Warrior Moms

It’s a wonderful time of year. The school year is coming to an end, classrooms are having parties or planning them, and graduation banners are displayed proudly outside of neighborhoods. 

It is during these times where “father” issues may surface.  Some children have earthly fathers, some do not.  Some have earthly fathers that have not upheld their duty to provide and protect.  Others, not only didn’t uphold thier duty to provide and protect, but have caused harm beyond words to their own children.  Some children had the most amazing earthly father who was brought home to Heaven before they were done asking him all the questions they wanted to ask him.  I could go on and on regarding possible father issues here, but I want to discuss the Perfect Man, the Son of God, and our Heavenly Father.  I want to issue a decree across the land that God is a Heavenly Father.

I first got a hold of this concept when I was 14 years old. My own earthly father was gone and he died before I ever knew him.  I had many mean step-fathers, and I had no idea what my new friend, Crystal Taylor, meant when she said, “Do you want to be saved?” Immediately I leaned forward and whispered, “From what?!” I thought something was about to “go down” from which we would need to escape.  Coming from an environment of abuse and a home that wasn’t necesarily safe to say the least, I expected fighting, yelling, or the police to bardge through the door.  So, when she said, “Do you want to be saved?” I was curious and confused.  She started talking about God and his son and I thought she was speaking in a different language.  All of a sudden it hit me, “Oh, so Easter isn’t about a bunny, Christmas isn’ about a man in a red suit, and when Linus on The Charlie Brown Christmas Special says,

‘unto you a child is born, unto us a son is given…and he shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.’  (Isaiah 9)

he is talking about Jesus!

Things started making sense to me.  But then she got to the part about telling me how God is a HEAVENLY FATHER! I was ready to sign up.  Then, she told me that all I had to do was say a prayer to receive him as my savior. So, I’ve been calling my Heavenly Father - my “Dear Dad” ever since. 

As a result, my eyes have been opened to the father voids all around me.  I see grown adults who struggle with father issues. I see young children suffer due to father issues. It breaks my heart, but I want to say: LET US LOOK TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER and cry out “Abba Father” asking him to fill the voids, to heal the hurts and to put aloe on the scars. Let us ask our Father to whisper in our hearts how much he loves us, provides for us, and has a future for us.  And most importantly let us hear him when he does.  For our Heavenly Father is always there  - loving us - and wanting what is best for us.  He is alwasy there, waiting on us to call out to him - so that he can help us and bless us with what we’ve entrusted to him - through child-like faith.  And, let us remind the children that they have a Heavenly Father who is the Perfect man - and whatever their earthly father has done, is doing, or never did - or if their earthly father never was a part of their life (such as mine), let us remind them that God will not let them down, that he always provides, and thet he is always on their side.  If we can spread this message of hope and Truth to the children - just think how strong, courageous, confident in Christ, and steadfast they will be amid the storms of this life.  When we learn to stop waiting and looking to “man” but rather look to the Perfect Man then, and only then, can young boys become strong men for the Kingdom of God.  And then, and only then, can young girls begin to understand that they have a Prince of Peace who always has thier best interest at heart.  

We have a Heavenly Father!  I just wanted to write you all about my Dear Dad. He is an awesome Dad and he loves me, and he loves you, and we all have access to him through his son.

Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. Psam 27:10.

He defends the cause of the fatherless. Deuteronomy 10:18

As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you. Isaiah 66:13

Which of you fathers if your son asks for a fish will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg will give him a scorpion?  If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” Luke 11:11-13

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘it is mine to avenge. I will repay,’ says the Lord. Romans 12:17

We will all endure some kind of pain on this earth.  Some of that pain will be caused by father issues.  This is why I want to issue a decree and spread it all across the land (No, I’m not the Queen of a forgotten Fairy Tale, but it is fun to talk that way). And so I say, as a daughter of the most High King…

“and he shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.’  (Isaiah 9). 

Warrior Moms Unite!

