Making the Enemy Pay Full Price

"God will never let Satan sift you like wheat unless he has a specific plan in mind for how he can work that experience out for your ultimate good."  Author, Donna Partow made that statement in discussing why trials come into our lives.  I happen to know a few people who are being sifted like wheat right now.  It's heart-wrenching.  Those "sifting" experiences are the things that make us  gasp a punched-in-the gut "Why?!"  We may never know the answer to that question on this side of heaven, but we can be certain of God's love and faithfulness.  We can be certain that He will never leave us.  And that He will meet us in our times of fearful desperation.  

That "sifting wheat" passage is from Luke 22:31-32.  Jesus speaks it after serving the last supper to his disciples.  He knew all too well that he was going to go through extreme suffering himself very soon.  Peter and the other disciples were still pretty clueless, sitting there arguing about who was going to be greater than the others.  Then Jesus comes out with this surprising statement, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.  But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”  Peter answers that with a boastful confidence saying that he is willing to die for Jesus.  His words and actions later that very night prove that he wasn't ready for the "sifting" coming his way.  Who ever is?  A couple of things to note are that Jesus Himself was praying for Peter.  It would have been good if Peter had also been praying that his faith would not fail.  Jesus knew he wasn't strong enough, but He also knew that Peter would come back and that he could be a "source of strength" for the rest.  Jesus made sure Peter was allotted more than three strikes.

Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy and he's really good at it.  But, as Donna Partow says, we need to get good and angry at him and not let him win.  "I'm on a mission to make sure the enemy pays full price for every item he has ever stolen from me."  That statement blew me away.  I never thought about making Satan pay for what he does!  How do you do that?  "Nothing could be easier.  By devoting your life to glorifying God, by being determined to fulfill God's purpose for your life.  To be able to say in speaking to the Father, 'I have completed the work you gave me to do.'  You make the enemy pay by... fulfilling your specific assignment in the kingdom of God."  (p. 92 in Soon to be a Major Motion Picture:  New Direction for Life's Dramas)  That is an awesome way to live life.  I disagree with Donna that "nothing could be easier" though.  The concept is easy, the execution of it when you're in the midst of painful trials is not. It's hard.

My purpose in writing this blog today is to encourage you to pray.  Pray for yourself, like Jesus said, that your faith will not fail no matter what.  Pray for people you know who are being sifted right now.  People who are battling cancer, who have lost jobs, who have lost loved ones to senseless violence.  Pray that God will strengthen them and show them how to respond to their trials in a way that will "make the enemy pay full price" for everything he has tried to steal, kill, or destroy.

And no, we haven't had any snow like this yet.  These are just peaceful, pretty pictures for your enjoyment.

What's a Northern Neck?

The Northern Neck is a piece of Virginia that looks like the Rappahannock River is going to split it loose from the rest of the state and  make it fall off  into the Chesapeake Bay. It's really a beautiful spot:  very woodsy, yet there's water and beaches everywhere.  And it's a great place to eat crabs.

My friend, Joy, and I went to visit another friend, Cheryl, who lives there.  Oh, did you two want to remain anonymous?  Well, don't worry, you practically are because not that many people read this blog.  We had so much fun spending a couple of days together.  We were especially glad the Northern Neck survived Hurricane Sandy since we were traveling down there a few days after the storm blew through the area.  They had very little effect from it and we had no trouble driving down.

Here's Cheryl's cute house set in a beautiful location with a lovely woods right behind it.  She even has her own playhouse outside. ;)  We have to go back in warmer weather so we can get the full experience.

She fed us crabcakes and taught me the mysteries of preparing and enjoying grits.  I didn't think I liked grits until I ate Cheryl's cheesy grits.  Now I make breakfast grits for myself a couple of times a week!

She also took us down to the Bay at sunset.  How peaceful and beautiful!

Cheryl and Joy

Cheryl and me

The Three Stooges... er... Amigas

We shopped, ate, redecorated Cheryl's house (at her request) and basically created work for her and her husband.  And we took over her daughter's room.  What a gracious family!

I think this next picture is the Rappahannock River.

On our way home, we saw signs for George Washington's birthplace.  It was only 2 miles out of our way, so of course, we stopped.

