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:
8Â Â Â Â Â Â The LORD says, âI will make you wise and show you where to go. I will guide you and watch over you.
9Â Â Â Â Â Â So donât be like a horse or donkey, that doesnât understand. They must be led with bits and reins,
or they will not come near you.â
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 donât be like a horse or donkey, that doesnât 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
Heather D., Round Lake, IL
“The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).
John 10:10 AMP
Janet, Port Orange
(James 4:7-8a) Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. (TNIV)
Carolyn, St. Peters, MO
For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14 NIV84
Tanya, Lorton, VA
“The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.” Isaiah 50:4 (NIV)
Fran, Stedman, NC
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him! Bless His name!
Psalm 100:4 ESV
Becky, Fairfax, VA:
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Psalm 32:8
Tami, DS, LA
John 6:63 (ESV)
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I spoken to you are spirit and life.
Kelli, Apex NC
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
Philippians 2:1 nasb
Cindy form Sister Or says trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5 esv
Out of respect for Christ, be courteoulsy reverant to one another. Ephesians 5:21 (Message)
Wendy, Mechanicsville, VA
Meredith, Trabuco Canyon, CA
“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”
Psalm 139:17-18 (NLT)
Brynn in Rogers, AR
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
Lamentations 3:24-26 ESV
Preserve me o God, for in you I take refuge.
Psalm 16:1
Tammy from Fairhope, AL
Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 2 chronicles 7:14 NLT
melissa irwin: franklin, tn
Hebrews 6:19 (NASB)
“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.”
Kristie Nanes, Clearfield, UT
And therefore He waits
on high to have
compassion on you.
Isaiah 30:18b (NASB)
Rhonda, Niles, MI “Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32:17
“Don’t grumble against each other, brothers,
or you will be judged.
The Judge is standing at the door.”
James 5:9 NIV
Linda, Ft. Collins, CO
Karen from Westminster, MD
Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
Romans 10:17 NIV
Teach me your way, Lord. that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
Psalm 86:11 (NIV)
Carrie Jones
Ontario, Canada
Doris, Whiteville, NC
Joshua 1:8 ESV
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.
patty Pierce
Searcy ar
Proverbs 3:6
NKJV
In all your ways acknowledge him and He shall direct your paths.
Heidi, Victoria, BC, Canada
Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
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 minds in Christ Jesus.
Mary
Silver Spring, MD
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John 3:30 (ESV)
Abby Kaufman
Vacaville CA
For he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Proverbs 2:8 NIV
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.
Delores, Columbia,TN
Shannon, Mandeville
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word”. Heb. 1:3
Ali – Clearwater, FL
“Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
1 Corinthians 13:7
Marti, loganville, ga
” He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield,
In whom I take refuge, who subdues people under me.”
Psalm 144:2 NIV
Lisa, Garland,TX “but as it is written, “T hey who had no news of H im shall see, A nd they who have not heard shall understand.” (Romans 15:21 NASB)
HCSB Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.
Tammy,
Lusby, MD
Faye from Calgary, AB, Canada
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17 ESV)
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; Romans 8:26 NAS
For what can be known about GOD is plain to them, because GOD has shown it to them.
Romans 1:19 ESV
Suzann Benson
Kingwood WV
Sara, Dallas, TX – “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” Proverbs 19:11.
Annette, Tomball. Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the LORD will stand. Proverbs 19:21 NASB
Kathy, Jay, Oklahoma
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seeds for the sower and breath for the eater, Isaiah 55:10 NIV 84
RaeLeen, Greenwood: The Lord replied, ” My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Exodus 33:14 NIV
Jennifer, Monroe, GA
Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith toward God, teachings about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement. And this is what we intend to do, if God permits. Hebrews 6:1-3 NET
For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Isaiah 41:13 NIV
Carmen, Knoxville
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1. NIV
Darlene from Turner, Maine
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, (Ephesians 3:17-20 KJV)
Diane J, Wood River, IL
II Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV):
if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Brenda, Greenville SC
Ps. 139:7 NIV
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
Elisa, New York
John 16:33 ESV
I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
Bree, Greenville, TX
I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, âYou are my servantâ; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. (Isaiah 41:9 NIV)
Natalie, Austin
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good.
Rom 12:9
Nashville, TN
So that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. Philippians 1:10 NIV
Beth, Mansfield, TX
The Lord is all I have, and so I put my hope in him. (Lamentations 3:24 GN)
Natalie-Austin
Phil 4:19
And my God shall meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.