Kristina

Recently, God has impressed upon me the importance of looking up to him rather than looking around – to others. Two weeks ago, at a time when I was feeling overwhelmed God reminded me that he is the I AM. After typing 12 pages of bible scripture entailing the words, I AM, I was reminded of who he is. This helped me forget what I’m not. My fears, doubts and disappointments were not able to stick to my armor once I was reminded of who the Great I AM is. Who he is makes my fears, faults and imperfections shrink.

This leads me to an important point: we must look up to God for acceptance and encouragement rather than man (or woman). Sure, friends will encourage us and that is necessary. We are to encourage each other.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25

I believe that it is human nature, however, to forget that our ultimate encourager is God. We look to our husbands (forgetting that God – not our husband - was called to be the perfect man.). When we realize this, we find that we don’t argue with our husband’s near as much as we used to over petty, perfectionistic type of things. We quit expecting perfection from them, and we have a much more peaceful home.

For your maker is your husband.
Isaiah 54:5

Men all over America may be high-fiving each other at the mere thought of being let off the hook finally – relieved that we now know they don’t have to be perfect. I think I just heard a few manly “Amen”s echo from my own living room, and the next street over.

But back to my point:
We also quit getting so emotionally distraught over what our girlfriend did or did not do – and what she did or did not say to us.

While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the 12, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Luke 22:47-48

We know from the scriptures that Jesus was betrayed, that some of those who once supported him turned their backs on him in his darkest hour. We also know that Jesus endured a painful death so that we might have eternal life. And so we know that Jesus focused more on the Great I AM - rather than those who were around him (his friends and/or his enemies). Had he focused on mere people, he would have become discouraged. Had he focused on mere human support and encouragement, he would have been crushed. We must learn from his example. In order to persevere and do the will of the Father, we must look to the Father – not man.

Spouses let us down. Friends let us down. Siblings let us down. A lot of times, we expect a lot from those closest to us. That makes sense doesn’t it? We don’t expect anything from a stranger, but we expect the moon from those around us – and when we do that we forget that they are not the ones who created the moon and the stars. “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars,” …. [I am in awe] Psalm 8:3. . So, we must go to God if we are to expect the moon. When we learn to look expectantly towards God – the sky is the limit!

Paul writes:

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help give by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or death. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:19-21

Let’s face it: Girls were mean in middle school, high school, college and they can be mean at Wal*Mart. Even our closest girlfriends let us down sometimes – and they don’t mean to – but they struggle with this little thing called, “humanness.” And so do we. Once we realize not to look to others to fill our voids and meet ALL of our emotional and physical needs, ALL of our relationships improve. An added bonus type thing occurs too: as we learn to give others a break, and we begin to give ourselves a break too! We quit being so hard on ourselves for not being perfect ourselves. It’s like the chains fall off.

I thought it would be fun to look up “human” in the dictionary. Not surprising, it reads:
1. “Pertaining to or characterizing man or mankind.” It goes as far as to say
2. “Possessed by or suitable for man.” That is comical to me because don’t we struggle with all the things that pertain to mankind? But, if you take your index finger down to the next word in the dictionary you will find:

Humane: Having or showing kindness or tenderness, compassionate. It lists synonyms: benevolent, benignant, charitable, clement, compassionate, forgiving, gentle, gracious, kind hearted, merciful, sympathetic, tender.
It goes on to say that “human” does not denote good or evil, but “humane”denotes that what is to be expected is the best treatment.
And so for me, I realize that the difference in 1 letter changes the entire definition of a word! One letter defines something as good whereas when that same letter was missing – it could have gone either way – could have been good, could have been evil – it all depends on what “mankind” decides. Thank God, however, that the difference of one perfect man’s sacrifice gives me the freedom to chose eternity!

For years, I looked to mankind for acceptance, love, nurturing, and kindness, and I’ll have to say that most of the time I was let down. But when I learned to look up, rather than around, I found that I had an unlimited supply of love and encouragement from my Father. And I am so grateful to know the Great I AM, and I am so thankful to know that he accepts me as his imperfect daughter.

