I am not given to dreams--and have only had 3 that I know of in my life, that I believe were from God Himself. So what I am about to share is a very rare occurrence, and I share it in hopes that it may be of some encouragement to you, though I feel vulnerable in the sharing of it. After I had been sleeping for several hours, I seemed to awaken into a dream. Somehow I knew God was right behind me at my shoulder, looking on at the same scene that my eyes beheld.
When I opened my eyes, in the dream, with God standing so near, right behind me and at my shoulder. I was looking at two sides of a street that lay directly in front of me. On one side, I could see an infant lying on a concrete foundation, a portico, at the top of about 8 wide concrete stairs that looked like it was the entrance to a judicial or government building.
The little baby was clothed only in diaper, on top of a blanket that had come off of it's little body, laying flat and disheveled and dirty underneath it....Flailing its little arms, clenching fists and drawing its little legs in and out in utter frustration, while screaming and crying helplessly and hopelessly in utter fear and anguish and abandonment.
Arrows were shooting and whizzing through the air above and around the little baby and at the little infant's vulnerable frame.
On the other side of the street, I saw a gang of wild young men, that appeared to be clothed in black, with leather jackets and all dark colors, gothic in appearance, weird make-up, terrifying faces filled with hate, anger, passion-- laughing, yelling, cheering, screaming. Somehow, I knew from God that it was Satan with a cluster of his demons all exulting and celebrating in the passion of the moment.
They were drawing tight their bows, while aiming their arrows across the street at the helpless baby. Each arrow was marked with a single, clear word--selfishness, self-absorption, sexual immorality; moral impurity, peer pressure, violence, pornography, lies, deception, temptation, divorce, rape, drugs, prostitution, fornication, hate, evil---
I could clearly see each arrow with its message being aimed at the baby's heart and head.
Overcome with desperation and visceral repulsion, I desperately asked the Lord, "Why isn't anyone there to protect the baby? Where is it's mother? Someone needs to do something!"
He answered, "No one has taught the mothers what they are supposed to do. They are all doing other things. They don't even know. They have believed lies that have been told to them, while there was no one there to tell the truth. There are no people standing in front to protect the babies and to teach the mothers about their role."
What shall I do, Lord?
You need to have older mothers stand in a line, in front of the babies, and teach the young mothers what is true, so that they will know to protect those I consider precious, those I have given to them as gifts. They do not know about the battle or the arrows. You need to teach them.
And then my dream was over. It was about 14 years ago. I knew I had a mandate. Clay and I knew God had a call on our lives. We had to do what He had told us to do.
At a very turbulent time in our lives, when people were challenging our motives, ideals and convictions, Clay and I prayed and from this and God's call on our heart, we started writing parenting books, books on motherhood and hosting our first mother's conference. It was a drive, we knew it was God's heart for us to train mothers.
And so a dear friend recently reminded me of how my dream touched her heart many years ago. She told me to keep telling others about it and to keep the vision fresh.Stay devoted. Stay the course. Hold up the call.
And so, as we get older, Clay and I think, "What more can we do in our life-time, the few years we have left until we see Him face to face, to train, instruct, encourage and help get God's message out to the mothers, so that they will understand their God-ordained role, to protect their little children from Satan's designs, to show them to reality of God, and to live in His power and grace to accomplish what he has called them to do-to build a godly generation in their homes?
And so, our plans and dreams and message keep forming in the early morning hours when we talk and pray and write and organize together, and then Clay goes faithfully each day to the office to administrate all that God has placed on our heart.......
Watch out for a new plan that is forming in our hearts! Coming soon............