Calling all you hard working, head-filling, brain-bathing Scripture-memorizing Siestas! It’s time for Verse 6! No slackers here, young ladies! Let’s not be afraid of a little challenge. Did you know that memorization is one of the best ways on earth to keep our brains sharp? Yep. And I also heard a few days ago that all the multi-tasking we’re doing does not work the part of our brain that requires stimulation to tap into our brilliance. (Every single one of us has brilliance.) That part of our brain requires tremendous focus on one thing for extended periods of time, pushing our thoughts a solitary direction that stretches and works it beyond its normal exercise. That’s part of what Scripture memory does! Especially when you now have six verses to keep rolling around in your darling little brilliant brain.

I think it’s time for some extra incentive! (Drum roll please) Next January 22-23, 2010 (Friday evening and Saturday till noon like LPL’s), we at LPM have decided to throw a Siesta Scripture Memory Team Celebration Event (how’s that for a mouthful?) in Houston, Texas at my home church. Perfect timing right after our year of Scripture memorization wraps up. I will do the teaching and my good buddy, Travis Cottrell, will be with us to lead us in worship…and probably a few laughs. We will not take any registrations for the event until late next Fall. It will be ONLY for those who meet the following requirements and free of charge as our love and appreciation gift for seeing our goal all the way to the finish:

*You must officially sign in with your name, city and Scripture 20 out of 24 times on our Scripture memory posts on the 1st and 15th throughout 2009. I was really tempted to require all 24 times but then I remembered that a few of you very faithful memorizers didn’t know about it until the second month. The event is not for anybody out there who has memorized Scripture as much as we affirm you and cheer you on! It is for women in our Siesta community who have memorized Scripture as part of this 1st and 15th Scripture Memory Accountability Team. If you started with us late, you can double-up on your memory work several times and go back and sign in on older posts to make sure you accrue at least 20 sign-ins and verses.

*You must be able to say 10 of your 20-24 Scriptures from memory to one person during the course of the event. (Not up in front of everybody, mind you! I’ll simply have you break into two’s for a half hour at the event and you’ll say your Scriptures to one another.) For our meditators, you’ll need to paraphrase 10 of your Scriptures as closely as you can with your partner until it is clear that the Truth of it abides in you even if every word is not in a row. Remember, Siestas, if this seems hard that the purpose of the year was to memorize 24 Scriptures. We can do 10 of our choice with one another!

*You must bring your 2009 spiral with you with at least 20 memory verses recorded in it. It will be your ticket in the door. And it should look well-worn. Grin.

No exceptions to these requirements please. Please don’t ask next December and get me feeling all sappy. This is the way it needs to be so the event can provide a small, temporal reward for a year of hard work. The eternal and internal rewards are immeasurable.

*There will be prizes for those who have memorized all 24 verses and can say each one of them from memory to a partner at the event. We’ll make sure they feel affirmed without anybody else feeling lame. Everybody there with have accomplished something HUGE!

It will be so much fun! The smaller size of the group and the process we’ve all been through together will make it really intimate and special. Work hard and come! Those of you who live far away, the event will be free but you need to start saving your money for other expenses. This is a great time to start looking for flight deals!

Late next Fall many of you will know whether or not you’re going to meet those requirements and we’ll begin taking registrations then. My home church is Houston’s First Baptist on 7401 Katy Freeway in case you want to begin looking for where you might try to stay. I don’t mind saying that we have the best food and best shopping in the whole wide world and our Januarys are mild so you’re probably not going to get snowed in. Melana, save your dollars and bring us Miesta Moose! Warm in Alaska, we can make you a whole lot warmer!! Canadian Siestas, fly south like a snow bird to Texas!!!

PLEASE DO THE WORK AND COME!! It will be such a blast!

OK, now for my selection for Verse 6. It’s a Scripture we studied on our last night of The Inheritance Bible Study in Houston and, boy, do I need it and, boy, do I want the promise it offers. Again, you are welcome to share mine or offer your own. As usual, names, cities, and Scriptures only, please Siestas!

