Open war is upon you...

One of my favorite lines from the Lord of the Rings trilogy is from The Two Towers. It sends chills up my spine each time I hear it.
KING THEODEN: I know what it is you want of me but I will not bring further death to my people. I will not risk open war.
ARAGORN: Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not!
You know why that line resonates so with me? Because we are ALL at war. While this war may not be of our choosing, it is upon us whether we choose to fight it or not. The enemy is very active and EVIL! He will stop short of NOTHING to win. If you choose not to fight, he wins.
My mind has been spinning with a million things surrounding this topic. I desperately want to write a devotional or SOMETHING about this, but it is so hard to pull all the loose ends together into something coherent! I'm hoping some of this blog musing will help.
When I think of war, I think of soldiers. When I think of soldiers, I think of training. How many soldiers do you know that do not have to have any training? And how many soldiers go through mild training - a few drills here and there, a nap, some play time, etc.? Yet how many Christians face each day of this battle with no training? In Ephesians 6 the apostle Paul lists the weapons and protection we need in this battle. This is not just a list of suggested items - they are mandatory!! If we are going to defeat this enemy who does not play by the rules, we need an arsonal.
Ah, then my mind gets side-tracked thinking of the enemy and his weapon. Yup - one. But it is such a powerful weapon it is all he needs. Every one of his soldiers is well equipped with it. Deception! And they are all masters at using it. If his deception were easy to spot, it wouldn't be so effective. But he is soooooo subtle! I feel very confident in saying that he has a subtle deception in place in every believer's life. I'm not saying that it is the same deception for everyone, but I'm sure it is there.
Does that make you mad? Ask yourself this. Do you struggle with an habitual sin? Do you "discuss" someone's situation or their behavior toward you with someone other than that person? Are you involved in your church only on Sunday morning...and maybe then only as one who warms a seat? We are called to serve, to live in unity, to be free of sin that entangles. We are told that the truth will set us free. If we are not truly free, we are being deceived. The deception of the enemy is keeping us from seeing our freedom and the lies are holding us back from being able to walk in that freedom.
James says to "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." I believe the biggest deception the enemy has put into place in believer's lives is that they are completely submitted. If he can hide the ways we are not submitted, we will think all is okay and that the enemy does not have his hold on us. This opens the door to more control of the enemy in the guilt feelings that come when we fall into sin again and again. We think we are just hopeless. We are a sorry excuse for a Christian. THAT IS A LIE! We are just blinded to some truths that we need - our belt of truth is in need of repair.
Ah, again, there is so much floating around in my brain and I'm having a hard time roping it all in. I hope some of this has made sense and I will use this post, add scripture references, add things, shift things around, and maybe someday I'll have an article or put it into a study form. I don't know. I am an extravert. That means I think outloud so most of what I say is unfiltered. I just speak it all out and sort through it all after it's been said. Not a good thing and it gets me into trouble. I really should take up journaling again so that I can think outloud in that and then only say what is necessary and beneficial.
Anyway, I so need to go do devotions with my cherubs and get moving. We have another wonderful, full day. Oh-oh, and deardaughter just informed me that her throat hurts again. Upon further investigation (a look in the throat) I think the anti-biotic didn't do it's work. Add a doctor call or visit to the long list! Aye-aye!

An "Above-and-Beyond" God!

As some of you know, our daughter has been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome - a form of autism. It makes life a little more exciting and unique and hasn't been a negative thing in the least for us. We have always enjoyed our daughter and her little "quirks". Her diagnosis has actually brought some sighs of relief because we now understand why she can't always answer us or process certain things.
School brought the realization that our daughter's "quirks" needed some outside intervention to help her function in a world that can't always embrace or understand these quirks. She also needs to learn different ways to process things necessary for successful communication and life.
Another milestone experience this past week - Summer Bible Camp - reinforced the continued need for extra intervention. We really had no idea what we needed to do to prepare her or the camp. This is a first for us! We did alert the camp that she has Asperger's, but didn't know how much further to go with it. We REALLY didn't want her labeled and carrying a stigma before she even got there! So we did what we know to do from the getgo - we left it in the Lord's hands.
For a month I pleaded with the Lord that he put in place exactly what DearDaughter needed. After all, he created her. Who better to understand her and know what she needs than the one who knit her every cell together!? What a peace and comfort this knowledge has given me over and over. I am so glad I know and love this Creator and that he is intimately involved with me and my children! One specific prayer I prayed was that DearDaughter would have a counselor that was a mom and that this woman would just bond with DearDaughter and understand her.
When we brought DearDaughter and her friends to their cabin to settle them in, I met the counselors - one of them a mom. And my "above-and-beyond" God knew that this mom was the perfect counselor for her because this mom had a son with Asperger's! My heart was full of praise and I left feeling very confident. But God's provision didn't end there!
We had no idea if DearDaugter would have emotional melt-downs or not. Like I said, this was a first and we just can never predict how she is going to react to situations. However, God sees and ALWAYS knows. She did have many melt-downs and these can be very intimidating if you don't know what you're dealing with. She doesn't do scarey or weird things, she just falls apart and cries over little things and not much consoles her. We have learned how to deal with it and scratching her back usually helps. We did share this information with them, but my guess is that since it wasn't Mom or Dad doing it, it was an irritation rather than soothing.
Here's where God stepped in again and answered prayer. The woman across the hall was a pera who works with Asperger/Autistic children in school! She knew of pressure points and different massage techniques that work to calm these children down! She used these on DearDaughter and they worked. Praise God! Again he provided what was needed - for everyone! Someone with the patience and understanding needed to bring calm to camp atmosphere and relief for DearDaughter who was overwhelmed by things she couldn't process.
It really didn't even end there - the other counselor in DearDaughter's room has a brother with Asperger's. DearDaughter was surrounded by people who could understand the unique characteristics of this syndrome. Who else but God could have put all this in place?
All-in-all, it was a great experience for DearDaughter. When she finally adjusted back into life at home, she was overflowing with stories of camp. That's a big deal because part of Asperger's is the inability to use words to communicate what is going on in the brain. I have learned that when she wants to talk, I drop EVERYTHING and listen! What a joy to hear all the wonderful experiences stored in her brain. She truly loved camp and can't wait to go again. And why not? She's got a faithful "Above-and-Beyond" God who loves her. What more can a mommy ask?