Who are you believing?

When did she stop being a little girl? My beautiful Sarah Beth, in her first formal gown, practicing hair styles for this weekend. Watching them grow up is a little bittersweet, isn't it?

I will bless the LORD who has counseled me, indeed my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the LORD continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 16:7-8

As I have been going through different materials we received at FPO, I have had the chance to look at things told to us during training with the eyes of someone on the field. I am currently reading through the spiritual warfare training that Dr. Rankin did for us early in FPO, and I am finding it to be even more pertinent now that we are here on the field. I am an annotator by nature--I suppose it comes from being a literature teacher--and I have a million notes written on the handout he gave us. Two strike me as particularly appropriate this morning. The first says that Satan has no power to do anything except speak into our minds and lie to us. The second, under the subheading "He is a defeated foe," says he cannot win--all references to spiritual warfare are always in the context of victory. It's one thing to write that in a note taken from a well-respected and well-loved leader. It is quite another to live it out in my daily life.

When I worry, I worry about two things, and only two things: my kids and money. I'm pretty sure if I took a survey, many of you who read this would also worry about those two things, so I think what I'm learning probably applies to most of us. Currently, when I worry about my kids and money, I worry about tuition for next year. How are we going to pay it? How are we going to find the money for school, which we firmly believe our kids must attend? How, how, how? So last night, while Marc was away with the group here from the University of Mobile, I had a little nutty. Not a full-scale, all-out kind of nutty, but a pretty good one. When I shared with Marc my almost-more-than-I-could-handle fears about incurring debt, not finding the money, being put in a terrible position where our kids would have to be pulled out of school...you get the idea...he made the remark that I was choosing to believe in the wrong team. What better time, he asked me, for Satan to discourage us than when a visiting team might really encourage us in our ministry here? Did I think the timing was coincidence? Well, no, but...stink! Once again, Marc is the voice of reasoned faith to my voice of panic and terror. He reminded me, once again, that we serve a tremendous, faithful God, who would take care of what needed taking care of. He reminded me that God loves our kids more than we do, even. Did I think God brought us to Russia to desert us? No. I know He didn't.

Then I woke up this morning to read the notes from FPO. Satan's only capability is to lie to us. And, I'm ashamed to say, there are many days when those lies look really reasonable. But they aren't reasonable at all. The question, I would guess for each of us, ends up being who we believe. Do we believe Satan, who has no power and does not win? Or do we believe the Almighty God of the Universe, who created everything and controls everything with His mighty right hand? I have to admit to you, just writing it out like that makes my too-often choice to listen to the wrong voice look pretty childish and silly. He has proven Himself faithful again and again and again. Why would I believe anyone else?

So today, I'm going to choose to listen to the right Voice. I'm going to be encouraged by the ministry of the visiting team. I'm going to take my kids to the park for the concert tonight and enjoy some good ol' American music. I might even spontaneously break out into a dance of some kind. Okay, maybe I won't do that. I am Southern Baptist, after all. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that the only voice you listen to today is the one calling you closer to Jesus, and that your Slingbox is back up and working. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye