Thoughts . . .

I keep writing novels on Instagram and Facebook. I finally decided I should just hop on here and write it all out. But I’m having trouble bringing my thoughts to one concise point, and I really should be planning for my kids being out of school indefinitely (pray for all the mamas . . . we love our kids, but pray for us), so the bullet points:

First some context for those that don’t know us in real life:

• We live in Texas just outside the Austin-Metro area. Our town is “rural-ish” but not really. There are no COVID-19 cases in our immediate area (our little city), but there are cases in neighboring cities, towns, and counties. We, and pretty much everyone else, travel throughout Central Texas on a daily basis. The only way to stop the spread is to stop unnecessary traveling. But we will likely see cases here really soon.
• My husband is a realtor/broker, and we own a real estate company. He deals with people, from all over Texas and quite a few from out of state, all day, everyday. He will have to continue to work as needed . . . at least on a limited basis. He also is the youth pastor at our church. We felt strongly that we needed to stay home on Sunday, and we did. We are not limited to worshipping God within the walls of a church building. Nor is deciding to stay home giving in to fear. The kids and I, other than absolutely necessary appointments and grocery pick up, will be hunkering down for the foreseeable future.
• Our family is healthy. We are not considered high risk, but our youngest is adopted from an Eastern European Orphanage. She was severely malnourished when we adopted her over four years ago and had some concerning irregularities in her bloodwork which, thankfully, stabilized over time. But because of her health history and also because her mental and emotional well being is extremely important, we think it’s very important to use wisdom when it comes to exposure for her and us.

And now my thoughts:

• I’m, surprisingly for me, not anxious or afraid. I don’t take any credit for that. I’ve found in the most intense moments of my life the Holy Spirit has brought me peace that matches that intensity. I have felt very strongly, in the past few weeks and particularly, in the past few days, about certain things, and I’ve made those feelings known. I firmly believe they are not my own thoughts or feelings, but the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I think we need to take the time to seek God for both direction and wisdom as well as protection and a swift end to this.
• I’ve heard a lot of things the past week . . . “this is all just fear mongering” . . . “the government just wants to keep us under its thumb” . . . “this is the start of government control” . . . “I have faith. I’m not afraid. I’ll do what I want” . . . the list goes on . . . but serious “face palm” to all of it. I do not, for a second, believe this is some sort of crazy plot to take over our lives. I believe it is what it is . . . a virus, that, while definitely not as bad as it could be, is plenty serious and dangerous for many. I believe you can most definitely have faith while operating in wisdom.
• We have friends and family here and around the country that are high risk. We feel a strong sense of responsibility to protect them.
• Stop hoarding and stockpiling. For the love people, there are those that cannot buy it all and need stuff. Have some compassion and common sense. I’ll be picking up our weekly grocery order tomorrow. We have staples in our house. I keep our pantry pretty well stocked because . . . well two kids that eat their body weight in food. But I don’t have months’ (or even a month’s) worth of all the things. Still, we’ll figure it out if we can’t find it, but no one needs 36 packs of Ramen. Just sayin’.

I’ve thought a lot about past generations in the last few days. We’ve all heard mention of The Greatest Generation . . . the generation that fought and won WWII. We’ve heard of the sacrifices made of family being sent off to war, of children buried in graves overseas, of rationing, not for weeks, not for months, but for years. We’ve heard of those that stayed back on the home front to keep life moving forward. My grandparents were children but not babies during this time. My husband’s grandfather was a pilot in WWII. The sacrifices made by those at that time are why we are able to work from home today. They are why we are so used to having everything we want and endless entertainment at our fingertips. We are, in large part, used to living a very comfortable existence here in America. Inconveniences do not sit well with us, but we are going to be inconvenienced over the next few weeks and months. We are going to miss out on some things. Let’s act in a way that would make past generations proud. Let’s be willing to sacrifice a little for the good and protection of others. We will get through this. But how it looks on the other side greatly depends on how we act and respond today.

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-4

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:4-9

And coming soon to a blog near you . . . a little quarantine comic relief because we are all going to lose our minds if we don’t laugh. And if I can get my act together and actually do something productive, I’ll let you know how we’re structuring our days . . . maybe . . . maybe not . . .

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