OK, I just have a sec but I’m so amused by something that I have to tell you about it. I am at a coffee shop close to Melissa’s apartment. The movers packed her stuff yesterday and are putting it in the truck as we speak. I’d been perched on her back porch but they needed to move that furniture, too. Besides, it’s cold here today and my hands were freezing. All that to say, I had to find a place close by and, as God would have it, it has wireless internet. The place was packed when I came in. Really cute decor with a half a dozen small round tables surrounded by four wing back chairs. By the time I ordered my coffee, several people departed and I threw my stuff in a chair as fast as I could. In a few minutes, two men – I think in late thirties – couldn’t find a place to sit so they asked if they could sit at my table. I told them to be my guest. They’d not distract me at all.

I totally lied.

Watching those two men try to do coffee was the most awkward thing I’ve ever seen. They couldn’t have been business associates or, goodness knows, they’d have talked business. And I would’ve been relieved. Instead, for the life of them, they could not think of one single thing to say. And, no, they weren’t trying to be quiet for my sake. The whole establishment is abuzz with conversation. One of them tapped on the top of his cup. The other made a few attempts at sentences starting with, “SO…” It was pitiful. Worse than pitiful. It was painful. I cannot tell you how tempted I was to help them. They needed rescuing in the worst way and I had at least five topics for conversation on the tip of my tongue: weddings, up-dos, grandboys who have learned to talk in full sentences, women’s Bible study, and baby girls moving to Atlanta with new husbands. But somehow I got the feeling they didn’t want my help. I tried not to look at them. It would have been too humiliating for them. So there I sat, pecking away on my computer, acting like I had no idea that they were having the world’s most awkward cup of coffee. Anyway, I don’t even think they were real coffee drinkers. Out of the corner of my discerning eye, I saw no pause for reflection after a single sip. Dead giveaway that they were posers. That was their first problem.

And here I am, communicating with a whole herd of women I’ve never even met with names that, five years ago, would’ve sounded like cartoon characters and about all manner of personal thing happening in my family’s life.

Yep. I love being a woman.

PS. I like to have died (that’s how my people always talked. I really do have some education. I just don’t sound like I do) over Mommy Dot Com sharing that she’d been nominated as “customer of the week” at her neighborhood Starbucks and nearly started crying when they announced someone else as the winner. Laughing my danged head off. You are customer of the week to all your siestas.

Hey, Siestas! So much love to you! I pray Christ is revealing Himself in unmistakable ways right now and showing up smack-dab in the middle of the most mundane tasks. Before I get to some of your questions, I’ve got to give a huge shout-out to God lest a rock cry out in my place. Can we say there ain’t no high like the Most High to Ocean Mommy’s 90 year-old grandmother praying to receive Christ on Thursday? That, you darling things, is something to celebrate!

All of your questions were terrific! Thanks so much for caring to know. I am answering a bunch of them here and hope to answer a few others in the weeks to come. If your question doesn’t show up here or in the next few weeks, it’s not because it was dumb or inappropriate. I probably felt like I couldn’t answer it well, sufficiently, or briefly in this format. If your questions were posed to AJ, watch for her to answer those in the days to come as well. These are just a number of the ones directed specifically to me. I may have paraphrased your question to make it a little shorter. OK, here goes!

*What’s the best way to show love to an “unlovable” husband? My darling sister, you be sure and get your cup filled to overflowing every single morning by Christ because the only way you’ll emotionally thrive under those conditions is to love him out of the overflow of Christ’s love for you. Something we learned in LBY is to Pour-Out/Pour-In. This is how it works: Pour out all of your concerns and hurts and confessions to Christ every single morning – don’t let them mount up or they will turn toxic and bitter on you – then, emptied before Him, ask Jesus to fill you back up with His Holy Spirit. See Psalm 62:8! You need Somebody you can tattle on your unloving person to and Someone who can also enable you to miraculously demonstrate love to him. Truly, it is the Most High Calling – see Luke 6:32-36. All of us are called to love people who “hate” us. We just may not be married to one. Also remember that love is not always a feeling. Sometimes when I’m dealing with an unloving person, I have to demonstrate the love of Christ and later my feelings tend to catch up with my actions. I am a big believer in solid godly counseling. Seek it if you need extra help. Also, I’m assuming he is not physically abusive to you. For any of you out there – married or single – who are being physically abused, GET TO SAFETY IMMEDIATELY AND GET PROFFESSIONAL HELP. If you are a mom, get your children out, too, and pray for the crisis to bring your abuser to repentance and the professional help he needs.

