This week as been more than interesting. I had a situation that involved a series of steps which seemed to be almost impossible. I was truly frustrated running into brick walls every where I turned. I made a phone call to one office 34 times in a row one day, never getting through. I went to bed that evening with my mind in a whirl, trying to figure out the problem that I had been working on for 3 days, worrying and fretting. And then I stopped, and thought, oh my goodness. I need to pray about this - so I did. A thought popped into my head "call a different office", actually speicfying which one I should call. Seeing this as Friday, I had to wait until Monday - there was a certain peace over the weekend when another piece of the puzzle popped up - one that could create another road block. On Monday morning I made 2 calls, got wonderful advice, called the previous number, and got through on the 3rd try. After about 5 minutes, problem solved. Now just the last step to be done before all is good. Luckily, one of our daughters is going to follow through on that for us. Why do I always try to solve everything by myself, not realizing that God has the answer - He already has the problem worked out. I just needed to ask Him!!
The pandemic we are experiencing right now is going to change a lot of normals in our lives. We are certainly going to have many new normals. One of them is the fact that more and more folks will be working from home rather than an office. A lot of companies are already preparing fr this. I am sure that for a lot of people it would be a great way to work, but after I began thinking about it (this slow time gives me lots of time to think!), I wonder how that would work in the long run. I would not want to work from home. Think of all the relationships that I would have missed out on - the friendships formed that have lasted for years, the thrill of learning something new from someone else almost everyday, no matter how trivial or mundane. One of the ladies I worked with passed away just recently - I think God for her friendship. She taught me that no matter what, life goes on, life is made to live every day, that doing thing spontaneously was great fun, and there is really is no norm to the way some things are done. I will always remember her. Working from home would have not allowed me this privilege. It may be perfect for others, but I truly believe human interaction is good for a stable life.
Tuesday was a perfect example of right church, wrong pew. I thought we were having Mother's Day quiet celebration for a few of our loyal helpers in the colonias, but, wrong day. It is going to be this coming Tuesday. I made small loaves of cranberry bread for each lady, as well as a blueberry coffeecake (with real maple syrup) for a dessert. Needless to say, the ladies received their treat early as well as an additional treat of blueberry coffeecake. So -- on to baking tomorrow for another try at a dessert. Our produce is slowing down a bit, so on Friday we limited each car to only one box of food for each vehicle. Sometimes folks receive more as they collect it for others, but we had to do this to make sure everyone got something. I felt really sad about this, but realize we need to do this for a bit. We did receive 400# of beans and rice, so will be distributing it this week as a fill in. We just pray that we will have enough to continue this much needed food distribution. Luckily, most of the folks who pick up food know of other places that also provide free food, so hopefully they will continue on to collect more. The ladies always seems to surprise us all with some sort of treat - Friday it was slices of fresh, cold, watermelon. Love these sweet ladies.
Our home church in AR will be having a soft reopening net week - but will still continue online services. I enjoy the online services for now, but still want the fellowship with others in a "normal" church atmosphere. Vance's sermon this morning related to our world today, taken from Hebrews 12:26-29. Vance told of the earthquake in AR a few years ago - a milder one but noticeable for sure.
Earthquakes make you run for solid ground. Today's world is like a huge earthquake - shaking the whole world. Another shaking is coming, the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. the things that we are now experiencing us has shaken u indeed. As Vance so aptly stated "there is a whole lot of shaking going on". (Groan) This can shake our faith but it can be used on a productive way in our lives. God shakes us with things that temporary to show us what is eternal. God shakes us so we can take hold of things that are eternal. What we will learn after this Covid19 outbreak? What will God use to teach us? What is eternal? Hopefully it will reinforce our relationships with God and others. It will be our hope in Jesus. God is using this to work towards greater things. Let this be a time of learning,a time to reevaluate our lives. God will shake us so we won't bake! God wants to invite us into His kingdom. It cannot be shaken. We are experiencing this kingdom now in this time of uncertainty. Jesus Christ is the same a today as He was yesterday and will be forever.He is unshakable. His kingdom is exclusive, though. You have to trust Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior. Be a part of the kingdom that cannot be shaken.
Be safe - practice social distancing, and wash your hands often.
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