I have three children. Two of them are teenage boys, and the third is an amazing surprise of a little girl, who has been keeping us on our toes for the past two years. In this particular season of life, something that I have been missing a lot, which my boys have grown out of, and my daughter is not quite grown into fully, is read aloud or story time.

"Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH..." Ephesians 6:14

On this battlefield called life, we are at war with a formidable enemy. He will use every weapon in his arsenal to attack us on every side. Since Eve's fateful bite in the Garden, the devil has been trying to convince us that God doesn't really mean what He says. Satan insidiously seeps into our homes through the internet and TV to assault us with a barrage of missiles from a modern culture that has rejected truth and righteousness.

“Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist…” – Eph. 6:14

Having lived in a military community for the past 20 years, the idea of going to battle has taken on new meaning for me. The church that was in Mainz, Germany, in the early 2000’s had several members who were deployed to Iraq in 2003. One of the brethren returned home for R&R and spoke about his experiences in Baghdad. He commented that the biggest problem was the difficulty in knowing who the enemy was. Being able to distinguish between the people who were loyal to Sadam versus those who welcomed the US military was complicated at best and hopeless at worst.