Let’s take a tad of a stroll down memory lane and review all the amazing studies we’ve already climbed into together: We had a wonderful time studying Kelly Minter’s No Other Gods in 2008, Jennifer Rothschild’s Me Myself and Lies in 2009 and in 2010 we went back to our roots and studied Kelly Minter’s Ruth: Loss, Love & Legacy.

With that said, drum roll please…The book that we’ll be going through together in the summer of 2012 – Kelly Minter’s Nehemiah:  A Heart That Can Break.

Okay. So what if I’m crazy about the way she writes and invites us into the Scriptures?? I can’t help myself. We’re going to do this third one together, too. Now, you know how your blog Mama has to go through the study herself before she invites a mass of women into it. I’ve spent the Spring with Kelly in Nehemiah and loved every second of it. I couldn’t wait for it to come out so I made her send me her unedited version so my copy is in a big old white notebook. You’ll get to have the really gorgeous workbook instead. I can hardly wait for us to start it together. You and I have talked before about how summer is a great time to take off from school but it is NOT a great time to take off from the Scriptures. Three months out of an in-depth experience with God through His Word is plenty of time to find ourselves in a pit. No thanks. Let’s commit and hold one another accountable. The most steadfast victories are planned for in advance. I believe that with all my heart so consider this post our plan for summer V-I-C-T-O-R-Y.

Let me fill you in on some details. If you’ve been in summer Bible study with us before, our approach will be very similar.

Who: As in past years, our biggest hope is that you will assemble a group of in-real-life friends, co-workers, family members, acquaintances, church family, Siestas in your town, neighbors, or whatever mix of ladies God puts on your heart. (If per chance you went through this study this Spring, think of leading a group through it this round! I’ve already been through it too but having a Siesta experience is a whole new thing.) If somehow you just don’t have access to a face-to-face group, with Skyping and Face Time and email, you could also experience a fair amount of community in different locations so that’s allowed, too. We’re not looking to be legalistic here. We just want FULL benefits. Yes, you can go solo but, man oh man, try as hard as you can to get at least one partner or you’re liable to have a difficulty seeing it through. Do your best to connect with a couple of girls on line. The accountability and community aspects of this summer experience are vital. Scripture tells us to stir one another up in the faith and to call one another to love and good works and to bear one another’s burdens and pray for one another and remind one another of God’s faithfulness. 1 Corinthians 12:21 says “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’, nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’” The Word says WE NEED EACH OTHER.

What: Spend the summer together in the Word! Our workbook (also called a “member book”) is a six-week Bible study on Nehemiah, framed beautifully by a set of seven DVD sessions taught by Kelly Minter. By all means, if you’re able, purchase the DVD’s and take your group through her weekly teachings! But just so you know: all that will be required to participate with us here in Siesta Summer Bible Study is the workbook. We will “meet” every other week to discuss two weeks of our homework. (See further details below.)

When: We are partial to Tuesday since that’s our normal night for Bible study at LPM. So we will launch our SSBS4 on Tuesday, June 26, and “meet” every other Tuesday until August 7th. Yes, you can meet another day of the week if necessary but you’ll see when the time comes that it’s the most fun when we all do it on the same day.

I’ll give you the basic schedule now so you’ll know what to expect but we’ll have much more to say about it closer to the time of our launch. If we don’t answer your questions now, save them and see if they get answered within the next several weeks.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012 (1st Mini-Session/LAUNCH/Group instructions)

(In the two weeks that follow our first Mini-Session, you will DO WEEKS ONE AND TWO OF HOMEWORK ON YOUR OWN. If you’re participating in Kelly’s weekly DVD teachings, you’ll need to meet each week with your group rather than every other. We’ll let you guys work those details out on your own)

Tuesday, July 10, 2012 (2nd Mini-Session/Group Instructions)

(In the two weeks that follow, DO WEEKS THREE AND FOUR OF HOMEWORK ON YOUR OWN.)

Tuesday, July 24, 2012 (3rd Mini-Session/Group Instructions)

(In the two weeks that follow, DO WEEKS FIVE AND SIX OF HOMEWORK ON YOUR OWN.)