“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:9 NIV

Here’s part of what makes this special. The New Testament translates two primary Greek words as forms of “bless” or “blessed.” One of them (lexical “makarios”) describes a state of being. A resultant condition, so to speak, like those described in the Beatitudes and in many other parts of the NT in reference to those who belong to God through Christ. It basically means to live in the face (coram Deo) and favor of God. The second one (lexical “eulogia”/”eulogeo”) is the conferring or speaking of blessing. As my NT Lexical Aids say, it means “to confer blessing upon, call down divine favor…” The former is a state of being. A beautiful thing indeed. The latter is blessing spoken. Also a beautiful thing, especially for those of us to whom words are a primary love language. It is this latter word for blessing – the one that involves something spoken – that is used in 1 Peter 3:9. The gist of the exhortation, restated from God’s point of view, is this:

“When you use your mouth to bless those who have insulted you or spoken evil to you, I, Myself, will speak blessing over you that you will receive as part of your inheritance.”

When we speak blessings over others who were HARD to bless, He speaks blessing over us. And, let’s admit it, sometimes we’re hard to bless, too.

We’re going to get plenty of opportunities to practice this spiritual discipline because, as the verse clearly states, TO THIS WE WERE CALLED. We were called to manifest the Spirit of Christ through our words when someone insults us. It’s a hard part of the high calling of God but to this we were called SO THAT we may inherit a blessing.

Pretty good, huh?

OK, Siestas, I’ll hop off of here and let you start getting your Scriptures in.

Let me say in conclusion for all of those who prayed for the ministers’ wives’ event this weekend that it was one of the most meaningful weekends I’ve ever been part of. I will never forget it. We are preparing something for you to get a little taste of it so look for that later in the week. It will include some of those comments you (understandably) wanted to read so badly.

I love you, Dear Ones, and I am honored to be your servant. STAY IN THE WORD whether you’re memorizing it or not!!

A few months ago I wrote a blog called “Keeping it Real and Reverence for God”.  There I admitted that even though I resonate with my generation’s passion for spiritual authenticity, I find myself uncomfortable with some of the crass and colloquial statements that we sometimes use to express our feelings of anger or confusion toward God.  It wasn’t just a coincidence that I had just finished reading Leviticus and gotten the feeling that perhaps many of us had forgotten the awe-inspiring nature of the God at whom we are hurling these comments. I made the following statement there that summarizes the tenor of my blog-post:

“The hard truth is that we are going to endure times that we feel God is absent or even that He is forsaking us in a certain situation but we should be careful how, when, and to whom we verbalize it. Perhaps, in smaller matters that mostly have to do with out distrust in God, we may need to repent of our unbelief.  In matters of great disaster that leave our heads completely spinning in devastation, perhaps we should first confess our anger and grief in our personal prayer lives or maybe even with an individual and very trusted accountability partner.  He obviously knows when we are angry with Him, so we should confess this to Him, plead with Him, and pour out our hearts to Him in truth, butmust we always publicly express our displeasure toward God?”  

I tried to make a distinction between comments we make to God privately in prayer or whatnot and what we say to God or about God in a public forum (for example, a blog or a sermon, etc).  And then I made a qualification that I hope you caught.  I said, “Perhaps you have better answers and solutions than I do.”  This was my attempt to warn you that I even though I felt fair enough warrant to say what I did, I also knew there was much more to the story. 

And there is. 

And I’ve been doing a lot of reading in that direction because I never want to get too stuck in my theological viewpoints that I miss out on allowing Scripture to knock down my tightly held interpretations.  I think sometimes we search Scripture in order to look for support on viewpoints we already maintain, when we really should expect Scripture more often than not to confront and destroy those viewpoints- after all, we are human and we’ve been wrong before, right?  So we can be wrong again.  I have on occasion seen people maintain viewpoints that are so obviously contrary to what Scripture says in effort to defend a position that they have held for many years.  To see this sort of behavior firsthand is astonishing.  It is also one of my greatest personal fears.  So I did more study because I felt there was more depth to this tension that we experience as Christians- this tension of fearing and showing reverence to God while at the same time maintaining confidence to approach Him and voice our despair and unbelief to Him.

In addition to looking through some of Jeremiah, the Psalms, Job, and Lamentations, I’ve read two things that have caught my attention lately: a book called “The God I Don’t Understand: Reflections on Tough Questions of Faith” by Christopher J.H. Wright and an article called “If God is Good and Sovereign, Why Lament?” by Nicholas Wolterstorff (published in Calvin Theological Journal 2001).  Both of these publications have me thinking a whole lot about the literature that reflects a voice of protest and lament in the Bible itself.

So, What is Lament?

