Hey sweet siestas!
How much fun is this? Can we all just stop for a minute and thank our beloved leader, Bible teacher and yes, friend, for spurring us on in this world of scripture memory? I fail every time on my own. We need our people to conquer this task, don’t we? I’m good for a couple of months and then I flat out quit and blame it on something other than myself. But, I won’t quit if I have y’all! I’m thankful for this community. I’m thankful for the accountability. Memorizing scripture has transformed my heart and mind…the Word is living, and we have the privilege to breathe it in when we open those sacred pages and be changed from the inside out.
Something that I have done as I have memorized scripture is to write a brief synopsis of why I chose the verse on the back of the index card. I also date it. At the end of the year, it’s so powerful to go back and read a mini-journal of God’s faithfulness and the journey you’ve taken together that particular year. Go back and do that if you haven’t done it already. I’ll bet it won’t take you long to recall why you picked a particular verse. It will be a sweet gift to read through at the end of 2015.
Ok, my name is Fran Thomas and I’ve been married to Chip for 21 years! That’s crazy to me! I swear I’m still 30-something. We have 3 teenage boys. That’s another kind of crazy! Our oldest is 18. (Insert tears of high school graduation, starting college and hoping you can cook and do laundry on your own) It’s nuts, y’all. Savor the moments, mommas. It flies.
We are living life in Jackson, TN, and I love our community of people here. I work at Union University, teach college girls on Sunday mornings, sing in the choir, and serve with our jail ministry at Englewood Baptist Church. I am also a partner in a non-profit ministry with my two best friends, Christy and Robyn, that we founded called “More than a Mission Trip.” Our heart is missions in every form and fashion. Our heart is for the lost, the saved who are lost, God’s precious people at the ends of the earth and those who are around the corner. Our desire is to encourage other women to serve God locally and globally…there is no better time than NOW to love, obey and serve Him with all we have! We can’t question or delay what God clearly calls us to do.
So how appropriate for me to choose a verse that has me in a season of being scared to death of what God has called me to do. Would this be the Christian “pot calling the kettle black” or what? I like safe and comfy just like you do. It’s predictable and doesn’t make my stomach hurt. I know the scriptural promises from Him, but there is simply something terrifying about taking new steps with Him after a season of predictability. *sigh*
So, we press on, sisters. We believe Him and take Him at His word. I’m doing this even with the butterflies alive and churning about! Unfortunately, I think I have an unbelief issue right now, but I’m choosing to believe Him for this season because He is able! He is faithful… Me? Not so much. He never fails. NEVER.
“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6
I don’t want to doubt or be tossed around because of my unbelief. I want my feet to be steady and secure in Him, His voice, and His direction. I really want to believe Him and trust Him even with these butterflies during this new season. I don’t just want to say, “Yes, Lord I believe you,” but it only be a temporary belief or trust. We’ll start strong and then fade, don’t we?
Lord, help my unbelief.
It’s easy to say, “Sure, I’ll get out of the boat, and walk toward Jesus,” but it’s a whole other thing to actually put the feet into motion, isn’t it? Let’s not be tossed around, sisters. Let’s walk by faith and take Him at His Word. Let’s choose to believe Him girls!! Declare it even when we don’t feel it. We’ll begin to believe what we know and speak over that situation. Let’s declare the Truth that we are hiding in our hearts.
Y’all are such a blast! Hang in there and march on strong and steady because we are MORE than conquerors! We CAN do this because He WILL show us the way! He will NOT leave us! He WILL show Himself faithful! He has good plans for this season! He will NOT harm us! And on and on and on the promises go. Declare them. Believe them.
It’s such an honor to journey alongside you. I will be your biggest fan and cheer you on like nobody’s business. Fix those pretty eyes on Jesus and let’s run our race well. I’m praying for us all. I desperately need Jesus and His Word.
Love y’all,
Fran
Joy West Monroe, LA
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
1John 1:8-9. NIV
Cindy, Lancaster OH
Colossians 1:17 (HCSB)
He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.
Laura J. , Katy, TX
James 1:19
Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.
