Hey, my beloved sisters!
Though I won’t publish this post until Tuesday, the first day of October, I am writing to you on Sunday. I have the house all to myself today – not even a dog in sight – and I am sitting on my back porch as a generous rain soaks the ground, polishing the wide leaves of sweet gums on its way down. Our trees this far south are still plump and green and, right this minute, I don’t mind because the leaves have such a sheen on them in the rain that they look like vinyl. The temperatures will drop one slow degree at a time over the next month but we usually don’t have what people call “Autumn” here until as late as November. And it’s almost unrecognizable even then. Suddenly you just look up and the trees don’t have leaves and it hits you that you probably missed Fall on your way to work that morning when you ran into Starbucks for a dry cappuccino.
An Arkansas girl by heritage, I am on the hunt for Red October by mid September but I can’t think of a time since I’ve lived on the Gulf Coast that I’ve ever found it. Well, except when I close my eyes and look. And it is beautiful there. I do love Houston though, despite how season-challenged it is. Good people. Many, many who earnestly love Jesus and crave the sense of His presence and serve Him with both life and heart. Its diversity kicks up a rich climate for faith and a prime place to meet people very different from you who seek Jesus feverishly. It’s not as easy to keep your stereotypes tidy here.
In the early years of speaking, God purposed that I’d accrue copious hours of experience serving at various churches, women’s breakfasts and luncheons right here in our city limits and still get home to greet my children after their school day. I often pulled out of the driveway when they hopped on the school bus and squealed my tires back on the concrete just minutes before they pulled up at 3:15. My kids loved riding the school bus and, as it turns out (I write this with a smile), it was a grace to me. On paper, our lives shouldn’t have worked but somehow it worked (apply the term loosely) in practice. That’s the beautiful oddity of the will of God. What should easily work doesn’t work when He’s not in it and what should never work does work when He is. It’s crazy to think about in retrospect. He has been so faithful, just as He will be to you as you try to balance it all and seek His mercy through the insanity.
I wish I could somehow add the soundtrack of what I’m presently hearing to this post. I wish you could listen to the comfort of the rainfall, especially if you are feeling chaotic or anxious right now or frantic about how something’s going to work out. The water is falling steadily, not a soft shower or a downpour. Constant and consoling, almost like one of those sleep-settings on your iPad. And I wish you could hear 4 male hummingbirds competing over the feeder that is hanging about 8 feet from where I’m sitting. It mesmerizes me to watch them and I think you might like it, too, once you adjusted to the pace out here in these woods.
Sometimes we really do just need everything and everybody else to shut up for a minute and let us listen to the sound of God being God around us. These moments are brief for all of us. Just five days ago I was fit to be tied over something. I do mean fit to be tied and, over the weekend, greatly concerned about a situation even while I served. But I am going to sit here for the next few minutes and pour myself a cup of coffee while God pours these woods a cup of rain.
Well, I guess you can tell that I’m in a musing mood so perhaps I should wrap this post up before I work my way over to subjects like world peace and dark nights of the soul and existential crises and the beauty of aging and the delights of youth. Honestly, I can feel a poem trying to write itself in my head. This post must end with perfect timing before, indeed, my words start rhyming. Run for your life. It’s almost too late.
Here’s my Scripture for this October 1st!
Beth Moore, O God, You cause abundant showers to fall on Your chosen people. When they are tired, You sustain them, for You live among them. Psalm 68:9-10a The NET Bible
Amen, You do, gracious, merciful God.
I love you, Sisters. You are a joy to me. The next post will be registration for our SSMT celebration so we can get an idea how many to prepare for. Wooohoooo! It’s almost time to kick up our heels!
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Sheryl Blake- Niles, MI
“For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.” Psalm 71:5 NIV
Kerry, Nederland, TX
Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it.
Hebrews 13:2
NLT
Jan (GJ)
Hawkinsville, GA
Psalm 103:19 (NKJV)
The Lord has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.
Tina, Gahanna Ohio
Proverbs 3:3-4
Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man. NIV
Sue – Troy, Michigan – “Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your field are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.”
