Last Friday, I\u00a0slept a half hour later than usual.\u00a0I slowly woke\u00a0next to\u00a0a warm, loving husband, just like every other day. We had breakfast together. He\u00a0ate\u00a0Cheerios. I ate yogurt.\u00a0When our bellies were nearly\u00a0full, he announced he\u2019d like to take me to Lowe\u2019s to look at carpet samples\u00a0so we could\u00a0replace the stinky,\u00a040 year old\u00a0carpet in the downstairs bedrooms. He could\u00a0have gone\u00a0by himself. Or I could have\u00a0saved him time by going by myself. But we choose to do these things\u00a0arm\u00a0in arm\u00a0because we prefer each other\u2019s company. And maybe because he doesn\u2019t trust me to buy cheap carpet and I don\u2019t trust him to buy good quality carpet. \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n
I was due to take a meal to a new mommy at 4:00, so I cut up a slew of veggies and meat and threw it in a soup pot to simmer all day\u00a0in the hopes that it would\u00a0turn\u00a0out to\u00a0be flavorful.\u00a0This mommy has three other beautiful kids, and a loving husband. She also has her hands full with sleepless nights, busy school schedules, and keeping a household running.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
By the time Shaun and I were finished with Lowe\u2019s, he was hungry, so we swung by Chick-fil-A where Shaun chiseled away at a chicken (of course) salad. <\/p>\n
Once home, Mom and Andrew chowed down on the burgers we picked up for them, and I ate my \u201cspecial\u201d food. I sliced\u00a0and buttered\u00a0the bread for the new mommy, checked the soup, and decided I\u2019d lay my head down for a spell before I delivered it. After a half hour of lying in bed, stewing about\u00a0something I heard on television, I finally fell asleep \u2013 and woke up the minute I was supposed to be driving out. I ran the soup and bread out to\u00a0the car, brushed\u00a0my hair, packed up my computer case\/purse, and went on my hurried way. <\/p>\n
Between rush hour and my internal alarm clock failing to go off, I was fifteen minutes late, so I didn\u2019t stay long. The new\u00a0baby was mad\u00a0at her incessant\u00a0hiccups, and the family\u00a0was due at a school function, so I quickly admired the beauty and blessing of new life and went down the road to Starbucks. I can\u2019t digest anything except water at Starbucks, so I bought a water bottle in exchange for the use of their internet and table. <\/p>\n
Why am I telling you all these details of\u00a0a\u00a0humdrum, house-wifey\/writer\u00a0life? It goes back to what angered me on television just before I tried to nap. A TV, so-called evangelist was speaking, and this is (partly)\u00a0what he said: <\/p>\n
Satan is out to get you!! He wants your work, your school, your mind, your life, your happiness, your kids, your wealth, your health \u2026 everything.<\/em> <\/p>\n Nothing terribly wrong with that, on a surface level, right? God does tell us that the Enemy is like a roaring lion, roaming about the earth, seeking whom he may devour. So, there\u2019s that. He\u2019s a real being who wants to destroy our very being. But the tone\/point\u00a0of the sermon and every sermon I\u2019ve ever heard\u00a0this particular preacher\u00a0preach is just this:<\/p>\n Be defeated. Center your attention on the fact\u00a0that this country is going to hell, that the blessed life we live\u00a0in these not so United States is about to come to an end and in\u00a0many ways, it already has.<\/em>\u00a0This country and its leaders are evil and because of all those evil citizens and leaders out there<\/strong>, we are doomed. If this country doesn\u2019t make your life a living hell,\u00a0Satan will. He\u2019s gonna get ya\u2019 get ya\u2019 get ya\u2019 one way, or ano-ther. The government is planning to\u00a0take all your money. Your land. Your possessions. Your kids. They\u2019re probably building concentration camps as we speak, just for\u00a0harmless little fuzzball\u00a0Christians like us. <\/em><\/p>\n He\u2019s appealing to the crowd who\u00a0prefers<\/em> to be defeated, and\u00a0like to make\u00a0a habit out of blame-shifting because blame-shifting <\/em>seemingly<\/u> takes away the\u00a0need\u00a0to deal with\u00a0personal heart crud.