Dear Brothers,

Something happened in the last several months of our Living Proof Live women’s events that we’ve never seen before. Groups of men felt compelled by God to band together and intercede for the women attending the event in their city. The occasions were completely unrelated to one another. We knew God was stirring it up when the lead-out event with a covering of men was in Canada. Not only were we thrilled and grateful for their participation around these events through prayer. We saw remarkable works of God and felt that He’d nodded over the unity and mutual esteem. And, to tell you the truth, just feeling significant to them felt significant. We believe deeply that God honored the way these brothers in Christ honored their sisters. He listened, He approved, and He responded. The willingness of these men to do the work of intercession in our behalf humbled us, blessed us, and brought us a unique joy before God. Esteem is a powerful form of love and it was not lost on us.

This coming Saturday, September 15th, well over 150,000 of your sisters in Christ will gather through a Living Proof Live simulcast for a fresh encounter with God from 9:30 – 4:15 Eastern Standard Time. If God has His unhindered way, this could be a true revival of faith for many women. That’s what I feel He’s purposed for it and called me to specifically request from Him. A goal like that is completely out of human hands. I can’t study hard enough for what I’m asking. We can’t pray long enough or prepare well enough. Our knees are down, our faces are up, and our Bibles are open but what we need is Heaven wide-open and grace spilled down in a drenching flood. We want God to reveal Himself in a way we can’t ignore or recover from the next week.

Recently my eyes fell on a little 4-word verse (in the ESV) at the conclusion of the First Letter to the Thessalonians: Brothers, pray for us. I stared and stared at it and thought, sometimes you just up and ask for it. And that’s what your sisters are doing right now. Based on what we’ve already seen God initiating in the hearts of men these last few months, would you graciously commit to pray for us on Saturday? Or even right now toward Saturday? We’re not asking you to do anything particularly formal or in groups. We’re just asking as many brothers as possible to pray on their own for a large group of sisters meeting in the name of Christ and the Word of God. By all means, we want the prayers of many husbands of participants but we’re really asking for something broader. We’re asking for brothers to pray for sisters they may never meet. We’re asking you to pray for a harvest that you may personally never see.

We’re asking for some young men to pray and some old men to pray. We’re asking for some single men to pray, some husbands to pray and some widowers to pray. We’re asking some student ministers to pray and some senior pastors to pray. If some of you happen to feel led to go the extra mile and fast through lunch on Saturday in order to be more focused in prayer, who are we to argue? We’ll receive it! There are no rules or restraints on the process. Just do it however God leads in the name of Christ.

If you’re willing, we’d be tremendously encouraged if you’d give us an idea of the of support system we have among you by leaving a brief comment to this post. All we’d request is your name and your city. It could be as simple as this:

Keith Moore in Houston, Texas.

If you’re a pastor or you serve at a church or in a ministry, we’d also love to know where.

If you’re not that enthusiastic about signing on the dotted line here through a comment, no worries! Just pray!

We don’t just want your prayers. We need them. So many women out there feel like they’re drowning in an ocean of demands or evaporating in a desert. They need courage and encouragement. Lord, have mercy, I do, too. This is no culture for Christian cowards. You certainly know that.

Please fight for us.

We will gladly repay this debt of love and pray for you.

Thank you so much, gentlemen. Believe God for us and may God backwash immense blessing right over you. By the way, the main host site for this Saturday’s gathering is in Reading, Pennsylvania…at The Sovereign Center. Yep. We’ll take that.

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords…To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.”

In His unfathomable love,

Beth

Hey, you darling things!

Man, have I missed you! I may be out of sight sometimes when my hands are too full to tap their way to the blog page but you are never out of my mind. And that’s no lie. I mean it when I say it. You’re not even out of my mind when I’m out of my mind. Anyway, these days I see enough of you on Twitter to feel like we’re not very out of touch even when I’m momentarily less active on the blog. (@BethMooreLPM or when I have something to say that is only for Siestas – meaning you LPM bloggers – @Siestaville. It’s a lot of fun on there if you like that kind of thing. Just don’t take it too seriously. It doesn’t replace our quiet times or anything.)

It’s Sunday afternoon after a fabulous morning of church, a good plate of Tex Mex with my man, and a tiny nap and now I’m outside on the back porch wishing all of you were having tea with me. I have no idea how we’d all get on this porch but, if the Lord can multiply loaves and fishes, He can provide square feet and a few thousand extra tea cups that look just like these.

Oh, I know what some of you are thinking. “Beth, we’ve seen those same cups a thousand times.” Yep. I know. I drink out of them every day – I do mean every single day – but isn’t there some comfort in occasionally knowing what to expect? Knowing what somebody’s (non-destructive) habits are can be a sweet slice of kinship, don’t you think? Keith is sitting on the other side of this wrought iron porch table so I don’t exactly know how much time he’ll give me but I’ll write like a maniac till he says with a fair amount of exasperation, “Lizabeth, how long are you gonna be doing that?” and then I’ll say, “Give me five more minutes!” and then I’ll have to say bye or he’ll get up and go to the shooting range. I only get a window before he moves on. Grin.This is one of many reasons why the man is fairly hard to take advantage of. He doesn’t put up with a lot of putting off. Never has. Which may be one reason we’re still married.

Just so you can picture our scene together (yours, mine, Keith’s, Geli’s and Queen Esther’s), I’ll give you a few descriptions. It’s the first breezy day of dropped temperatures in Houston, Texas this September and a delight to no end because it’s very, VERY early this year. It’s in the higher 80’s right now (late afternoon) but it was in the divine 60’s early this morning. Even this particular variety of the 80’s is pleasant right this second because, lo and behold, there’s very little humidity. Please be impressed. This is second only to the parting of the Red Sea. You should have seen all the great hair at church today. It is a sparklingly gorgeous day and there are about four hummingbirds buzzing all around us here in my back yard. Oh, and I just drank a bug in my hot tea. I spit it out before I swallowed it. I share this so you know that all is well but, as long as we’re here on this planet awaiting its redemption, it’s still a far piece from perfect.There’s always the proverbial fly in the ointment somewhere.