Tuesday, August 7, 2012 (4th Mini-Session/Conclusion)

Where: Wherever you are most comfortable. Kelly’s workbooks are part of the Living Room Series. Her core group meets in her living room and they often share a meal together. (Stud that she is, Kelly puts fabulous recipes in her workbooks. I am fairly confident in saying that you won’t be finding any recipes in my studies, fabulous or otherwise.) So, cook it up, if you can! But, you do what works for your group. You might meet in a different house each week so no one has to keep her house clean all summer. Grin. We’ve had some siesta groups meet in restaurants and coffee shops. Find your groove and stick to it!

Why: A summer lived in Bible study is a summer lived in victory! And, anyway, it’s what we do around here at Living Proof. This ministry exists to invite women – and girls these days, thank You, God, for Lindsee! – into a vivid and lively relationship with Jesus Christ through the study of His Word. (Lindsee is taking a VERY FULL group of local teenage girls through So Long Insecurity this summer so she won’t be leading the younger women through Nehemiah. But many of your girls might enjoy our regular Siesta experience. It just all depends on their maturity level in the Scriptures. We’ll leave that to you!)

How:

1. Get your workbooks! Our good friends at LifeWay have promised to have plenty of them for us, but you won’t want to wait until the last minute. You can find them online on LifeWay’s web site.

2. Assemble your small group. Again, you are more than welcome to participate solo or with an online discussion group, 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. Let the ladies know that the gatherings will be low on stress and high on much needed fellowship and rich discussion. Keep the emphasis on a relaxed and refreshing atmosphere where you can develop some wonderful relationships in Christ.

3. Sign up on the blog on our official Launch Day- Tuesday, June 26. We’ll ask you a few fun questions about your group.

4. I will facilitate the study by posting 15-minute videos on the mornings of our meeting days. We don’t do it livestream so that you can meet any time that is convenient for you. I will give you instructions on these blog videos for your discussion times and maybe some activities. All will be based on the previous two weeks of study. The videos will be like the ones you’re used to seeing on this blog – very casual and homemade! The idea is to incorporate the videos into the beginning of your meeting times if possible. In case the video aspect of the study doesn’t work for you, you will also find the discussion questions typed out on the blog.

5. After your gathering, you’ll check back in by telling us something about your meeting via a comment on that same post. Don’t worry if your group can’t meet on Tuesdays. You’ll still be able to find the post and comment throughout the week.

What if:

-I want to use the discussion questions in the back of the workbook instead of the ones on Beth’s videos. Go for it!

-I really, really want to do the study but it’s not in the budget. Email us.

-I’ve already committed to doing another Bible study this summer? That’s great! Stick with it.

-I don’t want to participate but still want to be a part of the blog. We totally understand and want to see you around Siestaville this summer. Know that the Bible Study will only take up one post every other week.

We can’t wait to study the Word with you this summer! Lord Jesus, take us on a wild ride! You are the greatest adventure in all of life.

We love you, Siestas!

I’m thinking of Johnnie Haines, who was my mom’s best friend and running buddy for as long as I can remember. We spent more time playing at her house than anywhere else, except for church. Maybe. She’s always  kept us laughing with her wit and sass and she’s taught me a thing or two about raising a son. God bless her for not knocking my head off when I reveled in tattling on her boys.

I’m thinking of Kathy Kolkhorst, whose daughter was my very first friend in kindergarten. She displays Jesus in her joy and she never stops serving others. She was always an outspoken lover of Christ and she helped influence me to follow Him. (She gave me my first Psalty tape!) God bless Mrs. Kolkhorst for all the carpooling and for leading our Brownie troop for years.

Then there’s our dear Mrs. Mary Helen. What a precious saint of God. That woman would bring sacks of groceries, boxes of baked treasures from Three Brothers Bakery, and huge Ziplock bags of homemade cookies to our house when Mom was out of town speaking. Normally she would only be gone one night, but Mrs. Mary Helen wanted to spoil us. And that she did. Her kindness and love were warm and comfy like a perfectly worn-in blanket. She was beautiful on the outside with her pretty white hair and her sweet smile and oh- so-stunning on the inside with her generous spirit.

Women like Aunt Johnnie, Mrs. Kolkhorst, and Mrs. Mary Helen made up our village. Melissa and I were shaped, in part, by the small and large deposits they made in our lives.