*Do you guys still have a relationship with Michael? On occasion and in some seasons more than others. I still have hopes that a day is coming when we can have a healthy, consistent relationship, but we’re just not there yet.

*What books are you reading? I almost always have what they call a “Christian inspirational” book of some kind and a Christian novel going at the same time. I just finished reading the novel Same Kind of Different as Me and I loved it. My favorite Christian inspirational book recently is Eat This Book by Eugene Peterson. In addition to those, needless to say, I am buried in commentaries and resources for Esther and have a tall stack for the session revision of Breaking Free, too. Since I got the question, “What are some of your favorite books?” I’ll go ahead and answer that one now, too:

I read constantly and enjoy lots of diversity in my reading. Therefore, I have to be willing to sift through doctrines or perspectives I may not share if I believe I’m going to discover treasures or even insights. I’m just giving you a heads-up that, just because I may be about to mention someone doesn’t mean I’d line up on every point of doctrine with him (nor him with me, goodness knows). It’s just that I’m old enough now (smile) and have studied long enough to not be at as high of a risk of getting tripped up as I might have been fifteen years ago. That said, if I’m researching an OT Book of the Bible, I always get works by Jewish scholars (I like to see their take on it) as well as Christian scholars. I’ve read many works of Jewish rabbis (love the late Abraham Joshua Heschel) as well as some Catholic monks. In the narrower mainstream, I love tons of authors and this, obviously, is where I spend most of my reading time. Some of my contemporary favorites are Philip Yancey, Mark Buchanan, Ravi Zacharias, Nancy Pearcey, Erwin McManus, and John Piper (I particularly love his devotional books and so loved his poetry book based on the Book of Job). I almost always read anything John or Stasi Eldredge put out there.

As far as novels are concerned, a couple of my favorite authors are Robert Whitlow (I’ve read everything he’s written) and Joel Rosenberg (I try not to read his stuff before going to bed or I’ll never sleep). I was very impressed with Joyce Meyer’s maiden voyage into novel-land. I thought The Penny was fabulous. (Jumped back on to add another author that I can’t believe I forgot to mention: JAN KARON and especially her Mitford series! One of you mentioned it in a comment and I hit my head like I shoulda had a V-8! That series is one of my all-time favorites! Floored I overlooked it!)

*What are your favorite Bible studies by other authors? I bet I don’t have to tell you how much I love and appreciate works by Kay Arthur and Priscilla Shirer. I have also done every Bible study Mary Kassian has published. If you haven’t done Conversation Peace, you just must. I love Jennifer Kennedy Dean’s works on prayer as well as Jennifer Rothschild’s works on ANYTHING. I devour anything by Anne Graham Lotz that I can get my hands on. I so appreciate Angela Thomas’s works. I totally dig Randy Alcorn’s Heaven.

*Who do you like to listen to on tape or CD? Actually, you didn’t ask me that. I made up the question myself. Grin. I just thought it would be fitting as an insert right here while we were on this subject. My favorite preaching to listen to on CD (besides my own pastor, of course) is Dr. James McDonald out of Chicago. I’m nuts about his style and the man knows his Scripture.

*What are some of your biggest challenges in ministry? Time, schedule, stress, NERVES, and thinking I just did a terrible job with a message and yet having to go right back out there again. Also just being scared to death I’ll blow it and hurt or offend the Body of Christ somehow.

