Good Tuesday morning, Dear Siestas!

I pray your week is off to a great start! Mine started with a powerful sermon by my pastor, Gregg Matte, and an equally fabulous worship service on Sunday next to some of the people I love most in the world. Like numbers of you, I’ve been in the same congregation for many years and have deep investments in relationships there. Within six or seven rows of where we usually sit, I have dear friends from kindergarten to their seventies (yes, in our contemporary service). I’ve known many of the adolescents all their lives and have watched some of the young couples grow up, fall in love and get married. In fact, I stood with a few of them. My church is a wealth to me. I had the privilege of praying with one of my close 8 year-old friends at the altar on Sunday whose granddaddy is in the hospital and has her scared half to death. There’s just no way I can tell you what those moments mean to me.

I’m an early riser by habit but I was dead to the world Sunday morning and way overslept the clock. I got up rubbing my eyes and said to Keith, “Blast it, I’m up too late to get ready for church.” He very uncharacteristically said, “You can make it!” and I got ready in a record 45 minutes. (Keith does not have a churchy background and is not very churchy by routine. He is often very amused if I play hooky then act guilty about it all day. He’ll think of things to bait me then laugh his head off when I fall for them.) I told him never to expect me to get ready that quickly again but I was so glad we went. It was a truly great service.

My man is one of the most unique people I’ve ever known. He’ll say absolutely ANYTHING which means he’s been known to hurt my feelings on (frequent) occasion…but then he sends me a text while I’m out of town with just one sentence: Come home to me. And I do. I love him so much. He also does really unique things. When I got home Saturday night, I saw this pile on the kitchen counter:

He saw me staring and said, “Oh, I cut the fringe off that fancy pillow on the couch.”

I’m sitting here speechless just as I was that night. But I am bent over laughing. That’s my man. He thinks an ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure.

OK, my other random thing is that I have a new travel case for my Bible and computer. I AM SO HAPPY! Perhaps you are not a traveler and do not understand the great importance of your carry on. It is your best friend on the road. It’s under pressure to meet all manner of requirement like fitting in the overhead and going under the seat and rolling down an Express Jet aisle. It also has to be cooperative in the security line when you’re trying to pull your laptop in and out and put it on the conveyor belt. These are not small matters. It also has to fit the large box of Hot Tamales one of the guys from the production team gives me as a reward at the end of most conferences.

To tell you how challenging it is to find exactly the right bag, I have carried the same one for some 12 – shoot fire, maybe 14 – years. The handle is almost impossible to get up and down any more and it’s beat nearly to oblivion. I love it so much though. It’s been good to me. Loyal. I even feel a little guilty about the rest of this story.

Sabrina, my coworker, has tried so hard to get me a new one through the years but I always have a reason for rejecting this one or that one. About a month ago, Hawk and I were at the airport on the way to a conference when we spied a woman with the cutest powder blue bag I’d ever seen. It had never hit me that my bag could be useful AND darling. What was I thinking??? Anyway, we attacked her, got the information on the brand, and ORDERED THAT BABY. Rich and Ron from the LPL team have helped me haul that one black carry-on all over the United States for years. They were so shocked to see the new one, they were too frozen to even lift it in the car. “Whose is this??”

It’s mine! I just love it! And so far, through two trips, it’s passing all my flying tests. It’s a bit too wide for my taste but its cuteness is giving it the advantage at this point and is making it worth the trouble to turn side-ways down the aisle. I may get annoyed with that after a while. We’ll see how it goes.

My small group and I are loving our Ruth study so far! Like some of you, we are meeting each week with one another and every other week with the Siestas at large. The first week of homework is fantastic. Don’t you love it? If you’re doing a different study this summer, tell us what it is!

I cannot say enough about our St Louis group. They were absolutely incredible. God was so gracious to grant us a strong sense of His Presence. He is all we have to offer. All we have of value. So many Siestas were there! We tried hard to get the Siestas together at the end of it for a clandestine group picture but most of them didn’t see the slide we’d been slipping up on the screen during break times. I didn’t get to meet Sister Lynn and I was so ticked! I did, however, see her beautiful face out there. I also got to meet five of our other regulars who were so darling that I could hardly stand it.

