I have wonderful news. Maryam and Marzieh have been released from prison in Iran. Praise the Lord!
You can read about their release here and here.
They may still have to face a court hearing, so please pray that their release will be unconditional. Also pray for the restoration of their health, their protection, and that God will continue to strengthen their faith.
Psalm 98
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
The LORD has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
make music to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn—
shout for joy before the LORD, the King.
Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy;
let them sing before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Here and Now, There and Then
Is there something you've always dreamed of doing? I've always wanted to do two things. Well, if I thought hard enough about it I could probably name a hundred things, but we'll stick with two. First, when I was a kid I used to dream about galloping across a golf course on a horse. Don't ask me why! Second, I've always wanted to work in a bookstore.
In college I was sort of an unofficial Beth Moore book supplier to a lot of the Christian girls on my campus. Our resource director, Diane, would hook me up with the books that had been requested and then I'd get them to my friends or friends-of-friends. The only problem was that since they were my mom's books, I had the hardest time letting the girls pay for them. Diane probably had to mark most of them down as donations, which I'm sure she was pleased to do, but the point is I was a terrible book seller!
Even so, the dream of working in a bookstore has lived on in my heart. Every time I drive past a LifeWay store, I imagine myself working there. I think it would be so cool!
Well, this semester I've been getting to work at our resource table at Bible study with Diane, Evangeline, and several other co-workers and volunteers. It's kind of been a scaled-down version of my dream and I've loved it! It's been really fun to stand behind the tables and help our ladies with questions they have about the products. (But it's so hard for me to take their payment. I'm still compelled to say, "Oh, don't worry about it!")
Tonight is the last session of our Revelation study. It's been an amazing semester and I can't wait to see how the Lord will wrap it all up for us. Some of you have asked if this series will be made available and I wanted to let you know that it will! Praise the Lord!
The Revelation DVD Set - Here and Now, There and Then - will be available after the New Year. We've actually been taking pre-orders for it on our web site for the last month. The product will begin shipping the first week of January and it will go out in the sequence in which we received the orders. If you're interested in doing this 11-week series, you can see a video clip and pre-order it here. There is an accompanying listening guide that includes some brief weekly assignments. (Not full-scale homework like many of our other studies.) If you have any questions, you can email our resource department through the contact page.
As usual, I didn't ask my mom if I could tell this on the blog because she's generally averse to product promotion. But I wanted all of our siestas who wished they could be with us every Tuesday night to know that this is going to be available. At least if Mom gets mad and wants to fire me, I can now put book sales on my resume. Maybe a LifeWay store would take me!
In college I was sort of an unofficial Beth Moore book supplier to a lot of the Christian girls on my campus. Our resource director, Diane, would hook me up with the books that had been requested and then I'd get them to my friends or friends-of-friends. The only problem was that since they were my mom's books, I had the hardest time letting the girls pay for them. Diane probably had to mark most of them down as donations, which I'm sure she was pleased to do, but the point is I was a terrible book seller!
Even so, the dream of working in a bookstore has lived on in my heart. Every time I drive past a LifeWay store, I imagine myself working there. I think it would be so cool!
Well, this semester I've been getting to work at our resource table at Bible study with Diane, Evangeline, and several other co-workers and volunteers. It's kind of been a scaled-down version of my dream and I've loved it! It's been really fun to stand behind the tables and help our ladies with questions they have about the products. (But it's so hard for me to take their payment. I'm still compelled to say, "Oh, don't worry about it!")
Tonight is the last session of our Revelation study. It's been an amazing semester and I can't wait to see how the Lord will wrap it all up for us. Some of you have asked if this series will be made available and I wanted to let you know that it will! Praise the Lord!
The Revelation DVD Set - Here and Now, There and Then - will be available after the New Year. We've actually been taking pre-orders for it on our web site for the last month. The product will begin shipping the first week of January and it will go out in the sequence in which we received the orders. If you're interested in doing this 11-week series, you can see a video clip and pre-order it here. There is an accompanying listening guide that includes some brief weekly assignments. (Not full-scale homework like many of our other studies.) If you have any questions, you can email our resource department through the contact page.
