**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! You are such an inspiration to me and so many others. Your bible studies always, always open my eyes and my heart yo draw me closer to Jesus. God is accomplishing a mighty work through you! Blessings on your special day!
Happy birthday Beth! May this day bring you so much joy. Thank you for all you do.
Happy birthday! You are such a blessing!
Happy birthday Beth!! The Lord has used you and your writing, studies, and sermons in big ways in my life. So grateful for you.
Happy & blessed birthday girlfriend…..enjoy your studies and appreciate your daughter’s tribute… May this coming year be filled with great insights and fresh vision for all God has for your ministry, your personal life. May His joy be your strength in big and small places He leads you in.
Wow. What a tribute, Melissa. It’s a blessing when we can have moms that walk alongside us in ttimes of trials, & adversity just as you said. bumpy road at times and at times repetitive and tedious. But another person who lifts me up… Besides our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is your mom. So happy birthday Beth Moore! Your words Beth, the way you visually bring us into His Word and in turn lifts us up seeking Him, that along with your humor and the love you show thru your studies and books has seen me through many rocky roads dark nights when all I could do was read and pray.. From the most devastating – burying a teenage son, to watching two brothers dying 5 years apart, and many others to now dealing with double breast mastectomies that will happen this Monday… due to cancer. I know God holds me and will not forsake me. In my recovery I will be reading one if your books and of course my NKJ bible.
I have to add I was so thrilled when I got to come see you in Albuquerque two months ago. My first LPL conference. It was amazing. The worship, the Generate message, the testimonies of other women. Great weekend of women coming together for Hope and to worship our Saviour, Jesus.
Thank you for all of it! We love you and are so grateful that God gave you such a great gift of insight, words, connecting, humor, and love that brings us all closer to THE ONE!! Love you. Happiest birthday!!! Kim Hayes.
Happy Birthday Beth!!! I am so greatful for you. I have learned so much through your studies. Thank you for being so faithful. May The Lord Bless you and keep you. May The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; Happy Birthday!!!!
Grace
Happy birthday beth moore! I appreciate your many years of teaching and influencing women fir Jesus!
Happy Birthday to you, sweet lady! =) God has used you so much in my life. I pray you will continue to seek the Lord and love Him more and more in the year to come. xox
Happy Birthday Beth!
Happy happy day Beth. May God bless your year with joy~
Happy Birthday, Beth! A dear friend introduced me to your bible studies in 1997 and 18 years later I’ve completed every one! Worn out cassette tapes of you Sunday school classes and loved attending your Live Events and travelled miles from my home to hear God speak through you. Thank you for the richness of your faith, your passion for women and your heart for the Lord. You’ve inspired me, encouraged me and helped walk every day with Jesus! You are a treasure and a gift from God for so many. Melissa said it all when she spoke of your courage, creativity and dedication. May the blessing of the Lord know no bounds in your life. You are loved.
Happy Birthday, dearest Beth. What a lovely tribute to you from Melissa. Wasn’t she the one who would come down the stairs and say, “Are you going to boss me today?” Look at her now! Thank you for “turning me on” to studying the WORD.
Happy Birthday, Beth! I still remember my first Bible study. I was a sophmore in college. It was “A Heart Like His”. I was profoundly touched and inspired by your love for Jesus and the Word of God. I pray many blessings on you and your precious family
Happiest of birthdays!! I just want you to know how much you’ve taught me to love God’s Word. As I study, I only want to study and learn more.
Much love to you today and always (and, please be sure to celebrate your birthday at least a good couple of weeks :))
Dearest Beth, happy happy birthday!! May the Lord bless you in beautiful and unexpected ways this coming year. You have blessed me, a stranger yet a sister, so often through your Bible studies as I was both student and teacher. I have been in your studies during one of the darkest times in my life when my marriage nearly ended. The Lord used you to bless me! Thank you for stepping out in faith to teach his word, to show His unending amazing love and grace to women like me. I send my love on your birthday with a grateful heart for your sisterhood!!
