Finally!!!!!!!!
Are you ready, Sisters? Do you hear me cheering?? I have never been more excited about doing this.
I am on the verge of doing about 10 backward flips on my hardwoods. I said on the verge. Not quite doing it. Well, I’m doing it in my heart. That counts for a lot around here.
SO LET’S DO THIS THING! Now, promise me this! Promise me you will read this entire post before you leave a single comment. I know you’re about to burst and I am, too, and, for that reason, I’ll keep it as short as possible. It’s so important that we get our ground rules firmly established so that we’ll have a fabulous experience. Remember, hundreds of our participants this time around are brand new so let’s make sure everybody’s on the same page.
A few things you absolutely MUST KNOW:
*Your comment to this post is your official registration onto the team. Everybody starts at Verse 1 no matter when they begin the process. (Word gets around and we often still have people joining in with us even in March and April. We don’t mind how late they begin as long as they can catch up, memorize their verses, and document each one of them on the proper post as an official participant.) This launch post will remain right here in this January 1st 2013 slot all year long and each new person will need to make her first entry here. This is how we track who signed up when we get to the end of the year and it’s party time.
*Your comment must be strictly limited to the following 5 pieces of information: name, city, verse, reference, translation. I’ll say it slower now for those brand new to the process:
Your name (or first name if you prefer), city. Your verse for that two-week period written all the way out, the reference for it (where it is found in the Bible: Book, chapter, verse) AND the *translation you’ve taken it from.
(*For instance, is the Bible you’ve pulled the passage from a KJV, an NAS, HCSB, NIV or NLT? Or is it The NET Bible, The Message or another similar version? The translation almost always appears on the outside spine of a Bible. If not, you will find it on the first few pages. If you’re looking on line, you’ll get an option to choose a translation. Do so as it speaks most clearly to you. We aren’t fussing over translations here in our memory work. You also do not need to stick with one version throughout.)
Just those 5 pieces of information! They will comprise every comment to this post. And the moment you start scrolling through all of them, you’ll see why. Page after page after page after page of Scripture and each one telling a reader exactly where to find it. It is the most powerful sight to behold. This invites people who are not participating in the memory work to reap tremendous benefits by just reading the comments and taking strength from verses they may not have known existed. This way it has the potential to bless our whole community or any weary visitor to our blog. I’ve been in crises before and gotten on the comment pages and scrolled from Scripture to Scripture and practically wept with relief and fresh courage or revelation. That’s why it’s best to keep the SSMT comments as succinct as possible. If you’ve got an exclamation in you that you just can’t hold back, you can occasionally make the briefest comment like, “I really need this one!” or “I’m sharing so-and-so’s verse” but, please, no more than that.
Comments other than the verse-entries on the 1st and 15th of each month can’t be approved. I’m so sorry and I hope you’ll understand. Thousands of us will be doing this together so the moderation process is monumental from the administrative side. The verses will be all Lindsee and I can handle in the comments for our two SSMT days per month. Keep in mind: NONE OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS PERTAIN TO THE OTHER BLOG POSTS HERE AT LPM. We will be completely free to do our regular thing on all other posts! The really stringent rules are only for the 1st and 15th of each month in 2013 and in reference to Siesta Scripture Memory Team. I hope that makes sense!
*Your comment may take 24 hours to get moderated (or posted if you’re new to the blog process) and sometimes a bit longer if it falls over a weekend. We try our hardest to stay up with it but on those days when 500+ come in at once, it’s quite a task! But we love it! It just requires a little patience on all sides! Before you assume that your entry somehow vanished and you’re tempted to write it again, give it one full day and see if it shows up. Keep track of what time you posted it and double check the comments around that same time. The accidental repeats make it much harder to track participation through the course of the year so always double check. If you don’t find it a day later, by all means, post it again!
*Remember that you get to choose your own verse! That’s really important! The ease with which you can memorize a verse is greatly impacted by how much it means to you. The more you need it or want it, the more you’ll absorb it. If you come up dry at times, no problem! You can either share my verse or another in the comment line that really speaks to you.
*PRAY that God will bless you in this endeavor and will enable you to memorize His Word! Ask continually throughout the entire year! When I get stuck and frustrated that I can’t get my words in order, if I’ll stop what I’m doing and ask God to supernaturally infuse me and help me to concentrate, you would not believe how quickly a breakthrough will come.
Are you about to stuff a sock in my mouth?? I’m about 2 seconds from stuffing one in my own mouth. Melissa gave me two new pair of boot socks for Christmas so at least I have fresh choices.