George's parents did find a lovely riverside spot for a home.

But, alas, the original house no longer exists, so they built this house sort of where it was in a style sort of like what could have been there, with things inside that are from that time period.  Well, we got the idea.  I loved the big tree framing the house.  Beautiful!

Thanks for a wonderful time Cheryl!  The Northern Neck is a lovely, one-of-a-kind place.  I highly recommend visiting there sometime.  Cheryl's a great hostess, but call ahead.  ;)

I like Ike... and Mamie too

Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower's farm is in Gettysburg, PA-- about a mile away from me as the crow flies.  Wanting to be a good neighbor, I thought I'd drop in this morning to give my Christmas greetings.

I would have liked to just walk over the field to their house, but with security as it is these days I thought I better take the shuttle bus like everyone else.  That meant I had to drive to the Gettysburg Battlefield Visitor's Center.  Here I go across the battlefield to get there...

When I got there I found that the Green Police had been busy.  I've never seen signs like this before.  Seriously?  I felt discriminated against.  I didn't think it was illegal to drive a car that runs on gas.

Some of  you may remember that Abe Lincoln visited Gettysburg, but he didn't have a Gettysburg address like Ike did (so to speak).

My friend, Joy, and I bought our tickets and hopped onto the shuttle to go back out to the farm.  We drove up the lane which is flanked by trees which were originally from each of the 50 states. This is how the entrance looked last summer.

We pulled up to the site to see the green/gray barn.  Ike himself mixed the unique color of paint.  You'd think he'd be sick of green after all those years in the army, but maybe he was comfortable with that.

Ike had been stationed at Camp Colt in Gettysburg in his early years and had fond memories of the area.  He bought the farm here in 1950 to have a place to spend his retirement.  General Eisenhower was one of very few 5-star generals the country has had, and he didn't realize at the time that he would be elected President of the United States in two years.

He and Mamie had the old farmhouse extensively renovated.  Much of the structure was torn down and replaced as a lot of deterioration had occurred.

The formal living room was filled with lovely portraits of Mamie and Ike as well as treasures which had been gifted to the Eisenhowers or collected by them over the years.  This portrait of Mamie shows her wearing the pink gown made for Ike's first inaugural ball.

The odd "pouf" below was probably quite fashionable at the time.  The General didn't really like it.

The marble fireplace was an anniversary gift from White House staff.  It had been removed from the White House by President Grant during redecorating many years before.

The living room and dining room were the two most formal rooms of the house.  The rest of the decor was very homey and ordinary 1950s decor.  I would have felt very comfortable visiting them on this sunporch if only they had been home when I stopped in.

The dining room was lovely.  Unfortunately I couldn't stay to eat-- I had other lunch plans.  I was expected at Subway.

While living in Gettysburg, Mamie heard that Stuckey's (a gas/convenience store/restaurant chain popular in the 50s and 60s with the memorable slogan of "eat here and get gas") was selling a souvenir plate with their picture on it.  She sent a Secret Service agent out to pick one up for them.  My friend, Joy, along with many other local residents, remembers Mamie shopping in local stores.

Mamie's favorite color of pink even extended to the lighting fixtures in the hall.  Everything was bathed in a rosy glow.

Since the Eisenhower's moved so frequently with Ike's army career (I think some 40 times), Mamie had selected a color palette of pink, green and cream which she used in every home.  It enabled them to feel "at home" in new surroundings much more quickly.  Even their White House bedroom was decorated with the same colors.

Mamie's bathroom was covered in pink.

The kitchen looked very typical for the 1950s as well.  After Mamie died in 1979 the house was immediately made ready for tourists.  About 6 months later, tourists were filing through.  The Eisenhower's had given the property to the Park Service before either of them died, with the agreement that they would live there until they both were deceased.

Ike spent a lot of time in his study.  Pink seemed to be banished from this room.

I couldn't get any good pictures of the outside.  The house was obscured by scaffolding from an unfinished paint job.

The old milking parlor connected to the barn was converted into offices for the Secret Service.

Thanks for the visit, General and Mrs. Eisenhower!  I enjoyed it.  You have a lovely home.