My name is Melana Cummings (aka MooseMama…story to come). I live in Sheridan Wyoming. I have been married to Tim Cummings for 32 years. We met through a letter and he asked me to marry him in a letter. (It’s a very long story, but oh so sweet and God designed!) The first time we kissed was when he put the engagement ring on my finger. It’s not a common way to start out a life together, but we were best friends who got married. He’s still one of the dorkiest people I know. He makes me laugh. He makes me shake my head. He has always said that if I ever leave him, he’s coming with me. We have a 26 year old daughter Sarah, a 16 year old daughter Emily, and a grandson, Jensen, who is 3. I have worked for the State of Wyoming for 28 years, and have a degree in psychology from the only university in the state. I was raised in the Lutheran church but had no idea what a personal relationship with Christ was. When I was 21, Christ sought me out, and I prayed to receive Him. From that day forward JESUS HAS BEEN MY LIFE!
In 2006, I prayed that I would grow even more in my faith and in Christ. About a week later a snippet of video was played about the Bible study, Believing God by Beth Moore (never heard of her!) that would be starting soon. A prayer answered!
A few months later this Beth Moore was going to be in Salt Lake City with Living Proof Live, so myself and 5 friends drove to see her. She taught from Ephesians 3…how wide, how long, how high, and how deep is the love of Christ….to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. One phrase she said “All excess is a result of emptiness”, hit me hard. As a woman who has been overweight all my life, all I could think was “nuh-uh”!
That one Bible Study and Living Proof Live event were the beginning of many more Bible Studies and live events through the last 9 years. My prayers for growth were being answered! I loved reading Beth’s blog and made a lifelong friend through it: Adrienne Hudson (aka Fuzzytop in Tennessee) and I became online friends. In 2008 a friend and I drove from Wyoming to San Antonio Texas for the Living Proof Live, and “Siesta Fiesta”, where I finally got to meet Adrienne face-to-face. I wish I could name all of the Siestas I have met over the years! They have become so dear to my heart and really, an integral part of my life in Christ! Honestly, the kindness, love, support and joy these women have brought to my life is no small miracle.
The most hilarious part of that trip was a stuffed Moose with a Wyoming bandana on his neck. It was my intention to give the moose to Beth as a gift. Well, we started to take pictures of “Miesta Moose” (Miesta is a male Siesta), along the trip. The pictures got posted on a secondary blog that a couple of Siestas had started, which was all about the Fiesta. By the time we arrived in San Antonio, Miesta Moose had become somewhat of a celebrity. And so it began. I took him to every Beth Moore event I went to. He would even end up in recap pictures, and then Siestas from all around the country, most of whom, I had never met, asked me to send him to them so they could take him to the event in their area. He has been kissed and carried by some of the most wonderful women! Around his neck, he wears the wristbands from the events he has attended. I became MooseMama. He became so recognizable, that women asked to have their pictures taken with him. It pleased me that he showed up at tapings and book signings that Beth was doing.
In 2009, I felt God really was telling me that I could be more of what He wanted for me if I lost that excess weight and fill the emptiness with Him. I lost 120 lbs. in a year’s time. I was leading Bible Studies. I was teaching Sunday School. I even went on a mission trip to Africa with my church. Something I never would have tried when I was so overweight. Prayers answered!
The year 2011 brought with it a season of severe loss and struggle. A heart attack altered the health of my husband, my oldest daughter became a widow at 22. Two weeks following her husband’s death she discovered she was expecting our grandson Jensen. I grew steadily depressed with these changes and gained back all the weight I had lost. I felt like I was trying to hold everything from flying apart. I was exhausted. We stopped going to church. But God…
We returned to church last year, and God is showing me how He used Jensen to redeem these past few years. His faithfulness to me never faltered. This verse has never meant more to me, than now. Today it is my verse to memorize:
Romans 8:38-39 NIV
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
AMEN!
Carrie, Liberty, TX
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1 (NIV)
Ruth Somers
Baton Rouge, LA
Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Ephesians 3:21 KJV
Rhonda Beck. Winston Salem, N.C.
