Faith
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Give Yourself THIS Gift This Christmas
On Tuesday I was sitting in my office at Church. I love where our Women’s Ministry office is located. We are situated next to the receptionist, near the front door, one doorway away from the break room and at the apex of all foot traffic. Everyone passes by our office and I have candy on…
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He Came Upon a Midnight Clear-For YOU!
My Bible study group completed our study yesterday. We’d walked the past 11 weeks through the story of David with Beth Moore. On this last day she shared a powerful visual of a staff that had once been a vine. The bottom was straight but about half way up, the thick stalk rose upward in…
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Don’t Get In a Twist
A visit to my local nail salon is always fascinating. Now, please don’t think poorly of me. This is the one pampering I allow myself. I visit the local Vietnamese nail salon for a pink and white fill. Don’t do the toes, nor the anything else much but this one thing. But I am so…
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Turkey Soup
When we lived in Memphis, I used to always make turkey soup from the Thanksgiving leftovers. I’d let it sit on the stove all day and cook down to yummy goodness. One of my favorite ingredients was to throw some of the left over stuffing into the soup for seasoning. Yum! A lot of years…
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To Pray of Not To Pray. That is The Question for The Unequally Yoked
Football rages in the family room, the aroma of a roasting Bidzilla satisfies the kitchen, kids play outside, red cheeked and with hands frozen. Ahhhh, Thanksgiving. This is my favorite traditional holiday of food, family and ……stress. Read more at the Internet Cafe Devotions, Marriage Counter.
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Weekend Devo – Who are you?
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a…
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Weekend Devo – The Journey from Atheism to Belief
This is a beautiful testimony from one of our readers about her husband's journey from atheism to belief. Thank you for sharing your story with us, Jennifer! I accepted Christ in the 4th grade and grew up in a Baptist church. I have always had a strong relationship with Christ, but my walk blossomed exponentially…
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Weekend Devo – God is GOOD!
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28 Romans 8:28 is my life verse. No other piece of Scripture has spoken as deeply into my heart as this one. Amazingly, I understood the truth of…
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And the Walls Came A-Tumbling Down
Lynn’s post yesterday talked about the walls we erect that keep our guys on the outside. I want to share with you how this translated into my life. I walked into my marriage with the expectations I’d leaned from the pages of romance novels and movies. I’d bought into the fairytale. Everything was fine in…
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Weekend Devo – Don’t Give Up!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. – Hebrews 12:1 It's been an overwhelming week and one night I was pretty grumpy with my…
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Spouse-Based or God-Based?
What is the difference between a spouse-based marriage and a God-based marriage? This is the question my Sunday school leader asked our group this past weekend. We’re currently doing Gary Thomas’ video series, Sacred Marriage, which goes with his book by the same title. It’s a great course, and I have loved hearing different perspectives…
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Weekend Devo – God’s Timing
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him. – Psalm 37:7 The biggest challenge we often have is patience, wouldn't you say? I see this all the time in others and in myself. We want things to change now, to get better, get easier, go smoother. But what if we knew those very…
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The Silent Talker
So far, we’ve been talking about our words-how we use them and even when. I have to share with you that early on in my marriage, I didn’t always use my words wisely when I did speak up, but my biggest issue was not speaking up at all. Instead I held things in, choosing my…
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Loving God Helps Me Love My Husband
I will tell you, in all honesty, that I cannot love my husband in my own strength. It’s not possible. I tried to for a many years and would do fine for a while, but inevitably I would run out of steam. Resentment would seep back in and these feelings and thoughts that had to…
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Weekend Devo- A Facebook Seduction
We've talked here before about extramarital affairs starting on Facebook. One of our readers, John Padilla, ran into such a person try to initiate a relationship with him despite his status as married. John has so graciously agreed to share how he handled this experience and protected his marriage. Here's his account of what happened…
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The Sanctified Unbeliever
For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. – 1Corinthians 7:14 This Scripture came up in my Bible study this week. A dear friend at my table said something…
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Reaction Mode
Are you in reaction mode in your marriage? Reaction mode is this highly destructive and very draining place where you and your spouse are walking in your marriage more like adversaries than partners. Every comment is scrutinized under suspicion and communication has completely broken down. Years ago I was in this place in my marriage…
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Weekend Devo – Stepping Out in Faith
This last week has been "interesting." I can't think of any other way to describe it. I've grappled with a my daughter's messy yet vacant room, my emotions over letting her go, and the unknown of what life will be like as empty nesters. God is calling me to step out in faith in new…
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Bittersweet Blessings and Letting Go of Idols
Yesterday I said goodbye to my husband and daughter. They are at this very moment driving cross-country to reach my baby girl's new home. It's the start of a new chapter in her life. This is the bittersweet part-letting her go. But in that mix of sadness and missing her is this amazing joy. God…
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Still an Atheist?
Something interesting happened last week. My youngest daughter and my husband were watching a TV show featuring Penn Jillette. My daughter explained how Jillette spoke of his atheism as not knowing if God existed-not a surety that He didn’t. She asked her dad if that’s whet he believed. He said yes. He just didn’t know.…
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Weekend Devo – Purple Turkeys
My daughter and I have this code word when one of us upset or discouraged. The other will say “purple turkeys.” It never fails to make us laugh and break the down moment. (And special thanks to her 6th grade, Ms. Ward, teacher for this wonderful tool.) Now I really believe God has the best…