Tweeny,
I am a member of Elmhurst CRC, and I was unable to be at GROW this past Tuesday evening. I have a radio program that airs via short wave radio, it is a 15 minute womans program which is broadcasted in Australia , I would love to interview you, but I don’t know of you would be able to appear in person, (the studio is located in Palos Heights, Ill) or if you would prefer, a phone interview is also a possibility. Please let me know when you would be available to do this. Thank you very much. I look forward to hear from you
Ardy
Is there a specific topic you are passionate about that you would like to share when we meet in March?!. I have been reading your blogs and I am enjoying them all, I have been married for 28 years and have 2 adult children. Our daughter recently just was married tis past October and our son has been married for 2 years. I have scanned a few topics that looked interesting to me as I was going thru your blog, I have had the “empty nester”, thoughts,, ha sometimes still do.. ! Forgiveness, marriage, ..fear, you glossed over them all. I would love to hear what YOU would like to share with me when we do the interview together. Your story sounds amazing!! Yes, Back To God Ministries International is a company who has 9 language ministries, and the facility records and distributes them. The place is a wonderful company to have worked for. the address is:
6555 W College Dr. Palos Heights, Ill 60463 # to facility is #708-371-8700 Look forward to speaking with you! Peace, Ardy
Hello Tweeny, can you give me advice or your perspective. I have been a thoughtful and giving person all my life. If I don’t iniate conversation to my relatives I never hear from them. At times I feel hurt or unappreciated by them. Sometimes I feel like why should I keep trying all the time. Maybe they don’t feel the same about me. Now I am concentrating on doing things that bring me my own joy. I have a wonderful life with my husband. We are very blessed. I thank God everyday for blessing us with good health and for each other. I believe I should focus on us and things we like to do together in our life. What do you think?
Cynthia, would you mind writing to me via my email address? It is Tweeny@tweenyrandall.com
This is my contact page and I don’t want to start conversation on this page. Thanks for understanding. 🙂
I was so blessed reading your article “When God does not give you your hearts desire”. Thank you very much! I am struggling along this path….was encouraged…
But reading the comments section also broke my heart…seeing how many of us are disappointed with God… praying that all of us see the way He sees!
Thank you for your article “When We Misinterpret A Message From God” I can relate to every word! I, too, struggle with anger towards God when this happens. And the source of my anger is wondering why a compassionate and loving Father would not tell His children (who really are trying to hear Him) that they have misheard Him rather than just allowing them to continue on in their mistake until they experience the heartbreaking results. I’ve been there many times! I pray that someday I would really be able to hear from God and be confident that it really is Him speaking and not just me making another huge mistake!
Hello Virginia! Thank you for commenting. It’s not easy following Jesus because we can’t hear His voice in the way we would like (audibly). I pray for you and I that we would just learn to rest in His presence, submitting our will to His. I love how Psalm 46:10 says “Cease striving and know that I am God.” The word “cease” can mean “relax” or “let go.” I know it’s not easy because we want to know what God is saying, but I do wonder if I would be more still/relaxed if I wouldn’t hear more clearly from Him? I hope this helps. God bless you sweet sister.
Just found your post. Boy…does all this sound “familiar…lol…but not really lol at all….I am hooked on Goodwill stores. This is totally ridiculous to the person whose NOT. I see older women than me there that have be apparently addiction for years!!!! I don’t want to be this way. I’ve gone on Goodwill fasts to only return back to “my vomit” as the bible says. I know Jesus, I struggle with this addiction. I pray, I ask God for help…only to turn around and do the same thing in a week or two. I know I must replace this addiction with something. I do pray… I do study….I go to church…I talk with Jesus all the time…but….I cannot seem to beak through. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you so much, Glenna
Tweeny, I think I just found the answers to many of the things bothering me. I’ll just keep reading your post today. This has been very helpful to me Thank you, Glenna
Dear Glenna, thank you for your transparency! We all have our “fake comfort” thing, or person, that we go to . We are truly like lost sheep, and without a Shepherd we go through life aimlessly. I’m glad my writings could be an encouragement to you. I’m praying for you tonight, that God would show you the path to your freedom (in Him) and that His peace would invade your heart and mind. Thus I know-He adores you! Blessing sweet sister!