To use Wolterstorff’s explanation “The lament, at its heart, is giving voice to the suffering that accompanies deep loss, whatever that loss may be.  Lament is not about suffering.  Lament is not concerning suffering.  Lament does not count the stages and try to identify the stage in which one finds oneself.  Lament is the language of suffering, the voicing of suffering.  Behind lament are tears over loss.  Lament goes beyond the tears to voice the suffering.  To voice suffering, one must name it- identify it.  Sometimes that is difficult, even impossible.  The memories are repressed so that the suffering is screened from view.  Or one is aware of it, in a way, but in naming it, identifying it for what it is, would be too painful, too embarrassing.  So one resists.  Then, one cannot lament.  One suffers without being able to lament.  Lament is an achievement.   Lament is more, though, than the voicing of suffering.  The mere voicing of one’s suffering is complaint, not lament.  Lament is a cry to God.  This presupposes, of course, that lament is the action of a believer” (42-43).

Wright also made a comment that hit me in between the eyes.  I hope you will read it all the way through:

“In the Bible, which we believe is God’s Word, such that we find in it is what God wished to be there, there is plenty of lament, protest, anger, and baffled questions.  The point we should notice (possibly to our surprise) is that it is all hurled at God, not by his enemies but by those who loved and trusted him most.  It seems, indeed, that it is precisely those who have the closest relationship with God who feel most at liberty to pour out their pain and protest to God- without fear or reproach.  Lament is not only allowed in the Bible; it is modeled for us in abundance.  God seems to want to give us many words with which to fill in our complaint forms as to write out thank-you notes.  Perhaps this is because whatever amount of lament the world causes us to express is a drop in the ocean compared to the grief in the heart of God himself at the totality of suffering that only God can comprehend” (50-51).

And then he says something even more striking:

“It surely cannot be accidental that in the divinely inspired book of Psalms there are more psalms of lament and anguish that of joy and thanksgiving.  These are words that God has actually given us.  God has allowed them a prominent place in his authorized songbook.  We need both forms of worship in abundance as we live in this wonderful, terrible world…I feel that the language of lament is seriously neglected in the church.  Many Christians seem to feel that somehow it can’t be right to complain to God in the context of corporate worship when we should all feel happy.  There is an implicit pressure to stifle our real feelings because we are urged by pious merchants of emotional denial, that we ought to have “faith” (as if the moaning psalmists didn’t).  So we end up giving external voice to pretended emotions we do not really feel, while hiding the real emotions we are struggling with deep inside.  Going to worship can become an exercise in pretence and concealment, neither of which can possibly be conducive for a real encounter with God.  So, in reaction to some appalling disaster or tragedy, rather than cry out our true feelings to God, we prefer other ways of responding to it.

It’s all part of God’s curse on the earth.  

It’s God’s judgment. 

It’s meant for a warning.

It’s ultimately for our own good.

God is sovereign so that must make it all OK in the end” (52).

And then comes the real clincher.  Wright says, “But our suffering friends in the Bible didn’t choose that way.  They simply cry out in pain and protest against God- precisely because they know God.  Their protest is born out of the jarring contrast between what they know and what they see” (53).

Wolterstorff gives two main parts to a lament: First, lament is a cry to God for deliverance:  “Deliver me, O God, from this suffering” (see Psalm 22:19-21a as an example).  Second, lament is a cry to God of “Why? “Why, O God is this happening?” (Psalm 22: 1-2 as an example) I don’t understand it…I cannot discern your hand in this darkness” (44).  It is crucial as believers in Christ that the “the cry occurs within the context of the yet of enduring faith and ongoing praise, for in raising Christ from the dead, we have God’s word and deed that he will be victorious in the struggle” (52). 

Now I’ve never uttered a lament in my life.  I’ve complained, don’t get me wrong but I’ve never composed or verbally expressed something of my own in the form of a biblical lament.  If I am to be honest, I must admit that my personality tends to want to err on the side of reverence for God and unwavering trust no matter the horror of the situation rather than choose the route of raw authenticity.  I don’t say this to boast, for I am obviously numbered among those “pious merchants of emotional denial” who lay pressure on people to stifle their real feelings that Wright so eloquently rebukes.  And I am openly grappling with Wright’s words.  I think he may be right about me.  Just like those who I think have stepped over a boundary and offended God in their attempt to be “authentic”, I think in my attempt to “reverence” God I may have been emotionally aloof and callous toward real human suffering.  In this I have ignored my own Savior’s haunting words, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”  Over the past few weeks of studying lament and protest in the biblical text, I’ve felt a humanness that I don’t always feel.  I haven’t felt as dismissive of suffering or brokenness.  I feel a little more in touch with reality.  So this is me being theologically vulnerable with you today.  And it ain’t easy.

