February 11, 2025 • 22 mins
This episode explores the spiritual warfare that foster parents face as they navigate their unique challenges. By emphasizing the importance of guarding our minds, nurturing relationships, prioritizing self-care, and cultivating gratitude, we equip ourselves to combat discouragement and support each other through this journey.
• Understanding spiritual warfare in the context of foster care
• The significance of filling our minds with God's truth
• Importance of nurturing marital and community relationships
• Necessity of self-care for spiritual and emotional resilience
• Strategies for guarding our hearts against negativity and despair
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to the Foster Parent Well podcast, where we
have real candid, faith-filledconversations about all things
foster care, adoption and trauma.
I'm your host, nicole T Barlow.
I'm a certified parent trainer,a certified health coach and an
adoptive parent myself.
This is a space where you canfind support so that you can
care for your kids with asteadfast faith, endurance and
(00:54):
joy.
I want you to foster parentWell.
It has been a week I feel like Isay that a lot and actually
it's been two weeks because Iwasn't even here last week.
Life hit us hard.
Illness ran through our houselike it had a personal vendetta
against us and on top of that,we just had one of those weeks
(01:15):
where trauma seemed to be in theair.
If you know what I mean, youknow when it rains around here
it really pours.
I mean, between the sleeplessnights, the big emotions from
all of us and navigating crisisafter crisis, I was barely
holding it together.
But that's exactly why today'sepisode is so important, because
(01:38):
if you are in foster care andadoption, if you are raising
kids who come from hard places,you already know you are not
just parenting.
We are fighting a battle, youguys.
And this is not just any battle.
This is a spiritual battle.
We believe that there is anenemy, and that enemy it's not
(01:59):
our kids, it's not thecaseworkers, it's not the bio
parents, it's not even thesystem, though the system can be
hard.
Scripture tells us that we donot wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers,against the authorities, against
the cosmic powers over thispresent darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil in theheavenly places.
(02:21):
That comes from Ephesians 6.12.
Evil in the heavenly places?
That comes from Ephesians 6.12.
The enemy is against family.
He's against children, y'all.
The enemy is against redemption.
Trauma brings so much darknessand hopelessness and despair.
But what foster care andadoption does, or what it should
do, when it's done correctly,is provide the opposite.
(02:45):
It should provide calm,stability, love and hope.
And that means we are pushingback the darkness.
We're not just sitting backdefending ourselves with our
spiritual armor on.
We're actively going into theenemy's camp and taking back
what he has tried to claim ashis the enemy's camp and taking
back what he has tried to claimas his.
(03:05):
And let's be real when we stepinto this fight, we should
expect some attacks.
That's why it's called a battle.
You guys, we're on the frontlines of ministry and this work
(03:30):
that we do is so crucial.
The enemy would love nothingmore than to take you out.
This is why we can't justrecognize the battle itself, but
we have to actively prepareourselves to fight it.
We are called to be spiritualwarriors.
We're called to stand firm inthe face of opposition, but
that's not easy.
We have to acknowledge thatspiritual warfare doesn't always
look like this big, dramaticthing.
Sometimes spiritual warfare isin just the small, daily
(03:55):
discouragements that we face.
It's in the lies that creep in,telling us we are not making a
difference or we're not goodenough.
It's the exhaustion that wouldmake us want to give up.
It's that doubt that sneaks inafter, like another hard day.
The enemy works subtly, but weneed to stay aware so that we
(04:18):
can combat these attacks beforeit takes root in our hearts.
So how do we stand firm?
How do we fight back?
How do we protect ourselves andour families in this battle?
I'm going to talk about fourways that we can guard ourselves
in this fight.
And the first thing we need toguard is our minds.
(04:38):
And the way that we do that iswe have to be in the word period
If we're not filling our mindswith truth, the lies are sure to
take over.
The more time we spendmeditating on God's Word, the
stronger our defense will beagainst the attacks of the enemy
.
And this may look like readingthe Word or, if you're too tired
(04:59):
, it may look like pulling upthe Bible app or the Dwell app
and letting it read the wordover you.
The point is not about how youdo it, but the fact that you're
filling your mind with truthevery single day.
We need to be meditating onscripture not just reading it
(05:19):
through, but really meditatingon parts of it.
