Fighting For My Family ~ By Dionna Sanchez

I have only just recently discovered just how much I can use the technological advances of today's media to fight for my children and my family.  I have gotten really excited, as I have discovered tools and ways that I can use these things to be proactive in defending and claiming my children and my home for the Lord.  Let me explain how I have recently begun to do this.

Both of my girls have recently entered the world of email.  And although we have strict rules and guidelines concerning this, I have also discovered a way that I can teach and instruct them through email.  You see, they love to get videos and pictures.  You know - the stuff that everyone forwards to each other?  So, I have started visiting Tangle.com (formerly Godtube.com) and have begun to forward them Christian videos.  I have to take some time and find some that they can relate to - maybe it's a child reciting a Psalms, or a funny video that has a moral to it.  I have also chosen Christian music videos that I know they will like.  And in a strange way, they are learning.  I am teaching them the same values that I have spoken to them, only they are being influenced by those values through a video or picture that they are excited about in their email box.

I have begun praying over them before they leave for school each morning.  I lay my hands on them after I do their hair and pray over them.  Some days I pray for their protection or friendship, sometimes I ask God to use them as salt and light in their school.  But they are hearing me pray these words over them.  On mornings that are busy or should I forget, I often tell them I will pray for them or pray for them while they are at school.  My oldest daughter has even reminded me on occasion, that I didn't pray for her as she goes out the door - leading me to believe that in some way, they welcome this "covering" that I give them each day.

I read "The Power of a Praying Parent" by Stormie Omartian.  I'll read a chapter and pray the prayer that she recommends at the end of the chapter.  The prayers cover topics such as obeying their parents, attracting Godly friends, feeling loved and accepted, and more.  Today, one such chapter brought me a new way to cover my children and fight for them through the media.  First of all, I go into their rooms and I pray over their rooms.  Then, I play a Christian tape or CD while they are gone.  It may sound superstitious - but God tells us that His Word is alive and active.  I believe it to be powerful.  I am claiming my children and the room where they dwell - for the Lord!  We have these Bible tapes that are dramatizations of Bible Scripture. Today, I am playing those aloud in their rooms - infusing their whole rooms with God's Word.

I bought them a computer game by Adventures in Odyssey.  They have to pass a Gauntlet of Virtues - nine tests of character such as honesty, kindness, and patience before they can move on.  They love it!

We recently got a DVR.  (It's like Tivo for those of you who aren't technologically literate) I have begun programming things to be recorded - including things I know my children will like such as 7th Heaven, animal shows on Animal Planet, The Bibleman, The Waltons, etc.  A lot of these shows are on while they are at school.  Sometimes, as a family, we watch a show together during dinner together.  It gets hard when there is nothing good on television.  Now, we will have good shows with good values at our fingertips to watch.  Family values being reinforced.  I'm hoping that instead of "surfing" the channels, my girls will start to just see what is already recorded and read for them to watch.

We can teach our children in a variety of ways - not just with our mouths and example; as important and critical as those are!  But we can utilize the advances in our society to help us guard our children's hearts.

I pray over my husband as well and I fight for all of my family.  I know that the world is tugging on each one of us and I'm not willing to give up those I love most in the world without a fight.  I am claiming God's power and I'm using it to my family's advantage.

I'm hoping (and betting) that in the long-run, these efforts will protect, guide, arm, and instruct each one of us in living a life for God's glory and God's glory alone.  And I won't have to be afraid of the choices they will make, because they will know how to use what the world offers in their best interests.... And how to reject the rest.

~ Dionna Sanchez loves to learn new ideas to implement God's values and truths in her home.  You can read more of her writings at her blogs: http://empahsisonmoms.blogspot.com or http://www.preciousmoms.com/talk/blog/index.cfm?forumid=2