Hey, Siestas! How are my favorite bloggers on God’s green earth?

Keith and I just got home from our cactus ranch about six hours from Houston. I joined him there on Thursday because he’d been gone for several days and I missed him like crazy. He’s been putting in a bunch of new water lines and troughs for our wild game (that means animals in case you’re not familiar with the terminology) and was basically stuck until the job was finished. Hence, I headed West. You tend to get more attached to your mate when your kids are grown because you’re all you have left within your own four walls. It’s really important that you darling young wives and moms remember that one day, God and couple-willing, it will be just the two of you again. It will happen before you know it and, if you don’t have anything left, it’s hard to know where to start again. It’s one reason some folks just start all over but there’s no need. There are all sorts of adventures to have together. Just keep investing. Anyway, I didn’t mean to get off on that subject. Today I mean to just chat with you about nothing.

Needless to say, I took my laptop with me so that I could sit on the porch and work on the (overcoming insecurity) book. I’m all the way to chapter 11, praise You, Lord. I’m guessing I have about five more to go. I hope to have the creative part of the writing wrapped up in a month and then the editing madness begins. Writing is not for the fainthearted or those with a strong affinity for instant gratification. Or, come to think of it, for those who can’t take criticism. It is a hard profession that you only want to take up if you absolutely can’t keep from writing to save your life. That reminds me, I read the coolest book recently by Jerry Jenkins called Writing for the Soul and it’s penned specifically to writers OR to those who think there might be a writer deep inside somewhere. If that’s you, you ought to think about grabbing a copy. I think you’d be so blessed. I read constantly but I can’t say I’ve ever read anything specifically on writing before. I enjoyed it like crazy.

If you really want to write, you might think of tracking down some cactus and pulling up a lawn chair next to it. But not too close in case you doze off. A simple landscape is sometimes best of all. Our little piece of Texas is a great place to write because it’s out in the middle of absolutely nowhere and all you can hear are birds, crickets, cows (on the ranch next to us), sheep (mostly on the ranch next to us and a few on ours), dogs (definitely ours), rattlesnakes (unfortunately also ours) and Keith’s John Deere tractor.

When I’ve written about all my blond brain can handle, I go riding with Keith, Star (Border Collie, for you new ones), and Geli (Bird Dog, also for you new ones) in our broken down jeep with old fashioned air conditioning that comes from holes in the floorboard. We look for any animal or critter we can possibly find. This time we got to see a baby bobcat, 2 feral cats, 2 armadillos, and I have no idea how many deer. The sweetest thing of all is that we came upon a mom who’d just dropped a fawn. It was the most precious little thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Keith said it could only have been a few hours old. We scurried off quickly so we wouldn’t upset them but I went back later to make sure the mom hadn’t abandoned him. I reckon I’d have tried to feed him with a bottle and take him home with me. It would be so fun to have a pet deer in the back yard of the ministry. No, I’m not too serious. Maybe just a tad serious.

Oh, and Keith killed a rattlesnake in the barn. He was reaching right down toward it to move an old tire when he saw it. The ugly thing was rared up and ready to strike but didn’t make a sound because its rattler was missing. We think one of the feral cats probably bit it off in a fight when it was much smaller.

The temperature really skyrocketed there this weekend and I must have mildly complained because Keith piped up with, “Why don’t we go swim in the river?”

“We don’t have our swimsuits!”

“Baby, can’t you swim in shorts?”

“I don’t know if I can or not. I’ve never thought about it before.”

“I bet you can. Let’s go get in and see if you float.”

So we blew up a couple of tubes then Keith cut a pair of his Wranglers off at the knee (Big Mama, does this sound like your man? I think our men are twins separated at birth). I put on my gray running shorts and we headed to the San Saba river not far from our place. We splashed and talked and dreamed and planned two or three more grandkids and had the greatest time. My firstborn loves water so much. I pined for her the whole time. No, I didn’t get my hair wet. I twisted it up in a clip because he’d said he was taking me to dinner afterward. It was one thing to swim in my shorts. It was another thing entirely to go into town with river hair. Not on your life.

