Rice and Beans of Life: The Battle

Life is a battle ... for we battle not against flesh and blood but against the powers of this dark world (Eph. 6:12) ...

“Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him,

for he shields him all day long,

and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.”

Deuteronomy 33:12

Which one of these is not like the
other ones?

The battle is THE LORD'S therefore we rest secure in Him! We've been keenly aware of spiritual attacks on our family and with some of the Vida220 students. Tuesday morning I awoke at 4am and felt like someone was watching me ... let it be known, there was NO FEAR in me because I KNOW the presence of GOD is in our house! However, I knew some 'thing' was watching me. I prayed, declaring God's presence and dozed off again. I woke again and as I rolled over I saw a small figure that I thought was one of the boys walking over to Daryl's side of the bed ... it wasn't the boys. Again, NO FEAR because of God's sweet presence in our house, but I knew some thing was there. I prayed again, and fell asleep until 6:25. As I got out of bed and dressed for the day I knew it was still there, watching me. I stood at the door to our bedroom, looked down our hallway in the house and spoke the name and presence of Jesus in our house, covering over every inch of our house, and demanded in the name of Jesus that this presence must leave! This house is owned, operated and covered by the precious blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! and ... by the Power of Almighty God, it left, quickly and quietly. His peace was overwhelming ...

What I've sensed from this time ... when I see or sense this thing is in our presence it is because we are crying out to God ... so in a weird sort of way, seeing it is a good thing because we are close to God and able to recognize it. This past weekend we were feeling despair ... this spirit of defeat was gaining, we didn't recognize it or even sense it was in our house (but it was). Monday was going to be a new day, I turned on some praise music as I made pancakes ... always a good combination! Our attitudes changed and our spirits were edified and we recognized the attack.

Old prison converted ...
death to life!

Life in the City ...
It feels like summer and I love it! We've had some unusual rain and the winds have died down ... although my family would not all agree, I think the warmth of the beautiful sun is absolutely lovely! ... Yesterday we took 2 new modes of transportation ... Uber and the Train! Since school computers continue to give us issues we took a family education day (a.k.a. Home school field trip). We ventured to San Jose and spent the whole day exploring the Museo de Los Ninos (Childrens Museum). We were the only ones there most of the day so the boys had free reign to explore, touch, play and receive the full attention of the multitude of staff! Our ride home was not quite as open and free ... We arrived at the train station to see a LONG line. A sweet line companion assured me the line moves quickly, she was absolutely correct! Within 15 minutes the line started moving and all of a sudden we were running with the crowd to try and get on the train! As we came to the train door it was quite evident that it was going to be a memorable first ride! We squeezed our family of 6 into a space made for one, just as the doors were closing. God's angels are all around us ... we realized as we were being pushed on the train we hadn't bought tickets! No worries our sweet line companion told us, you can buy them on the train. As we started to move, another sweet lady made a "youth" stand up so "this lady and little boy" could sit down! The 30 minute ride home was peaceful, stifling, and less than a dollar per person! I am quite certain we will be using this mode of transportation again! ... “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.”

Praises

Health and strength
Reese's Peanut Butter cups
Sensitive Spirits
Brothers that choose love
Family day
Tican's are sweet, kind, helpful and friendly

Prayers
Computers that need to work ... what is God trying to tell us?
Teams on outreach ... we miss them!
Attitudes and relationships
Moving the Base
Boys to verbalize how they're feeling and us to listen