Hey, Everybody!
I am writing to you on Sunday afternoon since this post needs to go up first thing Monday morning and I am typing away on my laptop from Jackson and Annabeth’s room in our home. It’s the room where Keith and I get the best internet hookup. I like it anyway because it is filled with expressions of the only two kids on the earth I love as much as the two that I birthed. From Annabeth’s twin bed where I’m sitting, I can see a pink and green doll house, a blue and yellow race track, a dark green, fairly-convincing rubber lizard, a kids’ brightly colored exercise bike, a cardboard playhouse and a cardboard castle. It’s full on here in this room and, boy, has it had a work out in the last week.
Keith and I are blessed out of our minds to do lots of life with our grandkids because they only live about 20 minutes from our front door. Delightfully, their voices often reverberate off of these walls and their sweet feet are slap-happy on these wooden floors on a regular basis. We get to have sleepovers on occasions through out the year but once every summer Keith and I have them for the better part of a week and let their darling parents get some time together all by themselves. This last week was that segment of time – Camp Bibby we call it – for the summer of 2013. We kissed them goodbye on Friday night after a good, solid 5-day dose of them. I hate to admit to a small lump in my throat when they drove off with Amanda and Curtis, although I needed a nap in the worst way. Grin. It may be of some encouragement to you mothers of young children that, on Day 1, I did not shower until 3:00 PM. Yes, I do indeed remember what it was like to be a busy young mom whose life is not her own and when I forget, my two sweeties help me remember. Good grief, I would not trade them for anything in this world.
We do not have the time or space here for all the new quotes that have been added to my repertoire in the last week. Jackson and Annabeth are each hilarious, even when they don’t mean to be, so I try to have a pen nearby at all times. Annabeth announced to me on Friday afternoon that, when she grows up, she most definitely does NOT want to have a baby. “Why not?” I asked. “Because you have to go to the hospital,” she replied. And I thought to myself, whoa baby, that’s not all you have to do. As my mama always said, you also have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Translation: you think you’re going to die but, ordinarily, you do not, although at times your husband could be in considerable harm’s way if he spouts another word. Of course, I kept these thoughts to myself.
Annabeth paused for just a moment then spoke back up. “I just want a chihuahua and a cat.”
And that was that.
Jackson asked me how old I was while he was here because I recently had a birthday. He’s asked me that kind of thing before and it always ends up following the trail of whether or not I will still be his Bibby when he is in college. Curtis’s grandmother died a couple of years ago and I think he’s got it in his seven year-old head that grandmothers are tenuous creatures, here today, gone tomorrow. So, I said to him, “You know, Jackson, both your grandmothers are actually pretty young to have a grandkid as old as you. Because we all started so early, I think you can probably assume we’ll be around a while and see you grow up.” He sat on that a few moments then said, “Bibby, that makes you a rookie grandma. Do you know what a rookie is, Bibby?” Ah, yes, I do, Mister. I was a rookie mom with your mommy and a rookie grandma with you and I cannot think of two people on the planet through whom I’d rather be cast into those auspicious, busy, and often humbling roles.
I guess you’re wondering what all of this has to do with our Scripture memory. Well, I am getting to that right now. We have a daily verse at Camp Bibby and Psalm 32:9 out of the New Century Bible was our verse for Day 3 and the immediate favorite and clear winner for the fastest memorization. I taught the whole verse to Annabeth and Jackson but we only memorized part of it. Perhaps you will see why Jackson all but claimed it as his life verse. Kids totally love this kind of thing:
“Don’t be like a…donkey.” Psalm 32:9a
It made them almost as happy as talking about bathroom sounds. If I heard this verse once out of their mouths since Wednesday, I heard it 50 times. They could tell you what it means, too. I’ll stick the phrase back in the wider Scripture segment so that you’ll know what it means, too:
8      The LORD says, “I will make you wise and show you where to go. I will guide you and watch over you.
9      So don’t be like a horse or donkey, that doesn’t understand. They must be led with bits and reins,
or they will not come near you.”
Jackson would tell you that it means that God doesn’t want to have to tie us all up, or sit on us, or be all hard on us to get us to come to Him and to walk in His gracious and good will for our lives. He doesn’t want to have to make us obey Him so He can bless us. His deep desire is that we’d want to go with Him because we know that He is always for us, always leading us to triumph, always trustworthy, always right, and forever wanting to crown us with love and compassion and lead us away from bondage and such unnecessary harm.
I know it’s basic. But my mind’s been on the basics this last week with a seven year-old and a four year-old either one foot from me or on my person. I guess the question I’m throwing out on the table this week is this: Why do we continue to fight God and lash about in His grasp like He’s a big Taker instead of a Giver? What is it we think He’s trying to rob us of? To whom have we compared Him so that we’ve assumed we cannot trust Him?
Don’t be so stubborn, the psalmist is saying. Cooperate and go with God some place beautiful. Some place almost magical.
