Invisible ropes and hot pink toenails

I like to think I have a fun family.  All my boys have their own quirky personalities and wit and I enjoy each and every one of them.  Most of us are spontaneous and passionate about so many things in life, be it faith, politics, our schools, our church or even whether or not ketchup is actually a vegetable.  J, my husband, is like the may pole in the celebration.  He just quietly, resolutely stands firmly in the middle of the chaos while we all spin around him.  One thing I love that my boys are not always appreciative of is a good practical joke.  I remember painting my oldest son's and a friend of his toenails hot pink while they slept one night.  That doesn't hold a candle to the time my middle boys had a bunch of friends over for the night.  They were all sleeping on the floor in the play room upstairs.  I rose early that Saturday morning (something unheard of!!!) and quietly taped plastic wrap across the doorway in a 3 foot section just about 10 year old boy height.  Then, I went back downstairs to the living room and yelled up over the loft "boys! I've got pancakes! last one down does the dishes!!".  All 6 of those boys hit that door running and went down like a stack of dominoes!   After I was able to stand once more and had wiped my eyes I did make those pancakes and I didn't make any of them do the dishes.  I still laugh whenever I think of that morning!

They did get their revenge, though.  They put a rubber band around the trigger of the sprayer on the kitchen sink.  When I turned on the water to do those dishes I got a big surprise!

Monkey Boy has learned well what he has witnesses in his home as he has grown.  One afternoon he and a friend of his, being bored little boys, were looking for some mischief to get into.  They went out to a little side road, one on each side of the road and waited for a car to come by.  Then, they would both pantomime pulling on a rope, as if they were stretching it across the road in front of on coming traffic.  Of course, there was no rope, but I cannot tell you how many cars actually stopped and waited for them to lower their "rope" before they would attempt to drive past.  One person even became angry and would not drive on until they pretended to remove the rope completely from the road!  It was all in good fun, but, like so many things in life, it got me to thinking. 

How many times have we been stopped in our tracks by that invisible rope of the enemy?  We're moving on down the path God has set us on, focused on our destination, when we are momentarily distracted by something on the side of the road.  Once we lose that focus we open ourselves up to the distractions of Satan.  Often times he (Satan) will throw things in our path that are meant to trip us up, to stall us, to get us to lose our focus and pull up.  But just like that invisible rope my boys were using they can't stop us unless we let them.  If those drivers had looked where they were going more than at what was going on on the side of the road, they would have seen there was no rope, but because the boys were doing such a good job of pretending there was a rope the drivers bought into the idea and it became an obstacle for them.  Many times we see the enemy acting and talking as if he has finally found the thing that can stop us and we buy into the idea.  Satan doesn't have to actually do anything, he only has to make us believe that he is blocking our way for his plan to be successful. 

We don't have to stop and wait for him to lower his invisible rope.  We get to buzz on by, free in the liberty of Christ, knowing there is nothing the enemy can do to hinder us as long as we keep our focus on the Lord. 

So go!  Drive on! Don't let the goofy people on the side of the road slow you down.  Give no thought to the man behind the curtain, oh wait, different story.  You get the idea.  There's nothing our there that can stop you, except YOU.   I'll be here, spinning around my tall, bald may pole. You're welcome to stop by, but be careful using the kitchen sink and fall asleep at your own risk.  You can't say you haven't been warned!!!

Soaked in His blessings,
Spokenfor