The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

It has been a trying couple of weeks. Really just one week, but it seems like more.

I found out a month or so ago that my daughter is highly allergic to fire ant stings, anaphylactic shock allergic; stuff like heart palpatations, hives, nausea, burning ears and face and, the worst, closed airway. "Rejoice in the Lord always", O.k., if I hadn't been laid off in Virginia and got a new job in Texas we probably wouldn't have found out about it so for that I can rejoice, (grudgingly I have to admit).

So what was so bad about this week?

This past Monday, my daughter was walking to a class in a portable building at her high school and she had to go through a grassy area to get there. There had just been lots of rain and there was still standing water in the grass. Well, fire ants float, the next thing she knows she is feeling stinging all over her foot. Fire ants, and lots of them! Long story short, after two injections with her epi-pens at school and loads of IV Benadryl and Steroids at the ER she made it through alive. Rejoice again!

Unfortunately, the ongoing steroid medication wiped her out for the rest of the week and has caused her to have horrible bouts of anxiety and several sleepless nights for me and my wife. It appears she will be up to going back to school tomorrow, but is going to have quite a bit of work to make up.

I decided not to go into the other events of the week in detail, but suffice it to say that the #2 child missed 3 days of school too and we spent 3 hours the other night vaccinating ours and our neighbors chickens because of a bout of fowl pox that is going around here. Too much rain and too many mosquitos can spread bad bugs!

Since I was up with sick children it gave me some time to catch up on some reading. I read a non-fiction book called "Terrify No More", by Gary A. Haugen, president of International Justice Mission (IJM). It's about the efforts of IJM investigators who infiltrate a ring of brothels in Cambodia, where children are bought and sold as sex slaves, and gather evidence necessary to free many of the children and prosecute the perpetrators. I have to admit that I did not enjoy reading this book. Not because of any issues with the way it was written, but because of the depravity of the reality that there are people that would do such horrible things to another person, let alone a child. And it's not just the Cambodians who were depraved, but also the westerners, including Americans, that would pay money to be a part of it.

In one chapter of the book, the author tells of a girl, Elisabeth age 17, that had been "working" for 7-months in a brothel. Her story was especially sad because in her effort to make money for her family, she went with an aunt to a neighboring country to work in the food service industry, but was instead sold to the brothel. Elisabeth was an avid reader of the Bible and had a strong faith in God. During her little bits of free time while enslaved at the brothel she wrote bible verses on the wall of her room to help her hold onto her faith that she was not alone, but that God was with her, even in this terrible place.

After she was freed and living in a safe aftercare facility she wrote a familiar verse on her wall there, from Psalms 27:1, "The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?"

It's a humbling reminder that not only is it not all about me and my troubles, but that my troubles can seem so insignificant in light of those that are so less fortunate, like our children and other children in this world. It's a serious thing to have my child suffer from a life threatening allergy and wanting to and not immediately be able to move her out of harms way. At least there is comfort in knowing that "The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?" We will have to be careful until the allergy shots take affect and reduce the risk of a severe reaction. And we pray that God shows us what to do next. Maybe he opens a door for an opportunity to move to a fire ant free area or makes something else clear to us so that she can be free of the constant fear for her life from just walking and playing in the grass, like any kid is supposed to do.

It seems a strange comparison between a child being held captive in the sex trafficking industry and a child being held captive by a potential allergic reaction to an ant sting. However, both are in a life threatening situation that well-meaning adults around them are unable to immediately free them from. And both are having their childhood joys and freedoms taken away by no fault of their own.

All I know is that thankfully we are not alone in this battle.

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation—

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life—

of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evil men advance against me

to devour my flesh,

when my enemies and my foes attack me,

they will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,

my heart will not fear;

though war break out against me,

even then will I be confident.

(Psalm 27:1-3)