I think Village Moms have two important roles – to hold up the arms of other women as they do the work God has given them, and to collectively teach Village Children about the love of Jesus. (As Lindsee said so well, Village Moms don’t have to be called “Mom” to be a mother.)  I can hardly put into words how my Village Relationships have blessed me.  Experiencing life in community with church members in our neighborhood has been rich. This year I’ve learned how to support other moms and how to let myself be supported. It’s a beautiful thing!

I love that several times a week, my kids get to see how my girlfriends love and serve Jesus. Yesterday some of us Village Moms had a semi-spontaneous prayer session (not because we were that spiritual but because we were that needy for Jesus). Three little preschool girls ran circles around us while we prayed and one precious 9-month-old foster daughter sat, bounced, and rolled right in the middle of us. Some of our praying was done with eyes open and there were no few distractions, but my heart was so full.  I know one day Jackson and Annabeth will talk about how Mrs. Crista, Mrs. Lisa, Mrs. Debra and so many other godly friends lived out their faith in front of them.

It is good to be a mother. It is good to bless children, whether they’re yours or they’re in your village. It is good for children to be surrounded, protected, loved and taught by a community of God-fearing women.

There is a Village in India where young girls are being rescued from a future of certain enslavement and exploitation in brothels. As Our Own, a Christ-centered adoptive care ministry, is working tirelessly to provide rescue and lifelong after-care for these precious children. These girls don’t age out of a program and get launched out on their own – they are daughters for life. The girls are living, breathing evidence of God’s power to redeem. Their destiny is changed from one of destruction and misery to a life of love, security, education, and hope in Christ.

In honor of the Village Moms who loved me, carpooled me, coached me, cooked for me, prayed for me, bought Girl Scout cookies from me, gave thousands of hugs, listened to prayer requests on behalf of my pets, taught me in VBS, and celebrated birthdays with me, I am making a Mother’s Day donation to As Our Own. In honor of the Village Moms who are now walking beside me as I mother my children, I am giving sacrificially to see my beautiful little sisters in India thrive and flourish.

Siestas, will you be a Village Mom for our girls in India? They may never see our faces, but they will know our love and concern. It takes a significant amount of financial resources to provide the level of adoptive care that As Our Own gives. Will you make a donation in honor of your mom or of a Village Mom who made a difference in your life? Doing so will make a dramatic difference in the lives of these young girls who are so loved by God.

Happy Mother’s Day, Siestas. Thank you so much for your support.

All my love,

Amanda

My hope is that, if I somehow miss the mark and don’t find that perfect balance between honoring this flock and honoring my family, perhaps each entity has been with me long enough to know my heart. I have never been more honored by a series appearing on this blog than my beloved sister Gay’s 7 installments. They were, each one, completely genuine and written in complete honesty. And they all still stand as a testament to the inconceivable power, grace, and healing of God.

But her story goes on.

And so do the rest of ours.

And life is hard, the devil is mean, the flesh gets weak, but the love of God stays strong.

I simply write today to say that you will never waste a prayer on anyone around here. We are all flesh and blood, weak in our natural selves, but (many of us) deeply committed to our pursuit of Christ. We’re not playing a game here. He is everything to us. Our joy. Our Strength. Our Refuge when we’re hurting. Our Rock when we’re rocking.

We established this blog with an unwavering commitment to remaining real in our witness and in our encouragement and exhortation. Thus far, we have to my knowledge held onto that commitment for dear life and, goodness knows, that’s a praise to God alone. This post is just an attempt to continue in that vein. We want to stay real with you. And what’s real is that Gay’s story is still being written even amid a painful turn of events and by the faithful God who spoke her name before the foundation of the world.

And my story is still being written. And I know your hearts well enough to imagine that right now you would say, “And mine, too.”

I wish it was tidier but it’s not. Gay has suffered a hard blow. I am heartbroken for her and also just plain heartbroken. One of these days there will be a next chapter from Gay, whether it’s here or elsewhere. It will not negate a single one she’s written. It will simply add to.  It also does not negate a single thing I wrote or shared in Mercy Triumphs. I love her so much. I know you love her, too. We do not condemn here. We do not shame. We believe that our God can conquer all, recover all, redeem all, and use all.