Well, Siestas, I better get off of here and down stairs at LPM for lunch. We’re eating in today. You are on my mind every day. Just wanted to say hello!

My Dear Siestas, I can’t take long with this post because I’m pretty swamped with work and, besides, it’s almost time to go home for the day to my man. I wish I had a unique way to convey what I feel but by the time I think of just the right words, the emotion will probably pass. I’ll just take a messy stab at it before my heart cools off.

At the moment I’m writing this note to you, we’re almost at 1000 comments on the Siesta Summer Bible Study launch. A number of the comments are replies and MANY are glorious solo sign-ins but, even accounting for all of those, we already have several thousand women – in groups or as individuals – doing Bible study together… and barely 24 hours into our journey. Chances are, many others will join us over the next week or two.

You are literally from every corner of the country and from several other parts of the world. You are students, SAHMs, singles, marrieds, and widows. Many have been through painful divorces. Some of you are doctors. Several in med school. Many are teachers. Others of you are missionaries. For those of you who have pictures with your blogger names, you are as different as night and day but as darling as every other. Truly (and I’m not sure how to explain it), I never meet a woman I don’t think is darling. I love all the ages. All the shapes and sizes. Skinny behinds. Wide behinds. Long hair. Short spiked hair. I reckon it’s just because God suited me for women’s ministry.

Anyway, I sat in my bed in my pajamas this morning and checked the blog after finishing my quiet time. We’d had 297 comments come in over night. As I checked each one and read your sincerity and fervor and saw such humility in your self-professed lackings and needs, I shook my head and said out loud to our God, “You must love them so much.” As I watched you reply to one another and invite one another to join in, as I saw you reach out to all our solo girls to make sure they felt completely plugged in, share email addresses with one another and even ask to meet up in person, I nearly started crying. Even now I am choking back the tears.

In a strange sort of way I can’t quite explain, I had a Psalm 8 moment. “Lord, who am I and who are we that You would allow us to join together this wonderfully weird way and seek You? AND FIND YOU, for crying out loud????” The Internet has brought such harm and havoc to individuals and homes but this day I sit in awe of the beauty of several thousand women with hearts knit together in Scripture from all over creation with one lofty aim: to seek Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World. Our Kinsman Redeemer. Our Life and Breath.

We are every denomination. We are all sorts of colors. We come from every possible background. And here’s the part that makes me want to lay on the floor and bawl. (Honestly, I’m about to do the ugly cry.) We have been drawn into all these circles of relationships not based on looks, talents, finances, social status or even denomination. We have been drawn by God through our attraction to one another’s hearts conveyed in simple terms and short lines in blog comments, of all things. Something that didn’t even exist 10 years ago. It first hit me when many of us met for our Siesta Scripture Memory Team Celebration in January. I heard Siestas squeal when they met each other for the first time face-to-face and saw them hug like there was no tomorrow. I watched them huddle  for endless pictures and thought to myself as I savored all the differences in age and type, “Would we have been friends at all if we were out in the world where social decorum strictly dictates? Would we have given each other this chance if we’d known each other’s faces, jobs, and worlds before we knew each other’s hearts?” Maybe. But I don’t think so. I think we are an odd composite study in sociology. What would happen if people could only see each other’s hearts first? Who, then, would become friends?? Just think of all the priceless relationships we miss because we look for those who remind us of us.

It’s been different here in this strange little web town we call Siestaville. And if we’d just lean in a little toward the heart of God and close our eyes for just a moment, I think we’d feel His pleasure. No, it’s not perfect around here because we’re so imperfect. Lord have mercy, I’m so imperfect. Sometimes we misunderstand each other or hurt each other’s feelings but those times are the exceptions. Overwhelmingly, this is as sweet a congregation of women as I believe you could find on Planet Earth.

We are a snapshot of the true church. The girly half, anyway. All different kinds of people attracted strictly by spirit. One Body of believers. One perfect Savior. I do not know why on earth this terrible former pit-dweller has gotten to serve this beautiful community of women – let alone be called it’s mama! – but today I am moved beyond words.

And crying.

Good Monday Morning, My Dearest Siestas!

