Moms, Fight Evil With Dinner!

A Response About the Assassination Attempt

In regards to the failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, I, a simple mom, have some thoughts. I am prepared and at peace for the ridicule if it will encourage one woman in her role as a mother. My plan is to show how what society says is menial can mean everything. 

Powerless

Our community is still shook from Hurricane Beryl, a category 1 hurricane that happened on July 8th. The power is not the only thing that was out… So is the fact that Houston’s power company is completely inept and ill prepared. And the hurricane season has just begun. 

You are never prepared for how loud and scary a hurricane is. 

Houstonians’ homes reached temps of 90 degrees with 70% humidity. The power was out for some for five days straight. Gas became short because so many were powering their generators. 

Centerpoint Energy would send alerts saying power was returned when it wasn’t and vice versa. Some, like us, never received alerts. It was maddening to say the least. 

Questioning Yourself

Everyone near the Gulf Coast asks themselves the same question during hurricane season: Do we leave or do we stay? What if we leave and get stuck on the highways like so many during Ike and Rita? 

During the storm, I just kept praying. Every worry, every concern I would just pray away the fear. I remember feeling similar during Harvey, the “1,000 year flood,” and dry heaving from all the stress.

Did we make the right choice? Did we mess up? Did we prepare enough? 

As you hear the winds and rain pummel your home that you cannot really afford to repair again, you feel the sickening sentiment: I am completely powerless in this. 

The power goes out. Figuratively and literally. 

The Attack on Trump

My mom called me crying to alert us of the news. She had witnessed the entire incident live on TV. We were driving home after fleeing the power outage (oh, and taking a trip to celebrate 20 years of marriage to boot!).  

You see, her generation has witnessed failed and not failed attempts on the lives of presidents and people of fame. They have seen much in the way of played out hatred and horrors. They were teens when President JFK was shot. 

It is so saddening to think about their shared sadness and a whole generation’s loss of innocence.

I began to cry and pray as we spoke, and again, I felt it: powerlessness. 

Powerless, Again

Again, I have no power to fix anything in this. I lack the power to put a positive spin on this level of evil for my girls.

As moms, we want to shield our sons and daughters from evil acts, but how can you when it is on all sides?  

It is futile to think you can hide your children from a hurricane or from hearing about an assassination attempt. 

But Are We Really Powerless?

Perhaps, we do have power as parents on how to move forward?

By praying to THE One who is in control, and by making dinner… 

1. The Power of The One We Pray to

This is why our prayers are so very important: because they reach the one who has the power- God. God hears us! 

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15

We serve a God who is in control at all times and is also outside of time. 

He has the power to turn evil into good. 

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”- Genesis 50:20

2. The Power of Dinner… 

When we finally made it home from our trip, about an hour or two after I heard the news about Trump, I had an idea. 

This thought had to have been from the Holy Spirit. 

How can I give my family peace right now, Lord? How can we right our tiny ship on this swirling sea? What do I have in my power to do? 

Make them a meal. 

Now, mind you, our home was post-hurricane. It was a wreck. Surrounding stores were overrun. We really did not have much to offer from our freezer, but thankfully a neighbor had kept our generator going so we did not lose fridge power. 

It was a simple offering, much like the boy’s lunch in the Bible. But this simple meal served both a message and a battlecry. 

A message that told my family: Satan cannot destroy our peace. No matter what evil happens, we are still a family on the good days and bad. 

A battlecry that told the enemy: Jesus already won. He is our peace, and we will trust in Him alone. 

The Power of a Momma

Do you wonder what has accelerated the adulthood of so many children like I do? Children seem so spent these days. 

The collective age of innocence loss seems to be drastically lower than in years past. 

Fourth grade is the new seventh grade. 

Teens are lifers and carry the weight of the world on their growing shoulders. 

It is almost as if parents everywhere have given up because it is too hard. 

THIS IS THE LIE THE ENEMY (SATAN) WANTS YOU TO FALL FOR: Let him parent your children through social media, video games, worldly friends, or just the world, period. 

But mommas, we will not and must not secede our God-given power to “train them up.” We will put our phones down, we will meet their eyes, we will give them hugs and our attention, and we will make the meals. (And fathers as well). 

Trivial or Pivotal?

With this post, I do not mean to trivialize the life of a devoted father that was lost at the Butler, PA rally with a simple meal.

I also do not believe meals or the things moms and dads do are trivial. They can be pivotal and provide a sense of security that is needed so badly for our youth. The mundane can point us to God by way of consistency, endurance, and perseverance.

My goal is to say that God has made us parents for a reason. Our children need us to fulfill the roles He created. Serve your people. Love them well.

Every dinner you make, small or large, is a bomb you throw into the spiritual battlefield. 

Every prayer you pray, decimates the devil. 

Every word of encouragement, pushes the line forward. 

Remember, we have already won. When the evil becomes so blatant: stand firm in the Lord and His strength and HIS POWER, Mommas! 

“But we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed;”- 2 Cor. 4:7-9