Just So You'll Know

Hey, Darling Things! We've been getting many questions about political issues and all-things-election. Just want you to know that we care VERY MUCH and have been busy praying but the nature of our LPM non-profit status forbids ANYTHING political in nature to come from or out of this ministry. That's the reason for our silence at such an important time but you can be assured of two things: 1) We are on our knees and wide-eyed to see what God has next for our country, and 2) We are servants to anyone who will allow us the privilege. I love all of you very much.

We have one aim in all things: that Jesus Christ is exalted.

*From Amanda*
If you receive a text message or email that says Beth Moore is calling for prayer for a particular candidate tonight, please know that it is fraudulent and help us out by not passing it on. And since the one about Kay Arthur's message at Deeper Still is still going around, I'll take a second and say again that it didn't originate with Beth either. Thanks so much!

Scripture Memory Tips

What a beautiful morning in Houston! Curt's parents arrived from Missouri last night and they're on a walk with our very happy dog and very happy child. The house is nice and quiet, giving me the perfect chance to check in to Siestaville.

A few days ago I read a comment from one of our siestas asking for some advice. I thought it was too good a topic to get buried in the comments, so I saved it for a post. Check out this question from Kathy Pink Bicycle Arkansas:

Can I ask a favor/help of all my siesta's? I teach 5th grade Sunday school and for the first time I am having a very difficult time with them learning their verse and bringing their Bibles. I've tried bribery, candy, small prizes.....any suggestions? What works for you? Please help. Thanks!

I am just starting to work on a couple of (very simple) verses with Jackson. My friend and co-worker, Jen, started out doing Scripture memory with her son during bathtime. I've found that to be a great time too because my little monkey is contained! So I'm also very interested to hear your tips. If you have advice for Scripture memory with big kids or small kids, we'd love to hear it!

You Get an A!

Hi siestas! My mom is getting ready for Bible study tonight, so I have the honor of announcing the winner of our Pop Quiz. I used an online random integer generator to pick the winner. I'd have a picture of the number on my computer screen for you like I've seen BooMama do, but my camera battery died! Oh well. Get to the point, right?

The winner of the ESV Study Bible is Lauri Wasmuth!

*Applause and cheers for Lauri*

Bethie was so proud of all your comments that she wanted to give out five more prizes. The winners will receive the devotional book John: 90 Days With the Beloved Disciple.

Our next five winners are:
1) Christine at "Christine's Corner"
2) Trish Wagner
3) Sue in Las Vegas
4) Gene54
5) Twinkle

*Applause and cheers for these five siestas*

Thanks for playing ladies! Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Pop Quiz!

5 hours up. Comments now closed. This is one of my favorite sets of comments EVER. I have such a respect for your relationships with Christ. Keep seeking Him and finding Him, Beloved Ones. You are the apple of His eye. We will announce the winner of the new ESV Study Bible tomorrow. Thank you so much for your participation on this post. If I could send every single one of you this new Bible, I'd do it in a heart beat. I love you so.

Hi, Siestas!

This is a pop quiz! Who got into the Word this morning? If you did, stay tuned to the remainder of this post and find out what we want you to do. If there is anything on earth Living Proof Ministries exists to do, it’s to encourage people to get into God’s Word and come to love Him through its life-breathing pages. I am a huge believer in starting the day with Christ in Scripture even if we only have ten minutes. I love Isaiah 50:4! It says, “The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.” SO, if you made time for a Word from God this morning, here’s what we’d like you to do. Please post a BRIEF comment with the following information:

1. One verse from your quiet time, written out for your Siestas to read and receive. (Even if you read a whole chapter, please write out only one of the Scriptures. It will be fun to see if any of us read the same segment!)

2. A one-sentence description of something you got from your time with God this morning (i.e., the assurance that He’s still on His Throne, or that He wants you to follow through with something, or that He’s simply with you in your struggle, etc.).

Absolutely no condemnation for those that didn’t get a chance to get into Scripture this morning; BUT, we are asking that all comments to this post be limited to ONLY THOSE WHO DID. We're doing a drawing from those entries. We are giving away a copy of the brand new ESV Study Bible that hit the shelves only two weeks ago. We’ve been talking in our Lit class about the importance of reading several different versions especially if you’ve become so familiar with one that you can nearly anticipate what familiar portions are going to say. Not only is the ESV a great translation, this one is complete with study notes. SO, every siesta who had her quiet time this morning and posts her comment will automatically have a chance at the drawing. Get on quickly because we’re closing this post in five hours!! That’s the “pop” part in this quiz. We’ll post the winner of the new ESV Study Bible tomorrow and ask for her to contact us with her address. I love little incentives like this. Hope you do, too!

I love you, Siestas! Stay in the Word! You never know what God may have for you!

PS. Only 45 minutes have passed and, Sisters, these entries are FANTASTIC!! I am so blessed by all those Scriptures and by how God is speaking them over you. Take a few minutes and read all of these, Siestas! It's like eating off each other's plates! You're also keeping them to the perfect length. Way to go!! Keep them coming. (Only one entry per person, of course) You have till 7:00 PM CST until the comments close. I LOVE THIS ONE!

Boss's Day and a Birthday Party

Hello, friends! Look who arrived at our office on Monday, just in time for our Boss's Day lunch celebration.



Our first copy of Esther is here! LifeWay always sends my mom the first one to roll off the press. It was such an exciting day! Mom brought her out while we were all there together, seated around our banqueting table and enjoying Nancy's orange pineapple cake and Kimberly's banana pudding. Then she had Nancy read the dedication page aloud to us. It was dedicated to my sister and me! What a surprise and what a special honor! What is so fun is that Melissa had just arrived from the airport a few minutes beforehand. It was perfect timing. (Esther's estimated shelf date is November 15. But it could be a little earlier or a little later.)

All of us at LPM are incredibly blessed to have the WORLD'S BEST BOSSES! Beth and Sabrina, you lead us with such grace, wisdom, humility, and strength. We praise God for you!