As usual, I didn't ask my mom if I could tell this on the blog because she's generally averse to product promotion. But I wanted all of our siestas who wished they could be with us every Tuesday night to know that this is going to be available. At least if Mom gets mad and wants to fire me, I can now put book sales on my resume. Maybe a LifeWay store would take me!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Siesta Scripture Memory Team: Verse 22!
Good morning, my lovely Scripture-memorizing Siestas! Happy Lord's Day! Please see the addendum at the bottom of the previous post for why this turned out to be a much brighter morning than I anticipated last night. Yes, if I'm anything at all, I am mature. The very antithesis of superficial.
When our fifths or fifteenths fall on Sunday mornings, I can't write an epistle to you because I need to hop in the shower and get ready for church. However, I am super excited about the glorious light at the end of our 2009 Scripture memory tunnel and having 22 solid gold verses in our spirals!! Yahooooooooooooo-Jah!!
Here is mine for this round. I'll give it to you and then tell you why it particularly speaks to my heart:
"Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my door." Proverbs 8:34 NAS
I've been thinking here recently how wise our God is. He is far too onto us and our severe cases of Spiritual ADD to often give us a sense of what is going to happen in a particular situation. He knows good and well that, if He'd just tell us how a temporal challenge is going to turn out, we'll take that answer, thank Him so much, and go on with living and give a rare nod His direction. He wants us to desire His attentiveness more than His answer.
Scripture describes God's Word like a lamp to our feet. In other words, God normally - and wisely - shines just enough clear light to help us take the very next step when it's time. Imagine how far you could hold a lamp out in front of you as you walk a dim path in the forest. That's what you're promised as the most normal experience in your believing journey. Don't get me wrong. He tells us volumes about how things will ultimately turn out but, much of the time in our temporal challenges, He simply asks us to trust Him and let Him sustain us and lead us one day at a time. "Give us this day our daily bread."
I love Proverbs 8:34 because it describes the blessed person who has her ear pressed against the door of Heaven. The blessed person who watches daily at His gates. She is the woman who will hear, not only direction for the next step when the time comes but, priceless treasures, promises and truths of all sorts because she's not so distracted with her own answer that she misses the marvels of other revelations.
God is so wise.
In my "Through the Bible in a Year" with The Message, I also came upon a well-loved verse, Jeremiah 29:11, that I thought many of you might savor in Eugene Peterson's translation. Some of you who don't know what to memorize this time around might see it as the perfect selection. Here it goes:
"I know what I am doing. I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." Jeremiah 29:11 The Msg
Isn't that fantastic?
You are a pleasure to serve, my darling Siestas. Fight the good fight! Keep the faith! Let's finish this race well.
Your Siesta Mama loves you.
OK, let's hear yours!
When our fifths or fifteenths fall on Sunday mornings, I can't write an epistle to you because I need to hop in the shower and get ready for church. However, I am super excited about the glorious light at the end of our 2009 Scripture memory tunnel and having 22 solid gold verses in our spirals!! Yahooooooooooooo-Jah!!
Here is mine for this round. I'll give it to you and then tell you why it particularly speaks to my heart:
"Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my door." Proverbs 8:34 NAS
I've been thinking here recently how wise our God is. He is far too onto us and our severe cases of Spiritual ADD to often give us a sense of what is going to happen in a particular situation. He knows good and well that, if He'd just tell us how a temporal challenge is going to turn out, we'll take that answer, thank Him so much, and go on with living and give a rare nod His direction. He wants us to desire His attentiveness more than His answer.
Scripture describes God's Word like a lamp to our feet. In other words, God normally - and wisely - shines just enough clear light to help us take the very next step when it's time. Imagine how far you could hold a lamp out in front of you as you walk a dim path in the forest. That's what you're promised as the most normal experience in your believing journey. Don't get me wrong. He tells us volumes about how things will ultimately turn out but, much of the time in our temporal challenges, He simply asks us to trust Him and let Him sustain us and lead us one day at a time. "Give us this day our daily bread."