I mean, you can write it onyour hand so that you're looking
down at it during differentparts of the day, or put it on
post-its and post scripturearound your house, but really
meditate on it all day long.
We can also sing praises andworship songs that remind us of
(05:43):
truth throughout the day, and itsets our heart in a posture of
praise and thanksgiving, whichwe'll talk about when we talk
about guarding our hearts, butis so crucial.
I mean, he has done greatthings for us, you guys.
He is always faithful, so howcan we remind ourselves of these
(06:04):
things and thank Him for it allday long?
We also need to be speakingthis truth over our families.
Scripture is not just words ona page.
It's actually a weapon and weneed to be actively using it.
One of my kids used to makethreats pretty regularly threats
(06:26):
against her own life, againstthe life and safety of others
and the way that she would makethese threats would be to write
it on her wall, on her bedroomwall.
So one of the times that shewas not at home we decided to
paint her wall purple because wethought, well, if she writes a
(06:48):
threat on the wall and thewall's purple, we're not.
It was like a dark, dark purple, you guys.
If it was, you know, if shewrites threats on the wall,
we're not going to be able tosee it.
So maybe that will make herstop right.
Well, she learned that if youtake white bar soap, it shows up
on that purple quite nicely.
(07:09):
So obviously that didn't workgreat.
So the next time that she waskind of out of the house, one of
the things that we did is meand her sister went around her
room and in pencil we wrotescripture all over her wall and
we wrote it on pencil on thatdark purple wall.
She couldn't see it, she didn'tknow it was there, but we
(07:30):
rewrote the word all over herroom and, you guys, never again
did she write a threat on thatwall, never again.
Now she wrote some threats someother places, but we have to
remember that there is powerlike actual power in the Word of
(07:52):
God, so we can't be afraid touse it.
We have to speak it over ourkids, speak it over our homes,
speak it over our families.
It really is a tool thatsometimes I think we don't use
enough.
The other thing is we need tobe mindful of what we put into
our minds in a negative aspect.
(08:13):
You know, are we looking atsocial media?
Are we paying attention to theTV shows and movies and music
that we're watching or listeningto?
And I mean, are the things thatwe're consuming?
Are they filling us with hopeand strength or are they opening
doors to discouragement?
(08:34):
Are they opening doors tocomparison or fear?
What we allow into our mindsshapes our perspective and it
shapes our faith.
We are doing some really hardthings every day and we really
need strength that only the Lordand His truth is going to
(08:55):
provide for us.
So we need to make sure that weare filling our minds with that
truth every single day.
The second thing that we need toguard is our relationships, and
I'm going to talk about acouple of different
relationships, but as a whole,we just need to be guarding our
(09:15):
relationships with other people.
The first relationship that Iwant to talk about is our
marriage.
If you are married, foster careand adoption is going to put
immense pressure on yourmarriage.
It can make it stronger if itpulls you to work together, but
I've seen so many times wherethe pressure, the stress,
(09:40):
divides couples apart.
The enemy knows that if he candivide a marriage, he can weaken
the whole family, that if hecan divide a marriage, he can
weaken the whole family.
So, investing in our marriagethrough spending time together,
quality time on a regular basis,you guys, spending time
together, walking in humility,side by side.
(10:01):
It can be so easy to want ourown way and to seek our own
needs constantly and to forgetabout.
You know, treating our spousewell and raising them up,
encouraging them, walking inunity with them, is so crucial.
(10:22):
On a side note, I do have asix-week couples challenge that
is coming up next week where wefocus on building that
relationship of marriage in thecontext of parenting our kids
with higher needs.
We're going to talk aboutsupporting our bodies and that
marriage connection so that wecan be at the best for our kids.
(10:45):
I will put a link for thatchallenge in the show notes in
case you're interested.
But we need to be spending timewith our spouse.
We need good communication.
Sometimes, in the midst ofeverything else that we have to
juggle, this can be reallyreally hard, but it has to be a
priority.
It also should be a prioritythat we're building our
(11:06):
friendships and our communityshould be a priority that we're
building our friendships and ourcommunity.
Foster care can be so isolating.
We lose friends who don'treally understand what we're
doing or what we're goingthrough, and sometimes we
withdraw just because it's sohard, like we don't have time or
energy or strength to bepouring into other people.
(11:27):
But we are not meant to do thisalone.
We need godly friendships.