The gift we gave our bosses was a donation made in their name to a family that has been severely affected by Hurricane Ike.

Changing topics now. Monday night our family had my birthday dinner. I had requested spaghetti and meatballs from my mom and she came through big time! It was so good! She also baked me a cake for the second year in a row. Now I'd like to rise up and call my mother blessed because look at this beauty. My mother loves me.



What? Do you not think my cake was exquisitely beautiful? The nerve! Maybe you need to see it in the gentle glow of my 29 candles. (I am getting dangerously close to more than a gentle glow.)



Still not doing it for you? Well maybe you'd like to take a look at my cake from last year.



Mom had a little icing malfunction and all she could squeeze out was "H B A," which symbolized "Happy Birthday Amanda." Do not be fooled by this cake's appearance because it was the best cake of my life, only to be outdone by this year's blue ribbon winner.

I got one present from my parents - a gift bag full of spending money which I plan to put into action this weekend. Mom is taking me on a little getaway and we are going to shop! Isn't she the sweetest? Have a great day, girls!

New England Nights Recap

New England Nights Tour 2008 from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.

Click here to see more on Rich's photo gallery. Thanks, buddy!

What a Week!

My Dear, Dear Siestas,
I am in the airplane on my way home from breathtaking New England with a whirlwind-week wrapped up in the Name of Jesus. He alone knows how much your prayers carried us. Never do I ever take intercession lightly. It takes time, concentration, and labor. I am humbly mindful that the requests we throw out to you here are added to a monumentally long list of your own. THANK YOU.

You’re already up to date on the first three days of our tour but I gave you my word I’d keep you up on the whole week. Praise His merciful, faithful Name, God was unsparing in His Presence among us in both Delaware and Connecticut. The arena on the campus where we met in Delaware was not only full to the brim with people but full of passion for the Lord Jesus. Their praise and worship rocked the whole house. I loved them to pieces and God granted us an altar time that night that I will never forget as long as I live. Our last night was in beautiful Hartford, Connecticut and I was deeply moved that God had us end this ten-year season of Living Proof Live in a church. That’s where we started these events, stayed for a long time, and where we will no-doubt (joyfully and obediently, I pray) return. Make no mistake. Every time we meet in an arena or civic center, we gather as His CHURCH and He graces it as such but it was wonderful to be back in a lovely sanctuary where God is praised week in and week out. We didn’t have to follow up something like ACDC if you get my drift. We also had a powerful altar time there last night and I can only imagine how God esteemed the many tears that stained the carpet.

After we concluded (late!) last night, LifeWay threw all us team members a surprise party. We had so much fun. Travis and I received three gifts that we will each treasure the rest of our sanguine lives. We were given framed maps of the United States will flag-pins in all 50 states identifying the city and the year we had the chance to serve there. I’ve got to preface the next gift we received with a story. Trav and I were saying at the party how much we wished we had a photo journey of the events in an album. We called over our dear Rich, our photographer extraordinaire, and asked him if he’d put together such a thing for us (as only he could do, creative as he is). We told him we didn’t even want a brother-in-law deal. We’d pay him full price for his labor. He promised he would. And fifteen minutes later he was called forward to do his part at our gathering and with tears in his eyes, he pulled two gorgeous, professionally crafted hard-back books out for us. The cover was a picture of one of the largest LPL events we’ve ever been charged by God to do. It was at Philips Arena (with CeCe!) in Atlanta, Georgia and the sight of that place filled to the brim is almost unbearable. The title beneath it is, “Living Proof Live: A Photographic History.” And, yes, by our very own LPL historian, Rich Kalonick. It is SLAYING. And, oh, Lord have mercy, the hair styles. And, if you don’t mind me saying (he will), not just mine. Trav’s hair has been through some seasons, too. But he is consistently the cutest thing for the whole ten years! I, on the other hand, have decided, big as it is, my hair looks better longer and blonder than shorter and darker. So deal with it. And, really, I should have gotten a nose job along the way. I used to want one but by the time I had the money to pay for it, I didn’t care anymore. As I look at the pictures, perhaps I should have cared more. (TEASING, GIRLS!) But that’s all beside the point. The point is, it captures a journey of God’s faithfulness amid frail but seeking people. I love every single page of it but my favorite parts of all are shots of the participants in varying states of praise and study, laughter and tears. Man, I am so blessed to be able to minister to women!! You just really get into it. AND, my other favorites are the group pictures of our entire team: tech guys, sound guys, light guys, graphics guys, event girls, Trav and the praise team, and, okay, yours truly. (When they’ve taken a picture without me, I always love to say, “I love it! But there’s something missing. I can’t quite put my finger on it.”) You cannot imagine the diversity of people and personality God has teamed-up at these events and we have grown into family. I am so thankful for them.

Our third gift was a blast-of-a-video compiled by our dear friend (and team member) Stephen Proctor. He’d compiled all sorts of greetings from team members and participants and a few special guests. Many of the shots were hilarious. I nearly died when it came to the part he shot of the team at an airport. He’d taken them into the nursing room (it was empty, praise You, Lord) to video them so it would be quieter. You can imagine most of them were too flustered with the environment to concentrate on their greetings. The video is complete with bloopers and you’d best run to the ladies’ room before you watch them. Other parts of the video made me do what I HATE to do in public: the ugly cry. Man, I hate that. Nobody looks cute doing that. The three gifts were the absolute best-possible ways to document and celebrate a decade of ministry. As LifeWay Vice President John Kramp so aptly put it, we don’t know where God will take us in the years to come – nor how! – but today we hold up a stone of Ebenezer and proclaim, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” He alone did it. He alone gets the glory. He alone decides where it goes from here. Not one of us would dare share one single success with Him. I’d be a wreck without Him.

