HEADS UP, SCRIPTURE MEMORY PARTICIPANTS!!! IF YOU’RE ON THIS POST TO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS, YOU ARE IN EXACTLY THE RIGHT PLACE SO PROCEED WITH CONFIDENCE! ****BUT!!! IF YOU ARE REGISTERING AND MAKING YOUR FIRST 2015 ENTRY WITH VERSE 1, PLEASE GO TO THE JANUARY 1ST OFFICIAL LAUNCH POST! THAT’S WHERE VERSE 1 GOES! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR COOPERATION WITH THE DETAILS INVOLVED. SO MUCH LOVE TO YOU!
Hey Everybody!
We are revving up around here for SSMT 2015! The Scripture memory team we host and support every other year is the most extensive thing we do around here on the LPM blog so you can know that you are the size of an airbus on our ministry radar right now. We are elated about the year we have ahead and believe with all our hearts that God finds tremendous delight in this group of diverse women banding together to memorize His Word. Here is everything you need to know about how to participate in the 2015 Siesta Scripture Memory Team! Please be sure you make it all the way to the bottom of the post where you’ll find the information about our matching spirals.
First, a few things up front since many people joining us have no previous interaction here:
*For you new comers, an explanation of the name is in order. “Siesta” is just an endearment for “Sister.” There’s no club to join and no person you need to become. If you’ve trusted Jesus as your personal Savior, you’re a sister in Christ. If you don’t know Him, we’d love for you to stick around and get to know us and see if anything around here draws you. Everyone is welcome. Here’s a bit of our back-story on the weird name: When we first began the blog, it never occurred to any of us how much we’d come to love each other. As the community grew closer and closer and the participants more and more familiar with one another, one of you asked what name we should call each another. I tried to say, “I’ll tell you what we are: We’re sistahs!” but spell-check switched it to “siestas.” It stuck and that’s been us ever since. We even liked the thought that its actual meaning is to take a nap. We’ll know we’ve been a place of divine intervention if we’re a respite from the female competition and clatter out there. Only Jesus can give us that kind of relief in this exhausting culture.
*We call this a Scripture memory “team” because that’s exactly what we are. We cheer each other on, hold each other accountable, and urge one another to make it to the goal – 24 verses systematically memorized in 12 months – through a process that requires significant practice.
*Very often you will see me refer to SSMT. Just so nobody’s confused from the start, that is an abbreviation for “Siesta Scripture Memory Team.” If you’re not participating in SSMT, please know that we don’t limit the entire blog to our Scripture memory participants. It has a big presence on here because it’s twice a month but we still do lots of other things. Please don’t feel left out or forgotten.
*Why 24 verses? In previous years, we’ve found this to be a very doable pace: 1 verse every 2 weeks. If you do much more, you’ll tend to fall behind and not retain. If you do much less, the impact is negligible. You really can do this. So many of you will surprise yourselves with what you’re capable of doing in the power of the Spirit. Yes, it takes work but it’s tremendously fulfilling and the results are nearly immeasurable. Look at it this way: we’re going to be meditating on something: unforgiveness, toxic memories, misery, lust, greed, dissatisfaction, jealousy, competition. Let’s choose Scripture instead! Christ Himself said as a man thinks, so is he. He also said His words are spirit and life. This is work worth doing, Beloved. Never – NOT ONCE – have I ever known anyone to get to the end of a Scripture memory commitment and say that it didn’t make any real difference. Not a single time.
OK, NOW FOR THE INSTRUCTIONS. You can cut and paste these somewhere if necessary. Here’s how it will go:
1. On the 1st and 15th of every month of 2015 starting on New Year’s Day, you will find a post by 8:00 in the morning asking for your memory verse, suggesting one if you’re drawing a blank, and encouraging you in your process. In past years I’ve written all the posts myself but I thought maybe this year we needed to do something to shake it up a bit and make it extra-fun. I’ll still do all the posts on the 1st but the entries on the 15th will be written by a cross section of women from this community who’ve been asked to guest post. That means that, over the course of the year, you’ll hear from 12 of them. They’ll tell you a little bit about themselves, share the verse they’ve selected for that round, and why they chose it. We’ve also asked them to supply us with a picture so you can have a face to go with each name.