I am going through the empty nest really bad. My son and his wife are moving to the northwest area. He’s a grown man, I understand this but, it’s sooo hard to let go. He’s my youngest and only son. He doesn’t seem to understand how I’m feeling..they have no children. He tells me to quite living in the past. Is that truly what I’m doing? I did pamper him quite a lot when he was growing up, I had him later in life. I know..let god..let go. I really didn’t know how difficult this would be. Please, any advice you could give me would be a great help and blessing.
My dear sister, my heart aches with you. I can sooo relate to what you are feeling. It is hard, and your sadness is valid. You are sad because he is your son, you love him deeply, and you enjoy having him around. You are not living in the past. You are living in the present. Your current feelings are valid. You are sad because the son you loved and raised is not around anymore. This is valid. I would encourage you to allow yourself to feel your emotions. Share them with God and with someone you can trust. For me, it took a while to get used to the empty nest life. I just allowed myself to feel the loss of what once was. This is so normal. Eventually I found a new normal-got involved with hobbies, church, and then God brought me a job. He will lead you to your new normal too. Trust Him. I’ll be praying for you-one momma to another. I hope this helped some.
I googled “What Happens When You Misinterpret God?” and came across your article. I had a similiar experience just this month with misinterpreting what I felt God spoke/confirmed to me. When it didn’t go that way I was heartbroken, confused, and questioning my relationship with God in terms of how I pray and/or how I feel he speaks to me. I questioned if I had heard from him at all or if it was just my own heart’s desire.
Case in point: My older sister (who also loved the Lord) came down with Covid-Pneumonia and was sick-hospitalized for three weeks. In praying earnestly for her recovery I was sure God spoke assurance to me that it would be so. I confessed this to all who would listen. I knew she would get through this and come home. I had complete faith in what (I thought) God had spoken.
I held on to that faith till her last breath. I didn’t doubt it! even though the doctors and others were saying she would not survive, I knew what God had spoken! I knew she would be healed, I absolutely knew it! I was expecting the miracle (I thought) God said would happen.
It didn’t happen.. at least not in the way I believed it would. Not in the way I (thought) I heard God say it would.
I was devestated in spirit; unable to really pray or feel close to God. I had questions with no answers.
Thankfully, the last few days I have been able to pray and feel God again. I did not charge God foolishly when it didn’t happen the way I thought it would -I know God’s way is always right- I just questioned my interpretation.
I believe my sister went home to be with the Lord, and perhaps… that was what he spoke to me, and I misinterpreted it.
Thank you again for sharing your experience and thoughts, and for the encouragment it gave me.
Love, your sister in Christ, Sandra.
Dear Sandra,
I’m thankful that my writing could give you some comfort at a very painful and confusing time in your life. I really appreciate you taking the time out to leave me a comment to let me know. I’m so very sorry and sad to hear about the loss of your precious sister. There is so much this side of heaven that we will never understand…I’m also grateful that you were able to hold on to a mustard seed size of faith at the time of your loss and that you are able to pray and feel the Lord again. It’s in these painful trials that the enemy comes in and tries to convince us of his lies that there is no God, and/or that our faith is weak. Please keep kicking him in the face with your faith. The truth is Jesus will never leave your side. Never. I’ve been praying for you too sweet sister. I will continue to.
Thank you again for encouraging me.
Isaiah 41:10 is coming to mind as I think of you…”Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
Lord bless you with His strong presence and power. May you know how very dear you are to Him. He sees you and knows you.
Love, your sister in Christ,
Tweeny
Hi Tweeny, I hope you are well. I can’t seem to find the strength to say my prayer to God, here is how I feel.