Now back to our previous issue- the paradox.  The paradox is something like this- we have confidence to voice our despair and our confusion to God but at the same time we must remember to whom we speak.  Now in this blog post I am trying to come clean that I may have swung too far on the pendulum, but there is of course the polar opposite extreme.  There are a couple of passages that draw a line for us concerning our protests and laments to God that I think we must keep in mind.  Psalm 73 is a passage that often gets my attention.  The Psalmist Asaph compares the righteous and the wicked and he despairs that the wicked are carefree and prosperous.  Why do the faithful exert so much energy when there is no advantage for them over the wicked?  He then lets us in on something- he wouldn’t speak this out loud to others because he knows he would betray God’s children. He refrained from speaking disturbing words to the people of God because he knew they could cause serious and perhaps lasting damage.  This is profound.  In addition to Psalm 73, there is a fascinating passage in Jeremiah where Jeremiah says something absolutely SHOCKING:            

“You understand, O LORD; remember me and care for me.  Avenge me on my persecutors…When your came, I ate them; They were my joy and my heart’s delight, For I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty…Why is my pain unending and my wound grievous and incurable?  Will you be to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails?” (Jer. 15:15-17)

 Okay, so Jeremiah has just asked God why his pain is unending even though he has lived faithfully and in painful isolation for God’s very name, and then he says to the Lord, “Will you be to me like a spring that fails?”  This is bold, Jeremiah, very bold.  This is Scripture, mind you, and I am getting uncomfortable.  God then says:

“If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman” (Jer. 15:19).

Here God’s words to Jeremiah show that even though we have a voice with Him, there is a line that we can cross when we protest and lament.  Jeremiah may need to watch his mouth at this point.  The Lord has deemed Jeremiah’s words to be worthless, though of course He allows him the opportunity to repent.  There are boundaries to our protests.

The point of this blog was to take you through a theological journey I am going through- one of dealing with the paradox of the Christian life.  As Wolterstorff pointed out in his essay, there have been many in our theological tradition resistant to following the biblical writer’s example and fully partaking in lament (Augustine, Aquinas, and Calvin are just a few examples).  And they had their reasons.  Some of them are pretty good reasons.  For example, Calvin would have voiced his suffering but would not have cried out “Why?” since he believed he knew the answer to that question: suffering is sent from the hand of God for our good.  As Wolterstorff says, “We must choose, then, between the massive weights of our theological tradition, on the one hand, and following the psalmist and permitting ourselves to lament, on the other.  Should we choose against the tradition, that choice must not be quick, or glib…We must know what we are doing when we make the choice; we must realize the consequences” (50).  Wolterstorff who wrote in the wake of the early death of his own son chose to lament but he is careful to caution us to make our choice intelligently.

Be assured- these are theological questions and I know they’re tough.  These are questions concerning how we apply and interpret biblical texts, whether or not we feel that we have the freedom to speak in the same way the biblical authors spoke.  And if we believe we do have that freedom, then just how far is too far?  Where is the line?  So, faced with the paradox and the promise that some amount of pain is inevitably coming your direction- how will you respond?  Will you swing toward the direction of refusing to verbalize your deepest questions and uncertainties or will you lament like the Psalmist or like the prophet Jeremiah?  And beyond that, do you think lament should be used more commonly in corporate worship contexts?

As far as I am concerned these are very difficult questions without any simple answers, but this doesn’t keep me from asking you where you stand in the midst of all of this and what insight you may have. 

Praise the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph; the God of David, Solomon, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, Peter, and Paul.  Praise the God who carries His people through a dark and broken world and grants us bright hope for an everlasting tomorrow.  The God who will one day light the beacons of heaven, sound the trumpets, and until that great day scatters glimpses of triumph for us through all the tragedy. 

We’re having some issues with comments on the video post. If you’d like to comment, you can do so here.

The Inheritance Bible Study from Debra Parker on Vimeo.

We concluded our Inheritance Bible study series last night and wanted to give you a glimpse of what we’ve been up to this semester. Many thanks to our Siesta Debra Parker for capturing these pictures and making this recap video for the blog.