Lisa Brockett
Lake Tahoe
Happy birthday, Beth! I got saved December 11, 2005 and started your Bible Study The Patriarchs that night. I’ve done many other of your studies since and named my 4th daughter (Mia Beth) after you. I appreciate God using you in Tampa last weekend to minister to me. I was blessed the 2nd day to be second row in the center with my 15 year old daughter and we didn’t want to leave when the conference ended. I always tell my Bible Study friends that you’re my BFF because you call me Beloved and you want us to sit down and chat over a cup of coffee. You have no idea how your studies of God’s Word has helped me in my darkest of times. I’m forever grateful!
Happy Birthday, Beth! I want you to know how much your teachings have inspired me and stretched me in my walk with God. I think of you as a friend and wish you a wonderful birthday. God Bless!
What a beautiful, beautiful tribute to your beloved mom, Melissa! Just beautiful.
“Her children shall rise up and call her blessed.”
Happy Birthday to you from so many of us whom you have served so faithfully and graciously and sacrificially over the years. I’ve been blessed and changed by doing your Daniel study (in 2006, I believe, with the women of Lake Sammamish Foursquare Church in Bellevue, WA), reading “Get Out of That Pit” (oh my word. God brought that one to me at JUST the right moment and used it to honest and truly get me out of a very deep, dark pit), doing part of Breaking Free on my own a few years ago, all of your James study last year, and part of your 1st & 2nd Thessalonians study this year (so far). I’ve also been to two Seattle-area LPL’s (one with other women from Emerald City Bible Fellowship in Seattle a few years ago and the other with my mentor in Feb of this year) and watch you regularly on Wednesdays in the Word. THANK YOU is all I can say. Thank you for walking so closely with Jesus and for pouring so much from Him out to us. Thank you for pointing us to Him again and again and again.
We love you and thank God for you. And for your family. Love to all.
Happy birthday, Mrs. Beth! I want you to know that I pray for you. I am blessed by your writing, and inspired by you to good deeds, as well. 🙂 All blessings and joy on your special day.
Happy birthday to Beth! I have laughed, cried and been challenged through most of the Bible studies. You are able (with the Spirit) to make these studies understandable and applicable to lives today. I hope you have a blessed birthday! Martha Gee
Precious Beth … special birthday blessings and so much gratitude for allowing us to experience Jesus in your life. What an encouragement you are to so many siestas. There is no greater joy than to see our children walk in the truth. You are truly honored today. May God continue to bless you. Sue
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR BETH, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, AND MANY MORE ON CHANNEL FOUR, AND SCOOBY DOO ON CHANNEL TWO, AND FRANKENSTEIN ON CHANNEL NIIIIINE….Truly hope your birthday was Great!!!
Oh, Melissa! I love your mom dearly, too! She has been my spiritual mother since I did my first Bible study with her over 15 years ago. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BETH! Thank you for leading us and pointing us, always, toward Jesus! You are such a blessing!
Happy Birthday Beth! You change so many lives that you will never know! You’ve changed mine! I can’t wait to see your crown in Heaven!
Happy birthday, Beth. I just attended our church’s weekly Beth Moore Bible Study today. Thank you for all that you do. You are a blessing from Christ.
Happy Birthday,Beth!
Happy Birthday, Beth! It is such a joy to read your family stories and share Jesus together! Thanks be to God for your ministry and all you do to bring our Living Lord into women’s hearts!
Happiest of Birthdays. Thank you for the way you use your own life experiences to make studying God’s word come alive.
Happy Birthday Beth,
What a wonderful tribute from Melissa.
I can’t tell you how blessed I have been for the calling God has put on your life because I have received the overflow. I can remember doing my first online study of Believing God when there was just the beginning of dial-up internet. I don’t think we had a printer so I would print all my lessons at the library. At the time we had a guest bedroom and that is where I would be huddled up studying the Word while my girls were sleeping…they are now 25 and 21 and the guest bedroom is our 11 year old son’s room. That was many studies ago, many aha’s ago and many years walking with the Lord.
May you have the most blessed birthday and may you feel celebrated everyday and God’s delight in you.
Happy Birthday to you, Beth! I am just person among so many who have been blessed by your gift of sharing God’s Word in truth and love. Much love and many blessings to you on your special day.
Happy birthday to the lady who gave me a new birth into Jesus family. I don’t think I’d be here if it weren’t for Beth’s faithfulness so thank you is not close to enough but all i have 🙂
Birthday Blessings to you Beth! There are no words to say how you have enriched my life and the
lives of my bible study sisters. I hope your special birthday was filled with joy and love, just as you have filled ours. Happy Birthday!
