Sunday, July 25 we returned from a family dinner out in the midst of tornado warnings and a thunderstorm. As we exited the car a huge flash of lightening filled the passengers side and a clap that announced something close had been hit. It was pouring rain and in the middle of it none of us heard or saw the other family members reaction to it. We hurried inside and dried off.

Later that evening we found the kitchen phone wasn't working and neither was the cable for the tv or internet. We thought the lightening had knocked out local services and called to report it (from our cell phones of course). Sure enough we were informed that many had lost power, cable, and phone service in the area. At least we had electric.

After two days of no tv, no internet, and no land line we were all reverting to 1918 apparel and wonderin' about those strange looking cars in the front of the house. Actually we started wondering if maybe it was more than just a local outage. So Rich checked the kitchen phone line. The bedroom line seemed to be restored but the kitchen was still down. Swap phones out and check, the line did not work. Plug the kitchen phone in the bedroom, the phone did not work there. So neither the line nor the phone were working. So he got busy checking the rest of the equipment. In the end we lost the router (and are still having trouble getting the new one to work properly). The tv Rich got to work but the wii is fried. The lightening had also bounced across to a second tree and knocked a few branches off, blew the breaker to the pond and waterfall, and made a mess of the yard.

Cutting the grass on Tuesday of that week Tim realized there was a huge amount of wood around the tree line and started looking at the trees. Sure enough, lightening had hit one of the trees on a limb and traveled through the limb and down the bark exploding out the bottom of the tree and shooting across the yard to our cable box (and phone line) and popped it good.

Now you know why there was no blog from me last Monday. I had no internet all week (and still not on my laptop). But I started thinking about how that one single bolt of lightening had affected our lives, all of it pretty minor compared to what lightening is capable of, and yet still it affected every person who lives here for days. How often in the spirit something comes into our lives with the potential to destroy and even though we may be sitting in the shelter of His wing, there are still effects from the strike. I don't know about you, but I find it less of a decision to stand for the Lord when it is a major moment and all eyes are on me. Then there is no choice. But when the "foxes are among the grape vines" and causing several minor issues, that's when I'm caught off guard and get frustrated, angry, and fail to walk in the way He walks before me. Just like the frustration of not having internet on my laptop and having to wait my turn for the computer, or knowing that the brand new game that never got played but was opened and nonreturnable is sitting on the shelf never to be played on our wii, and while I run like a crazy lady in a 5K run across the house to reach the bedroom before the phone goes to message, since we have no kitchen or family room line now, in the same manner I can see those small things in the spirit that zap my peace and my oh-so-good intentions.

I also find that the loud noise of the issues also can separate me from what others are going through. Like the four of us doing whatever was natural for each of us, so in the spirit we may cringe and pull away. But what a mistake that is when we retreat from others in our moment of need. We may be embarrassed or frightened in some way to share, but the answer lies in connection to the body. Just like the lightening zapping the source of power, if we allow those issues to separate us from the body of Christ, we also lose power. We are not intended to do this Christian thing alone. It is always a group effort in some measure.

I am learning how important it is to stand firm against the fiery darts of the enemy. And how do we do that? According to Ephesians 6:17-18 we take the sword of the Spirit and "pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests . . .and we keep on praying for all the saints."

The Word of God and the power of a praying saint are undefeatable for we are powered, protected, and pushed forward by His Spirit. Even when we fall it is used for our good and His glory. How can we possibly go wrong?