Every year I make myself a wall calendar. I have tried to use the calendar on my phone, I really have. It is not for me. As a visual/tactile learner, I need to see myself write things down or I will not keep them in my brain. So, every year in November, I begin gathering all the photos we have taken throughout the year and make myself a calendar. I make one for my mother-in-law, my grandfather-in-law, and, together, my sister and I make one that we give to my mother and my grandmother. These calendars basically serve as a journal of our lives. Appointments, parties, concerts, soccer games, etc. It’s all there.
When I make these calendars, I pray. I pray for my people for the upcoming year. I ask God to give me wisdom to face it. I also ask Him to give me His Word for our year. Then I open up my Bible app to all of the verses I have highlighted and begin reading. I ask God to let me know which verses need to be in my calendar. Which verses we will need for the year. I do not do this as some kind of fortune telling exercise, but ask God to guide me in ways He alone knows. While I am tempted to worry if He gives me verses about strength and trials, I choose to trust.
In this way, among others, I fortify my family in the Word of God. In five different houses around the city, my children’s faces beam out at their loved ones, surrounded by scripture. I read those verses when I write down all the things we are doing. Not every time, but God’s Word is always there. Ready to strengthen me and my family. Ready to go before us in battle if only we ask.
One way the enemy gets to me is to make me busy. To make me feel like every parenting or marriage situation has to be taken care of right away. Urgently. To be honest, there are times when I do have to act immediately. But those times are not as frequent as the enemy would have me believe. He would have me constantly worried and always barging into my kids’ and husband’s lives to try and fix things myself.
God would never have me feel that way. He already knows the future of my children, just like He knows which verses to give me to strengthen me throughout the year. He, unlike me, never forgets that we are fighting a battle with a real enemy that wants only to destroy all the good God is doing in our family. He, unlike me, never gets distracted. He never leaves me, waiting patiently for me to remember that He is right there. He wants to hear from me.
A prayer I have found myself praying often is, “God, I know you love them more than I do. So, please, reach them.” It is simple, but it is true. He loves my people more than I do, which seems impossible sometimes.
My June verse is Psalm 118:14 “The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.” He has become my salvation, and He will be theirs too. My best battle plan is to pray fervently and often for my loved ones so that when He calls, they will answer.
Meet the Author!
Kara is wife to Brad, mom to 4 beautiful children, and dog mom to the best good dogs you ever met. She enjoys taking long walks, Chili's date nights, and Wheel of Fortune with the family. She loves advocating for inclusion and talking too much about adoption.