News from Spiritually Unequal Marriage

J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 2

In This Issue

Note From Lynn

AVAILABLE IN
BOOK OR KINDLE!

Winning Him

Without Words:

10 Keys to Thriving

in Your Spiritually

Mismatched Marriage

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Do you have a story to share about how God is working in your spiritually mismatched marriage and want to encourage others in marriages like ours? We'd love to hear about it!
Click here to share your story with us!

Speaking & Radio Engagements

MARCH 26-27

Focus on the Family

Tune in as Lynn and Dineen join Jim Daly, Juli Slattery and John Fuller.

We have much to share and will be giving away copies of our book too!

Lynn Donovan

Speaking Schedule 2012

Book Study Groups Open Q&A

Several Skype interviews are scheduled in September and October. Don't hesitate to ask us to join your small group,
live or via Skype.

Dineen Miller

April 11th

9:30-11:30 a.m.

Cypress MOPS

Salinas, CA

If you missed

our radio interviews, please visit us at

Winning Him

to listen to

the recordings.

Our Ministry Partners:

Visit Kathi Lipp's Website

Visit Joanne Kraft's Website

Visit Bill and Pam's Website

Greetings!

Small Groups are Forming!

Friends, we are so excited to see how the S.U.M. ministry is growing! We're getting word about various small groups forming and have now created a page on our Winning Him Without Words website with a list of those groups. Our hope and prayer is that the list will grow and more women will discover how precious and encouraging it is to meet with a group of women who understand exactly where you are without even saying a word! That's powerful. That's God.

If you have a group you'd like listed or would like to start one, please contact us!

A Note From Dineen

Dineen

Starting the
New Year Right

Yes, it's January and if you're like me, you're already seeing the flood of articles and blog posts about New Year resolutions. I'm encouraged to see that the focus this year is about how they don't work.

Are you breathing a sigh of relief like I did? I'm not the only one who finds resolutions pointless. Yay!

But I do believe in setting goals. Then it's more about what I want to work toward and not about what I need to stop doing or change.

For example, if you're wanting to grow closer to God this year and get to know Him better, why not start with setting a goal to have a quiet time each morning. Start with 15 minutes, your Bible, and the devotional booklet you've most likely seen an the back table of your church.

Or go to a bookstore and by a devotional book. Sarah Young's Jesus Calling is my choice this year. It's a great place to start your yearly goal and your day!

For more ideas about Creating a Quiet Time, I hope you'll follow the link to download a FREE resource with more ideas to help get you started.

I know this was a pivotal decision in my spiritual walk and I am so thankful for my mentor who insisted it would make all the difference in my life. Sixteen years later, I can tell you, she was so right.

Praying and believing,

Dineen

A Note From Lynn

What Is The ONE Thing?

I love a new year. Funny thing is this year I am charged up to take control of an area of my life that has needed discipline for a long time now.

You see, my husband's eleven months of unemployment in 2009 and then his lack of a working assignment for half of 2011, kept him at home. He travels for business. When hubby is home, I cook.

I love to cook and I love to eat what I make.

Thus the 25 pounds on my hips. Sheesh!

Okay, yep, you are rolling your eyes as you read this. Ya, ya, ya, another New Year's resolution to lose weight. Blah, blah, blah.

Stay with me. It's a weird thing. This year my word is "decide." I decided to do this. This is an honest commitment to reigning in my idol, my stomach. I have heard God talk to me about this idol for years and have haphazardly committed to eat healthy.

But as I prayed in late December asking the Lord for His plan for my life in 2012, I was completely surprised.

"Lynn, I want you to slow down and work on just you. I don't want you to lead Bible study, or teach as much as you did last year. I want you to sit under teaching and learn along with others in Bible study. I want you to reign in your idol, your stomach."

I was completely surprised by this. I love teaching. LOVE IT. But God has called me to let go of leading Bible study this year and allow others to teach me, to fill me up again. To gain control of my physical body as a love offering to Him.

Wow, so unexpected. Wow, how utterly loving of God to see the need I couldn't see myself.

So, I joined Weight Watchers and am I very motivated. One pound a week. I can do that.

I want to do this for me, for my husband and mostly for the Lord. I know so many of us women struggle in this area. So I want to share this thought with you.

If I lose only one pound a week...

By Valentine's Day I'd be 7 lbs. lighter! I'm loving it!
By St. Patrick's Day I'd be 11 lbs. lighter!
With the luck o'the Irish I'll make my goal.
By Easter I'd be 13 lbs. lighter!
I'd be a cuter bunny.
By Memorial Day I'd be 23 lbs. lighter!
What a memory that would make!
By Flag Day I'd be 25 lbs. lighter!
I'd wave my flag proudly then.
By Independence Day I'd be 27 lbs. lighter!
That's quite a declaration of independence from overeating!
By Labor Day I'd be 36 lbs. lighter!
What a wonderful reward for all my hard work.
By Columbus Day I'd be 41 lbs. lighter!
What a joy to discover what I can do.
By Halloween I'd be 44 lbs. lighter!
I would know I had more than a ghost of a chance.
By Thanksgiving I'd be 47 lbs. lighter!
I'd have so much to be thankful for.
By Christmas Eve I'd be 51 lbs. lighter!
Talk about being merry.
By New Year's Eve I'd be 52 lbs. lighter!
It's not just a new year, It's a new ME!

Wherever God is calling you to submit to His wisdom, just take it one step, one pound, one thought captive at a time. Just think where you will be in 52 weeks.

A New You.

Be blessed, Lynn

PS. I working toward the Flag Day goal. Woo Hoo!

Valentine's Day

I'm looking for some great Valentine's Day stories from you, our readers for next month's Newsletter. If you have an amazing story that honors marriage, please email me Lynn Donovan.

I can't wait to share "the love" next month. Hugs, Lynn

From Lynn & Dineen

Lynn&Dineen at Booksigning

We had an amazing start to the year with our week of Fasting & Praying. We know walls of unbelief have been shaken and are beginning to crumble, lives are being affected, and marriages will be saved. This is the power of Christ working in our lives and through our prayers. Stories are still rolling in!

We are so amazed by how God is working in this ministry to bring healing and faith. We look forward to walking 2012 with you!

Thrive in love,

Lynn and Dineen

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

- Isaiah 58: 6 & 9