*Two weeks left before there is one less (with the name) Moore. On the peace and calm meter, how are the four (original) Moores faring with Melissa’s wedding coming up? I loved this question and had to laugh. I don’t think you could necessarily characterize any of the Moore’s as calm at almost any time. Not one of us is laid back. We are passionate about almost anything and have lots of feelings about everything. Any peace we ever have truly is peace like a white-water river and not remotely like a pond. I have to tell you something we all howled our heads off about. Some weeks ago one of you left a comment on the blog asking – in your own fun words – if AJ and I were about to drive Melissa crazy over wedding stuff. It was about the same time another of you commented on Melissa being the quiet one of us Moores. Let me be joyfully and lovingly clear: we all dance circles around Melissa and there is nothing vaguely quiet about her. Remember, she’s the one that used to walk down the stairs when she was four years old and ask me first thing in the morning, “Are you going to boss me today?” Amanda is the closest to quiet in our family and, believe me when I tell you, she holds her own. Lis and I would both tell you that Amanda is by far the sweetest and wittiest of us. (She truly has one of the sweetest, most loving hearts of anyone I’ve ever known and is also incredibly clever.) Melissa is the wildest and funniest. Very, very affectionate, thank goodness, and disarming. She keeps all of us honest. Keith and I? We are simply certifiable. It is a very lively family. And Melissa is the boss. Just so we have that straight.

*If you could live your life all over again, what is the one thing you would do differently? The tears are stinging in my eyes and I’ll have to try hard to keep from sobbing on this one. The list of things I’d do differently is so long, I couldn’t pick one out and the worst of it so appalling that I wouldn’t share it anyway. I have been so stupid. I was so messed up and clueless that my healing took a long danged time. I am as true a testimony of the forgiveness and grace of God of anyone you could know. He has been utterly unreasonable in His love and patience for me and I will love Him forever for it. To love much after I’ve been forgiven much is my hope. I do, however, want to try to satisfy the question if I can with one thing that comes to mind: I wish so much I’d gone with my spiritual “gut” in a situation years ago where the Holy Spirit was warning me to stay back from something. Someone very godly talked me into not backing off. I just wasn’t ready to handle a situation like that and tremendous anguish resulted. Ironically, God also performed one of the biggest works of my life through it. He is such a Redeemer. His sovereignty is my only peace.

*If you could only give one piece of advice to your daughters, what would it be? To pray every day to love Jesus more than anything else in all the world and to deliberately practice abiding in His love for them. Hands down. No contest.

*How do you love someone in your extended family that passively or actively rejects Christ and mocks your walk with Him? I had this exact situation and I can’t guarantee this for everybody but, over time, God worked a miracle in our relationship. One of the things God taught me was to be low-key on the “Christianese” (religious vernacular) around him, but to be high-key on authentic love and joy – to live what I believed in front of him more than to talk about it. I have not won him to Jesus and I don’t know if he’ll ever budge from his belief system but, slowly, God allowed me to win his respect. He loves humanitarian work just like I do so we have that in common. He no longer seems to scorn Christ or believe that all Christians are hateful. I love him so, so much and would give virtually anything to spend eternity in the same place with him.

*Are you just exhausted after Tuesday night Bible study? Yes! And so is my beloved staff! We often get very little sleep when we get home that night because we’re so wound up. It’s a very long day for all of us but it’s the most important thing we do here in Houston, so literally no one complains. Thankfully, we get off on Wednesday afternoons after staff debriefing lunch. The exhaustion after Tuesday nights is nothing like after a conference, however. By the time a Living Proof Live event is over, I am – as my grandmother used to say – as limp as a dishrag. I feel almost bruised. God is so worthy though and so faithful to restore me and get me back on my size 7’s pretty quickly.

*I’m one of your BF posts that had an affair in the past. My husband and my God have forgiven and restored me. But I still have trouble with guilt around those who know about it. Any help? Yes. Trade the guilt around those people for humility. And don’t trade back. Also soak yourself in God’s Word so He can speak louder to you than anyone else. Memorize Scripture and when that condemnation comes upon you – from the inside OR the out – start rolling that Scripture around in your redeemed head for all your worth. Let the pain of every consequence lead you to deeper and deeper sanctification and knowledge of His Truth. And, as the Book of Jude says, after all you’ve learned and all you’ve suffered, if you see someone about to make the same mistake, do everything you can to snatch that stick from the fire. (VV. 22-23)

*Where was “Stepping Up” filmed? In a studio in Nashville and the audience was primarily made up of women who either worked at LifeWay (in all sorts of positions like customer service and editing) or had husbands who did. Some of the others were in ministry and just needed to be ministered to. It was a way we could give a small gift back to those who have partnered with us behind the scenes.