I’ve had a Life Today taping since I talked to you last. (Last weekend) I sent out a prayer request on Twitter and, boy, did you pray that one up. We had one of the best groups ever. The studio audience only has space for a couple of hundred people so it is the PERFECT size to really interact with a group. I can actually walk over and touch one of them while I’m teaching or look straight into a face or even hear a sigh. They bless me indescribably. I just love the intimacy of the setting and it makes it so much easier to forget the anxiety fostered by very large and present cameras. As time goes on, I get closer and closer to and fonder and fonder of the people on the taping team at Life Today.

The people on my team at LifeWay are like family to me. For those of you who don’t know the distinction between the two (and who would care to know this much anyway??), the LifeWay projects are the video-driven Bible studies like A Woman’s Heart, Breaking Free, Esther, and James: Mercy Triumphs. We’ve worked together for 18 years, have grown up in that genre of discipleship together, been through many ups and downs and have long since bonded as tight as blood kin. We work together throughout any given Bible study project so it’s much more involved than four times a year, which is my more typical annual schedule with Life Today. The Life Today tapings are for the Wednesday television broadcasts of my good friends, James and Betty Robison’s syndicated Monday through Friday program. (The most generous people I know on earth. Who in the world would give up 20 per cent of their entire air time?? And to someone like Blonder Than She Pays To Be??And before they had any idea whether it would even mesh with their audience?? And, no. I don’t pay a dime for it. It’s a mind boggling opportunity to reach people we might never see in our Bible studies. A true gift of grace that I will never completely understand.)

Anyway, what I was saying before I started making a short story long: we’ve developed a really neat relationship over the years of taping at Life Today. For instance, I don’t stay in hotels much anymore when I go. I’ve stayed the last few times in the tiny little guest house of their photographer, Janice Meyer, and her good buddy, Kim. I am crazy about both of them but there is one other reason why I like to stay there. Fur. And a lot of it. This was my welcome last week.

Come on, now! Tell me you don’t feel the love?? It makes me so dang happy I can hardly stand it. There’s a doggy door in the tiny guest house so they can come see me while I’m studying. While I teach, the dog hair flies all over the audience from my wardrobe but we get through it just fine. We just sneeze, blow our noses, and get to the next point. This time after the taping, someone on the video team asked me if I’d mind getting a picture made with the taping crew. Honestly, I nearly got choked up. I’m pretty sure somebody made them do it but, still, it really touched me that they cared to have it. Or at least didn’t run from it. I’ve come to love and appreciate them so much. Many of them have worked for James and Betty for years. Decades. That’s a true test of integrity in many ways in my eyes. Here’s the Life Today team. Two people to my right in the beige top is my Life Today make-up artist, Faith. I like to say that I get a work of Faith even before I open my Bible on the set:

OK. I’ve got to start moving faster through this blog or Keith’s going to shut me down before I get to the “help me get the word out” part. This weekend was the official kick off of the fightin’ Texas Aggies’ 2012 football season and their inauguration into the SEC. My firstborn didn’t start demanding to go to Texas A&M to college until kindergarten. No other university ever took her eye. Not one. Her blood was maroon from day 1. So, she absconded with the pastor of our church and headed to the game and I got to intercept the children. We snatched them from their car yesterday morning and didn’t have to surrender them until today at church. We had the best time with them ever. I could talk about them until you’d rock back and forth with boredom so I’ll try to hit the high points and I’ll be able to do it faster if I don’t pick any certain order. So, get ready to bounce like a red rubber ball.

This is the children these days. In everyday blogs, you really don’t use your professional photos. Just mostly casual pictures taken with your phone so keep that in mind. All of these are with my iPhone:

Jackson (above, shoeless – he really does have legs. You just can’t see them. He has not had a knee-ectomy as it appears in said photo) just started the first grade and is missing two teeth and another is hanging by a fleshy thread. He has a lisp that makes Amanda and me swoon with adoration. This is Miss Pris. Oh, good grief. I can barely stand the preciousness.

She talks a hundred miles an hour, very expressively, and usually with both hands. Stop it. No comments. To give you a little idea of how much nostalgia this child causes Keith and me, this is Amanda at her age. I wish you could see this better but I don’t have time to scan. I just snapped a cell picture of a picture but you’ll get the idea. Unless you’re as blind as a bat.

I could just about cry over that. But I don’t have time. Next! (***But in rereading the post just before publishing, I realized that I accidentally cut off Amanda’s legs in above picture taken with my phone. She hadn’t had a knee-ectomony either. At least you can see clearly that she and Jackson are well related.) These are two little outfits I got for Annabeth at Target yesterday. She’s got on one of them in the earlier picture. For you moms and grandmoms of little girls, the clothes at Target right now are adorable! I wasn’t as enthusiastic about the boys’ selections (come on, manufacturers! man up!) but I gave the girls’ stuff an A.

I tweeted that picture earlier today and two of you said, “I LOVE THAT TABLE!” Me, too! Listen, I’m not much of a furniture person and I’m the furthest thing from a decorator but I love that table to no end. If my house caught on fire, it’s the only piece of furniture I’d try to make my man drag out of there. Part of what I love about it is the host of memories made there. So much laughter. SO MANY OPINIONS. And some fairly fine food on occasion.

When you live in the country, there’s always a critter to look at. I caught the kids looking at a rabbit in under a tree. I don’t think you can see the rabbit in the picture but, unfortunately, you can indeed see a set of elk horns. Why, I ask you?? WHY????? WHY ARE THEY SITTING THERE??? This is life with Keith Moore. Whom I love.Those are pipes sitting there to the right side of the scene if you’re wondering. They’re for irrigating some trees. May the Lord grant them to go underground sooner than later.

I have no vocabulary to wrap around my gratitude to God for the family time we get to share with Keith’s parents. As you long-timers here on the blog know, we live right next door to them. This set of children know their great-grandparents WELL. Oh, Jesus, thank You. I don’t know why but I’ve wanted to cry every time I’ve looked at this picture since I snapped it last night. I love this man so much and, Lord have mercy, he has had so many health problems that it’s a miracle he’s alive. Every single day we have Keith’s parents is a gift to us. Sit up a little bit and have some respect. This, my dear sisters and daughters, is one fine man. Mr. John Moore and his great grandson, Jackson. A future great man, we pray.

