Hey, You Darling Siestas! I hope you are well and blessed in the perceptible presence of Jesus Christ. Just a couple of pieces of news this stormy Sunday afternoon in Houston, Texas. I wanted to let you know, lest someone be devastated by the delay, that our much-hailed Grand Prize Scripture Memory Competition Winner will be unveiled on Friday of this week rather than Tuesday. Due to a yet unexplained technical problem, some of the videos arrived in our inbox expired and we wanted to give them time to be resubmitted. After all, this fierce competition has caused an uproar second only to American Idol and the talent just keeps rolling in. Brace yourself.

I love y’all so much.

Grinning so wide that my ears feel all tight.

I just returned from Deeper Still in Atlanta, Georgia where a whopping 19,000 of us raised the roof in praise to the One True God and studied our heads into a migraine. (Not really. Haven’t ever really had a migraine but if you were prone to one, we no doubt gave you one this weekend but, Child, you can’t say you didn’t hear some Scripture.) God gave us a terrific group! One of the best huge groups I’ve ever gotten to be part of. (Don’t worry, Raleigh. You are still in a tier all by yourself but, I’ll be honest, this group got mighty close. Their love for Jesus was large and loud and they hung tight all the way to the last second of a long conference.) You’ll never guess who was sitting on the very front row next to the Governor’s (precious) wife. Our own Siesta, Georgia Jan! I LOVED HER! She’s the one that told that hilarious story recently about her church choir singing a special in a worship service about coming to Jesus with your burdens and, when a woman actually got up and came to the altar, they all thought, “What on earth is she doing? And in the middle of our special?” (My paraphrase but I laughed my head nearly to the floor over that honest appraisal.) Georgia Jan was one of those ultimate kind of people every teacher wants to have in class. Completely engaged and talking back to you constantly.

Guess who else was there? Big Mama and Boomama! (Don’t tell me you haven’t ever checked out their blogs. They are a blast.) I’m not kidding – I was totally starstruck. They were there in an official guest-blog-writer capacity with some of the LifeWay folks so I got to meet them at sound check then have them right behind me next to Amanda and her good buddy Janelle (we missed you so much, Sunni! Next time?). They were all right there where I could pat on all of them. (I’m a patter. I could mother a fence post as my grandmother used to say.) Big and Boo were just as fun as I thought they’d be. Better than that, they obviously have a keen liking for Jesus and His Word and that just says it, doesn’t it? Funny. Godly. Man, I love that.

One of my biggest highlights is that I got to be with both my daughters all weekend. Amanda and Janelle flew up with me then we met up with Melissa once we got there. We got to worship together (Trav and the team were in full throttle gift-mode) and open the “Holy Scripts” (as Melissa calls them with no small reverence) together during the conference. Lis’s Colin even joined us for the last session. He was so cute trying to fold his whole six-foot three-inch self up inconspicuously in a raging sea of capri-pants. Needless to say, the event was our highlight but the girls and I also had a blast together after it was over last night then again this morning. The funniest thing happened after the conference ended at 5:30 PM. Melissa went to so much trouble to make reservations at the ultimate spot to get a taste of beautiful, historical Atlanta, Georgia. We went to their version of the Spindletop (I can’t remember the exact name but most of us who attended the conference were there). It is a restaurant on the 76th floor of a building smack in the middle of downtown. It (the top floor, not the whole building) rotates over the course of an hour to show you a panoramic view of the entire city. Really cool. You can even see tons of landmarks built for the Olympics. (Well, three.) The problem is, the constant motion made Melissa seasick. She could hardly eat a bite of her shrimp and grits. And, boy, were they good. She turned white as a sheet and she and Colin had to go sit in the lobby of the first floor while we finished. I’m laughing my head off because we Moore’s cannot do one single thing without high drama. On our way out of the hotel, Melissa got an expression on her face that made her look about six years-old then she chirped, “Mom, that thing was hauling!” Slight exaggeration but it will make me laugh the rest of my life. She is priceless. Both my girls are. My favorite two people to be with in all the world. And their daddy makes three. We girls sat on my hotel bed last night with room service desserts and laughed until we literally cried. Honestly, I thought my face was going to freeze into a contortion. First thing this morning we got to see Melissa and Colin’s apartment and it is absolutely adorable. And smelled wonderful. You guessed it. Apple Crostata. Warm. Buttery. Apply. With a touch of orange.

Well, my man’s about to get home and I haven’t seen him in four days so I better get off of here. But not before I tell you how much I love working with Priscilla Shirer and Kay Arthur. There is simply no one on earth I respect more than Kay. I have literally never known a soul more devoted to the Word of God than her. And that Priscilla? Sheesh. (If that means anything bad, I don’t know it.) She is something else. One of the most gifted young communicators I’ve ever seen. We have become true friends over the last several years. I cannot express the joy she brings to me and how certain I am of God’s powerful call on her life. Keith and I are coming to love her and Jerry very much. And I don’t even have to tell you how I feel about Travis and the team. He had great new songs this weekend but held on to my favorites. Trav’s Angela was with us on the platform and I LOVE her being there. Talk about a woman who loves God’s Word! I don’t know another woman on God’s green earth I’d rather impact my daughters. I told Trav and Ang today that if we’d never worked together on the road as partners in ministry but had simply attended the same church, the Moores and Cottrells would have been BFF. It’s a fact, Jack.

That’s all for now, Girlfriends! Sure loved having a cup of coffee with you. Stay in God’s Word, young ladies! JESUS IS LIFE. I’ll talk to you soon because it’s almost Bible Study Tuesday! Get the last of your homework done, Girls!