Thank you, David Lowe, for this excellent recap! And Happy Monday to you all! Let us hear from you if you were in Biloxi this weekend. I have a feeling it was a sweet weekend!

Living Proof Live | Biloxi from LifeWay Women on Vimeo.

Hey ladies! My word how has it been a week since we’ve said hello here? I’ve sat down to write a post for you every day and then I get interrupted to never return. It’s just been one of those weeks! Please forgive us! Two important things that might be of interest to you are: 1) Beth is on her way to Biloxi as we speak. It’s been raining cats and dogs here today and we’ve had quite the summer thunderstorms, so would you join us in praying her there safely and quickly? 2) We have officially given all of our tickets away. Praise God! Girls, I hope you are prepared to get yourself a WORD this weekend because that is exactly what is coming your way. May the Spirit fall on each of you! We’re praying for you and can’t wait to hear all about it!

Happy Friday, ladies!

A week from today the Biloxi Living Proof Live will kick off! I’m curious to know how many of you are already planning on attending? Last I heard, this is the teams first event in Biloxi, so they’re excited. Fresh ground to plow and hopefully, some fresh faces to serve.

As you know by now, we’ve changed up our ticket giveaway, which is why I’m posting it on a Friday as opposed to a Monday or even the day before an event. Our hope is that the earlier the better! We realize we’re asking you to invite friends and family to the events whether or not you are able to attend yourself, which takes a little bit of planning, hence the Friday post, but still only a week out from the event!

To reiterate our new vision, our desire and ongoing emphasis this year is toward those who may not know Christ at all, or maybe have never been discipled in His Word.  Young, old, friend, or family, we welcome them.  If while inviting them to attend, you yourself also need a ticket, then we by all means want to help you go.

With that said, we have some Biloxi tickets that are just waiting to be claimed. And they will be here until the last one is accounted for.  If you aren’t near Biloxi, keep in mind upcoming LPL’s near you: 2014 Schedule. Just call and ask for Kimberly here at the ministry, and she will get you set up: 1-888-700-1999

We love you here at LPM.

Have a wonderful weekend!

I’ve noticed this week as I’ve published some of your comments that you’ve given a little shout-out Happy Birthday to Beth! If you’ve done this, you must have super powers because you’re correct.

This past Monday we shut down the ministry for a few hours to celebrate our beloved boss and friend. LPM birthdays are a blast in general, but we tend to go all out for her because, well, we love her, and if it wasn’t for her and Jesus, this ministry wouldn’t even exist. Grin.

I thought it would be fun to share a little birthday recap for you, our dear, faithful Siestas.

We started the day out at a little art studio called Painting With a Twist. Basically you decide on one portrait from hundreds of paintings for your particular class, and then for two hours an instructor walks you through the process of painting that portrait on a canvas yourself. I’m sure many of you have heard of this, and probably even have places like this near you.

Here is the birthday girl and a handful of The Village headed to Painting With a Twist.

It’s a kick because from the first stroke of paint, everyone’s personality comes out. For instance, I myself am a perfectionist but don’t consider myself an artist, so I immediately felt anxious. Can you say “stress”?. Others of us are carefree and calm and don’t say a peep the whole time, but have near perfect paintings. Then you have those that scratch the entire process and create their own work of art, in which I thought was brilliant and was wishing I’d done myself. At one point we heard our beloved teacher exclaim that one of the stars on her flag resembled a flying squirrel, while another one of us ran out of room while writing (with a paint brush, mind you) “America the Beautiful” which turned out to be “America the Beauti”. These are the things that stick with us.

Honestly, we had a complete blast and laughed our heads off. I promptly gave mine to my mom as a gift. Of course she told me how lovely mine was and that she loved it, but she’s required to say things like that because she’s my mom.

Here are a few pictures from our time at Painting with a Twist.

(Side note: I much prefer photographing to painting.)

(Also, I did really great taking pictures at first, and then I was too far into the process to even pick up my phone. It was intense.)

It was only appropriate that after each layer of painting, we had to blow dry our canvases. Beth wanted to know if anyone brought her root lifter.

Unfortunately, this was the only picture I got before the “final product”. Imagine stars, and flags, and words, oh my! Also, please note ALL THE BLUE. It was really supposed to be in the top left hand corner.

