Spiritual Warfare

I always take it as a good sign that I am doing something very much in God's will when Satan is working overtime to stop me.  Tuesday was one of those days.

As I mentioned before, I gave my testimony on Thursday at my MOPS meeting, and I was very nervous about it but felt God was calling me to do it.

Monday night I woke up in the night to hear my dog Nash throwing up.  I didn't want Don to step in it when he got up, so I got up in the middle of the night and cleaned it up.  Meanwhile, I was having some pretty severe stomach cramps, but I went back to bed and finally, back to sleep.  The next morning I got up and checked my e-mail.  Suddenly my computer screen went white.  I couldn't do anything with it.  I'd had computer problems before so knew a few tricks for resolving them, but nothing worked. 

Meanwhile, I went to get Cooper up.  His pajamas were very wet from a leaky diaper, and his lips had a definite bluish tint, which I had never seen before.  I changed him, and an hour or so later his lips were still blue, so I called his pediatrician.  They sounded worried and told me to bring him in, so I did a couple of hours later.  By the time we got there, his lips weren't blue anymore, but his face was red and splotchy.  I told the pediatrician about his pajamas being wet when I got him up, and our house had been a bit chilly as well, so she said that was possibly the cause of his blue lips, but that blue lips could also indicate a heart problem, so we needed to have him checked out by a cardiologist right away. 

This was, obviously, VERY upsetting to me.  Also, the only appointment they could get for me was the next morning, which would likely cause me to miss my Bible study, our last regular class of the year.  That made me really sad, but of course, Cooper's health was more important.  I called Don at work, and he agreed to take the morning off to go with me.

Then I called Toshiba, the manufacturer of my computer.  I had bought the computer in mid-January, 3-1/2 months earlier, understanding that it had a 1-year warranty, but when I called them, they said my "tech support" warranty was only 3 months, so they wouldn't even work with me over the phone unless I paid them $50.  My only other option was to ship it to them ($25 for postage) and have them repair it and send it back to me.  When I went to print the shipping label (on Don's computer), they required a credit card number before the label would print.  I didn't understand why they needed a credit card number when the computer was under warranty, and I wasn't about to give them one, especially in light of the experience I'd already had with them that day.  I tried a few more times that day to fix it myself, but nothing worked.  This, too, was upsetting me, so I finally decided just to let it go for now, and put my computer away until after Cooper's doctor visit and my testimony was behind me.

The next morning we took Cooper in to the cardiologist.  He checked out fine.  The appointment was at 8:30 a.m., and we were out by 9:00, so I made it to my 10:00 Bible study.

Meanwhile, my stomach was feeling better, and Nash's seemed to be too.

And my testimony went very well, I think.  God was definitely there, as two other women and I shared our stories.  I felt His power keeping me calm throughout the evening, and the whole experience was a blessing for me, and a lot of other people as well, I believe.

So the next day I got out my computer again and, guess what??  It worked perfectly!

Other than it costing us a lot of money to take Cooper to the cardiologist, everything turned out just fine.

So take THAT, Satan!

Eighteen Months Old

I can't believe my boy is 1-1/2! Everyone warned me that time would fly . . . and it is!

We've had a fun month. Lots of pretty weather, so we've been getting outside as much as possible. We attended an Easter egg hunt at a local park, which was lots of fun. They had a "2 and under" category, so Cooper didn't have a lot of tough competition. He got lots of loot!

We aren't doing the "Easter Bunny" (or Santa Claus, or any of those things), but I did get him an Easter basket. He loved it!

Here he is, dressed for church with some of his Easter goodies, including a bunny from Grambo (my mom).

We didn't have our usual family egg hunt this Easter because it just wouldn't have been the same without my brother and his family, but we did have my parents and some friends from church over for our traditional Easter dinner: homemade pizza.

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In other news, I have to give my testimony next Thursday night at a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting. I'm pretty nervous about it; I'm just not a speaker, but I feel like God is calling me to do it. I'm trusting Him to get me through it.

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Otherwise, life is good, and, as always, I am very thankful.

In My Defense

I have been involved in a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group this year, which I have really enjoyed. Each meeting is a time of fellowship with other moms and includes a presentation of some relevant topic.

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This week's meeting was self-defense class. It was really fun! We learned a lot of techniques for keeping ourselves safe.

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The first thing we all need to do is to try to avoid making ourselves a target:

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- Be aware of your surroundings. Look around before getting out of a car or leaving a building. Wearing earphones or talking on a cellphone lowers your awareness.

- Be prepared. Have your keys in your hand when leaving a building. Try not to have your hands too full so that you couldn't use them to defend yourself.

- Some of the tips were obvious: lock your doors (at home and in the car), park in well-lit areas, etc.

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He then showed us some ways to physically defend ourselves if anyone does attack us. We practiced them with others in the group.

Only use offensive techniques if absolutely necessary. If you hurt someone, you will make them mad and more likely to retaliate, but here are some tips, if you must use them.

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Use the palm of your hand rather than your fist (you'll have a greater chance of hitting your target) and hit him square in the nose. It doesn't take a huge amount of force to break someone's nose and cause a lot of pain.

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Other target areas are the solar plexus (stomach), groin, top of the foot, or hitting both of his ears with the palms of your hands. Use your hands, knees or feet and use as much force as you are able to.

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We practiced hitting a board that broke in half if we hit it hard enough. I broke it on my first try.

I encourage everyone (men or women) to take a class like this if you ever get a chance. It was fun and I learned a lot of new skills which I will hopefully never have to use, but it never hurts to be prepared.