So I’ve been pondering Father’s Day that looms on Sunday. I have felt compelled in my spirit to write about Father’s Day and have waited for God to prompt me. Well, today one of our SUMites posted some statistics on her FB page which really moved my heart. I want to share it with you and let’s have a discussion here. 

Before we jump into that discussion however, I think we need to cover this conversation with love and respect. We must keep it clearly in our minds that our spouses don’t “get it.” They don’t have the wisdom, the knowledge, the Holy Spirit to help them in our marriages and in parenting. I know that a discussion like this can stir up our memories and thoughts to find every conceivable wrong and short-coming in our husbands. So, let’s just no go there. 

Let’s remain focused on what believing mothers bring to the family and faith of our children.

 

Alisa wrote:

Well, it's that time of year again...around Father’s Day we hear a sermon about how important fathers are, and they are. And inevitably, the statistics roll...70+% of children who go to church with only their mother will not stay in church as adults....I remember hearing it one year and gripping the seat in front of me to keep from standing up in the middle of the sermon and shouting that it would not be that way for my children, I envisioned locking eyes of the other women who sat alone in the sanctuary, we would all rally together, and stand against that statistic.... 

Yet I just sat there in silence. 

I sat there because I know too well that the statistic is true. I watch as women who have walked this lonely road before me pray for their adult children who have turned from the Lord. With all the Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, Wednesday nights, VBSs and youth camps, no matter what I do I am fighting an uphill battle, with a 30% success rate....the weight of their father's influence is powerful. So...I will ponder this today....and try to remember that even with all I try to do, all I really can do is turn them over to the Lord and trust Him for their best.... — with Dineen A. Miller and Lynn Donovan. 

This was my response:

Alisa, I'm standing with you today. I dispute that statistic too. I know that with the love of God lavished through an ordinary mother, all things are possible. I have watched my children both choose Jesus even in a spiritual mismatch. The enemy can no longer have our children. They are hereby declared as God's and we will stand in that faith and truth. Love you girl. 

So, what do you think? See you in the comments. Signed a Prodigal and Spiritually Single Mom, Lynn

Friend me on Facebook. Join the discussion on our FB Page, Spiritually Unequal Marriage. Follow the SUMite Nation on Twitter #SUMiteNation.

My friends, Lynn and I are just days away from meeting some of you at the Intentional Life Conference. I am so excited to finally meet you in person and give you hugs! This community (SUMites as Ro called us!) is so precious to me. Those of you not coming, I feel like I’m carrying each of you in my heart to this conference.

These last few months we have witnessed God do some amazing things right here in our online community. I’m excitedly anticipating what God is going to do this weekend in the lives of all of the women attending. We are praying down the heavens to rest in and upon the church in Kingwood, their precious team working so hard behind the scenes to put everything in place, and for each and every woman who attends to leave on Saturday with a fresh anointing on their lives and new freedom that will manifest on a daily basis.

Just as we pray SUM community here too because Lynn and I want so desperately to see each one of you walking in this place of power and freedom in Christ because of what He's done for us and who we are in Him.

The week before Easter I was struck by the complete and pure example that Jesus presents as "surrendered." We think we “giving up” so much when we surrender to God—the world certainly thinks so and the enemy has convinced us of it too—but I’m discovering that when we surrender our lives to Jesus, that's when we WIN! We receive our complete birthright and inheritance in Him! In light of this holy dignity and His righteousness, who would want pride-based dignity before men and rights the world determines and changes on an hourly basis?

Some things we surrender once and we’re done with it because we have chosen to follow God. Some things we surrender for a time, waiting patiently and expectantly (or at least try to!) until God returns it to us in His promises and miracles. And some things we have to surrender on a daily and even hourly basis because our best choice is to trust God.

Surrendering isn’t always easy, and most definitely is always a process but the more I do it the more I embrace this amazing truth in my life.

My friends, SURRENDER = FREEDOM!

When I have surrendered my pain, God brought healing. When I have surrendered my grief, God brought comfort. When I have surrendered my expectations, God filled my needs. When I have surrendered my wants and dreams, He has given me more than I ever hoped for or imagined. When I give Him my heart, my worship and my trust by stepping out in faith, He has given me Himself.

This is the surrendered life. It’s not easy but it’s worth it. It’s not for the hero but the humble at heart. It’s not always what you want but it will always be exactly what you need most.

It’s about finding the heart of God and resting there. My friends, this is our peace that surpasses understanding in the storms of life. In this place, we can do anything and everything with and through Jesus, who’s Holy Spirit strengthens, guides, comforts and loves us, and know JOY even when everything around us is chaos.

The better I know God, the more I trust Him. And the more I trust Him, the more I am able to surrender to Him. I’m learning to leave off the “buts” and just believe.