2.You are to enter the verse you’ve chosen to memorize for that two-week period within twenty-four hours of the post going up. I’ve been asked many times if it’s okay if you’re late supplying your verse and, yes, of course it is, but try to avoid doing it often. The people who make it to the very end of the year are overwhelmingly those who stay up with it month to month. Please know up front that one of the important parts of this process is the exercise of self discipline. This culture is mass producing self-indulgent narcissists. Year-long commitments like these that require punctuality and focused energy push back on that degenerating trend. All that to say, please don’t drop out if you get behind. I just want you to know that this will be much more successful if you treat it as a real, live commitment you are willing to work hard to keep.
3. When you clock in with your verse those two times a month, keep your comments limited to your name (first only if you prefer), city, verse and translation. Long comments on SSMT days are no-no’s. It won’t take you long to figure out why we maintain that rule. Wait till you see the powerful sight of hundreds if not thousands of verses flowing down the comment stream. It is a gorgeous sight. When you’re having a bad day, all you have to do is scroll down a few hundred of your sisters’ Scripture selections and I promise you, you’ll get a word. It’s a very powerful thing. Here is a sample comment:
Beth Moore from Houston, Texas: “May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.” Colossians 1:11 ESV
Always add your translation because so many of your sisters will want to know where you found the wording for your entry. One of the great impacts of this process is how much we reap from each others’ selections. Often you’ll see a sister say, “I’m doing the one so-and-so did last time!” (Yes, you can make a comment that brief. Those can be fun. Occasionally you’ll even see someone write, “For the sake of my marriage, I’ve chosen to memorize…” That’s okay, too, but try to keep it very succinct.)
4. THIS ONE IS KEY! As often as possible, choose a verse that means something to you in your present season or circumstance. This is the reason why we don’t all memorize the same Scripture. We’re not all going through the same things. The more you let God lead you to verses that direct you or edify your soul in your present circumstances, the more He will renew your mind toward your challenges. This is a huge part of 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 where we’re told to demolish strongholds and take our thoughts captive to Christ. If you don’t have a verse on your mind or you’re drawing a blank when the 1st or 15th rolls around, you are more than welcome to share the selection offered in the post. That’s one reason it’s there. You might also look at a few of the comments and see if one of theirs resonates with you. I say this next part with a grin: try to refrain from memorizing Scriptures that you think your spouse or your children need to learn. Memorize what you need to learn. That means do your best to avoid jotting your verse on a stick note and planting it on your bathroom mirror where your man can see it and repent of his sins. He probably won’t because he’s got your game. I bet you can guess how I know that.
5. I strongly recommend that you stick with only one verse to memorize each time. (This is just a recommendation and not a rule. You’re free to do whatever works for you.) Keep it simple and meaningful. (If I were addressing you live, I’d have you repeat that sentence back to me so just go ahead and say it out loud in order to nail it down. That sentence could be your best friend through this process.) If you do too many verses or get too complicated, you will soon be overwhelmed and want to drop out. Better to do 24 simpler verses over a 12 month period of time than a chapter over the first month then quit. We want this to be a discipline we practice for the rest of our lives. Think marathon. Not sprint.
6. Either shortly before or after making your entry each 1st and 15th in the blog comment, write the verse by hand in your spiral. (Again, that’s a recommendation and not a rule. I’ve discovered that there’s something about writing it with your own hand and picturing it later in your own handwriting that helps it sink into your memory bank. I’m not entirely sure why.) Take that spiral with you everywhere you go. Read it and read it and read it and read it. Do mental gymnastics with it. Flip that baby over and over. Many women have told me along the way that they’re not good at memorization and I truly understand that. I also beg to offer two responses: First, that may change. Give the Holy Spirit a chance to do something brand new with you. Second, even if you don’t get your verses down word for word, you are still meditating on them as you read and reread them. You still, thereby, accomplish one of the most important goals: captivating the mind to Christ. You just can’t lose on this one. Either way, it has a powerful effect.
