2011 Siesta Scripture Memory Verse 2

This week, I want to memorize a verse that I hold dear to my heart because I have seen the evidence of  it at work in my own life :

But Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE.  FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh.  What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

- Mark 10:5-9

New Standard American Bible

I have the John MacArthur Study Bible and in the footnotes John says that "become one" literally means "to be joined" or "to glue".  My husband and I call it "God Glue".  

Before we got married, we both thought our married life would be easy.  A piece of cake.  A walk in the park.  Effortless.  Perfect!

  But The Bible tell us that marriage is harder.  We were both aware of this, but assumed that because of our superior oneness with each other, God would just give us a pass on all the hard stuff.  Boy, were we ever wrong!  We have definitely have had our share of troubles.  And health issues.  

I want to memorize this verse and then next month I'll start working on verses that deal with healing since both my husband and I are having health concerns.  My husband re-injured an old injury in his back recently and it has really been causing him a lot of pain.  I noticed a swollen lymph node in my armpit area and then my husband developed 3 swollen lymph nodes in his armpits!  (We are one!) Hopefully, our bodies are just fighting off something and we will not be sick for any prolonged period of time.  In my case, I'm a little more concerned because I have been losing my hair like crazy the last four or six months.  Weird.  I did see my doctor last week and I'll go again next week to see the results of my lab work, so hopefully there will be some answers.  


Also, I will most likely be having surgery next month due to my bladder prolapsing.  If you read Pioneer Woman's blog, you've probably heard her discuss this problem!  Basically, because of a prior surgery, my bladder is kind of falling out, or kinked.  I have already had one surgery to fix this, but apparently I need another one.  

This will be the 7th surgery I've had in my 37 short years.  At least I will get hospital ice.  Everybody I know thinks I'm weird because I like to chew on the ice at the hospital!  I would gladly go to Sonic Burger for their ice, but we don't have Sonic Burger's in Alaska, much to my sadness!   But, Praise God for letting me live in such a time that has developed such marvelous technology.  If I had lived 500 years ago, I never would have seen my 21st birthday because my appendix would have burst and killed me!  Thank God for life-saving medical advances.  


When I was two years old, I was diagnosed with Wolfe Parkinson White syndrome, or WPW.  WPW is a heart arrhythmia (tachycardia) that causes your heart to sometimes beat at high rates (200 -300 beats per minute), similar to Stellen at McMama's blog.  The doctors at that time told my mother that the only chance of fixing my heart would be through open heart surgery, when I was older.  I'm thanking God again, because not only did I have not have to have open heart surgery, but it actually took two surgeries to correct the problem.  They did the surgery with a catheter (through the veins) and a laser.  We are all so blessed to be alive in the world today!   


I also want to Praise God for Bennett's progress!  I'm so happy for Adrienne that she will finally get to bring her sweet baby home.  Praise God!

P.S. - I have found that keeping my memory verse under the cover of my iPhone is very helpful!  I don't have my spiral yet, so this is how I improvised:

It works in a pinch!  I haven't had time to download the new LPM app yet either!

 

PRAYER REQUEST FOR BENNETT

Please join me in praying for sweet Baby Bennett, his mom Adrienne and their family as Bennett has surgery tomorrow.  My heart goes out to Adrienne.   I can't imagine how terribly difficult it must be as a mom to need to be in two places at once, but obviously, only being able to be at one or the other.  I have often wished that I could do something to help her, and even though I can't do much, I CAN PRAY!!!   I'm sure the anticipation of the days ahead is really hard on them, so let's all be sure to lift them up with prayer!  

Adreinne

2011 Siesta Scripture Memory Verse 1

This is the verse that I chose to start the New Year:

And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

-Matthew 19:26 

New Standard American Bible

And just for fun, I thought I would post the same verse in another Bible translation:

But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

-Matthew 19:26

King James Version

I pray that you will find peace and joy and that God will be with you in 2011!

Where Did 2010 Go?

I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of the year.  I can't believe that I fully intended to post pictures on my blog from Hawaii every day we were there, but somehow only found time to post four times.  Out of 13 days.  Pretty lame!  Here's a beautiful Hawaiian sunset picture to cheer me (and you) up:

It's amazing to me how fast time seems to fly as I get older.  Maybe it's just that technology makes everything happen so quick that it just seems like time is flying faster to me?  I suppose it's a possibility.  

Here is a list of some of the goals I'd like to accomplish in 2011:

• Memorize two scriptures per month with the Siesta's on Beth Moore's blog.  
• Spend more time reading the Bible.
• Be a better representative of Christ.    
• Learn to play the keyboard or piano.
• Find a cure for my tone deafness.
• Finally, get my home office organized and become paperless!
• Learn how to use a Mac operating system.
• Buy a Mac computer.
• Be successful enough in the joint-venture my husband and I have started to allow him to retire from working in our shop!  

These, are not, by the way, resolutions!  I haven't done resolutions in more years than I can remember because they always seemed to be forgotten by week 2 of the new year!

In actuality, I'm not sure how many of the above goals are realistic for me to achieve, but I know that with God, all things are possible!  As a matter of fact, I think I will get an early jump on my scripture memorization and make Matthew 19:26 the first verse!  

That reminds me, I plan on doing a spiral notebook with my memory verses like Beth Moore suggests, but with a twist.  I am going to print my verses out (in a large font) that I will stick under my iPhone cover so I can read my verse every time I use my phone!  

See?

Then when it's time for a new verse, I will simply paste the newly memorized (printed) one in my memory book next to the one I have handwritten!  (I'll post a picture of that later, when I have actually done it!)

By the way, did anybody feel like Beth Moore was talking directly to them when she made her encouragement post regarding people who feel like they are incapable of memorizing scripture?  I sure did.  It will be interesting to see the evidence of God's faithfulness in my life this year as we embark on this endeavor, that's for sure.  To say that I have struggled in this area is an understatement.  I can usually remember most of the words of any given verse, but couldn't tell you where in the Bible to find it!  (Not very good for somebody who gives Bibles away!)  

In fact, it was precisely that post by Beth that gave me the just the nudge I needed to commit to doing this!  Wow.  Thank you, Beth Moore!

GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT?

The more I think about my recent experience with TSA in the Honolulu Airport, the more I become convinced that anyone wishing to travel in this country has been deemed guilty until proven innocent by the TSA and our lawmakers. 

I can't conceive of the reason for the violation of my person by the TSA agents who selected me for the x-ray machine, (which I politely declined), who tried to intimidate me into doing the scanner, and who ulitmately delivered the most personal assault I have ever experienced in my 37 years of life.  It was an assault on my integrity, largely insulting, hugely intimidating and has left me quite traumatized.  

I think most certainly there is an abuse of power and position going on.  How did American citizens lose the ability to move around the country freely without being subject to invasive body searches by authorities? 

Can't we find a better way to handle air safety without humiliating every American, espcially children, the handicapped and the elderly?  I'm sure air security could be handled in a way that would cost less and in a more secure way (and with less bodily invasion) than what we are currently doing.  

I think that it is time to seriously consider firing all incumbents in D.C..  Will we stop this madness?  Can we stop this madness?  What do you think?  What have your TSA experiences been like?  How do you feel about this subject?  Please leave a comment if you have any ideas or stories to share.  Thanks!