I want to tell you one last thing I’m taking home with me from New England. My biggest loss – and it’s a BIG ONE – on the road is that I often don’t get to know any of the women personally. For this season of time, my one-on-one mentoring is done with serious concentration and calling toward my own daughters. They are the dearest ministry I have. Most of what I’m called to do otherwise this season is in a group setting. I’m so thankful for it and I can read a number of things from faces but I always wish I’d had the privilege of hearing their stories. One group of city coordinators sent me home this week with a very well-done photo album of their pictures, personal stories with Jesus, and their journeys over the last year as they worked toward their event. When I tell you I pored over it a little while ago on this plane ride and sobbed, I’m not exaggerating. It was as if we’d sat in a circle over a strong cup of fresh Starbucks and shared face-to-face. So many things struck me, some of which I’ve already written back in a letter to them, but one thing I feel compelled to share with you because I respect the same thing in so many of our bloggers. Many of them are living the Jesus-life faithfully OUTSIDE A SPOTLIGHT where they’d more often be affirmed and in the places where it counts more than anything. Where, as my people would say, the rubber meets the road. Right there in their communities, their school systems, amid hectic schedules of carpool and what on earth to cook for supper. Serving their churches, many of which are very small. Some of which lack a little spark. Many of them don’t have a sprawling LifeWay Christian Store near the neighborhood mall nor do they have a Christian concert every other weekend like we have in the Bible Belt.

One NE sister wrote me and said their beautiful city only has one Christian radio station and it’s mostly talk radio. Many of you could say the same thing. Numbers of you live in apathetic communities that just don’t give a rat’s tail about church or Christianity. Others live in very intellectual communities that look down on Christians like they’re ignorant and gullible. And yet there you are. Doing the thing. And doing it faithfully. Getting down on your knees at some point every day. Reading the Scriptures. Asking God to help you know Him. Living it out in your homes (is there any harder charge?) and in your work place and communities and finding yourselves wounded and wondering from time-to-time if God knows you’re alive. There is no such thing as serving in obscurity when you belong to Jesus. He is attentive to your labor. He is attentive to your CRY. IT MATTERS.

Sweet Thing, there is no one on Earth God notices more than you. He knows that the atmosphere He’s entrusted to you is not the easiest place on the planet to serve and, yet, day in and day out He sees you doing the thing. He knew you would. That’s why you’re there. He didn’t bother entrusting it to a light-weight. He knows you may go weeks between true soul-encouragements. Thank goodness we have the example of the man after God’s own heart, who, in 1 Samuel 30:6, was surrounded by bitter people who couldn’t see past their own problems to regard how he’d tried to help them. There, we’re told that David encouraged himself in the Lord. Yep, you can do that. When not one single soul bothers to encourage you, you can just go right to the Lord and encourage yourself. How ‘bout that? Speak to your own insides and say, “Why so downcast, oh, my soul? Why so disturbed within me. Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God!” As alone as you may feel, every time you praise Him, some ten-thousand angels jump in the chorus with you and your song becomes a symphony.

Stay faithful, Darling One. STAY FAITHFUL! Every ounce of your effort and every drop of sacrifice are poured like anointing oil on the feet of Jesus.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” Psalm 32:8

Wednesday Play-by-Play Day

7:40 AM – Checked out of Holiday Inn Express, Durham, New Hampshire. Never got my make up on. Wrote Siestas too long. Hair’s gonna need to go in a clip.

7:45 AM – Event team loads into a mighty caravan of minivans. Vans all have signs on them. Event team’s van says “Secret Servants” (i.e. Secret Service, get it?), Praise team sign says “Praise Corp” (press corp, get it?) and ours says (you better know that I didn’t come up with any of this. It was Rich) “Beth Force One.” We are the van with all the baggage. Oh, Lord have mercy. Is that ever an understatement. One of our vehicles is unmarked because it belongs to our coworker’s fiancee who joined us yesterday. Ron’s calling it The Decoy.

7:47 AM – Missed exit.

7:48 AM – Lost.

7:52 AM – In Maine. Not on our event schedule. Turned around.

7:57 AM – Finally made it back to bridge. As we drive up, bridge closes, lifts and lets tug boat through. Making good time.

8:10 AM – Starving. Got a lot of miles behind us. Road warriors. Stop for breakfast at The Friendly Toast…in Durham. That’s right. In DURHAM. We’ve not made it out of the city yet.

8:30 AM – Fantastic menu. Got served one of the best danged breakfasts of our entire lives. Nicest waiter I’ve ever had with a “Teardrops of Satan” T-shirt on. Ate well-done veggie omelet with fried country potatoes and HOME MADE thick wheat toast with a side of gingerbread waffles and pomegranate syrup.

10:15 AM – finally paid out and made it back to vans. Parking tickets on all vans. Went over our two-hour parking meter by five minutes.

12:00 Noon – Tooling down I-84 West well on our way. Looks like we may not make it to the Big Apple by lunch time. We only have 137 miles to go.

Miscellaneous:
Mad at Travis. He’s in other van with praise team and he’s baiting me. I rode in their van yesterday but am in van with Rich and Ron (our team member who does security) today. Trav sent me a cell pic of Dunkin’ Donuts bag. They stopped without me. They only stopped because they know I love it. They’re so mean. Right after that, I saw the Po-Po (Ron’s a former law enforcer and said that’s not disrespectful. I asked him before I printed it. I am a respectful law-abiding citizen who cries when she gets stopped for a traffic violation.) So I texted Travis and told him I hoped they got pulled over by the Po-Po for Dunkin’ Driving.

Sent Trav and team a pic of my open Bible and told them to read theirs.

Rested my eyes a little while. Whole back seat to myself. Heard Ron singing with the Supremes on satellite radio. Way out of character. Made me riotously happy.
Stopped at Tim Horton’s without telling praise team van. Got variety of donuts and fresh coffee which helps make up for the fact that it’s a tad on the weak side. Texted praise team a picture of donut selection. Eating and drinking without shame.

Dizzy.