Victory! Here we are with our final paintings. Notice not one painting is even slightly like the other. So much fun!

After painting we headed back to the office for some Mexican food and cupcakes! Oh, and some birthday gifts, as well. By 3:00 I think each of us preferred to be napping as opposed to sitting at our desks, but that’s the sacrifice of a good celebration, right? It was the best day! We love you, Beth! Happy, happy birthday!

P.S. What’s been one of your favorite birthdays and why? I love hearing unique ways to celebrate!

About a week ago I turned 29. That’s big time, right? Being one year away from 30 and all. Something about turning 30 makes me feel like I will have arrived or something. I was about to say that I think people treat 30-somethings more serious, but maybe 30-somethings start to take themselves more seriously. But, anyway, what do I know, I’m getting ahead of myself.

As my birthday was approaching I started scribbling down things I’ve learned these past 29 years, things silly and serious. While I still have a long way to go and so much to learn, I thought I might share them here.

In no particular order, here’s to 29 things I’ve learned in 29 years:

1) I am slowly learning that I have little to no control over the circumstances that surround me, but it’s the circumstances around me that Jesus uses to shape me the most.

2) Learning how to sauté and roast vegetables changed my life. For the better.

3) Often I’ve found that effective leaders are good listeners; which shows me that to be a good leader, you must be a good listener.

4) Sometimes honor means leaving someone better than you found them. (In an ideal world, this would be true of dating, too.)

5) I think if we all adopted the mentality of “what can I do at my church so that more people can come and hear about Jesus?” instead of “I can’t worship because it’s too loud and someone took my seat.”, we as a church would be a lot happier.

6) People you can be yourself with (the good, the bad, and the ugly) are a pure gift.

7) I’m slowly learning that the schemes of the enemy are crafty, yet so obvious. His main goal is to get our attention off of Jesus Christ. He likes it when our minds wander.

8) A late-night bowl of cereal is always a good idea.

9) Friends re-runs never, ever get old.

10) You and I are an original. Scripture says so, “Each of us is an original.” Gal. 5:26

11) Laughing until you cry is the best thing ever, ever, ever. It is reviving.

12) If we didn’t have any handicaps, no limitations, we would never realize our deep need for Christ in our lives.

13) Asking the right questions makes all the difference in the world.

14) If you do not love, you are nothing.

15) There will never come a time in your life when you won’t need the church, and by that I mean the Body of Believers that makes up the church.

16) Part of having good, solid friendships is learning to be a good friend. It takes two to tango.

17) It’s okay to admit that you’re wrong. Or hurt. Or not okay. That’s why you’ll never outgrow the Body of Christ. They carry you when you’ve been through the wringer.

18) Everybody longs to be truly known. But everybody wants to really know somebody, also. It’s how we were created. For intimacy.

19) There’s a cost to being known, it’s called vulnerability. And vulnerability involves risk. But it’s worth it.

20) There is nothing wrong with purchasing Disney movies (ahem, Frozen) even if you have no children to blame it on.

21) It is unfathomable to me that not only does God not make mention of our sin if we are in Christ, but He doesn’t even recall it. We are spotless in his eyes. (Yet ironically we are so good at recalling others sin and holding it against them. Ouch.)

22) Change takes time.

23) What marks a good friendship is that you talk about the trivial things and the deep things.

24) Babies are the cutest and most snuggly after bath time. Swoon.

25) It blows my mind that no two sunrises or sunsets are ever the same. Our God is so creative.

26) We can’t pretend to have it all together and then expect people to relate to us. People relate to the real us, the flawed us, not the fake us. Believers and non-believers alike.

27) I find it so perplexing that relationships of all kinds are the one thing we all desire in life, but they are the one thing that can do the most damage. Help us, Jesus.

28) Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve observed lately that while women write and sing songs about being brave, men write and star in movies about being brave. Hmmmm.

29) Aiming to invest in people over impressing people is the way to live.

To those that have invested and imparted these things in me, you’re the best. Thank you!

Good Monday morning, ladies! I have a feeling most of you are starting out your first week of summer. Well, those of you with kiddos at home. I can imagine y’all spending days poolside, at splash parks, in the movie theater, hiking, crafting and all manner of things you mamas are creative enough to come up with to fill the long, sometimes exciting and sometimes not-so-exciting days.