*For the life of me I cannot figure out why, when I post these videos, the link to comments disappears. I’ve tried to fix it with no luck. I’m so sorry! I’ll open up another post for comments. -Amanda

My Dear Sisters, how are you?? I think of you every single day and love sharing all sorts of family and ministry things with you. We had such a treat last week that I want to share with you. We haven’t really developed a framework here for interns at LPM but one of our board members asked us if we’d consider allowing a senior in high school that he esteemed highly to work here for a week as part of her senior credit. We had a hunch that the blessing would be ours but we weren’t ready for how quickly we’d fall head over heels in love with her. It was our plan from the beginning to give her a taste of every position in the ministry and sit her in every department so her experience would be full. To get a taste of what my department (comprised of AJ, CJ, Melissa and me) does, I asked her to both open Tuesday night Bible study with a 3-minute greeting and write a blog article on Friday that I’d post today. I told her she could write it on anything she wanted because by that time I knew I could trust her character and that she was quite the communicator. Such a gifted and darling young woman! Below you will find her greeting to you. You will be able to tell immediately that you guys are considered a big part of ministry around the halls of LPM!

And now for Paige:

Hola Siestas (Ok…I just had to say it)!

I’m Paige Warren, Living Proof’s first official intern and a senior at Second Baptist School in sunny (and HOT, I might add) Houston, TX! This week has definitely been one of the MOST incredible weeks of my life, and I’d LOVE to tell you why!

It all began this past Christmas when I met Mrs. Moore at Second Baptist Church’s annual Kids Crazy Christmas Show (a mouthful, I know – we just call it KCCS)! I’m a member of the JUMP Team, an acting, singing and dancing ministry for kids, which performed at the show, and to my complete bliss and surprise, I was able to meet Mrs. Moore and her cute grandbabies. Little did I know that just a few months later, I’d be petting her sweet puppy and laughing at jokes at the LPM lunch table! How truly blessed am I?

Now, I would absolutely LOVE to fill you in on ALL the excitement of my internship at LPM, but if I did, you might still be at your desk at dinnertime! So, here’s a look into a typical Monday at Living Proof!

On my first day of the internship, I arrived promptly at 8:30am, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed; ready to go for my first day. As I pulled into the property, I noticed that Living Proof Ministries is not housed in a normal, run-of-the-mill office building, but an adorably cozy and beautifully decorated home where scripture competes for every wall space, Pottery Barn furniture replaces generic work desks, and laughter fills the office space. Although the norm for a teen internship is extreme nervousness in the form of sweaty palms and a dry mouth, this was certainly not the case for me at LPM. Upon meeting the ladies, I couldn’t help but feel like I fit right in! So welcoming and loving, the staff made me feel as if they were my very best friends…and trust me, ladies, their personalities can intensely mislead one about their REAL ages!

My first task? Stepping into the world of production with Evangeline. I was most surprised by the fact that LPM fulfills, packages, and ships all orders in-house. From Bible Studies to CDs & DVDs to Books, the LPM storage room has it all! The neatest part about the whole process is the fact that each order is HAND-packaged with care. They check, and double-check…and check again! As part of their ministry, the LPM staff and volunteers, if they feel led, pray over certain packages for the Word of the Lord to edify that particular customer/donor as they seek to know Him more! As Beth entered the room to welcome and thank volunteers and staff, she gave me a surprising challenge: “Paige, dear, we don’t normally do this, but…would you like to do the announcements and speak at Bible Study Tuesday Night? I’ll give you 3 minutes…” Wait, wait, wait. Could this REALLY be happening? A 17 year-old to speak at Houston’s First Baptist Bible Study: The Inheritance, packed with over 3,000 pairs of alert ears that are just waiting/dying to hear a good Word from Jesus?? “You’ve got to be kidding me!,” I yelled to myself. I leaped for joy at the opportunity to bless that many women! The Lord, I knew, would take care of the words…All I had to do was have a willing heart to bless others!

As we (myself and the lovely volunteers) packaged and jammed out to some cool worship music, I noticed it was already time for lunch! “Wait a second…where did everyone go?,” I anxiously uttered as I glanced at the clock. To my surprise, I found nine staff ladies sitting on the floor with fluffy blankets and Bibles in-toe. On Mondays, the LPM staff (minus Curtis…he is a guy, after all!) feeds on the Word of God together, growing, seeking and praying for each other to be encouraged in the Lord. They seek to be fed with spiritual food rather than physical food. “Of course!” Gladly, I plopped down next to Beth (Side Note: We’re not yet on first name basis, but it’s kind of hard after you’ve watched her passionately deliver a Word on Life Today or in Bible Study and constantly scream “You go, Beth!” at the TV). After a time of sweet prayer and study, it was time to head back to work answering phones with Kimberly! Now, although it sounds pretty easy, it was actually REALLY rigorous – especially when multiple calls can flood like a simultaneous technological deluge! I have SERIOUS respect for receptionists now!