We need people to encourage andsupport us in this battle.
We need to be walking hand inhand with other people, so we
need to think about what thatlooks like in the context of our
daily lives.
How do we include that on aregular basis?
(11:51):
And then the third relationshipthat we need to really be
guarding is that relationshipwith our kids.
The enemy would love nothingmore than to create discord
between us and our children.
We have to be intentional abouthow we connect with them and
how we stay connected with them,even in the hardest moments,
(12:14):
especially in the hardestmoments, I think, in the hardest
moments where the enemy reallywould love to tear us apart from
one another.
I think those are the momentswhere, when we can come together
, when we can offer forgivenessand ask for forgiveness, when we
can become closer to oneanother through the hard, it
(12:38):
really is a blow to the enemybecause we are working to build
strong relationships, we arelooking to build kids that trust
and heal through their trauma.
Loving and leading our childrenwell is one of the most
powerful ways that we can fightback against the darkness.
(13:01):
So really being intentional andwalking in a way that is
honoring to them, that is lovingand really obedient to the Lord
in how we are discipling ourchildren.
Okay, the third thing that weneed to guard is our bodies.
(13:22):
I talk about this on thepodcast all the time, but the
work we do is so physically andemotionally exhausting.
Stress has a direct impact onour bodies and we can't afford
to neglect self-care, and I talkabout this too.
But y'all, self-care is not allabout bubble baths and
(13:43):
chocolate Like.
It's about making sure our foodis nutritious, that we're
getting good fuel for our bodiesevery day.
It's making sure we're gettingplenty of water, plenty of rest,
plenty of exercise throughwalking or strength training,
making sure that we have all thethings that are going to
strengthen our bodies to be ableto handle what we've been
(14:06):
called to.
We have been called tosomething that leads to higher
than average stress, which meansour self-care needs to be more
extensive than the averageperson's.
The way we fuel our bodiesmatters, because our physical
being impacts our spiritual andemotional resilience as well.
(14:28):
We can't show up for our kidswell.
We can't show up for our spousewell.
We can't show up faith-wisewell if our body is
deteriorating from just beingexhausted all the time.
Nutrition, movement, rest,nervous system support all of
those things are not luxuries.
(14:49):
They're necessary for longevity.
In this calling, if you needpractical strategies, I have
several previous podcastepisodes that dive deep into how
to support our bodies throughthis work.
It's part of what I do with mycoaching clients, you guys, and
I am super passionate about itbecause I have seen what happens
(15:12):
when our bodies don't get whatit needs and I have seen how it
translates into every aspect ofour lives.
Sleep is also another keycomponent of that in supporting
our bodies Chronic exhaustion.
It weakens our ability to fightspiritually, emotionally and
(15:33):
physically.
Prioritizing rest is an act ofobedience.
You guys.
We have to treat our bodieskind of like we're like an
athlete, like a professionalathlete.
You would never expect aprofessional athlete to go out
and do their jobs withouttraining, without eating right,
(15:55):
without fueling their body theright way, without getting
plenty of sleep and rest.
They know those things arerequired in order to do their
job Well.
Our bodies are the same way.
Those things are required forthe level of stress and
(16:16):
resilience that we need in orderto fulfill our calling.
So guarding our bodies is a waythat we fight against the enemy
as we're walking out thiscalling All right.
Number four, the last one, isguarding our hearts, and this
one is crucial.
We need to think through how dowe stay grateful in hardship,
(16:43):
how do we pray for protectionand guidance every single day?
Y'all, we need to be on ourfaces every single morning.
We need to be on our facesevery single morning.
We cannot get through our daywithout prayer, without being in
total dependence on God.
Gratitude is one of the mostpowerful ways to shift our
(17:05):
mindset from despair to hope.
So if we're really struggling,you know, start a gratitude
journal.
Really work to get your heartgeared towards the Lord and not
towards our constant hardship.
We need to look at who or whatwe're looking to for comfort or
(17:27):
satisfaction.
Are we numbing ourselves withdistractions like scrolling on
your phone, binge-watching TVepisodes, or are we leaning into
Jesus for true peace?
Take a look at where you go andwhat you lean on when things
really get hard.
(17:48):
Here's something interestingthat I recently learned.
You guys, if you know anythingabout attachment styles, um, I'd
love to know your attachmentstyle and how this plays out for
you.