I love Proverbs 8:34 because it describes the blessed person who has her ear pressed against the door of Heaven. The blessed person who watches daily at His gates. She is the woman who will hear, not only direction for the next step when the time comes but, priceless treasures, promises and truths of all sorts because she's not so distracted with her own answer that she misses the marvels of other revelations.
God is so wise.
In my "Through the Bible in a Year" with The Message, I also came upon a well-loved verse, Jeremiah 29:11, that I thought many of you might savor in Eugene Peterson's translation. Some of you who don't know what to memorize this time around might see it as the perfect selection. Here it goes:
"I know what I am doing. I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." Jeremiah 29:11 The Msg
Isn't that fantastic?
You are a pleasure to serve, my darling Siestas. Fight the good fight! Keep the faith! Let's finish this race well.
Your Siesta Mama loves you.
OK, let's hear yours!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Passing of a Mean Machine
CRITICAL UPDATE: It is 8:45 the next morning and my man has saved the day! Yes, I said "Saved the day!" He said he spent most of the night tossing and turning about how he could out-smart my coffee machine and get it to work...at least a few more days. Up the man popped this morning and flew to the cabinet where he found his oversized toothpicks. (They look like something Gulliver would have used to get the pot roast from last week dislodged from between his teeth.) Keith stuck the toothpick into the steamer in hopes that it would plug it up, make it stop blowing steam, and signal the other part of the machine to work. AND IT DID!!! IT DID!!!!!!!! Even after I'd humbly prepared 8 cups in my new pot! (I'd decided to be more mature and thankful this morning. Usually a night does the trick on my petty attitude especially if I think God is getting annoyed.) Please see brilliant demonstration below. Give special attention to the toothpick in the steamer. It's leaking a tad so next we will be wrapping a little duct tape around it. Thank you for caring, Siestas! I just knew you would. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, I have recorded the drama below the updated picture.
The original post. A night that will live in infamy:
Seven years ago this Christmas, my man surprised me with one of the most extravagant gifts of our entire marriage. This Jura Capresso Coffee Maker from Williams Sonoma:
If he's having an on year, he tends to splurge at Christmas time because of the inordinate amount of time he spends at the deer lease from early November to late January. These spurgings are his way of saying, "I'm sorry I've been gone so long, please don't divorce me before deer season ends, and can I go one more time for just a few more weeks? I promise I'll be the happiest husband you've ever had when I get home." The year of this particular gift he stayed in my good graces all the way till the first of February (when I've ordinarily ceased speaking to him) because I'd never fallen more in love with an inanimate object in all my life. This, my dear Siestas, has been my best friend for 7 beautiful years. She makes the perfect cup of coffee every single time. Perfect aroma. Perfect weight. Perfect crema. Here she is with my very favorite cup and saucer:
Today she passed. Just like that. She passed. There I was in my jammies on an exquisite Saturday morning at home with Autumn leaves blowing from the trees and birds singing and circling my feeders. I was chomping at the bit to sit on the back porch with that first cup of the morning and take it all in. And for the first time in seven glorious years, she just couldn't deliver. All she could do was sit there and blow steam. Literally. I nearly went into a state of shock. Keith threw on his jeans as fast as he could, grabbed the keys to his Ford Super Duty, and guided me to the truck still in my jammies. You know where we went. Where else could we possibly go?? Of course, we did the drive thru. My knees were too weak to walk in.
I survived the morning on a grande nonfat dry cappuccino and pulled myself together to spend a great day at the Nutcracker Market with Amanda. Since there was also a Starbucks there on the premises, I had all a soul could stand and didn't think about my morning mishap until I got home that evening. You know how a mind tries to block out the unthinkable. Keith had also promised me we'd pack up the coffee maker and send it off to be repaired and I'd found considerable comfort in it. A brief separation. That's all.
When I walked in the door this evening, all the sudden the realization hit me.
"Oh, no!"
Keith: "What, Honey? Oh, no, what?"
