Encouragement

  • Spiritual Warfare, Part 3: The Rest of Our Armor

    Spiritual Warfare, Part 3: The Rest of Our Armor

    In my last post I left off with our feet. Yes, our feet shod with the gospel of peace! When our minds are full of God’s Word, and we are relying on and trusting God, we are STANDING firm in our faith. This is our strength. I read something in a Bible study (Duty or…

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  • Spiritual Warfare, Part 2: Your Bible is Really a Sword

    Spiritual Warfare, Part 2: Your Bible is Really a Sword

    In last week’s post on spiritual warfare we talked about shifting our focus and seeing who our real enemy is. This week let’s dive back into Ephesians 6 and talk about one specific piece of our armor. Our sword. Before we do that, I want to make one more interesting observation about verse 12: For…

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  • Weekend Devo – Sifted Like Wheat

    Weekend Devo – Sifted Like Wheat

    Yesterday we were blessed by a POWERFUL reader letter. In it she mentions Luke 22:31-32: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” If you’ve read Peter’s story you…

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  • What Does Respect Really Mean?

    What Does Respect Really Mean?

    At church one Sunday, a friend who is also mismatched asked me about how to handle a situation that she either went behind her husband’s back to do what she thought was right in fulfilling a law or being up front and asking for his input and leadership with the understanding that he may well…

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  • The Stories Behind the Story

    The Stories Behind the Story

    Hello again, dear friends. First, I want to give a big hug and shout out to Lynn for letting me monopolize the blog this week to share this story with you. She rocks! Second, I want to thank you again for sharing this with me. It’s the culmination of a dream that started in 2009…

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  • An Interview with Lexie Baltimore, Part 2

    An Interview with Lexie Baltimore, Part 2

    Welcome back, everyone! Here's the second half of Lexie's interview. Okay, here’s a tough one, Lexie and I hope you don’t mind us asking, but I think it’s an area we should address. How did you wind up handling your feelings for Nate? First of all, I went to God and confessed them. I had…

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  • An Interview with Lexie Baltimore, Part 1

    An Interview with Lexie Baltimore, Part 1

    My friends, I had a lot of fun (and shed a few tears) doing this interview with Lexie. You spend months and even years with these characters and they become almost real. I thought you’d like to see the picture I used to help me visualize Lexie too. So, without further ado, here’s Lexie. Lexie,…

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  • A Story and a Surprise!

    A Story and a Surprise!

    I have a story to share with you. And a surprise. The story is about Lexie and Hugh Baltimore. Lexie is a believer who God uses in a very unique way to reach the lost. Her husband Hugh is an atheist. In the aftermath of a terrible loss, she’s trying to live out her faith…

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  • Weekend Devo – Possible AND Impossible

    Weekend Devo – Possible AND Impossible

    God’s been whispering a message to my heart this past week with every prayer request or comment I’ve read here and other places. “All things are possible with Me. Nothing is impossible either.” I so sense God wanting us to truly understand His heart for us. So, this led me to compile all the verses…

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  • Confessions of a People Pleaser

    Confessions of a People Pleaser

    He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight. – Luke 16:15 The verse above is the piece of Scripture that God stopped me at during my quiet time, specifically the part…

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  • Share Jesus and Be Real

    Share Jesus and Be Real

    We’ve had some great discussions with Lynn’s posts about atheist blogs and the unequally yoked. As I’ve shared with you all here, my husband is an atheist and his choice not to believe in God has been a huge catalyst for me to be clear on what God’s Word says and to claim many of…

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  • Weekend Devo – Standing for Marriage

    Weekend Devo – Standing for Marriage

    Even in Singapore, people are standing for their marriages. Enjoy!

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  • I Saw God

    I Saw God

    I saw God. Let me explain. Lately I have discovered that my spiritual eyes have opened just a little bit wider. I’ve witnessed glimpses of God around me. Most recently, I heard God. It was early Easter morning. You can read about that story on my Facebook page (look for the post on Sunday, April…

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  • That Old Familiar Ache

    That Old Familiar Ache

    It snuck up on me again, that old familiar ache. The one I used to walk around with constantly early on in my mismatched marriage. I thought I’d made peace with it, made the choice to trust God with my husband’s salvation and the future of our marriage. I’d learned to bring that ache, that…

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  • We Are Stronger Together

    We Are Stronger Together

    If you found your way here from the Focus on the Family broadcast, the first thing you heard yesterday was a quote from us. “Isolation steals our joy.” That’s why the first chapter of our book is titled, “Know That You’re Not Alone!” Our marriages are under attack by an enemy who wants to keep…

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  • Messy and Broken Could Be The Best Place To Be

    Messy and Broken Could Be The Best Place To Be

    It’s Sunday afternoon as I write this post, I know I should be asking you to listen to Dineen and me on the radio today. But, right now I just can’t. My heart is heavy.   In a rare moment, this morning at church at the request of our Pastor, I went to the front…

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  • Beauty from Ashes

    Beauty from Ashes

    On Friday we shared about the upcoming broadcast on Focus on the Family. This is an amazing culmination of a dream birthed from depths of pain. Can you believe that? Lynn and I are continually in awe of how God does that.  Beauty from ashes… We are gearing up for whatever God has in store…

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  • We Need YOU!

    We Need YOU!

    My dear friends, Lynn and I just had one of our lively phone conversations-this one in preparation for our Focus on the Family broadcast scheduled for March 26th and 27th. There will also be a Twitter "party" on Friday-stay tuned for details on that. But we need your help. God is throwing open doors to…

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  • Weekend Devo – THE Dress

    Weekend Devo – THE Dress

    For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. – Jeremiah 29:11 When I prayed for my oldest daughter during our SUM fast the first week of January, God gave me this above verse for…

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  • It Had to be Him…

    It Had to be Him…

    I love my husband. No, I really, really love my husband. And it’s not the same as when I married him. It’s better. I can’t take credit for it either. At all. It’s totally God. I started praying years ago that God would help me love my husband the way Jesus did, to love him with…

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  • Wekend Devo – You and Who’s Army?

    Wekend Devo – You and Who’s Army?

        The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two…

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