I grew up in a military family. Then I married a military man. I know the demands—I get it . . . yet, during the holidays we military families can feel extra stress. The items on our laundry lists pile on even when a household member’s laundry is absent.

I don’t know about you, but as a soldier the thought that I might lose any ground to an adversary makes me dig deeper, ball up my fists and redouble my efforts to fight and win ... As bad as physical defeat is, Paul tells us in his letter to the Christians at Ephesus that the physical battles we face are a diversion. The reality is that the physical battles we fight are caused by the spiritual battle that is going on in the background. These days we are getting more and more accustomed to fighting a physical enemy that uses tricks, lies, ambushes, coercion and terror to try to destroy us. Our physical enemy is merely following the lead of our spiritual enemy---the difference being that our spiritual enemy can also penetrate our homes and directly target our families.