Tag Archives: covid-19

Have you seen the lighthouse?

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WE ARE NOT IN THE SAME BOAT …
I heard that we are all in the same boat, but it’s not like that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Your ship could be shipwrecked and mine might not be. Or vice versa.

For some, quarantine is optimal. A moment of reflection, of re-connection, easy in flip flops, with a cocktail or coffee. For others, this is a desperate financial & family crisis.

For some that live alone they’re facing endless loneliness. While for others it is peace, rest & time with their mother, father, sons & daughters.

With the $600 weekly increase in unemployment some are bringing in more money to their households than they were working. Others are working more hours for less money due to pay cuts or loss in sales.

Some families of 4 just received $3400 from the stimulus while other families of 4 saw $0.

Some were concerned about getting a certain candy for Easter while others were concerned if there would be enough bread, milk and eggs for the weekend.

Some want to go back to work because they don’t qualify for unemployment and are running out of money. Others want to kill those who break the quarantine.

Some are home spending 2-3 hours/day helping their child with online schooling while others are spending 2-3 hours/day to educate their children on top of a 10-12 hour workday.

Some have experienced the near death of the virus, some have already lost someone from it and some are not sure if their loved ones are going to make it. Others don’t believe this is a big deal.

Some have faith in God and expect miracles during this 2020. Others say the worst is yet to come.

So, friends, we are not in the same boat. We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different.

Each of us will emerge, in our own way, from this storm. It is very important to see beyond what is seen at first glance. Not just looking, actually seeing.

We are all on different ships during this storm experiencing a very different journey.

Unknown author

I found this in my Drafts folder today, a message I’d started but never finished. Obviously this was from a post I read a few months ago, though for many life has not returned to normal.

Some people are still struggling or out of work. The additional unemployment money and stimulus checks are long gone. Some people are facing catastrophic health crises not related to, or slowing down for, Covid-19. The hope that we would be back to normal by the time the new school year started is now gone.

I asked friends on an informal poll if they were nervous about the upcoming school year. Do you know which ones said no? The ones who trusted God? HA!  The ones who didn’t still have kids in school! Everyone’s worried. For many, it is ONLY their trust in God that’s keeping them from losing their heads over it.

The post above was written during the early days of quarantine. It still applies today. I wholeheartedly agree that we are all in our individual lifeboats and not on one big ark. But one thing remains….

JESUS is the lighthouse!

 

 

It’s gonna be a bright…bright…sunshine-y day….

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I’m here to tell you that there is light at the end of every dark tunnel. If you can’t see it, it’s either because you have a little farther to go or you’ve stopped in the middle.

I know, I holed up in a little dark alcove for awhile myself.

What makes me mad about that is I was like a rat, headed for the cheese in the same trap that got me so many times before. Yet, I blindly and ignorantly walked into it again.

Riddle: How do you get this author to get her Survivor torch snuffed out?

Answer: Get her sick.

It’s the devil’s go-to method with me and I’m sad to say it works 80% of the time. Maybe 90%.

One day I’ll learn that the joy and peace (and sanity) should RISE WITH a temperature, not go down.

Because after awhile, I’m in a vicious cycle. Am I still sick because I’m feeling so down and out? Or do I feel so down and out because I’m sick?

And this Covid-19 can really put you in a terrible head space: Is this an allergy cough? A corona cough? Who touched the gas pump before me? Does this Bath & Body Works hand sanitizer even kill germs? 

I’ll admit, I’m still a little freaked out. I have loved ones waiting on test results now and I am worried. But I also know that God is in control.

I had a revelation this morning. There are people on Facebook screaming “Come to God now!” “This is His judgment.” “You better turn.” And for the most part, people who believed, still believe. People who didn’t, still don’t. It baffles me.

I don’t know if this is the Lord’s judgment.

I do know this. He knew this was going to happen before it happened. And He can’t be very happy with the state of America. I mean, this is a country founded on Christian beliefs and that’s all but gone now.

So, yeah, maybe I’d be a little concerned and think, “Maybe we should look at this like we are doing something wrong.” But we don’t; none of us ever do.

We point fingers and lay blame and refuse to believe any opinion that’s not our own.

Quite like they did in the Old Testament.

“No, we don’t want to go into a land of milk and honey. We want to go back into bondage.” We are so scared of change and the fear of the unknown that we cling to what’s familiar, even if it is destroying us.

It’s time to let go of our crippling fears and anxieties. It’s time to push through the darkness and find that ray of light. It’s time to stand up and start moving toward that final prize, an eternity with the Savior.

Sick or well, alone or quarantining in a crowded house, rich or poor, essential or not, we ALL need to gravitate toward the hope that is in Christ. Only then will we be completely free.