*I have always been taught that Jesus is the SON of God but I am so confused because I hear people referring to them as the same. This sounds dumb, but please clarify. You posed an important question! The Godhead – Father, Son, and Spirit – is three in one. All three were active even in the creation account (compare Genesis 1:1-3 that immediately distinguish between God the Father and the Holy Spirit as He hovered over the deep THEN see Colossians 1 where Christ’s activity in Creation is recorded.) That Christ is absolutely divine is clear in many Scriptures but here are a few: Colossians 1:19, “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him.” Colossians 2:9 “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” In John 14:9,11 Christ explained, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father…Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” John 20:28 also tells us that after Thomas saw the resurrected Christ and touched His wounds, he called Him, “My Lord and my God!” Hebrews 1:3 is one of my favorite verses of all about Christ: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.”

*Any chance you’ll do a study on Romans? My beloved editor, Dale McCleskey, needles me often about it but, no, I don’t anticipate it. I haven’t been very qualified to write any of the studies, truth be told, but I am vastly unqualified to write on Romans. I taught the entire book for a year in my last Sunday school class (only a few years ago) and those CD’s are available through LPM. I’m betting that’s as close as I’m getting to a study. Romans 9 nearly killed me. Then again, never in a million years did I picture writing a study on Daniel.

*Do you just humor us when we ask about that outfit or that pair of shoes or what kind of make-up you wear? Girlfriend, what are you smoking? Are you kidding me? I love it. I’d ask you the same kinds of questions in a heartbeat if the tables were turned. Right after Bible study. And while we’re on the subject, one of you asked about my favorite lipstick. (I just went and got my cosmetic bag. It has at least 10 lipsticks or glosses in it.) My favorite drugstore variety is Revlon’s “Moon Drops” Line in the green tube with the gold band. For those with my coloring and penchant for bright, the shade I wear most often is Peach #704. My favorite more expensive variety is “Dior Addict” that you get at Sephora. It hurts my pocketbook every time I splurge but it is gorgeous on. And, of course, I love me some lip plumper! But Sally Hansen on the drugstore counter makes about as good as any, at least in my and Melissa’s opinion. (I don’t think we’ve ever won AJ over to plumper. She thinks it stings. We think it’s worth it.)

*And, for all of those who hated that last question, this one’s for you: What do you like to do for fun? I am an avid dog lover and I could hike mountain trails until my legs were nubs. And I pump iron. Don’t even think of treating me like I’m just a set of shiny lips. Heehee.

*Beth, why do you love Siestas so much? Because they love Jesus like crazy and make me want to love Him more. And they can like their servants without putting them on pedestals. And they ask lots of good stuff and start lots of good discussions. That’s why. And I made that question up, too.

*Updated to add Maryland. (So sorry, Maryland! I don’t know how that happened. I cut and pasted the names of all 50 states and only removed Delaware! We had Maryland a number of times! Wouldn’t have overlooked you for the world! – Beth) And it looks like we have a brand new Siesta from Delaware joining us! Welcome, Jill/Crew of 5 For Jesus! – Amanda. ALL FIFTY STATES! YAHOO-JAH! To God be some mighty BIG GLORY!

Well, Siestas, you did it. You left Amanda and me slack-jawed! We’d hoped for a diverse group…but never in our wildest dreams would we have imagined! In the terrific words of Luke 24:22 (ever so slightly out of context), “…our women amazed us”! I feel so many things but at the top of the list, I feel wonder. Wonder toward a God who perfectly timed an information age in the latter days of His Kingdom calendar where the testimony of His Son could be transferred and shared in seconds by people so diverse and distant, their paths wouldn’t cross in a lifetime. We are one tiny blip on the pinhead of the World Wide Web. Imagine what really might be happening out there in the Name of Christ! So many dark and deadly contacts happen on line but if we only knew what God Himself was bringing together, we’d fall to our faces with praise. I am simply astonished.

