Pressing It In

It was so sweet of God to let me stumble upon the LPM blog a few years back. I had done some Beth Moore studies, listened to several of her teachings and of course just loved the woman! So, when I discovered her blog I was elated. There are so many great things about this blog.

A. You get more of Beth, her wisdom, encouragement and a ton of laughs

B. You get to hear from her two girls, Amanda and Melissa, who like their Mom are the REAL deal..genuine, full of wisdom, insight and they have that hilarious "Moore" humor

C. There is such a COOL sisterhood between all of the women who visit LPM...the "Siestas" :).

In December 2008, Beth invited us to join her in memorizing scriptures for the 2009 year. We memorized 2 scriptures a month (you were free to choose) and then held each other accountable by sharing them on the LPM blog on the 1st and 15th. Let me tell you...it rocked my world! I have memorized Scripture before but NEVER this much and NEVER this consistent. There were times in prayer (for myself or others) that the Scriptures I was memorizing poured out like rivers of living water! Beth reminded us to look over our spirals and remember where we have been with Him. I love that! It really is a picture of my ups and downs, struggles, victories and longings of my heart from 2009. My little spiral is now one of my dearest treasures. And you can imagine how my heart leapt when I saw my 11 year old whip out her spiral this morning and started going through her own scriptures without me asking her to do it. :)

Well, January 22nd/23rd was a weekend I have been looking forward to for over a year! Over 500 women met at Beth's church, Houston First Baptist, to celebrate a year of hiding His Word in our hearts. I started the night by getting to meet one of my favorite bloggers, BIG MAMA! Melanie was super sweet as I went on and on about how she keeps me (and sometimes even my man) laughing on a regular basis. (Just to clarify...he does not read blogs nor does he understand why I do, but he humors me every once in a while and will listen to me read one out loud). I do have to say it just felt so wrong calling her "Big Mama" to her face when she is indeed a very small mama!

The 3 Moore girls came out and the party began! Beth was over the top hilarious and full of energy....and I mean full all weekend! Her teaching was out of Psalm 119 and was of course amazing. She started off by saying we were going to memorize all 176 verses of the Psalm that weekend! Of course she was kidding but seriously how cool would that be??

*(Ok, side note: I had to laugh at this because my husband literally has given a challenge to our family: anyone who memorizes Psalm 119 gets $500. I tell him all the time the reason I love Beth so much is because she reminds me of him...he is totally crazy about God's Word and when he teaches or talks about it,it is always with a ton of enthusiasm and passion!!! )

Anyways, we finished the night with Beth's fabulous Texas Sheet Cake and then I got to meet Amanda, a few Siestas like Nicole from Canada and some girls from Oregon. I have to admit I left feeling a bit sad to be there alone. My BFF was supposed to be with me but she had a baby the week before and I wasn't staying at the hotel where most Siestas were. For the record, everyone was super sweet..it was totally a me thing missing my friend!

The next morning I arrived bright and early and God was so sweet to have me sit next to some really fun Siestas. Dana, Paula, Kelli Jo and Yvonne became my new friends and were so great and totally pulled me right in. I was definitely feeling the Siesta Love! Worship with Travis was awesome and Beth finished her teaching with this phrase:

"I'm a resident alien..seeking direction... in deep want of wonder... in peril and need... troubled by humanity... especially my own... knowing that to follow is the only free road... to a straying sheep longing to be found."

At one point she talked about "pressing it in," making sure the Word that is taught/heard gets pressed in to your heart. Making sure it is on good soil, taken in, chewed on and then letting it transform. I can still picture her holding both hands over her heart as she said this and related it to the seed from the parable of the sower. Her teaching was so rich that I am still pressing it in. I looked over my notes today and was astounded at how God spoke to me in so many ways and in so many areas of my life. I will say this, to hear Beth say, " I LIVE to hear Him," stirs my heart. Stirs my heart to continue to pursue His voice and pursue Him through His Word. One of my scriptures I memorized was: "Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are they who keep His testimonies, and who seek, inquire for and of Him and crave Him with the whole heart" (Psalm 119:2 ). Lord, help me crave you over anything or anyone and live to Hear your voice.

We then broke up into small groups and said our memory verses together and then I snuck off to take some pictures of the Siestas spread ALL over the church campus. Such a cool sight watching and listening to 100's of women sharing their scriptures with one another! When everyone came back in we finished off the weekended with some question and answer time, an awsome commissioning and then worship. I loved getting to end the weekend worshipping our King with a bunch of His daughters. He is so good and so faithful! I am so thankful for His grace to stay consistent this year and helping me memorize all 24 scriptures! Thank you LPM staff (you were amazing!), Beth, Amanda and Melissa. Thank you for loving us and for giving such an incredibly memorable weekend and transforming year!

Psalm 33:4 "For the Word of the Lord is right and ALL His work is done in faithfulness."

Beth and her spiral..because God did create spirals on the 8th day :)

Love this one of her and Melissa

She was running to give someone a hug....she was so excited about everything all weekend! And I totally loved it

The next morning with my new friends:

Paula, Me, Yvonne and Dana

Beth with Amanda

Doing her thing...teaching His Word like nobody's business!

It is finished...

Now, let the Scriptures begin....

Kellie Jo listening to me

I love this shot. It was NOT posed. I was walking around and caught this as they were finishing! Celebration!

Beth and her beloved Starbucks

Siesta Memory Commissioning

"My dear Siesta, you have honored your God by treasuring His word. You have been through a rough year but here you are, the delight of your Father’s heart and a thorn in the devil’s side. As we go our separate ways, hold fast to God’s precepts. Let him use his decrees to put iron in your soul. Let no sin have dominion over you and when you stray (and you probably will) and you feel like you can’t find God, cry out to Him with all your might and he will come find you. Because never forget that the son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. Now girlfriend, go out there and do that thing!"

-Beth