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV)
Alicia Stewart (Loveland, CO)
“…weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
Psalm 30:5 (NIV)
Kelly, Cut-n-Shoot, Tx
THE Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. (Psalm 23:1 AMP)
Denise Ciofani, Lexington, NC. “… may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,…” Ephesians 3:18 NIV
Jenni, Elk Grove, CA, Matthew 11:30 (NABRE) For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.
Melana,
What a beautiful post. Thank you for sharing your heart with us! You have a personality that connects despite the distance. I can tell that I would love to hang out with you!
Sending Siesta Hugs from California!!
Jenni Banicki
Brenna wiggins, MS
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 NIV
Candice Kindrick Simpson
Bloomington, Indiana
Ecclesiastes 3:11Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but man cannot discover the work God has done from beginning to end.
Psalm 147:3 NLT
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Paula, Oklahoma City, OK
Psalm 46:10. Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. NASB
Gail Ouimette, Tumalo, Oregon
‘ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.’
John 1:14 NKJV
The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.
Psalm 145:13 NIV
Keron, Boise, ID
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD,
Plans for welfare and not for evil
To give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
Matthew 5:5-6
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.”
Devi, Singapore
Numbers 13:33 NIV
We saw the Nephilim there. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.
Jenny Fridge, Richmond, TX
But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:5 NASB
Kayla Davisson, Fort Wayne, IN
“I have told you all these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 NIV
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient, to their parents, ungrateful, unholy. 2 Timothy 3:2 NIV
Jackie
Noblesville, IN
The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.”
Mark 9:24 NLT
“Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.”
Psalm 51:11 ESV
Toms Brook, VA
‘God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth’. (2 Thessalonians 2: 13)
Sue in Duncanville, TX:
Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You. Psalm 119:11 (NAS)
Teresa from Georgia
Proverbs 15:4 ESV
” A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.”
Bethany in Pueblo, CO
“Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.”
Psalm 146:5 (NKJV)
Bette from Danville,PA
Hebrews 11:1 KJV
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Kelsey Long – Chickasha, OK
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 ESV
Barb Faasse, Jenison, MI
“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31 NIV
Kathleen, Georgetown, TX
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone the new has come!
Linda Smith, The Woodlands, TX
“You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.”
Psalm 18:28 (NIV)
Jamie McClary, Columbus OH
Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Romans 15:17 ESV
Tracy Chapman
Andice, TX
Titus 2:3 ESV
“Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior,
not slanderers or slaves to much wine.
They are to teach what is good,”
Michelle Brownell, Sturgis Michigan
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.
Psalm 62:8 NIV
Pati, Macomb, MI
Joshua 1:5 (NASB)
No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you
Stacey B., Fayetteville, GA
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)
Jackie Watson from Marietta, Ga. “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him, God is a refuge for us.” Psalm 62:8 NKJV
Sharon Little Rock Rom.8.39.kjv Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord
Patricia from Richmond, Texas:
The Lord has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
Isaiah 50:4. ESV
Johannah, Alexandria, LA
But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.
Romans 8:25 NLT
Heather Johnson, Minneapolis, MN
Proverbs 2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. NIV
Oh, my, MooseMama! I enjoyed your story so much and you are in my prayers! I hope to meet you in person just to give you a big Siesta hug! We have been traveling in the RV since late April, currently in ND, and have seen so many moose (and other wildlife) on this beautiful journey. May God richly bless you this week.
My verse for this time is:
Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.
Proverbs 28:27 NIV
Gloria Huffman
Freeport, FL
Lynne VP Des Moines, Iowa
“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
1 John 3:18 NIV
Susie McNeely Russellville ar
““I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”
Jeremiah 32:27. Niv
Sheila Lindsey, Henderson, Tennessee, James 1 21 NKJV Therefor lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls.
Lori smith little rock ar
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,”
Ephesians 3:20 NIV
Stacie, Collins, MS
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful”. (Hebrews 10:23 NIV)
“Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
Ephesians 4:2 NIV
Sherri Zingarelli, Galena, OH:
But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Romans 8:25 NIV
Tracy Pratz, Las Cruces, NM
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self discipline
2 Timothy 1:7
NIV
Brittany Watson, Marietta, GA
Charm is deceitful, beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised.
Proverbs 31:30