I said yesterday that I was going to evaluate changes that this quarantine had produced. I hope you will do the same. Some of the changes I hope to maintain and others I hope will go away. There is only one thing that we have to consider and that is that God has allowed this pandemic to not only come, but to last so that change might occur.
We would probably all have to agree that we had put God on the back burner. We had put so many other things before him. At the least we would have to say that much of our life was out of control. The trip was going faster and faster. The things beside the road were going by so fast I couldn’t get a grasp of what was there and if I wanted to slow down, I couldn’t seem to manage it.
The other day I was talking to my neighbor on the phone. We live out in the country. He was telling me how his wife had commented on how nice it was to hear the kids having so much fun outside late in the evening. I could tell that he was realizing this is what family is supposed to be like. Before every day was so busy that life was out of control. That’s not to say that some of what they were doing wasn’t good. Even the good things were coming and going too fast.
I’m sure that many others like myself are learning what it’s like to be a family; how important that the ones you are close to need to be put first. When we are around a son, daughter or spouse we should give them our undivided attention. If I was present in the physical sense, I was physically or emotionally exhausted from the fast pace. I was mentally some place else—at work or in the middle of a personal crisis.
I hope that by the power of Holy Spirit that when I am with my family I will be 100% present. I am having to be re-aquatinted with the ones I am closest to. I also want to be 100% present when I am with friends, or even strangers.
I am fortunate that I live next door to one daughter & her family. They have 6 kids. It has been nice to see them more. On the other hand, it is hard when my other two daughters & their families are not in the picture because of the quarantine. I will be glad when that changes back. I am sure that you are like me, the thing I dislike and will be glad it changes is not being able to see family, whether it is my own family, or church family or just close friends.
LORD, help me to utilize every moment of every day to glorify Your name. Help me not just Live life, but Give life.
Ephesians 5:15-17. Be very careful how you live. Live wisely. Use every chance for doing good. Do not be foolish, but learn what the LORD wants you to do.
Psalm 39:4-5. Remind me how brief my time on earth is. You made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire life is just a moment to You. Each of us has but a breath.
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