I hope you had a great and God-filled weekend. I cannot express to you how much I loved watching your interaction with one another in response to Friday’s post. It was one of the most rewarding moments of my, how shall I say?, blog life. I am so honored that God would allow AJ, Melissa and me to be a part of this community of sisters. May He find much joy in what takes place here.

I had a very busy weekend doing one of my favorite things. Jackson and Annabeth stayed with my man and me from Friday morning till Sunday noon while CJ and AJ had an anniversary weekend away. We played, sang, danced, watched movies, read books, and ate snacks for meals for the better part of three days. Wedged in there tightly, we got a little sleep. The kids are super active but so good. AJ and CJ are terrific parents. Both children are affectionate and appreciative and surprisingly polite for their young ages. That’s saying a lot these days. When I went to bed last night, I replayed our sweetest or most memorable moments. I could hardly go to sleep for thinking about them. I took a few pictures with my I-phone which means poor in quality but rich in love.

Jackson is just like his mommy in that he loves to swim. I knew Keith would be gone all day Saturday and I’d be on my own with them so I chickened out of taking them to a public pool. Too many people. Jackson has had two summers of swim lessons but I still wanted him in plain sight at all times and where I never had to take my hands off Annabeth. I asked my dear friend and coworker, Sabrina, if I could bring them to her house because she has a really fun pool in her backyard and she was gracious enough to welcome us.

AB has serious Bibby-itis right now but after about an hour she let Sabrina’s daughter, Kelli, hold her in the water and I got to play with Jackson. This is us. He splits my heart in two.

This is all four of us – Jackson, Annabeth, Kelli, and me – before we called it a day. I do not know what I would’ve done without Kelli. She spent every minute out there with us. I’ve known her and her older sister, Hayli, since they were little girls and they are God-nieces to me. I’m blessed to be called “Aunt Beth” by them.

When Sunday morning rolled around, I knew the big question was upon me. Was I woman enough to get both of those kids to church? And ON TIME??? Some of you saw this picture on Twitter. (Yes, I Twitter now because AJ set me up for my birthday – @BethmooreLPM. I’m limiting myself to two tweets or less a day. If I start misbehaving with it or getting addicted to it, I’m firing myself from it.) I can’t resist showing the picture here as well. This was how AB woke up:

Killed me. By the way, she is a clone of her mother right now. When she was an infant, she looked just like Jackson who looks just like CJ but the older she gets, the more she looks like AJ when she was her age. Anyway, despite the hair malfunction, we did make it to church, bathed, dressed, ON TIME and with all our shoes on. BUT, for the first time in my entire memory, I forgot my Bible. Hahahahahahahahaha. I had to use one of the complimentary copies in the pew. I took no small amount of flack. I even gave it to myself with great glee. If you can’t laugh at yourself, then nobody seems funny.

OK, enough of the weekend recap. TOMORROW IS OUR BIG DAY!! SSBS (Siesta Summer Bible Study) III launches with our first Tuesday gathering. I will give you instructions for our roll call tomorrow. You will also have your regular video-greeting plus written instructions for your group discussion in case you have trouble with the video. Bar some kind of technical problem, you will always find it posted early in the AM for those of you who want to meet mid-morning or over lunch. If you can’t rally a small group, you are welcome to go solo but our hope is that you have some Godly fellowship and accountability this summer. As well, you can meet on any day during the week, but our aim is for as many of us as possible to meet on Tuesdays. Within 24 hours of meeting, we are asking a designated person from your group to write a comment to that post with a brief summary of your time together. This is the accountability part. You’ll understand more about it tomorrow.

I just wanted to give you a heads-up that it’s time to begin! You do not need to do anything in preparation for tomorrow’s gatherings in your small groups. No homework is due. You’ll get your assignment for the first two weeks tomorrow.

This is so exciting, Ladies! Let’s get ourselves in some Scriptures!

Your mama loves you.