NOW, about that spiral! In years past, we’ve created them here at Living Proof and shipped them to those who ordered them. But, to our slack-jawed surprise, last time we did it, 10,000 women signed up and nearly all of them ordered spirals. My beloved (SMALL!!!) staff and hardworking volunteers filled every one of those orders over about a 10-day mad-dash and, though they never lost their smiles, it flat-out nearly killed them! We are just too small a staff to handle that many orders. HOWEVER!!! We MUST have matching spirals! So, here is the perfect solution. Watch this tutorial and you’ll see how quick and easy it will be to prepare your spiral:
There are two sizes to choose between for your spirals. Click on the size cover you would like to print for yourself then adhere it using any of the methods we suggested. You can certainly use regular printer paper but cardstock works perfectly:
OK, I think that’s more than enough to get us prepared for January 1st but I so hope you’ll go ahead and get our huge wrap-up celebration on your radar because we want you to know how to qualify and plan to be there! It is the biggest blast ever.
Our Siesta Scripture Memory Team 2015 Celebration will on January 16, 2016. I’m telling you about it now so that you can have it for a little extra incentive. Our main incentive is the will and good pleasure of God, of course, but He Himself authored great celebrations in His Name so feel free to be excited at the thought. Also, I want you to have plenty of time to start saving your money for your transportation and hotel. We do not charge for the event. Your entrance fee is your well-used spiral. By the way, we will have Travis back again to lead us in worship and Amanda, Melissa, my whole LPM staff and volunteer team will be there to serve you. Here’s how you qualify to attend the celebration:
*Clock in by first name and city at least 21 out of 24 times. (But please make your goal 24 out of 24!) Let me reiterate that you can be late with your entry on a 1st or 15th of any month but, by the end of the year, there has to be a record in the comment sections of you signing in at least 21 out of 24 times on a SSMT post. Make sense? Please give us 24 hours to post your comment before you assume it got lost. We still moderate all comments and the amount we get on SSMT days necessitates a slower pace. Thank you for your cooperation!
*Bring your spiral to the celebration. Again, that’s your ticket in.
*If you’re planning to come to the celebration, be prepared to say any 10 of your 24 memory verses to another Siesta (of your choice) during the designated time at the celebration. (We get in pairs.) Some of you will be tempted to let this be a deal breaker but don’t back out! Siestas are really sweet and patient with each other and we are notorious for giving each other hints. We can even act out charades if necessary. If you’re one of those who genuinely struggles with memorization, just tell your memory buddy up front and she’ll give you all the grace you need. Tell her the gist of the verse as accurately as you possibly can. She’ll be able to tell that you are well acquainted with it and that the goal was accomplished even if you can’t say the verse word-for-word.
*Register for the event when the time comes. (December 1, 2015)
Whew! Have I exhausted you?? I’ve worn myself out. Sorry this is so wordy! We just want to answer as many of your questions up front as possible.
I want to say something to you before I wrap up this diatribe: this community means something to me. I love it because I love you. I think about you on an ongoing basis. So does my staff. You are a huge part of this ministry. Thank you for the privilege to serve you and to embark on another wild journey with you. May Christ find such delight here that He astonishes us with His presence, favor, and power.
So, welcome to Siestaville: women walking alongside women on our way Home, stirring up excitement toward that great day. SSMT is one way we do that. AND IT’S A WHOPPER. Let’s do it, Sisters, starting this coming January 1st! I’ll talk to you again about other things before then but I don’t want the New Year to take you by surprise.
I love you.
Beth
Debbie from Trenton, Michigan
First time! Inviting my daughter and granddaughter to join! Can’t wait!
This will be my first year doing this and I am so excited. I’ve recruited a Bible study friend to do it with me as well!
This is my first year and I’m so excited! What a wonderful community and purpose!
Excited to do this again!
Hi Everyone! I am familiar with Beth Moore but totally just stumbled upon this blog and specifically this blog post through facebook. Its amazing how the Lord just lays the things out that you need right in your path!
I am totally going to do this with you all! And Lord willing I want to come to the celebration! I have always struggled with memorizing verses but here is to fresh starts!
Merry Christmas!
-Michele
Baltimore, MD
This will be my first year doing this and I’m very excited!!
I’m so excited. I will need this in 2015. We are moving across country with my husband moving in January and me following in July. What a fun and scary time and need God’s word to help me. Can’t wait to see what verses God leads me to as the year unfolds!
Will there be an app to record our verses again? Loved having a “digital spiral” for traveling, etc. Just checked the app store and it still has 2013. Thanks!
Hi Lisa, I know the app is being updated and edited, but I do not have news of when or if it will be ready for use. We will surely let you know when it is!