This is part of our Saturday night ritual at Bibby’s house. Annabeth gets a warm sudsy bath, shampoo and conditioner, a good blow dry from a near professional (laughing), and a mani-pedi. Jackson is a breeze! A bath and a towel dry and we’re DONE! It ain’t easy being a woman.

This I took this morning. I escorted both children outside when they each got up so that I could help them formally welcome “Mr. Autumn.” Oh, I realize, you cynics you, that it could be 95 degrees in Houston by tomorrow but you cannot take a Houstonian’s joy away at the first cool breeze. It’s an earnest deposit on a Fall sure to come…at least by Christmas.

We then got dressed and ready for church and headed into town for a glorious morning. My pastor DROPPED a word on us this morning from the pages of 2 Corinthians. Sometimes I can’t even fathom that I’m related to the man up there preaching. What unfathomable grace. He has blown our minds this year. Bayou City Fellowship celebrates our first birthday next Sunday. It has been the dearest, most unforgettable year of my church life and, girlfriend, that’s saying a LOT. I have loved church all my life. It has been a harbor to me through innumerable storms. We sang a song that was new to me today but the lyrics fell on me with such power. Here is the part that got me the most. It’s a terrible picture but the words are why I want you to see it. Oh, and by the way, that’s our Lindsee Lou’s darling little face in the left-hand corner of the screen. She’s one of our very gifted worship leaders.

OUR GOD HAS SPOKEN. Oh, indeed He has. And the chains are BROKEN, bless His unfathomable Name. I was overcome as Keith and I sang those words with our two daughters – embodiments of such redemption – standing right next to us. The four original Moores worshiped together this morning, then three of us – Keith, Melissa, and me – received communion from Amanda and Curtis. “The Body of Christ broken for you. The blood of Christ poured out for you.”

Oh, God. Thank You. You are my entire life. The breath in my lungs. The only good in me.

Well, wouldn’t you know I’d run out of time before I got to the news I wanted you to help me spread??? OK. I’ve got to give it to you quickly. The simulcast is this coming Saturday: September 15th. For the first time, you can even tune in as an individual. I mean, by all means, get to a group if there’s one in your area or if you can manage to pull one together. The sense of corporate worship is ideal for something like this but, if you can’t get with others, come by yourself by way of your own computer screen! I’ll get Lindsee to stick a link in here tomorrow for those of you who would still like to look into it. (For those waiting for it, here is the link to all the details on the simulcast.) The individual price isn’t much more than a trip to the movies with a coke, candy, and popcorn. I wish so much we could do it for free! But at least it’s fairly affordable. As I told them on Twitter, I have nothing fleshly to gain from more people participating. I’m not driven by numbers. Just too old to be and been around too long, I think. And not a single dime from a Living Proof Live goes into my personal checking account. The only reason I’m inviting anyone is because I pray – oh God PLEASE – that He is the one inviting all of us. Listen, the least that can happen is that we come together and worship God and open His Word and He is faithful to His promise that His Word will not return empty. You can’t beat a Saturday like that! I’m promising no bells and whistles. No dog and pony show. I don’t know how well the messages will be put together but I promise you I’m studying hard and trying to hear from God. I can’t control the technology or, half the time, my own mouth, God have mercy on me, but I am believing God for this Saturday. He IS faithful. That I know. And I believe He’s put this together and not we ourselves.

I am asking God for something huge to happen to us. I am praying with all of my heart for a revival for women. The news I’d like you to help me to spread, however, is to the men. To every man you know who might be willing to pray. This summer at Living Proof Live an interesting thing happened two different times. God raised up men (of their own volition and vision) in that city to pray for that gathering of women. The Spirit FELL on us and I cannot help but think that one reason why we sensed Him so powerfully was because brothers joined in and prayed. He esteemed it highly I believe.

I feel like God would do the same thing if we women banded together and prayed for a move of His Spirit among our brothers. On this coming Tuesday (the 11th), you’re going to see a post I’ll have written called “Brothers, Pray for Us.” I am asking men to commit to pray for us (just individually, informally on their own as they feel led) on Saturday, September 15th. It can be a one-time prayer or maybe they’d remember us several times that day. Maybe some of them would even feel led to fast through the hours of our gathering (I’ll post those hours on Tuesday) but I don’t want to put any kind of restraints on it. I’m just asking men to intercede with faith for us and I believe God may well respond by doing something in our midst we otherwise might not experience. I’m not just looking for husbands of participants to pray though I hope they will! I’m talking about men of God of any age, married or single, that would simply care enough to lift up their sisters in Christ before the Throne of Grace.

It would really build our faith if they’d sign in on the Tuesday blog with their name and city but we want prayer whether or not they sign on the dotted line. Would you help us get word out and encourage as many men as possible to join in with us and perhaps let us know on the Tuesday blog that we have their support? They wouldn’t need to leave a big comment. Just a “Keith, Houston, Texas” kind of thing would be sufficient. I’d love to know if it’s a pastor though. Ask him if he’d tell us the name of his church as well. I want to tell all the sisters on Saturday at the simulcast what kind of covering we have, at least by estimation. Do you get the vision or have I rushed it too much? You’ll see me put it out on Twitter Tuesday morning right after the blog goes up. Please wait to get word out on Twitter until the blog is posted on Tuesday so that the guys don’t get all confused about where they’re supposed to sign in.

Thank you so much, Sisters! I am convinced that the impact of their prayers could be dramatic. God has placed this so powerfully on my heart that I’d have to wonder why He’d bother pressing it upon me with such force and not intend to respond to it. That’s just not the way He works. “The prayer of a righteous man has great effectiveness,” James says. Let’s see some of that effectiveness!

Oh, mercy, I’ve got to get off of here before Keith goes to the shooting range!

I LOVE YOU. That’s the absolute truth. So much. Talk to you soon!

Update: Thank you so much to all of those who were able to join us. In case you missed you, you can jump on and watch it now like you would a recorded video. Just click this link. For some reason, it cut about the first 30 seconds off, but after that you’re good to go. We love y’all!

