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
Allison Ross, Cypress TX
“I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours is thwarted.” Job 42:2 HCSB
Cris from Mooresville, IN
Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)
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.
Kendall – Tulsa, OK
“Praise be to The Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” Psalm 68:19 (NIV)
Linda Says:
Galations 2;20(NIV)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life
I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for
me.”
Christy, Conifer, Colorado
Joel 2:12-13 NIV
12 “Even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
Johnnie, Wake Forest, NC
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 ESV
Caty of Stockbridge, GA – He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? ~Micah 6:8 KJV
Linda G, Richmond, Va
Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8 NIV
Megan, Houston
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 ESV)
Blanche, Pearland, TX
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33
Libby
Dallas, TX
Now may the God of peace . . . equip you with every good thing for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him through Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 13:20-21
NIV
Psalm 27:13-14 (NIV)
I am still confident of this:
That 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.
Johanna, Carlsbad CA
Matthew 11: 29,30 (NIV)
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.”
13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:13
April Jackson
Pittsburgh, PA
Deuteronomy 8:10 NIV
When you have eaten and are satisfied praise The Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
Lauren, Kentucky Ephesians 2:8-9, HCSB
For you are saved by grace, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is God’s gift- not from works, so that no one can boast.
Shaminder
Toronto, ON
Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.
Isaiah 61:7
Blanche, Pearland, TX
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33
Brenda Kelley, Taylors, SC
“You light a lamp for me. The Lord my God lights up my darkness.” Psalm 18:28 NLT
Abbie, Katy “I desperately want to be in the courts of the Lord ’s temple. My heart and my entire being shout for joy to the living God. (Psalms 84:2 NET)”
He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.
Psalm 107:14 (NIV)
Stephanie
Pawleys Island, SC
Molly from Pierce, NE
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”
Colossians 3:12 NIV
Donalda Reimer, Osler SK
2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
The man who knows right from wrong and has good judgement and common sense is happier than the man who is immensely rich! For such wisdom is far more valuable than precious jewels. Nothing else compares with it. Proverbs 3:13-15
“And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.” 1 Corinthians 10:10-11 (NLT)
Jenna
Waco, TX
“And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Colossians 2:20b (ESV)
Melissa
Waco, TX
Tina, Cincinnati, OH: Proverbs 18:21 – The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. (NIV)
Blair from Harrisburg, NC
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 NIV
Martha, Brevard NC
“So let’s do it – full of belief, confident that we are presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps His word.”
Hebrews 10:23 msg
The Eungard family
Brad, Gwen, Adam, Eleanor, Amelia, and Owen
Schweinfurt, Germany
Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Pam, Apple Valley, Minnesota
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.”
John 14:12 NIV
Meredith from Blacksburg, VA
“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.”
Psalm 5:11-12 ESV
Lisa Christopher, Olympia, WA
“Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.” (Psalm 19:13, NIV)
Lori, midlothian, va
2 Corinthians 8:11 NIV
Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.
without internet while on vacation so a little late.
But they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles
Isaiah 40:31 ESV
Ephesians 6:10-21(NIV)
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 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. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was.
James 1:23,24 KJV
Catherine S. ~ Grants Pass, OR
“…let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:22-23 (NIV)
Marilyn from Missouri:
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
Psalm 145:18 NKJV
from Littlestown, PA – Philippians 2:12- :Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” (ESV)
Christa from AZ
Ephesians 2:10
New Living Translation (NLT)
10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Haley
Conway, AR
Ephesians 4:2 NIV
“Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
…if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:23 NIV
Teri S.
Gadsden, AL
Marita, Maricopa, AZ
Rom 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
KJV
Danielle S.
Garden City, KS
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.
1 Peter 4:10
Dawn, Dubuque, IA
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. Psalm 63:3 NIV
Melissa // Lancaster, PA
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)
Jana, Quitaque, Texas
1 Corinthians 12:31& 13:1-3 NIV
And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Megan S.–Kansas City, KS
Revelation 12:11 NIV
They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony: they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Karon from Canton, NC
Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
Psalm 37:3-5 NKJV
Caroline, Houston, TX
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 NIV84