Excellent, thank you!
merry Christmas to all the LPM team and your families!
Will you be updating the app? The android app was never very great but it was a good reminder to have on my home screen. 🙂
Hi Laura, I know the app is being updated and edited, but I do not have news of when or if it will be ready for use. We will surely let you know when it is!
Yay!Thank you, this is my second year. So fortifying.
Excited to start
WooHoo… Just finished the Daniel Bible Study today! What a journey! Saw this post yesterday and shared it with my study group today! I love journeys taken with women. There is so much power in a group of women that love the Lord! Looking forward to this one!
I am so excited! I was wondering if you were going to do this in 2015. I have all my old spirals and I put them where I need them most. (Like my kitchen cabinets that I open 20 times a day.) Looking forward to memorizing 24 more verses with thousands of other Siestas! Thanks for the spiral cover. I have not ordered in the past due to no money. But that hasn’t stopped me from joining in.
Yahoo I got it to print. Great idea you all work so hard for us, I am glad you came up with the printable idea. I decided to use one of the past SSMT spirals in another time saving money saving ways. I flipped over the spiral and glued the new cover to the back. This way I’ll save a tree and money. I will have the new scriptures on the back side of the old scriptures. Siestas are so clever. I am blessed to be one. God Bless everyone at Living Proof. Merry Christmas Ceffie in WV
I am hoping & praying that the 3rd time will be the charm. I start out strong and stay right on course until school starts up again in September. It’s such a busy, crazy time & scripture memorization gets put on the back burner. Retired now, so expecting to finish the year with 24 verses of God’s Word engraved on my heart.
You’ve got this Linda! You encourage me, I’ll encourage you 🙂 See you when you sub!
This is my first time participating. I’ve got my spiral ready to go!
This was life changing for me two years ago. Looking forward to having many ladies join me who I know personally so we can keep each other accountable,
What a joy and pleasure to join ya’ll again in January! I am one of those people that has issues with memorizing scripture. Oh, those addresses! I try to memorize both the address and the verse – but I do not get hung up on the fact that I often know just the words but not the address.
For years I did not even try to do memorization- it just made me feel like a failure, because I never seemed to get it right. This will be my 6th year!! If I can do it – anyone can!
The first year I participated with the group, I did not post any verses – I did not want to share, in case I failed. I did not fail and it changed my life!
Now I encourage women frequently to practice scripture memorization. When asked why, I can honestly say it changed my walk with God. I found my thoughts changed, my speech changed, my prayers changed. I think & speak The Word! Other people (especially non-Christians or christians who do not read the Bible) often have no knowledge that what I said was God’s Word – but I know and it never fails to amaze me when His Word comes naturally out of my mouth. I know that I am speaking Truth. His Word says that what is in our heart will flow out of our mouths. I so want my heart to be filled with His Word and I am awed when that Word flows from my mouth.
I want to encourage you with the knowledge of how greatly have encouraged and impacted me! Thank you for helping me draw closer to God so He draws closer to me.. I am forever changed.
Thank you for your testimony. I feel so excited now!! I am seeking the Lord with all my heart and I feel he lead me here. Again thanks for your transparency, I too don’t like to fail so I withdrawal but not this time.
I am on board with this… it is kinda my first year doing it on here… if I can figure out how to post on the blog and how to get to the blog? thank you…God Bless…
Dear Esther,
We are so glad you will join us! You get to the blog by coming to this site (blog.lproof.org) on the 1st and 15th of each month. You will just comment with your name, location and verse! We are looking forward to it! Blessings to you!
Love,
Sherry
You’re going to have the app again, right?
Hi Becky, I know the app is being updated and edited, but I do not have news of when or if it will be ready for use. We will surely let you know when it is!
Excited to start this! I’m going to commit to see it to the end!! Can’t wait to get started!
I’m going to do this, and I’m super excited. Scripture memorization is so important; I’ve just been lacking an accountability group.
First time. Doing this with my real siter. Love the Lord and poking for discipline.
I have always struggled with scripture memorization, but always believed it is so important in our walk. This is my first year to do this with Beth and am very excited and motivated! Believing that 2015 is going to be a very successful year.
So excited for SSMT again this year. I’ve used the verses from 2011 so many times. When my Mom was dying, her last couple days I was able to spend that time with her and comfort her with Bible verses especially at times when words just werent enough. God’s words to send her off into His arms. It was so precious.
