[cincopa AMCAzQMKXjqy]

 {Click Here to Listen.}

Well, dear DoAheads. I had a whole ‘nother direction that today’s post was supposed to take. But sometimes a thing falls in your lap or flies like slap that lands on your cheek.  And that’s exactly what happened to me yesterday. I’m processing it the best way I know how…with fingers flying over a keyboard. (Credit for featured photo.)

Last night, Doc, the kids and I did what thousands of other Americans have already done. We attended the movie American Sniper. We’d been hoping to go for several weeks but schedule’s didn’t allow for a “family date night.”

Honestly, I had reservations about going. I’d heard it was an incredible and powerful story. Friends who’d already gone said you could hear a pin drop at the end of the movie. The media has been all over it, dubbing it a serious contender for numerous Oscars.

I wanted to go because my husband and military-bent son had a strong interest in seeing it. When you have adult and nearly-adult children, you take advantage of every opportunity to “do a piece of life together.”

All of that was good. What wasn’t good was the realization of my fear that watching a movie like this would bother me. Bother me it did.

There were a few scenes in the movie that I found myself trembling. Others that I discreetly wiped tears, and one that made me nauseated. (One can’t help but ask “You call this entertainment?”)

No. Not at all. But I decided American Sniper isn’t about being entertained. It’s about being informed. Quite frankly, I find it easier (and sometimes more pleasant) to stick my head in the sand. Besides, pulling one’s head out of the sand can be terribly untidy.

Sand is so messy.

I know firsthand the trials of sand. We live at a lake. I adore the summers but by fall I’m reminded that there is one thing I won’t miss. You guessed it, the sand.

You think your beach shoes are clean only to remove them and find they are full of the nasty granules. Swimsuits are peeled off little peeps and you find sand permeating every sweet fat-fold of their chubby bodies. Dirty water spirals down the tub and leaves a trail of terra firma behind. If you’re not careful you can even end up with sand between the sheets (an effective tool for robbing rest from already sleep-deprived parents.)

Yes, I’m intimately familiar with sand.

Such familiarity grants me the authority to say there is definite merit to keeping ones head in the sand. Undisturbed sand is less likely to create a loss of sleep.

American Sniper woke me up with a sharp yank. It placed a truth smack-dab in front of me.

But may I tell you a truth about truth?

We don’t always see it. At least I don’t.

• Sometimes I’m blinded to it. Too much sand in the eyes I guess.
• Sometimes I deny it. Life in my own little bubble moves fast. It can consume me and I don’t see outside of it.
• Sometimes I minimize it. The only way to deal with all that sand is to tell myself it’s not as bad I think.

So what does a DoAhead Woman DO when her head gets pulled out of the sand?

The only thing she knows to do——–Pray.

A three-word prayer rattled my heart at the end of the movie. It hovered over my head when I lay down to sleep. And it’s tracing the tips of my fingers as I type this post. The enormity and intensity of evil seen in American Sniper left me praying:

Come. Lord. Jesus.

Come now-give us wisdom to know how to help.

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15

Come now-give strength to the persecuted.

“My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in.” Ephesians 3:16

 Come now-restore justice among the nations.

“But that’s not a big enough job for my servant—just to recover the tribes of Jacob, merely to round up the strays of Israel. I’m setting you up as a light for the nations so that my salvation becomes global!”  Isaiah 49:6

This post is a heavy way to start the week. You know me, I’m a pretty chipper gal. But I’d like to think that you and I are also women of substance. Such women can start their week out with determined joy in conjunction with informed conviction.

I will be watching the news differently in days to come. Table conversation in our home will no doubt take a more sober tone when the topic turns to global affairs.

But I welcome the invitation of sand into our home (year round) if it means I and my tribe are able to make even the smallest difference to a humanity disfigured by evil. In the meantime, as we pray for wisdom in how to respond our prayer as we press on will be these three simple words…

Come Lord Jesus.

“He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” Rev. 22:20

{If you’d like to share what’s moving or inspiring you- link up to Angie Ryg’s Inspire Me Monday. I also hop over to Suzanne Eller’s #LiveFree link up and Meredith Bernard’s W2W (Women to Women). I pinky swear promise you’ll be inspired if you land on any of these pages!}

Your (sand in her sheets) DoAhead Friend,