What are you girls up to this weekend? It’s a big Jackson and Annabeth weekend for my man and me. Amanda and Curtis are celebrating their anniversary away till Sunday so we are officially ON in every way. And mighty happy about it. AB’s already down for a nap and Jackson has been helping Paw Paw clean the boat. This was something Amanda and Melissa loved to do when they were little, too. The difference was, the girls didn’t want to actually go fishing in it but mark my word. Little man does. If I’ve heard, “Paw Paw, when I’m a bigger boy…” once, I’ve heard it a thousand times. He melts my heart. I guess Bibby’s going to have to break down and go fishing when that time comes. I don’t think I can bear to take my eyes off of him in real fishing water. We’ll see. Jesus could come back by then. Keith just asked if he could take Jackson with him to the boat store to pick up some supplies. Would you believe I have never let the boy out of my sight when I’ve had him in all this time?? What a danged control freak. Keith put up with me saying, “But can you promise me you won’t let go of him for one single second?” so I guess I’m going to have to give it up. I have butterflies. What an idiot.

I love how so many of us who have been around Siestaville a good long time really have made some true, flesh and blood sister-friends, especially if we’ve attended some of the events. Georgia Jan is one of mine. Same age. Kids same age. Grandkids same age. Been married forever. (None of those are prerequisites for friends but it just throws us years forward into a relationship.) Both love Jesus. Over our happy heads in women’s ministry. Flawed but trying. Anyway, she’ll have her grandboy Zeke this afternoon and we wish like mad we could have them together. They are exactly the same age and they’d have such a big time.

Do tell! Anybody else made a real friend on here? This would be such a fun time to hear about it. If you haven’t had the time or opportunity, just tell me what you’re up to this weekend. Chat a while, Siestas.

I sure love you guys.

I loved my devotional this morning. It helped that I actually got to sleep in because I have the day off. Worked all weekend. And I do mean WORKED. I love the Deeper Still events but, because they last a half day longer than a regular LPL’s and the sessions are super long, you go home pretty wiped. Hence the day off. (I don’t take Monday’s off because of staff prayer time.) So, I was really rested when I was sitting propped up in my bed having my prayer time this morning. The Scripture hit me so tenderly that I nearly cried. You know the story. It’s about God’s fulfilled promise to Abraham’s wife, Sarah. Read the portion again and intentionally look at it as a woman because that’s sort of what this post is about. Be amazed and thankful that God has a long history of also making and keeping promises to women.

Genesis 21:1-7 (GW)
1 The Lord came to help Sarah and did for her what he had promised.
2 So she became pregnant, and at the exact time God had promised, she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age.
3 Abraham named his newborn son Isaac.
4 When Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded.
5 Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born.
6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.
7 Who would have predicted to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet, I have given him a son in his old age.”

I got stuck on that part that says, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” I sat in a carload of women in front of the hotel in Denver Saturday night. We’d just spent all evening together at a restaurant. You might reason that we’d spent all weekend together but we just kept talking a hundred miles an hour and didn’t want to get out of the car. It’s just a woman thing. Our ages ranged well over twenty years but for that moment, we were BFF. Kelly Minter and I were in the back seat and I looked straight at her and said, “Yep. This is what I love about women. I love being a woman.”

Cheesy. I know.

But I do.

I thought it was so cool that Sarah knew that many would laugh with her. If I were a betting woman, I’d wager that she was talking about other women. I can’t see the men really slapping their leg over it, then clapping, and then throwing up their hands and shouting, “Glory!” like me and my buddies would do. I’d bet they just slapped Abe on the back and said, “Way to go, man.” Most of the time, if God’s really done something cool in my life, I like to tell my girlfriends about it because I know they’ll laugh and clap their hands, too. In fact, I intentionally tell the ones that I know will most appreciate it.

It doesn’t have to be something really huge like Sarah’s miracle either. Women can find all sorts of things to laugh with one another over. Here are a few I’ve experienced just here lately:

Melissa: While we were in Israel, we went out in the parking lot to wave good bye to the first half of our group departing for the States. The rest of us would not be going till the next morning. There was a bit of a delay and they had to sit for a few minutes before taking off so I decided to start entertaining them (outside the bus on the pavement) with cheers, a few little dance moves, and kicking my feet to the side and clicking my heels (yes, in a dress. It is a move I do very well). To my great surprise, Melissa got into it with me and up and did two cartwheels for them. (Not in a dress.) It made me so happy that I laughed and laughed. My little budding scholar! I said to her while I bent over laughing, “You have what it takes for women’s ministry, Honey!”

