The Weeping Warrior...

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If life is a battlefield, then we're all soldiers. Each day that we climb out of our beds and head into the warzone, we come under enemy fire.

For some of us, we come under fire on our jobs. For others, we're under fire in our marriages and relationships.

Still others are under fire from the stress, strain and pressure of responsibilities. Everyone looks to us to be the strong, level headed one while all the rest are falling apart. When everything is confusing, we're the one who's supposed to make sense of it all.

We face each day and we fight. We take our hits. We see casualties all around.
We fall into the foxholes of our beds every night and await the crack of dawn which tells us it's almost time to get up and fight again.

Behind our swords, our shields and our helmets, many people cannot see that our eyes are filled with tears. We struggle to see the road we're driving on, our vision blurred during our morning commute, alone in the car with our fears and our tears.

The tears roll down the sides of our faces and pool onto our pillows at night as fellow soldiers lay sleeping next to us, unaware of our pain and heartache.

We fight everyday... just to hold on...just to believe...
Just to have faith.

But faith is a "good fight". It's the one fight worth engaging in. That doesn't make it easy though. There are days the tears fall before our hands can catch them. There are moments the ache of sorrow builds up in our throats, threatening to come out in the deepest cry.

But we fight on.
We fight for our lives.
We fight for our children.
We fight the good fight of faith.
We fight because we refuse to allow everything we've been through, everything we've suffered, and everything we've ever lost to be in vain.

We fight, believing that the victory is just on the other side of the hill. We can take the mountain and plant our flag on its peak...that is, if we don't give up.
Somewhere between those dull aches of pain, those cruel reminders of past battles we lost, we realize that we can and we will win the war. Tired as we may be, we believe that someway, somehow...

It isn't all in vain.

We believe that the race isn't one of speed, but of endurance.
So we get out of bed.
We do the dishes.
We fight rush hour traffic.
We confront the issues of our relationships and marriages, day after day. We are armed with the shield of faith and the Sword of the Spirit.

The mightiest may have a broken heart.
Warriors cry sometimes.
There are days that even soldiers shed tears.

But we fight on my friend.

We fight on.

Where Morning Begins...

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I was seven years old when I had the experience that laid the foundation for what I'm about to write today.

 My father was a part of the church choir and one day our choir was invited to sing at a church located in Detroit, MI. This meant a long road trip for my family and the other choir members. We began our journey from Greenville, SC to Detroit, MI in the evening and I can remember falling asleep and waking up a couple of hours later. What happened next is what changed my life.

My mom noticed that I was awake and she said to me, "Good morning".
I was completely puzzled. I asked, "Mama, why did you say good morning? It's still night time". She said, "It's still dark outside but at 12:01, it becomes morning".
It was almost more than my little mind could conceive and it's a moment in time that I'll never forget.

It's dark outside...
But it's a new day.
It looks like night time, but really, it's morning.

That's the encouragement I want to bring to you today. You may be in a season of your life that appears dark. Everything around you is telling you that you're still in your night season. But the truth is that a new day begins in darkness!

If you can hold out just a little while longer, you'll see the sunrise.

So even now, while you're facing darkness, go ahead and do like my mama did, 27 years ago. Proclaim, "Good morning!" over you life and watch the light begin to appear.