YOU HAVE AN ENEMY

When Baby Boot Camp was first released (eight years ago next month!), I was in the trenches of promoting it: doing book signings, building my very first website, interviewing on local TV and radio shows, and WHAM! I got my first negative e-mail. And it was a doozy! A lady had written to slam me for something that someone else had said on my website (which she had attributed to me) and then she proceeded to rip me to shreds with her words. Ouch, ouch, ouch! I was in the depths of despair for the next few days, repeating the words of her email in my mind. I knew they weren't true. I knew it was her opinion. I knew that she was even mixed up with what she had to say. I knew she hadn't read my book! But the words she hurled at me brought doubt and confusion to the new calling God had placed on my life.

A few days later, I was at a bookstore where the young manager, Jayson, had purchased 100 copies of my book. (That's unreal, let me tell you. He didn't even have permission from his supervisor to do it. He just did it, put them on an endcap, and sold every single one of them within a few months.) I told him about that email, and he said, "Praise the Lord!"

"What?" I said, completely confused.

"Hey," he explained, "don't you know you have an enemy? The Bible tells us to consider it pure joy when trials come our way. This email means that the enemy considers you a worthy opponent. You're messing with him! So be glad about it!"

That puts a different spin on things, wouldn't you say?

Now consider the life of a new mom.

• You're tired.
• You can't think straight.
• You've got hips and rolls and bulges that you never had before.
• Your house is a wreck.

This Mom Thing is a lot harder than you expected, huh? What if you took a moment right now to praise God for the chaos your baby has inspired? What if you just stopped and sang a worship song to put things in perspective? The enemy flees when we worship God in spite of our circumstances! You'll send him packing in no time when you stop and thank God for:

• Being tired (How many women long to rock a baby through a sleepless night?)
• Having baby on the brain (This is called bonding!)
• The hips and rolls and bulges (Arlene will help you get those off, but for now, they are battle scars that you earned for sacrificing your figure in order to bring life into this world!)
• A wrecked house (You have more important things to do than clean your house!)

After listening to Jayson's take on my situation, I began to thank God for that email. I praised Him for allowing me to bring a message of hope and renewal to new moms. I asked Him to help me develop a thick skin when people shared their views with me. I thanked Him for the opposition because that meant I was actually getting somewhere! In the same way, when you stop and remember you have an enemy who longs to sabotage your family from its infancy, be sure you stop and remember you have a Savior who offers you victory! Because of Him, you are undefeated, Mom! Live like the winner you are!

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. (James 1:2-4, The Message)

~Rebecca