I can’t get internet there (or cell service) which is one reason it’s a great place to write but I invariably miss being out of touch with Siestaville. Melissa called me and told me about the blog she posted (the one right before this one) and gave me a run down of a number of your responses. I could hardly wait to get home and take a look for myself. She and I both marveled that God has given us such a tremendously diverse community here. What a rarity in this polarized world! How many communities of believers like this do any of us get to be part of? We are blessed indeed. It’s so incredibly boring just to hang with people exactly like ourselves.

One Lord. One Body. Five thousand people and one fabulous time.

Amanda, Melissa, and I love you so much.

PS. I nearly flipped over that Esther cake. Unbelievable!! Now, THAT took some talent!

My ladies.

How are you? Ready for the weekend or what? So am I.  It has been a long week, hasn’t it?

As some of you may know, one of my greatest joys in life is to sit around a table, coffee in hand, discussing biblical and theological issues.  This is why my dream job is Research Assistant at Living Proof.  Now most of my closest friends are not really into these sort of endless rants and I need them in my life because without them I would drive everyone including myself absolutely crazy.  But, I am curious about YOU.  So I have two questions to ask you. 

What biblical/theological/doctrinal issue(s) do you wish you were more educated about?

What biblical/theological/doctrinal issue(s) are you tired of hearing people bicker about?

Talk to me.  Each of you have your own unique voice.  And I want to hear it.

Love,

Melissa 

P.S. If you were by any chance getting a little prideful about your baking skills and you need a power-packed dose of very sweet humility, check this out.  

A lady who loves decorating cakes and who has five children under the age of 8 baked this lemon cake covered with fondant for her Esther study group.  She was inspired by the work-book design. Look at the incredible detail.  Not to mention the worn out work-book.  Absolutely stunning. You are my hero!!! 

Houston Siestas! Curtis and I want to invite you to attend MetroLIVE 2009 this summer. MetroLIVE is a Thursday night Bible study at Houston’s First Baptist Church. Curtis will be speaking and Roger Cullins and Tommy Lynch will be leading worship. MetroLIVE is geared toward people in their 20’s and 30’s, whether in college, single or married. And, this is my favorite part, there is free childcare for kids up through kindergarten. MetroLIVE begins in the sanctuary at 7:30. You can check out the web site for more information. We hope to see some of you tomorrow night!

Many of you were in attendance at FBC Woodstock, GA, back in January when Travis Cottrell recorded his new album, Jesus Saves Live. My mom and sister got to be there and had an incredible time. I’m so jealous I didn’t get to go, but I was just days away from having our baby girl! I’m excited to tell you that the CD became available today on iTunes and in Christian bookstores. Travis, we’re all so proud of you! And we can’t imagine our iPods without you!

*Update*
The workbooks are no longer on backorder and are currently being shipped.

Good morning, ladies! I want to make sure that no one missed Beth’s post that gave all the details about our Siesta Summer Bible Study. Here’s the link in case you missed it over the weekend.

If you’re having trouble finding the Me Myself & Lies workbook, our friends at LifeWay would like you to call 1-800-458-2772. They will help you get a book from a store near you or arrange to ship from a store. Basically, there are 10,000 books available right now, but they’re scattered across the country. LifeWay wanted to make sure all their 100+ stores were alerted to the fact that the Siestas were about to come looking for their books. So the stores ordered large numbers to have them on hand and that basically wiped out the stock at LifeWay’s headquarters. The reprint is supposed to arrive at the headquarters in a few days.

And that is probably much more of an explanation than y’all needed. I’ll stop now. Have a great Tuesday!

Hey, You Scripture Memory Buffs!

You girls are ON IT! I’ve been so proud of you all along but in the last month I have seen a significant resurge in commitment. Way to go! That’s exactly what it takes. I have heard testimony after testimony from Siestas about how God has been using your memory work. He’s sure used it in my life. I keep my spiral right by the gear shift in my car and try to say my verses over and over when I’m driving…if I’m not talking to one of my girls on my cell. One thing you do in Houston, Texas is DRIVE so it’s the perfect place for me to keep my spiral. The kitchen would be a waste for me. Then again, next to the coffee pot could work.