SO, with ecstatic joy, I present to you tastes of Siestaville! (Drum roll please…)

First, here’s where you live:
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont (I kept saying out loud, “Come on, Vermont! I know you can do it! Sign in!” You could have heard me shout all the way to your great State when I finally saw you!)
Virginia
Washington (The numbers of you totally blew my mind! Way to show up, Northwest! We’re so honored your aboard!)
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Can you believe your eyes??? We came within an inch of having Siestas in every single State of the US. Is there any chance Delaware answered the roll call but I missed your darling self? Let us know!

And, how about outside the US? I’ve got to begin with a HUGE SHOUT-OUT to our Siestas in Canada! I could not believe how many of you make up our blog town! And considering all our Southern figures of speech at LPM, way to persevere! We are the better for you, Canadian Siestas! You are treasured here. Keep your comments coming.

And outside the US and Canada, let’s hear it for Siestas who live in…
Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Several!)
(One wrote in to tell us that, yes, she really is a Dutch Siesta who has to work extra hard for unity amid that MUCH diversity! I loved it.)
Bosnia
Brazil
Central Asia
China
Germany
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Malaysia
Mexico
Mozambique
New Zealand
Philippines
South Africa
Taiwan
United Kingdom
(Some are missionaries or serve in the military while some are actual citizens of that nation.)

We are honored to have the spiritual feeling of being right next door to one another in real time through faith, through prayer, and the love of Scripture. Thanks go to so many who persevere many regional and cultural differences to stay connected!

Now, are you ready for where you go to church? Hold on to your chairs. This may have stunned me more than our locations. Joyfully, we had numbers of Siestas representing most of them:
Anglican
Assembly of God
Apostle’s Churches
African Methodist Episcopal
Baptist (Freewill, Southern, Independent, Missionary. You name it. I’m not saying a word. I’m just grinning. Anyway, it’s fair to make fun of your own self. I told AJ that my eyes fell on one called “Angier Baptist Church” and I thought it said, “Angrier Baptist Church.” I was taken aback. So glad my contact had just slipped a tad on my eyeball.)

Beit Yeshua Messianic
Many independent Bible churches
Calvary Chapel
Catholic
Many independent community churches – Charismatic and Non-charismatic alike
Church of God
Covenant Church
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Church of Christ
Emergent
Emergent-ish (Made me smile)
Episcopal
Evangelical Free
FCCM (Fellowship of Connected Churches and Ministries)
Foursquare
Friends Church (Quaker)
House Churches
LDS
Lutheran
Mennonite and Evangelical Mennonite (So many! What a joy!)
Messianic Jewish
Methodist
Nazarene
Presbyterian (PCA, EPC, etc.)
Missionary Alliance
Pentecostal Holiness
Reformed
Seventh-day Adventist
The Salvation Army
Vineyard
Willowcreek Association Churches
Wesleyan

(I tried so hard to fasten my eyes to each entry and include every single denomination. If I overlooked one, it was truly an accident.)

Now, for a few special accolades:

Three of my favorite church names:
2nd Runner up: Calvary Chapel Pearl Harbor (Is that cool or what??)

1st Runner up: Raccoon Creek Baptist Church, Georgia (Me and Beanie could both go there! She loves dinner on the grounds after service!)

Grand Prize: Bar-None Cowboy Church (in Texas, of course) “Nluvwhim,” please contact the LPM office with your address and request your prize. Yes, I’m serious.

Here’s a titanic WAY TO GO on all those Scriptures and Scriptural concepts! WOW! According to one of our Siestas, Proverbs 3:5-6 was the one most often repeated.
My favorite unfamiliar one:

Psalm 45:1 from “The Message”: “My heart bursts its banks, spilling beauty and goodness. I pour it out in a poem to the king, shaping the river into words.” Gorgeous!

Gutsiest entry: “Worshipboy Tom,” a proud husband of a siesta! You are a real man indeed! 2000+ Siestas take off our sombreros to you! And then we’re putting them right back on because we have hat-hair. And we hate hat-hair.

Most impressive entry: “Kingschild,” mother to over 60 foster children. In unison, 2000+ Siestas and I say of our Siesta-hood, “We’re not worthy!”