I wish we could have it more together around here sometimes, sisters, but we remain completely cast upon our Savior and we live one day at a time. I love you immensely and I thank you for your patience with us. We are works in progress, all of us. Would you be so gracious not to press too hard for more details right now? To tell you the truth, they’re in flux and less than clear anyway. Let’s just leave some space for the beautiful healing mercies of God and let most of our talk take place from our knees.

You mean something to me. Something down deep. I want so much to serve you responsibly.

With much love,

Beth

The fall of 2003 brought a lot of changes to my little world. I had just graduated from high school that previous May and instead of immediately scampering off to college, I decided to stay in Houston to attend a community college for one year. Although I felt slightly left behind since most of my friends scattered, two things kept me sane that following year, my best friend who also stayed put, and Bible study.

My mom had previously attended a Beth Moore Bible study and although I’d heard of her, and knew her name, I really had no idea the impact she’d later have on my life. That fall semester my mom asked if I wanted to attend Bible study with her, and knowing I had nothing to lose, I agreed to it. So we made our way that September evening to Houston’s First Baptist Church and for the next ten weeks sat through the teachings and tapings of “Living Beyond Yourself”, which also happened to be the very first Bible study I’d ever finished in my life. Mind you, I grew up in the church, but I devoured this study day in and day out. As I spent time alone studying God’s Word, I can honestly say that semester changed the course of my life. I wanted Jesus for myself.

No words could ever convey how grateful I am to my parents for raising me in a church going, godly home. In fact, I learned what a true servant was by watching my mom serve the church joyfully week in and week out, and I don’t see her quitting any time soon. However, it wasn’t until college that I realized while my own mother taught me to love and serve the church, this firecracker of a lady named Beth Moore taught me to how to love Jesus and how to love and study His word. The fact that she had poured out her heart and soul and taken time to mother women across the globe through her Bible studies was not lost on me. I claimed her as my spiritual mother and throughout college introduced her to my sorority sisters a time or two. I was extremely grateful for the gift she was.

Through Beth’s teachings, writings and Bible studies, I know she has not only mothered me, but I know for a fact that is how many of you, our dear siestas, feel about our Siesta Mama. How blessed are we?

Fast forward almost ten years later, in my wildest dreams I would have never guessed the Lord would place me directly under her leadership. I can honestly say that who she is as a Bible study teacher is exactly who she is as a boss, mentor, friend, and God-loving spiritual mother. No pretention, no games, just pure authenticity. I’ve been planted among 11 other spiritual mothers here at LPM and my love tank is over-flowing. I sincerely pray I never take their incredible wisdom for granted.

To put it into simple terms, I feel beyond spoiled.

I have yet to experience motherhood, and although my desire is to one day be a wife and mother, while I’m waiting, the only way I can adequately say thank you to my own mother (who I’m becoming just like) and to Beth as a spiritual mother is to pour myself out to the younger girls I’ve been given the privilege to love and serve. Those with mothers and those without. What I’ve learned is that you don’t need little mouths calling you “mom” to be a mother. You can leave a legacy of mothering with or without birthing your own children.

A little over a year ago I sat at the funeral of a young mother who left behind a 16-year-old daughter and it was at that moment that I realized how much I loved and needed my own mother. What in the world would I do without her?

As Mother’s Day is fast approaching, I am acutely aware that my situation is rare, especially as I think about the little girls in India who’ve been born to mothers enslaved in the brothels. Little girls, their daughters—some as young as seven or eight years old—are being forced into the sex trade. But the cycle of enslavement doesn’t have to continue. These mothers strive to protect their children from this generational fate, and As Our Own offers a way for these brave women to give their children the life they themselves are denied. In Jesus name, As Our Own is an answer to their desperate prayers of rescue. Let’s support them and be a part of the solution and their story.

Siestas, you may not know what an impact you made in the lives of these precious girls last Mother’s Day, but rest assured it was eternal and in fact, you haven’t stopped giving. After our sweet Amanda posted last year, As Our Own heard from hundreds of you from over 45 different states and four different countries and collectively you all helped raise over $27,000. That is amazing!

Maybe you’re like me and you’re in a season of waiting, take this opportunity as one from the Lord and honor and bless a little girl across the world who needs a mother like you to love and provide for her from afar.

To mother is to sacrifice in more ways than one.

