spiritually mismatched in marriage
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Belief vs. Unbelief: A Final Thought
Hi SUM family, Ann here. It’s been fun this past week thinking about the different factors that go into belief vs unbelief. Thanks for reading along, and for your comments — Reading what you had to say was like iron-sharpening-iron! I know theologians write about deep matters like predestination and free will. But for us…
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Belief vs Unbelief: The Father’s Grand Clock
Ann here! We’ve been talking about the ingredients that go into belief vs. unbelief. In part one we talked about the power of free will. Then, in part two we talked about the influence of the demonic. Well, today I want to talk about the Father's Grand Clock. That is, the fact that God might have…
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Belief vs Unbelief: The Enemy’s Influence
Dear friends, Ann here. We’re in a series about what goes into belief vs. unbelief. Part one was about free will, and I loved reading your comments. Today I want to talk about another factor: The influence of the demonic. One of the earliest questions I had for God was, “Is Satan really real?” It…
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Belief vs Unbelief: The Power of Free Will
Hi friends, Ann here! I've been thinking lately about the topic of belief vs. unbelief, and all the different spiritual ingredients that go into that. Like many of you, I have a mixture of believers and unbelievers in my life, and often look at those who don't believe and wonder what is going on there. …
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How Do We Linger Long with the Lord?
Dear friends, Ann here. Last week I shared a story about a shift in my home. A good shift. If you missed that post, you can read it here. Essentially, a peace came and settled between me and my hubby, and we stopped having disagreements about faith or church. Wonderful! Perhaps at some point in…
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One Big Shift In My Home
Hello friends, Ann here. Last week, I mentioned that things had shifted in my home — Quite a lot, in fact. Well, I want to tell you more about that. This photo here is of Bryce and me, on a recent holiday. You wouldn't think we'd had such drama, looking at that peaceful photo! We…
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SUM Community 2021 – Marching Forward!
Dear SUM family, Ann here. I hope you are relishing the moments from last week's community fast. I’m still smiling at it all. And now we turn our minds towards 2021 in earnest. As you know, I’ve been praying about this coming year for us. But somewhat surprisingly, it seems that the word God wanted…
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Fast Day Four: Which Bible Character Captures Your Journey?
Ann here today, on Thursday morning, day four of our fast. How are you all doing? So far, I’ve had no food since Monday sunrise and am feeling doddery. Time with the Lord at this point is simply about ‘being’. I don’t have mental sharpness so am floating around the house, popping on a bit…
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Fast Day Two: The Tenderness of the Father
Ann here! It’s the morning of day two here, and so far so good. Amazingly, my family are talking about ‘Mum’s fast’ and encouraging me along, which has been a new feature this year and it captures how things have shifted in my home. I have a little more to share on that shift below.…
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Fast Day One: What is the Story God Has Written?
Dear SUMites, here we are on day one of our SUM corporate fast! It's Ann here and I can’t help but think that this particular fast is going to be meaningful. There is so much for us to inquire from God about. Our world is literally groaning for healing, and so are we. So we…
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Prepping for Our Fast
Ann here! With Christmas festivities behind us, and hopefully some happy memories made, it’s time to turn our minds to our annual SUM Community Fast. The fast will start in a week’s time, on Monday 4th January. If you haven't already, check out my video from last week. Personally, I’m so in need of this…
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May We Cling Tenaciously to Jesus
Dear friends, Ann here. With only a couple of days until Christmas I wanted to wish you a special time with your loved ones. And I know I speak on behalf of the rest of the team — Lynn, Ian, and Tiffany — in saying a heartfelt 'Merry Christmas' from us! Here is a beautiful…
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When a Spouse Leaves the Faith — Part 3
Hi friends, Ann here! When a spouse leaves the faith — part 1 When spouse leaves the faith – part 2 I’d like to thank those SUMites whose stories have helped inform the last two posts on this topic. It is an intensely difficult path. The grief of a lost shared faith in marriage is…
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When A Spouse Leaves Their Faith — Part 1
Ann here! Today I want to talk about a path that is walked by so many here, and it's a really difficult one: ‘When a Spouse Leaves the Faith’. In our community we have many a story to tell about how we found ourselves in a SUM. In my case, for example, I was far…
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Church, We Are Crossing Over!
Dear friends, Ann here! I had a different post planned today, but that can wait until next week. Instead, I thought I'd share a few impromptu thoughts given the present events. We're watching wide-eyed as the US election plays out, and then across the Atlantic many Europeans are entering their second lockdown. It's all pretty…
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The Museum of SUM
Hi SUMites, Ann here! Lately, I've been thinking about how much this blog is a museum full of interesting stories. I wonder if any of you find it so? And, within it there are places where God has answered some of those questions we talked about in our last post. That's what I wanted to…
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What’s Your Biggest Question for Jesus About Your Marriage?
Hello friends, Ann here. Recently, I popped a question onto our Facebook page, asking ‘What’s your biggest question for Jesus right now concerning your spiritual mismatch?’ Many of you will have seen that post, but some won’t. I found the responses so helpful in relation to my own path, that I thought you might too.…
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Wrapping Up Our Series on LOVE
Dear friends, Ann here. Today we wrap up our series on love. Here in our SUM community there are many different marriages. Some have spouses who are easy to love; others have extremely challenging situations. But in every relationship – easy or hard – love is not easy. Nor is it simple. And even with…
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When Love Makes You Unpopular
Hi friends, Ann here! As we sit in 1 Corinthians 13, it occurs to me how many facets this little word ‘LOVE’ has. It’s easy to think of love as being kind and patient; it’s easy to think of it as being something like a hug. It is truly that. But there’s another side, and…
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Dealing with a Difficult Person
Hi friends, Ann here! With our coffees at the ready, how about we take a look at this challenging gem today in 1 Corinthians 13: "Love keeps no record of wrongs" (1 Corinthians 13:5, NIV) It is a noble thing to not keep record of wrongs. But do any of you have an ‘extremely difficult…
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Our Summer Study: It’s a Wrap!
Hello friends, Ann here. Today I wanted to write a final word on our Summer Study to properly wrap it up. We’ve spent the last few posts looking at Jesus and the Church as the ultimate spiritual mismatch. And prior to that we raced through so many Bible characters. I hope you enjoyed it as…