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!
connie thornton
elberton ga.
KJV
john 15 vs 1
i am the true vine,and my father is the husbandman.
Lora Colorado Springs ESV 1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another.
Joan Anderson, Dousman, WI
I thank and praise you, O God of my Fathers;
You have given me wisdom and power,
You have made known to me what we asked of you.
You have made know to us the dream of the king.
Daniel 2:23 NIV
Sherri Huff from Mechanicsville, VA
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psalm 23:3 KJV
Stacy, Ruston, LA.
“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God and I trust Him.” Psalms 91:1-2 NLT
Rebecca from Lake Mary, Fl
II Timothy 1:7 NIV
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
Pensacola, Fl.
“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”
1 Corinthians 2:12 ESV
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own.
Matthew 6:34. NIV
starkville, MS “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” NIV
Julie Strock, Lakewood, CO
“Thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 NIV
Edmond, OK
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.”
Psalm 20:7-8 NIV
http://bible.com/111/psa.20.7-8.niv
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy lafen, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and mmy burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30 ESV. Lorrie , Rutledge GA
Amy, Miamisburg, OH
Through the Word, we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.
2 Timothy 3:17 MSG
Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mothers womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God – who does all things. Ecc 11:5 NLT
JaneS, St. Louis, MO
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:35 NIV
Dee Ann Wallace, Henderson, Texas
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
Psalm 51:10-12, 17 ESV
Ephesians 6:14 (NLT)
Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.
Becca, Monterey CA.
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” ~ Proverbs 19:21 NIV
Midge Miller
Snellville, GA
But I trust in Your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in Your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for He has been good to me.
Psalm 13:5-6 NIV
Carol Bowen, Highlands, NC
2 Chron. 7: 14, ESV
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
Willa from Rock Springs, Wyoming
Even youth shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Ephesians 3: 30-31 ESV
Cindy Gandy
Hazlehurst, MS
Psalm 27:14 KJV)
Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
Patricia Gandy
Florence, MS
Psalm 91:2 KJV)
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. Jonah 2:2
Mark 2:17 NIV “On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
There are times we ALL need to be reminded of this verse.
Diane E. Charleston, IL
1 John 53b-4
And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
Aryn Madsen, Beaverton, OR.
1 John 5:14 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” (NIV)
Jodell, Frankfort,
“For here we do not have a lasting city, but e are seeking the city which is to come.” Heb 13:14 NASB
Lynne, Jackson, Alabama
“For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.”
(NASB) 2 Chronicles 16:9
Pamela, Hendersonville TN
“For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
Proverbs 2:6 NIV
Peggy, Yorktown, VA
When you fast do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I’ll tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting but only to your Father who is unseen; and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up yourselves treasures in heaven, where month and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also. Matt 6: 16-21
Brandi Hunter. Memphis, TN.
It is for freedom that Christ set us free therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1 NASB
Karen: Souderton, PA.
Proverbs 3:5,6 NIV
Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways submit to him and He will make your paths straight.
Karen Coppley Clemmons NC Philippians 4:6 ESV
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.
Ecclesiastes 9:17
The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler amoung fools.
ESV
Deonne Collins-Hallsville Tx – “I GUIDE you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.” Proverbs 4:11NIV
Frances, Orange, TX
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
Holly Smith
Monument, CO
“I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him, as long as I live.”
Psalm 116:1-2 esv
nikki from San Antonio
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
Matthew 5:7 (ESV)
Madeleine Corrales: For the Mighty one has done great things for me, Holy is His name. Luke1:49 NIV
Susan, Knoxville, TN
O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress. Isaiah 33:2 NIV
Mary James, Orangeville,Ontario
I am late… Feeling less than worthy…
Psalm 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Gloria Staker. Springfield, Ohio “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” Romans 8:38-39 NIV
Psalm 116:2 (TLB)
Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe!
Connie Walker, Houston, TX
Romans 1:16-17 NLT
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.* This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” (or ESV:“The righteous shall live by faith.”)
Nancy Gordon
Lafayette, IN
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28 NIV
Carol Bruntlett
Albuquerque NM
Isaiah 41:10 NIV
10- so do not fear ,for I am with you
Do not be dismayed for I am your God,I will strengthen you and help you
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand
Jeanne Warner Robins, Georgia
Proverbs 2:6 NLT
For the Lord grants wisdom! From His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
Sue, Groveport, OH
I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing.
Psalm 37:25-26 NIV
Cindy Webster, San Diego (Imperial Beach)
Psalm 56:3 (NIV)
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.