Beth starts Camp Bibby today with her two loves, Jackson and Annabeth, so I doubt we’ll hear much from her as she has her hands FULL this entire week. She has the week off, so we won’t see much of her, either. Feel free to send up a prayer on her behalf for an extra dose of energy this week, especially after serving at an LPL this past weekend! She’s the best!

I purposefully left the blog a little quiet last week so most of you could get caught up on our Siesta Summer Bible study kick-off. Y’all, we have over 4,000 of you participating with us this summer! And those are just the ones that actually “registered” on the blog. You kept me on my toes last week!

Hopefully this week we’ll have just as much fun here as Jackson and Annabeth are having at Camp Bibby. I’ll do my best to serve y’all and keep you entertained. Grin.

In the meantime, here is this weekend’s recap from Stockton, California. Rich did a fantastic job, as usual. Be blessed, my friends!

Living Proof Live | Stockton from LifeWay Women on Vimeo.

Good Monday morning, Ladies!

It is a big week here at LPM! As if our kick-off tomorrow of the Siesta Summer Bible Study isn’t enough, we are also so very excited about this weekend’s Living Proof Live in Stockton, CA!   Beth is hard at her studies, but we want to remind you about our new ticket giveaway initiative. We are still experimenting how best to do our giveaways, so we thank you for your patience during this transition.  Our desire and ongoing emphasis this year is toward those who may not know Christ at all, or maybe have never been discipled in His Word.  Young, old, friend, or family, we welcome them.  If while inviting them to attend, you yourself also need a ticket, then we by all means want to help you go.

Personal invitations are huge! Do not be discouraged if the friend or family member you asked declines your invite. No discouragement! Keep looking for open doors and open hearts and keep pressing on in prayer. As Believer’s, pointing others to Jesus is our job, and our joy; to tell those who don’t know about Jesus, or simply get them somewhere they will undoubtedly hear about Him. We are praying and believing for salvations this year!

With five days until the event, we still have some tickets for Stockton we would love to give away. And we will do so until the last one is accounted for.  If you aren’t near Stockton, keep in mind upcoming LPL’s near you: 2014 Schedule   Just call and ask for Kimberly here at the ministry, and she will get you set up: 1-888-700-1999

If you need a refresher on our new emphasis this year, or for some reason you missed it, just click here.

We love y’all so much!

Yesterday I drove up the bumpy dirt road from my house to the highway singing my heart out to God, the wheels of my thoughts still turning from the time I’d had with Him earlier that morning. My soul felt alive. My eyes, wide awake. I pulled out onto the main road and wound my way to work, passing all the familiar scenes. Farms and pastures gave way to schools and businesses and, with every mile, I grew more preoccupied with one glorious wonder: God’s willingness to do that thing that He does again and again. Moved that, after umpteen million ups and downs, God is still willing to move me.

I love that God is a God of again. I’ll get dry and think the bloom is behind me and that the best I’ll be able to do is maintain and try not to lose what I have left. Then I’ll be scared it’s all gone and never coming back.

And here He’ll come again. The Scriptures will jump back to life for me like breathing bones. The Cross will suddenly feel to me like it all happened yesterday and like I was right there in the gore and grandeur and grace of it all. I’ll feel alive with belovedness and anxious to love. Awake with forgivenness and anxious to forgive. I’ll feel called and sent and ready to go. The reverberating power of the empty tomb will fill my soul again and I’ll try my hardest to roll that stone back over the entrance and trap Him in. Then, like Mary Magdalene, I’ll throw my arms around His neck and try to hold onto Him right there where He appears most obvious to me. I want Jesus to stay put. I want it in the worst way. But then…

The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. John 3:8

 Try as you may, you can’t catch the Holy Spirit like a firefly and keep Him in a jar.

Of course Jesus never leaves us. We are sealed.

He abides. He remains.

His presence is a fact, not a feeling. But those moments when He’s willing to make Himself known are without equal, I think, in the human experience. The next day comes and its demands and distractions with it. I read and not much happens. I pray and not much moves.

But sooner than later, His fullness comes again. His shadow will pass nearby through some kindness, some revelation, some word on that sacred page – and maybe not even to me but to someone I love – and my heart will light up again. Or tears will well in my eyes. Not just tears of sentiment, though they are a gift and have their place, but eyes pooled with the Spirit. Enlightened with fresh hope.

