While we drove yesterday, little Miss Three-and-a-half named everything she saw
..."I see a house, a field, a tree etc...
then in a sudden change of tone I heard her say,
"I see a lot of soldiers. Bye soldiers. We miss you"
I looked; we were passing a graveyard.
Something in her 3yr.old mind equated graves with fallen soldiers!
Fitting, isn't it? Life gives all its 'soldiers' battles to fight, some public, some private.
...and on this note happy, happy first day of December! 😀
We smile, groan, gasp and grasp the hands
Of fellow-soldiers, for we know
Alone we fall, allied we stand
As sands of seasons ebb and flow
The tender love that drives us on
Wreaks havoc, oft where none can see
Is often new to you and me
This skin we wear is sure to show
If given time enough, war-scars
They come with hold and letting go
And tasting salty sorrow-stars
We charge beneath the glist’ring sun
And wade through tides of morn to night
Battalion dependent on
Life's Chief Captain for strength and light
…and on we forge through gorge and bog
Where past and future briefly merge
To shape the battlefields agog
With living’s temp’ramental splurge
Before that somber meeting place
When one among our numbers falls
And leaves this force of hope and grace
In response to the Captain’s call
An Ultimate we all will brave
Where dust-to dust is bittersweet
Memorialized around a grave
That marks the resting place for feet
…as The Great Mystery within
Embarks where feet have never trod
When mortal steps out of its skin
And returns to life's Giver; God
© Janet Martin
The Armor of God
Eph.6:10-18
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.
For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this world’s darkness,
and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Therefore take
up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes,
you will
be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth fastened around your waist,
with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,
and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Pray in the
Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition.
To this
end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the
saints.