Before I knew it, the day was over! What an incredible start to an incredible week at LPM!!

The following 3 days, the Lord worked seriously in my life as I worked side-by-side with these darling ladies. I’ve learned a GREAT deal about the ministry, it’s effectiveness, and EVERY facet of Living Proof that makes it Living Proof. However, I must admit that, although this internship has benefited me greatly through experience, the “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity that makes it a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience is the blessing of fellowship. I cannot express to you in words worthy of writing the amount of joy, laughter, godly council, and Kingdom perspective I’ve encountered and been immersed in here! Viewing each aspect of the ministry has allowed my heart to burst with compassion for the lowly and excitement for the saved; laughter at crazy jokes and tears at the sincerity of their hearts. What makes Living Proof all that you perceive it to be is the fact that these ladies are REAL, live “Living Proof.” They love Jesus with their whole hearts and passionately yearn to seek Him more! Plus, they might just be the wackiest, craziest, make-you-want-to-sit-down-and-watch-their-sitcom kind of women! (We’re still thinking of the name…)

I consider myself blessed beyond measure by the Lord. His Joy is my Strength…His Joy is their strength. We’re not just co-workers for a week. This internship has made us sisters in the Kingdom for eternity!

Be blessed, siestas! If He’s working in a little 17 year-old intern’s life, I know He’s sure working in yours! Be blessed by the intense measure of His love for you!!! (Colossians 3:12) Hope to write to you again soon! (Maybe in the summer…you never know!)

Joyfully His,
Paige!

P.S.~ “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…!” – Philippians 3:8!

From the March 7 entry in Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman:

“There is no way to learn of faith except through trials. They are God’s school of faith, and it is much better for us to learn to trust Him than to live a life of enjoyment. And once the lesson of faith has been learned, it is an everlasting possession and an eternal fortune gained. Yet without trust in God, even great riches will leave us in poverty.”

Hi Siestas! We did a runners-up drawing today from our original Siesta Scholarship Fund post where y’all entered various churches to win an Esther leader kit. (This week we added a button on our sidebar that will provide a permanent link back to that post.)

Today we are giving away 25 Measureless Love DVD’s. Measureless Love consists of three messages (on two discs) by Beth based on Ephesians 3:18-19 and Psalm 103:11-12.

These are the churches and ministries that will be receiving a the Measureless Love DVD’s. Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter!

Second Baptist Church Highlands, TX
(Submitted by Anon)

Healing Waters Church of God
(Submitted by Julie)

Providence Baptist Fellowship
(Submitted by Kelley)

Clark Street Baptist Church
(Submitted by Laura Beth Fletcher)

River of God Community Church
(Submitted by Teri~Facedown)

Oregon City Baptist Church
(Submitted by Beyond This Moment)

Christ Community Baptist Church
(Submitted by Bev)

For the Fame of His Name Ministries
(Submitted by Truthsharer)

Era Baptist Church
(Submitted by Cspann)

Swann Station Baptist Church
(Submitted by Tara G.)

Evergreen Baptist Church
(Submitted by Mandy Eley)

Lighthouse Rescue Mission
(Submitted by Leslie)

The Church at Tubac
(Submitted by Julianne)

Leaning Tree Church
(Submitted by Sugar Momma)

Immanuel Baptist Church
(Submitted by Linda LaFrombois)

The Unseen Hands Ministry
(Submitted by Anon)

Christ Community Baptist Church
(Submitted by Chad)

Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church
(Submitted by UL Cards Fan)

Cornerstone Bible Church
(Submitted by Karen)

Baptist Friendship House
c/o New Orleans Baptist Ministries, Inc.
(Submitted by Anon)

Hopedale Church of Christ
(Submitted by Nikki)

Calvary Baptist Church
(Submitted by Anon)

Navo Church
(Submitted by Screamofcontinuousness)

Covenant Life Ministries
(Submitted by Lyne Hitt)

Portico Church
(Submitted by Anon)

I was at my parents’ house last night, nursing Annabeth in the office upstairs while everyone else was hanging out in the living room. There’s a big bookshelf in that room that seriously might collapse if one more book gets crammed in it. Authors get sent all kinds of free books from their publishers, so our family never lacks in that department. I entertained myself by attempting to read the various titles, willing my blurry vision to focus. My eyesight is usually fine, but it’s been getting fuzzy at night since I’m a little sleep deprived. I was having trouble with one particular book title and then I realized it was Get Out of That Pit in Portuguese or something.