But I recently read somethingthat was talking about different
attachment styles and howthey're prone to cope.
So dismissive adults tend tolean on things for comfort
(18:12):
things like shopping and buyingthings or looking to food for
comfort while preoccupied adultstend to look for relationships
and people to fill that gap, anda lot of times they're looking
for people to fill that gap inan unhealthy way.
(18:32):
They're looking for people tofill that gap in an unhealthy
way.
So really look at what are youprone to?
What are you prone to lean onaside from the Lord when things
get difficult?
We should be running to theLord for comfort, but it is so
often that we are looking toother things, but that can be a
(18:56):
huge gap for the enemy to work.
That can be a huge gap where weare not depending on the Lord
when we need to be.
And this leads me to this lastpoint in guarding our hearts, we
need to make sure that we haveaccountability, because
sometimes we don't see wherethose gaps are.
(19:16):
We don't see when we aredrifting slightly to get into
some unhealthy habits.
I've seen several livesderailed lately because of small
, unchecked gaps in their armor.
It was gaps that the enemy tookfull advantage of, and we have
(19:37):
to be so, so diligent to makesure that we have people around
us that have our back.
We should not be fighting thesebattles alone.
We have to be part of a team.
So who are your people?
Who are your people that havethe authority and will speak up
(19:58):
to point out the gaps or cracksthat they see in your armor?
Here's the truth.
The enemy wants to take us out,y'all, but he does not win.
Jesus already has the victory.
We are not fighting this battlealone.
We have the power of the HolySpirit inside of us.
(20:19):
We have prayer as our greatestweapon.
We have the armor of God tostand firm and we have hope.
We have hope that what we aredoing matters even when we don't
see the fruit.
You guys Hope that love andstability are never wasted, even
when behaviors don't changeovernight.
(20:41):
We have hope that Jesus is theultimate healer, even when
things feel so, so broken.
If you're in this fight, youare not alone.
Put on your armor, keep going,stand firm, lean into Jesus and
remember you are fighting forsomething bigger than yourself.
(21:03):
Let me pray for us as I wrap uptoday.
Heavenly Father, god, I thankyou that you fight for us.
We need only to be still and tolean into you.
Lord, help us put on this armorof righteousness and salvation.
(21:26):
Lord, help us put on the shoesof peace.
Lord, to walk in your peace.
You have done so much and weonly have to stand in your
victory.
Lord, we love you, we trust you.
Welcome to the Foster Parent Well podcast, where we
have real candid, faith-filledconversations about all things
foster care, adoption and trauma.
I'm your host, nicole T Barlow.
I'm a certified parent trainer,a certified health coach and an
adoptive parent myself.
This is a space where you canfind support so that you can
care for your kids with asteadfast faith, endurance and
(00:54):
joy.
I want you to foster parentWell.
It has been a week I feel like Isay that a lot and actually
it's been two weeks because Iwasn't even here last week.
Life hit us hard.
Illness ran through our houselike it had a personal vendetta
against us and on top of that,we just had one of those weeks
(01:15):
where trauma seemed to be in theair.
If you know what I mean, youknow when it rains around here
it really pours.
I mean, between the sleeplessnights, the big emotions from
all of us and navigating crisisafter crisis, I was barely
holding it together.
But that's exactly why today'sepisode is so important, because
(01:38):
if you are in foster care andadoption, if you are raising
kids who come from hard places,you already know you are not
just parenting.
We are fighting a battle, youguys.
And this is not just any battle.
This is a spiritual battle.
We believe that there is anenemy, and that enemy it's not
(01:59):
our kids, it's not thecaseworkers, it's not the bio
parents, it's not even thesystem, though the system can be
hard.
Scripture tells us that we donot wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers,against the authorities, against
the cosmic powers over thispresent darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil in theheavenly places.
(02:21):
That comes from Ephesians 6.12.
Evil in the heavenly places?
That comes from Ephesians 6.12.
The enemy is against family.
He's against children, y'all.
The enemy is against redemption.
Trauma brings so much darknessand hopelessness and despair.
But what foster care andadoption does, or what it should
do, when it's done correctly,is provide the opposite.
(02:45):
It should provide calm,stability, love and hope.
And that means we are pushingback the darkness.
We're not just sitting backdefending ourselves with our
spiritual armor on.
