Thankful Thursday...Alternately Titled Pbthhht On You Satan!

I should have known. I should have been prepared. But I wasn't. And here I am.


About a month ago, Jerome finally said yes to a friend of ours. This friend drives to Palomas, Mexico multiple times a year to minister to children in an orphanage there. Yes, this is the same Palomas where the mayor was murdered a few months ago by the drug lords. Yes, this is the same Palomas where the dentist was kidnapped just a few weeks ago. This friend has pestered Jerome every time, and every time we have had something going on that would not allow Jerome to go. Not this time.


Our amazing home group put together gift bags for four of the boys in this town. Two of the boys are 11, one is 8, and one is 6. When the director of the orphanage emailed us photos, I fell in love. You can't help it, they have the sweetest, smiliest faces.


There are two alternatives for the children in Palomas. Choice #1 is to live under the protection of the orphanage & school. Choice #2 is to be kidnapped by the drug lords who are attempting to literally take over this border town. They steal children, then force them to be drug mules or prostitutes. Words cannot express how my heart wrenched when I heard that.


Jerome is on his way, today, right now, as I type, to minister to these children. Multiple churches from mutiple states are converging on the tiny town .They are taking presents for each child in the orphanage, presents for some of the children who live in the town, and food for the orphanage to replenish their stock. They are going to have a "Christmas Dinner" (aka hot dogs) with the children tomorrow, and basically just play with the kids.


The Christmas presents they are taking don't seem like much by American standards - an outfit, new socks and underwear, a pair of shoes, school supplies, and a small toy. But, to these children, it means everything. They have no Christmas, other than what is supplied by the generosity of strangers.


So what, you may ask, should I have been prepared for? Weren't we prepared for this trip?


Physically, yes. Spiritually, no way!


I know how much Satan hates the orphan. How Satan hates when the orphan is loved and cared for. I know how much Satan hates Christians who listen to God's call, and obey. That Satan will do whatever he can to discourage God's people from following His will.


I should have expected it.


I should have expected the attack. But I didn't. I wasn't prepared.


This week has been a basket case in our house. Finances, health, emotions, plans, everything went haywire. And it took me until this morning, during a conversation with my amazingly wise and wonderful mom-in-love, to realize what was really going on.


What in the world does all this have to do with Thankful Thursday, you may ask? Yesterday, I spent all day trying to write something for Thankful Thursday. And I couldn't. You may or may not know, but I have struggled with depression on and off since middle school. Sometimes it's not even there. Sometimes it overwhelmes me. And the past two weeks have not been good. God promised me a while ago, through a prophetic word, that He was going to heal me of this. But it hasn't been instant. It's been a "crock pot" healing, as our pastor's wife likes to call it. And, at times, in the midst of my humanity, I allow Satan's whisper to enter my mind. To doubt that this healing is for me. To doubt that my Savior will take care of me.


But, that whisper, along with everything else that has happened this week, is just smoke and mirrors. A distraction from the truth, the reality.


And, today, I am so grateful for the ability to discern between the truth and the lies, to be able to stand on the truth, to again feel the cloud lifting.


The reality is that what Jerome is going to do this weekend in huge in God's kingdom. While it may not seem like much to us, it will have eternal echos. He just called me from the Wal-Mart in Demming, NM. That's a new one! Anyways, they are buying groceries, toiletries, and soccer balls for the kiddos. Then, in a few hours, they will be crossing the border.


Please be in prayer for them. Palomas is so close, yet a world away. And it would be so easy to listen to Satan's whispers, to allow myself to enter the realm of fear. But I can't, and I won't. I have little ones who need me to be strong for them. And I need to be strong for myself. Thankfully, our weekend is really busy, so it will be hard to have downtime just to think.


But, this is why, today, I am thankful to be able to say "Pbthhht on you Satan!"