Christmas and as Kirk has titled, "hints."

Merry Christmas everyone. May God bless you even once more on top of all his others. I am greatly enjoying my time with my family. I hope you are as well.
But that's not why I am compelled to write today. Today while having a splendid visit with my Grandparents, the conversation took a turn that shook me. My Grandma was telling the story of my Grandfather's sister, and even though it was sad, it was hers, and I cherished being able to hear it. She was bi-polar or manic-depressive, and having studied the illness myself, I had a great deal of compassion through it. At the end my Grandma was relating how she couldn't understand why her friends had deserted Lois (my Grandpa's sister). Why in this day and age, people still couldn't understand mental illness. And then my Mom related how hard it has been for friends of hers (and my Dad's).
And my heart broke. And stayed broken.
I know them. I don't know them well. They go to my parents' church. But they've been over to my parents' house, and I've played music at the church with her.
But one of their daughters hears voices. And sees people. And they tell her to do bad things.
And they've been to see psychologists and one of them said it was demonic. And they've had the pastors over to pray at the house.
And they can't sleep at night because she screams the whole time. So the Mom started home-schooling to try and work around that.
And they went on a purging of anything that could possibly be evil in the house and stopped celebrating Christmas because it has pagan origins.
And they're not crazy. They're really nice. They both became Christians after they were married.
But now they've put the house up for sale, because maybe that's it.
And I couldn't bear it.
Because God is God.
Jesus loves them.
Jesus is all powerful.
He has all authority and has given it to us.
This cannot be.
Let me go right now. Let me listen to them so I can cry with them.
Let me pray and ask God if it's an evil spirit or not.
If not then great, should we pray for healing, or should we see a doctor?
If yes, then Holy Spirit lead the way. What are we praying about next?
But I can't do nothing.
Because they can't sell their house.
They can't live in hopelessness. They can't live in fear.
I know Jesus. I know him.
I know why my heart broke and wouldn't mend.

And on the drive home from Didsbury I read and read and cried and prayed.
Ephesians was especially close.

I'll highlight some passages but really the whole thing was amazing.

1^:19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power ²⁰ that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. ²¹ Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. ²² God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. ²³ And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

3:⁸ Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. ⁹ I was chosen to explain to everyone^[c] this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.¹⁰ God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. ¹¹ This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹² Because of Christ and our faith in him,^[d] we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. ¹³ So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.

¹⁴ When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,^{[e] 15} the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.^{[f] 16} I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. ¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. ²¹ Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

4:¹¹ Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹² Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³ This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵ Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. ¹⁶ He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

6: ¹⁰ A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. ¹² For we^[c] are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

¹³ Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. ¹⁴ Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. ¹⁵ For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.^{[d] 16} In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.^{[e] 17} Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.