A few private messages from me to a couple of you: Angela, thank you for your courage. You are welcome here! Firecracker, I am honored to be your servant. Log on any time.

TO ALL OF YOU: AMANDA, MELISSA, THE LPM MINISTRY STAFF AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN MORE HUMBLED TO SERVE YOU OR MORE AWED BY GOD’S GRACE TO US THROUGH YOU. THANK YOU A THOUSAND TIMES OVER FOR ANSWERING THIS ROLL CALL AND FOR BEING PART OF A COMMUNITY THAT HAS LITERALLY BECOME ONE OF MY FAVORITE AVENUES OF MINISTRY EVER. (Since I gave up my aerobics class, as a matter of fact. Grin.) ALL OF YOU ARE JOYFULLY WELCOME HERE!

May the Name of Jesus wave like a banner over this community and His lavish love be our calling card.

With a whole new appreciation,
Beth

*Comments now closed*

Hey, Siestas! I only have a second because I have Bible study tonight but I have the funnest idea!! I was inspired by many of your posts about your own church services in response to the blog on “How Firm a Foundation.” My inspiration began with our beloved Sister Lynn’s comment (yes, a real, live Catholic “Sister”) about this blog being a safe place for diversity for all kinds of women who really dig Jesus. (OK, the “dig Jesus” part was my paraphrase but, I assure you, Sister Lynn DOES and would Amen that. She and I have enjoyed contact outside the blog as well. She and some fellow sisters at their convent do several of the studies.) Then I was further inspired by “Ellen B” who shared about her church service at a First Presbyterian Church and “Little Steps of Faith” who talked about her Methodist Church. I also reflected back on our Siesta who shared with us in the entry before that she was Pentecostal. You cannot imagine what a blessing these comments are to us at LPM because UNITY AMID DIVERSITY is a huge priority to us. And it is an even bigger priority to Christ.

SO, let’s find out who’s out there in Siestaville right now and what part of the country or world you live in. I want it to be really easy for all of us to read so I’m asking you to make your answers succinct like the following example I’ll do from my own information. A couple of things to keep in mind: When I ask age, you are welcome to do an age “group” if you prefer. Grin. When I ask you for the present denomination of the church you are attending, remember, I’m not asking for your “definition.” I’m asking for your church’s “denomination.” (Church name might even be more fun if you’d like.) Many of us would be tempted to say, “Well I go to such and such a denomination but I’m really more of a such and such.” That would be TMI for our present purposes. We just want to do a roll call. Keep in mind, I’m just asking for the denomination you are presently attending without holding you responsible for any of its problems or complications or divisions or politics. Isn’t that a relief? We’re also not going to get caught in the trap of judging a Siesta according to what we perceive to be a particular denomination’s questionable doctrine. Sometimes we’re simply wrong in our perception and, even if we were on target, we want her here! We try hard to make the way of salvation – a relationship with Jesus Christ through the blood He shed on the cross – very obvious on this blog-stop and have a blast while we do it. For that reason, so we’re thrilled to have anyone at all exposed.

If you’re not attending a church right now, please fill in the rest of the information. We want you tuning into the blog no matter what…even if you don’t have a personal relationship with Christ yet or know a thing about the Bible. We want this to be a safe place for you to become acquainted, hopefully find Christ irresistible, then be led by Him to the right (though understandably imperfect) church for you. We all desperately need the support a fellowship of believers brings. Every single one of you are a welcome part of this blog community. Speaking of “single,” I’d also like to know if you’re single or married so we’ll know how to serve you better.

By the way, if you want to do this anonymously because you don’t want your blogger name to retain those associations, BY ALL MEANS, FEEL FREE! I bless you to do that.

Here’s what your very simple comments should look like, with your own information, of course.

Age: 50

Married

First Baptist Church Houston

Texas

Favorite Truth right now: Jude 1:24,25 (Give reference or very brief paraphrase or even the concise concept.)

OK, Siestas, fess up! Let’s find out who’s out there. I’m almost giddy about it! (Siestas, I checked in only an hour later and we had 252 posts! I am beside myself with the demographics! I can’t WAIT for you to read them, MEET YOUR SIESTAS, and introduce yourself to them through this survey! As I posted the comments, I went back and forth between laughing out loud and bawling my head off with joy. Wait till you see yourselves! It is my joyful, Christ-ordained privilege to welcome you officially to SIESTAVILLE, Population????)

