Conflict and Challenges
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A Work of God in My Home
By Ann Hutchison Hi SUM family! Today I'm continuing on from Monday's post, with a curious story about something God did in my home this year. It shows just how good he is, and I really do hope you enjoy this story. As I've shared before, last year none of my family was going anywhere…
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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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From A Black Friend to My White Friends
SUMites, We need to chat. I realize that we don’t often take on social issues here at SUM as we are trying to focus on our marriages. However, I know that so much of my marriage discord would rise to the surface because of the social climate, politics, and religion. So, today, I am compelled…
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One Flesh: Stop Tugging Me!
By Ann Hutchison I have an analogy that I often use when I begin to feel challenged by spiritual difference in marriage. It’s this: My husband and I are like conjoined twins. We're one flesh. Does that resonate with you? I pull in one direction, spiritually; he might say ‘No!’ and before we know it…
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What is Your Life’s Impact?
By Ann Hutchison “Come to my prayer group!” a lady sidled up to me one day at church, eyeing me closely. It was early in my faith and I had questions. I’d been attending for weeks but still couldn’t help wondering if Christians were nuts to believe. Hers was an invite I decided to accept:…
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Endurance Training
Hi everyone, Ann again! In Monday’s post I described how my children had sat at a table with me, my husband and friends and heard my testimony. Well, this week something crazy but parallel happened: My children sat at a table with me, my husband and friends and this time saw persecution. Yikes! We were…
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Slay The Marriage Killers – The In-Laws
Marriage Killers. How do we slay them?Today, I want to talk about …The in-laws. Every marriage brings with it an extended family. My experience with in-laws was a good one. They weren’t intrusive. At the time I married Mike, he had lived on his own for years. He had a health relationship with his parents,…
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The Wicked Marriage Killer
What is the Wicked Marriage Killer?Many years ago, my mother-in-law looked at my father-in-law and quoted me to him, “Just deal with it, Caitie.” I bet my mouth hung open. It became obvious that Carole, was teasing and poking back at her dear husband with words I’d said to my then, hmmmm I guess ten-year-old…
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Slay….. The Marriage Killers…. FINANCES
So, let’s talk about Marriage Killers.
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Conflict Is Finished. Now Jesus
SUMite Nation, Well I’m feeling we are at the close of our month-long classroom regarding conflict. And you may not feel as though it was worthy of your time but in the future, the truths of how to approach conflict with other believers will return to your mind and you will walk through it Biblically,…
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Romans 14 – Mic Drop!
Gang, the grandkids are visiting Nana’s today and we are either at the beach or the Wild Animal Park today. Hallelujah!! So, today I’ll leave you with wise words from SUMite, Martha Bush: I remember providing a woman a scripture several months ago that I try to abide by when it seems as though I…
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Jesus Is Brilliant – Matthew 18
If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. -Matthew 18:15 Imagine, what would happen if someone came to you personally and privately (Matthew 18) to chat about something they held against you. And you actually listened.…
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The Destroyer Has Arrived. Do You Know Its Name?
Love vs. Fear Choose wisely. SUMites, I’ve been in a new classroom with Jesus. Wow has it been interesting. ….. and timely. And since the beginning of this blog in 2006 the Lord instructed me to share what I’m learning. So, in the next few weeks we are going to look as several aspects of…
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The New Kingdom Era
SUMites, It’s July 1st. Half of 2018 remains, and we are merely beginning to step into the miracles and the Presence of God that Kingdom era offers. Today, I want to share with you my thoughts about what is happening in the Kingdom of God in this season. Below is an excerpt from an email…
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We Rob Ourselves By The End Game
Confessions of a Believer. The Process SUM Nation, I have a confession. I hate social media. I have another confession. I love social media. There are great things about our connections online and some things that aren’t so great. Every day I find myself involved with several platforms of social media. Facebook, Twitter and recently…
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Holidays and Mothers-In-Law
As we are nearing the season where we spend time with the in-laws, I thought it appropriate to share this post from the archives. …nearly 60 percent of all marriages suffer from tension with mothers-in-law, normally between the daughter-in-law and her husband's mother. From the archives: In-Laws I wonder how many of you felt your…
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When Your Spouse Walks Away From God
My friends, as you can see from the title, we tackling a very difficult and painful topic today. It’s one I think we should address as it’s something many of you are living out. And one of you even asked for this subject to be addressed on our recent survey. Please. Please talk about spouses…
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Broadening our Horizons
Image courtesy of namakuki at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Being a SUMITE is full of interesting conundrums that can at times lead to much discouragement. One of these conundrums is our commitment to various Christian communities. I use the plural here to reflect both the church we attend plus other relationships (one-on-one and group) that we may partake…
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Waiting on the Promises with Hope
My advent wreath-the first candle lit represents hope. Hello, SUM Family! Life at the new Miller Home has been crazy busy and hectic to say the least. We’re mostly settled in with just a few boxes here and there.My daughters and son-in-love will soon arrive to spend Christmas with us-our first Christmas in our new…
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Reaction Mode
Dear friends, the following is a post I did a few years back. The Holy Spirit has continually reminded me of this post the last week or so, but I wasn't sure if it was a needed subject at the moment. Then on Thursday as I was working on the registration details for the Hope…
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The Times They are a Changin’
My friends, I pray this video encourages you. As I suggested, read Ezra and this amazing story of how God used King Cyrus, the leaders of the Trans Eurphrates, King Artaxerxes and King Darius to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. The very people and plans to stop this wound up revealing the original edict by Cyrus to rebuild…