Hey, You Darling Things!
I’ve had the best week because Melissa’s been in town since Monday. We’ve been together with the Joneses a ton of times and having everybody together brings me so much joy. I’ve told you before that my girls make me laugh like nobody else on earth. We just sat at FreshBerry and laughed until we nearly threw up our FreshBerry tart. (Are you guys into that yet? And, yes, I already know it’s a knock-off of Pink Berry but, since we don’t have Pink Berry in Houston, uh, we’re just going to knock it off. You just can’t be cooler than you are.)
These were our choices today. Amanda got Fruity Pebbles on hers which was a throw back to her childhood and reminded me of her little sister who tends to have the taste buds of a first grader. She also got blueberries and strawberries so that, true to form, her fruit could stay in the same color palette. Melissa is our riskier one with a menu but it doesn’t always pay off. (For instance, she’ll try the club sandwich at a Chinese restaurant or pasta and marinara at some place like Chili’s.) This time she tried the Key Lime Chiffon with graham crackers because the guy at the counter said it tasted just like the pie and, even though it was good, it was not as good as my traditional fare and she mostly assisted me in scraping the bottom of my cup. (I think I also licked it.) I got three fruits (mango, kiwi, and strawberries) but I also got granola which is like 70 cents extra (the fourth topping is extra) but there’s a reason why my name is still Moore and theirs is not. I was addicted by my second trip to FreshBerry and have sworn there is some kind of drug in it that drives you back. Of course, that’s a lie, lest I start a rumor.
Since many of you have commented along the way how close we seem (not me and FreshBerry but me and my girls although FreshBerry and I are moving forward in our relationship), I just want you to know, we don’t laugh together and get such a big kick out of each other because we don’t have problems. We each have a full plate of them. We just laugh because we might as well. Life’s just funnier that way. We also get a lot of satisfaction out of making fun of each other. If we cross the line, though, we apologize profusely and feel like dogs and tell the other one to say something mean to us, too. If they won’t, we’ll say something mature like, “Well, hit me then!”
Melissa’s been in town this week for us to start a very special project together. I would be so blessed and thankful for you to stop a split second and pray for us. We have just begun research for the next in-depth Bible study, God willing, and it will totally preoccupy us for at least the next full year. (She actually started on it months ago but I’ve just turned my attentions to it in the last seven days.) This will be a seven week, eight session study on the life and Book of James.
This time, instead of contributing through research alone (which she does masterfully and like no one else I know), I’ve asked Melissa to write brief segments from her own perspective and research each week throughout the workbook. I will write the main body of the lessons like usual and, unless the plan changes, she will have a box in each lesson where she brings her own voice. I will do the lecture sessions as usual, too, but she will also probably be in some of the cutaways or what we call “outros.” All of this is what we believe we’re sensing from God right now but it will no doubt develop as we go. We’re super excited and yes, nervous as always, but we feel like we’ve got a window of opportunity for a little co-writing and we’re going to jump through it. Amanda has already been right in there with us helping us shape the concept but, as you know, her hands are full with small children right now and this is not her season for this kind of titanic undertaking at work. She is my favorite editor and I so hope she’ll be able to look over some of the lessons along the way as her schedule permits. In one way or another, our lives are always intertwined. Amanda may not co-write but goodness knows she has provided a preschooler and toddler who, in turn, provide no few illustrations.
Anyway, thank you for caring about what’s brewing around here at Living Proof. I am never more stressed or overworked than when I’m in the middle of writing an in-depth Bible study but I am also never more fulfilled. It is the work I love best because it immerses my poor brain in the wealth of Scripture day after day after day. Hour after hour after hour. Some people’s brains simply need washing. God is gracious beyond comprehension to allow somebody with my kind of past to serve people like you.
Which reminds me, yesterday Hawk and I taped my SSBS greeting for you. (It will be your post on Tuesday as we launch our third gathering.) I thought you might get a kick out of how professional we are around here. This is our camera set up.
No one can say we don’t keep up with all the latest technological advancements here at Living Proof. No sir. (In case you can’t see that tiny camera at the top of the tripod, that statement’s a bit of a joke.) We tape in one of the offices right on the second floor where a bunch of the staff works and Hawk and I love to shout, “Quiet on the set!” (By the way, they’re usually not.)
I hope you guys have a great weekend. Work a whole lot of Jesus into it and maybe a little frozen yogurt…and find somebody in your neck of the woods to laugh with. It does a body good.
I love you. That’s the honest truth. You are the FreshBerry Tart of the Blog World. I just keep coming back.