Amanda: Melissa and I always say that AJ is the funniest one of the three of us. She’s just not the extrovert so it’s not as obvious. Here lately she hopped in the car with me on our way somewhere and I said, “What’s that in your hand?” She said, “My Weight Watchers charm. I got it for reaching my goal. I’m going to put it on Annabeth’s charm bracelet so she knows what I had to do to get over her.” I clapped and laughed, not only over AB’s well deserved charm but over AJ’s darling college-looking post-partum figure. A met goal is worth laughing and celebrating together.

Kelly Minter: You know what a big fan I am of Kelly’s. I love her. I love watching these young women teachers come and take their places. I cannot describe my joy or my peculiar feelings of elation over it. I sat on the front row at Deeper Still next to my beloved Priscilla when Kelly took the stage to share a devotional early Saturday morning. As she took that platform, she would speak to more people (by several thousand) than she’d ever addressed before…and she killed it. (I hope you realize that’s a good thing.) Honestly, I pumped my fist in the air and yelled, “Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!” Hawk looked around and said, “Did anybody hear her do that but me?” I couldn’t help myself.

A person I can’t name yet: A very dear loved one of mine is expecting her first baby and I am beside myself. I nearly hurt myself with joy when she told me over the phone. I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. I love God for what He’s done in her life. I will love this child next to my own blood grandchildren.

Another really close loved one: She’s the one whose 1-year chip from AA I showed you several weeks ago. God is so busy restoring the years the locusts have eaten in her life that, if He weren’t omnipotent, He’d honestly have no time for the rest of us. We have laughed and laughed over the wonders He has done in her behalf.

What about you? Is there anything wonderful God has done in your life – big or small – that this community of women could laugh with you about? Look back at those Scriptures. Has God done anything for you about which you could say, “God has brought me laughter” or “Who would have predicted…?” Give us the chance to clap our hands and laugh with you.

I’ll close this post with the devotional that accompanied those Scriptures this morning. It’s Charles Spurgeon. It about killed me in the Spirit. I loved it so much. Enjoy, Siestas. Your Mama loves you.

It was far above the power of nature, and even contrary to its laws, that the aged Sarah should be honoured with a son; and even so it is beyond all ordinary rules that I, a poor, helpless, undone sinner, should find grace to bear about in my soul the indwelling Spirit of the Lord Jesus. I, who once despaired, as well I might, for my nature was as dry, and withered, and barren, and accursed as a howling wilderness, even I have been made to bring forth fruit unto holiness. Well may my mouth be filled with joyous laughter, because of the singular, surprising grace which I have received of the Lord, for I have found Jesus, the promised seed, and He is mine for ever. This day will I lift up psalms of triumph unto the Lord who has remembered my low estate, for “my heart rejoiceth in the Lord; mine horn is exalted in the Lord; my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in Thy salvation.” I would have all those that hear of my great deliverance from hell, and my most blessed visitation from on high, laugh for joy with me.
Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening.

PS. Speaking of things fairly peculiar to women, I thought I might go ahead and tell you that I typed this whole thing standing up in my wrap-around terry cloth robe so my self tanner could dry. I want to be tan on my birthday.

OK, so I wrote you guys a catch-up post this morning from the airport/plane in Houston and pushed “publish” right before they shut the door and made us power down and the internet knocked me off without saving my material. I was so completely annoyed.

Now I am sitting in my hotel room typing as fast as I can because I get picked up in a little over an hour and I am a LONG way from ready. I still have early this morning’s hair, not to mention make up. Not to mention deodorant. I told you this morning what all I’d been doing but no time for that now. I’ll catch you up on stuff later. One of the things I did tell you, however, was how thankful I am to have some big projects behind me (like the Israel trip) so that I can now resume my normal amount of activity in Siestaville. I can’t wait for our summer Bible study to start. I hope so much you’ve acquired your workbooks and that you’re forming small groups, if not in person, on line.

