Summer is almost upon us. For some of us these are the lazy days—the mornings and evenings without alarm clocks and bed times. They are vacations, summer camps, cookouts, pauses in schedules and routines.
But… it’s good to have a plan to stay in the Word. Enter, LifeWay Women to save the summer:
LifeWay is offering an easily accessible and doable Bible study plan for even the craziest of summers. Both Angie Smith and I are incredibly excited to join you this summer through Bible studies we’ve written:
Angie wrote a study called Seamless that focuses on God’s single story of redemption and helps us better understand how all of Scripture ties together.
I wrote a study called What Love Is on the letters of 1, 2 & 3 John that focuses on the rich fundamentals of our faith. Both studies are being offered – or if you really want to be ambitious you can try doing both.
For some extra inspiration, I just returned from the Amazon Jungle and met this incredible woman.
Beautiful believer in the Amazon singing “I’d Rather Have Jesus”
To most, she would be considered the poorest of the poor. But watching this video reminds me of how rich she is. (My two year-old niece has watched this at least 20 times on my iPhone. Her words are, “I like this lady”. Me too.)
So, the unofficial title of this post is “I’d Rather Have Jesus…This Summer”. Plan to be in the Word! You’ll be so thankful come August!
Love and appreciate you all so very much. You all have been so good to me!
Blessings,
Kelly
My First Garden, Post 1
If everything dies, this will be my first and...
Nehemiah and Beth Moore’s Summer Blog
Summer is almost here, that lovely season when...
Yanno, The Boy From Chita
Our boat pulled up to the cement school in the...
Abundance Events
I just returned from the first ever Abundance Event in Houston, TX. Next stop: Minneapolis, MN on April 27-28. I’m taking a moment to write about it because it was that awesome. Because I’m hoping you’ll be able to gather with us for one of the remaining three Abundance Events of the year (Event Info and Video Here). First off, it was amazing to be out on a “work” weekend with friends: Angie Smith, Lisa Harper, Tammie Head, Jen Hatmaker, Angela Thomas, Travis Cottrell, Jennifer Rothschild, Keely Scott (Compassion), Melanie Shankle (BigMama Blog), you get the idea. It was like summer camp without the smores, although we did sneak Tex-Mex in there.
What I loved most was that the event provided an amazing blend of highlighting the abundance God came to give with the call to give our abundance away. There was opportunity to give in big and small ways, especially since many local ministries unique to Houston were represented. Since Christ called us to be co-laborers with Him and not just spectators, Abundance offered a tangible way for us to be involved with international and local ministries. Oh, and if you came on dead-empty, there was no pressure to do anything but simply receive the abundance of Christ’s love. Brilliant.
My Mom In The Jungle And Other Ramblings
“And you will be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.” Never do these words of Jesus mean more to me than when I’m in the jungles of Brazil. I’m not sure what constitutes the ends of the earth, but if ever a region deserved this title, the jungle would have as good a shot as any for ends-of-the-earthness. I just returned from my fifth trip there in connection with a ministry called Ray of Hope. They’re a local, on the ground mission in Manaus that exists to serve the people who live along the vast and glorious river we call the Amazon.
My experiences there have forced me to rethink the various elements of my life, thus my Christianity as a whole. So here I am, attempting to blog about this latest trip while it’s fresh on my mind, while I can still smell the scents of the Amazon and my spirit’s still buzzing with the excitement of meeting people who are living the Christian life in ways I’ve scarcely encountered. More than anything, I want to write about the unrivaled joy of serving with my family, my mom in particular this time.
Yes, my mom came with us for her first time, the trip’s first miracle. How shall I put this? My mom doesn’t do bugs. She doesn’t do camping, roughing it, excessive heat. She really doesn’t do roaches the size of rodents, leaping tarantulas, or scorpions that lurk in people’s shoes (people meaning us). And when smartypants people say, “Well, most tarantulas aren’t dangerous”, I want to respond with, “Does this matter when the spider is the size of your face?” The whole Amazon caboodle is not really my mom’s cup of tea. Actually, tea is her cup of tea, as in Earl Grey in an English cup that’s perched on a coffee table inside someone’s home that has central heating and air. Going to the Amazon was a tremendous act of obedience on her part, one I don’t take lightly.