Melissa, I absolutely love reading your beautiful honor given to your beautiful mom! I love hearing Motherhood done right, maybe not perfect, but perfectly honorable and inspiring to not only her children but like the woman in proverbs she is called blessed by so many because of her virtue given to her by the Lord Himself! I pray that your mother will have a beautiful new year celebrating her life with her family and friends in countless special rich moments and that she will receive over and above exceedingly back to her heart what gives out of it to countless others. May God continue to anoint her and prepare the way before her and lead and guide her in all her endeavors for Him.
Wow – Happy Birthday Beth!! “Her children and husband will call her blessed” and I would say this is a beautiful, heartfelt sharing of faith and love from your daughter about the heart of her Proverbs 31 Mother. 🙂 Hope you are blessed continually as those around you are blessed by your faith and His presence in their lives! Hugs, Sandy
Happy Birthday Beth! I enjoy doing your bible studies. I have gotten the chance to see you live once. It was electrifying. I loved all the energy going for Jesus in the room. Wishing you many more happy birthdays in the future.
Michelle Cass
Happy Birthday Beth Moore. I had the wonderful pleasure of seeing you in person this year. I am 72 years old and being able to see you in person was such a highlight in my life. I have learned so much from your bible studies and have so enjoyed your sense of humor and lastly am so impressed with your love for the Lord. Your love for him shines brightly. I hope you have a birthday filled with many blessings. Love to you and your family. Lynne Emmons
Yom Tov Beth! I love you and your teaching! I have taken 9 of your Bible studies and found such healing from them. My church sisters and I couldn’t wait to see your video and what you were wearing! We’d cry out “That’s Beth!” I have studied Hebrew for four years and am a former missionary to the Jewish people, both here and in Israel, and now an artist and writer, having just wrote my memoirs. I write of my time taking your studies and recommend them to my readers. Thank you for being everything Jesus meant you to be! I am taking my first Karen Minter study this summer online because you are hosting it. I wish you had more online studies as I have taken them all!
HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Dear Beth! (Or belated!)
You are such an inspiration the way you glorify of our Lord and teach the Word to so many of us. And you are so real! God bless you always.
Happy Birthday, Beth Moore! Breaking Free was the first Women’s Bible Study I did after a several year break and it ignited a fire for God’s Word that I can’t begin to explain…steadily burning for many years now. Your love for Jesus is contagious and I am so thankful that you have refused to let your light be hidden. Thank you for all you do! Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday, Beth! You are such a blessing to me. Your encouragement to follow hard after Jesus has changed my life and is now changing my family. May you be blessed richly in the coming year. God is good! xoxo
You have been an inspiration to me as I have read your books, watched you speak in person, watched you on tv and used your dvd’s at our women’s bible studies called “heart sessions”. Your excitement and love of the Lord and His people is inspired me and so many. You are a blessing of the Lord . Happy blessed birthday to you from a lady from rural SD. Pray long life and health for you and your family.
Happy Birthday, Beth!! Thank you so much for sharing with us your passion and awesomely wonderful personality 🙂 ! The first study I did as a young adult was Esther, and you helped me find a love for scripture and Bible study that I hadn’t experienced until then. I love seeing how God has used you to touch so many lives, and I’m so very grateful!
Happy Birthday Beth! Thanking God for you tonight.
Happy Birthday Beth! Hope your day has been filled with God’s blessings. Thank you so much for being a faithful servant of God. You have touched my heart so many times. Thank you and God bless you!
My love for Jesus Christ and His Word is a direct result of your willingness to share your love for Jesus and His Word! So grateful for your willingness to be REAL as you share your life (the good and the painful parts), and how with Christ ALL things are possible. God’s blessings for the best birthday and year ever!
Happy Birthday Beth! What a beautiful tribute from your daughter… your legacy is an inspiration to us all!
Happy Birthday Beth!!! You are a blessing in my life!!!
Happy Birthday Beth!
Happy Birthday Beth! I am so thankful that God put you in my life…through your teaching I came to really know Jesus .. You are such an inspiration to so many ladies..May God continue to Bless You and your family as you have blessed do many..
Love in Christ…