Ahh...good things definitely came to those who memorized. The Living Proof Ministries Siesta Scripture Memory Challenge Celebration (now that's a mouth full!) was certainly everything I hoped it would be and more. And though the greatest returns on memorizing my 24 scripture passages over 2009 were definitely intrinsic and spiritual as I wrote last Thursday, the weekend with Beth Moore, her lovely daughters, Travis Cotrell, and over 500 of my fellow Siestas, was sweet dessert.
There's no way I can do the weekend justice in a quick blog (I'm still on a little vacation, you see, and when I'm in vacation mode, it's hard to think clearly enough to write much!) (Hey! Did I just hear someone breath a sigh of relief?). But I can supply some pictures, and I bet that's what you'd rather see anyhow. However, my pics are taking forever to download, so there will just be a few of the many I took.
This was the scene Friday evening as we all poured into a large room at First Baptist Houston for the first session. We didn't meet in the auditorium, but in this room where Beth had taught Sunday School for 23 years. You'll notice a number of the ladies are wearing pink boas. That was to help the women identify one another in the airport and hotels and such. I never got around to getting one but enjoyed the "pink" of it all nonetheless!
All of my pictures of Beth and Travis are blurry. They just move around too much. Here's Travis leading us in a rousing worship service. Absolutely marvelous! We sang with gusto and enthusiasm. (Are those the same thing? Well, we sang with so much enthusiasm that one word doesn't describe it sufficiently!)
Here are our hostesses for the weekend - Beth and her lovely daughters Amanda (on the left) and Melissa. They were sweet, warm, and welcoming (sounds like I just described a honey bun! oh well...). Beth taught us two wonderful sessions from the 119th Psalm. I learned so much and I am blessed with fresh, new spiritual insight. I am so thankful!
In this pic they're giving out door prizes, but I didn't get one :(
No biggy! The whole weekend was one big door prize anyhoo!
Over 500 women attended the conference free, but we have another 1,500 Siestas who successfully completed the memory challenge and didn't get to make it to Houston. Their absence was definitely felt. Women came from 42 states and Canada for the event, and we had over 24 denominations represented at least. There was one little 8-year-old girl there with her mom and she had learned all 24 of her scriptures as well.
About half of the women had come to the event with someone they knew - a mother, sister, daughter, or friend. But clearly half of us knew absolutely no one when we got there. That changed immediately as we hooked up with names and pics that were familiar from the comment section of the LPM blog and from following one another's blogs.
Here are two of my new friends whose blogs I was already reading and commenting on. They are
Spicy Magnolia on the left and
Marla Taviano on the right.
Sorry for the red-eye girls! I didn't have a chance to edit yet!
On Saturday morning all of the women paired up with their new friends to say their scriptures to each other from memory. A mere technicality really at this point, but oh what a blessing - to look all around the grounds of the church and see grown women (as opposed to AWANA children) reciting their beloved scriptures to each other! The Word of God was truly swimming in that place!
This is a pic of me and my new friend Jan from Colorado. We had just finished sharing our scriptures with one another. We hadn't chosen a single one alike, so it was a blessing to hear hers.
LPM is not doing this same scripture memory challenge this year. I know I need a break from memorizing one scripture every 15 days. But I will continue to add to my notebook and memorize as I can. And so the reward goes on....
Kay
Labels: discipleship, the Bible