May I also say that I miss our Scripture memory team like crazy and you can rest assured we will pick that back up in 2011? Meanwhile, I have my own spiral going and I hope you do, too. In fact, mine is in my purse right here in my hotel room. Let’s see if I can spit out one of my latest verses without looking. Oh, yeah…

“If I could speak all the languages of earth and angels but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy and if I understood all God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge and if I had such faith I could move mountains but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it. But if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude…”

Yep, the Love Chapter. Sometimes it all comes back to that. And, yes, I memorized it years ago and out of the KJV but, based on some feelings I was fighting about four months ago toward someone, it obviously hadn’t fully taken. Sometimes God and I work on new lessons and sometimes we just go back for a refresher on an old one. We’re back.

Anyway, what were we talking about? Oh, I know. I was about to tell you that I’m in Denver for Deeper Still with my friends, Kay Arthur and Priscilla Shirer. I can’t wait to hear what God has to say to all of us through them. And, we are so entirely jazzed to have Kelly Minter joining us this weekend (yes, our summer Bible study author). She is a great joy to me.

Shoot fire, I’m running out of time. I will try to write you guys on my way home Sunday. But I just have to tell you one little thing. I checked into my hotel room and there was a gift bag sitting on the bed. I thought it was a bag of snacks because our event coordinator will often leave one of those in our rooms for Deeper Still. While I was unpacking, I glanced back over at it and realized it said, “Happy Birthday” (not till next week) but I knew then that it wasn’t snacks. I pulled out the purple tissue and WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT WAS AN I-PAD?????????????? I NEARLY FLIPPED!!!! I set it down on my bed and paced back and forth in my room staring at it like it might turn into a pumpkin. I wasn’t going to get one because I just couldn’t justify it. Still can’t. It’s just grace. Plain and simple. Grace. I’m just so-the-opposite-of-ticked.

GOTTA GO!! I’ll write you Sunday.

Hey, you sweet things! It seems like forever since we’ve talked! Melissa and I had so hoped to be able to blog while we were in the Holy Land but the break-neck schedule and the slow internet made it the impossible dream. We and our group of 100 mighty women boarded two tour buses every morning at 7:30 and usually pulled back into one of three different hotels on our journey around 6:00 that evening. May I interject that it was HOT over there? And when I tell you we pulled into the hotel smelling more like sweaty camels than sacred pilgrims, I’m not kidding. Our consolation was that we all smelled the same. I took a travel size stick of deodorant in my purse and used it on the bus without shame. We’d clean up quickly then head to dinner at 7:00 then Melissa and I would head back to my room as fast as possible where I’d study for the next day and Melissa would down load pictures. We’d fall in our beds, rise early the next morning for more studying then load those buses again. It was a big fat busy BLAST. Not one single regret except that we didn’t have all of you there.

God gave us a fabulous group of women comprised mostly of LPM staff and volunteers (the trip was a thank you to all of them) and we were graced by the faithful presence of our God as we traced the steps of His Son from birth to childhood… to boyhood…to manhood… to His first miracle…to His ministry in Galilee…to the place where His sweat fell like drops of blood…to His cross…to His empty grave…then to the Mount of Olives where He ascended before their very eyes and will one day descend in all His glory…before every set of eyes on earth.

It was truly too much to absorb in one week’s time but many of us will ponder it for months to come. As you know, my darling firstborn was unable to go at the last minute. I am so proud of her for making that decision and, without hesitation, hopping in the car with her man to head for Missouri even before they knew what the outcome would be. I couldn’t quite get my head wrapped around not having her along on the trip because her company is so rich and impossible to replace, just like her sister’s. But I knew within a very short time that they’d done God’s will without question. They wanted so much to be able to see his grandmother before the Lord swept her home. As it happened, He simply could not wait another minute to have her in His presence.

“Arise, my darling, my beautiful one. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone…the season of singing has come…Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.” (Song of Songs 2:10-13)

Curtis and Amanda were there shortly after Grandma Dixon’s homegoing and for the rest of the week. Amanda said that the testimony of a long, enduring, loving marriage between Curtis’s grandparents was so powerful that it would mark them forever.

