I am Momma! Hear me roar!

Up at 6:30 a.m. to take the husband to work because the second vehicle is on the outs. Come back to make myself and the little kids a couple of fried eggs and toast for breakfast. Cooper is putting on his "football" shoes to go outside and play but there are knots in them so this ensues a fit. Don't worry. Momma fixes it. Aubri looses her drink and pa pa (paci). Momma distracts her. Breakfast is ready. Coop actually eats. Momma and Aubri sit down to share, and Aubri spits egg out everywhere! Okay. Moving on. Breakfast over. Coop and Aubri are playing, well, big brother is bullying little sister around like none other. Momma trying to get some Bible time in for the day. Aubri decides she wants her drink which no one can find. Up and down Momma goes trying to keep some calm in the house while she tries to read. No sign of sippie cup so Momma gets another. Aubri decides she wants in Mommas lap. Okay. Cooper decides he wants "coke" instead of the "koolaid" Momma fixed him. This begins the fit that he is currently throwing right now in the middle of the floor screaming, " I WANT COKE!!!!!" Aubri is still climbing all over Momma even though Momma relocated to the couch. Momma is TIRED!

 

Does this sound familiar to you? As a mom, or dad for that matter, there are a million things begging for our attention during the day. I know for me, almost each and every time that I begin clean the kitchen or vacuum the living room or do anything, a  kid catastrophe is going to happen that will interrupt me and call my attention elsewhere. This leads to the "I'm never gonna get anything done around here if you don't leave me alone" frustrated attitude from me. Spilled milk, wet diaper, "she's touching me", "that's mine".....you know the kind of stuff that really is minor in the big scheme of things but when you deal with enough of it by 9:00 a.m., it tends to be multiplied by one million and quickly becomes major in Momma World? Like just now, my hang-up organizer just fell down for the ump-tenth time!

 

Why does all this little stuff add up so quickly? I have all the "major" stuff on the brain as well. For example, the husband has nerve damage in his back and is in excruciating pain. He doesn't work...we have no income. Stress for him, stress for us. My wife heart aches for him. Another "major", oldest daughter moving to college. Momma is trying to ignore this one for now. Another, we have a fourteen-year-old. Enough said on that one. Yet another, I have an incurable blood disorder that causes many different symptoms that I don't have time to deal with because "I am Momma. Hear me roar!"

 

Those are just samples of what is going on in my life at the current time. Not everything. The point is we all have things, many, many things, big and small, that encompass our lives. And what I noticed today flipping through my Bible trying to get a Word from Jesus is that I am not prepared for the battle of the day. At one point I looked at Cooper and said, "What in the devil is wrong with you today?"  Wouldn't you know I was in the Book of Ephesians, Chapter 6. It was the devil!

 

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil . For we do not wrestle against the flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Eph. 6: 10-13

You see, I wasn't prepared for this "evil day". I did not get up and put on the whole armor of God. To tell you the truth, I just got up and didn't prepare for battle at all. Satan will use any tactic he can to get in the middle of you and God. Yes, even those precious little babies. The Kool-Aid is spilled leads to your aggravation, leads to your maybe yelling at the kids, leads to the kids crying, leads to their spirits being crushed, leads to your guilt of being a terrible parent, leads to your yelling again because your down in the dumps.....over dramatic? Maybe. But Satan is smart and tactical. And you know this scenario is certainly possible.

Don't think for one second that you can get up each day and not prepare yourself for battle with Satan. You cannot get up and fight without God and His armor. Even if there is a lull in the war on a particular day and everything is going smoothly, you still need to be prepared for an attack of Satan and his armies. This verses of scripture are well known, but commonly taken for granted.

"Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked  one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit being watchful to the end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." Eph. 6:14-18

I praise God that He has given me this insight that I'm not fighting my children (or husband, boss, friends, or _______). He tells me right there in Ephesians that it is the dark forces that I need to be prayed up for and to be prepared to fight against during the day. Moral of the story: get up earlier than the demons and read the Battle Plan (Bible).