"My coffee maker!"
Keith: "You didn't remember to get us a back up?"
"NO!"
Keith: "Bummer. It could be a rough morning."
Mind you, it was late by now. I grabbed my keys and ran back to the car and headed to our only nearby store - a Walgreen's - to find a Black and Decker or Mr. Coffee or SOMETHING to tie us over until we could find something more suitable to tie us over in the long run. Maybe I'd have my best friend back by Christmas. I looked all over the drugstore. My pulse sped up. I scurried to check out and asked in the nicest but fastest way if I could have some assistance.
"My coffee maker passed and I need something for the next few days until we can find a better back up. I can't find a coffee pot anywhere in the store! Do you guys have one?"
Sales clerk: "Absolutely! Let me help you find it."
So relieved. But that word "it" bothered me a tad. Surely she didn't mean "it" as in "one."
Yep. That's what she meant, all right. Here it is:
I nearly had to be helped to the car. Sometimes we have to make hard choices. Other times we just don't have any choice at all. This is what I'll be drinking my coffee out of in the morning.
Not even a Mr. Danged Coffee!! Who ever heard of this brand? Oh, I know! I know! It has no eternal significance. It's totally trivial and pitifully temporal but I've been waking up to fresh grinding beans for seven solid years and many of those mornings I've taken that first hot sip and said out loud, "Thank You, God." And maybe I'm making something up but I've wanted to believe He was up there saying, "You're welcome." Do you remember about a month ago when I told you guys I'd given up something for over a month? My eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I saw so many of you suggest that I'd given up coffee. Do you honestly think I would have waited a month before telling you that? Seriously? I would have called for an emergency support group.
OK, I'll go get a grip. In no time at all, our old girl will be repaired and we'll be back in business. Until then, mornings could be tender around the Moore home.
The original post. A night that will live in infamy:
Seven years ago this Christmas, my man surprised me with one of the most extravagant gifts of our entire marriage. This Jura Capresso Coffee Maker from Williams Sonoma:
If he's having an on year, he tends to splurge at Christmas time because of the inordinate amount of time he spends at the deer lease from early November to late January. These spurgings are his way of saying, "I'm sorry I've been gone so long, please don't divorce me before deer season ends, and can I go one more time for just a few more weeks? I promise I'll be the happiest husband you've ever had when I get home." The year of this particular gift he stayed in my good graces all the way till the first of February (when I've ordinarily ceased speaking to him) because I'd never fallen more in love with an inanimate object in all my life. This, my dear Siestas, has been my best friend for 7 beautiful years. She makes the perfect cup of coffee every single time. Perfect aroma. Perfect weight. Perfect crema. Here she is with my very favorite cup and saucer:
Today she passed. Just like that. She passed. There I was in my jammies on an exquisite Saturday morning at home with Autumn leaves blowing from the trees and birds singing and circling my feeders. I was chomping at the bit to sit on the back porch with that first cup of the morning and take it all in. And for the first time in seven glorious years, she just couldn't deliver. All she could do was sit there and blow steam. Literally. I nearly went into a state of shock. Keith threw on his jeans as fast as he could, grabbed the keys to his Ford Super Duty, and guided me to the truck still in my jammies. You know where we went. Where else could we possibly go?? Of course, we did the drive thru. My knees were too weak to walk in.
I survived the morning on a grande nonfat dry cappuccino and pulled myself together to spend a great day at the Nutcracker Market with Amanda. Since there was also a Starbucks there on the premises, I had all a soul could stand and didn't think about my morning mishap until I got home that evening. You know how a mind tries to block out the unthinkable. Keith had also promised me we'd pack up the coffee maker and send it off to be repaired and I'd found considerable comfort in it. A brief separation. That's all.
When I walked in the door this evening, all the sudden the realization hit me.
"Oh, no!"
Keith: "What, Honey? Oh, no, what?"
"My coffee maker!"
Keith: "You didn't remember to get us a back up?"
"NO!"
Keith: "Bummer. It could be a rough morning."