We're actively going into theenemy's camp and taking back
what he has tried to claim ashis the enemy's camp and taking
back what he has tried to claimas his.
(03:05):
And let's be real when we stepinto this fight, we should
expect some attacks.
That's why it's called a battle.
You guys, we're on the frontlines of ministry and this work
(03:30):
that we do is so crucial.
The enemy would love nothingmore than to take you out.
This is why we can't justrecognize the battle itself, but
we have to actively prepareourselves to fight it.
We are called to be spiritualwarriors.
We're called to stand firm inthe face of opposition, but
that's not easy.
We have to acknowledge thatspiritual warfare doesn't always
look like this big, dramaticthing.
Sometimes spiritual warfare isin just the small, daily
(03:55):
discouragements that we face.
It's in the lies that creep in,telling us we are not making a
difference or we're not goodenough.
It's the exhaustion that wouldmake us want to give up.
It's that doubt that sneaks inafter, like another hard day.
The enemy works subtly, but weneed to stay aware so that we
(04:18):
can combat these attacks beforeit takes root in our hearts.
So how do we stand firm?
How do we fight back?
How do we protect ourselves andour families in this battle?
I'm going to talk about fourways that we can guard ourselves
in this fight.
And the first thing we need toguard is our minds.
(04:38):
And the way that we do that iswe have to be in the word period
If we're not filling our mindswith truth, the lies are sure to
take over.
The more time we spendmeditating on God's Word, the
stronger our defense will beagainst the attacks of the enemy
.
And this may look like readingthe Word or, if you're too tired
(04:59):
, it may look like pulling upthe Bible app or the Dwell app
and letting it read the wordover you.
The point is not about how youdo it, but the fact that you're
filling your mind with truthevery single day.
We need to be meditating onscripture not just reading it
(05:19):
through, but really meditatingon parts of it.
I mean, you can write it onyour hand so that you're looking
down at it during differentparts of the day, or put it on
post-its and post scripturearound your house, but really
meditate on it all day long.
We can also sing praises andworship songs that remind us of
(05:43):
truth throughout the day, and itsets our heart in a posture of
praise and thanksgiving, whichwe'll talk about when we talk
about guarding our hearts, butis so crucial.
I mean, he has done greatthings for us, you guys.
He is always faithful, so howcan we remind ourselves of these
(06:04):
things and thank Him for it allday long?
We also need to be speakingthis truth over our families.
Scripture is not just words ona page.
It's actually a weapon and weneed to be actively using it.
One of my kids used to makethreats pretty regularly threats
(06:26):
against her own life, againstthe life and safety of others
and the way that she would makethese threats would be to write
it on her wall, on her bedroomwall.
So one of the times that shewas not at home we decided to
paint her wall purple because wethought, well, if she writes a
(06:48):
threat on the wall and thewall's purple, we're not.
It was like a dark, dark purple, you guys.
If it was, you know, if shewrites threats on the wall,
we're not going to be able tosee it.
So maybe that will make herstop right.
Well, she learned that if youtake white bar soap, it shows up
on that purple quite nicely.
(07:09):
So obviously that didn't workgreat.
So the next time that she waskind of out of the house, one of
the things that we did is meand her sister went around her
room and in pencil we wrotescripture all over her wall and
we wrote it on pencil on thatdark purple wall.
She couldn't see it, she didn'tknow it was there, but we
(07:30):
rewrote the word all over herroom and, you guys, never again
did she write a threat on thatwall, never again.
Now she wrote some threats someother places, but we have to
remember that there is powerlike actual power in the Word of
(07:52):
God, so we can't be afraid touse it.
We have to speak it over ourkids, speak it over our homes,
speak it over our families.
It really is a tool thatsometimes I think we don't use
enough.
The other thing is we need tobe mindful of what we put into
our minds in a negative aspect.
(08:13):
You know, are we looking atsocial media?
Are we paying attention to theTV shows and movies and music
that we're watching or listeningto?
And I mean, are the things thatwe're consuming?
Are they filling us with hopeand strength or are they opening
doors to discouragement?
(08:34):
Are they opening doors tocomparison or fear?
What we allow into our mindsshapes our perspective and it
shapes our faith.
We are doing some really hardthings every day and we really
need strength that only the Lordand His truth is going to
(08:55):
provide for us.
