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Find Your Own Promise
“Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood. For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth” (Isaiah 54:4-5, NLT). Every once in a while I come across a passage of Scripture that makes my hair stand up. Gives me the chills. Sometimes I start weeping. Sometimes I giggle until I am laughing uncontrollably. Either way. I just found my own promise, and…
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I'm Engaged!
12 years, 10 months, and 24 days ago–God promised me a husband. On August 13, 2011, Marc asked me to be his wife! I’m engaged!!! For those of you who have not had the opportunity to meet Marc, please let me introduce you to him: Marc grew up in San Marcos, CA. He has three sisters: Marsha, Alicia, and Sandra. He has two degrees from Cal State San Marcos, Math and Computer Science. He has taught English in Kazakhstan, hiked the Himalayas in Nepal, and in his spare time he loves to read the writings of past missionaries and revivalists. He works as a Software Engineer for Teradata, and just…
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20-somethings need a home
In today’s economy it’s pretty rare for a 20-something to own their own home. Especially in California. At the very least it’s even more rare to live in a stable living environment (that’s not their parents). A safe place. Tonight, after leading another week of the Summer Book Study it hit me. 20-somethings need a home. My friend Summer’s graciously allowed us to meet in her home the past three weeks, and it’s fostered so much more than a Panera or a Starbucks ever could. Why? Because there’s less people. Less distraction. Less noise. No interference. You get the picture. Remember those drawings we used to make when we were…
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Silence Speaks
“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “But who will be able to endure it when he comes?” – Malachi 3:1-2a, NLT In my own version of the Bible–Renee 3:16 says “when” and “how long” I must wait. But in the days of Malachi, they didn’t have anything to go off. And all we see is a single white blank page in our Bibles. Silence speaks. But all too often, it’s…
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The List
I don’t care if you’re single, in a relationship, or already married…if you’re breathing you’ve made “the list” of what you want in your partner. Taken from my book “Not Another Dating Book” that releases Valentine’s… “When I was a kid I made a list of all the qualities I was looking for in a mate. I didn’t get much farther than tall, dark hair, blue eyes. When I got older, I added other words to the list. Leader. Communicator. Compassionate. Encouraging. I kept building it out, describing my perfect man. Wants children. Virgin. Well-read. Likes to cook. Doesn’t smoke. Doesn’t swear. Comes from a Christian family. Good hygiene. Pays…
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Daddy Issues
“I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me” (John 15:15, NLT). “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father'” (Romans 8:15, NLT). Last week I posted 34 Pre Engagement Questions that Marc and I have been going through. I wanted to highlight truth I learned while using another tool “Family Matters.” It has questions like “List what you feel are the positive qualities of your father/mother”…
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34 Pre Engagement Questions
Before Marc and I (Renee Fisher) started pre engagement counseling, he came up with a list of 34 pre engagement questions because we had a lot of questions, and some of you have asked me what exactly is that? Basically we want to go through counseling before wedding planning gets in the way! I wanted to share 34 questions that Marc came up with after studying the writings of Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760). What I love most about them is how they continually point back to Scripture. Feel free to use the 34 pre engagement questions to strengthen your relationship whether you are single, engaged, or married. 1. What does this…
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Love Speaks
“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 14:1, NLT). Love speaks. It doesn’t clang. Or give off false hope. It doesn’t come up empty or count how many times you’ve come up short. Been embarrassed. Failed. Recently I started a book study called “Lazarus Awakening” by Joanna Weaver with my friend and author, Lisa Velthouse. It’s been a while since I’ve done a one-on-one study with someone and I’m really excited to dive in. We discussed Chapter One: Tale of the Third Follower last week. One of the…
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Are you a people pleaser?
“When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!'” – Exodus 14:5, NIV Sometimes the reason why we please others is because we owe someone a service. Maybe it’s a boss at your job, a spouse, or your kids. You’ve made promises and even though it’s become a difficult situation–you’re comfortable and that’s just the way it is. How do you tell someone who has a slave mentality they need to fear God, not man? In other words… Are you a…
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29 Things
Everyone who knows me, knows how excited I get about my birthday, and that I celebrate my birthday month! So on the last day, I wanted to share with you 29 things I’ve learned in my short lifetime in the hopes that you’d be inspired and most of all encouraged! 1. Your spiritual birthday matters more than your earthly ones. ~ I proudly accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of my life and became born again on my 5th birthday, June 24, 1987. 2. It’s never too early to get a Bible concordance. ~ When I was 7, I balled my eyes out when I saw how horrible the…
