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
Cynthia
Brentwood TN
“He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.”
Revelation 19:13
NASB
Allie,south pasadena ca
I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” Psalm 32:8 nrsv
Holly, Glendale, AZ:
“This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.'” Isaiah 48:17 NLT
Christie
Gray Court, SC
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Ps 19:14 NIV
“I have benn crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me”.
Galatians 2:20
Lala Ball Cooper in Ruston, Louisiana, says:
“26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”
1 John 2:26-27 KJV
Dina Garcia, Garden Grove, CA
“…God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.”
Acts 10:34–35, NIV
Ally, Houston.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 NET
“Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders–He’ll carry your load, He’ll help you out. He’ll never let good people topple into ruin.”
Psalm 55:22 Message
Shelley
Springfield, MO
On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.
Psalm 138:3 ESV
Tane McGehee Uvalde, Texas
July 3, 2013 12:28
‘
Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me. Psalm 119:133 NKJV
Amanda from Plano, TX
Psalm 5:3 NLT
“Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.”
Jennifer, Medford OR
The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. Zephaniah 3:17 NASB
Margie Allen,TX
Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. Hebrews 10:35-36 ESV
Laura, Townsend,MA
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect
Romans 12:1-2 ESV
Because kind words are like honey , sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.
Proverbs 16:24
Tammy
Cincinnati
Vickie C, Baytown, Texas
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. John 16:13 ESV
Audrey, Ohio
Ephesians 6:14-15 TNIV
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17 NLT)
Martinez, Georgia
Psalm 147:11
New International Version (NIV)
11 the Lord delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 “And now, “O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,” and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.
NIV
Linda, Johnstown, PA.
Ephesians 3:20 NIV)
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
Lindsay, West Point, NE
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 2 Corinthians 4:17 NIV
Katie, Amarillo. “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place,when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:15-16 NIV
James 4:10 Humble yourself in the presence of the Lord, and he will exalt you. (ESV)
Denise, Davis, IL. “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”-James 4:6 NASB
Amy, Fort Collins, CO
Isaiah 26:3-4 (NIV)
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
Sherry
Oklahoma
Psalms 91:3 ESV
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
Debbie Torkelson, Annandale, VA,
“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 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 everything through him who gives me strength.” Phil 4:11-13, NIV
“But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his”, and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
2 Timothy 2:19 ESV
STACY, CHAPIN,SC
BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL FOR THEY WILL BE SHOWN MERCY.
MAT 5:7 NIV
Lori R.
Knoxville, IOWA
Isaiah 40:1-5, ESV
1Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
3A voice cries:
“In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Niki Carroll, Shelby, NC: “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.” Psalm 32:9 (NIV)
Christine, Atlanta, GA – I’ll run the course you lay out for me if you’ll just show me how. Psalm 119:32 (The Message)
Heidi from Idaho
Psalm 32:8-9 (New Century Bible)
The LORD says, “I will make you wise and show you where to go. I will guide you and watch over you. 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.”
Becky, Stromsburg, NE
James 4:6-7 NKJV
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance! Psalm 32:7 NIV
Laurin, Harrisburg, NC – “The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.” Psalm 118:14 NIV
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.” Romans 3:23-24 NIV
Gina from Ruston, LA
Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:38 NIV)
Sandy, Bowie, MD
Psalm 145:18, KJV
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
Psalm 73:28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. NIV
Andrea Dublin, OH
Vivian, Birmingham, Alabama
The LORD says, “I will make you wise and show you where to go. I will guide you and watch over you. 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 32:8-9 (New Century Bible)
Shaunna from New Strawn, KS
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. (Romans 6:6, 7 ESV)
Sarah from Brownwood says
Colossians 2:7 NLT
Let your roots grow down into Him,
and let your lives be built on Him,
then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught,
And you will over flow with thankfulness.
Patty, Shelton, WA
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:3 NIV
Debra in Mobile
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. Colossians 2:16 (NIV84)
Sharon
Glennville. GA
Romans 14:23 NIV
Everything that does not come from faith is sin.
Paige, Plano, TX
Proverbs 3:5 (ESV)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Dana
Clarksville, TN
“Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge.”
Proverbs 14:26 NIV