You Have to Fortify!!!

Game nights amongst the Stewart women and their men are quite entertaining.  The men seem to be under the misguided impression that it is all about strategically and ethically dominating the score board; the ladies, not so much.  The ladies’ objective is always about cheating with just enough suspicion to antagonize the men while avoiding any concrete evidence to satisfy their accusations.

We don’t even care if we win as long as someone on “Team Woman” wins and we have the opportunity to watch male forehead veins pop out.  I wish at this point I could say that I’m not proud of our behavior but, in fact, I am quite proud of our escapades and have giggled with pride while writing this blog.

Our silly men think that not all games are meant to be “team games.”  My favorite reaction was from my husband when a fellow man asked what we ladies were giggling about.  Wes said, “Who knows.  They probably cheated again.  You can’t play a serious game with them.”   I speak on behalf of all the Stewart women, “We deem ‘Serious Game’ to be an oxymoron!” 

Our game play is most disturbing to my husband when we play a game of Risk, an unmercifully long game.  We don’t even have to cheat.  We just move from man to man ganging up on him until he or we are out of the game.  Spoken like a former Army Sergeant, my husband will say with a vein popping sigh, “You can’t just attack, attack, attack!  You have to fortify! You have to FORTIFY!” 

He is right.  As we attack, we inevitably destroy our army in the process.  Remember though, our intent was to promote success among Team Woman rather than to be the individual winner.  We don’t really care if we destroy our own strength in the process.

All of those memories were stirred, along with a life lesson, when I heard a speaker say, “There is something inside of women that fortifies us in the face of frustration, in the face of failure, in the face of fear, in the face of disappointments.  All of a sudden we bounce back again.”

Isaiah 40:31

“But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Those fun memories reminded me that in the journey of special needs parenting, I have to step back and make sure I’m only fighting the battles that God has called me to fight.  Alone I’m outgunned by Satan, by the insurance company, by the school, by fatigue, and by far too many demands to humanly meet.  I have to take time to sit in His presence and fortify my strength, hope and faith.  As I do, He fortifies me to the point of being able to do all things through Christ who strengthens me!!

In the words of Sergeant Howell, “You can’t just attack, attack, attack.  You have to fortify!  You have to FORTIFY!!!