~ written by Connie Dunmyer
Sometimes I feel like an armadillo.
When I feel like there’s danger, or just too much “life” coming at me, I tend to curl up into a tight little ball so nothing and no one can touch me – not even people I love. Or I will burrow into the ground so no one can even see me. (And sometimes I just run around in circles.)
I’ve recently been through such an occasion. And I may not be fully through it.
During this experience, I was stripped of everything that I thought was important. I was stripped of Christmas joy. I was stripped of doing things and giving of things to others, including my family. I was stripped of football joy. (And not just because my beloved Buckeyes lost). I was even stripped of my quiet time with Jesus. Which is not to say that that Jesus wasn’t with me. (More on that later.)
Every thought. Every emotion. Every plan. Every word I read… Had but one purpose. It was like someone had inserted a “straw” into my body and started blowing air into it until I became filled like a balloon. Filled with one thought, one emotion, one plan, one purpose. Every other single thing was pushed out. Even loved ones. At one point I even admitted “I don’t even have room for grace.” My “internal balloon” felt like it could pop at any moment.
I prayed. Oh how I prayed. And I did find that I had faith in prayer, not whining. I had confidence in One – and ONLY One! I trusted with a clinging trust like I was clawing at the mountainside.
And I felt “covered”. I’ve heard the phrase “covered in prayer” most of my life. But I don’t think I ever FELT it so much as I did then.
On the final night of my overwhelming balloon, I cried out to God. I said in complete and brutal honesty, “I trust You. I really do. BUT I DON’T WANT TO DO THIS!! Please don’t make me do this!” I’m sure those “covering prayers” were especially prayed for me that night.
For you see, something happened to me some 5 hours later. It was like I was someone else. The natural me was gone. The Father in heaven, reached through the veil – this invisible kingdom of heaven veil – picked up His little child, cradled me, held my head to his chest to hear only His heartbeat, and He simply rocked me. Back and forth. Back and forth.
12 hours later, He expelled the air from that balloon. I began to breathe again. But the Father still rocked me – back and forth. Until I was finally able to go to sleep. The deepest and perhaps most restful sleep I’ve ever known. Covered in a blanket of prayer from the people of God.
I’ve been contemplating my actions and emotions... Wondering why, as people, we tend to curl up like an armadillo. I guess it’s a defense mechanism. Which is natural. What I hope is that I am not an armadillo to God. I hope that I am just completely vulnerable to the Father, as is a tiny baby.
I think that’s what I’ve experienced. And frankly, I am still experiencing.
God has shown me that even in this extraordinary time, He was answering a prayer of mine from two years ago. Obviously I had no idea it would look like this. But God’s wisdom is infinite. And His purpose for me is always, ALWAYS Good!
Which makes me take a step back and consider:
When I pray, when I ask, do I really trust God with the details? Or am I just making a Christmas list to Santa Claus?
What happens when my answer doesn’t LOOK the way I had pictured? What if my answer comes in the form of pain? Do I still trust? Do I still linger on His words? Do I still lean hard on the chest of my Savior, so that the only thing I hear is HIS heartbeat – not my own?
For 5 years now, God has been stripping away my puny little armadillo armor. I kind of liken it to an artichoke – the stripping away of the hardened, sharpened leaves to get to the fruit, the heart, the best part of the artichoke.
In the world of technology – of which I am a part – it’s also like He has been taking me back to “root”. To the beginning. To what matters. If root is not good and correct, then nothing that’s built upon it is good. And if the code is not good, then it must be stripped away, line by line, until we reach what is good. What is right. What is truth.
I was reminded of Jesus, after His resurrection, showing up to His disciples on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24). They did not recognize Him. Perhaps He had disguised Himself. Perhaps He was simply not what His disciples had pictured. Not what they had “prayed for”. But thankfully, they continued with Him and eventually … 31 their eyes were opened and they recognized him.
I have been allowing and watching God do this in my life. And while I cannot always explain it with words, I can sense it, feel it, and see it with spiritual eyes. It's not always - in fact, it is rarely the way I picture my prayers being answered. There are times it is hard to SEE God's hand in what happens. But I am trying to “fix my eyes” on that which is unseen by the natural. God is doing a “new thing” in me.
My guess is, He is doing a “new thing” in you, too. Pray for spiritual eyes to see the unseen, and spiritual ears to hear His heartbeat. What’s more, let's all try to “uncurl” from our armadillo armor and allow God’s people to cover us in a blanket of prayer instead. As one who has seen and felt the difference, I assure you the latter is better.
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© 2026: Connie F. Dunmyer, All Rights Reserved.