My husband, who loves to read books just as much as he likes to watch ESPN, certainly married into the right family. When we were newlyweds, he worked on the youth staff at the church we attend now. The church had a bookstore in it and staff members could have the cost of their purchase deducted from their paychecks. It was a little too easy, to say the least. Curtis came home with one or two new books every single week. He was only working part time and still finishing school, so it’s not like we had a lot of money to burn. I used to go in there and beg the manager not to let my hubby buy any more books. Jeanie, if Curt comes in here just tell him no! She always grinned and never made any promises.

Then for a season Curtis kept getting big boxes of old books given to him by his grandpa’s neighbor. Sure, these were free, but now there was the matter of space. Our house was absolutely overflowing with books. They were everywhere – under the bed, stuffed in our one small bookshelf, laying on the bar, stacked in random corners, and even filling our cars. It was madness. What finally saved me from losing my mind over those books was that with his next two jobs (including his current one), his offices had a whole wall lined with bookshelves. And there they all went. Give God some praise!

But don’t worry, we still have this next to our bed.

And since I cannot possibly leave you with such a tacky photo, here are some new ones of Annabeth. She was a month old on Tuesday. Can you believe it?

Here she is with her Big Pink Bear. I’m going to try to take her picture with him every month to show her growth.

She was obviously having some issues just now during our photo shoot.

This was my first attempt at taking her picture with Big Pink Bear at just a week old. Apparently she’s just not that into him.

*Comments are now closed*

Oh, I already love this post! While I was in my garage working out this morning, I was listening to my buddy Susan on the KSBJ morning show (KSBJ is a Christian contemporary music radio station in the Houston area and is so fabulous that it wins all kinds of awards). She let us know that it was “Read Across America” week and, thereby, gave me permission to give full sway to my favorite tangible obsession: B.O.O.K.S.

I love them. I love the look of them. The smell of them. The feel of them when you break a new one open. I love the spine of them. An out-loud read of them. I LOVE BOOKS. My grandfather was such a book nerd that my grandmother told him that, if she were ever widowed, she’d ask every male suitor if he could read and if he said yes, she’d say, “Pass on by, Brother.” He passed that obsession on to my mother who honestly loved a word fitly spoken more than anyone I’ve ever known. And she passed it on to practically every single one of her five children. Keith, bless the Father above for one of our very few similarities, also has the fever. Our idea of a great date is to go out to dinner then hit the Barnes and Noble. We get a cup of Starbucks first and don’t leave the store until we’ve drained it dry and opened every single book we can get our hands on.

I love books. I love to rub the palm of my hand over the covers.

So, here’s today’s topic. Name ONE – I said ONE, Siestas! – book you have absolutely loved (besides the Bible, our all-time, no-contest, unparalleled Book) and who it’s by, THEN give a brief reason why. It doesn’t have to be your favorite book of all time, just one you really love. List your information in this order:

• the book title and author on the first line,
• genre on the second line (fiction? non-fiction? biographical? autobiographical? Etc),
• then the short explanation why you loved it so much underneath. (Long ones unfortunately won’t be able to be posted so don’t write a book on your book!)

(Please be authentic and don’t bow to the temptation to impress your dear, impressionable Siestas by sounding hyper-spiritual. Unless A.W. Tozer really did write your favorite book, please don’t say he did. Grin.)

This comment set-up will make the list easy to read and, I think, really fun to peruse. I CAN HARDLY WAIT! Now, dang it, I have a lot of work to do today so I’m going to really have to fight to stay focused while we’re bringing in these comments BUT I will have the whole list of them to read a little later in my leisure. Let’s hear it, Siestas!

I’m wild about you. Have a blast in Jesus today. BE REAL, Girlfriends. One of my Scriptures out of The Message this weekend in my quiet time was this: “God cannot STOMACH arrogance and pretense.” (Proverbs 16:5) That’s a word, huh?