Talked to all three of my family members. I never go to NYC without A&M if I can help it. Miss them so much. We’d shop until we had broken feet and had to soak them in the hotel bathtub. Miss my man, too. And Starzy and Geli. Talked to the dogs on the phone night before last. I think they are pouting at me. Didn’t say much.
Oh, and I forgot to tell you that on Sunday at the ranch, I stepped on a mesquite thorn. Went straight up through my shoe and into my foot. WAY INTO MY FOOT. Keith had to jerk it out. Three toes and top of foot fire engine red by next morning. Sore as heck. Told A&M about it and both of them swore I could get a staph infection and shamed me into calling doctor today. Have to take antibiotic. If, when I get up in the morning and go to the restroom, I look down and any of my toes are missing, I’m to hobble straight to the hospital no matter what town I’m in. The drama never ends.

Rich likes a variety of music. Just a few vocalists we’ve sung along with so far: Barry Manilow (he writes the songs that make the whole world sing), Olivia Newton John (she loves us. She honestly loves us. She’s not trying to make us uncomfortable. Not trying to make us anything at all), Dionne Warwick (she said a little prayer for us), Chris Tomlin (what a relief), the Eagles (good Bible lesson: you can’t hide your lyin’ eyes), Carly Simon (another good Bible lesson: you’re so vain. I bet you think this post is about you), and The Carpenters (good choice: Joseph was one).

12:30 PM – Driving past Hartford, Connecticut and waving to beat the band. Can’t wait to see you Friday!

Thinking about Delaware. DELAWARE. I can hardly believe we get to go there.

12:48 PM – Just saw sign. 98.6 miles to New York City.

1:03 PM – Just texted The Decoy and instructed our darling engaged couple to please go over their memory verses together. I feel they’ve been unsupervised too long. (They are such a handsome couple they could be on the front of a magazine. Nate is our young stage manager and the biggest blast to ever love Jesus. Raised on the mission field in Africa. Cool to the bone. His bride-to-be, Shelly, is active in our blog community. You’d know her if you saw her. If you were at the Siesta Fiesta, we mentioned that they’d just gotten engaged and we made her come up front and get a door prize. Beautiful girl who also totally digs Jesus. Already faithfully serves Him.) They text me back their verses. Clearly they are taking them out of context. I ask them to pull the car over and let me in. They don’t. But they laugh.

1:04 PM – Bored stiff.

1:07 PM – Giving way to vain imaginations. Dwelling on the last time Keith hurt my feelings. I’m getting madder by the minute. Why didn’t I get madder at the time?? Thinking what I should’ve said.

1:08 PM – Rich bored, too. Has now begun to sing really loud and off key (on purpose). It’s so terrifying that I’m startled out of my downward mental spiral.

1:09 PM – I love Keith so much. I wish he’d call me.

1:10 PM – Am now laughing hysterically at myself. Where is my medication? JK. Don’t write me about that.

I fear if I keep this up, I could risk digressing into the trivial (that even made me laugh) so I’ll sign off for a while and catch you up on our thrilling day in the Big Apple later. At this rate, a LOT later. You are a patient people.

10:35 PM – Yes, that says 10:35 PM. HOURS have gone by, People. HOURS!!!! You are not going to believe this but when I got back to my car after our NYC shopping extravaganza my computer battery was as dead as a door nail (it’s one of those long-lasting ones so it shouldn’t have been) and, hence, I didn’t get to give you a play-by-play all the way to Delaware. I think God thought you guys had been through enough. Of course, at this point only 5 of you are still reading the post and you are all related to me…and embarrassed for me.

SO, since God apparently got weary of my drivel, I’ll limit my comments on the rest of the day to a couple of paragraphs:

Our feet hit the streets of Manhattan by about 2:30. I got a hotdog at one of those sidewalk vendors immediately because I just have to. It’s not even good. Just necessary. Mustard and sweet relish. Then we grabbed some Starbucks and got focused. The team and I had no intention of wasting time at expensive stores. We wanted hip and CHEAP. So we hit a little boutique called “Strawberry” and totally scored. Kinda fruity but not seedy. Some really cute stuff and just the right price. All of us girls got something there. Two of us got the exact same pair of boots – I do mean DARLING boots - that had been a hundred and something dollars and they were marked down to $56. I also got a gray sweater and a…and a…let me go look in my bag…oh, yeah, a new pair of fuzzy slippers. That’s another story. I’m obsessed with this one pair of fuzzy slippers I’ve had a long time (I bring them on the road) and they’re nearly worn out. I call them “The Pinks” because, well, they’re pink. I’ve been really upset because I’ve known they’re on their last leg. Or foot. And I haven’t known what to do. I wanted an exact replacement and couldn’t find them anywhere. Well, today I found some in black. The Black Pinks. I’m so happy. I have them on right now. Especially after my thorn in the flesh.

The praise team and I then went to H&M and Zara. I did very minimal damage at either place but Trav, Seth, Stephen, and Nate made some fairly impressive investments in their personal wardrobes. I don’t think they call what they got “outfits” but they should. Well coordinated if I do say so myself.

After walking somewhere around 43 miles, we were famished and decided to seek out a great little Chinese restaurant. The kind NYC is famous for. Well, we didn’t exactly find one. We found more the airport variety where you walk down a line with an orange tray and get your soy sauce and hot mustard in plastic packs you have to open with your teeth. Alas, we were too worn out to resist. I’ll not name names but a character from Seinfeld was working the counter. She nearly scared me to death. I simply inquired with appropriate southern manners as to whether or not the Chow Mein was prepared with white meat. She yelled, “You having chicken broccoli!” So I had chicken broccoli. It was pretty good but I didn’t eat much of it. She’d given me the nervous stomach. She ended up winning us over. You had to respect her work ethic. Move 'em in. Move 'em out.

And the team and I sat at eight tables for two and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed. Duets were sung. Combo dinners shared. Pictures were taken. Delirious. So happy to be together. So happy to be in Jesus. He brings people together who would never have crossed paths. I cannot express to you how much I love these people.