Scripture memory is the difference between day and night, isn’t it? The only person who could possibly think it couldn’t make all that much difference is somebody not doing it. The harvest is HUGE. Btw, did you see the short testimony/comment on the previous post from Siesta “Texatheart” who said she’d lost 52 pounds in the last seven months? She believes a significant part of the success God is giving her is Scripture memory. WOW! You never know how God will use His Word! One thing for sure: it never, ever, ever returns void.

Can you believe we are nearly to our halfway point? By the end of this month, we will have stockpiled 12 verses in our brains out of our 2009 commitment to 24! Here’s the cool part: really and truly, how many of us would have memorized 10 verses in the last five months without one another? We would have wanted to, but how many of us would really have done it if we didn’t have each other holding us accountable? That’s the Body of Christ at its best. We cheer each other on to the finish line.

I’ve chosen a portion of Psalm 112 NIV for this segment. Since I can’t decide between verses 1, 4, 7, and 8, I’m just going to bite the bullet and try to memorize the first eight verses over the next month. It’s my birthday month (I love birthdays) and sometimes it’s fun to do something special and particularly memorable to end one year and start another. I’m about to break my own loose rule about Siestas not committing to more than we can reasonably handle but, since God has given me a passion for the whole portion, I’m going to believe Him to give me the unction to memorize it. There’s an even better reason to post the whole segment: You’ll find so many rich verses in it that some of you who haven’t chosen a Scripture yet might grab one that resonates and go with it. Take particular notice of verse 7.

Like most women (and especially mothers, perhaps), I’ve always dealt with fears of varying intensity over something happening to – or with – one of my loved ones. I don’t deal with it all the time or even give way to it much of the time but there are nights when I can’t even go to sleep for imagining what could happen to someone I love. Most of that kind of thinking is our own natural human tendency but some of it is how the enemy preys on naturally selfish people who have finally come to love a handful of others more than themselves. When a wave of totally unfounded fear hits me, if I do not immediately check it, pray, or meditate on several of my memory verses, my heart will even begin race and butterflies will swarm in my stomach. All over something I made up!! I think part of it is being in the information loop of so much bad news with a full-time women’s ministry. For many of you, it may be reading one sad blog after another until catastrophe or loss seems to become the everyday norm instead of the extraordinary. The information age has placed our imaginations on steroids.

No matter what sets a woman up to live in fear, it is NOT the will of God for us to give way to vain imaginations and waste our valuable mental energies dreading all sorts of things that may – but probably won’t ever – happen. And, if they do, we’ll have the grace to handle them at the time but we don’t get the grace in advance to cover our fear and dread. We’re just out there on our own, wrestling made-up angels. It’s exhausting. SO, if you resonate with that, consider Psalm 112:7, Girlfriend.
OK, so here goes mine. Remember, I’m taking the whole month to memorize it.

Psalms 112:1-8 (NIV)
1 Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands.

2 His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.

3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. (Note: from a New Testament or Covenant point of view, I think of wealth and riches in spiritual terms like 1 Cor. 1:4-9 describes.)

4 Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.

5 Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.

6 Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever.

7 He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

8 His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.

Now, let’s hear yours! Name, city, verse and translation!

Thank you so much for taking this journey with me.

Hey, Siestas!

It’s time to get ready for (drum roll, please) the 2nd Annual Siesta Summer Bible Study! Every woman is welcome! If you’ve already got a different Bible study scheduled for the summer with your friends or a group from your church or neighborhood, that’s fabulous. Go forth and do that thing!

For those of you not participating, it is important to know that we will not hog the blog all summer with this Bible study activity. It will only require a post or two every other week. We will have plenty of other things going for all our Siestas.

This opportunity is for the rest of us that either don’t yet have a plan to stay in the Word this summer or just think this sounds different and fun. And is it ever! We had a blast last summer. I really do think it was one of the most unique ways any of us has ever done Bible study. Our class was made up of single women, married women, widowed women, young women, not-nearly-as-young women, church-going women, not-yet-church going women, happy women, angry women, SAHMs, heads of corporations, and women all over the United States, many from Canada (yea, Canadian Siestas!!) and several other nations. It’s hard to find a class like that.

