Trailer Trash

It's amazing to me how much power the devil has.  How he is able to tempt us beyond our will, how he can attack those who hate him, and how he will stop at nothing to make sure the work of the Lord is undone.

Last Thursday I was asked to speak to a group of women at Third Church in Pella, and from what I can figure, at about the same time I was taking the stage to share my story with them and to challenge them to become part of the Community Closet Clease, a 70 mph straight wind went through the area and blew the MH4H trailer over that we are collecting items in.

I am not even kidding.  Blew the trailer right over.

Here is picture proof.

You may not believe in spiritual warfare, but I do.

In Ephesians 6:12 Paul tells us that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."(NIV)

I do not find it at all coincidental that satan would be trying to undo the good that God is trying to do.

But that's ok, because I don't give up that easily.

Now I would be lying if I didn't say that the trailer blowing over was a bit, well, discouraging.  I felt bad for all the people who had donated things in Oskaloosa prior to the trailer coming to Pella, because it seemed at first that there wasn't anything left to salvage.

I called my mom Thursday night and went over the day...how I had spoke, how the trailer blew over(I mean really, what are the odds of that happening), how I was feeling like maybe I should just be done with it all, that perhaps it was all a bad idea to begin with.

And she spoke truth into the situation...the devil was attacking, and he wants it all to fail.

Later that night I called on a few close friends to see me through.  The Message goes on in that same section in Ephesians to say, "You're up against far more than you can handle on your own.  Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet."

So often, and especially before starting my fast, I would have never, never turned to others for help and support.  I would have simply put on my smile, and handled it all myself.  But then in that moment that I let my guard down to these friends, they offered to help clean up the trailer.

Apparently they don't give up easily either.

So on Saturday we had a "trailer trash party."  We went through bags and boxes and sorted out that which was salvageable, and threw the rest, which mainly consisted of broken glass and a dresser, in a dumpster.

And although the trailer isn't as full as it was prior to blowing over, we were able to keep a lot more than I had ever imagined.  For example, there were not one, but two old school televisions in there that didn't have a mark on them...perhaps in perfect working condition, as well as four sinks that withstood the fall.

Also, amazingly enough, the trailer survived the fall, and will still be able to hold an entire load before needing just a few repairs.

So, here is the challenge to you my friends...in order to show the devil how strong and mighty we really are(with the help of our God of course), we need to get that trailer full.  I mean full.

Let's do it.


Please note that I need to give a huge shout out here to my man, Tim, Noah, Sarah, Jean & Becky for their helping hands...along with all of your hands that continue to clean out closets...there truly are Many Hands for Haiti helping make this all happen.