Hey, you sweet things! You better know that I have not forgotten you for a single solitary day but, wooooo-eeeeee, girlfriends, your blog mama has had her hands full! I miss you so much, though! Would any of you like to jump on livestream right at 12:00 noon central standard time today (Wednesday) for 20 or so minutes? It would just be to say hi and to catch up a bit so if you’ve got something important going, don’t sweat it. There’s no big announcement or prepared subject matter. Just a happy hello and I surely do love you and I pray that you’re seeing Jesus revealed in all sorts of ways. That kind of thing and from the heart because you are indeed so dear to me. SO, I’ll see anybody there who has the time and, even if it’s just ten of us, I’ll be thrilled to touch base.

Just click on this link to hop on and join us!

I love you guys!

P.S. Just a friendly reminder that you do not need a password. While we’re preparing to launch, we have it up to work on a few logistics, but we will remove the password about five minutes before we go live at noon.

Nehemiah Summer Session 4 from LPV on Vimeo.

Good grief! We’re already closing up! How is that even possible? I am so grateful to God that we’ve had the opportunity to spend the summer together in Bible study and hope with everything in me that the last six weeks have been profitable to you. 1 Timothy 4:8 is popping into my mind:

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (NIV)

Look at it again: it holds PROMISE and not only for the future when we see God face to face. It holds promise right now. Right here in this present life. Just where we could really use some help. We women are stretched and stressed to ripping seams from every conceivable direction. We are constantly faced with multiple choices concerning how we’re going to spend the limited resources of our day and our energies. We so often give way to the thing that screams the loudest…and, if it’s your baby, Lord have mercy, you should! But sometimes God doesn’t speak through the wind, the thunder and storm. He lowers His voice so that we’re forced to get quiet and still if we want to hear.

And, boy, do we ever want to hear. If we’ve learned the value of His life-giving, life-defining, life-refining, life-forgiving, life-surviving, life-thriving voice, boy, do we ever want to hear. I have no doubt that you’ve heard some things from God this summer through our study of Nehemiah so let’s get to it and share a few of them in closing.

As usual, your comments to this post will come AFTER your gathering but here’s the part that will be very different! EACH of you will comment this time individually rather than through a representative from your group. Your comment will be in answer to question #3 below and will be addressed straight to your teacher for Siesta Summer Bible Study, Kelly Minter. (Start it very simply, Dear Kelly…)

In our wrap up today, I’d like you to answer three primary questions. The first will be drawn from Session (or Week) Five, the second from Session (or Week) Six then the last one will be in reflection of the study as a whole. It’s the one you will EACH answer in your comment to this post. After the questions, I’d like you to join me for just a few minutes in the 3rd Chapter of the Book of Ezra. First, the three questions:

1. From Session Five: Review the top half of p.120 and the Derek Kidner quote that Kelly included. If your personal response to the question in the middle of the page is appropriate to share, share it! Get very specific about how some difficult facts in your life right now are reframed in light of “eternity…and of God’s unimaginable greatness.” Read Romans 4:18-25 for the perfect paradigm.

2. From Session Six: Go back to p.150 and reread the personal reflection question in the left-hand margin. Again, if your answer is not too personal to share, what do you long to see God bring full circle in your life? Listen carefully to one another as you share, jot down some reminders, and, at the end of your gathering, agree with one another in prayer for God to bring those things full circle.

3. In reflection of the study as a whole: What is the primary thing you’re taking with you out of this study? Your party favor, so to speak? Your take-home? In other words, what do you know for certain He meant for you to receive? Try to be as succinct as possible. Share it in the context of your gathering but, this time, I want you to answer this question as your concluding comment to this post. It will be the only one you answer in writing this time around.

Our brief devotional time in Ezra 3 will be in the video only. Please forgive any inconvenience. It was just better suited that way. If you’re unable to watch the video today, no problem! The most important part for the wrap up is right here in writing through the three questions. The devotional was just for added reflection.

Oh, mercy, Sisters. Thank you so much for joining in! I’m so crazy about all of you. Words fail to express the joy this community brings me.

And Kelly…

Honestly, Sister, I cannot fathom how I could love you more unless I just flat out moved in next door. You are so loved and appreciated by the Body of Christ. God has gifted you enormously with a unique voice and a beautiful pen with which to express it. We have learned from you, our sister. Thank you for pursuing God so flagrantly that we catch your fever. Don’t stop writing. Don’t stop sharing your works and your quirks. We find you believable, teachable, reachable, and, even on occasion, hysterical. We are the better for having pulled up a chair in your classroom. Thank you, dear teacher.

Nehemiah Summer Session 3 from LPV on Vimeo.

Hey, you darling things! Our summer Bible study is flying like the wind! We are four weeks stronger in the Word of God than we were when we started and THAT is a powerful thing. I am so blessed that you are persevering amid about 1000 things vying for your attention. Our culture has infected us with such serious attention deficit disorder that we have to fight harder than ever for focus and reflection. We also have to catch where catch can. I love picturing some of your Nehemiah workbooks with water splotches on them from your neighborhood pool, with mustard on them from catching up on your homework during your lunch, and, goodness knows, with coffee on them from getting up at some unreasonably godly hour to get it all done. God has not missed a single effort you have put into this journey nor will He allow a solitary word to return void.

“For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” Deuteronomy 32:47

We, too, have our Jordans. We, too, have lands of promise where we thrive by faith and serve God and our fellowman in the full throttle effectiveness of the Holy Spirit. So, take heart! What you’re doing here is profoundly important.

OK, our gatherings and discussions today will reflect on Weeks (or Sessions) Three and Four of our homework. Remember that all comments to this post come AFTER your group views the video (or questions below) and completes the guided discussion. Always sign in by your group name, city, and number participating each time or, if you’re going solo, by your name and city. Solo participants will choose several of the questions that resonate with you most and answer them succinctly in your comment.

1. In the introduction to Session or Week Three and at the bottom of p.64, Kelly strongly encourages us to open up our worlds and deliberately look straight into the faces of some who are powerless, oppressed and poor. I love the way she ends the challenge: GO LEARN A NAME. Share within the discretion of your group the name of someone you reach out to personally who lives a very different life and falls under one of those headings. Share something about your interaction with the person that God has used in YOUR life and not just hers/his. Those of you going solo: since we have a very public format, use first names only.