NIV
Tracey from Niskayuna, NY
Job 1:21 NIV
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised.”
Diane, Hemet, CA
Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.
1 Peter3:18 ESV
2 PETER 3:13 ESV
But grow in grace and knowledge
Of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
To Him be the glory both now
And to the day of eternity. Amen
Lori Pannell, Houston
“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1 NIV
Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:10-12
Laurel Montealegre White Pigeon, MI
“Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.” DEU 30:6 NASB
Judy, Oswego, NY
John 16:32b ESV ‘Yet I am not alone for the Father is with me.’
Fredericksburg, VA
In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.
Psalm 5:3, NIV
Cedarville, OH Psalm 143:8 ESV “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”
Michelle, West Des Moines, IA
When I am overwhelmed, You alone know the way I should turn.
Psalm 142:3a NLT
Mary Rosevear McNeal
Roswell, Georgia
“Pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to My Words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.” Proverbs 4:20b – 22 (NIV)
Ella, St. Augustine, FL
“Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” Romans 12:11 ESV
WAYNE, PA
“You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.” Ps 139:5 NLT
Patricia from Richmond Texas
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, F fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Eph
Emily McAnear, Corona California/Houston, Texas (we just moved!)
“Through Him everything was made and without Him nothing was made that has ever been made.”
John 1:3, NIV
Mona, Bossier City, LA, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”” Isaiah 40:8 NIV
Joy~from Iowa~”My brethren (siestas) let not many of you become teachers knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us & we turn their whole body. Look also at ships, although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds- they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires.” James 3:1-4 (NKJ)
Jamie McClary, Columbus, OH
Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
Proverbs 31:25-26 NASB
Amy, Miamisburg, OH
But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 1:2 ESV
Anna Lange, Mobile AL Ephesians 1:11 KJV
“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
Patricia from Richmond Texas
Ephesians 4: 29 ESV
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Jeremiah 7:23 NIV
But I gave them this command: Obey me and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.
Paula Rutherford–Decatur, Tx–Philippians 4:11-13 (memorizing the book of Philippians)KJV
“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Carolyn, St.Catharine’s, ON
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
Psalm 91:7 (NIV)
Berni, Albuquerque
“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some,
but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see
the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25 ESV
Crystal, West Hartford, CT
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19, ESV)
Karoletha Longview TX
I Corinthians 3:16 NIV
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
Sandy E.; Kansas City, Missouri; ” Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, who you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NIV
Jules Lane
Foothills of the Rocky Mtns, CO
“As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth..” ~ Psalm 103:15 (KJV)
Michelle K, New Baltimore, MI
The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps.
Proverbs 16:9 NRSV
Lisa, Fort Worth, TX
As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.
Job 19:25, NAS
Kristi B.
Houston, TX
Psalm 37:7 NLT
“Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.”
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen 1 Timothy 1:17 NIV
Richardson, TX
Posting from LPL MILWAUKEE! !
inspired by camp Bibby
Judges 5:21
March on, my soul, be strong! !
Joy Thompson, Fort Worth, TX – Psalm 144:10
Teach me to do your will for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me
on level ground! ESV
Tammy from Alexander, NC
“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
Nancy Bradshaw Melbourne, Florida
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5 NIV
Cara from Houston Texas
Jude 1:21. ESV
Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
Kim S., Ridgeland, MS —
“The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17 (NKJV)
Independence, MO
2 Samuel 22:32New King James Version (NKJV)
“For who is God, except the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
Cassia, Spring, TX
Psalm 45:11 NIV
The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.
Barbara from WI
16. Your eyes saw me informed;
In your book all are written down;
My days were shaped, before one came to be.
(NAB Psalm 139:16)
Leanette, Atlanta
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:6 NIV
Thank you to Fran for sharing – our daughter graduated from Union. Thank you so much for your investment in the next generation!
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1. (NIV)
Isaiah 41:10b ( KJV)……. ” I will strengthen the; yea, I will help thee. I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” ( from Cornelius, NC)
Janene Ford, Henley, MO
“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
James 1:12 (NIV)
“But that is not the way you learned Christ!” Ephesians 4:20 ESV