**UPDATE**
Congratulations to the winners of the birthday drawing! Your names are posted below. Watch your inbox for an email from Living Proof later today so that we can get you your gift!
BONUS: The wonderful people at AMG Publishers have extended a 50% discount to any of you who would like to order a Key Word Study Bible! Click here to get more information, or to order your Bible. AMG Publishers
Winners:
#523 – Carole Germain #4348 – Karen Quinn
#2282 – Merissa G. #4399 – Anna Bunch
#2321 – Marilyn Riley #4430 – Nancy Beeey
#2756 – Merissa Ury #4813 – Myrlene Darnell
#2876 – Beth Longar #5648 – Nan Smith
#3937 – Dani Turner #5798 – Rachel C.
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A few nights ago I walked my buck wild new puppy around my neighborhood, watched the sun sink deep down into the horizon, and then settled in back at home. I flipped on my favorite season of the West Wing and I ate an entire bag of tortilla chips and ¾ a jar of my favorite salsa for dinner. What is it they say again? The apple does not fall far from the tree. Or something like that?
You see when we were growing up Mom would throw us kids in the back of Brontosaurus the station wagon and haul us halfway across the city to her old favorite Tex-Mex joint. She ordered a pint of salsa and a gigantic grease-stained brown paper bag of tortilla chips for take-out and she would eat all of this and only this for her dinner. Her own dinner. I can’t remember what we kids even ate, or if she fed us at all. I’m only kidding about that last part.
My mom was born at high noon in a fierce thunderstorm, my grandfather said. Her presence still shifts the atmosphere. A few weeks ago Mom left for a week in the hill country for a time of writing and solitude. The second she got back home, I loaded up my stuff and headed out to spend a night with she and my Dad. You see, for me, going to hang out with my parents isn’t really like going to hang out with the parents. Far from duty, it’s one of my favorite things to do. We caught up on all the life stuff that night. And then in the morning we drank our coffee in our pajamas and by 8:30 a.m. at the latest we had already covered topics such as the theology in Ephesians, the New Testament canon, the Holy Spirit’s role in the interpretation of Scripture, and the Festal Letter of Athanasius.
I have to say, this woman utterly dazzles me. She is the sweetest in the land. She is gracious and sanguine and loving and kind, no doubt, but she is serious and intense and focused and courageous. She has opinions and perspective and boldness and wisdom from the ground like no other. For all her awesomeness she is not self-righteous or squeamish, and God knows I have pushed her limits.
Mom is deeply committed to our family and I’ve always known that full well but I’ve also seen that she’s preoccupied with something a whole lot bigger than us. Probably the most important thing I have learned from her is that being caught up in Jesus and what He is doing in the world is everything. It is the ultimate priority and a family committed to His work in the world will get the privilege of making sacrifices together.
Over the past few years in my own journey I found myself in an unknown place, a place where a heart could break deeper and wider and in more directions than I could have imagined possible. Mom has walked alongside me on this road further than any human could be expected to walk with another. She would have had good reasons to just sit out a while and catch her breath. But she never left my side. The road has been bumpy but also tedious and repetitive. When the landscape didn’t seem to change for a long, long time, she kept plodding along with me, carrying my burdens and helping me shoulder the grief that felt too much to bear.
Mom is tender and she is strong and she is not afraid to look pain and grief and loss dead in the eye. Even more, she is daring enough to hope against hope. To see in others, even me, the beginnings of life and growth and health and wholeness where others might only see brokenness and death. She has shined the light of Jesus on me more times than I can count.
She can fry a chicken and whip up mashed potatoes and gravy with the best of the Southern cooks. Her pleasures are simple: the reading of books, sitting on the front porch, walking her dogs in the woods, eating dinner with my Dad, playing games on the floor with her grandkids, and drinking tea with Amanda and me. But make no mistake she is wicked smart and complex and multifaceted. She is so much more than even the best caricature of her could ever hope to be.
I love her.
Yes, I love her. If one photo could capture the light and color she brings to my world, this is it:
It is my joy and honor to be her daughter and also to work for her at Living Proof. This blog giveaway is just one of many ways I celebrate her beautiful life today. The first three gifts are from Living Proof and the last two gifts are personal gifts from me.
First and foremost, we are giving away eight Key Word Study Bibles. My mom gave me one of these Bibles many years ago. It was one of the first Bibles I ever really remember being excited about. It helped me become familiar with various Greek and Hebrew words before I ever took a Greek or Hebrew reading class. Every time I read it I was reminded that the Scriptures we hold in our hands in English are a translation. Remembering this often is a good thing and will take a person a long way in the study of the Bible, I think.