2. Look at the shaded personal response section on p.72. Let’s tweak that question a little bit to involve even more of us: Name a time when God has asked you to lay down entitlement in an area where you were justified in holding onto it. As you share this occasion, discuss what you believe to have been the greater purpose.

3. Look in the left-hand margin of p.80 and share your answer to this question: In what area of obedience are you currently fatiguing? Encourage one another to persevere! Talk about the value of what God is calling you to do and any blessing that has already come to you as a direct result of this area of obedience.

4. Review Nehemiah 8:1-8 where Ezra reads from the Book of the Law. Glance back at the bottom of p.103 and the top of p.104. Discuss that kind of awe for the Word of God and talk about current ways people are aided in their understanding of the Scriptures.

5. Lastly, glance at the right hand margin on p.111 and answer the personal reflection question: What about the Christian life gives you the most joy? Try to get specific!

I wish so much I could be in on all your discussions. I love being in the Word with you, Sweet Things! We only have 2 more weeks to go! Let’s finish strong by doing our 5th and 6th weeks of homework and we’ll meet again on Tuesday, August 7th. If you’re participating in the community meal, how about Capri’s Pasta on p.113?

I love you guys like crazy. Stay the course!

Monumental anniversaries are powerful forces for so many reasons. They not only cause us to remember and, to what extent we are able, relive the big moment that originally stole the show. They also snap a quick shot of an era of our lives. Like most any other, a tangy cocktail of an era both sweet and bitter, both beautiful and terrible. Such is life. But several times in the course of a long stay, a wonder comes along that blankets the whole tumultuous season in a smiling sun’s rays.

Right about this time of day 30 years ago, I sat in the waiting room of my OBGYN’s office with one thing on my mind: I meant to have a baby that day or else. My man worked in the oil field with BJ Hughes and they were sending him off for a month in two weeks, just when she was due. If she was on time, I was on my own. BUT, if she had a little nudging, the four of us – Keith, Amanda (our nearly-3-year-old daughter and the biggest dream-come-true of my 25 year-old life), this new little creature that had swung on my bottom ribs like monkey bars for months, and I would have 14 days together. Those were the stakes.

High indeed.

So early that morning, my big sister, Gay, came to Victoria, Texas where we’d been transferred with BJ Hughes, and together we went on a brisk little – well, as much as I hate to admit to it – jog to very deliberately see if we could get some action going. There is absolutely nothing about this approach that I’d recommend to an expectant mother no matter how great with child she is. Those were the 80’s when the pendulum had swung WAY to the left and we were advised to do any physical activity in our pregnancies that we’d been accustomed to doing at the time we conceived. That was for normal people. Not me. Most women didn’t teach high impact advanced aerobics classes. What I’m recommending is this: sit down the moment you realize you’re expecting and get up when you head to the hospital.

Because here’s what happened: I trained up a child in utero in the way she would go and when she was born, she did not depart from it. She stretched, rolled, tumbled, jumped, lunged, and high kicked so wildly from five months’ gestation to full term that I lived nonstop at my maximum target heart rate particularly when I climbed into bed at night. I sang in the choir at First Baptist Church in Victoria and, in those latter days, my blue choir robe came alive like a 3-D illustration of the raging sea in Mark 4, only not once did Jesus stand up from the boat and say, “Please be still!” Or was that “peace be still”??

It was prophetic. That child would demand the training wheels off her bicycle two days before her 3rd birthday then ride off on it like she was born to be wild.

Because she was.

Dr. Mabry took one look at me, peered over the sheet draped across my swollen tummy and said, “Is your husband in town?”

“Yes, sir! As a matter of fact he is!”

“Good, because I’m about to break this water and put you in the hospital. This child is on her way.”

I’d asked God for a boy. In fact, I did it just right. I used all the biblical terminology. I prayed in faith without doubting and summed it up confidently with, “In Jesus’ Name.” I made sure I asked before conception so we could start out with the appropriate gender and God wouldn’t have to go to any extra trouble. I persevered in asking until the circle formed perfectly on the bottom of the EPT test tube then I sat back, smiled, claimed it…and, yes, named it: Brandon Keith Moore.

At seven months along, my OB nurse, good friend, and sonogram technician, said, “Beth, I’m telling you, I think this is a girl.” I went home undeterred, sat back on the couch and said to the Lord with utter confidence, “This is not hard for you. In fact, nothing is too difficult for Thee!” (Using proper King James English is always most effective for times such as this.) “Change it,” I chirped then got very still to see if I felt anything.

Nothing.

“It’s a girl,” I told Keith when he came in from work that night.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“I just know. That’s what they told me at the doctor’s office. And I asked God to change her into a boy and He didn’t. I could tell. I could tell He didn’t, that is.”

Young, strong, tan, black-headed, right winged, and at the peak of machismo as a 26 year old man tends to be, Keith grumbled something then looked up at me and said, “Well, then, we’ll have a girl.”

Good. Good plan.

The loud speaker went off over the grounds of BJ Hughes calling Keith Moore to the telephone. The kind with the black curly cord that was actually attached to the wall. “It’s your wife,” his supervisor said. “She said she needs to talk to you right away.”

“Hello?” Sounding a little frantic.

“Hey! Wanna have a baby today?”

“Today??”

“Yes, today. My parents are on their way to stay with Amanda. I’m packing. You better come get me.”

And he did.

Mamas push their babies into the world and then just keep on pushing.

We think we know just what we want them to be and just what will make them happy and we push and push and push and push, red-faced, grimacing, and threatening our husbands who got us into this shape. We just keep doing the thing we were doing the hours and minutes before they were born.

And, thank GOD, sometimes it doesn’t work.

I suppose Melissa would be at the peak of her professional basketball career if she kept going where I was pushing. And I’d be chaplain of the team. And assistant coach. Or head coach.

But she’s always had a mind of her own.

A fine one. Like her big sister’s.

