Proverbs 14:26 (AMPC)
26 In the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children shall always have a place of refuge.

This year’s Mother’s Day was spent in quarantine and so we didn’t get together with our moms and families for our annual brunch. I’m the one organizing and planning this event and trying to appease everyone. It was kinda nice to not have this responsibility this year.

My daughter who never joins me for a walk in our street did on Mother’s Day. As we were walking and chatting about this and that, somehow the topic of mental health came up. Being involved with the school community more and seeing the concerns that come out during our corporate prayers, I know that there are many evil forces or serious strongholds having dominance in our areas on our youth.

I would always tell my prayer group ladies that if the Holy Spirit reveals a struggle of your child then this is a gift. Because He’s bringing you in so that you can work together with Him to help your child. I can testify that this is true because I struggled with many things as a teenager and I would’ve greatly appreciated any assistance. Once I asked the Holy Spirit why my parents weren’t shown my struggles to get me help. The Holy Spirit told me it’s because they couldn’t help me and even more, they would’ve made my situation worse. Looking back and evaluating my parents, I see that the Holy Spirit is right.

This year’s Mother’s Day, my daughter shared with me that sometime this late fall, she started to induce herself to vomit. She shared that she has a poor self image about her body and weight. She stopped around after her birthday in February realizing how harmful this is. I recall how the Holy Spirit led me to have her join my gym as a birthday gift…doing gym classes for her was a healthy outlet. She also said that when her brother was sick during quarantine, she induced herself to vomit again. Stressful situations seems to be a trigger for her. She became a junior this past fall and I know the pressures are greater. She also stopped playing club soccer and so she’s not working out regularly and more conscious about her weight. Her dad also puts too much pressure on her in my opinion.

After her sharing it was the power of the Holy Spirit who enabled me to not lecture her or pepper her with my worries, instead I thanked her for sharing and told her that I understood her because I also had an eating disorder at her age and to please come to me. Not having a believing husband, I needed counsel and prayers from mature women of faith before proceeding forward with this revelation of my daughter.

On Tuesday I got to talk to Lydia. Praise God for Lydia! She gave me good advice and her prayers opened another opportunity to talk to my daughter more later that afternoon and to offer her professional counseling. She said she’ll think about it. Later that evening I shared with my husband. He looked shocked and mumbled something that it’s probably not a big deal. He hasn’t brought it up again.

Today I’ll talk to another woman of faith, Jenny who has become a mentor to me like Lydia. When Evan was sick, Jenny also helped me greatly with her prayers and words of faith. I’m so thankful that I have these good, godly friendships. And that they have a burden for me and my family. They are always willing to help me with their counsel and prayers. It’s so important to nurture these relationships especially for those like me without a strong believing family member to lean on. I do my best to show my appreciation for them.

The Holy Spirit gave me the Bible verse from Proverbs to reassure me that my children will always have refuge. What a wonderful truth to believe and trust! Thank you!

When I look back at how I stopped my eating disorder it was when I was a freshman in college. Suddenly I saw that one close friend from high school was a toxic friend. I ended my friendship with her abruptly and I moved towards healthy eating habits, met nicer and kinder friends, and even stopped smoking later that year. My mom wasn’t praying; instead my grandmother was praying for us in Korea. My grandmother became a prayer warrior early in the mornings around that time. It was around that time forward that my family saw many blessings and breakthroughs. My dad started a new medical import-export business supported by his manufacturer friend in Korea, my mom started respecting him again, my sister successfully transferred to NYC’s Fashion Institute of Technology college and pursued graphic design and met nice catholic college friends, I also met a newly born-again Christian friend and joined their college group and attended their charismatic church in sophomore year. I started to intern at the most prestigious lab in the psychology department and received scholarship money for my hours working. And to top it off my family finally received our citizenship. We were finally legal citizens and can apply for student loans and grants. Plus my family can travel to South Korea and come back to USA!

Wow I didn’t expect to list all the blessings and breakthroughs that came about from my grandmother’s daily prayer habits! Thank you Holy Spirit for encouraging me this morning as I’m journaling about my daughter. Thank you for letting me remember that prayer changes things. Thank you that my grandmother took up her cross, didn’t get bitter when her eldest son and his family abandoned them to come to America and instead became a powerful prayer warrior. Her prayers saved me tremendously as a young lady. Likewise I trust the same deliverance and refuge for my children. Because I am a prayer warrior too just like my grandmother.

During this quarantine time I’ve been leading our women’s prayer group Monday to Friday over the phone conference calls. We’ve adjusted, tweaked here and there, and now we are a great prayer group interceding very effectively for our children, church and country. I really miss the personal connections and the powerful emotions that get released in praying together at the church. I look forward to the day when we can gather again.

I’ve been encouraged by this verse – Proverbs 31:25 (AMP)
Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure;
And she smiles at the future [knowing that she and her family are prepared].

We can smile about the future with God on our side. God will always prepare us for whatever battles ahead. Our position is strong and secure because of Jesus.

Thank you Jesus for my Mother’s Day gift this year. I’m going to work for my daughter with lots of prayer power and counsel from godly mature women of faith who care about me and love me. Thank you that my children will always have a place of refuge. 🙏

5/15-After speaking with Jenny yesterday I don’t have peace about using my influence as a mom to pursue a non-Christian counselor for my daughter. Jenny shared about her son’s urgent need for a counselor as a junior in high school. They followed recommendations and protocols from school and got him a therapist right away. She said that the counselor made her son worse. I didn’t have time to go over the details but let’s open our eyes and be wise as believers. If someone is not born of the Spirit and into the kingdom of Christ and although they have best intentions and hearts, they are still under the jurisdiction and influences of the enemy. I’m not going to put my daughter under this kind of authority and influence. And I know my husband will vehemently oppose using a Christian counselor. I know this as a fact since we had a big showdown in February when I was looking for a counselor. I felt the leading of the Holy Spirit to look for a Christian counselor for myself. Not that I needed anyone but I just felt that I should find one. So I obeyed, got my husband’s approval and found one. When I told my husband that it was a Christian counselor, oh boy! It lead to great stressful situation! Who knew that he was so opposing?! Long story short I stopped pursuing. Perhaps this happened to show me how much he opposes a Christian counselor. Therefore I submit myself to God’s mighty hand to deliver my daughter and to guide me through to help her. 🙏 However if my daughter wants a therapist then I’ll use my influence to find her a good one and pray that the therapist is a born-again believer who is working in secular condition. Another ministry friend told me that while she was interning at a secular teen rehab center, she’d pray for her patients in her gift of tongues silently.

I remember a Maya Angelou’s quote, “You and God are the majority.” Amen, amen!