October 9, 2013
by Jane Schaible
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Category:
First Free Women
“Great is the Lord, and bmmmbsflk mumble jumble...” I heard my daughter say, as we were working on her memory verse for Awana.
“Sweetie, I can’t hear you. You need to speak up and speak clearly.” My insides were churning with rising anger while I attempted to keep the tone of my voice patient and kind. I had stated this verse to her dozens of times. I knew...
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October 1, 2013
by Lindsey Ayres
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Category:
First Free Women
In the first part of this post, I discussed one extreme response Christians can have to the cultural forgetfulness we see around us: cluelessly submit without examining the implications of how we think and remember. Our corrective to this is to be active rememberers of God’s stories, how he has worked in the lives of men in history....
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September 18, 2013
by Lindsey Ayres
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Category:
First Free Women
In a previous post, I discussed the importance of remembering and retelling God’s stories. Explicitly this includes the stories of the Bible and the Story of the Bible, the story that points to and is Jesus. Also explicitly such storytelling includes the “smaller” ways God works in individuals’ lives like the stories Lori Day told at the Gala. But I would like to...
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September 13, 2013
by Jane Schaible
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Category:
First Free Women
First Free Women are gearing up to hide God’s Word in their hearts this fall. Here’s an interview with Lindsey Claassen, whose desire to memorize the Word of God is a testimony of God’s faithfulness and goodness to those who are called by his name....
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September 6, 2013
by Jane Schaible
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Category:
First Free Women
Here is one woman’s response to last week’s sermon on Ephesians 1:15-23. May it encourage you in your own response:
Father of Glory,
Author and Sustainer of Life,
It is you who gives me my life, my breath, my being;
...
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August 28, 2013
by Jane Schaible
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Category:
First Free Women
Already anticipating the next women's retreat? Start gearing up for it now, and join First Free Women this fall as we find JOY in memorizing God's Word together! Preparing your hearts and minds now will make you ready to receive powerful truths from the book of Philippians later at the March 7-8, 2014, Women's Retreat. ...
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August 13, 2013
by Lindsey Ayres
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Category:
First Free Women
As a creative writing teacher, I think a lot about stories, mostly how to help my students tell them better. But as my preschooler gets older and his attention span for more developed plots gets longer, I also think about what stories to tell him. This idea really hit home for me as I listened to Lori Day speak at the Gala this year....
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July 25, 2013
by Jane Schaible
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Category:
First Free Women
I will venture to say that many of us do not always feel “eager” to become like Christ. We confess our sin and want to be rid of it, but often resist the godly qualities that are supposed to replace those sins. We don’t want to do the work involved. We cling to sin we’ve always believed to be part of our personality--" fear, apathy, temper, worry. We know how to ...
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July 3, 2013
by Jane Schaible
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Category:
First Free Women
I never want to be "just like" everybody else. There’s a little piece deep down inside of me that tends to enjoy going against the grain at times (sometimes for the good...sometimes for the bad, I’ll shamefully confess!). You would think, as a believer living in this fallen world, that this “not wanting to be like everybody else” desire in me would help when it c...
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June 15, 2013
by Jane Schaible
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Category:
First Free Women
Summer’s here! That means lots of spontaneous activity, rather than the regular weekly routines we settle into during the fall and winter months. With all the “free” time we have to “do as we please” during the summer, there is often room for a few new books to add to our reading lists. Here are several “top picks” to add to your summer reading list fro...
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