We missed her so much and I was deeply grateful that I’d already had the chance to take her on that very trip when she was 16. Melissa and I spoke of her constantly. I was touched in many ways this week in the Holy Land but I will share with you one primary gift God gave me while I was there. A number of years ago when Melissa launched full-steam ahead into an academic study of theology and Scripture, I began to worry that the critical aspect of that kind of academic education might snuff the flame that had burned in her from late high school to mid-college. There are many casualties. My heart also dropped into my feet as I realized that she was going to inevitably get hit in my behalf. She is to be commended for the way she handled it but that’s another story. I’ll leave it at this: it’s very hard to see your children have to deal with criticism toward you and be forced to answer for you. I can take the heat but I wish so much they didn’t have to. Anyway, as I sought God with my concerns, He supplied a Scripture that I felt He was inviting me to pray over her and believe for her. My fears were calmed over the completion of her undergrad work followed by two additional degrees. I refused to worry again about it even through some rocky places for her where she had to grapple with what she believed. While we were in Israel, I saw a young woman who had survived with her faith in tact. She is her own person – different from her mother, thank God – but full of passion. I saw a young woman who loves Jesus Christ. In fact, if not for Colin Fitzpatrick, I don’t think I would’ve gotten that child on a plane. I nearly fainted when I heard her ask our guide, my dear friend Arie, about the universities in Jerusalem. Then all I could do was shake my head and laugh. It can be a dangerous thing to raise your children to follow hard after Jesus.

I have seen a fresh revelation of Christ in the last week but not only through tracing His steps in the Holy Land. I’ve beheld it on the faces of His people. Many on the trip and my own beloved daughters, as different as they are, and as imperfect as they’d want me to tell you they are. They have each outdone their parents. Lord have mercy, what messes we were at their ages. Thank You, Lord, for full redemption. For Your willingness to change an entire lineage. Your grace is unfathomable. Continue to use it to set families free.

So, that’s a little of my story today. Thanks for listening to interminable musings. It’s so good to be back in touch with you. I am dying to know what you’re up to! Where does this 3rd day of June find you, my dear Siestas? Help me picture it!

You are so loved here.

Hey, our darling Siestas! This is your happy but bleary-eyed Siesta Mama writing you from our first stop on pilgrimage. Melissa, the entire LPM staff (minus AJ and CJ), many of our volunteers (for whom this trip was thrown) and I made it to Tel Aviv about seven hours ago, loaded onto buses and headed a half hour’s distance to Joppa. (We are 100-strong) For those of you who are interested, this is the very place Jonah boarded a ship to flee from the will of God. It is also the place Peter raised Dorcas (Tabitha in Aramaic) from the dead. We do not know why she was named Dorcas. We hope it was not because her father was an infamous Dork of antiquity.

Perhaps many of you know by now that Curtis’s beloved maternal grandmother passed away suddenly the night before our flight so AJ did exactly what she should have done. She cancelled out on the trip and headed to Missouri with both children to stand by her man. We miss her so much and bear all the Joneses on our hearts as they mourn their loss and celebrate the absolute certainty that she is with Christ.

We will spend tonight here in Tel Aviv then load back onto the buses in the morning and head for Caesarea and Megiddo. Here are a few pictures Melissa has taken for us so far:

The beautiful coastal city of Joppa, our first stop on the trip.

The Mediterranean Sea

Our First Teaching Session overlooking the Sea:

(I got a little amused when I looked at this one. That’s Hawk standing up in the back. She’s keeping a good eye on her charge. That would be me.)

The Hebrew Text of Jonah which mentions Joppa as the town where Jonah boarded a ship for Tarshish in attempt to run from the Lord (1:3). (That’s Melissa’s Bible. Not mine.)

While we were in route, we came upon quite an intriguing sight. This is a gathering of Jews from one of the most orthodox sects in Israel. They are protesting a building development they believe to be upon an ancient gravesight.

And to make things more interesting , they were “helped” into a restricted area by some police.

Our sweeping view of Tel Aviv from the Hotel

We wish every single one of you Siestas were with us here! We’ll try to stay in pretty close touch. We love you!

Living Proof Live – Grand Rapids from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.

Praise the Lord! Maryam and Marzieh have been acquitted of all charges by the Iranian judicial authorities. Elam Ministries says that they arrived safely in another country today. You can read the press release here. Thank You, Jesus! Thank you for praying, Siestas!