So we need to make sure that weare filling our minds with that
truth every single day.
The second thing that we need toguard is our relationships, and
I'm going to talk about acouple of different
relationships, but as a whole,we just need to be guarding our
(09:15):
relationships with other people.
The first relationship that Iwant to talk about is our
marriage.
If you are married, foster careand adoption is going to put
immense pressure on yourmarriage.
It can make it stronger if itpulls you to work together, but
I've seen so many times wherethe pressure, the stress,
(09:40):
divides couples apart.
The enemy knows that if he candivide a marriage, he can weaken
the whole family, that if hecan divide a marriage, he can
weaken the whole family.
So, investing in our marriagethrough spending time together,
quality time on a regular basis,you guys, spending time
together, walking in humility,side by side.
(10:01):
It can be so easy to want ourown way and to seek our own
needs constantly and to forgetabout.
You know, treating our spousewell and raising them up,
encouraging them, walking inunity with them, is so crucial.
(10:22):
On a side note, I do have asix-week couples challenge that
is coming up next week where wefocus on building that
relationship of marriage in thecontext of parenting our kids
with higher needs.
We're going to talk aboutsupporting our bodies and that
marriage connection so that wecan be at the best for our kids.
(10:45):
I will put a link for thatchallenge in the show notes in
case you're interested.
But we need to be spending timewith our spouse.
We need good communication.
Sometimes, in the midst ofeverything else that we have to
juggle, this can be reallyreally hard, but it has to be a
priority.
It also should be a prioritythat we're building our
(11:06):
friendships and our communityshould be a priority that we're
building our friendships and ourcommunity.
Foster care can be so isolating.
We lose friends who don'treally understand what we're
doing or what we're goingthrough, and sometimes we
withdraw just because it's sohard, like we don't have time or
energy or strength to bepouring into other people.
(11:27):
But we are not meant to do thisalone.
We need godly friendships.
We need people to encourage andsupport us in this battle.
We need to be walking hand inhand with other people, so we
need to think about what thatlooks like in the context of our
daily lives.
How do we include that on aregular basis?
(11:51):
And then the third relationshipthat we need to really be
guarding is that relationshipwith our kids.
The enemy would love nothingmore than to create discord
between us and our children.
We have to be intentional abouthow we connect with them and
how we stay connected with them,even in the hardest moments,
(12:14):
especially in the hardestmoments, I think, in the hardest
moments where the enemy reallywould love to tear us apart from
one another.
I think those are the momentswhere, when we can come together
, when we can offer forgivenessand ask for forgiveness, when we
can become closer to oneanother through the hard, it
(12:38):
really is a blow to the enemybecause we are working to build
strong relationships, we arelooking to build kids that trust
and heal through their trauma.
Loving and leading our childrenwell is one of the most
powerful ways that we can fightback against the darkness.
(13:01):
So really being intentional andwalking in a way that is
honoring to them, that is lovingand really obedient to the Lord
in how we are discipling ourchildren.
Okay, the third thing that weneed to guard is our bodies.
(13:22):
I talk about this on thepodcast all the time, but the
work we do is so physically andemotionally exhausting.
Stress has a direct impact onour bodies and we can't afford
to neglect self-care, and I talkabout this too.
But y'all, self-care is not allabout bubble baths and
(13:43):
chocolate Like.
It's about making sure our foodis nutritious, that we're
getting good fuel for our bodiesevery day.
It's making sure we're gettingplenty of water, plenty of rest,
plenty of exercise throughwalking or strength training,
making sure that we have all thethings that are going to
strengthen our bodies to be ableto handle what we've been
(14:06):
called to.
We have been called tosomething that leads to higher
than average stress, which meansour self-care needs to be more
extensive than the averageperson's.
The way we fuel our bodiesmatters, because our physical
being impacts our spiritual andemotional resilience as well.
(14:28):
We can't show up for our kidswell.
We can't show up for our spousewell.
We can't show up faith-wisewell if our body is
deteriorating from just beingexhausted all the time.
Nutrition, movement, rest,nervous system support all of
those things are not luxuries.
(14:49):
They're necessary for longevity.
In this calling, if you needpractical strategies, I have
several previous podcastepisodes that dive deep into how
to support our bodies throughthis work.