Dear God
I am scared that my anger won’t fade this time, that I won’t snap out of it. I am scared that my heart won’t heal. I am scared that I will begin to actually hate you and that I will end up not believing in you anymore, that you are good and that you love me. I don’t want to lose my faith in you and who you are but after 15 +years of waiting, I can feel myself starting to doubt you and it scares me.
Please help me never to lose my faith in you. Amen
Hi Amanda. Thank you for reaching out to me and thank you for your openness and authenticity.
What a beautiful prayer you have written to God. It’s exactly what He wants from us: to be real with Him! I have had moments where I am literally yelling at Him. Of course I say sorry after I calm down, but the point is to be honest and real with God, like you are.
I can relate to your feelings of frustration. God understands them too! When I feel weary I am able to keep pursuing God because I ask myself what other choice do I have? If I don’t have Jesus to keep leaning on (despite unanswered prayers)what do I have? I would be ten times more miserable without Him.
I’ll say a prayer for you tonight dear sister. May you continue to pursue the Lord and His love for you. And may you keep telling him how you feel and be willing to surrender all to Him. He hears you!
I stumbled across your blog “How to Cast out Demons with Confidence” last night as I felt another attack from Satan coming. I know God put this article in my path as I’ve have been going through a spiritual warfare for over a month as my marriage was attacked. I’ve been rebuking the spirit of fear, anxiety, worry and depression when I wake up in the mornings. I’ve read a couple of your articles since last night and they have been so comforting and every articles has spoken to me. Thank you for your articles and looking forwards to reading more. God is using your writing and I am thankful I found you.
Thank you so much for letting me know that my writings have been a blessing to you. It’s a gift for me to hear this as I always pray that God is able to reach those He wants to reach. So thank you again.
To make sure you don’t miss any future post, you can subscribe to my blog and receive notification via email every time I post a new post.
I am praying you and your husband resist the enemy and fight for your marriage.
Tweeny,
I am a member of Elmhurst CRC, and I was unable to be at GROW this past Tuesday evening. I have a radio program that airs via short wave radio, it is a 15 minute womans program which is broadcasted in Australia , I would love to interview you, but I don’t know of you would be able to appear in person, (the studio is located in Palos Heights, Ill) or if you would prefer, a phone interview is also a possibility. Please let me know when you would be available to do this. Thank you very much. I look forward to hear from you
Ardy
Hi Ardy,
I would love to! I just sent you an email. 🙂
Tweeny;
Is there a specific topic you are passionate about that you would like to share when we meet in March?!. I have been reading your blogs and I am enjoying them all, I have been married for 28 years and have 2 adult children. Our daughter recently just was married tis past October and our son has been married for 2 years. I have scanned a few topics that looked interesting to me as I was going thru your blog, I have had the “empty nester”, thoughts,, ha sometimes still do.. ! Forgiveness, marriage, ..fear, you glossed over them all. I would love to hear what YOU would like to share with me when we do the interview together. Your story sounds amazing!! Yes, Back To God Ministries International is a company who has 9 language ministries, and the facility records and distributes them. The place is a wonderful company to have worked for. the address is:
6555 W College Dr. Palos Heights, Ill 60463 # to facility is #708-371-8700 Look forward to speaking with you! Peace, Ardy
Hello Tweeny, can you give me advice or your perspective. I have been a thoughtful and giving person all my life. If I don’t iniate conversation to my relatives I never hear from them. At times I feel hurt or unappreciated by them. Sometimes I feel like why should I keep trying all the time. Maybe they don’t feel the same about me. Now I am concentrating on doing things that bring me my own joy. I have a wonderful life with my husband. We are very blessed. I thank God everyday for blessing us with good health and for each other. I believe I should focus on us and things we like to do together in our life. What do you think?
Cynthia, would you mind writing to me via my email address? It is Tweeny@tweenyrandall.com
This is my contact page and I don’t want to start conversation on this page. Thanks for understanding. 🙂
I was so blessed reading your article “When God does not give you your hearts desire”. Thank you very much! I am struggling along this path….was encouraged…
But reading the comments section also broke my heart…seeing how many of us are disappointed with God… praying that all of us see the way He sees!