Dear, Dear Ones, I hope you’ve had such a blessed Lord’s Day. I have had the kind you hope for all week long. One that started way before I meant it to because I had a birddog home from the lease still on hunting time that thought she needed to check the backyard for wild game at 5:30 AM. I was so annoyed. I tried to go back to sleep but I so dearly love the morning before the sun – or anyone else in my house – rises. I just couldn’t resist it. I slipped out of a very cozy bed, turned on the coffee pot, made a fire, got my Bible and my Breaking Free workbook and headed to Keith’s leather chair, the place closest to the fireplace. I had time enough to do two whole lessons (no small feat, considering the author is very wordy and we must have looked up somewhere between twenty and thirty passages. For the love). Then I had my prayer time and told Jesus what was on my mind.

I thought Keith was going to sleep the day away so I finally awakened him at 9:00 AM and asked him if he wanted to go to church with Melissa and I. (He goes when he wants. I gave up trying to make him. If I pressured him to go when he didn’t want to, he did lots of huffing and puffing and squirming and sighing during the service and I’d start feeling responsible for the whole thing and begin having psychosomatic symptoms – panting, lip-chewing, coughing, itching, nervous giggling – doubling the distraction for those sitting unfortunately close. Keith also has trouble keeping his thoughts to himself in church. A fact considerably complicated by his increasing volume. He’s shot so many guns in his ears he’s a tad hard of hearing so he doesn’t realize how loud he’s talking sometimes. But only at church, come to think of it. I need to meditate on that later. Therefore, if he wasn’t happy with something – like the length of the service and how long the line was going to be at lunch – our entire section could well know about it. Hence, I no longer pressure him. Haven’t for a good long time. Don’t have to much anymore, anyway, because he’s pretty taken with our pastor. Which means he comes to church now a couple of times a month – Keith, not Pastor – which makes me a very happy girl. When he doesn’t, sometimes I guilt-trip him but I always wait until after I get home from the service. That way he doesn’t decide to go but in a huff.

Keith wasn’t in a Sunbeam Sunday School class as a small child like I was where the Scripture we most often chanted was, “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.” Keith is not that glad. Says God isn’t just in a house. He’s also out in the wild. You can debate that one with him till the cows come home but all he’s going to hear is a gosh-awful mess of mooing. All said, if attending is his idea, we have a much more cheerful experience.) So, perhaps now you’ll understand how happy I was this morning when Keith said he wanted to join us.

Especially considering we were doing something different today, which he’d of been less likely to do. Melissa called me last night and asked if I wanted to go with her to a church she’s passed many times in her neck of the woods. She said, “I have a feeling it’s such a good church and I’ve been telling myself I was going to visit before I moved. My time’s running out. Wanna go?” And I did! So, after enjoying a leisurely morning of John Martinez coffee and Jimmy Dean Sausage with toast (50% less fat sausage and whole grain toast. I’m a health conscious woman), we headed out the door to fetch our baby daughter who will be married and move off a month from Wednesday. I was filled with inexpressible joy, feeling like the most blessed woman in the world. It was a gorgeous, cool and DRY Sunday morning in Houston, Texas, my husband was going to church, and, frankly, I was having a terrific hair day.

When we drove up, Melissa was standing in the parking lot, smiling from ear to ear, with a blouse and jumper on, tights, and black shoes. Her eyes sparkled in the morning sunshine like dewy blades of greenest grass. She looked about ten. Till you saw that Greek New Testament clutched in her right hand. The three of us headed in no time over to BridgePoint Bible Church and actually got to park up close in the “Visitors” section. Were we ever elated! The church was beautiful – modern architecture – and looked almost brand new. People were smiling, chattering, and either making their way into the sanctuary or out of the sanctuary, depending on whether they were in the first service or second. I was delighted to see everything from children (who departed at the end of worship for their own service) to senior adults in the service we were attending.