You interested? OK, so here are the answers to the most important questions. Unless you participated with us last year, the concept will not make sense until you’ve read all the instructions so hang in there till the very last word and I think you’ll get the idea. Here goes:

WHAT BIBLE STUDY ARE WE DOING? This summer’s Bible study selection is the workbook called:

Me, Myself and Lies by Jennifer Rothschild. (Due to our summer schedules and our every-other-week format, we will not add Jennifer’s coinciding DVD sessions into our study. You, on the other hand, are welcome to purchase those and work them into your own personal or group experience. All we’re requiring and officially working from in SSBS is the workbook.)

HOW LONG IS IT? Very good question! Jennifer’s study is a perfect 6-weeks long. Doable for the summer, don’t you think??

WHAT’S IT ABOUT? The basic premise of the study is to learn how to guard what we’re saying to ourselves and what we’re stuffing destructively into our minds. Hmmmm. I think I could use that. How about you?

WHEN DO WE START? Since Tuesday is LPM’s normal day for Bible study, we tend to be partial to it. We’ll launch our Siesta Summer Bible Study 2009 on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 then, in like fashion to last year, we will “meet” every other Tuesday from that point on until August 4th. (MORE ON HOW WE WILL MEET TOWARD THE END OF THIS POST.) We’re just talking about meeting four times here. Between those times we’ll each do two weeks of homework on our own. The assignments are not long and but they are packed with riches. I really do think we can work this format into even some of our busiest schedules, Siestas! And, boy, will our families and friends and work mates be glad we did! With all the relational demands and upside-down schedules of summer, this is no time to take off from the study of God’s Word. As I told you last summer, for me, 3 months out of Bible study is roughly 2 ½ months in the pit.

So, here’s the meeting schedule:
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 (1st Mini-Session/LAUNCH/Group instructions)

(DO WEEKS ONE AND TWO OF HOMEWORK ON YOUR OWN.)

Tuesday, July 7, 2009 (2nd Mini-Session/Group Instructions)

(DO WEEKS THREE AND FOUR OF HOMEWORK ON YOUR OWN.)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009 (3rd Mini-Session/Group Instructions)

(DO WEEKS FIVE AND SIX OF HOMEWORK ON YOUR OWN.)

Tuesday, August 4, 2009 (4th Mini-Session/Conclusion)

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO GET STARTED? 3 Very Important Things!
1. You will each need to get your own copy of the workbook “Me, Myself and Lies” by Jennifer Rothschild and have it well in your possession by the time we launch. (We aren’t able to get it for you through Living Proof but I wish we could.) Please don’t wait till the last minute to get it or you may not be able to start on time! If you have a LifeWay Christian Store, you should be able to find it on the shelf but the easiest way may be on line through the LifeWay Website. Here’s the link:
http://www.lifeway.com/e2/shop/?R=829882

2. You are strongly encouraged to pull together a small group if at all possible. You are MORE THAN WELCOME TO PARTICIPATE SOLO, but, for the sake of richest fellowship and best accountability, try as hard as you can to enlist three or four other women to meet with you every other Tuesday. It could be in one of your homes or in a Starbucks, for crying out loud. (You don’t have to wait until the evening to meet but keep in mind that the mini-sessions will not be posted until that morning. If you meet too early in the day, the video may not be on-line yet.) Four meetings this summer shouldn’t be too overwhelming and you can rotate houses if you like. Make sure that the women you invite to participate know that the gatherings will be low on stress and high on much needed fellowship and rich discussion.

If you want to work food into it, by all means do!! That’s what we did last year and it was so much fun. We will not post recipes this year because it’s not part of the original series as it was for “No Other Gods.” Keep the emphasis on a relaxed and refreshing atmosphere where you can develop some wonderful relationships in Christ. In this superficial culture that surrounds us, where friendship takes place through text message (I’m as guilty as anybody!), we have a huge deficit of pure depth in women’s relationships. Let’s make this real. The goal is to have those two weeks of Bible study finished each time you meet (after the launch) but the fellowship will still be worth your while if you couldn’t get all your homework accomplished. Let’s have lots of encouragement without loads of condemnation.