Mind you, it was late by now. I grabbed my keys and ran back to the car and headed to our only nearby store - a Walgreen's - to find a Black and Decker or Mr. Coffee or SOMETHING to tie us over until we could find something more suitable to tie us over in the long run. Maybe I'd have my best friend back by Christmas. I looked all over the drugstore. My pulse sped up. I scurried to check out and asked in the nicest but fastest way if I could have some assistance.
"My coffee maker passed and I need something for the next few days until we can find a better back up. I can't find a coffee pot anywhere in the store! Do you guys have one?"
Sales clerk: "Absolutely! Let me help you find it."
So relieved. But that word "it" bothered me a tad. Surely she didn't mean "it" as in "one."
Yep. That's what she meant, all right. Here it is:
I nearly had to be helped to the car. Sometimes we have to make hard choices. Other times we just don't have any choice at all. This is what I'll be drinking my coffee out of in the morning.
Not even a Mr. Danged Coffee!! Who ever heard of this brand? Oh, I know! I know! It has no eternal significance. It's totally trivial and pitifully temporal but I've been waking up to fresh grinding beans for seven solid years and many of those mornings I've taken that first hot sip and said out loud, "Thank You, God." And maybe I'm making something up but I've wanted to believe He was up there saying, "You're welcome." Do you remember about a month ago when I told you guys I'd given up something for over a month? My eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I saw so many of you suggest that I'd given up coffee. Do you honestly think I would have waited a month before telling you that? Seriously? I would have called for an emergency support group.
OK, I'll go get a grip. In no time at all, our old girl will be repaired and we'll be back in business. Until then, mornings could be tender around the Moore home.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Compassion Bloggers in El Salvador
Good morning, Siestas! How is everyone today? Well, ever since the time change my kids have been waking up at about 6 a.m. That is definitely not when I would prefer to start my day, but with the extra time I've been trying to get out of the house and jog a little bit. I'm NOT a runner by any means, but this baby weight has got to go! So I'm trying. If nothing else, I've enjoyed getting to talk to God without morning cartoon background music or needing to stop and wipe someone's nose or worse. Was that TMI? I'll go ahead and change the subject now.
I've been thinking a lot about Marlon Alexander, who is one of the children we sponsor through Compassion. He just turned twelve a few days ago. Every time Compassion sends out a group of bloggers, all the posts give me this overwhelming desire to get on a plane and head to Honduras to see him. By the way, have any of you ever been to Honduras? Did you know that Tegucigalpa, Honduras, has one of the scariest runways in the world? Curtis and I have survived it a few times. I feel like we should get a t-shirt or something.
Compassion has a team of bloggers in El Salvador this week. You can go here to read about what they're doing. I know they would appreciate our prayers. While it's fresh on our minds, this is a great time for us to log in to Compassion's web site and send an email or even a Christmas gift to our sponsored children. I was never good at writing until I realized I could email. I love that! I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday, ladies. We love you here at LPM.
I've been thinking a lot about Marlon Alexander, who is one of the children we sponsor through Compassion. He just turned twelve a few days ago. Every time Compassion sends out a group of bloggers, all the posts give me this overwhelming desire to get on a plane and head to Honduras to see him. By the way, have any of you ever been to Honduras? Did you know that Tegucigalpa, Honduras, has one of the scariest runways in the world? Curtis and I have survived it a few times. I feel like we should get a t-shirt or something.
Compassion has a team of bloggers in El Salvador this week. You can go here to read about what they're doing. I know they would appreciate our prayers. While it's fresh on our minds, this is a great time for us to log in to Compassion's web site and send an email or even a Christmas gift to our sponsored children. I was never good at writing until I realized I could email. I love that! I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday, ladies. We love you here at LPM.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Living Proof Live - Springfield, IL
Living Proof Live - Springfield IL from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.
This was the last Living Proof Live event of 2009. Thank You for a great year, Lord! And thank you, Rich, for giving us a glimpse of each event through these recap vidoes. We appreciate you so much!
Monday, November 9, 2009
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