Thank you
Christina
Thank you for your article “When We Misinterpret A Message From God” I can relate to every word! I, too, struggle with anger towards God when this happens. And the source of my anger is wondering why a compassionate and loving Father would not tell His children (who really are trying to hear Him) that they have misheard Him rather than just allowing them to continue on in their mistake until they experience the heartbreaking results. I’ve been there many times! I pray that someday I would really be able to hear from God and be confident that it really is Him speaking and not just me making another huge mistake!
Hello Virginia! Thank you for commenting. It’s not easy following Jesus because we can’t hear His voice in the way we would like (audibly). I pray for you and I that we would just learn to rest in His presence, submitting our will to His. I love how Psalm 46:10 says “Cease striving and know that I am God.” The word “cease” can mean “relax” or “let go.” I know it’s not easy because we want to know what God is saying, but I do wonder if I would be more still/relaxed if I wouldn’t hear more clearly from Him? I hope this helps. God bless you sweet sister.
Just found your post. Boy…does all this sound “familiar…lol…but not really lol at all….I am hooked on Goodwill stores. This is totally ridiculous to the person whose NOT. I see older women than me there that have be apparently addiction for years!!!! I don’t want to be this way. I’ve gone on Goodwill fasts to only return back to “my vomit” as the bible says. I know Jesus, I struggle with this addiction. I pray, I ask God for help…only to turn around and do the same thing in a week or two. I know I must replace this addiction with something. I do pray… I do study….I go to church…I talk with Jesus all the time…but….I cannot seem to beak through. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you so much, Glenna
Tweeny, I think I just found the answers to many of the things bothering me. I’ll just keep reading your post today. This has been very helpful to me Thank you, Glenna
Dear Glenna, thank you for your transparency! We all have our “fake comfort” thing, or person, that we go to . We are truly like lost sheep, and without a Shepherd we go through life aimlessly. I’m glad my writings could be an encouragement to you. I’m praying for you tonight, that God would show you the path to your freedom (in Him) and that His peace would invade your heart and mind. Thus I know-He adores you! Blessing sweet sister!
I am going through the empty nest really bad. My son and his wife are moving to the northwest area. He’s a grown man, I understand this but, it’s sooo hard to let go. He’s my youngest and only son. He doesn’t seem to understand how I’m feeling..they have no children. He tells me to quite living in the past. Is that truly what I’m doing? I did pamper him quite a lot when he was growing up, I had him later in life. I know..let god..let go. I really didn’t know how difficult this would be. Please, any advice you could give me would be a great help and blessing.
My dear sister, my heart aches with you. I can sooo relate to what you are feeling. It is hard, and your sadness is valid. You are sad because he is your son, you love him deeply, and you enjoy having him around. You are not living in the past. You are living in the present. Your current feelings are valid. You are sad because the son you loved and raised is not around anymore. This is valid. I would encourage you to allow yourself to feel your emotions. Share them with God and with someone you can trust. For me, it took a while to get used to the empty nest life. I just allowed myself to feel the loss of what once was. This is so normal. Eventually I found a new normal-got involved with hobbies, church, and then God brought me a job. He will lead you to your new normal too. Trust Him. I’ll be praying for you-one momma to another. I hope this helped some.
This is beautiful! Congratulations on your update. Look forward to your next blog!
Thank you Will! I love it and am grateful to you and the kids for this gift! 🙂
I googled “What Happens When You Misinterpret God?” and came across your article. I had a similiar experience just this month with misinterpreting what I felt God spoke/confirmed to me. When it didn’t go that way I was heartbroken, confused, and questioning my relationship with God in terms of how I pray and/or how I feel he speaks to me. I questioned if I had heard from him at all or if it was just my own heart’s desire.
Case in point: My older sister (who also loved the Lord) came down with Covid-Pneumonia and was sick-hospitalized for three weeks. In praying earnestly for her recovery I was sure God spoke assurance to me that it would be so. I confessed this to all who would listen. I knew she would get through this and come home. I had complete faith in what (I thought) God had spoken.