For any Warrior Mom out there who has been hurt by their mother (on purpose or on mistake), I want to reassure you that God knows how to love you like a Mom. I was always so excited that God was called a Heavenly Father. As a child who did not know my earthly Father (and who knew 5 not so nice step-fathers), I found great hope in the fact that God could be my “Dad.” That left one void: what do I do about the “Mom” thing? But then, I found a scripture:

As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.
Isaiah 66:13

Warrior Moms, let us look up to our Father for our encouragement and support for he knows how to comfort like a mother. Let us also realize that as we step out to serve, there is an increased likelihood that we will be let down by others. I was never so hot at math, but I do know some basic statistics: when you surround yourself by more people – it increases the possibility of challenges and disappointments. This is especially true – IF you are looking to those people for acceptance and approval. But oh the freedom you experience when you learn to walk through fires while looking up to the maker of the rain!

In that day men will look to their maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 17:7

Warrior Moms Unite!
Kristina

(PS, if you would like the I AM study, please send me an email and I’ll be happy to forward it to you).

It’s important that Warrior Moms know their place - with Jesus as their Leader. If you think about a cute little 2 year old, they don’t realize that they should stay next to their parents while crossing the street, and sometimes they are simply carried because it’s a busy road.

Soo too is the case with us. As Warrior Moms, we don’t just run around like chickens with our heads cut off (though as moms we feel like that a lot), we seek God before stepping out to cross streets. The enemy tries to get us to think that we must cross this road, that road, that path, that street, and this one, and that one, and on and on. He is the father of lies and he loves to confuse us. As Warrior Moms, however, we know that we are to seek God - ask for his leadership in our lives - for his wisdom, insight, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. God gives us certain battles that we know are ours. We are to appraoch those battles with everything we’ve learned in the Warrior Mom Handbook. We must remember, however, that ALL battles have not been assigned to us. Arrogant soldiers don’t last very long in battles, and when we become spiritually arrogant (not meaning to - of course) and think that this battle is ours, and that battle is ours and on and on - we lose our focus - we forget the mission, and we lose. And so, let us remember to only cross the streets Jesus asks us to cross (knowing that sometimes He will pick us up and carry us across when needed). Rembering also that he will ask us to cross streets that we really don’t feel brave enough, trained enough, or tough enough to cross - but he is going with us - so we go and we know that the battle is the Lord’s anyway - he’s just asking us to partake in “this one.”

Chapter 14 provides a skit of 2 ladies who are discussing this topic. It is such an important lesson to learn. As Warrior Moms, we must be wise so that we don’t walk right into an ambush - taking innocent people with us. In Ephesians 6:10 - the Armor of God begins to be laid out for us. At the end of the discussion of the armor, verse 18 reads, “and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for the saints.”
Being alert is essential!

When I went to bootcamp, I started learning the basics - I guess that’s why it’s called basic training. One of the things I learned there that they never out right taught us was that I had to be smart, use common sense, and be prepared for whatever may await me ahead….. A soldier only learns to do this by falling over simple traps a few times and realizing that they need to be more alert - at ALL times. Soldiers who aren’t alert at all times in battle are more prone to losing their lives (and the lives of those around them).

Being a soldier in God’s Army requires that we know the basics as well, but more importantly that we remain alert. So, wear the armor proud ladies. You are a Warrior Mom. More importantly, wear it wisely as you operate under the premise that even the battles that God assigns you to - are HIS ANYWAY.

for the battle is the Lord’s
1 Samuel 17:47

The Lord is a warrior
Exodus 15:3

Warrior Moms Unite!
K

Hi Warrior Moms!
So, I hope you are still reflecting on the last chapter. Knowing our enemy is essential to winning battles and wars. This leads us into an important lesson: combining the physical for the sake of the spiritual.

When you combine the physical for the sake of the spiritual, the spiritual becomes that much more strong.

