Christmas
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Christmas Blessing For Your Dinner Table
Merry Christmas SUMite Family, My heart is deeply moved for all of you. I realize that this time of year and Christmas day, especially can create in us dreams and expectations about how we want the holiday to unfold. I know that I often felt disappointment, anger, frustration when it didn’t follow the idea I…
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Advent – Sharing the Longing
Image courtesy of 9comeback at FreeDigitalPhotos.net One Bible story that I keep coming back to each Advent season is the one that features Zechariah and Elizabeth. I hadn’t spent a lot of time reflecting upon it until a few years ago when I began to observe Advent. Most of you will know their story is…
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Advent – a Season to Remember and to Anticipate
Image courtesy of Gualberto107 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net We got the call that our son and his wife had left for the hospital. Our excitement increased thinking the next time we hear from them they will share the wonderful news of becoming parents for the first time. And we’d be grandparents. Yay! We went to bed believing…
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Spending Time in the Secret Place
Image courtesy of alex_ugalek at FreeDigitalPhotos.net It’s fast approaching the Christmas season when life can get especially busy. In addition, for we in mismatched marriages can have extra challenges as a result of a desire to intentionally reflect on the reason for the season. Jesus. Whether it’s attending gatherings with the church girls (or blokes),…
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Fourth Week of Advent: Peace (and Christmas!)
Merry Christmas, SUMites! I’m finishing up my Advent series today, because Lynn and I will be taking next week off to have more time with our families. We love you and bless you with all the joy and gladness this season holds, dear friends. Enjoy your family, enjoy your friends and most importantly, ENJOY JESUS!…
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Wonder Gives Birth To…….
Please share more of your #WonderOfChristmas with me here in the comment, Facebook or email me. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause…
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Third Week of Advent: Love
Hello, SUMites! We’re less than two weeks away from Christmas. Can you believe that? I’m almost done with my Christmas shopping…I think. How about you? And what’s on the menu for Christmas Day? What do I need to make? Who’s coming over? Need more lights up outside. I hope my mother loves her gift… I…
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#WonderOfChristmas – Who Needs Peace?
I received so many photos and tags on Social Media as our community captures the #WonderOfChristmas. Look at this one from Patty. Her son admiring the train set up at Macy’s. Priceless December can be so amazing and also hectic. I wonder how many of you need peace on this Friday? I continue to hear…
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Second Week of Advent: JOY!
Hello, SUM Family! We’re moving closer and closer to Christmas, and like you, I want to be intentional in enjoying the details of Christmas. Yesterday morning I went into my prayer room to pray for my own family and our SUM family here. I continue to pray and declare Jeremiah 24:7 over our spouses and…
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#WonderOfChristmas -SUMites This Is Our Season
Hello SUMite Nation, I’m going to save the Emotional Healing study for the new year. I think I need to have several uninterrupted weeks for this topic. It will be powerful. Today, I want to share with you what the Lord is speaking to me for the month of December. And it started with a…
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The Hope in Waiting … reflections on Advent
Photo courtesy of 9comeback/FreeDigitalPhotos.nety/FreeDigitalPhotos.net There’s something both exciting and tremendously nerve-wracking when an author presses the send button on the email that whisks their latest manuscript off to a publisher. Exciting? The project we’ve been working on has now reached a point of completion. In my case that project had consumed a lot of my…
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My Unexpected Christmas
Happy (almost) New Year, my dear friends! I feel like I've been on a long trip and haven't seen my family in a long time. And now I've come back home. I've missed you! My shoulder surgery went well, and I've started physical therapy. This whole process has been much more difficult and painful than…
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Christmas and the Spiritually Mismatched Conference
Hello SUMites: I’ve come to realize that I’m in a struggle to keep up with holiday demands, writing and serving this community. My heart is to really be available to all of you as we work through the series on loneliness. And December is proving to be impossible to do – well, everything. So Dineen…
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The Promise of Christmas
One of my favorite traditions of Christmas is the advent wreath. I first observed this at our international church while living in Switzerland and fell in love with the candles and their meaning. Every year I’ve used or remade our wreath, searching for just the right candles each year. But this year wound up a…
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Moments of Delight and Moments of Despair
The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. My friends, it’s great to be back with you! I had an amazing week in New York City with my mother and dear friend Sally, who is also my son-in-love’s mother. Definitely a family trip filled with special surprises and blessings that I know came from God’s heart to…
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Holiday Aloneness
Christmas is only two weeks away, let’s begin our discussion about loneliness and take a look at aloneness during the holidays. And SUMites it’s not only our community that feels alone during this time of year. For different reasons, The Holidays punctuate loneliness in many hearts. Those of us who walk through life with a spouse that…
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Childlike in Anticipation – some reflections on Advent
I've always loved December. Living in Australia, it’s summer, the end of the school year so we always had our long summer break over December/January. It’s also my birthday month and … it’s Christmas. I still recall those days approaching Christmas when the presents used to begin to pile up under the tree. Most of…
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A Promise For The Unequally Yoked
Good morning my friends: I know this is a crazed time of year. I pray you are getting enough rest and finding the Lord is your strength. Let’s pick up on our letter that the Lord has assigned to our community. Revelation 3. Remember we considered the open door that has been swung wide for us…
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Weekend Worship – Our Greatest Gift to Jesus
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. – Matthew 2:11 I've always read this verse in light of the gifts the Magi brought Jesus. Yet just this…
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How One RAK Inspired Another
My friends, a couple weeks ago I shared this post about my daughter Leslie and her amazing heart of generosity. Specifically her act of kindness in taking a Visa gift card she had received on her birthday and giving it to a homeless person. What blows me away is how we are inspired by these…
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Walking in Mary and Joseph’s Sandals, Part 2
My friends, sorry for the delay in posting the rest of this series. I hope you’re enjoying exploring Scripture for more nuggets and details surrounding our Savior’s birth. I love how Abba’s Word comes alive as we do this. Did you discover new things as you read Luke chapters one and two? What I noticed…