COVID-19
LOL
That's about all I have to start out with ... LOL ... I can't really begin to to start talking about the past year or so in our lives here in Bay County. Yes, we had a category 5 hurricane hit our city. It was upgraded from a Cat 4 to a Cat 5...it was catastrophic here in our area. Many people lost their homes, students lost their schools, congregations lost their centers for worship, and many even lost their peace and lost their hope....or it seemed that way anyway. Slowly, we've begun building our way back to a sort of "normal" here in our area.....
Now, here we are again....18 months later and now we are hit with COVID-19 (a respiratory virus that has spread like wildfire across the WORLD). THE WORLD ya'll...I've never in my life seen anything like this...(HOWEVER, I said the very same thing after Hurricane Michael). We are quarantined....in our homes. Once again, our students are not able to go to school in a traditional way. We are quarantined from our churches, beaches, friends, families....it's crazy! We can't shop, unless we need groceries. We can't go to restaurants, unless it's take-out. We can't gather together as believers in groups of more than 5 or 6. We can't have friends or loved ones over to our homes because of any risk that would exist for those that are most vulnerable. It's seriously, absolutely insane. I've equated this to something like the zombie apocalypse. ~ "The last remaining uninfected person is walking alone in the streets, armed and hunting for food...not daring to go into the shadows for fear that the undead will attack at any moment" ~ Think about it...it's weird...but sort of a little true!!
We've been quarantined and pushed away from our churches and schools and jobs for like 5 weeks or something like that. Everything is virtual...church, school, work, choirs, weddings, Bible studies...the list goes on and on. My own children are struggling just not being around people. They're asking to go back to school (I had to pull myself off the floor and clear my ears after hearing that one for the first time). Personally, I am missing so much interaction with the people that I love. I can't see my parents (even though they were going to visit during Easter and had to cancel). I can't worship corporately with my people together lifting my voice together with those who love Jesus. I can't go to Target and buy things I don't need. I can't go sit in a restaurant and enjoy some good fast food. I can't even go to the beach and be near the water!!! Goodness, gracious.....Now, some of those things sound a little silly, but it's still true and it's still horribly strange.
After saying much of this, I am reminded that this is not something that should have been strange to me. Scripture says that the Earth will groan for the return of our Lord. He is coming back...wars and rumors of wars, pestilence, disease, famine....these are just the "birth pains" of our world crying out for the return of the One who will make all things new! Scripture told me that this was going to happen!!!
So how am I responding?
How serious am I about getting the Word out to those that don't believe?
How many times am I telling people about Jesus?
How urgent do I find the times?
How many times have I opened my mouth and allowed Jesus to come out??
All good questions....but more than that...good self-reflection. How serious am I to get the Gospel out? I know people that are not believers. I work with people who are not believers. My heart breaks for these people.
So, what's your view? Is this just one more "hurdle"? Is this just one more thing in this time that we live in? Is this just a "sign of the times"? What's your view of this whole COVID-19 thing?
That's about all I have to start out with ... LOL ... I can't really begin to to start talking about the past year or so in our lives here in Bay County. Yes, we had a category 5 hurricane hit our city. It was upgraded from a Cat 4 to a Cat 5...it was catastrophic here in our area. Many people lost their homes, students lost their schools, congregations lost their centers for worship, and many even lost their peace and lost their hope....or it seemed that way anyway. Slowly, we've begun building our way back to a sort of "normal" here in our area.....
Now, here we are again....18 months later and now we are hit with COVID-19 (a respiratory virus that has spread like wildfire across the WORLD). THE WORLD ya'll...I've never in my life seen anything like this...(HOWEVER, I said the very same thing after Hurricane Michael). We are quarantined....in our homes. Once again, our students are not able to go to school in a traditional way. We are quarantined from our churches, beaches, friends, families....it's crazy! We can't shop, unless we need groceries. We can't go to restaurants, unless it's take-out. We can't gather together as believers in groups of more than 5 or 6. We can't have friends or loved ones over to our homes because of any risk that would exist for those that are most vulnerable. It's seriously, absolutely insane. I've equated this to something like the zombie apocalypse. ~ "The last remaining uninfected person is walking alone in the streets, armed and hunting for food...not daring to go into the shadows for fear that the undead will attack at any moment" ~ Think about it...it's weird...but sort of a little true!!
We've been quarantined and pushed away from our churches and schools and jobs for like 5 weeks or something like that. Everything is virtual...church, school, work, choirs, weddings, Bible studies...the list goes on and on. My own children are struggling just not being around people. They're asking to go back to school (I had to pull myself off the floor and clear my ears after hearing that one for the first time). Personally, I am missing so much interaction with the people that I love. I can't see my parents (even though they were going to visit during Easter and had to cancel). I can't worship corporately with my people together lifting my voice together with those who love Jesus. I can't go to Target and buy things I don't need. I can't go sit in a restaurant and enjoy some good fast food. I can't even go to the beach and be near the water!!! Goodness, gracious.....Now, some of those things sound a little silly, but it's still true and it's still horribly strange.
After saying much of this, I am reminded that this is not something that should have been strange to me. Scripture says that the Earth will groan for the return of our Lord. He is coming back...wars and rumors of wars, pestilence, disease, famine....these are just the "birth pains" of our world crying out for the return of the One who will make all things new! Scripture told me that this was going to happen!!!
So how am I responding?
How serious am I about getting the Word out to those that don't believe?
How many times am I telling people about Jesus?
How urgent do I find the times?
How many times have I opened my mouth and allowed Jesus to come out??
All good questions....but more than that...good self-reflection. How serious am I to get the Gospel out? I know people that are not believers. I work with people who are not believers. My heart breaks for these people.
So, what's your view? Is this just one more "hurdle"? Is this just one more thing in this time that we live in? Is this just a "sign of the times"? What's your view of this whole COVID-19 thing?
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