Yes, there were instances where people marched and circled Jericho and after 7 times, watched the walls tumble. Hebrews 11:30: “by faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people marched around them for seven days.”

Another instance of combining the physical for the sake of the spiritual comes to mind as well. It was when men held up Moses’ arms to defeat the Amalekites.

Exodus 17:8-16The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Chose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” So, Joshua fought the
Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up – one on one side, one on the other – so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

It was a physical battle, but through Moses’s faith –and by Moses combining the physical raising of his hands – for the sake of the spiritual – they received victory.

But the supreme example of combining the physical for the sake of the spiritual is Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

Colossians 1:13-20.For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rules or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, my making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

So, how do we, who have received the gift of eternal life, live a more victorious physical life on this earth? It’s a circular thing - it works both ways. We are to combine the physical for the sake of the spiritual, and we are to combine the spiritual for the sake of the physical - like a never ending circle. Live your life - not as if you are 2 separate parts (physical and spiritual), but as if you are ONE. This is why Jesus reconciled it for us on the cross. Seek the Lord - always - and you will begin to feel His Special Force rise up in you and work through you.

Each branch of the military has a special forces unit. The Army has the Green Berets, and Delta Air Borne Rangers, the Navy has the Seals, the Air Force has Special Ops, and the Marines has Recon Units. My point is that a Warrior Mom has the potential to reach a higher level of alertness - of preparedness - once she taps into the Special Force within her. It comes after she’s been in the Word, studying it - LIVING IT! It starts to become part of her core -her fibers - her faith becomes bigger than her fears. She is more keen to her enemy, understanding that little battles come only to wear her down before the Nuke attack - but she’s ready, unshaken because she understands the big picture. Yes, there are battles and wars that she sees with her physical eyes, but she is steadfast because she has learened to combine the spiritual for the sake of the physical and the physcial for the sake of the spiritual. She looks to Jesus for her strength and follows his example realizing that she’s a Special Forces Warrior Mom now - equipped in the Word, wearing the Armor and noursihed in the Fruit of the Spirit!

The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name.Exodus 15:2-3

Warrior Moms Unite!
K

James 4:7-8 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.

I put this scripture first because I want to remind you that God is near to those who seek him, and that the enemy must flee when you resist him. It is important to know your enemy, but it is more important to know the power of God in your life. When I was writing the workbook, I was amazed at what I found in the Book of Revelations. It was a revelation to me - to say the least. Let’s look.

Revelation 12:7-17 And there was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down – the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Then I heard a voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
Who accuses them before out God day and night,
Has been hurled down.
They overcame him
By the blood of the Lamb
And by the word of their testimony;
They did not love their lives so much
As to shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens
And you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
Because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
Because he knows that his time is short.”
When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring – those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And the dragon stood at the shore of the sea.

In a nut shell, the enemy is trying to take moms out so that he can take her children out as well. He wants to defeat moms so that moms don’t raise victorious children in Christ - who know their enemy - and more importantly - who know what their enemy is up to. Warrior Moms must arm themselves and their children with the armor of God and the fruit of the Spirit - they must pray on all ocassions. They must not live in fear of the enemy - but rather - they must live by faith - EVERYDAY. It is a choice that we make - daily - will we live by fear or faith? One can’t sit on the fence on this issue. Remember, that when the bully on the playground realizes that you aren’t afraid of him anymore (and you learn karate), he can’t call you names and steal your lunch money. The same is true with the enemy - once he knows that YOU KNOW you “Got God” and God is bigger and stronger than fear - he must flee. Warrior Moms are trained and equipped in the Word of God, and they set a tone of faith in thier home. They encourage and strengthen their children, they stand steadfast in storms and hold tightly to their Heavenly Father’s hand - they are victors in Christ and they raise children who default to faith - not fear. The enemy is trying to get a 2 for one deal (or a 3 for 1 deal - depending on how many kids you have). He thinks we are a cheap blue light special at KMart - Truth is we are precious, valuable, priceless daughters of the King of Glory because - the answer to the above question is, “Yes, we do GOT GOD” and with Him comes Power and Protection and Victory!
Warrior Moms Unite!
Have a wonderful Spring Break and know that you are loved and valued, protected and able to do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Phil 4:13).

