**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!
What a sweet blog post!
Have the happiest of birthdays, Beth! You are such an inspiration to many, and quite a woman and servant of God! Thank you for all you do to encourage and love others in the name of Jesus! God bless you!
Happy Birthday Beth! Many blessings to you on your special day! I am so grateful that I have found your ministries, Breaking Free has helped me through some very tough times and helped me become a stronger, more faithful woman that I ever thought I could become. xoxo Crimson Lynn
Happy birthday Beth, I hope your day is fabulous and filled with all the things you love.
Thank you for being such an inspiration to me and an emcourager to dig deep into the Word.
Happy Birthday Beth! Hope your day is filled with joy, the love of your family and the peace that you bring so many! Thank you for being YOU!
Happy birthday!!!!!
Happy Birthday, Beth! You have taught me how to dig deeper into my
Bible and so many of your studies have changed my
Heart. I am grateful for your life and devotion to ministering to women like me. My
Hope in Jesus is encouraged and my soul is refreshed every time
I get the chance to hear you speak or do a study of yours! Be blessed!
Happy Birthday Beth! YOU are the gift from your birthday to your family, friends, and oh so many more…Have an awesome day! You are appreciated! BELIEVING HIM with yiu, Kim
Happy Birthday Beth! What a privilege to spend last weekend with you in Tampa. Thank you for sharing your passion that is Christ Alone. God bless you and you do for Him.
Happy Birthday! Hope you have had a very blessed day!!!
Happy birthday!!! Knowing you feel loved every day and not just your birthday; you are His beloved and radiate that out for us. Thankful for your passion for learning – you inspire us to continue to dig deep and walk worthy. 🙂 From all the way up in Canada, a fellow sister in Christ.
Happy Birthday, Beth! I love the time I spend with you each morning studying God’s word! Currently we are doing “Children of the Day”
Sending birthday blessings to you on your special day. May you feel the love of our Saviour pour over you today and may you soak up every drop of them!
Happy Birthday Beth! Your studies have changed my life. Thank you! May God bless you richly!
I pray blessings on you, dear Birthday Girl! That the Lord would shine his face upon you and you will have even greater wisdom and revelation this coming year. You are so loved!
Happy and blessed birthday! May God shower you in his favor on a great day for the world!
Happy Birthday, Beth! Have a blessed day! Love you!
Happy Birthday.
Beth, you bring sparkle and light and fizz and zing to the experience of being a Christ follower in this tough world. I am thankful for the amazing way you love Jesus. I am thankful for your hair. I am thankful for your contagious enthusiasm. I am thankful that you are from the South. Please stay the course and realize there are hundreds and thousands of us out here that might never get to meet you … but that get a HUGE BLESSING out of the hard work you do day in and day out.
Be blessed! And Happy Birthday.
Happy birthday!!!!
Happiest of birthdays to you. I thank God for the ministry God has given you and how He has used you in my life. I am so excited to get to see you in Greenville, SC next month. I can’t wait to see how God is going to speak to me that weekend. As one of my favorite Psalms says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you every day of your life. “
Happiest of birthdays Beth! You have made such a difference in my study of scripture over the last 16 years. What a blessing, to have 2 daughters who love you and respect you so much, but most of all who love and serve God!
Wishing you a marvellously blessed birthday Beth! As I wound up Melissa’s note I tried to recall when I first met you. It was on TV. See I live in Canada and after one of those passionate talks of yours I was hooked. Your live and passion and urgency to share the word and for me to know it, to claim a relationship with Jeaus… It’s been many years since. I was thrilled and so grateful when my daughter got a scholarship to attend Passion 2014 from your minostries and then I heard u preach about the bitter herbs and how the generations will be taught by God himself… Beth thank you for your ministry to me and I know I speak for many many others. I do pray for you and your family. God Bless you and may you continue to be fruitful and the cedars by the brook…. You are loved with an everlasting love… God’s love. Thx for posting Melissa.
Happy Birthday Beth!
Happy Birthday Beth! Thank you for sharing the word of God in a real life way so that we may all understand that life can be faced new every day when we put our faith and trust in Him!
I hope you have the best birthday ever! You have blessed so many (including me) with wisdom, grace, and joy. Your humble spirit is a shining example of Christ that blesses me so much. Thank you for pouring your love into so many women!
Happy Birthday Beth. I saw you this past April in London at the Color conference. What an amazing time together in His presence. Thank you for your obediance and how you have spoken truth into the lives of so many. Have a wonderful birthday, trust you feel the love!!
