ANOTHER DRAFT POST I DIDN’T FINISH!! (Apparently, my time during quarantine was NOT well-spent!)

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Disclaimer: This is an emotional, spiritual prescription, not a plan to get your meds free during Covid-19, so if the title mislead you, it means I just might have missed my calling as a news journalist.

After talking with my friend Susan last week, I had an epiphany. We need to write ourselves a prescription to relax during this quarantine. I don’t mean relax, as in go to all-inclusive resort in the Bahamas and forget your troubles. A) You can’t travel even if you could afford it right now, and B) Even if you could’ve afforded it last month, you probably won’t be able to by next month anyway. So I’m not advocating a forget-your-troubles getaway.

I’m talking a deep breath, give yourself a break, cut yourself some slack RX.

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This is as far as I got on this post last April. I remember the day well. I was talking to my friend on the phone and I was basically feeling awful. You know the saying Of Saints and Sinners? I definitely felt like that was my quarantined house. There was my husband at the dining room table reading his Bible and studying all day long. (aka SAINT) There was me laying on the couch eating Oreos in my pajamas binge-watching America’s Next Top Model reruns on my tablet (aka SINNER).

And we decided we just needed to cut ourselves some slack during this crazy time.

I’m not so sure I still agree with Quarantine Me.

To a certain extent, yes. Things are different and we shouldn’t demand perfection of ourselves. That’s my number one message to parents who are about to embark on homeschooling or virtual schooling. Opening night always goes bad! I learned this directing plays: it doesn’t matter how great the dress rehearsal was, opening night is going to have kinks! But you don’t stress because no one noticed them as much as you did anyway and now you know what to fix.

But there’s also little things called conviction and accountability.

We can’t discount those. They are to keep us holding our image up to Christ (not our spouses) and be who He intended us to be.

Here are some thought I’ve had…we’ll call this a pop quiz. Which ones require action and which need to go to the trash bin?

1. I’m not studying my Bible or doing as much as my husband is.
2. I’m wasting time watching tv when God has given me a writing talent.
3. I could’ve gotten so much more done during quarantine.
4. God never will use me again b/c I blew it when I should’ve been writing.
5. It doesn’t matter- we can’t change the way the world’s going anyway.

Of all the thoughts above, only #2 was conviction. We are responsible for our time and talents. #1 is guilt, #3 is regret, #4 is false pride and NOT the way God operates, and #5 is lazy and cowardly. NOW is the time for boldness and courage. Even if you reach just ONE person, you’ve created a ripple chain of events.

Remember…take those thoughts of guilt, shame, regret, and false humility and send them to the TRASH. Not the Recycling Bin!