To give these girls a spiritual inheritance is to sacrifice financially for them.

Would you consider joining me in honoring your mother, daughter, sister, aunt, spiritual mother or maybe another mother figure of your own by giving to As Our Own? You may never see the fruit of your sacrifice, but the Lord will honor it, and there is no doubt the girls you’re giving value to will know the impact of your sacrifice.

Instead of stressing about the perfect gift, just follow this link to donate to As Our Own and then follow the instructions to download a card that explains the donation you made in her name. I promise, along with a hug, it would mean the world to her.

Your gift is making an eternal difference and impact. Thank you so, so much!

“This sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness, that brings me to my knees.” *

We were asked to wear bright colors, teal specifically, since it signifies cervical cancer, the disease that took her. The family asked that the service be a celebration of life. But I couldn’t even celebrate much less think a coherent thought because I was just so terribly sad. They said she had been ready to go. She had been in unbearable pain. I wiped the tears from my eyes enough to watch the video montage. It physically hurt to look at those photographs flashing across the screen. I felt a piercing in my chest; I felt like I couldn’t properly hold air in my lungs.

“The sharp knife of a short life.” *

A few years ago, I heard a story that shocked me at the time. Apparently a woman, maybe in her late forties, had died unexpectedly. The minister, a family friend, went, reluctantly, to relay this bitter news to her elderly mother. Well, right there in front of his eyes, the mother had a heart attack and died. The horror of this story initially surprised me but then a few months ago my Pappaw almost had a heart attack at his own brother’s funeral. Perhaps emotions are more profoundly connected to the physical body than we acknowledge.

Anyway, at the memorial service, the minister who had gotten to know my friend pretty well through her battle with cancer, said that when her life was nearing the end, when she was very much in and out of consciousness, she would suddenly, just out of nowhere, start smiling ear to ear—beaming—even raising her arms and clapping her hands.

What is going on here? My mind raced at the thought.

“When Christ shall come
With shout of acclamation
And take me home
What joy shall fill my heart” * 

Remember, in the fourth gospel, when the sisters sent a message to Jesus?

“Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

Jesus responds with an assuring word that Lazarus’ illness would not lead to death but rather to God’s glory and He takes his sweet time getting to Bethany. When He finally gets there Lazarus has already been in the tomb four days. “Lord,” Mary said, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus sees Mary and the others weeping over Lazarus, the text says He becomes greatly disturbed and deeply moved. The Greek verbs here are notoriously difficult; scholars puzzle over whether Jesus’ response here is an outburst of anger or a display of grief. Lots of them say Jesus is angry about the perpetual unbelief of Mary and the others. But then something happens. He asks Mary, “Where have you laid him?” Somewhere between where Mary had knelt at Jesus’ feet and Lazarus’ tomb Jesus began to weep.

Why was Jesus weeping?

Had the sadness overtaken Him all the sudden? Here, regardless of whether Jesus was angry about human unbelief or not, Jesus enters the madness of it all, the dizzying pain and confusion of human death. And the total despair of those He loved. Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Maybe Jesus also wept, in part, because he knew His own death was very soon to come. Funerals remind us of our own condition too, that our bodies will indeed be defeated by death before they’re ultimately raised to new life.

At the end of the service last week when the precious family, a family who had been through so much heartbreak, arose to walk out before the rest of us, the father stopped and looked at all of us who were either crying or staring blankly. He suddenly motioned to the hundreds of us gathered in that sanctuary, and, he began to clap. I don’t know why he was clapping. Here we were at the memorial of this man’s beloved twenty-nine year old daughter and he was clapping.

“I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up… To more than I can be.” * 

All I know is this gesture was one of the most moving things I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure how or why it all happened the way it did but we all joined in right with him. Clapping had never felt so good. Maybe we were clapping for Lindsey’s life or maybe we were clapping for life itself. Perhaps we were clapping for all the pain that her parents had to watch, endure, and even survive. Or then again, maybe we were just clapping because God had somehow allowed us to make it through the incredible sadness of that service alive. I suppose most of us were clapping because we still seemed to have some kind of miraculous and collective hope even after all of the dumbfounding and unspeakable suffering Lindsey had endured.

“Faith still creates miracles,” her family assured us.