Revel in the two preceding verses in the same psalm (32), this time from the NIV:
6Â Therefore let all the faithful pray to You
while You may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7Â You are my hiding place;
You will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Surround sound. Oh, if our spiritual ears could only be opened for a few glorious minutes, what a musical score we’d hear all around us. To go with Jesus is to go the way of deliverance. The way of music. The way of symphonies. The way of ascent amid mighty rising waters. So, I’m going with Jackson in my memory work this round:
Beth, Houston. So don’t be like a horse or donkey, that doesn’t understand. They must be led with bits and reins, or they will not come near you. Psalm 32:9 NCV
So, what’s yours?
You are loved around here, Sister. We are honored to serve you.
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Julie Boerne TX
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be burdened AGAIN, by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NIV
Dawn, Mt. Olive, NC
Lamentations 3:57-58 NIV
“You came near when I called, and you said, ‘Do not fear.’ You, Lord, took up my case and you redeemed my life.”
Barbara, Celebration, FL
In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.
Psalm 31:1, NIV
Staci, Holland, MI
Psalm 91:6 NIV “nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,nor the plague that destroys at midday. “. (Memorizing all of psalm 91!)
Jordan, Columbia MO. “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4 NIV
What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see!
Cindy, Fort Worth, TX
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
Laura, Minneapolis.
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8, ESV
Redfield, AR
[2]Â Blessed is the man
whose sin the LORD does not count against him*
and in whose spirit is no deceit.*
Psalms 32:2 (NIV)
Ally from Searcy, AR
Luke 1:45 (NIV)
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her.
Crystal from Phoenix
Psalm 27:1 (NIV)
The Lord is my Light and my Salvation–whom shall I fear? The Lord is the Stronghold of my life–of whom shall I be afraid?
Pauline from Eau Claire,Wi
“For you formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb ”
Psalm 139:13 NKJV
Jill from Searcy, AR
Titus 2:11-12 (NIV)
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say, “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.
Jo, Columbia, Missouri
Romans 6:13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. Romans 6:13 NIV
linda, colorado springs.
you are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
psalm 32:7 (niv)
Woodstock, Ga.
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
Joan, Portage, MI
“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory & the power for ever & ever. Amen.”
1 Peter 4:11 NIV
Susan Miles, Jonesboro, Arkansas
Isaiah 50:4 ESV
The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning He awakens; He awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage- with great patience and careful instruction.
2Timothy 4:2 NIV
NET Psalm 138:3
When I cried out, for help, you answered me. You made me bold and energized me.
Jennifer, Fairfax Virginia
James 1:21(NIV)
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
Deidra – Waynesboro
Psalm 32:7 NIV
You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Betty from Waveland, IN: “I will bless you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.” Psalm 63:4 The Living Bible
Seek God’s will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:6 NLT
Elaine – Powder Springs – For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:13 (ESV)
Sarah Rockwall, TX
Simon Peter answered, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
Matthew16:16 NIV
Pearland
Ephesians 1:13 NIV
Having also believed you were seated in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.
I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord – Psalm 27:13-14 (NIV)
Shantha, Lincoln, RI
Denise from Lenexa, KS
God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT
Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down”
Luke 21:34
Tami
Columbus Ohio
Know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 (NIV)
Connie Windham
Trout, LA
Psalm 32:9 NASB
Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding. Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, otherwise they will not come near you.
Ephesians 3:17b-18 (NIV ’84)
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
Margie
Hilton Head island, SC
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8 NIV
Jeri
Missouri City TX
1 Corinthians 15: 57 (NIV)
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Mary Beth, St. Louis
Song of Songs 7:10 (NIV)
“I belong to my beloved,
and his desire is for me.”
Angie, Lee’s Summit
O Lord, You are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt Yourself as the ruler of all.
1 Chronicles 29:11 NET
Jenna, Hogue. So don’t be like a horse or donkey, that doesn’t understand. They must be led with bits and reins, or they will not come near you. Psalm 32:9 NCV
NET, Exodus 14:14, “The Lord will fight for you, and you can be still.”
For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. (Proverbs 2:6 NIV)
Patti San Rafael, Ca.
PS 119:18
“Open my eyes,that I may behold wonderful things from Your law.”
(NASB)
Christine, St. Louis Park, MN The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Cor 4:4 NIV
Kim
Warrensburg, MO
James 2:21-24 (NLT)
21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.
Kathy – Carrollton TX
John 8:7b. NIV
If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone.
“For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NET
Linda Jewell
Sedona, AZ
Philippians 4:8 NIV
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think upon such things.
Psalm 62:7 NIV
My salvation and my honor depend
On God;
He is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Erica G, Denver
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:13, NIV
Gill from Lancaster UK. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12 v 21 (NASB)
Amy from Frisco, Texas
Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.
Psalms 33:22
Connie J., Mountain House, CA- The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth. Their words to the end of the world. Psalm 19:1-4a (NIV84)