The Warrior We Call Mom

THE CALL TO ACTION
Kevin and Deven were married when she was 19. They celebrated their firstborn’s first birthday by the time they celebrated their first anniversary.  Deven thought her personal life had to cease in order to be a good mom.  “My identity became wrapped up in my child, which is a mistake so many mothers make,” she says.  “I was Jeremiah’s mom first, Kevin’s wife second, and God’s daughter last.”  Their second son, Isaiah, was born when Jeremiah was 15 months old.  With two little ones so close together, Deven felt her life was overwhelming. “I thought I had to lay my dreams and calling on an altar in the name of motherhood, and that somehow made me more holy and righteous as a mother.”  Shortly after the birth of her third child, Zion, Deven says it was the beginning of a life-changing, God-ordained transition in her heart and thinking. “She was such a precious gift to our family and to me personally, but her birth brought to light such a longing and searching for clarity and identity in my own heart and life,” says Deven.

One day while feeding Zion, Deven was wrestling with God in a time of prayer.  She felt like she was failing in her responsibilities as pastor’s wife, mom and copastor and was frustrated.  “As I was praying and crying before the Lord with my precious daughter cradled in my arms, I had an open vision that morning,” says Deven.  She felt the Lord show her the thoughts and plans of the enemy.  “I saw the enemy’s desire to destroy the rising generation,” says Deven.  “I saw him desiring to destroy my children.”  She also saw the focal point of the enemy wasn’t just aimed at her babies.  “It was aimed at me as a mother.  He was focused on all mothers, especially the godly ones.”  Something rose up in her at that moment.  “It was a wake up call. There is an alarm sounding in the kingdom that should alert us to battle,” she says.  “Our homes are the territory and our children are the spoils of war.”

CULTURE CHANGERS
Deven reminds moms that there is a warrior nature inside every mother.  “Don’t ever underestimate the fight within you! Your domestic responsibilities are noble, but they are not your identity.”  She says children are not in the way of the calling God put’s on a woman’s life.  “They are part of it,” she says.  Once she realized this, Deven says her home became a training ground.  Shaping children for their God-given purpose begins with their mom’s ability to hear and obey God. “When God sent out culture changers, He sent out instructions with the mothers,” says Deven.  In the Bible, Hannah called Samuel to the Nazarite vow at birth.  Samson’s mother chose a lifestyle for him that was not his own decision to make. God used a seemingly unarmed, untrained housewife named Deborah. “Be a conduit with one ear to heaven and one ear to your children,” says Deven.

Deven says without the fire of the mother, a family sits in darkness.  “A woman on fire is the enemy’s worst nightmare!” she says.  If the woman has an internal flame, she has the ability to light others upon contact.  “This means a group of women on fire could light an entire generation,” says Deven.  Moms can impact their children just by reading the Bible to the children at night and making sure they get to church. By spending time with the children every day, moms can be forming their destiny, even before anyone else notices. After her second son, Isaiah, was born, Deven noticed extreme sensory challenges and he was later diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).  He would have intense emotional responses to certain clothing materials and spit up food with certain textures.  Molding and disciplining Isaiah became the daily challenge and some days Deven felt like a failure. Deven began praying every day for Isaiah.  “His hypersensitivity is not to torture him, but it serves to give him hypersensitity to the Holy Spirit.”  As Isaiah began to grow, Deven says God began to shape how she shaped him.  Several years later, Isaiah’s pediatrician suggested seeing a team of specialists.  Doctors were amazed with their observations.  Isaiah showed every sign of ASD but was managing his condition.  “What did you do?” the doctors asked.  “I just prayed and asked God what to do to help him,” says Deven.