![IMG_2993[4]](https://blog.lproof.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/IMG_29934.jpg)
Second, we are giving away an assortment of several pounds of favorite Houston coffee beans. My mom is a serious coffee drinker, so this is just an obvious addition. This package will include but not be limited to one of my current favorites:
Third, we are giving away an arrangement of fresh flowers Mom loves. And, really, who wouldn’t like these?
Fourth, we are giving away a crossbody saddlebag. Mom and I both carry versions of this crossbody bag over and over again until one breaks and we have to buy another one.
Fifth and finally, we are giving away a small bottle of Flowerbomb. Mom wears lots of different perfumes, but she most often travels with this one.
So, if you’re interested in our giveaway please do pop on and say “Happy Birthday” and show Mom some love. Your comment becomes your entry into our random drawing. Comments will officially close 24 hours after the post is published, and please only one comment per person. The names of our winners will be posted at the top of this post at some point on Thursday.
I hope you all are happy and well.
And, Mom, I love you!
The best is yet to come,
Melissa
Happy Birthday, Beth!
What an amazing daughter you have there! A wonderful testament to your faith. Thank you for opening your heart to us all. May you be blessed beyond belief for your obedience & service to our Lord.
Happy Birthday, dearest Beth! God bless!
Happy Happy Birthday Beth!! Our Father has used you mightily in my life! Thank you for your obedience to Him and His word! May God continue to bless you and your precious family, in Jesus’ Name!!! Numbers 6: 24-26
May your day, year, and life abound with blessings! To have raised a daughter to write such a beautiful tribute should really be the only gift you need for your birthday!!!…..but I hope for some wrapped up surprises, too! I love you, Beth Moore!
Happy birthday, Beth! Thank you for your faithfulness. There is nothing like Jesus. And His Word is Life. Your work has helped me know Him better, Blessings to you and your!
Happy Birthday, Beth! Thank you for using the gifts God has blessed you with to bless others.
What a precious tribute to an amazing lady. Happy birthday, Beth. You have changed lives by leading them one by one to the throne. May you enjoy many more birthdays with those you love most!
Happy Happy Birthday!!!
Happy Birthday, Beth! I thank God for the day you were born and am personally grateful for your love for Christ. May He richly bless you and your sweet family!
Happy Birthday Mrs. Beth! I have just realized you have the same birthday as my beautiful daughter! Such a cool person for her to share her birthday with!! Much love!
Happy Birthday Beth! I hope your day is wonderful and your year filled with many blessings!!
Happy birthday! You are irreplaceable and I wish you the best. I have enjoyed all of your studies through the years and I look forward to many more to come.
Again, happiest of birthdays to you
God’s richest blessings to you on your birthday, Beth! I cannot even begin to tell you the ways your studies have grown my faith. Much love from my heart to yours!
Happy Birthday Beth!! I hope you had a fabulously blessed day. I know that I am blessed by your Bible Studies. Thank you for being willing to share God’s Word through your gift of teaching. God has given you a truly marvelous ability and passion to share His Word.
Happy Birthday, thanks for sharing your wisdom with me.
Happy Birthday Beth! Thank you for teaching me to feel, dig into, study, and apply the scriptures!
Happy Birthday, Beth!!! Thank you for sharing Christ, for being authentic and vulnerable and for
impacting your family faithfully (as evidenced by your daughter’s articulate blog!!!). As a mother, I
pray my children will be able to say the same thing about me someday :o) You inspire me and a
gazillion other followers of Jesus I pray Ephesians 5:1-2 for you!!! I wish you many more birthdays
to remind you how much you’re loved!!!
Happy Birthday, Beth! I can’t imagine any wishes/blessings greater than the one your daughter just posted but I hope our Lord blesses your special day beyond what you could ask or imagine. May He bless you as much as you’ve been a blessing to your family and so many others in this world.
Happy Birthday!!!!
Happy Birthday Beth!!! I am so thankful for you and your beautiful family and ministry! I have learned so much and have grown so much because of your amazing gift. I have truly learned how to LOVE the Word from your studies. I started with Believing God as one of your “Houston girls” and I have not stopped! I always look so forward to each new study (I even look forward to doing them over again with others who have never done them before!). Thanks so much for sharing your life with us! I hope your day is wonderful!!!!
Happy Birthday Beth! God’s blessings to you on a wonderful year ahead!
Happy Blessed Birthday Beth! You walked my journey with me when I lost my son at birth in February 2000. You have been a blessing in my life much longer than the past 15 years, and for that I am so very grateful. You are precious in His sight! Much love, Judy
Happy Happy Birthday Miss Beth!
Best Wishes!
