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
Gretchen, Thousand Oaks, CA
Zeph. 3:17 NET
“The Lord your God is in your midst. He is a warrior who can deliver you. He takes great delight in you; He renews you by His love, He shouts for joy over you.” (Hallelujah!!!!)
Mary, Frisco “Take delight in the Lord, an d he will give you your hearts desires.” Psalms 37:4 NLT
Kristel Hines from Russellville says:
Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do. Proverbs 4:23 NLT
Ps 63:1 NKJV
O, God, You are my God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
Lindsey, Nashville, TN, 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)
ll Thessalonians 3:16 NLT 7-1-2013
Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you His peace at all times and in every situation…..
Valerie M.
Evart, Mi
Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm. (Psalms 37:8 NLT)
Marky, Pocatello, ID
“Why, my soul are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:11 NIV
Staci
Corona
From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. (Isaiah 64:4 ESV)
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
–1John 4:4 [KJV]
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Luke 6:36 KJV
Kristin Cho; Northville, Michigan
John 4:24 NIV
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.
Amen
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.
1 Corinthians 13:4
Christine Port Saint Lucie Florida
2 Corinthians 10:5Â (NIV)
5 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.
Sharon, Riverside, Ca.
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”
Psalm 92:12-15 NIV
Elizabeth Blakeley. Escalon, CA. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of the darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthian 4:6 (NIV)
Joyce, St. Louis
Ephesians 1:17 NIV
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit [f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
Shellie P.
Spokane, WA
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7 NIV
P.S. And I like the basics! It’s what I’m trying to stick to in early sobriety again. I need to stick to get back to basics!
Teresa, Apex, NC
Now to you, children, obey your parents in the Lord because this is right in God’s eyes. This is the first commandment onto which He added a promise: “Honor your father and your mother, and if you do, you will live long and well in this land.” And, fathers, do not drive your children mad, but nurture them in the discipline and teaching that come from the Lord.
Ephesians 6:1-4 (The Voice)
Judy, Beaumont, California
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.
Ps. 32:7 NAS
Vanessa, Rio Rancho NM
“Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong they may see your good deeds and glorify God in the day he visits us” 1 Peter 2:12 NIV
Tera Ferguson
Gardendale, Alabama
Psalm 1:2 KJV
But His delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Michelle Weihing – Frisco, TX – Isaiah 26:3 – NLT – You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Isaiah 58:11 (NIV)
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Ps 18:30 NLT
God’s way is perfect
All the Lord’s promises prove true
He is a shield for all who look to him for protection
Loris, SC
Sara from Virginia, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, NIV)
Quita, Trenton, Tx
KJV
Zech.13:9
And I will bring the third part through the fire,
and will refine them as silver is refined,
and will try them as gold is tried.
they shall call on my name,
and I will hear them:
I will say, It is my people:
and they shall say, the LORD is my God.
Tina, Zalma, 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)
mckenzie from new orleans,
Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; (Isaiah 43:4 ESV)
Carol, Woodbridge, CA
“When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves”
Philippians 2:3. New Century Version
Isaiah 60:19
NIV
The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.
Maly, Marysville, Oh. Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. Hebrews 10:22a
A friend loveth at all times
Psalms 17:17 (KJV)
Kathy, Lake Jackson, TX
May Your faithful love comfort me as You promised Your servant.
Psalm 119:76 (HCSB)
Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.
Col. 3:24
Brenda from Southern Maryland
Isaiah 32:17-18 Â ESVÂ
And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. Â My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
Hebrews 10:23 (NKJV)
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
Andrea
Woodstock GA
The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
Proverbs 27:12 NIV
Linda, Westport
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31 ESV
Kate K., Lafayette, IN
“Here I am, I have come…I desire to do your will, my God; Your law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:7, 8 NIV
Valerie Chamberlain, Little Elm, Texas
“And Abraham called the name of the place, The- Lord -Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” Genesis 22:14 NKJV
Michele-Lubbock
Psalm 91:15
” He shall call upon me,and I will and answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.” KJV
Amanda, Calgary, Alberta
“And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.” Deuteronomy 6:23 NIV
Darcy – Edwardsville, IL
“But encourage each other daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” -Hebrews 3:13
Jennifer
Frisco, TX
“Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have! (Matthew 6:22, 23 MSG)
Brandi, Ft. Worth, TX
Proverbs 15:18 NASB
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, But the slow to anger calms a dispute
Marcia Jordon, Fulton, MO
2 Timothy 1:7 (HCSB)
For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
Richmond, TX
Psalm 16:2 NIV
I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”
The Lord is my strength and song and He has become my salvation. This is my God and I will praise Him, my father’s God, I will extol Him. EX 15:2NASB
James 1:6 (NIV)
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.