We are in the midst of a movement; after you read this, please consider sharing with your networks and joining us, thank you!
Last week I flew into Colorado Springs, the place where our family lived for over 20 years— where we raised our children, where we worked, played, laughed, prayed, and grieved. I drove down the street where our old house stands, the last place we saw our son alive before drugs and despair stole his mind and his destiny.
New families fill some of the houses and familiar faces are around every turn. Colorado Springs is still breathtakingly beautiful, but there is a darkness hovering here now that threatens to block the sun. A wave of suicides has plagued our city, permeated our school district, shaking our neighbors, our community and our friends to the very core.
Our babies are taking their own lives, and no one seems to know why. The same people that attended our son’s funeral four years ago, brought meals to our home, wept with us in our grief and confusion are still struggling to find answers to the question, “What is happening to our kids?”
I spent days looking at memorials, talking to parents, and reading about the stories of every child that has died here over the last three years. The heaviness sat on me like thousand pounds and I cried out to God, begging Him to tell me, “ What is the answer?”
Last week I found myself in the company of old friends, Lou Engle (The Call) took the stage and began to call us to prayer and fasting for revival in America. Then he described the revivals of the past and the prayer that had preceded all of them, with the exception of the “The Jesus Movement” in the 70’s. He asked God what that revival was birthed out of, if not a prayer movement.
God replied, “That revival was birthed out of the tears and prayers of a million mothers who were losing their children!”
It was like a shotgun blast went off, and a fire was lit deep within me.
This was the answer for which I had been searching and praying.
Since our son took his own life on April 17, 2013, I have received hundreds of messages from mothers crying out for help, as our nation is under attack from heroin and opioid deaths.
Depression and anxiety seem to be the norm, and suicide is stealing the destiny of our young ones in record numbers. America is leading the world in overdose deaths from opioid use. Heroin has taken over entire cities. The US only holds about 4% of the world’s population, yet reports 27% of the world’s deaths caused by drug overdoses.
I have been in a place of shock and grief over the past 4 years. I have felt like a zombie just dragging my feet, living at a barely breathing pace. I have cried every single day since we lost Michael Ryan Black. Yes, I am devastated by the brutal and shocking suicide that rocked our family. Yes, I have wept because my heart is shattered. But I am not weeping only for me, I am weeping for all the mothers that find themselves in the center of this storm.
Like many mothers, I have been in hibernation, unsure of how to fight this battle that seems too big, too overwhelming, and too dark.
I am looking for the Mama Bears in the world to join me, to wake up, and rise up! I am looking for the Mama Bears that are sick and tired of visiting their children in rehab and in the hospital, the Mamas that cannot bear to go to one more funeral for their sister’s son, their neighbor’s daughter, for anyone’s child. I am looking for Mamas that have buried their own babies and Mamas that have wondered if this might be the fate of their offspring.
I am looking for an army of mothers to join me and fight like only a woman can. We were created to defend the vulnerable, we were created to nurture the little ones. But do not mistake our tenderness for weakness. We are mighty and powerful beings, and we are willing to die to protect our children!
I am looking for women that carry the spirit of motherhood— not just biological mothers or mothers that are still raising young children. I am looking for mothers in the inner city, mothers in the suburbs, single moms, foster moms, stepmothers, adoptive mothers and grandmothers. Your title does not matter. If you love a child that needs you, if you are willing to fight for that child, if you are willing to die for that child, then you are a MOTHER.
We are going to gather our weapons, and we are going to fight like the warriors that we were created to be.
There is only one way we are going to win this war, ladies. We are going to rise up and fall on our knees…we are going to fight the Spirit of death with the Spirit of Life.
We wrestle not against flesh and blood but principalities and rulers of the air.
We are going to fight like girls, and the enemy will not be able to continue to kill our children; he will not be able to stand against the finished work of Jesus Christ. When He said “It is finished,” he meant all of it!
Ladies, it is time to go to war! It is time to fall on our knees and fight like never before and shout a Holy chant to the enemy’s camp.
“NOT ONE MORE!
NOT ONE MORE!
These our children, and they belong to the Lord of Glory.
You will not take ONE MORE!”
Join me on October 6 – 9, 2017 in our nation’s capital, as we fast and pray for our country, our children, our seed, and our future!
To donate to this project that helps me get my book out, to events like Rise Up, my fight for every child out there, and much more… please go to our Foundation in our son Michael’s name and partner with us today!