HAPPIEST of birthdays to you Mrs Beth! I am so inspired by you. Thank you for all you do to further His kingdom!
Happy Birthday Beth! Thank you for your passionate love for the Lord and letting His light shine through you so that it touches countless others, including ME!
Happy birthday to Beth! I begin most mornings in one of your Bible studies and I simply love the way that you allow the Lord to use you. What a beautiful tribute from your daughter.
Blessings,
Julie
Happy Birthday!!!
Happy birthday!
Happy bday Beth !
I gave my hubs a keyword study bible (after I heard you mention it at aLPLive)
The following year he went into full time ministry !!
Happiest of birthdays to you, Beth! Though we have never met, your tireless work and love of scripture has influenced my life more than you’ll ever know. I join so many others in celebrating your birth and thanking the Lord for the gift of you. Praying the Lord will open the floodgates of blessing on you and your family this year.
She is a rare jewel indeed! Can you share where to get the crossbody bag in the rare instance I don’t win it?!
Happy, Happy Birthday! Love, Hugs and God Bless!
Happy Birthday Beth
Blessings always
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETH MOORE! I can only hope and pray to be spoke of by my little ones like that one day! What a beautiful relationship. Enjoy every minute of this next year youngin’
Happy Birthday, Beth! I hope you have a very blessed day. Words cannot express how grateful I am to you for your passion for women and Bible study. You are Awesome.
If I was celebrating a birthday based on the maturity of years learned in study of the Word f facilitated by LMP and Beth Moore I would be the oldest woman alive! 50 on 2 months…
Happy Birthday Beth.
Happy Birthday Beth! May you be blessed by His goodness this day and for many birthdays to come:)
Happy Birthday Beth. I wish I had the words to tell you how God has used you in my life to draw me closer to Him. What a blessing you are!
Happy Birthday Beth. You are truly the gift for all of us. Thank you for the gift you share with all of us. May God continue to richly bless you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Happiest of birthdays, precious Beth. To say thank you for the impact you have had for the Kingdom of God and the proclamation of His Word in my own life and that of thousands of others is an understatement. You have brought courage and comfort, light and laughter, truth and tenderness during seasons of deep grief and deep joys. You have encouraged and challenged me to trust in and lean on the Lord with full assurance of His goodness and faithfulness. It is my heartfelt prayer that on this day of celebrating your presence here, He has blessed you with abundant joy, laughter and incomparable memories.
Buon Compleanno, sweet Beth! If your birthday is half as blessed as you’ve blessed so many others, including myself, it will be a whoppin’ amazing day!
Happy Birthday, Beth! Just want you to know that even though we have never met you have touched my life through the studies you have written. You are touching my life even more now because I know the story of what you went through in your past and due to repressed memories now coming to light I’m able to have more hope that I can get through this because you and other got through this. Thank you for being real with those of us who do your studies. Hope your birthday is wonderful! May God bless you with many more!
Happy Birthday Beth! Your teachings have changed my relationship with our Heavenly Father. I can’t wait to attend your conference in Cincinnati! I’m ready (: You have an amazing gift, and you are a beautiful woman of a God that I really admire. Thank you so much! God Bless You!
Happy birthday beth! Honored to share a birthday week with you 🙂 much love and gratefulness –
Happy Birthday Beth!!!!
This post encourages me to keep at it and be the best Jesus loving Mommy I can be!!
Thank you for your great example.
Happy Birthday lovely Beth! Thank you for your love for our Savior and your commitment to Him and to those of us who learn from you (and Him). Yesterday, beautiful Elisabeth Elliot was glorified and now sees the Father face to face. I loved her dearly, and I never let her know in all the years I read her books, listened to her programs, and gleaned from her wisdom. I want you to know that I love you, too, and I am so thankful to God for your faithful, diligent, and tireless work for the Kingdom. Hope you have a wonderful day.
Happy birthday! Today is also my sister’s birthday. Most certainly a special day!
Happiest of Happy Birthday’s Miss Beth! I have done so many of your studies and I always, always say “I wish I was one of Beth ‘ s real friends! I feel like she knows me and I know her already!” You were the first person I’d ever hear of to lose an “adopted” child and when we went thru the loss of our adopted daughter at 4 days old I read and read and read everything you’d ever written relating to the loss of your son and I felt like we grieved together.
Thank you for your willingness to be used by God to bless and humor and teach and laugh along with women all over the world!
Happy Birthday Beth! So thankful for the way God has used you in my life.
Happy Birthday, Beth, from one Texas girl to another! I can just imagine what happened in heaven the day you were born. A celebration in knowing how your life would reflect and lead people to Christ. Many blessings on this day, your birthday!! Love to you, Sister dearly loved and highly favored!!!