My two friends and I left the funeral quietly, in something of a daze. But the three of us went out to lunch, nonetheless, and there we toasted our friend. We talked about how brave she was. How she never gave up her faith and how she never grew bitter. We spoke admiringly about how much she just simply loved human existence and how so often we worry about things that just don’t matter one bit. And I couldn’t help but think about the fictional main character, the Reverend John Ames, in Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead, who is dying from a heart condition in the narrative. Knowing he has only a short time left, Ames writes an account for his young son. At one point he says:

 “I have been thinking about existence lately. In fact, I have been so full of admiration for existence that I have hardly been able to enjoy it properly . . . I feel sometimes as if I were a child who opens its eyes on the world once and sees amazing things it will never know any names for and then has to close its eyes again. I know this is all mere apparition compared to what awaits us, but it is only lovelier for that. There is a human beauty in it. And I can’t believe that, when we have all been changed and put on incorruptibility, we will forget our fantastic condition of mortality and impermanence, the great bright dream of procreating and perishing that meant the whole world to us. In eternity this world will be Troy, I believe, and all that has passed here will be the epic of the universe, the ballad they sing in the streets. Because I don’t imagine any reality putting this one in the shade entirely, and I think piety forbids me to try” (Marilynne Robinson, Gilead).

So the three of us talked and talked about how she really lived and courageously died. We spoke about how strange it felt to us that some of us die young and others of us just go right on living. I hadn’t really noticed until that moment but it turns out it was a uniquely beautiful day. Arguably one of the most beautiful days in Houston all year. I didn’t really even want it to be, honestly. I kind of wanted it to be dark, ugly, and muggy outside. Where was the rain, anyway? Instead, everything was dazzling like a thousand diamonds under a huge bright expanse. Low seventies, a tender breeze, clear skies, birds singing, butterflies dancing, everything blooming; the air everywhere was infused with fragrant magnolia. There in that moment, I couldn’t escape the downright beauty of it all, even if I had intended to.

_________________

Please note the quotations in italics with an asterisk following were all songs played at the memorial service (Angel by Sarah McLachlan, If I Die Young by The Band Perry, How Great Thou Art as performed by Carrie Underwood, and You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban).

That day the artist going up on stage was Christy Nockels. My pastor of 25 years, John Bisagno, used to say, “All people bring gifts to the church. Some people are gifts to the church.” Christy would be one of those. A year or so ago (not sure how long it’s been), we invited her to one of our LPM Tuesday night community Bible studies. As I sat to the side and watched the women packed in that sanctuary and the aisles, lifting their faces throne-ward, many of them with their eyes closed and their hands raised, and listened to their voices in almost perfect pitch with hers, I had a revelation of sorts. I realized that in so many ways, Christy is to this generation what Amy Grant was to mine. She helps place words on the tongues of true worshipers who want so much to express themselves to God but don’t always know how to say what they feel. That makes a person a gift.

As I got out of my car and headed across to Chick Fil A, I spied my two friends, Christy and Nathan, and they were grinning at me just like I was grinning at them. We hugged then headed into the small RV so we could chat a little while. Mike McCloskey, who was managing the evening for them, asked me if I wanted anything from the restaurant while we were visiting and, of course, I did. “Nuggets and an Ice Dream? Oh, and Polynesian Sauce?” And in minutes, I had them. While I spooned Ice Dream into my mouth (always spoon down, for some reason), we conversed quickly like a couple of people on borrowed time.  We talked mostly about their kids, my kids, and my grandkids, and did a bit of musing about Passion 2012 and had some wild thoughts about Passion 2013. We got out pictures on our iPhones and even watched a video their son Noah had created. (Actually, it was astonishingly impressive. But I guess his gene pool is nothing to whine about, now is it?)

Mike reminded them about the time and Christy glanced over at me and said, “Hey, Beth, do you care if we rehearse one song really quickly?”

“Absolutely not. Please, do!”

And so I sat right there on the couch in that RV, six inches from Christy to my right and Nathan across from us, leaning in with his guitar. We were all three crouched in about 4 square feet. And I listened to a song I’d never heard from a voice truly as beautiful as any I’ve ever heard. The album is out now so you may well have already heard it but I really need you to join me in the intimacy – no, the strange sanctity, really – of that small RV and hear it again. With nobody else listening. Just you. Just the voice singing. Just that guitar. And Jesus.