It's part of what I do with mycoaching clients, you guys, and
I am super passionate about itbecause I have seen what happens
(15:12):
when our bodies don't get whatit needs and I have seen how it
translates into every aspect ofour lives.
Sleep is also another keycomponent of that in supporting
our bodies Chronic exhaustion.
It weakens our ability to fightspiritually, emotionally and
(15:33):
physically.
Prioritizing rest is an act ofobedience.
You guys.
We have to treat our bodieskind of like we're like an
athlete, like a professionalathlete.
You would never expect aprofessional athlete to go out
and do their jobs withouttraining, without eating right,
(15:55):
without fueling their body theright way, without getting
plenty of sleep and rest.
They know those things arerequired in order to do their
job Well.
Our bodies are the same way.
Those things are required forthe level of stress and
(16:16):
resilience that we need in orderto fulfill our calling.
So guarding our bodies is a waythat we fight against the enemy
as we're walking out thiscalling All right.
Number four, the last one, isguarding our hearts, and this
one is crucial.
We need to think through how dowe stay grateful in hardship,
(16:43):
how do we pray for protectionand guidance every single day?
Y'all, we need to be on ourfaces every single morning.
We need to be on our facesevery single morning.
We cannot get through our daywithout prayer, without being in
total dependence on God.
Gratitude is one of the mostpowerful ways to shift our
(17:05):
mindset from despair to hope.
So if we're really struggling,you know, start a gratitude
journal.
Really work to get your heartgeared towards the Lord and not
towards our constant hardship.
We need to look at who or whatwe're looking to for comfort or
(17:27):
satisfaction.
Are we numbing ourselves withdistractions like scrolling on
your phone, binge-watching TVepisodes, or are we leaning into
Jesus for true peace?
Take a look at where you go andwhat you lean on when things
really get hard.
(17:48):
Here's something interestingthat I recently learned.
You guys, if you know anythingabout attachment styles, um, I'd
love to know your attachmentstyle and how this plays out for
you.
But I recently read somethingthat was talking about different
attachment styles and howthey're prone to cope.
So dismissive adults tend tolean on things for comfort
(18:12):
things like shopping and buyingthings or looking to food for
comfort while preoccupied adultstend to look for relationships
and people to fill that gap, anda lot of times they're looking
for people to fill that gap inan unhealthy way.
(18:32):
They're looking for people tofill that gap in an unhealthy
way.
So really look at what are youprone to?
What are you prone to lean onaside from the Lord when things
get difficult?
We should be running to theLord for comfort, but it is so
often that we are looking toother things, but that can be a
(18:56):
huge gap for the enemy to work.
That can be a huge gap where weare not depending on the Lord
when we need to be.
And this leads me to this lastpoint in guarding our hearts, we
need to make sure that we haveaccountability, because
sometimes we don't see wherethose gaps are.
(19:16):
We don't see when we aredrifting slightly to get into
some unhealthy habits.
I've seen several livesderailed lately because of small
, unchecked gaps in their armor.
It was gaps that the enemy tookfull advantage of, and we have
(19:37):
to be so, so diligent to makesure that we have people around
us that have our back.
We should not be fighting thesebattles alone.
We have to be part of a team.
So who are your people?
Who are your people that havethe authority and will speak up
(19:58):
to point out the gaps or cracksthat they see in your armor?
Here's the truth.
The enemy wants to take us out,y'all, but he does not win.
Jesus already has the victory.
We are not fighting this battlealone.
We have the power of the HolySpirit inside of us.
(20:19):
We have prayer as our greatestweapon.
We have the armor of God tostand firm and we have hope.
We have hope that what we aredoing matters even when we don't
see the fruit.
You guys Hope that love andstability are never wasted, even
when behaviors don't changeovernight.
(20:41):
We have hope that Jesus is theultimate healer, even when
things feel so, so broken.
If you're in this fight, youare not alone.
Put on your armor, keep going,stand firm, lean into Jesus and
remember you are fighting forsomething bigger than yourself.
(21:03):
Let me pray for us as I wrap uptoday.
Heavenly Father, god, I thankyou that you fight for us.
We need only to be still and tolean into you.
Lord, help us put on this armorof righteousness and salvation.
(21:26):
Lord, help us put on the shoesof peace.
Lord, to walk in your peace.
You have done so much and weonly have to stand in your
victory.
Lord, we love you, we trust you.
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