Exodus 18:17
Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. You and these people will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.”

This is an important verse in the Bible - and it’s an important concept in life. Just last week I was mad and worn out because we were out of milk and lunch meat and bread again and I had my daughter’s birthday, my son’s friend’s birthday party to go buy a gift for, bills to pay, a house to clean etc. etc. and I thought, “I have not time to go get milk and lunch stuff tonight - it’s already 10 pm! - what will I do for lunches tomorrow?” Ugh. It was a simple solution really. My husband said, “We’ll buy lunches tomorrow, and make a list and I’ll go to the store tomorrow.” Wow, that was simple. Have you ever been there? You have so much responsibility all the time that you get fooled into thinking that EVERYTHING is your responsibility and then you get mad instead of asking for help? Now, when my husband doesn’t offer to go to the store, I nicely ask him when I need his help. I feel like we are having church here because I bet everyone is nodding their heads with me. I don’t know why I’ve spent my life thinking it was all up to “little o’l special superhero woman me” to make the world go round. I guess it started with women’s liberation. Don’t get me wrong - it’s good to be a liberated woman - but it is MORE important to be a delegating woman.

When I was writing the workbook, I sat and typed with God - just plowing along writing about concepts and encouraging things regarding the Armor of God and the fruits of the Spirit, and right when I was about to plow ahead and write some deep, important stuff about wars and battles, God said, “Delegate.” I thought, “Why write about that? We are really getting into the good stuff here?” He impressed upon me that it is crucial to learn the skill of delegating the work-load so that we don’t get into the heat of a battle or war and fall flat on our faces because we stretched ourselves too thin and forgot to distribute the responsibilities and ask for help.

We were not made to “do it all alone.” For one, God made us so that we would need Him, and for two: God made us so that we would need eachother. So, when we race out ahead and say, “I got it, I got it, I got it, I got it, I got it,” what eventually happens “It gets us - tired, mad, exhuasted, resentful, helpless, frustrated, and wanting to quit.” What a trick of the enemy! The world tries to get us to beieve that we have to do it all - God wants us to remember to call upon him and othe warrior moms and our spouse, our friends, our kids - to help carry the load - so that our load will be lighter.

Delegate and celebrate the wisdom of God in your life!
Warrior Moms Unite!
K

I love this story of the boy who was deaf and mute, invaded by an evil spirit who caused him to fall to the floor and foam at the mouth whenever he tried to speak. What I love about the story is - of course- that the boy was healed, but I like what happened proceeding his healing.

The boy’s father spoke up in a crowd telling Jesus that Jesus’ disciples had tried to drive out the evil spirit but they could not. Jesus says, “O unbelieving nation how long shall I stay with you, how long shall I put up with you.” He then asks the boy’s father how long he’s been like this and the father tells him since birth. But the next part is what I love: the father says, “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” I love what Jesus says:

He repeats the father’s statment in question form:
“‘if you can?’” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

I know in my own life, I’ve come to Jesus with the same meek mentality that the father had. I think we all do it. Because our circumstances are so “hopeless,” we meekly approach the throne of God and say in a doubtful, desperate, poor me - voice, “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

Jesus must feel like he’s hearing a broken record. His children constantly come to him in disbelief and ask for help. This is a contradiction in thinking, a polarization of power, a dilluted faith, a “close your eyes, cross your fingers, hold your breath and give it one last shot” type of thinking that says, “Oh, it looks like a 50/50 gamble - let’s go ahead and try - even though we just might fall flat on our faces. We half expect our efforts fail. This reveals that we don’t believe in God’s power to handle the situation. I’m not criticizing the father in Mark, and I’m not criticizing myself or you - I’m simply making a point that we don’t believe enough and it dillutes our faith, our lives, and our potential victories in Christ.