Never met you Beth, but love you in the Lord! Have grown over and over because of your wonderful studies in scripture! Have an awesome birhtday!!
Happy birthday, Siesta Momma Beth! Jesus changed my life more than 40 years ago but I found myself lukewarm a few years ago. I kept hearing about Beth Moore studies and I learned there was to be a LPL event in Columbus, Ohio. I just knew I had to find out what this was all about. That weekend shocked me out of complacency and I am so thankful for your ministry. I am no longer lukewarm; our God is so patient with us. Hope your day is blessed and that you get to celebrate with a big ol’ bag of chips and some amazing salsa!
Happy Birthday Beth! God has built such a beautiful legacy through you, celebrate that my friend.
Wishing you the Happiest of Days!! I was able to come to San Antonio to the first Siesta Feista & had a ball!! Hope you have a great day!
Happy Birthday Beth!!
Thank you so much for being open to God’s leading in your life and sharing His truth with us. My life has been truly blessed because of that openness. I’m inspired daily to dig deeper to see what God’s Word has for me. I have to say He never disappoints!! I know He will continue to bless you!!
A very very happy birthday to you, Beth. Joyeux anniversaire like we say in my beloved country (France). I wanted you to know that even french gals love your spiritual lessons. Just about done them all. Bravo Beth! Merci infiniment for all your sharing if your love for God, His son and the holy spirit. With much love, sis.
And thank you to your daughter Melissa for letting us on the event. Beautiful family!
Happy Birthday, Miss Beth! Believing God was my very
first Bible study after I was saved at 29 years young.
I am so thankful for your teachings over the years.
I’ve learned much through your wisdom and insight.
I’m thrilled to be participating in the SSMT this year
with my two daughters. Thank you for all you do for
your sisters! We love you…have a blessed !
Happy birthday, Beth!!! I pray God richly blesses you and your loved ones in the coming year as much as He has used you to bless others.
Happy Birthday, Beth……..May your day be filled with Family, Joy and Love.
Happy Birthday dear Beth! I love the chips and salsa story. I am currently very addicted to those items as my evening snack! I also pick up a container of salsa from our down the street Mexican restaurant to enjoy at home! Yum!!! May God keep sustaining you and inspiring you this coming new year!!
Happy Birthday, dear Beth. You have taught me and touched me so. God bless you.
Happiest and blessed Birthday!
Happy birthday dear Beth! You have influenced my spiritual growth more than words can express. Thank you for all your sacrifice and commitment and perseverance on our behalf. I pray your day be a joyous occasion and you are blessed with time to spend with those you love!
God bless you and your family.
Noralynn
Happy birthday Beth! I so remember a friend of mine telling about this new Bible teacher,Beth Moore. Let’s see how many years ago was that?? Let’s just say it was a while ago. Thank you for your steadfastness and willingness to stay open and alert to God. Happy happy day
Happy Birthday, Beth! You and your teaching have blessed me in so many ways through the years. You have helped me to grow deeper in my love for Christ and knowledge of scripture, to put my faith into practice, and to step out in boldness to do what God has called me to do. Thank you for following God’s call. I hope you have had a wonderful birthday and I pray for God’s blessings upon your family!
Happy Birthday, Beth! Celebrating you and your heart to serve others. Thank you for your obedience and faithfulness. Your teachings have impacted so many lives. Thanking God for you on your birthday. Enjoy!
Happy Birthday Beth!
Happy Birthday! And thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for serving our Savior!
Happiest of birthdays to you, Beth! You have inspired me over and over with love for Jesus and His truth! Thank you so much for sharing your life with us like you do. It encourages us often! May you feel the deep love of Jesus today! Hugs! 🙂
Happy Birthday Beth! I hope it is your best one ever!
Even though it is much too late to enter your giveaway, it is NEVER TOO LATE to wish a WONDERFUL, INSPIRING Sister in Christ a very Happy Birthday. HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SISTER IN CHRIST GIRLIE-Q!!!!
Happy Birthday Beth!
I really enjoy your ministry!
Happy Birthday Beth! You have been a huge inspiration to me for many years. I am awed by your ability to reach women right where we are at…thank you for following Jesus and teaching us to do the same!!
What a lovely birthday wish to a fabulous mom from her equally fabulous daughter! Thanks for sharing your perspective on Beth as “Mom,” she’s been such an important influence on so many lives, you’re a lucky daughter and Beth is a lucky Mom. Happy Birthday Beth!