And, then, we loaded up the vans and began our several-hour excursion to Delaware. Checked in and started writing to you. And now I'm about to drop in the bed. This very day we’ve been in – count ‘em – SEVEN States. And every mile worth it.

Oh, Delaware, we can’t wait to meet you. God of laughter, friendship, community, come receive Your praise. And, Lord, thank You for humoring us today. I hope at least once we really got You tickled.

Waving Good Bye To Wonderful New Hampshire!

Hey Siestas! God met with us in New Hampshire! He brought together three thousand people to the University in Durham to praise His Name and study 2 Corinthians 4. I could have stayed with them for a month, I loved them so much. I was so touched to get to the arena yesterday afternoon for sound check and prayer and find two college students, Heidi and Jessica, prayer walking the room, believing God to touch some of their classmates. We got to pray together for a few minutes and it meant the world to me. They are mighty young women of God and I was astounded by their commitment to Him on their campus.

Their prayers prepared a place, not only for students, but for the rest of us. Travis and the team led us with such power and grace before God's Throne. The Lord led me to take a little more time to get to know the group in the beginning because He knew I was so sad to leave Vermont so quickly when I felt like we'd hardly had time to say hello. We'd looked forward to it for so long and it was over in a second it seemed. I pray God will let us return to that beautiful State some time. And maybe in October.

I only have two seconds because we had a late night (long altar time, praise You, Jesus) and an early morning. I have to be ready in 40 minutes to get in the van and head to New York City for our play-day. I'm sitting here in my jammies. Please pray for our safe travel today. Five hours to NYC and another three to Delaware. I will certainly have a few things to tell you about this play-day with my wild team when I'm able to get on-line next. Thank you so much for being part of our journey!

Pray for God to prepare a place for His Presence in Delaware! We can't wait to meet our group!

A Very Special Day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY DARLING AMANDA!

I don't know how to change the font on a blog post or use a color but, if I did, I'd make these words HUGE and BRIGHT RED so see them that way in your precious imagination.

Well, young lady, you surely did change your mother's life. After being told I'd have infertility problems and need surgery to correct some female issues, I thought marriage had made me physically ill as I stood over the toilet only two months after our wedding day. It had been the shock of my life. Oh, I do love your Daddy but, boy, were we young and, boy, were we dumb. I told your grandmother that I wasn't feeling well and thought marriage was not agreeing with me and she was the first to diagnose my delicate condition. And with great laughter and joy. She adored you, Honey. You came at a difficult time in my family's life (has there ever not been a difficult time, come to think of it??) like a daisy pushing its way up amid a heap of rubble. All sorts of broken pieces found their way back together somehow. We had someone to spoil. To laugh about. To tend to.

You stole all our hearts. So smart. So loving. You talked like an adult by the time you were two. My mom tried and tried to get you to say you loved her more than your other grandmother (shame on her!) but you wouldn't budge. You insisted that you loved everyone the same. But I know it wasn't true. You liked me best. Grin. You, Darling Child, were the most welcome shock this family has ever had. I have never loved a person on this earth more than you. Nothing has ever left me more defenseless. You inspire me, act silly with me, tickle me, and simply make me want to be a better woman. I am so proud of you. Of the woman of God you've become. Of the mommy you are. Of the friend you are. The SERVANT I see you becoming.

As your little sister often says, "You gotta love the Noogs." You will always be the Noogs to us. And who on earth knows why? Where do we get these ridiculous nicknames, anyway??

Happy Birthday, Darling. I wish so much I were home with you. Thank you for making room for me to be here in New England. I'll be home before you know it and we will celebrate...and shop, Baby. We will SHOP.

I.Love.You.With.All.My.Heart.
Mom


Noogs- I can't wait til we are all together and we can party it up! There is no one else like you. You're the only slightly sane one in our family. I am not sure where we would be without you. Not far, for sure. We love you madly! As this picture below symbolizes, I always have and always will look up to you. Love, your sister.

Back at Hotel

Hey, Siestas! It's nearly 10:00 PM Eastern time and I just got back to my hotel room. The group was wonderful. Thank you for praying! I wish so much I'd had more time to get to know them. I'm the slightest downcast because I threw too much into one night. I was really excited about the lesson but, as it turns out, it was better before I gave it. I hate when that happens. BUT, I love Jesus and I loved that gathering of people tonight in Burlington, Vermont, and I know He was there. I think I remedied the fact that we'd only be there for one session by doing three sessions of material in an hour and a half. Perhaps it was the time line I did from Genesis to Revelation that put us over the edge. Blast.

Still, God is faithful and His Word was spoken and He won't let it return void. Keep praying for me! I need to adjust IMMEDIATELY to material that is suitable for one session and one setting. And pray for the precious people we will serve this week. We are so happy to be here!

I want to stop and pray for you right now, too.

My faithful Father, Maker of Heaven and Earth, Ruler of Land and Sea, I lift Your elect to You. I pray this week for You to grant them clarity in a very specific area where they are confused and not sure what to do next. As You said through Your prophet Ezekiel, You have put Your Spirit in them and You will MOVE them to follow Your will. Remind them that they are not stuck. Not without choices. Not without leadership. Whisper in each ear, "this is the way, walk ye in it." Cause them - and me - to cease beating on doors that are closed and walk through the one that You Yourself left open even if it's not our personal favorite Door #1. Bring confessions to their lips - and mine - of Your gracious providence and Your worthiness to be trusted and praised. Tend to their hearts. Where they feel battered and bruised but too busy to stop long enough to be healed, hem them in Your faithful hands, hold them still, and rejoice over them with singing. Tell them again how You love them. How You've called them. How You don't make mistakes. Grant them - and me - spirits of wisdom and revelation that we may know You better and recognize You when we bump smack into Your Presence. And more than anything else, circumcise our hearts to love You and to love that frustrating person in our lives as we love ourselves. Teach us what the Apostle Paul meant when he told the Galatians that all that matters is faith expressing itself in love. We want to be Godly women, Lord. We cry out to You for help. We cry out to You for You.