\u00a0See, if the\u00a0enemy can convince us (via the preacher, if necessary)\u00a0that we are on the verge of either being persecuted, killed, or heavily pursued by none other than himself, he will have succeeded in\u00a0paralyzing us with\u00a0fear. We will not be up and about, fearlessly\u00a0serving people, loving our husband, enjoying anyone\u2019s company, delighting in new life, admiring the strength of a new mother, or\u00a0other\u00a0lovely acts\u00a0that\u00a0often get\u00a0buried in every day mundaneness and seem unfruitful. <\/p>\n We\u00a0will not occupy until He comes.<\/strong> <\/p>\n So here\u2019s my plea to Christians fed up with Obama, politics, politicians, and all the evil that surrounds us and therefore, want the world to end:\u00a0get up!\u00a0Jesus is<\/strong><\/em> coming, and politically speaking, things look bleak. Satan does roam, famished. But Jesus is still an in-control King of kings\u00a0who doesn\u2019t support a doomsday mentality that says it\u2019s over before it\u2019s over. <\/p>\n So three next right steps:<\/p>\n First<\/strong>,<\/em> pray. <\/p>\n Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. <\/em><\/p>\n Second<\/strong>, realize that the Gospel flourishes in times of persecution, famine, and other hard times. So perhaps we should be about the spread of the Gospel, rather than\u00a0the\u00a0non-stop\u00a0fear of\u00a0corrupt political\u00a0leaders and impending difficult times. The more Christians we have when difficult times come, the better. The more we\u2019ve learned to be Christ-like in times of blessing, the more we\u2019ll be able to be\u00a0Christ-like in times of severe trial. If you need a personal example of this, read The\u00a0Hiding Place.<\/em> Corrie ten Boom knew how to get \u2018er done. <\/p>\n Third<\/strong>, fear not, fear not<\/em>, fear not<\/strong>. Jesus said it all the time, because He knew\u00a0fear paralyzes and\u00a0causes\u00a0His people\u00a0to be introverted, withdrawn, depressed, and hopeless. It\u2019s takes\u00a0us out of the race. And this is<\/strong><\/em> a race, right? <\/p>\n Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,\u00a0<\/em>looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. <\/em>(Heb. 12:1-2)<\/span><\/p>\n Have you noticed wicked leaders and Satan are both running their races full force? They\u2019re not afraid. They\u2019re highly motivated. And the \u201cfunny\u201d thing? Satan knows he\u2019s going to lose!! We, as Christians, know we are going to WIN. Yet, if we listen to the wrong messages and\u00a0fall into blame-shifting, we\u00a0flop before the finish line. We\u00a0quit running. <\/p>\n Maybe you go about your day\u00a0perched on\u00a0cloud nine because you\u2019re running a race and fighting battles in a war you are certain Christ has already won. I hope so! But for those who\u00a0taking to heart\u00a0fearsome messages that supposed ministers of the Word are dishing out, remember that God is your ultimate leader.\u00a0He\u00a0does not want you to fear. He wants you to run a clear-headed,\u00a0victorious race. He wants you to be a conqueror. In fact, He has already claimed you as one. <\/p>\n We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.<\/em>\u00a0Not we\u00a0will be<\/em> more than conquerors. <\/p>\n So go forth and live out who you already are. <\/p>\n Serve.<\/strong> Take a meal to a new mommy (or clean her potties!). <\/p>\n Love.<\/strong> Be a pleasant, loving companion to your husband (or whoever God\u00a0places in your path). <\/p>\n Occupy.<\/strong> Find a way that suits your giftedness to effectively spread the Gospel. <\/p>\n Yes, things are bad. Yes, Jesus is coming. That should be a motivating factor. Not an excuse to give up, give in,\u00a0or give out. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last Friday, I\u00a0slept a half hour later than usual.\u00a0I slowly woke\u00a0next to\u00a0a warm, loving husband, just like every other day. We had breakfast together. He\u00a0ate\u00a0Cheerios. I ate yogurt.\u00a0When our bellies were nearly\u00a0full, he announced he\u2019d like to take me to Lowe\u2019s to look at carpet samples\u00a0so we could\u00a0replace the stinky,\u00a040 year old\u00a0carpet in the downstairs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2920,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n