All right, already! Here goes mine! In honor of our process ahead and how willing the Holy Spirit is to help us…
Beth from Houston Texas, But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 14:26 NIV84
Here’s one more alternative if you’ve never memorized it for a new year! I just love it for January 1st:
You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your carts overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11 NIV
May God’s grace abound to you, Sweet Thing. WELCOME! We have such a fabulous challenge ahead of us. GOD, GRANT US YOUR GOOD FAVOR!
So…what are you waiting for??? SIGN IN WITH VERSE ONE!
PS. I thought you guys might find it a bit amusing that I brought in the first 300 comments in the CAR on the way to the airport to catch my Atlanta flight for Passion 2013. Laughing. You keep your blog mama busy. I love you so!
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Melanie Johnson from Georgetown, Tx
Psalm 65:11 You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.
NIV
And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. Galations 6:9 NASB
Heidi from Blairsville, Ga.; For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you,’Fear not, I will help you.’ Isaiah 41:13 NKJV
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
The Message (MSG)
16-18 Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.
Connie, Dallas, Ga
Lisa from Watkinsville, GA: Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness.
Sunshine Williamson from Southside, Alabama
KJV
John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Angie, Aberdeen, SD: Oh that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the dawn or the coming of the rains in early spring.
Hosea 6:3 NLT
Abigail ~ Wichita Falls, Texas
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, boastful, or proud.”
1 Corinthians 13:4
NLT
Angela Loven York, NE
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” Romans 12:9 NIV
Marci, Charleston, SC,
“A person’s wisdom yields patience; it’s to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”
Prov. 19:11 NIV
Tina from Knoxville, TN.
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.
1 Corinthians 2:9, NIV
Joan (Coppell, TX): Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV
Kaitlin Neal; Raleigh, NC – The Lord’s kindness never fails! If he had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed. The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning. Deep in my heart I say, “The Lord is all I need; I can depend on him!” – Lamentations 3:22-24 – CEV
Heather: Birmingham, AL
You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your carts overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11 NIV
Karen, Springfield, TN
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am you God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10 NLT
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shawdow of the Almighty.” Ps 91:1 NKJV
Melissa Collum, McDonough,GA
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Cor. 5:17 NIV
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be
glad in it. Psalm 118:24 NIV
Candace from Modesto, CA
Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.
Proverbs 21:21 (NIV)
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
John 10:10 ESV
Liz Booker, Cypress, Texas
Titus 2:4-5. NIV
“Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”
Heather; Willow Grove, PA 2 Corinthians 12:9 (TNIV) “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Laura, Parma Ohio – My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare. – Psalm 25:15, NIV
Stephanie Lloyd, Lititz, PA
Genesis 28:15a NIV
“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go”
This year, I’m going to try to get my 5 year old daughter to memorize with me! So excited!
Philippians 4:6,7 Revised Standard Version
Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Eva; Knoxville, TN Consider it pure joy, by brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, James 1:2 (NIV)
Kendra from Enid,Ok.
We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives us the right answer.
Proverbs 16:1 NLT
Kelsi from Wales, WI
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
Amanda, Aberdeen, SD: Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139: 7-10 NIV
Ann from Lewistown, PA
Colossians 3:12
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Callie Olson, Superior Wisconsin
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength”
Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
Melissa M. Grayson, GA
Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
Romans 12:12 NLT
Amanda from Huntington, WV
Trust in The Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3: 5-6 (NLT)
…”Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.”
2 Chronicles 20:15 NKJV
Lisa from Houston Texas
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. (Romans 8:38 NLT)
Monique Clearwater, FL
I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
Revelation 1:8 ESV
Lindsay from Myrtle Beach, SC
O LORD, you have searched me and known me! Psalm 139:1 ESV
DebbieC, Cabot, AR
“Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Lam 3:21 (NLT)
Stacy Featherston from Searcy, Arkansas
“Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your truth, we wait eagerly for you, for your name and your renown are the desire of our souls” Isaiah 26:8 (NIV)
Amber Comeaux; Katy, Texas
Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Kim Megow, Valdosta, GA
Philippians 1:6 (NKJV), “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Brittnie, Sugar Land, Texas
Psalm 65:11 NIV
You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your carts overflow with abundance.
Kathy, Haltom City, TX
Mark 12:33 HCSB
“And to love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
Vicki, Ann Arbor, Michigan “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” Ex 4:12 NIV 1984
2nd Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Rachel from Chester Va
” The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail”. Isaiah 58:11 NKJV
Ina from Lancaster, PA
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.
I Thess. 5:23-24 NIV
Debbie, Hattiesburg, MS
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
Psalm 91: 1-2 (NKJV)
Tonya from Houston “The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.” Exodus 14:14 NIV