Just believe.

Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father God, I pray that every woman and man who reads this prayer would receive a fresh anointing of faith. I pray that doubts would fall away, fears would flee and every day would bring new and stronger belief in You! Lord, open our eyes completely to Your presence in Your Word, the world and in us! Forgive us our unbelief and help us BELIEVE! You are the God of the impossible. Help us to walk every day with the expectation that You are present and working all around us. We stand ready to take the next step, Lord! Show us the way! In Your powerful name, Jesus, amen!

I love you all so very much, my friends, and I am praying and believing with you!

Dineen

Greetings Everyone,

As you read this post today, Dineen and I along with one of my great friends, Heidi, who happens to live right behind my house are on our way to a Heaven's Open Conference in Redding, CA.

Dineen and I feel like this is the culmination of our entire series this summer, about bringing the Kingdom of God to earth. We are beyond excited. 

Did you know that Dineen and I have known each other for more than six years now and not once have we been in worship together. Wow. Well that all changes today. We will gather with a few thousand people tonight to worship and learn more about our Lord.

We are expecting our Lord to arrive with power and to change us. And that's just a little of what we are expecting from the next three days. The conference begins Wednesday evening, continues all day Thursday and Friday. We fly home on Saturday. 

So you can EXPECT some pretty fired up posts in the next few weeks as Dineen and I will be in the presence of our Father. We are especially listening for His direction for all you. So, EXPECT BIG things in your life in the next few months.

Many of you have traveled with me before. And I love that. So, if you are interested, I hope to be sharing photos and Tweets through out the conference as I can. (I hope cameras are allowed)

Please join us as we learn: Your Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven... 

Click on the following links to walk with us and we will see you on Monday with what we hope to share, a life-transforming experience for Lynn, Dineen and Heidi.

Lynn Donovan, Twitter

Lynn Donovan, Facebook

SUM, Twitter

Dineen Miller, Twitter

Dineen Miller, Facebook

It would mean the world to us if you would pray for us in the comments. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to anoint us, our community and this ministry to reach a world who is desperate for a Savior. 

BIG, excited, and love-filled hugs, Lynn

Join Dineen and me (Lynn) today as we join with @FocusMarriage a discussion and questions about thriving in a Spiritually Mismatched Marriage.

Use the hash tag #WinningHim.

Tweet using the hash tag and join the conversation and watch your tweets pop up here. We will randomly select five Tweets who will win a copy of our book, Winning Him Without Words, at the end of the day Friday. Everytime you tweet until Friday, midnight Pacific, using the hash tag #WinningHim will enter you into the drawing.

Here are sample questions that @FocusMarriage will ask the Twitter community:

• How do you handle praying at the dinner table?
• What unique ways do you flirt with your spouse? (Keep it G-rated!)
• How does your relationship with Christ help you love your spouse?

Tune in around noon-1 p.m. Pacific. So that’s 2-3 p.m. Central and 3-4 p.m. Eastern. Join the fun. Win a book for yourself or for someone you know who is struggling in their unequally yoked marriage. 

 

Thank you my friends for your continued prayers for the Monday and Tuesday broadcast. I'm getting butterflies in my stomach as my nervousness and excitement builds.

Happy Friday. Hugs, Lynn

Are you ready for a little fun?

Before that however, let me just tell you that I have been reading the prayers you left for Dineen and me. I promise you, I burst into tears, sobbing at times over the love and caring you poured into our lives. I will be printing them out and saving them in my Daily Bible and as you know, that is where my most precious memories live. ~Thank you, Lynn

Okay now.  

Are you ready for a little fun?

 

Well tomorrow Dineen and I along with the Twitter guys at Focus on the Family, @FocusMarriage, are going to have a Twitter Forum.

 

Say what?

Well, I’m glad you asked. *giggle*

For all of you who Twitter and Tweet and even those of you who don’t, join in the fun as we Tweet along with Focus Marriage on Friday, March 23rd Noon-1 Pacific. So that’s 2-3 p.m. Central and 3-4 p.m. Eastern. We hope to peak a little curiosity in our upcoming broadcast on Monday and Tuesday.

Follow or join the conversation using the hash tag #WinningHim.

Take a peek at this hash tag now. There are already some tweets singing. (Do tweets sing such as birdies or do they only post???) I’m not sure?

We plan to have a lively conversation and work our way through some great questions. For example:

• How do you handle praying at the dinner table?
• What unique ways do you flirt with your spouse? (Keep it G-rated!)
• How does your relationship with Christ help you love your spouse?

I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Dineen and I would be so thankful if you are a Twitterer (is that a word?) and would join us on Friday for a few minutes or even the whole hour. Help us reach out to those who use this social media. We also will have the live feed up on our site Friday.

