Goodbyes are Hard

Dear Fellow Siestas,
Through the summer I have been praying about whether or not God wanted me to keep this blog going or not.

The birth of this blog began with the Siesta Fiesta in San Antonio last year.

Kim and I enjoyed planning extra fun things for all of us to do and we enjoyed the ministry of this blog.

It has been an honor to meet some of you in person and a lot of fun receiving emails from you. :)

Y'all are truly the sweetest Siestas and I loved ministering to you in this capacity.

I think the highlights were the Siesta Spotlights, the Christmas Ornament Exchange and all the pictures we posted of you all on here !

Can you believe it has been almost a year since the Siesta Fiesta? It will not be long until Houston and I hope to see you there!

A special thanks to Kim, Lisa, Holly and Dori for helping me through this blog. Many blessings to you for the time you graciously gave in order to make this place fun but more importantly for pointing all of us to Christ.

After months of praying it is under God's leading that I will close this blog.

I would like to say that if you are in need of prayer or just have a question that you can email me @ pwilliamsut@aol.com OR my blog address: patty-girlfriendsingod.blogspot.com and I am also on Face Book and Twitter.

You all have a special place in my heart and I hope to see you at the LPL conferences or any time for that matter. :)

Thank you to all who have prayed for my family and myself. We are so appreciative.

This summer God has taken us to a new city to live which is actually an old city to us. We live in East Tennessee again and we are happy to be back home. This is a beautiful place to live and God is doing some powerful work within our family. :)

Summer is almost over and the fall season begins. Y'all have a great end to summer and enjoy the rest of this year and may God continue to bless you throughout the rest of this year and send you delights that you would never dream possible. He can because with God ALL things are possible!!

Much love ,
Patty

Deeper Still ...Greensboro

Hey Siestas!

How is your summer going?

It is a hot summer in Tennessee but I know it is nothing like a Texas summer!

There is much that has happened this summer and I will be back to to share that later.

A sweet Siesta emailed me and asked me to give you some info about Deeper Still in Greensboro, NC.

KristiB is organizing a lunch that weekend for the Siestas who are attending D.S.


If you are attending this conference would you please leave a comment and let us know?!

The lunch will be here:

We are meeting at Shanes Rib Shack 4217 W.Wendover Ave. on Friday July 31st at 11:00 a.m. Also siestas can rsvp to kristib1116@gmail.com

Have a great weekend and remember to pray for Beth and the LPL conference in Albuquerque, NM. :)

Love,
Patty

Blog Break

Due to a few situations going on right now we are going to take a blog break for awhile.

Thank you all for praying for me and when I can I will give an update as soon as possible.

Thank you and I love you Patty.

Enjoy your summer!

$544.64 and Sweet Caroline

Hey Siestas!

'Hope this day you are doing super-dooper! It's a foggy, rainy day here in Colorado. I think we have moved to England. Before I begin talking about our next book, can I tell you? I mean--are you ready for this?

I just mailed a check for $544.64 towards a clean Water for LIFE well in honor of Beth Moore to Life Outreach International. That makes a total of $2,709.64 since last August. Come on now, you know you want to PRAISE HIM MORE! Stand up and clap with me!!

And so I begin another waiting list for the next order. So far I have nine sweet Siestas, who would like to order a cookbook. Wanna join them? Just email me at chrishollysmith@msn.com and I will add you to the list. They are $18 plus shipping and I must have 100 on the list before I make the order. I ask that you not try to pay until I have 100 orders, and I promise to email you when we make the mark.

I emailed my contact at Life Outreach to let him know about the check I sent and he gave me a link to a group of Bible study girls in Branson, MO, who have a spectacular idea! They are asking that if you have taken a Beth Moore Bible study and have been blessed by it, consider giving a gift towards a water well. They said if Beth was at your study, wouldn't you love to take her to lunch or buy her a coffee? Well, instead they are asking folks to give towards a well.

So whether it's through a cookbook or just to be a blessing, I think this opportunity to bless some kids and give them a cup of clean water in Jesus' Name would be fulfilling such a wonderful crown to one day lay down.

Okie Dokie?

Well now, let's move onto our fictional book talk...