“I’m so concerned with what I look like from the outside.

Will I blossom into what You hope I’ll be.

Yet You’re so patient just to help me see.

The blooms come from a deeper seed that You planted in me.

Sometimes it’s hard to grow when everybody’s watching.

To have your heart pruned by the one who knows best.

And though I’m bare and cold, I know my season’s coming.

And I’ll spring up in Your endless faithfulness.

With my roots deep in You, I’ll grow the branch that bears the fruit.

And though I’m small, I’ll still be standing in the storm.

‘Cause I am planted by the river by Your streams of living water.

And I’ll grow up strong and beautiful, all for Your splendor, Lord.

So with my arms stretched out, I’m swaying to Your heartbeat.

I’m growing with the sound of Your voice calling.

You’re bringing out the beauty that You have put in me.

For Your joy and for Your glory falling.”

Written by Christy Nockels and Nathan Nockels, Copyright 2012 sixsteps Music/worshiptogether.com Songs/Sweater Weather Music (ASCAP) (Admin. at EMICMGPublishing.com)

As that melody floated in the air, I pictured Annabeth running down the path from my house to Big Pops and Memmaw’s, sunlight dancing in her dark honey hair.  I pictured Amanda and Melissa, each of them growing up before my eyes in Christ. So, so different from the other, just the way they’ve always been, but equally breathtaking. My mind cased across the faces of so many women I’ve seen, faces reflecting the light bouncing from an open page of Scripture. Oh, now, you know I love our brothers. But I’m not called so much to our brothers. I’m called mostly to sisters. And somehow the lyrics touched me in a deep place for all of us. Deep enough that I’ve thought of it every day since then and played it many times in the same car I pulled into that parking lot. Now I know it almost by heart. But that day I knew it more by faith. More by growing experience.

I want to say to you today that I watch many of you fight this good fight, trying to keep your equilibrium in this crazy culture where – for the most part – a woman is as desirable as she is sensual. Or, on the other side of the spectrum, she’s as valuable as she is marketable. I want to cheer you on and say to you, Good Job! And Don’t Give Up! And don’t forget, no matter what this world tells you, that the most gorgeous blooms come from a deeper seed. The lyrics ring so true. “It’s hard to grow up when everybody’s watching.” And sometimes God lets others behold the pruning process in us when we’d just as soon have done it in private. But He always knows what He’s doing. And He is only doing you good. Never evil. Never harm. He cannot be unbiased toward you. The blood of His Son flows through your veins. Even through the silence He is talking. Even in the stillness, He is moving. He is hemming you in. He is closing in on you to open you up to Him.

All that you are going through, all that you are learning, is bringing out the beauty that He has put in you. And some of those same folks who watched the pruning will see the blooming.

I just want you to know that I already see it happening. And others already see it, too. And if you’d look really close, not into your rear view mirror, but into His Word, I think you could even catch a glimpse of it.

You get more beautiful by the day, Darling Child. Don’t be discouraged. Don’t decide it can’t matter all that much. “For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints, as you still do.” (Hebrews 6:10) He will see to you until you are stunning for His splendor.

I know your season’s coming.

PS. I totally forgot until this morning (Tuesday) that we snapped this picture that day in the RV on my iPhone. If you’re like me, you love pictures in blog posts. If you’re not like those of us who do, stop reading now. Laughing. Man, I so love you guys.

I am so in the mood to interact with you and I don’t have a ton of time but I’ll try to make the best of what I have! Want to do some Q&A for the next little while? I’ll try my hardest to take the first 20 questions that are best suited for this format. (Mainly it’s a matter of time. The best kinds of questions are those more easily answered in the brief time frame we have. In other words, this is not the time for us to expound on deep theological issues or how to get past childhood trauma. Your questions can be fun or trivial or serious or simply information oriented. If I pass over yours, it was simply a time issue – OR, even more likely, that I just didn’t have an answer. Or MAYBE it’s a surprise I need to save for later.

I’m not a big expert. This is just kind of a lopsided slice of how two friends sitting across a small table at Starbucks might get to know each other a little better.

