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!
Stephanie El Cajon, CA, 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV): “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
I love it!!! And you!!!
Pam Mayer from Apple Valley, MN: “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” 2 Corinthians 6:10
Kimyetta H., Jonesboro, GA
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
Phil 2:9 NIV
Norma Jean – Medford, OR
“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.”
Psalms 51:2 NKJV
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him; And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
(Isaiah 55:7 NASB)
Deborah, Hartsville, SC “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” -Romans 12:1 NASB
Rosa – Plano tx. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” Ephesians 1:3-4 ESV)
Heather Andreasen, Saginaw, MI
1 john 1:9 NIV
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Ruthie, San Antonio, Tx
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27 NIV
Marie from Post Falls, Idaho –
“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” – 1 Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)
Diane from RSM, CA
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Rom. 12:2 NIV
Philippians 4:13 NIV
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 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 15:1-5
Anne Stinnette, Koror, Palau (on Guam for a few weeks) – “in which you formerly walke according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Eph. 2:2 NASB
Beth Smyth Perth Western Australia
Ephesian 6:13 (NIV)
Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Colleen, Mae Sot, Thailand
Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
James 3:4 ESV
Kimberly Kleimann, Chico,CA
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.
Psalm 62:8 KJV
Jacqui Maudslay, Chester, UK
Joshua 24:15
… Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’
Deb from Aledo, IL
Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. Proverbs 21:23 KJV
Mary Fanara, Independence, MO
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. Psalm 62:5 ESV
Kathy, Las Cruces, NM:
“Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.”
–Proverbs 4:23 (NCV)
Sandy Shflett-Deming, NM
Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. Romans 12:14 NIV
Jen Massara – Albany, OR
Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT
Elizabeth Mitchell- living in Haverhill, England- “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Romans 8:34 (NKJV)
Melisse, Slippery Rock, PA
Psalm 46:5 NIV
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nathalie Van Hoorebeke, Birmingham, UK
“Because of Christ and our faith in Him,
we can now come boldly and
confidently into God’s presence.”
Ephesians 3:12 (NLT)
Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me. (Psalm 119:133, ESV)
“Yet even now”, declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning”… (Joel 2:12, ESV)
No I has seen no year has heard no mind has conceived what God has planned for those who have loved him 1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV
Walker, LA:
Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6 NKJV)
Rhonda Jackson of Godfrey, Illinois
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 – KJV
Jill, Clearwater, FL
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says , he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
James 3:2 NIV
Jan Cleburne,Texas.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, My God, in Him will I trust.” Psalm 91:2. (NKJV)
Candie – Waterloo, Iowa
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 4:23 (ESV)
Barbara, Medina, Oh
Repay no one evil for evil,
but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
Rom 12:17 ESV
Carrie Lagas, North Potomac MD
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Ephesians 6:11 NIV
Laurie
Atlanta, GA
Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
ESV
Nancy Rottschafer, Holland Mi.
I stand in awe of your deeds O Lord. Renew them in our day,in our time. Make them known. In your wrath, remember mercy.
Habakkuk 3:2 NIV
Lynn from New Smyrna Beavh, Fl.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8 NIV)
Carole from Kingwood“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:”
Psalm 37:5 NIV
Dallas, GA
“If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
Hebrews 12:8
Linda, Xenia, Ohio
” I therefore , a prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,”
Ephesians 4:1 ESV
James 1:25-27 (yes! nearly done with one of five!!!)
“But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1: 25-27 old NIV
Jennifer Mosher, Canfield, OH
Janice in Abbeville, AL
“Cause me to hear Your loving kindness in the morning,
For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.”
Psalm 143:8 NKJV
Kim Cook, Valley, AL. –
“Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”
1 John 4:18 NLT
Lori McCormick
Shakopee MN
I said to Yahweh, “You are my Lord; I have nothing good besides you. (Psalm 16:2 HCSB)
Robin T.
Laureldale, PA
For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living. Psalm 116:8-9 NIV
Lora Faircloth, Fayetteville, NC
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 NIV
Sandra Arnold, Paris, Tennessee
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NASB)