Barb Twigg
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The Ice Cream Van
Hi again dear SUMites I said in my last post that the Holy Spirit had given us two playful pictures to hold at the moment. The first one I described in the last post. The second one I'm sharing today. We are children to Jesus, and sometimes he will use playful analogies with us. What…
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I see a cloud the size of a man’s hand
Hi SUM family, Ann here. Whew, it’s been an exciting week with us hearing about two spouses’ salvations in one week. If you missed those you can catch up here and here. Well, unbelievably, there’s more! No sooner had I uploaded Monday's post about a second salvation than I got a message from another SUM…
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Another Spouse Gets Baptized!
Ann here! Teehee … I bet the title made you eagerly open this one. And, you won't be disappointed with what you read next. God glorifies His name through this community. Sometimes we have to wait a little while between testimonies, but they always come. I remember just before COVID spread through the world I…
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The Way We Fight Giants
My friends, Ann here. I have a problem. Here I am writing a series on how to fight giants using the example of some fear I've been battling … But this week the fear has gone completely! So, that's inconvenient because I'm trying to write about it. Maybe the giant wasn't enjoying the fight and…
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Eyeballing the Giant!
Dear friends, We’re continuing our series on fighting battles. I'm calling these 'spiritual battles', as most of the battles we face in life, as Christians, could be said to be spiritual even if they seem physical. For me, the challenge of my husband’s unbelief used to be a massive spiritual battle. It was a battle…
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Battle Series: We Won’t Start With The Giant!
Hi SUMites! Today we’re embarking on our series entitled ‘Fight that Giant!’ If you missed the introduction to this series you can catch up here. I’m rubbing my hands together at the thought of writing these upcoming posts, for 'giants' — That is, spiritually difficult things in our lives — are nasty critters. As we…
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What to Do When Facing a Scary Giant
Hello friends, It’s Ann here and, with a smile on my face, I’m introducing a new series which we'll start next Friday: FIGHTING THAT GIANT! In other words, spiritual warfare. We can always do with a fresh look on how to walk victoriously. And I know that many of us are in situations right now…
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A Continued Testimony: My Family and Church
Hi SUM family, Ann here. A few weeks ago I shared about how my teenage son Miles is now attending church with me. Amazing, amazing, amazing! If you missed that story, you can catch up here. Today I want to give you an update because I know how encouraging testimonies can be. Specifically, I want…
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Love Suffers Long … And We Celebrate!
Dear friends, hello! It’s Ann here, writing from a sunny Auckland. I’m smiling because this past fortnight was a treat seeing Lynn, Ian, Martha, Tiffany, and Dineen all take trips down memory lane to write about our community. Mirroring that, it was super encouraging to read the comments. Thank you!! We celebrate the work of…
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SUM Community, Let’s Party!
By Ann Hutchison My friends, today is an auspicious day: A certain someone turns fifteen. Nope, it's not one of our children, it's this ministry. Fifteen years ago today this blog had its humble beginnings with its very first post! Books emerged. A YouTube channel. Friendships. Testimonies. We've seen salvations of spouses, restorations of marriages,…
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Reflections on Attending Church Alone
Dear friends, Ann here! Today I want to chat about one of our topics that is an old favorite: Attending church alone. I type this with a smile, but it's a wry smile. Whether or not we've got into a routine, I think most of us would say that Church-plus-SUM is super tricky! I shared…
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Sow Bountifully, Reap Bountifully
Ann here! I have a little thought for us today: “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” 2 Corinthians 9:6 (NKJV) Sowing. In a spiritually unequal marriage? Perhaps we can pause and think about this for a minute. When we’re in a spiritually unequal marriage,…
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The Curious Move of Jesus in My Home
Ann here! When you're driving in the dark it's a great place to talk to a teen. With both sets of eyes fixed on the road nothing too intense is going on. That's probably how a teenage boy likes it, and it's where my son and I found ourselves last night as we drove home…
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Teenage Testimony Time Again!
My dear friends, Ann here. Thank you so much for your lovely comments on Monday’s post. It was as if the whole SUM community sent up a cheer of excitement to hear that my one teenager had joined church. The Body of Christ. And we cheered because we get it. We get the pain. We…
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God’s Move in My Family
Dear friends, Before I continue to share my story from Passover, I need to tell you about one of those less wondrous 'SUM moments' — Because it forms the backdrop to what I share next. It was one of those moments in church. All that happened was I turned around to see some kids having…
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Introducing Jesus Round the Dinner Table
By Ann Hutchison I lit the candles, put some serene music on, and let the aroma of lamb waft through the house. It was Passover evening, just a couple of weeks ago, and I'd made my family a special meal. "Ok, family," I called out. "Let’s have dinner!" And so my three came to the…
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Focus on Jesus, And … Things Bloom!
Dear SUMites, Ann here. I hope you enjoyed our little experience of walking together through Easter. I have to say it was a great discipline for me to focus solely on Jesus that week. On the topic of 'focusing solely on Jesus', when I first started writing for this blog a few years ago I…
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The Slithering Snakes of Holy Week
We've now got to the middle of Holy Week. My friends, one thing we see in the Gospels is that those Pharisees were an absolute pain in the backside! No, not just a pain. It's serious. Their rejection of Jesus is really, really bad. Really bad. Jesus shares pearls of wisdom that final week. His…
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Monday of Holy Week
It’s Monday of Holy Week in Jerusalem. With just three days to go before the crucifixion, Jesus is walking around Jerusalem ministering to others. In love. Miraculous, amazing Jesus. I cannot imagine the turmoil within his soul as he dug deep to carry out those last ministry tasks, knowing what he would endure next. At…
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Holy Week Here at SUM
Hi SUM family, Ann here. This time of year is ever so special. It’s a time when we lift our eyes collectively to the cross of Jesus. There’s such value in faith routines, and I know many of you have routines that you follow, year after year. For me, one treasured routine is to follow…
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Top Three Tips for Thriving in a Spiritually Mismatched Marriage
Ann here! Today I had an interesting faith conversation with a man with whom I cross paths occasionally. I know him in a professional rather than social capacity, but whenever I see him we have a good chat. So, I'll call him a 'friend-acquaintance'. Anyway, today I saw him for the first time in a…