Office Max has 3×5 spirals with a plastic sleeve on front so I just slipped my SSMT cover into it. So cool!
I will be joining you for the first time this year! I am so excited and little nervous! I have always struggled with memorization but know God will help me hide His word in my heart!
This is my fourth year doing the Siesta Scripture Memory Challenge but I’ve never been able to attend the year-end celebration. I’ve already marked my calendar for January 16, 2015 and Lord willing, I will be there!
SIesta Hugs,
Leah
Thanks Beth for doing SSMT!!! I really need it right now and the Lord continues to reminds of my memory verses from past years. I sure hope to come to Houston next year! Merry Christmas to you and your precious family. Christmas Love, Dee Dee
So exited to start this. I made my spiral notebook last evening! I love the Lord and want to do all I can to please Him and dig deeper into his word!
Excited to join this group. Can’t wait to memorize!
This community means much to me. I love you too.
I’m so excited! We’ve had a group of women memorizing for the last couple of years but would love more accountability and more reason to celebrate
My first time and I am so excited. I printed my cover today!!!!!!!
My lands, do I ever need a new year with a new spiral! So grateful for SSMT–it has been life-changing for me.
Bring it, Lord!
Very excited to join the SSMT this upcoming year!
Hi everyone! This is my first year to do this and I am super excited! Looking forward to being a part of this with all of you!!
I am so excited about this! I have been looking for something to keep me accountable like this for a long time!
My spiral is ready! Ready for 2015 to open up opportunities to hear the Lord speak to me and accept for myself how He sees me.
Agree wholeheartedly with comment 165 – this too has changed my attitude and my mind, being renewed constantly by the verses the Lord gives me. I could share much on how each verse has been and is still being used mightily for His Glory as I pray them over others – this has changed my prayer life radically, as I excercise , walk, swim, or ice skate, I pray the verses from beginning to end, now 34 verses in order, interjecting the names for those specifically in need of that verse- promises , for example, ” Ps. 63:8, My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me” . I praised the Lord for this verse and also asked Him to uphold my daughter becuz her soul was clinging to Him too, as our 36 yr old son-in-law had emergency open heart surgery last Dec. I thanked Him that “He encamped round about him, ” ps 34:7, “and He delivered Him.” The drs did not expect him to live, unbeknowns to any of us, BUT the Lord spared His life. Amen and all glorly to the Lord. The Lord had given me verses all that year to prepare my heart for mighty fervent prayer of His Word all of Dec for my daughter and son-in-laws family and even all of this year as I have continued. This is the best thing from Scripture that I have ever gleaned to use for His Honour and Glory . As a tween I memorized 300 plus verses a year as I belonged to a Bible Club, and very quickly this ssmt appealed to me. Yes we who are older may not remember what we ate yesterday or where we placed something we can’t find, but we can focus our minds and prayers to memorize His Word and then use it for Him. The Lord also has me using the verses He gives me to memorize , in writing cards to others going thru rough times or in praying with them on phone or in person.
Thank you Beth for this great idea and I pray many will persist and discipline themselves to take part-you will forever be blessed even into eternity.
My cousin posted this on Facebook. I can’t wait to do this. Beth Moore, you are such an inspiration to all women. May God continue to bless you.
Excited to memorize verses!!!
Merry Christmas,
Shari
So excited to do this again. I’ve participated twice before but haven’t made it to the celebration in Houston. Third time’s the charm right lol?
Looking forward to joining my sister in Iowa in memorizing scripture this year. First time joining this group. Very excited to start 2015 off this way!
I am in. <3 I have so much useless info in my head. I need to get it out and replace it with scripture. Praise God and Merry Christmas.
Thank you for doing this again. I am looking forward to memorizing His Word. (my fifth year, I think.)I am already keeping an eye out for my first verse. See you in 2015!!
Merry Christmas to you and your family
My first time commitment to participate! Spiral notebook in hand and the 2016 Meeting in my sights!!
excited to do this for the frist time
This is my 1st time – excited about the new challenge!! Thank you
So excited!
So excited to be starting thus in 2015. Thanks Siestas!
I look forward to doing this for the first time. I need much accountability in this area. I want to be an encouragement to each of my “siestas” that are going to do this right along next to me.