from Corpus Christi, Texas: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter5:5
Kristen from Greenwood, IN
“Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for what He has done.” Philippians 4:6 NLT
Donna Patterson, Southside AL
“Do not lose the courage you had in the past, which has great reward.” Hebrews 10:35 NCV
Lord, tell me your ways. Show me how to live. Guide me in your truth,and teach me, my God, my Savior. I trust you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5. NCV
From Tyler, TX….sorry. Forgot to include that.
“In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.”
2 Chronicles 31:21 NIV
Lissa from Hamilton
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Colossians 4:6 NIV
Ashley Turley From McPherson, Kansas
Diane from Arlington, Texas
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.
Jeremiah 29:11
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. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
Shantha, Lincoln, RI
From Meridian, MS – Verse: ITimothy 4:8
Stephanie from Greenville, KY
And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you, do not fear nor be dismayed. Deuteronomy 31:8 NKJV
Abilene, Texas
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8 (NIV84)
thanks for your ministry and challenge
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 74:26
Sue from Mineola, Texas
Very early in the morning, while it
was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place,
where he prayed. Mark 1:35 NIV
“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT
Darrah from Dallas, TX
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful”
Psalm 1:1 NKJV
Katie Greene, Carrollton, Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth. John 17:17 (NIV)
Katie Greene, Carrollton,Georgia Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth. john 17:17 (NIV)
Jen from Frisco, TX
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, 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.” Phillipians 4:6-7 NIV
Gwen from Blumenort, Manitoba, Canada – my verse is: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” Phil. 2:3, NIV