I gave my heart away 30 years ago today for the second time in my life. Totally. Withholding nothing. Complete abandon. Both times to squirming little creatures that didn’t even weigh as much as their Daddy’s career trout.

I sat across a white-linened table from both of them 2 days ago, sharing three desserts, coffee and teas and I got lost in them all over again. Lost in their laughter. In the color of their eyes. In the way they use words. And sip out of a cup. Such a flawed woman. Such an embarrassing past. So many insecurities. Secrets that make me nauseous. And yet there before me, grace welled up in two distinct heaps, like twins born three years apart. Twins who only look a smidge alike. Twins as similar as salt and pepper…as homemade peach-vanilla ice cream and pico de gallo. Twins only because they each broke into my fortress, shimmied down the side, and ran off with my heart.

We asked the waiter at the restaurant if we could sit by a window because we needed to keep an eye on my car. We were seriously certain someone would want to steal the clothes we’d just bought from Anthropologie. Yes, all three of us. Of course, the birthday girl got the most but the three Moore women have always liked to do things together. So, we all got presents.

Just like Keith, Amanda, and I did 30 years ago today.

That very day a pair of ocean green eyes opened to this beautiful and terrible earth and none of us who know her well have ever seen life the same again.

And, as for Keith Moore?? Well, he wouldn’t trade that baby girl for a world full of fine sons.

And, whatever happened to that professional women’s basketball star? Well, a good friend of ours gave her a fragile centuries-old piece of Torah scroll a few days ago for her birthday.

And the child commenced to read it to me.

Hey Girls! Welcome to our second gathering for Siesta Summer Bible Study! I’m thrilled to be with you today! It feels so good to be back in Scripture together, doesn’t it? OK, before you go any further, remember that all comments to this post come AFTER your group views the video (or questions below) and completes the guided discussion. One representative will sign in on behalf of your entire group and using your group name, city, and number participating in this gathering. If you’re going solo, you will sign in by your name and city. Solo participants will choose several of the questions that resonate with you most and answer them succinctly in your comment. Group representatives will share the most powerful or pertinent part of your discussion. 

One more thing before we get to it! I want you to be able to picture our Bible study community because it’s such a rich mix of women. My beloved coworkers, Nancy and Kmac, went through all your comments to the summer Bible study launch (a daunting task indeed so applause please!) and here is an estimate of what our wonderful, colorful class looks like. (This has been updated since I did the video embedded in this post so the following is newer and more accurate information. The video has to be done around 4 days in advance so that’s the reason for any discrepancies between numbers.)

We are made up of about…

• 4226 individuals total (whether in groups or going solo)
• 1129 groups
• 48 United States (missing Delaware and Vermont; 1 sister said she was originally from Vermont, but is now living in NY. As severely tempted as we are to count that, we won’t. At the time I did the video, we didn’t realize Delaware was missing as well so, if you’re out there, be sure and let us know! It’s all just for fun. We’re not trying to be all that, so don’t anybody go moving or anything. Grin.)
• 14 countries outside U.S. (Africa, Australia, Bahamas, 4 Canadian provinces – AB, BC, ON, SK-, China, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Italy, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the UK)

Woooohooooo! May Jesus be pleased and highly praised!

OK, everybody! It’s time to meet. If possible, watch the video but, if you’re unable to view it, here are written instructions for your gathering. All the following questions or interactives are based on your first 2 weeks (or what they’re calling “Sessions”) of homework.

The first question comes from something Kelly said no further into the study than the second paragraph of the introduction on p.6. Reread the first two paragraphs then answer the following question:

#1. Name people you’ve met and, after getting to know them, realized you’d missed them terribly before they came into your life. In others words, describe a time when you encountered people that supplied something your life was greatly missing.

(In so many ways, Siestas, you have been this to me. I can hardly picture ministry around here at LPM before you got here. You supplied so much community that I lost when I gave up my beloved Sunday School class and you broadened my world immensely through your profound diversity. I am so thankful for you.)

#2.  One of the most important concepts for the study is introduced in Day One of the first week or “Session.” Turn to p.14 and review the portion mid-page. Why is it so vital to have a heart that can break? After answer the question, discuss how you filled in your columns: what breaks your heart and where you could be more tender.

#3.  Turn to the conclusion of Week or Session One on p.31 and share your answers to this “personal response” (mid-page): “What has God put in your heart to do?” Don’t descend into comparison, over analysis and self-condemnation as you discuss your answers. Remember, what God has put in our hearts to do may not be timed for fulfillment until many days or even years from the birth of our passion. After you answer the question, THEN glance ahead to the “Group Discussion” question in the margin on p.40 because it coincides so well with the concept we’re discussing here. “Have you ever forced a plan or dream that, in retrospect, you realized God’s hand wasn’t on?” Boy, I have and many times! Let’s have some community here so we’ll all know that this is a common occurrence.

#4.  Reflect on your answer to the question at the bottom of p.39: “So we will no longer be in disgrace.” (Some of your versions may say “shame.”) That word resonates deeply with me because I have felt disgraced and usually by my own actions or mistakes. Discuss a few ways that disgrace can result from a collapsed wall of some kind. THEN, celebrate the reality that walls can be REBUILT.

#5.  Go to p.56, the opening page of Day Five in Session Two and discuss some of your answers to the question in bold print: “What rubble in your life is presently the most discouraging and exhausting?” We are not just going to share and compare our piles of rubble here but we are going to turn our discussion into intercession as we conclude our gathering. After several people share, return to Nehemiah 4:14 and read it together and let it lead you in how you pray for one another. Close out in BELIEVING-RECEIVING intercession!

Our next gathering will be on Tuesday, July 24^th. Have Weeks (Sessions) 3 and 4 of your homework completed. For those who are gathering around a meal, consider making the Romaine Salad on p.88 with the blue cheese and pecans and maple vinaigrette and, since you went so healthy on the main course, how about some Billie’s Banana Pudding on p.89 for dessert??

I love you guys so much!  Stay in the Word!

