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
Laura
Decatur, IL
It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
Isaiah 65:24 NKJV
Michelle, Fort Worth, TX
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2 ESV
Melissa, Katy, Texas, Isaiah 30:21, NIV
Whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice saying “This is the way; walk in it.”
Barb~St Cloud MN
2 Timothy 1:7 NIV~”For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline.”
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.
Dayna, Bedford, VA
Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.
Hebrews 4:16 (HCSB)
Tracey from Shawnee, Kansas
Psalm 1: 3-4 (NET)
He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit in the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts. Not so with the wicked! Instead they are like wind-driven chaff.
Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
Do not be anxious abut anything but in everything, 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 your minds in Christ Jesus.
Cassia from Spring, TX
For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 6:23 NKJV Hallelujah!
Barb – Wetumpka, AL
So faith comes from hearing the Good News, and people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.
Romans 10:17
NCV
Tshaka; Belgium; In You, Lord my God, I put my trust.
Psalm 25:1 NIV
Dawn in Monett, MO
Psalm 25:14 NIV
The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.
jackie from platte city, MO
mark 9:23 NIV
EVERYTHING is possible to him who believes.
Alison, OKLAHOMA
Then Miriam, the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a TAMBOURINE and led ALL THE WOMEN as they played their TAMBOURINES and DANCED,
And Miriam sang this song,
Sing to the LORD,
for He has triumphed gloriously;
he has hurled both horse and rider into the sea.”
Exodus 15:20,21 NLT (packing for a victory)
But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that your Lord God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. Deuteronomy 11:11-12
ESV Cheryl H., Huntington, WV
“Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words.
Whoever serves, do so with the strength God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To HIM belongs power and glory forever & ever. Amen.” I Peter 4:10-11, NET
Bridgette, Rockwall, TX
Call to ME, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
Jeremiah 33:3 NASB
Shelley from Shiloh, IL: ” Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Col. 3:23-24 ESV
Suzanne
Tenaha, Tx
Psalm 139:2 NIV
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
Ps 139:2
Kristen, Largo, FL Psalm 34:8 NLT “Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy. No shadow of shame will darken their faces.”
Laura K, Spearfish, SD
Gladden the soul of your servant, for to You, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. Psalm 86:4 ESV
Rebecca, Chattanooga, TN
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
Psalm 130:1-2 ESV
Galatians 6:13 (HCSB)
For even the circumcised don’t keep the law themselves;
however, they want you to be circumcised in order to
boast about your flesh.
Jones Creek, Texas
For who can find a virtuous woman?
Her price is more valuable than rubies.
Proverbs 31:10
(NIV)
Laura Hagedorn, Wausau, WI., I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. 2 Peter 3:2 (NIV)
Heather, Colorado Springs, CO Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. James 3:15 NIV
Katie, Amarillo. “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4 NIV
Donna from Bartlett –
O Lord, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all.
1 Chronicles 29:11 NET
Anita, Lawrenceville,
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
Proverbs 18:10 ESV
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Romans 8:26, 27 NIV)
Keri Lee Robbins in Las Vegas, NV.
“You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you. Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (James 5:5-8 NKJV)
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10 NIV 1984
Dawn Mt. Olive, NC
Romans 5:1 HCSB
“Therfore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Sharon, St. Louis
Psalm 51:10 (AMP)
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.
Quita from Trenton, TX
KJV
11 Co.5:21
For he hath made him
to be sin for us,
who knew no sin;
that we might be made
the righteousness of God
in him.
Memphis, TN
“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”
Gal. 4:6 KJV
Proverbs 11:2 NIV
When pride come, then comes disgrace but with humility comes wisdom.
1 Thes 5:16-18 “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” NIV84
Pat, Hot Springs, AR
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Matthew 7:7 KJV
Emily Mechanicsville VA NIV
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 1 Peter 1:14
Whitney from Cape Girardeau, MO
2 Corinthians 12:9
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
NIV
Peggy, Corpus Christi, TX
I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You. Psalm 119:11 – HCSB
Emily S. ~ Weatherford, Texas ~ “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” ~ Psalm 19:14 NIV
April Jones, Springfield, IL
Psalms 34:5
Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
NLT
Michele, Pearland, TX
“Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.”
–Isaiah 43:18-19 NASB
Judy
Panama City, Fl
Jeremiah 10:6 (NCV)
LORD, there is no one like You. You are great, and Your name is great and powerful.
For the LORD you God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!
Deuteronomy 20:4 NLT
Debra, San Antonio, TX.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10 NASB
Suzy Myers
Bay Springs, MS
“As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.”
Proverbs 27:19 NIV
Roxie, Jerseyville, IL Hebrews 6:18 NLT
“So God has given us both His promise and His oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to Him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to His promise with confidence.”