When questioned how he pulled it off after the disciples could not, Jesus answered, “This kind can only come out only by prayer.” (Mark 9:29).

And so we realize here that we must not only roll the dice and ask God to help, hoping it “might” work out, we must pray! And when I mean pray, I mean PRAY! Pray constantly - in the Word, with the Word, claim the Word, claim the victory. One of the Warrior Moms last week said, “God already knows His Word - he wants to know that YOU know his Word!” Isn’t that awesome? He is our teacher, we are his students. I bet he feels like us with our kids sometimes when we encourage our children to read and study their notes so that they are well prepared for tests. The same is true in regard to the lessons within his Word - they are there for us to study in order to be more prepared for the “tests” of this world. And I know it does his heart good to hear us recite back the lessons he gives us in His Word - it shows Him that we are actively seeking, learning and believing him AT HIS WORD! And once the Word seeps into the very fibers of our soul - earthly strongholds fall off of us and we are able to believe Jesus 100% (not 50/50) for victory in our situations.

May this story heal you of doubt today as you dive into his word, prayer, and the power of the Sword of the Spirit - which is the WORD OF GOD!

Warrior Moms Unite!
Kristina Seymour 3/21/09

“Just a thought…”

Usually, when people say that, something amazing follows or something ridiculous follows. Usually, their opinion follows. When we say it, we might be contemplating, brainstorming, or giving our opinion. My point is: whatever follows isn’t “just a thought,” because it has profound implications because thoughts impact us. Someone can lift us up with a thought or tear us down with a thought. We can encourage ourselves during troubled times with positive thoughts, or we can help the enemy defeat us with negative thoughts. Thus, I introduce the “battleground of the mind.” My favorite author wrote a book with those exact words as the title (Joyce Myers). For now, however, I would like to focus on the Helmet of Salvation because it is a piece of the armor of God that protects our minds from the “thoughts of this world.”

Romans 12:2 reads, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good and pleasing and perfect will.”

“Whatever you do a lot of - you will do more of.” Nobody famous said that - just me. What I mean is, you will continue to do what you’ve always done - as if on automatic pilot. This is why we repeat certain things our parents did, this is why it’s so hard to break old habbits, this is why we need God to help us. The great news here, however, is that if you want to take a negative habbit and start doing the opposite behavior - you can do it! And the more you do it, the more of it you will do. I sound like Dr. Seuss. What I’m trying to say is “Whatever you do a lot of - you will do more of!” and this can be a good thing - if you decide to “not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

I love Webster. He says that Transform means: “to give a different form to; change the character of.” Butterflies transform from ugly, hairy worms to beautiful, flying pieces of art! Now that’s transformation!

Just like we take a shower every day to freshen up and face the day, so too should we cleanse our mind - daily - constantly with thoughts of God, his grace, his strength, his love, his compassion, his forgiveness, his humor, and his hope. We must make the decision to do this though. I was recently reading “The 5 Love Languages” by Gary Chapman, and in that book he said that the “honeymoon period” can last up to 2 years. You know that period where you are just infatuated and you can’t even eat or sleep because you keep thinking about that “special someone.” He said, however, that once that period ends, and it will end, because the reality of life sets in and we have to focus on our work, we have our own dreams and desires and interests, and it’s just reality. We can’t spend forever unable to concentrate (we’d never be able to balance a checkbook or study for a test - if our heart and heads stayed in the clouds), not eating and not sleeping. But, what I liked is his explanation of “true love.” He said true love is a CHOICE that people make. We don’t choose who we are attracted to - that’s why love is explained as “falling in love.” It’s like fate pushes us over a cliff and the next thing we know we are “in love - by no choice of our own.” That’s the honeymoon period. But, true love is when we decide to remain committed once the butterflies have long since flown away. True love is about sticking it out during storms and sacrificing our own comfort for somene else - not because it’s easy, but because we LOVE them. And when we decide to do that - the beautiful butterflies are able to return. The cool thing is - they aren’t fleeting butterflies of infatuation - they are butterflies of committed, bold, significant, strong, profound, unique, and gracefilled true-LOVE.