This is just the quickest shout-out to say that you nearly took my breath away in your comments to the last post. I have never been so humbled and so thankful and blessed to be part of this community. If you haven’t had a chance to glance at the ministry going on between sisters in the faith, even just letting your eyes scan down the comments and seeing the interchange between the phrases,  “Little Sister here…” and “Big Sister here…” will put tears in your eyes. You amaze me. We are flawed people around here and all of us have some degree of brokenness but, Sisters, God formed something real in this community over the last years – something we couldn’t have conjured up with the best of plans, talent, and organization – and His Son has never been more obvious among you than in that last post. I cannot thank you enough. You mean so much to me.

I’m keeping it short because we have our big Siesta Summer Bible study post going up first thing in the morning but I want to ask you for one more thing. I am so pleased to hear from many of you that you’re agreeing to memorize Psalm 25. By all means, older sisters, join in, too, if you could really use those words in the marrow of your bones. Read it and see. Memory work is often done best in the framework of accountability. If you want to be held accountable to memorize it, would you please make a comment to this post and let us know you’re taking on Psalm 25 and what version you’re using? (The version is completely up to you! This is just to provide you a chance to sign on the dotted line, so to speak.) Some of you could also pair up and use the same version and agree on how you’re going to approach it and what Scriptures you’re taking on each week. My little sister in the faith that God used to spur on the whole previous post – remember, the one I ran into in the grocery store? – is going to memorize the same version as me so that we would be able to say it together. It just makes it extra fun and gets it done.

I love you guys so much. Now, let’s get out there and live in victory. Jesus, be obvious in Your daughters this day. This week. This lifetime. You are all to us.

I’m really ticked. I just ran into a beloved little sister in the faith on my way to work when I stopped off at a grocery store to grab a few things. She and her family are nearly being eaten alive by the enemy. Honestly, we stood right there in plain sight near the vitamin aisle and ratted on the devil and shook the family tree for some fresh truth. As big tears rolled down those cheeks, she said one thing so emphatically that it seared straight into my bones:

“I was just thinking about you this morning, Beth. And I’ve just gotta know: have you been here?”

Where exactly did she mean by here? In that place where the enemy seems to leave NOTHING untouched. Nothing unmangled by his crushing iron jaw. The scene of the onslaught. Where Satan seems to systematically and patiently and daily and hourly go for you – heart, soul, and body, and for everything and everyone you hold dear, and for all you know – that you know – that you know you believe. That season where you can’t seem to recover because every time you start to get back up, something knocks you down again. That season that you really do begin to believe will absolutely kill you…and, in some respects, it does. It kills the old you. If allowed to, it stones to death the Goliath within every David, one welting throw after another. Welcome to the sifting zone where Satan gets so much leash that he rips to bloody shreds everything he can get his paws on…but what is really real. What is really left behind when we are stripped bare of all our earthly security and fleshly confidence.

Have I been there, my beloved little sister?

Let’s see. How loud can I say this?? I HAVE BEEN THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BOY, HAVE I EVER BEEN THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And part of me survived. And part of me died.

And the part of me that died, as painful as it was, needed to.

And when it tries to resurrect it’s ugly, deformed, decayed head, I remind it that it is dead, lest it need another killing. Because I don’t want another killing.

I don’t mean my baffling tendency to sin is dead. I deal with that old nature everyday. I can still – almost out of nowhere – vacillate furiously between self-love and self loathing until I’m so dizzy I could regurgitate. But that joint victim and victimizer in me, that violent inner working nurtured at the breast of deceit and raised in sickness with a bent on self-destruction, took what still appears over many years to be a fair beheading.

YES. I have been there. And it was so awful I still well remember almost to the detail. And this morning I was glad I did because my little sister in the faith – a MIGHTY woman of God – needed to hear it.

I got in that car so mad at the enemy and at this brazen, hateful world that I made a bee-line straight to work and clicked the words “new post.”

Big sisters, our little sisters need some encouragement. They need to know we’ve been where they are. Even if they’re not in a season of hell on earth. Maybe their house just smells like one huge dirty diaper. Maybe they just need a nap. Maybe they need a job. God alone knows exactly and truly what they need from Him but this WE can know they need from us:  encouragement! And, by God (and I mean that), we are going to give it to them.

Here’s what we’re going to do today. You who are 39 and under get to tell us where you could use some encouragement. You who are 40 and older and willing are going to give it to them. Here’s how it’s going to look:

If you are 39 or younger, you’re going to start your comment with “Your little sister here: …”

If you are 40 or older, you’re going to start your comment with “Your big sister here: …”

Here are the ground rules: (I’m going to warn you. When I’m furious, I can get into a bossy frame of mind and I’m there right this second. But, look at it this way. I’m beside myself in your behalf so humor me.)

Little sisters, don’t snow ball with every irritating, annoying, frustrating thing or relationship in your life. Get pretty quickly to the bottom line. I’m thinking about someone I really do love so much and want to encourage and help when at all possible but her emails to me are so long and about so many things going wrong and so many people going awry that by the end of it, all I can do is throw up my hands and say, “I am so overwhelmed, I have no idea where to begin!” Try, as much as you know how to tell us, to articulate what is really wrong. The real bottom line. Also, please look throughout the post for encouragements that may help you and keep in mind that what the big sisters write to one, they extend to all. Don’t be offended if no one speaks directly to you. Every encouragement is meant for every one of you.

Big Sisters, today is for encouraging our little sisters and that’s all. I know you have problems because I’m about your same age and I have a truckload of them. But you and I have lived long enough to know that we’re going to make it and that God IS going to be faithful and He is INDEED going to bring beauty from ashes and He will most certainly, given enough time, work every single detail out for our good and His glory. No complaining from us today. This post is a N0-Whine zone for big sisters. Life and the devil are eating our baby sisters alive. Let’s GET UP in their behalf, encourage them, and draw out our swords and fight for them. As often as you can, make your comment to all of them instead of just in reply to one of them. There will be exceptions, of course, but it’s crucial that we edify them across the board. They could all use it. You can talk to them or pray for them in your comment. Both are so Biblical and so right.

Now, listen, Little Sisters. One more thing from Big Sister with the big mouth. Get your tails in the Word. I mean it. Get your tails in the Word. NO TIME OFF. Read it aloud when you can’t absorb it or concentrate on it. Get yourself some accountability. Call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised and so shall you be saved from your enemies. Every morning.

