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
O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that truteth in him. Psalm 34:8 NKY
Psalm 16:1 Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.(NIV)
Courtney, LaPlata, MD
1 Peter 5:13 (ESV)
She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.
Daphne, Kennewick, WA
You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You ~ Is 26:3 (AMP)
These are truly enormous ideas in on the topic of blogging.
You have touched some nice things here. Any way keep up wrinting.
Liz Taylor, Washington D.C.
Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. (1 Peter 2:16 ESV)
Brigette Brock
Morehead, KY
Do not 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
NIV 84
Becky, St. Augustine, However, as it is written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
No mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him — but God
has revealed it to us by his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NIV
Laura, Katy, TX. 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, to Him be the glory in all the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV
Melanie, Armuchee, GA
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:19 (ESV)
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously and without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed about by the wind.
James 1:5-6
Kristin – Jacksonville, AL
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 ESV)
Lillian, Vermilion, OH
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.
Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”
Matthew 10:16(NIV)
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
Psalm 100:4
Therefore since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what our Lord has done for us.
Romans 5:1 (NLT)
Caroline
Waco, TX
New King James Version (NKJV)
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Lori from St. Catharines, ON
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5 NLT
Esther, Jonesborough, TN. Isaiah 2:22 ESV. Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?
Cottonwood, CA
“I love you LORD; you are my strength.”
Psalm 18:1 NLT
Abilene, TX
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. Luke 10:27 NIV
Pam in Chiangmai, Thailand
Ps. 86:5 NLT Oh Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. NIV
Connie from Plano, TX says: “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV
Psalm 51:14. NIV. Gail Jones. Decatur TX
Save me from bloodguilt O God; the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
Juliana
Livermore, CA
Proverbs 3:6 CEV
Always let him lead you,
and he will clear the road
for you to follow.
Eniola, Lagos Nigeria
You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; you shall surround me with songs of deliverance
Psalm 32:7 NKJV
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” I Peter 5:5 NIV
Sonya
Aurora, Colorado
“he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.”
Psalm 103:10 (NIV)
(for July 1st)
Karen Sue, Austin, TX
“If I then, the LORD and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
“For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.
John 13:14-15 NAS
Donna from Angleton, TX
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Romans 12:12 ESV
Mary H., Ardmore, AL
Mark 10:27
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God. “
Kendra W., Dallas:
“Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.”
Psalm 16:1 (NIV)
Cindy, Rochester, MN And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:10-11 NIV84
Chelsie, New Hudson, MI
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34 NIV
Rena, Tulsa. “May [I] experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then [I] will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Ephesians 3:19 NLT
Orlando, FL
three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Revelation 21: 13
I cannot remember if I posted in July or not!! I’ve worked on my verses, but “Camp Grandma” was going on, and I’m blank on whether or not I actually got on the computer. Anyway, here they are for July: Colossians 1:15-16 ESV
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him.”
Candace, Narvon, PA
II Corinthians 12:9 NIV – But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Lisa, Fishers IN
NIV Jude 13
They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars for whom the blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
Teresa, Austin, TX
Matthew 11:28 (NIV)
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Lindsay from Boston, MA: “He replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it will obey you.” Luke 17:6 NIV
Norma
Leander, TX
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
Psalm 103:1,2 ESV
Charlotte Good
Mesquite, Texas
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39
Janice Coulter
Russellville, Arkansas
Psalm 16:1
” Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.”
SHaron Modesto, california
Jer. 17:7 NET
My blessing is on those people who trust in ME, who put their confidence in Me.
Patti from La Porte
“Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear:
though the war reak out against me,
even then I will be confident.”
Psalm 27: 3
NIV
Bonnie Wallace, Charleston SC
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Proverbs 4:23 NLT
Patti — Fort Worth, Texas
“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”
Psalm 143:8 (NIV)
Cherilyn M., Colfax NC
“For physical exercise has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way. It holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8 NET
“When pride comes then comes disgrace but with humility comes wisdom.” Prov 11:2
NLT
Michele O. Raleigh, NC