AN ALTERNATIVE: MEETING ON-LINE IN SMALL GROUPS. By far, the way to get the most out of this experience will be to form small groups in your area where you can get together face-to-face. However, if you try really hard and can’t make it happen, get a few women to meet with you on conference call or on line and work through the discussion questions together. It’s not ideal but it works and it is still more effective than going solo. Email worked quite successfully for several groups last summer. If you have no choice but to go solo, that’s fine, too. Just work extra hard to stay connected through the mini-sessions and through participating with feedback. Your Siesta Mama just wants the best for you.

3. Sign up ON LAUNCH DAY (not before and not today) and be so kind to give the biographical information we’ll request. (Questions like, Group or solo? If group, how many? Who’s the group comprised of? Where are you located?) This is one of the most fun parts. We get to see what our class looks like. THIS TIME I WILL ASK YOU TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. AT OUR FIRST GATHERING I’LL ASK YOU TO TAKE ONE PICTURE OF YOUR GROUP (or yourself if you go solo and if you look remarkably like Angelina Jolie, we’re going to get suspicious) AND SEND IT IN BY EMAIL OVER THE NEXT WEEK AND WE’LL TRY TO PUT IT TOGETHER A SLIDE SHOW. Wouldn’t it be fun to see what we look like?? Don’t do it yet. I’ll tell you when. MORE ON THAT LATER.

SO, BETH, CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE MORE ABOUT HOW IT WILL WORK? Sure!

On each of our meeting days (every other week starting Tuesday, June 23rd through Tuesday, August 4th), I will “facilitate” our summer study through a video mini-session about 15 minutes long. In it I’ll give you instructions for discussion questions or activities for your group meeting that day based on our previous two weeks of study. (THE VIDEOS ARE PITIFUL, ONE-TIME-TAKES, DONE IN-HOUSE WITHOUT PROFESSIONALS. AND IT’S PART OF WHAT MAKES IT FUN. LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS DRAMATICALLY. THEY’RE SO BAD THAT SOMETIMES SABRINA AND I GET SO TICKLED THAT WE CRY. BUT THE INFORMATION IS REAL AND THE STUDY IS SERIOUS BUSINESS.) You will then implement them into your gathering. If at all possible, try to watch them as a small group at the very beginning of your meeting time so that everybody’s on the same page. (Bar any unforeseen technical difficulties, I will make sure the post is up first thing on those Tuesday mornings.)

YOU’LL CHECK BACK IN EVERY SINGLE TIME WE “MEET” AND THIS IS HOW:
Your way of checking back in with me will be by telling me something about your gathering afterward in a comment to that same post. It will be left up all day Wednesday for your feedback. YOU WILL BE INSTRUCTED NOT TO LEAVE A COMMENT UNTIL AFTER YOUR SMALL GROUP MEETING. The comments are meant to be your feedback to the study. I’ll remind you of that each time.

It’s going to be so much fun! And, at the top of our list of priorities, it’s going to be a joy to God, attract His wonderful favor, bring Him some substantial glory, and help keep us out of the ditch.

REMEMBER, TODAY IS NOT SIGN-UP DAY. BUT, if you’ve already got a plan going for Bible study this summer, let’s hear it! Let’s have the entire population of Siestaville in the Word of God!

I dearly love you.

Ladies. Three words.

Cookie brownie bars.

Oh my word.

If you should come across this Betty Crocker Hershey’s Cookie Brownie Bar mix on your next visit to the grocery store, do yourself a favor and grab a box. You might even want to hide it under the other groceries in your cart. Another shopper might be too lazy to go find their own and take yours instead. That is called covetousness. And also stealing.

Mom and I (Mom, really) made these last night when we were at her house. Then she had the gall to send them home with me. Doesn’t she know I just had a baby? I still have 7 pounds to lose!

While we were having our treat, Jackson kept interrupting Bibby with pleas to watch Larry Boy (of Veggie Tales fame). I said, “Sorry, Mom. But isn’t this what you always wanted?”

When grandkids were only a twinkle in her eye, she began dreaming of the day when she would enjoy Veggie Tales with them. Only in her dream she is wearing a Larry Boy costume.

“Larry Bibby,” she said, “I’ll call myself Larry Bibby.”

If, by the grace of God, we ever find an adult-size Larry Boy costume, I promise you will be the first to know. Right after Jackson.

Hello friends!  

LPL – Laramie WY from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.

Thank you, Rich!