One last thing. I left my beloved little sister with an assignment this morning and with the accountability to let me know she’s doing it. I’m going to give you little sisters who are feeling devoured the exact same one: memorize Psalm 25. Every word of it. Don’t tell me you can’t. Yes, you can. Get it printed out, laminate it, and memorize it. Say it over and over and over again. Start today. We can cheer you on and we can fight for you but we can’t fight instead of you. This victory is YOURS. The battle is meant to bring plunder directly to your personal life and family line or God wouldn’t have allowed it. Get up and fight.

Psalm 25.

I mean it.

I’m going to be asking you about it.

OK. I’m sorry for the bossy tone but I am so mad on behalf of you, our baby sisters, that I’m bruising this keyboard.

Now get busy, Girls. I have to be out of the office for a little while several times today so if we go a few hours without any comments moderated, have no fear, I’ll get back to it and get your encouragements posted.

I love you.

The day has finally arrived! Wooooohooooo! Let’s get into the Scriptures, Girls! This is our official launch where you will officially register as participants in our summer Bible study but here’s the important part: YOU WILL SIGN IN AFTER YOU AND YOUR GROUP VIEW THIS VIDEO AND HAVE YOUR DISCUSSION TIME. (If you’re going solo, you’ll view it by yourself, of course, and answer the questions succinctly in your comment as your way of discussing the subject matter.)

Please read the following instructions carefully:

If you are participating in a small group (even on line), choose a name for it in your first gathering. It does not need to be clever although you’re welcome to do it that way. It can be as simple as “Greensboro Summer Siestas.” Mine will be “The LPM Village” because I’ll be going through it with my in-house staff and we call our merry band of sisters the Village. You will use your group name every time you leave a comment on Bible study day.

After watching the video and participating in the discussion time with your small group, appoint ONE representative from your group to sign in through a comment to this post. You’re welcome to appoint a different representative each week that we meet. The main idea is to make sure only one person signs in for your group.

This is the way your group representative will sign in:

City, State; Name of group, Number in group. *A brief summary about your group time.

(*This might convey something interesting that came up in your time together or the question that motivated the most discussion. It’s wide open. Just give us a succinct report on your time in small group. Remember to keep them short and specific so that we can read as many as possible!)

Mine would look something like this:

Houston, Texas; The LPM Village, 12. Summary: We talked most about the challenges we have this summer and specific ways we each need God to “keep steady our steps.” (Then I’d give a couple of examples that came up in our discussion time. Get the idea?)

Sisters going solo: you will sign in individually and answer the questions very briefly in your comment. (You are welcome to limit your answers to the ones that resonate most to you.) If I were going solo, mine might look like this:

Houston, Texas; Beth Moore (you can just use your first name if you prefer). Questions 5 and 6 resonated most with me because…

NOW! You are good to go. Just watch the video and proceed according to the instructions I’ll give you within it. As you’ll see below, I will always put the instructions in print in case you’re unable to view the video or if, for any reason, it malfunctions. Keep in mind that you don’t need to read what follows unless you can’t watch the video.

Written instructions:

Today in small group time, read Psalm 119:129-135 together. If you have access to several translations, read it first in a formal translation – ESV, NAS, NKJ, NIV, etc – and, second, just for the richness of it, a modern translation like The Message or the New Living Translation. You know I love The NET Bible so that’s another option.

1.  List every term the psalmist uses for God’s communication/revelation to man. (Example: V.129 ESV – “testimonies”)

2.  Psalm 119:129 says, “Your testimonies are wonderful: therefore my soul keeps them.” Each of you (as time allows) share a specific way that you’ve come to know personally that God’s testimonies are “wonderful.” If you don’t have a newcomer to the Bible in your group, imagine that you do. Let your answer help explain to her why YOUR soul desires to keep God’s testimonies and why she should even consider it.

3.  Psalm 119:132 says “Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is Your way with those who love Your name.” If you have placed your faith in God through Jesus Christ, you have demonstrated one titanic way of “loving His name.” Discuss the importance of trusting that God’s “way” is to deal with His children graciously. Talk about whether you tend to expect God to be gracious to you or indifferent or harsh and condemning. If you tend toward the latter, would you be willing this summer to seek God with the grateful expectation of His graciousness toward you.

4.  Psalm 119:133a says, “Keep steady my steps according to Your promise.” What specific challenges are before you this summer that could cause you to really need God to “steady your steps”?

5.  Psalm 119:133b says, “Let no iniquity get dominion over me.” THAT, Beloved, is a prayer that could have huge impact in our lives. If you are willing, share a particular tendency of your flesh that you’re really praying will not get the best of you this summer. (By all means, get personal as the Spirit leads but stop short of really graphic specifics. Give people the idea without the mental images.)

6.  Psalm 119:134 says, “Redeem me from man’s oppression, that I may keep Your precepts.” Look up several definitions of “oppression” and discuss the vital differences between oppression and authority. How can they be confused? Once we know for certain we’re not just resisting authority but we are genuinely experiencing oppression, realize that God’s will is to REDEEM us from it. Pray fervently for Him to do so. He is perfectly capable of redeeming us from oppression while redeeming the relationship.

7.  According to Psalm 119:135, conclude by asking God with a full heart of faith to make His face shine upon you, His servant, this summer and to TEACH you vividly through the Book of Nehemiah.

8.  Sometime today, write Psalm 119:129-135 on a note card and keep it as your prayer for our Siesta Summer Bible Study. (After the video was already made, it occurred to me that I should have suggested we all write this segment on the inside of the front cover of our Nehemiah workbooks so, if I caught you in time, do that instead of a note card. That way it will serve as a Scriptural dedication of sorts for our summer experience.)

Have Weeks 1 and 2 of your homework done by Tuesday, July 10^th and we’ll have our next Mini-Session then and your group discussion.

I love you guys so much! Isn’t it fabulous to be back together again in God’s Word??

We’ll meet in two weeks! If you’re meeting over a meal, try to fix Lauri’s Beef Enchiladas on p.32 and Mom’s ginger snaps on p.33.

(Remember! Comments only after your group time!)