In the saving, delivering, empowering Name of Jesus,
Amen

I'll talk to you tomorrow, Siestas!

A Howdy Y'all From Gorgeous Vermont

Hey Siestas! Well, I am absolutely beside myself. I just flew into Burlington, Vermont where we kick off our New England Living Proof Live Celebration Tour this very night. It's a celebration because this week Travis, the praise team, the LifeWay event team and I finish off all fifty states with Living Proof Live events. Don't get me wrong. We're not finished...I hope. We're just taking God up on a magnanimous opportunity to celebrate His faithfulness through 10 years of events together in 50 States. And then we'll start over. He has taught us so much and changed our lives so ferociously that we're nearly breathless with praise. I have made a lot of mistakes and misfired a whole lot of points in the last ten years - sometimes cried halfway home - but God has overruled my weaknesses with His power and faithfulness. He simply loves His own Word and doesn't let it return to Him without effect. I love Him so.

This is the first time we've ever done a tour, moving from city to city without going home in between. I've always had babies to raise and kids to carpool and a husband that insisted on having a real wife, praise God. I still have the latter, thank goodness, but Keith couldn't begrudge this opportunity for anything. When he dropped me off at the airport this morning he said, "Baby, this is big. 50 States. Go have a blast." And that's exactly what I'm planning to do.

Our first stop is here in Burlington and let me tell you, Vermont was a SPECTACLE from the air. I do mean A STINKING SPECTACLE!! I have never seen a more shameless Autumn in all my life. This from a girl who has seen some beautiful Falls. October has never been wasted on me. I was raised in the beautiful hills of Arkansas and have been to the Tetons at the peak of the Aspen-yellows countless times. And still, I'm going to tell you, I've never seen anything like the colors I saw from the air before we landed. I was dumbstruck. I had to talk about it obsessively to the men who handled the bags, asking what trees are what colors. They humored me. In fact, they kind of blew up like a toad about it. Proud as could be. And should've been. Then, my first stop after the airport was the local Starbucks, of course, and I wanted to talk to the Barista about it but he didn't want to talk to me. Sometimes you can just tell. Dad blast. I just realized I let my cappuccino get cold. What a waste. So glad I didn't get an extra shot.

I just got word that we're expecting 1975 women tonight and I can't wait to get my hands on them. I will teach four evenings out of five this week and I will try my hardest to journal something every day or most days as I go. It will have to be short because we will be on the move. We will be in New Hampshire (expecting 2977) tomorrow night, we'll take a day off in NYC Wednesday (Lord, have mercy), be in Delaware Thursday night (expecting 3959! Way to go, Delaware!!) and end the tour in Connecticut where we'll kick up our heels with 3000.

If I've heard God correctly, I am speaking out of 2 Corinthians all week. A portion of ch.3 tonight, then a portion of ch.4 tomorrow night, a portion of ch.5 Thursday night and a portion of ch.6 on the last night. So get busy and pray, why don't you. I'm calling the theme for the week "That Ever-Increasing, All-Surpassing Thing Called Glory." I'm hoping to form a 4-part series out of this week's tour because I'm usually not a big fan of one-night speaking stands. I'd rather spend some longer hours with a group and see if God will take us from Point A to Point B like we get to do a bit more effectively at the regular events. Since we only have one opportunity with each of these wonderful groups, each night's message is meant to stand by itself but then all fit together to form one cohesive series, I HOPE. God willing. Self crucified.

I've told you before that I deal without a lot of fear and anxiety but one thing compels me to do this way-out-there (for me, anyway) thing. I'd rather jump into Scripture and seek the face of Jesus with a group of women than take my next breath. His words are spirit and life.

Now you've gone and done it. You've let my clam chowder get cold. Oh, I don't even care. But I do have to get off of here because I got to town much later than I usually do and I haven't unpacked my Velcro rollers. They're probably flat by now. I'll gladly lay down my supper for you but I will NOT lay down my hair for you. Unless I have to. Don't make me have to. I love you but my love does have limits.

Amanda, Melissa, and I are so honored to be your servants, Siestas. Thank you for allowing us to take this journey of faith with you. I'll hopefully touch base with you tomorrow! If I don't, you'll know to pray for me all the harder because that will mean I'm in a tailspin.

I surely do love you.

A Sunday Morning Mishap

Y'all are not going to believe the dumb thing I did yesterday. Curtis had the privilege of getting to preach the Sunday services at a local church that is currently in an interim period. (Hello, friends at Humble Area FBC!) Of course, we arrived early to get Curtis settled. While he did his thing, I took Jackson to the kids area (which was amazing) and let him play on their indoor playground until his class was ready to start. After I dropped him off in the "Happy Hippos" room (I kept saying "Hungry Hippos") I made my way to the sanctuary to find my husband. He was doing something in the sound booth, so I walked to the front and looked to see if his stuff was sitting on a chair.

Indeed, I saw Curt's blue Bible and his car keys sitting on a chair in the front row. There was no one else seated on the row at that time. So I sat down next to his stuff. Then I thought I would be a good wife and put his keys in my purse so he wouldn't have to think about them. A couple minutes later a man came over and sat on the other side of Curt's stuff. He looked at me curiously and then started messing with Curt's stuff. So I said, "Oh, that's my husband's stuff." Then he kindly told me that, no, that was his stuff! I was so horrified! Then I had to confess to him that I had even put his car keys in my purse! Oh, y'all, I was so embarrassed! He was super nice and laughed with me about it. (Hi, Mitch!) It's just so nice to make a good first impression, isn't it? Ha ha!