Only God can keep doing that again. He alone can quicken our souls like that. He is the initiator. He who brought it, brings it back. He who did it, does it again.

What patience.

What love.

What resistance to boredom.

What willingness to risk that faithfulness could be misinterpreted to its receivers as routine.

Abide with me just a moment in the wonder of this: God is willing to awaken our sleepy, sluggish, selfish, sinful souls over and over again.

I’m not new to so much of this. I was in the church nursery by a few weeks old. I’ve heard ten thousand sermons and read nearly as many books. I’ve heard the sound of my own teaching until I thought that if I heard another word from this mouth, I’d have to punch myself and I’ve wondered how God couldn’t be sick of me, too. This has been my life between and within the train wrecks. I’m not new to Jesus. I’m not full of surprises to Him. I’m not new on the docket. But in His unfathomable and tender mercy, He keeps making Himself new to me.

That’s what takes my breath away today.

And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. Judges 13:9

And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 1 Samuel 3:8

And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord. 1 Samuel 3:21

And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 1 Kings 17:22

And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 1 Kings 19:7

He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. 2 Chronicles 33:13

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” John 10:7

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” John 20:21

Again.

Blessed, beautiful, merciful, divine again.

So I write today for someone with a heart for Jesus who wonders how she’s going to keep it. And, if she can’t, how she can get it back again. Someone whose life, marriage, health, home, sanity, job or ministry depends on it. You’re the one I want to talk to today. I’ve been you. I’m still you.

He who chose you before creation, authored your faith, and birthed new life in you through His Spirit will see to your reawakening again and again. Not in your timing but in His. Not with your methods but with His. He alone ignites, sustains, and reignites holy fire. The fire is in His palm. It is not of your making. It is not yours to manufacture.

That doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do when all is cold and ashes.

When you’re parched, tell Him you are. When your eyes are dim to wonder, tell Him you cannot see. When you’re getting bored, have the courage to say it. When you think you’ve heard it all, tell Him your heart is lying to you, for in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. When you get sick of yourself, plead to see in the mirror what He sees in you. When you get sick of somebody else, hold your frozen heart straight up to the heat of His holiness.

When nothing moves you, move to the floor. Tell Him you’ve got to have Him teeming with life in your bones. Beckon Him and welcome Him over and over to pour His Spirit on you. And He’ll do it again. In His own time and His own way but, make no mistake. He will do it again. Even when we’re the ones who ran off the fullness of His Spirit.

But the hair of [Samson’s] head began to grow again after it had been shaved. Judges 16:22

Praise God.

Even when your body lays lifeless on your deathbed, He will do it again. He will stand you on your feet in His presence.

God cannot seem to resist an opportunity to resurrect.

You don’t have to accept the waning of wonder as the natural evolution of a long-term relationship. Accept it as a visitor but refuse it as a resident. And, when it visits, don’t waste all your energy ranting and writhing and despising it. The floor in the banquet hall of revival is always made of sand. This has been one of the hardest lessons for me to learn. A garden blooming is not a miracle. A desert blooming, now that’s the miracle.

It takes a certain amount of lifelessness to know what it means to be revived.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. Psalm 43:5

This morning I got an email from a sweet lady asking where in the world she should start? Start what, you might wonder? Where to start as a new believer. Basically, HOW IN THE WORLD DOES ONE DO THIS THING?

At first I wanted to forward the email on because I didn’t feel the least bit qualified to answer such a question, especially when she mentioned that “though she wasn’t saying reading the book of John as the standard answer is a bad answer”, she just wanted more.

To be more specific, she wondered, “If I don’t want to look like a complete fool as it relates to Biblical knowledge, history, early church, and generally how the Bible was compiled, where do I begin?”

I so appreciated the email because I feel like there are so many out there asking that very same question, hence the reason for this post. Maybe they’ve even read the book of John, but are having trouble interpreting it and they just need some clarity. I get that, I really do.

So, in all my naïve wisdom, as a 28-year-old still-learning-what-life-is-all-about, I am here to offer you what I personally have done, and what I know scripture points to.

1) PRAY.
I know. That’s not what you were looking for. But it’s the gospel truth. Tell the Lord EXACTLY what you are thinking and feeling, He already knows anyway. If you read a portion of scripture and you are more confused than when you dove in, tell Him. Be honest. If you can’t be honest with the God of the Universe, I don’t know who you can be honest with. And of all people, He can handle it. And He cares. So, pray.