James 5:3-4 (NIV)
Dawn, Raleigh, NC, John 6:68 NLT, “Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.” ‘
Joan G, Allentown PA Let me experience Your faithful love in the morning, for I trust in You. Reveal to me the way I should go because I long for You. Psalm 143:8 HCSB
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Phil. 2:3. NLT
Lori in Pine Island, MN
“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” Jude 1:20-21. NIV
The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.
Ps. 24:1 NASB
Donna D Sarnia, Ontario
“The Lord is good,
a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in Him.”
Nahum 1:7 NIV
Indianapolis, IN
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 ESV)
Vicksburg, MS
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
James 1: 19-20
NIV
Elizabeth, Broomfield, CO
Ecc 10:4 (NIV)
If a ruler’s anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great offenses to rest.
Kathy Hazlehurst, Ms
Those who listen to instruction will prosper;
Those who trust the LORD will be joyful.
Proverbs 16:20 NLT
Lakeisha, Mays Landing, NJ
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.
~ James 1:19 NIV
Melissa, Columbus, OH
She opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. Proverbs 31:26 ESV
Alice, Dallas, TX: The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me. Lord, your love is eternal, do not abandon the work of Your hands. Psalm 138:8 HCSB
“For You, Lord, have made me glad through your work;
I will triumph in the works of Your hands.
Oh Lord, how great are Your works!
Your thoughts are very deep.”
Psalm 92:4-5 NKJV
Melanie Miller, Nampa, Idaho
Psalm 25:18 NLT
Feel my pain and see my trouble. Forgive all my sin.
Julie from Bristol, Tennessee
Proverbs 3:25-26 NIV
Have no fear of sudden diaster or of ruin, for the Lord will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared.
“We love because he first loved us.” ~1 John 4:19 NIV
The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the Word of our God remains forever.
Is. 40:8 HCSB
Ginger
Wetumpka, AL
Proverbs 16:24 NIV
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Sarah, Christina and Esther May: Wenatchee, WA
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
James 4:1 NIV
Julie P Tierra Verde FL
Jude 1:21 NET
Maintain yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life.
Janet Jarmula Ronkonkoma, NY
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” 2 Cor 1:3-4 NIV
Susan L.(central IL) Christ gave those gifts to prepare God’s holy people for the work of serving, to make the body of Christ stronger. Ephesians 4:12, NCV
Brenda – Hendersonville TN
The Lord will guide you continually,giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden,like an ever-flowing spring. Isa 58:11 NLT
Jeremiah 17:7 (NIV)
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.
Diane from Littleton, CO
Many are the plans in a man’s heart,
but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21 NIV
Lynette, Nashville, TN
W wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. Psalm 33:20 NKJ
Debbie nicholson
Gulfport, MS
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your sheild and rampart. Psalm 91:4 NIV
Sacramento, CA
He alone is my rock and my
salvation; He is my fortress,
I will not be shaken.
Psalm 62:6 NIV
Jamie, Coupeville
But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance. Luke 8:15, NASB
And
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy but I come that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10
Barb, Medina
Obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Pet 1:9
ESV
He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap
Psalm 113:7
ESV
Stacey Gaines
Corpus Christi, TX
“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
(Colossians 1:17, NIV)
Kelly, Auburn, Al – “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” -Matthew 11:28 NIV
Sheryl, PA
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who wait upon 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.
Isa.40:28-31 NIV
Dana, San Angelo, Texas
“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under the law but under grace. Romans 6:14 (NIV).
Andrea, Cartersville, GA: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” John 7:38
Jeanine, Toronto, Canada
“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” Philippians 1:9-10 ESV
Psalm 51:10 Amplified
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right perservering and steadfast spirit within me.
Lauren from Magee, MS –
“My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love.” ~1 John 3:18 (the Msg)
Sarah Miller. New Palestine, IN
From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. (Psalm 61:2 NIV)
Heidi in Whitefish, MT
“I have told you this so that my joy
may be in you and that your joy
may be complete.”
John 15:11
Michelle Baylerian, Waukesha, WI
James 1:12 HCSB
A man who endures trials is blessed, because when he passes the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
Missy Andersonville, TN Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.
Linda R. Springfield, MO
Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger. Psalm 8:2 NKJV