So tune in, join Twitter, get ready to tweet, retweet, and answer the questions. We will be looking for you our community and will give you a special shout out in the future.

We can never express fully how your love and prayers have filled our hearts. Thank you with eternal love and gratitude, Lynn and Dineen

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 this ministry that we never imagined possible. We hoped, we prayed, but did we dare to dream? Yes, but not on this level. God is AMAZING!!! 

So, how can you help?

We need your prayers. This community has proven to be a huge blessing for all of us—a place of safety to seek prayer, encouragement and understanding. We are expecting the upcoming events to bring new people into our midst as they find out they are not alone in their mismatched marriage, that there are others walking this path who care and can come along side them in prayer, and that God is showing them the way to thrive (not just survive) in their mismatched marriage. 

Will you start praying for them now? Ask God to bring the men and women He wants to hear the Focus on the Family broadcast and to this site for more resources. Ask God to strengthen them and to show them His wild hope. 

And finally, Lynn and I would like to ask you to pray for us and our marriages. We need protection. You above all else understand the spiritual warfare that surrounds all of us, especially when we are fighting for our marriages and for God's kingdom. The enemy would like nothing better than to discredit our testimonies by tearing our marriages apart. Please pray for our protection.

Leave your prayers in the comments for us—we'd love to read them and be encouraged by your precious words as we prepare for the upcoming events and seek God's leading in all of it.

All of this is because of God and for His glory alone. We are so grateful for every one of you. You are the reason we are here—to share God's comfort and strength. Now it's your turn. Let's make God proud.

Love you all so much,
Dineen 

Good Monday Morning.

My heart is full as I write to all of you my friends that meet here at SUM. This particular Christmas season offers a unique gift. I have watched God work through all the struggles, challenges and pain in my life and bring it all into perspective.

I have come full circle. And it is good.

I share my story in our December Newsletter. If you are not receiving our monthly e-Newsletter, Thrive in Love, please click over and sign up. Your email address is absolutely confidential and never shared with anyone.

Read this month's here and receive January's in your inbox.

I also want to announce the winner of the Thanksgiving Twitter prizes. Thank you for all who joined us in posting praises through Twitter #PraiseatSUM. The winner is: MamaCre8s. Heather Gafney. Heather, email me your mailing address. 

I'm signing off today as I have so much to do before I fly out of town tomorrow. But, I have a story that is still in progress about my daughter. It's a tough story and I'm waiting to see how God works in all of it. Stay tuned. 

I love you my friends. Press into Jesus and let this scripture fall fresh on your heart today. Be Blessed, Lynn

Luke 2:10-11And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

 

Lynn and I hope you've enjoyed this week's Twitter stream of praises and truths. The above is a compilation of all of them. Just click and download it. It's our gift to you! Keep it on your computer, print it out and hang it up somewhere, or even insert copies in your Christmas cards this year as a gift to those you send it to. 

Christ came and died to give us these truths, to remember that through His birth and death, we are adopted, accepted, blessed, chosen, forgiven and redeemed (Ephesians 1). Let's ponder these wonderful truths right into Christmas and continue to give thanks to our Savior for giving us the greatest gift of all.

Himself.

Praying and believing, 
Dineen 

(SCROLL DOWN AND READ MORE)

Who are you this Thanksgiving? Share your praises, your thanks, your acknowledgement of who you are because of Christ in the comments.

If you Tweet your praises to #praiseatSUM you will be entered into a drawing for a gift basket:

• The Husband Project
• $25 Berean Gift Card
• Winning Him Without Words
• Prayer Journal
• Daily Bible
• Lunch or Skype with Dineen and/or Lynn

The more you tweet #PraiseatSUM the more you are entered.

So start tweeting your praises today. To join Twitter, click here. To sign up for Twitter via Smart Phone, see Instructions below, or click here. Let's show the world that the unequally yoked spouses are giving thanks to our Lord even in the midst of a spiritually mismatched marriage. 

We love all of you. Watch for our Tweets this week. Have a blessed and beautiful Thanksgiving. Lynn and Dineen.

To create your new Twitter account via your phone...

1. Send a text message to your Twitter shortcode (such as 40404 in the U.S.) with the word START.
2. Twitter will send you a reply and ask you to reply back with the word SIGNUP to create a new account. Send SIGNUP.
3. Next, Twitter will ask you to pick a username. Your username must be unique and less than 15 characters. Reply with the username you want (see below for advice on picking a username).
4. You will get a confirmation message when you pick a valid username (Twitter will tell you to pick a new name if someone else already has the username you wanted).
5. You're all set! Send a message and it will post as your first Tweet.