Jesus did this for us. He made a choice to stay upon that cross because he LOVES us. If he was merely infatuated with us, the reality of the dirt, blood and nails would have caused hiim to go get infatuated with someone else real quick! But he LOVES us, and he decided to stay and endure pain for our sake - for our salvation.

I think it’s beautiful how “Just a thought” about God’s love for us can cause our spirits to soar above storms, help us be self-controlled, determined and steadfast.

A Warrior Mom can be transformed by simply deciding to stand - instead of sit, praise instead of cry, hope instead of doubt, help someone else instead of remain isolated and defeated, believe in the impossible, run instead of walk, and show up to the power and grace that God has set before her - waiting for her to claim it. It’s about her making a decision to LOVE God and other people more than her pain, and once we trade our pain for praise - our butterfly wings within our soul start to grow - and help us soar above the storms…..”just a thought.”

Warrior Moms Unite!
Kristina 3/14/09

1 Timothy 6:17-19
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Romans 1:20
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

I truly believe that people don’t wake up one day and say, “I’m going to be arrogant!” as if it’s a wonderful plan like having a picnic or going for a spring-time walk. Who would choose to be arrogant? I believe that it creeps up on people and they become arrogant without knowing it. I’ve done it myself. I’ve said or done something and not realized until later (because either a good friend or God himself) pointed it out to me. It’s important to understand the sleekiness of arrogance. We don’t just graduate and move on once we learn to use our spiritual peripherial vision in regard to arrogance because it’s sneaky.

Consider “arrogance” to be like a chameleon (a tropical tree lizard witha long tongue, prehensile limbs and tail, and the POWER TO CHANGE IT’S COLOR). For example, if you already know not to be arrogant about your good looks, your smart-ness, your talents, you may not know that you can become spiritually arrogant in regard to your awesome knowledge of the bible, God, prayer, praise, etc……, and in the physical and/or the spiritual world, arrogance can change it’s color and adapt itself to any issue and it can blend into the scenery so that you don’t realize that you are becoming arrogant in a “certain” area.

The point of chapter 8 is to become aware of this issue of arrogance and to stay alert to its sneaky existence. I hope that as you read and study the scriptures in Chapter 8, that you create your own paragraph and prayer against arrogance and recite it daily. A soldier never goes into battle without his/her armor and equipment and nor should a warrior mom walk through her day unprepared and unaware of the chameleons that are trying to disguise themselves by blending into the background of her flowered wallpaper - distorting the power of her faith, her walk, and/or her powerful influence for the Kingdom of Christ.
In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (!)

Warrior Moms Unite!
Kristina 3/6/09

A story for you:

Lauren was hurt and angry when she went to bed lastnight. She had a dream that she was in the forest, tromping through sticks, rocks, and tough terrain. She scratches from sticks hurt, and she was angry at the fact that she was in the forest. But, the anger gave her energy to continue. She came to a river. There was a sign that read, “The angry river: Warning: you may not survive crossing.”
“Oh Yeah, little, angry river? Yes, I will!” She yelled. Her voice echoed over the roaring white caps. She knew she could do it. She knew this river was only waist deep anyway; she could walk across it - if she stood firm. Besides, she was too hurt and angry NOT to get across and out of this forbidden forest.

She stepped in. The water was colder than she thought it would be. The melted winter ice of the angry river had not warmed up to spring’s temperature yet. The white caps were like bitting mouths upon her body. Still, she continued. Her intense anger seemed to help her for a while, but then it began to exhaust her. She was tired of being angry; she was tired of being in the angry river. She was only half way across and she wondered if she would make it to the other side. She would have to continue to fight; she had to survive.