We loved getting to meet everyone at HAFBC. What a sweet congregation. I cannot say enough about how wonderful their kidzone is! Wow! We met some really neat people and Curt and I discussed on the way home that the number one benefit of being in ministry is simply getting to know people. Despite Jackson's usual post-church restlessness, we enjoyed getting to have lunch with the Whitakers and hear about their family's journey with the Lord. You just never know what God has done in another person's life. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are such treasures and if we slow down long enough to hear one another's stories, we will be so blessed and want to praise God for His works!

Well, it's been a while since I updated you on Baby Girl. I am 22 weeks along now, which is just over half way there. Yesterday marked four months until my due date (Feb. 12). I am in that grace period between the first and third trimesters when I feel great and actually look pregnant, but not too pregnant. I've been seeing babies everywhere and I'm getting so excited to have this little one join us! She does have a name but (please don't hate us) we are going to wait until she's born to announce it. Or at least try. I just know I'm going to slip up!

Happy Columbus Day to all of you and, if you have the day off, I hope it's a really good one! Blessings!
Love,
Amanda

An Update on Bethie

I'm sorry y'all - it's me again! I'm here to give you a little update on the Siesta Mama. She has been b-u-s-y! My mom told me that God was so faithful throughout the taping last weekend and that she absolutely loved the audience. I think everything went as well as possible. Thank you so much for praying! Monday and Tuesday were spent focused on Bible study. Our fall study is going great, but it does take a ton of preparation time for her and Melissa (who flies in to co-teach every other week). Wednesday was recovery day. She worked a half-day and then went home to rest. On Thursday she had a taping for the National Day of Prayer.

Today my parents are driving out to the ranch, where Beth is going to prepare the messages for next week's "New England Nights" tour. It's going to be such a neat week! I'm not going, but I hope to be able to keep you all updated as much as I can. Are any of you attending? The four events will be in Vermont, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Connecticut.

After next week, Living Proof Live will have had the great privilege of serving in all 50 states in 10 years! Isn't that cool? God, You are awesome! It is an indescribable blessing to get to witness what God is doing in every part of this country. You know, people can throw out some seriously depressing statistics about the state of the church in America, but we KNOW God is moving among women and changing their lives through His Word. We have seen it and are seeing it with our own eyes! He is not done with us, ladies. God's Word is alive and active in us and we are believing Him! Amen?

Some Eye Candy

From Rich and Gretchen's wedding. So beautiful!

Ring the Bells

Hey everyone! It's an extraordinarily beautiful, almost-fall day in Houston, Texas. Jackson and I got to enjoy a long walk on the Rice University campus with some friends earlier today. He just woke up from his nap asking for candy corns and his Bibby will be happy to know I obliged. Curtis is taking a quick nap before he goes to our church to teach Wednesday night Bible study on the life of Elijah. I am getting ready to run to the store and grab a mini pumpkin for Jackson for his MDO's pumpkin patch tomorrow. We are still sniffling a little but we're on the mend. I hope you all are doing well on this Wednesday afternoon.

There's been some major buzz online about our dear friend Travis Cottrell's newest project and I don't want any of our peeps to miss out! Travis' Christmas CD, Ring the Bells, was released today. Way to go, Trav! You can read a review of it here on the CCM Magazine web site. You can find the CD in stores, on Travis' web site, and on iTunes.

Curtis starts humming Christmas songs in July and by October he's singing them outright and playing them on the guitar. Last night it was "O Come All Ye Faithful." My man will soon have some CD's in our LPM online store, but I assure you they won't be of him singing. We'll leave that to Travis!

You Think You Know People

Last night Curt and I went to pick up Jackson from the babysitter's house. That would be my mom's house. We had our dinner 8 group for Sunday school and Bibby was so generous to take Jackson for us. They even went to Chucky Cheese (Chunky Cheese, as we say in our family)! Jackson is so lucky! When we got to her house we were both feeling kind of crummy from a cold. I could see the gears turning in my mother's mind. She was deciding whether to reveal a secret about herself that could either shock and horrify us or help relieve our stuffy noses. Her mothering instincts overrode her self-protection instincts and she darted into her bathroom and emerged with this thing that looked like a small watering can-slash-tea pot. She said some of the girls at work had started using these things - neti pots they're called - and she had finally taken the plunge. (You can watch an instructional video here if you dare.) It worked wonders, she said. She may have even used the words "life changing." Now all of the LPM crew, minus one, are regular users.

We were somewhat amazed as she explained it. Curtis, who is one day more advanced into his cold than I am, not to mention more adventurous, was intrigued. So on the way home we picked one up at Walgreen's. Once Jackson was in bed, Curtis proceeded to irrigate his sinuses over my kitchen sink. Awesome. He also lost concentration during the process and didn't control his breathing correctly, which resulted in him losing his dinner in my kitchen sink. Super awesome. Personally, I've had enough of losing my breakfasts, lunches, and dinners in the last few months and I would rather not try this neti pot phenomenon. Curtis was sniffling again within 15 minutes. Totally not worth it to me, y'all. I declined using the neti pot. Well this morning when I woke up my head felt like it weighed 40 pounds. I started coughing and wouldn't you know that my body went into morning sickness mode. Fun times. So Curtis and I can bond over our stuffy noses and weak stomachs. We are a pitiful pair.

(I know, this is the worst post of all time. I was really hurting for something to say.)

So are you a natural remedy kind of person (not that there's anything natural about pouring water into your nose through a tea pot) or do you reach for the medicine cabinet when you get sick? If you're a natural remedy kind of person, what is the one thing you're always trying to get your friends to try?

I would normally sustain myself on DayQuil and NyQuil, but since I'm with child I'm just trying to make it on as little Tylenol as possible, chicken soup, and decaf hot tea. Okay, y'all are not going to believe this, but Curtis just walked in the door unexpectedly. He's home on his lunch break to use his neti pot again! He is so brave and wild at heart! As for me, I'm going to heat up some soup.

