"The sons of Rueben and the Gadites and half the tribe Manasah, of valient men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow and skillful in war were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went to the war....

And they were helped against then, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand and all that were with them: for they cried to the Lord in battle and he was entreated of them because they put their trust in Him."

Sometimes it can get so discouraging when we look around at the world around us!  Christian America has been declared at an end and it seems like we are losing on every battle front.  But we must not get discouraged or turn back or lose our heart for the Lord and His kingdom.  The thing is, we women are the ones with the power of tomorrow in our hands.  We are the ones raising the sons and daughters who need to be trained with sword and buckler and arrows.  Not physical weapons of war, but the word of God used skillfully, a preparation in their world view, protection from the enemy of our souls establishing strongholds that will weaken them later in life, and a habit of dealing with trouble by turning to the Lord in prayer, crying out to him.

What a big task this is!  And how myriad the distractions!  And how weak we are in the work!  I pray that God will help all of us to have wisdom in how we spend or time, the entertainment we chose, the prayers we pray... I pray that as we look at our children today we will not see them as a responsibility that we need to tend to, not someone to be kept busy so we can get our 'real work' done, but the opportunity to train the valiant men and women of tomorrow.Men and women that will be skillful in war.