Finally, after all of her energy was spent a few times over, she reached the bank of the other side.
She fell on her face, lying there in utter exhuastion, but in thankfulness that she made it. She felt a peaceful relief fill her. “Thank you, God! - I made it!” she whispered. She wasn’t so angry anymore. She didn’t even want to be angry anymore. She just wanted to find a peaceful trail out of this forest. Just then, a rabbit hopped to the right of her peripherial vision, and then it disappeared down a pathway. She never would have noticed the pathway had the rabbit not appeared as two overgrown bushes tried to cover its existence. She was thankful that the rabbit revealed it to her. She knew God sent the rabbit to show her the way. Peace that surpassed all understanding (Philippians 4:7) seemed to ooze into the fibers of her cold limbs. She pulled herself up and began to walk towards the pathway. As soon as she stepped upon the path, pushing her way through the overgrown bushes, the most beautiful pathway she had ever seen appeared. It looked like a Thomas Kinkade painting. Light shone down in beams of light through the tall trees. Flowers grew and little, adorable animlas scurried to hiding. A butterfly went before her eyes and a deer stopped to stare at her. She continued on - in peace - not anger.

The fear that filled her at the beginning of the journey seemed to evaporate, the anger was so long gone that she wondered if she was ever really mad in the first place? Was it that she was just hurt and scared - and she tried to cover it up with anger? The peace she now had seemed to help her think more clearly - less rash - more contemplative - more peaceful. The noise in her mind and heart wasn’t so loud anymore. She heard a peaceful stream in the distance. In faith, she knew she would find the stream because she could hear it now. She would follow its peaceful sound, and it would lead her out of the forest. She knew that the substance of the things she hoped for would soon become evident. She would walk by faith not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). She knew that this journey through anger to peace had lead her to a hopeful faith - in God.

She heard a loud buzzing in the distance. Was it a fire truck? Was it a police siren? Had they come to rescue her out of this forest? Suddenly, she sat up in bed and awoke to the sound of her alarm clock flashing “6:00″ in bright red. “Oh, it was just a dream….” she said. As she got out of bed, she remembered that she fell asleep in her sweats and big pink fluffy warrior mom robe. As she walked to the kitchen to make coffee, she reached into her pockets, and a Godlfish cracker given to her from her 2 year old son the day before found its way to her fingertips. She laughed. “I think this fish made it out of the angry river too……. “ she said to God. “Help me walk in your peaceful, faithfulness today.”

In summation of our meeting this week (emotions - focusing on anger), along with the theme of our new lessons (peace and faith), I wrote this story to illustrate the difficult journey that we go through when we feel we are in the forest. I also wanted to highlight the question, “How do you know you are hearing from God?” I want to say that God speaks in many ways. Sometimes he sends someone to say a sentence to us that echoes within our heart and mind for the entire day or week, sometimes he sends a rabbit to bring attention to a path that we may not have otherwise noticed. Sometimes he speaks and we hear him and we think, “Was that me?” In thinking about it for a moment, we know it was God because it was a thought unlike our own - there was a newness - a difference to it - it was spoken from a different persepctive - which is how we heard it in the first place - it was different than the thoughts that had been circling within our minds. Ask God to speak to you today in such a way that you know that you know that you know it is God speaking. Just ask him, and let him speak to you in a creative way. He can handle the request - and you will know when it happens. When it does happen - in whatever form - don’t dismiss it and apply logic to it. Wait for it and receive his message in faith.

Sometimes, we have to walk through the emotion until we are exhuasted from it, and then in our exhaustion, we find a sense of peace - once we sense God’s peace we are more able to hear him because we have set our emotion aside and God begins to calm the chaos within us. Then, our spiritual ears seem to work better and our eyes of faith are more able to see the unseen.

Ephesians 2:14
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two - one - and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law and its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of 2 thus making peace, and in this 1 body to reconcile them both to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the father by our spirit.

Warrior Moms Unite!
Kristina