So, let’s talk if you’d like to! Just so you can picture where I am and what I look like right now:

DO I LOVE YOU OR WHAT???

When you write in, tell me where you are right now. It will help me picture you on the other side of the table.

I’m crazy about you.

For the siesta who asked about the color of lipstick on my coffee cup. I loved that question! Here you go:

The Stila shade is “Petal” and J Lo inspired me to get this shade. It’s a stain and I like it but it sort of tends to smear if I’m not really careful to let it dry completely before I add the gloss. Needs more time to set than other stains I’ve tried.

The gloss/plumper I wear over it and many other stains is Buxom’s (such a stupid, embarrassing name) “Sandy.” It makes everything have kind of a creamy look. I love it.

You guys are such a blast! I wish I could have done more! I’ll try to do a few more in the next 24 hours if possible but, if I can’t, I love you just the same.

Here’s what you do: In a comment to this post, write a 200-250 word testimony about how God has accomplished a work in you or through you that leaves no other viable explanation (in your eyes) than Himself. Use your words carefully and save them all for your testimony! You might consider doing it on a word document then cutting and pasting it into a comment so you can really think about what you want to say. Your participation through a comment will act as your automatic release for the publication of your testimony if yours is selected, SO, be sure, Sweet Thing, that you don’t say more than you mean to. You know your blog mama’s trying to protect you here.

Listen, these will be such a blast because, even if only 5 get to be selected for the booklet, just think how we are going to encourage one another and build up each other’s faith! NOT ONE STORY WILL BE WASTED. Thousands of eyes see these posts and comments. Girlfriend, T-E-S-T-I-F-Y! I will be sitting on pins and needles to watch these come in. Let’s call the deadline for your entries midnight on Thursday, April 26th.

The five who are selected will be contacted by LifeWay and will win the following:

• Free registration of the 2012 Living Proof Live simulcast for a small group of 7-14 of your friends!
• Free copy of Praying God’s Word
• Free James member book (I realize lots of you may already have one of these but I’ll get these five signed if you want.)
  
• A special section in the Living Proof Live simulcast listening guide including YOUR story, Girlfriend! (We’ll want your picture, too, if you’re willing to submit it to us. You’ll be contacted and asked for it if you are selected.)
  

One of the things we’re so excited about this year for our Living Proof Live Simulcast is that, for the very first time, small groups and INDIVIDUALS are able to participate. If it’s anything like previous years, women will be joining us from church buildings, military bases, and prisons, but this year for the FIRST TIME, also from living rooms and couches. You can watch all day in your jammies if you want to!

If this event sounds fun to you, go ahead and get that thing on the calendar: September 15, 2012. We are believing God to permeate walls, embattled minds, and rock-hard hearts and speak words of life, freedom, redemption, ministry. AND UNITY, for crying out loud.You game??
 I love you guys so much. Can’t wait to hear from you!

From LifeWay:

If you would like more information about the simulcast or how you can be a host, visit www.lifeway.com/lplsimulcast. 

This is the first Living Proof Live of the year and the team could not be more excited to land in Kansas City to see what God is up to this weekend!  There is never any way for us to tell if an event is going to be sold out or not, so when it is, and we’ve already snatched 10 tickets, we know it’s a God thing. No doubt He is up to something in the minds and hearts of those attending this weekend!

Can you believe the last LPL was in November? It’s been a good four month sabbatical, so to refresh your memory, please remember that these 10 tickets are for those of you that really desire to attend this conference, but just flat cannot afford it at this time. Our desire is to bless you!

If that is you and you qualify, meaning, you didn’t just forget to buy your ticket in time but you really just cannot afford it, then the first 10 of you that call the Living Proof office will receive a Siesta Scholarship ticket! Just call 1-888-700-1999 and Kimberly will get you taken care of.

May I be as bold to say you might want to call pretty quick? I have a feeling these will fly out of Kimberly’s hands in no time.

We cannot wait to hear a report of how God showed up and showed off at the very first LPL of 2012. May He be lifted ever so high and His name alone be praised! Oh, and if you’re headed that way, don’t be shy, let us know!

And lastly, would you please join me in praying for Beth and the team as they make their way this very day to Kansas City and prepare to serve you in Jesus’ name? Your prayers do make a difference. Believe that, Sister! We love you!