The worship service seemed to be a blend of contemporary and traditional. It began with a modern version of “Victory in Jesus” which made it a sure pleaser to both kinds of worshippers. The familiarity exuded a deep, almost palpable sense of happiness in my soul. I took a deep breath of the Spirit and sensed Him invite me to make myself at home there this morning. The congregation was so dear. Similar to mine in a lot of ways. Very warm and very worshipful but not overtly demonstrative. (Myself, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool hand-lifter and I certainly feel some freedom of expression at my church and felt that freedom this morning at theirs BUT I also believe in not being a distraction if that’s not necessarily the norm around you. I can dance my heart out before the Lord in my den or on the back porch all I want. I’ve learned along the way that we don’t have to save all of our worship for Sunday morning.)

Then I saw the sweetest moment between a senior adult couple sitting two rows in front of us. It almost put me over the edge. The woman – so gorgeous and so radiant in the Spirit – was familiar to me from Bible study years ago. I’m supposing her husband had battled health problems because he appeared very physically weak, though clearly joyful. Someone told Melissa that they’d been married for sixty years. He sat during praise and worship as she stood beside him, often lifting her delicate right hand before the Lord Jesus from an obvious overflow of love. At one point as the worship leader led us in the stone-melting song “Amazing Love,” the praise was so moving that the man, bent with age and confined to the chair by weakness, lifted both his hands. Just seconds later, his beautiful wife, standing closely to his right, slipped her left hand under his elbow to support what was very likely the sweetest, purest act of worship I may have ever seen. I could not keep from crying.

By this time, the entire congregation was ready for the Word and that is precisely what we got. The senior pastor, Tom Douthit, opened up 1 Corinthians 5 with us and taught us with love, compassion, and well-prepared-for precision, “How To Handle a Scandal.” Utterly fantastic. During the sermon is when Melissa and I almost forgot we were visitors. She and I kinda “do church” like our African American brothers and sisters do at my beloved Franklin Avenue Baptist in New Orleans. When someone’s preachin’ it up, we like to “talk back.” The good kind. Like “OK, now. That’s good. Yep. That’s good. That’s it now. Uh-HUH. Oh, yeah.” I’d go so far as to throw my shoe if I’d be sure someone would give it back. After all, I love my shoes. I nearly had myself worked into a Word-frenzy by the closing prayer. Keith was very quiet for a change. I couldn’t tell how he was taking all of it. Didn’t even hold my hand like he usually does. (And, oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you earlier that he usually not only talks loud during the church service. He also feels compelled to PDA. Light obviously. It somehow brings out the affectionate side of him and he likes to hug me a lot. Go figure.) At the very end of the service, he simply leaned over to me, took my pen out of my hand, and wrote on my program, A+. Yes, indeed.

It was a wonderful morning followed by a wonderful lunch, a nap, time with a novel on the porch, then a sweet – if lop-sided – conversation with you. My beloved Siestas. On the Lord’s Day. I want to close with words to a hymn we also sang this morning in the service. A song I had not sung in corporate worship in a while and the lyrics were so tender and dear to my heart that I fought back the tears the whole time. My memory swung back like a pendulum to my childhood as I could picture my family of eight sprawled down the pew. My grandmother was down to my left, just like usual, and in my memory, I could hear her singing, voice quavering with a mixture of emotion and age. We’d sung “How Firm a Foundation” often in that red-brick church nestled in the Ouachita Hills of Arkansas. As I sung them this side of an adult lifetime of God’s faithfulness, I was nearly overcome with emotion. That buck-tooth little girl with the battered and bruised heart – already long-since abused and deeply confused – had no idea how the words of that hymn would spring to life for her. I share them with you now, not because of what they mean to me but what they may mean to you. Today. Right now. Amid whatever you’re going through. Read every line. Ponder the truth of it. The hope of it. The promise of it. If you know the tune, sing it. Say it, if you don’t. Cry it, if you must.

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said—
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

“Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.

“When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
For I will be with thee thy trouble to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

The last stanza nearly put me over the edge:
“The soul that on Jesus doth lean for repose,
I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”

(John Keith, 1787; Public Domain)

Just in from Payless. I have no idea where I will walk with God in 2008, but my feet are liable to look good.