I held on to that faith till her last breath. I didn’t doubt it! even though the doctors and others were saying she would not survive, I knew what God had spoken! I knew she would be healed, I absolutely knew it! I was expecting the miracle (I thought) God said would happen.
It didn’t happen.. at least not in the way I believed it would. Not in the way I (thought) I heard God say it would.
I was devestated in spirit; unable to really pray or feel close to God. I had questions with no answers.
Thankfully, the last few days I have been able to pray and feel God again. I did not charge God foolishly when it didn’t happen the way I thought it would -I know God’s way is always right- I just questioned my interpretation.
I believe my sister went home to be with the Lord, and perhaps… that was what he spoke to me, and I misinterpreted it.
Thank you again for sharing your experience and thoughts, and for the encouragment it gave me.
Love, your sister in Christ, Sandra.
Dear Sandra,
I’m thankful that my writing could give you some comfort at a very painful and confusing time in your life. I really appreciate you taking the time out to leave me a comment to let me know. I’m so very sorry and sad to hear about the loss of your precious sister. There is so much this side of heaven that we will never understand…I’m also grateful that you were able to hold on to a mustard seed size of faith at the time of your loss and that you are able to pray and feel the Lord again. It’s in these painful trials that the enemy comes in and tries to convince us of his lies that there is no God, and/or that our faith is weak. Please keep kicking him in the face with your faith. The truth is Jesus will never leave your side. Never. I’ve been praying for you too sweet sister. I will continue to.
Thank you again for encouraging me.
Isaiah 41:10 is coming to mind as I think of you…”Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
Lord bless you with His strong presence and power. May you know how very dear you are to Him. He sees you and knows you.
Love, your sister in Christ,
Tweeny
Hi Tweeny, I hope you are well. I can’t seem to find the strength to say my prayer to God, here is how I feel.
Dear God
I am scared that my anger won’t fade this time, that I won’t snap out of it. I am scared that my heart won’t heal. I am scared that I will begin to actually hate you and that I will end up not believing in you anymore, that you are good and that you love me. I don’t want to lose my faith in you and who you are but after 15 +years of waiting, I can feel myself starting to doubt you and it scares me.
Please help me never to lose my faith in you. Amen
Love, Amanda
Hi Amanda. Thank you for reaching out to me and thank you for your openness and authenticity.
What a beautiful prayer you have written to God. It’s exactly what He wants from us: to be real with Him! I have had moments where I am literally yelling at Him. Of course I say sorry after I calm down, but the point is to be honest and real with God, like you are.
I can relate to your feelings of frustration. God understands them too! When I feel weary I am able to keep pursuing God because I ask myself what other choice do I have? If I don’t have Jesus to keep leaning on (despite unanswered prayers)what do I have? I would be ten times more miserable without Him.
I’ll say a prayer for you tonight dear sister. May you continue to pursue the Lord and His love for you. And may you keep telling him how you feel and be willing to surrender all to Him. He hears you!
Blessings,
Tweeny
Hi Tweeny,
I stumbled across your blog “How to Cast out Demons with Confidence” last night as I felt another attack from Satan coming. I know God put this article in my path as I’ve have been going through a spiritual warfare for over a month as my marriage was attacked. I’ve been rebuking the spirit of fear, anxiety, worry and depression when I wake up in the mornings. I’ve read a couple of your articles since last night and they have been so comforting and every articles has spoken to me. Thank you for your articles and looking forwards to reading more. God is using your writing and I am thankful I found you.
Blessings,
Monica
Hi Monica,
Thank you so much for letting me know that my writings have been a blessing to you. It’s a gift for me to hear this as I always pray that God is able to reach those He wants to reach. So thank you again.
To make sure you don’t miss any future post, you can subscribe to my blog and receive notification via email every time I post a new post.
I am praying you and your husband resist the enemy and fight for your marriage.
Lord bless,
Tweeny