Sweet Caroline by Rachel Hauck

Now if you haven't picked up the book already, you can pick it up and join us next week. You are welcome to come back to this and answer. Of course, I'd love to dialogue-- two-way communication makes good conversation, as my sister in Christ, Becky Tirabassi says.

1) In the first chapters of the book, we discover how Caroline has fallen into a pattern of giving up her wants to help others. Discuss a time in your life when you gave up your goals and dreams to serve others. What was the outcome?

This has occurred a few times in my life. Two points that stick out in my mind are the college I chose and not going to law school. I picked University of Texas to please my parents. I had been accepted to SMU and that is where I always had wanted to go. Sometimes I wish I had gone to the furthest extent, to go where I felt led to go. Also, after finishing at Texas A&M (Huh, you say? Yes, I married my Chris the summer before my junior year and transferred to his school. He was a merit scholar and had a full scholarship.), I really wanted to go to law school and Chris really wanted to go to graduate school. But one of us had to work, and again Chris received a full scholarship. I got my PHT, my Chris says. I "put hubby through."

In both cases, I know that it was God's will for me to do just what I did. I have no regrets. Also? I have no desire to be a lawyer. None.

2) Raised with a troubled mother, Caroline fell into the role of caring for her Dad and brother, bearing an emotional burden. How can we bear one another's burdens while each one carrying their own weight? Do you carry burdens that are not yours?

Of course I do. Don't we all? And when it gets down to the point, we really sometimes try to be mini-gods to others by creating a co-dependence through carrying those burdens in an unhealthy and over-zealous way. Jesus never meant for us to be yoked in that way.

However, on the other side, the Holy Spirit does lead us to intercede and help others, to carry their burdens. We have got to learn to listen. And we have got to learn to recognize our motives and our reactions. Once we start seeing and understanding (ask God to help!), we can walk with peace and grace and mercy--never guilt or condemnation. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Walk in that. Walk in Him.

You are precious in His Sight!
Love,
Holly

PS Please continue to pray for Patty and her family.

Siesta Roll Call for Summer Bible Study

Hi Siestas!

It has been awhile since I posted here. I hope you are having a great kick off to summer.

I just got back from LPL Wyoming and Colorado. We had a great time and I am thankful to God for providing the way and to Holly and Chris for their generosity!!

I had one of our siestas ask me to start a roll call for the summer Bible study.

If you are planning on doing the study with Beth and the Siestas would you mind leaving your name and how many you have in your group OR if you are doing it solo we would love to know that too. This can be a way to connect with your Siestas who may live closer to you than you realize and God could place you together for the study! How fun would that be?

Okay, I am in Middle Tennessee and my friend Georgia and I are planning on doing this so Nikki and Abby and anyone else in the area of NashVegas, maybe we can get together and do the study together. :) We need to talk. ;)

Your turn........


p.s. My family and myself are dealing with a dire need right now and I may be away from the blog for awhile. Dori and Holly will be here to keep the blog going.

My desire was to have a birthday giveaway for each month but due to my circumstances I will have to postpone that for the time being. This really saddens my heart because I love to give surprises to y'all but I do believe God will allow me to continue that once my family has come out of this hard season.

I love you,
Patty

We're Still Around

Patty and Georgia are here in Colorado with me and my family until tomorrow. We have had a fun, exhausting, wonderful, lock-in kind of existence. So my words? They are somewhere down the road, and for the life of me, I cannot seem to find them.

I have a few pictures for you from Laramie, Wyoming until Patty goes home this weekend.

OH! Georgia got Steel Magnolias for me to watch for the very first time this week. I hope I can still be a Siesta, since I haven't watched the "chick flick of all time" until now.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Love,

Holly

Book Talk - Tying Up Wide Awake and an Update from Bev

Wow, I'm sorry to have gotten so behind on this, y'all! Really with the weight of everything going on around me right now, it's a miracle I can think straight. These last two chapters really reminded me of those we are praying for.

In fact just this morning, I got a call from Bev saying, "Holly, the doctor told me it is worse than she thought. There is still cancer in my breast and it's in the lymph nodes, too. They will be doing chemo and another surgery. I'm holding on to God's hand so tightly. Thank you all for carrying me and praying for me."

So as we look at the end of Wide Awake, please let's INVEST in some lives together and carry Bev and others, too, before Jesus. Anyone want to help pick up the mats of others with me in prayer?