Taping at Life Today

You girls know we are absolutely shameless in asking for prayer, so here I come again with another request! Mom is in the Dallas area, my old stomping grounds, this weekend. Between tonight and tomorrow afternoon she will tape five teaching sessions for "Wednesdays with Beth" on "Life Today with James and Betty Robison." (She'll teach two sessions tonight and three on Saturday.) She does several of these tapings each year. These weekends are incredibly intense. Imagine a Living Proof Live event with two extra sessions. Each time she is completely dependent on God for a sustained anointing, perfect health, full energy, restorative sleep, concentrated preparation time, focus, and a great connection with the audience - in other words, a demonstration of the Spirit's power! It is a good and desperate place to be.

My dad is usually with her on these weekends because they feel that she benefits from the covering of his presence and his prayers. He is not able to be at this particular taping, so we would like to ask our sweet siestas to help us with some extra prayer coverage for Beth. These episodes reach what is to me a mind-boggling amount of people. Please pray that Jesus will completely overtake my mom and use her to teach the Word boldly and accurately to the studio audience and viewers at home. Pray that His name will be glorified through all of this. Thank you so much, friends! It is all about Him!

We love you bunches and we are so thankful for you.
Love,
Amanda

PS - You can watch all the previous episodes online here.

There is a Rescuer

Good morning, siestas. Today is the day my Curtis comes home and I want to thank you for praying for us. I know he had a very powerful experience in India and I can't wait to hear all the details. I'm sure he will want to share his experience with you, too. Jackson and I did great. We had one 48 hour stretch that was pretty tough, but other than that we did better than I thought we would. God was faithful to meet our needs every day.

I also want to share something that I wrote yesterday. Up until a few days ago we were one of the families with a missing loved one from the Galveston area. Praise God, our loved one has been found. Then I had a dream two nights ago that I was one of the people who didn't evacuate the island in time for Hurricane Ike and it was so upsetting. God used those things to burn this on my heart.

The National Weather Center issued the stern warning to those living on the coast: "Those living in one or two-story single family homes must evacuate or face certain death." It was debated whether the wording was too dramatic. For some, maybe it was, but the words were sadly appropriate for what may amount to hundreds of others. Unbelievably large numbers of people did not heed the warning. They wanted to stay with their homes and be able to protect their belongings after the storm. What they didn't consider was that there would be nothing left to save, regardless of their presence. The hurricane would not make landfall until Saturday, but they didn't plan on the storm surge reaching the coast as early as Friday afternoon. With the sun still shining, the gulf waters began overtaking Bolivar Peninsula, making a last minute evacuation impossible for hundreds of people. They drank in the sight of water covering the roadways and were forced to swallow the bitter pills of regret and dread. They called for help, but only a fraction could be rescued before the winds became too strong for the helicopters. They called their loved ones and said, "I made a mistake. I'm really in trouble here." They were helpless. And their loved ones are left traumatized. Emergency operators would receive countless calls for help during the storm. They would not be able to offer any hope. It was too late. In complete and utter darkness, people were swept to sea in their own homes. Their broken, swollen bodies are currently being recovered all along the coast amid debris, alligators, water moccasins, and swarms of mosquitoes. The Houston Chronicle reports that hundreds of people are unaccounted for. You can go to their web site and search the names and faces of missing fathers, mothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sons and daughters. It is horrifying.

In the midst of this, while many in this region remain mercifully unaware due to lack of power and/or cable TV, our country is on the verge of financial disaster. And while the coast is still cleaning up, we will elect a new president and proceed to change administrations in the middle of a war. Simply put, it is all very scary.

People, look around and see that the storm surge of Hell is rising around us. It is lapping at the Sea Wall. It is beginning to flood the only road off the island. We stand on the decks of our fancy beach homes built on sand and watch the water rising, submerging the pillars we trusted to keep us safe. We've already been warned of disaster. Scripture says "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). And "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Our sin - the thing inside us that makes us do wrong - has earned us spiritual death, an eternity apart from God. Indeed, an eternity in hell. The hell on earth around us now is only a shadow of what is to come when we will reap the terrible harvest of the sin we sowed on this earth. It is a dire message. A terrible thing to have to hear. But true.

My friends, the good news is that we still have time to call the Emergency Operator and ask to be saved. While the Bible says that we deserve death, it also says "But the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). We can call upon Jesus to save us - from ourselves and from the unquenchable fire of hell that is eager to overtake us all. There is a way out, but there is only one way. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Call on Jesus.

"Therefore [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens." (Hebrews 7:25-26)

Jesus made a way for us to be saved when He came to earth and lived a perfect life. He was fully man and at the same time fully God. He was completely without sin. He laid down His life for us while we were still doing everything wrong and spitting in His face. He loved us that much. He was tortured, then nailed to a cross and died. On that cross He bore the wrath of God for all of humanity's sin. He suffered and died in our place.

He was resurrected on the third day and appeared to many men. This is one of the most well documented facts in history. All of time revolves around His resurrection. At this moment He sits on a throne in Heaven next to God. He waits for us to call upon Him for salvation, to surrender our lives to Him, to put our hope and trust in Him. Romans 10:9-12 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.'" He waits with open arms for the Saved, the Forgiven, the Rescued to enter into the splendor of an eternity with Him. There, the foundation is solid and there is no fear. There is only joy and the fulfillment of every need of your immortal soul in the presence of the One who created you.

Just like the hundreds of people who died needlessly when they did not heed the evacuation orders on the coast, we will suffer in hell needlessly if we do not take Jesus Christ up on His offer of salvation. What? You think you don't deserve to be rescued? Well no one does. It is all by grace, no matter how "good" you seemed or how "bad" you were. What? You want to stay in your house and protect all that you've gathered for yourself on this earth? It will all be destroyed anyway. What? Your husband won't go with you? You'd rather stay behind with him and ride it out? How foolish. Take your children and go. Call upon His name before it is too late.

Hurricane Hell is in the gulf. It is churning. It will certainly make landfall for each of us, but we are not given a forecast. We do not know when it will hit, but we do know that it brings with it "certain death." Will we say the warning is too stern? Or will we call upon the Savior and be rescued?