One very specific thing you can pray if you’re just starting out as a new believer (or a seasoned believer) and treading uncharted territory is, Lord, open my mind to understand your scriptures! It is straight out of Luke, “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures…” Luke 24:45. In fact, I have that plastered on a sticky note right in front of my computer at work so I remember to pray that. Because news flash, a lot of times I don’t always understand! He hears you! The last thing you should do is let your lack of understanding keep you from reading the scriptures. Find a translation you like that works for you. It’s okay if everyone around is you is into the English Standard Version (ESV) and you’re drawn to the New Living Translation (NLT). Don’t let comparison discourage you! Read The Message translation if you like it. There is no formula! I have personally found that for me one of the enemy’s biggest schemes is to get my mind wandering away from all or any thing Jesus. The more I allow my mind to wander and daydream, the worse off I am. The more I am in the scriptures (and it is a FIGHT at times) the more sane I feel.

2) CHURCH.
Yes, this millennial is telling you to get yourself in a church. It’s a big deal! Whether you believe in it or not, you need those people. You need the church. You need the older. The wiser. The younger. The married. The single. The children. The people. As hard as you try, you can’t (and won’t for long) survive without them. These are the people that will welcome you, encourage you, love you, pray for you, laugh with you, cry with you, teach you and grow with you. You have a place (and a gifting – 1 Corinthians 12:27) in the body of Christ, don’t let anyone tell you different. Plug yourself into a church where Jesus is the focus. That may seem obvious, but it’s vital.

Consider Hebrews 10:24-25 to help you understand why the church is of utmost importance, I really like it in the Amplified version.

“And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities, Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching.”

Side note: Besides learning the discipline of prayer, this may cause you to be the most brave, but do it! You will find all manner of excuses not to go, but ignore them. Create the time go and commit! Commit until you know that if you missed, someone would notice. I know for some this may mean going alone, but if you never try it, you might not experience the blessing. Be brave, friend!

3) BIBLE STUDY.
I have found that the easiest way to meet people in church is to either serve or attend a small group or Bible study of some sort. Once you find a church, this will be a little easier, as most churches offer multiple Bible studies. If you’re not comfortable serving right away, no shame! You may not even know where you’re needed or what you’d be interested in doing. So, start by attending a weekly study either on the campus of your church or in someone’s home. And by all means, if this is foreign to you and you have no idea how to go about doing this, for heaven’s sake, ask somebody! Find someone standing behind an information table, ask the person sitting next to you, just ask. People are there to help, and they want to help! Simply put, the easiest way to get acquainted with the Word is to study it, and studying it with other people around you is even better, especially if you’re just beginning. Plus, this increases the level of accountability, and we all need someone to assist us in this. Even better: Ask if your church hosts any type of Bible class. You never know what the church might offer.

Can I just be honest? This is all hard. Life get’s busy, distractions pop up, you get weary. Maybe results are slim, but in the end, it will be worth it. You’ll NEVER waste a minute pursuing Christ. So to those of you who are brand new to this Jesus thing, we ARE SO GLAD you landed here! Persevere, walk it out, get honest, and just have fun. And for the record, and if you hear one thing, hear this, if anyone makes you feel like a fool for not knowing the “basics” of studying the Bible, or having to look in the table of contents to find a certain book of the Bible (which, hello, I have done just recently), then you can find a new friend. NO ONE should make you feel like that! We ALL started there. No one came out of the womb a know-it-all. You are never a fool for asking questions and being honest. Never.

If you’re looking for specific books that are more in-depth, and study books that aren’t necessarily Bible studies, a few years ago Beth compiled a list for our blog readers. You can find that here! It has some really great resources for anyone, but especially if you desire to be a student of the Word.

And if this is old news to some of you, then encourage somebody with it who has the same questions. It’s all about discipleship!

I’ve heard it said a million times by a pastor I respect greatly, you don’t just stumble into godliness, it takes work! As with most things, there is so much more you can do, but this is a start! There is hope, and godliness is possible.

We love y’all so much.

Happy Monday, friends! Here is the video recap for Spokane. We cannot wait to hear all about your weekend! Much love today!

Living Proof Live | Spokane from LifeWay Women on Vimeo.