Wide Awake has marked some parts of my thinking in a very good way. I love when a book brings Scripture to light and challenges my lazy brain to think about what God is saying between the pages of His Living and Active Word. Don't you?

Chapter 8 - Invest: The Romantic

By referencing the story in the Bible of the paralytic that was lowered down on his mat before Jesus, Erwin states, "If you live a life of self importance, you won't find many people who want to help you when your life starts falling apart. If you can move yourself out of the center and begin to give your life away to other people, you'll begin to find that those very people will rally around you when you need them the most. We have to make a personal commitment that our goals, ambitions and dreams will never overtake our value for people.

"We must change from relational consumers and become investors. We don't say it like this, but far too many people see people as just another commodity--another resource. Do you see people as something to be used for your benefit, to accomplish your goals, to help you achieve your success, and then to be disposed of? Or do you see people as a gift and a stewardship?"

How do you see people?

When I was a little girl, my favorite Bible story was about the paralytic man whose friends or perhaps even family took him up to the roof of the house and lowered him down, so Jesus could heal him. They were desperate to help this man! I really didn't grow up knowing a lot of Bible stories, but perhaps this one came from Vacation Bible School, and it set my young mind to picture who Jesus is.

First, I wondered why Jesus was so popular that they couldn't go straight in. Then I wondered what He thought of a man slowly descending on a mat from the ceiling. Did He smile because of their confidence in Him? Did He have a knowing look of the pain this man endured? Then I wondered what kind of friend or person this man was that they'd take such measures to help him. Finally, I wondered what kind of friends or family would go to such lengths...such a huge risk to be of help.

This makes me wonder how many people we take before Jesus to ask (intercede) for their healing? Are we bold and believing? Do we expect Him to answer? Then I wonder, are we the kind of friend others would take before Jesus? I think when it comes down to it, to be that kind of friend that others would go to great lengths for, we have to be that kind of friend, as well. Do you accept other people's prayers for you, but not pray for others yourself? I think the point of this story is to show that Jesus can forgive sins, and He can heal. The first matters the most. We truly do need Him to forgive us from our sins. But the second, He cares about, too. He wants to heal us physically as well as mentally and spiritually.

What do you need today? Ask Him! He's so BIG and His joy when we ask believingly is huge!

Imagine - The Human
Just steep in these good words over your life.

Erwin says, "If you are what you think, then who are you? Where you go in your imagination is very much who you are going to become. As you dream and as you imagine your life, you either expand the boundaries of who you can become or you establish paralyzing boundaries that constrict and press against you, limiting and narrowing the person you will become.

"Do you need to rethink who you are and who you will become? Maybe you need a fresh vision or a new voice in your life telling you who you really are--the gifts and talents, intelligence, and passions, the potential, the undiscovered uniqueness waiting dormant within you. The only One who knows this fully is the One who created you. The One who created you is the One who longs to awaken you. Your thoughts, your dreams, and the boldness of your imagination are defining you today and shaping who you will become tomorrow. Those thoughts and dreams are informed and influenced by the voices in our lives. It is God and God alone who sees your life without limits. Only He sees who you were created to become. Only He knows the real potential of your life. Wouldn't you want the person who believes the most in you and sees the most in you be the primary informer of your imagination?"

OVERVIEW
How has Wide Awake marked your thinking and your behavior?

I have truly enjoyed the challenges and new horizons of thinking that Erwin has introduced. Sometimes, I get in a box of my own comfort zone. And God is breaking every single box I create! He is the box. He is the container that holds my life together. He is my everything.

Were there some elements that you found hard to swallow? What were they and why did they affect you so?

There were areas where I read and thought, "Well, I'm not exactly on the same page." But it was not in difference with Erwin on a spiritual basis, on Biblical things. It was mainly just coming from different experiences in life and different challenges every day.

In two weeks, we'll begin the fictional story Sweet Caroline by Rachel Hauck. Then in late June, we will tackle Jennifer Strickland's Girl Perfect, an autobiography by a former international model, who found Christ and has never been the same. I know it will challenge some of my "stinkin' thinkin' " about body image and how God sees me. I cannot wait for the challenge!

Alright, Siestas, I'll see YOU in the comments.

Love,
Holly