AND FOR THOSE OF YOU ON OUR SCRIPTURE MEMORY TEAM, IF YOU HAVEN’T SIGNED IN WITH YOUR MARCH 1ST VERSE, RETURN TO THE PREVIOUS POST AND GIVE IT UP!

*Comments temporarily closed until Wednesday, March 11*

Hey, You Darling Siestas!

This one snuck up on us, didn’t it? Short month but that’s okay. We’re up for it. Anyway, with all that life keeps throwing us and its relentless invitations to defeat, another Scripture swimming around in a busy woman’s head is a good thing, Girlfriend. Remember, even if you aren’t getting your verses word for word, the more you read them and take a stab at saying them from memory, the more your mind is being preoccupied with truth. Lies ARE being displaced. And so is the enemy.

I’ve had so much going on in my life lately that I’m sorely tempted to spend part of this post just chatting with you but I’ll do that later this week and try to stay focused on our very important task at hand: Verse #5!

I have LOVED my Verse 4! I keep picturing that heavenly scribe sitting in the Presence of God keeping a Scroll of Remembrance for all who fear the Lord and honor His Name. (Malachi 3:16) This time I want to commit Hebrews 10:35-36 to memory. Those of you who were at the El Paso LPL (one of my favorite all time groups!) will find it very familiar. I hope you’re still living it. I’m really trying to. Yesterday morning before I went onto the platform to speak at the Focus on the Family marriage simulcast, I whispered these very verses to my own soul in the presence of God. (I’m not used to speaking to a ton of men. Not my thing. Sometimes I imagine that they’re looking at me mean. I’m about to get tickled at my pathetic self.) God used these Scriptures to power-up my spirit and help me choose not to be intimidated. Then I had a blast…and they weren’t mean at all. I’ve semi-memorized the segment already but I want it to become a permanent part of my 2009 Scripture memory spiral.

When I look back at old spirals, my Scripture memory choices remind me vividly of the places I journeyed with God that year. I love reflecting and remembering how faithful He was and realizing, especially when I’m having a bad week and feeling a tad self-loathing, that He and I have come a mighty long way. I promise you that, for years to come, this spiral you’re filling with Scriptures will be so dear to you as you come across it here and there. Honestly, you will cherish it as such a token of your walk with Christ.

Okay, so here goes:

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded, YOU NEED TO PERSEVERE so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. Hebrews 10:35-36 NIV

If you love it and it speaks right to you, join me, Sister! Let’s memorize it together! For all of you who have your own verse throbbing in your heart, let’s hear it. I have been so impressed with how you have constrained yourselves and listed only your verse, the translation abbreviation, your name, and your city the way I’ve asked you to. It’s such a powerful thing to read one verse after another. Remember, if you’re joining me on my memory verse, still type out the whole thing in your comment. It’s a very important discipline.

NO QUITTERS, GIRLFRIEND! NOT ONE! WE’VE GOT TO PERSEVERE! God has a great reward for us at the end of this journey and every step on the way. I need to see about 2400 comments pop up here within the next forty-eight hours. Don’t put it off!

Here’s a little extra encouragement from your own ranks. This is one of the Scripture memory testimonies from a Siesta on the post earlier last week:

Being in a season of feeling as though my world is spinning out of control – memorizing the scripture that God Himself (IN BOLD LETTERS) lays on my heart has been the BIGGEST thing that has happened in my life. In the past I have memorized but never stopped to ask the Lord what I should memorize (stupid or what?!)Now instead of wondering where the Rock is in the midst of the struggle I no longer WONDER where He is I KNOW where He is – His Word is giving me the brain surgery that I have been in need of – bless you Lord!!

Amen to that, Sister. This practice totally rewired my mind when God began to call me to it about 18 years ago. Without it I would never have survived an unparalleled season that followed on the heels of it. You, Dear Siestas, have become a highly esteemed part of Living Proof Ministries. Amanda, Melissa and I love you and we’re so honored to serve you. We hope that, between the three of us, and FOUR when we can get Curtis to sign on here, we can offer you some diversity and some wide-range, multi-generational perspective in the midst of a volume-10 call to unity. We don’t pretend to know what we’re doing all the time, but, Sister, we have a ton of love to offer you. It is our hearts’ desire to be your servants and to cheer you on in the most important journey of your life.

You are cherished here. No matter who you are. Where you’ve been. What you’ve done. We have a Redeemer.