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
Gay Beck, Plain City, OH
Psalm 62:1 (NIV)
My soul finds rest in God alone, my salvation comes from him.
Audrey from Fayetteville, AR:
“But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. But the best of the three is love.”
1 Chorinthians 13:13 MSG
lynn, Louisville, Ky
since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints;
Colossians 1:4 (NASB)
Ann. Centerville
They are new everyone morning. Great is your faithfulness.
Lam. 3:23. NIV
Kaci W.; Moultrie, GA
“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.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
Barbara, “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
Thank you Beth for this verse. It spoke to me for this season in my life.
Sherri, Albuquerque, NM “But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,” Jude 1:20 NLT
Heather S., Louisville, KY
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
“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
Yvonne
Fresno, CA
Ephesians 1:13 NIV And you were also included in Christ, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed you were marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.
Sheila, Bethesda. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. -Acts 5:41 (NIV)
Karen, Colchester VT
Jesus said to her” Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believed.”
John 11:40 GNT
Kendra Husband from Charlotte, NC
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 NIV
Pamela Slifco from Shelby Township MI
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9 NIV
Karen, Dover, NH “And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us.” Rom. 5:5 (NIV)
The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands .
Psalm 19:1 NIV
Christy, Summit, MS; “But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.” Psalm 3:3 NIV
Kari, Frisco, TX
“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Matthew 6:33
Ouida in Trenton, TX
They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed.
Psalm 34:5 (NASB)
Barbara Severns, Eagle, Idaho
Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His lovingkindness from me.
Psalm 66:20 NASB
Beth, Toronto: “… asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience and joyfully giving thanks to the Father…”
Colossians 1:9b-11 (NIV)
Mary, Lexington Park, MD
Now if I have found favor in Your sight, show me Your way, that I may know You, that I may continue to find favor in Your sight. And see that this nation is Your people.
Exodus 33:13 NET
Kate K.
Lafayette, Indiana
“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
Ephesians 1:5 NLT
Ashley Edwards, Dallas, Georgia
“When the two of his disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
John 1:37-38a (NIV)
Amy, Houston TX:
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
– Psalm 90:12 TNIV
Oh Beth, I love and have needed that verse today! Thank you! Adding it to my spiral.
Wish I could come to Siesta Scripture Memory, but cannot this time. I have been working on memorizing the book of Colossians this year. Love you! Holly
“The steadfast love of The Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
~Lamentations 3:22&23 NRSV
Carrie, Atlanta, GA. “Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” Psalm 100:2 ESV
Kathryn, Waldorf, MD: 1 Timothy 1:16 “But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.” NIV
Abbie, Omaha, NE
John 9:3 (NIV) “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, “said Jesus,” but this happened so that the work of God may be displayed in his life.”
DeeDee. Katy,Tx
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Proverbs 4:23
NIV
Kristi B.
Houston, TX
Romans 15:5 CEV
“God is the one who makes us patient and cheerful. I pray that he will help you live at peace with each other, as you follow Christ.”
Alta, Indiana
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.”
2Timothy2:19
Rene’ Pingel, Cape Girardeau, MO
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. Psalm 145:3 NIV
Kathy, Danvers
2 Thessalonians 3:5 NIV
May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.
Tilley Hawkins from Franklin, TN
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28 (NLT)
Lynda from Ocala, FL: Jeremiah 17:14 “Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.” NIV
Lindsey Buchanan, St. Augustine, FL
“The sovereign Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to go on the heights.”
Habakkuk 3:19 NIV
Lisa, Huntsville, AL:
Hebrews 2:1, NIV 84 –
We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
Robin, Orange City, Iowa…. Psalm 40:17 NIV “Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer: O my God, do not delay.”
Elizabeth Meagher Mechanicsville, VA
Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes.
1 Samuel 12:16, NIV
Daniela, Abingdon Maryland
In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul.
Psalm 138:3
NKJV
The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense. Proverbs 27:9, NLT
Vicki, Peoria,IL
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, (NIV)
Johannah, Alexandria, LA
“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
Julie, Gresham, OR
“Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me,that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.'” Jeremiah 9:23-24 ESV
Linda, Mandeville, LA
2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)
“For we live by faith, not by sight.”
Tracy
Andice,Tx
“All things are lawful for me,
But not all things are helpful;
All things are lawful for me,
But not all things edify.”
1 Corinthians 10:23 NKJV
Diane, Longmont, CO
For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. Rom 6:14 NIV
Cindy from Sister Or , 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