What Do We Call This?

Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

I’m not sure what the best adjective to describe this week would be!  I’ve bounced between wanting to hide in a closet  and not come out until it’s over and wanting to glue my face to social media so I don’t miss a thing.  Of course, both are a really bad idea so in my search for balance I’ve come across some really great stuff.  I’ve had some new experiences, a chance to laugh and lots of time to pray.  Here are some highlights from week one of whatever we’re going to call this time.

*I went to Mass in my living room for the first time.  I love daily mass and now all I have to do is turn on the TV or jump on FaceBook and I’m there. I’m so grateful for the priests who are doing so many creative things to reach out and draw us together in prayer.  I’ve been to Mass with three different priests this week and once I even went in my pj’s…that’s a first!

*I found live stream Eucharistic Adoration from more than a dozen different churches and chapels.  If I could earn frequent flyer miles for all the churches I’ve traveled to this week I might have enough miles to fly to Kalamazoo.

*I have loved hearing stories about families finding creative ways to connect and survive all their togetherness.  I’ve also loved the stories of those who are completely real and admit they’re just trying not to clobber each other.  Not all families are peacefully putting together 1000 piece puzzles…be patient, we’ll figure it out!

*Not everyone was cut out to be a teacher so thank you to the dozens of homeschool moms who are helping the newbies find their way.  I saw one “never wanted to be a teacher” parent asking for advice on getting a student transferred out of her class and another asking if they could be fired for drinking on the job…again, be patient, we’ll figure it out!

People are sharing food and shopping help and InstantPot recipes like champions and it’s fun to see because we all need to love each other a little more these days. Sitting in the airport last weekend, days before any of this happened,  I stumbled across a blog written by a Christian missionary in Wuhan China who was writing about their quarantine.  She shared her journey and stated that the first objective was to keep her children from strangling each other.  As the weeks went on, she discovered sights and sounds and experiences that only the quiet could bring.  She talked about peace and prayer and lessons too many to count.  She said it took a while to disconnect before they could find beautiful ways to re-connect.  As I look back on that blog I get the chills that what seemed like such a crazy read a week ago, is now our reality.  

As we wade our way through this first week and get ready for the ones to come, there are a few things that might help.  First, we may just need to mourn the loss of normal.  It’s ok to be mad that we’re restricted, it’s ok to be sad and miss things, it’s ok to be angry at the people who think they are bigger than this and aren’t following the rules. All of it needs to be felt and acknowledged so go ahead and stomp, cry, yell and then take it all to the foot of the cross and ask Jesus to bring you peace and contentment.  Second, we need to be patient!  Lots of folks now have a new career.  We’ve become teachers and cooks and entertainment engineers and we’re learning how to do all this while working from home in a noisy house.  It’s going to take some time to settle down and give everybody a chance to get used to each other.  And the third thing, we have to remember to pray for the grace to use this time well. As nutty as this all is, God will bring great good. We have a chance to slow down, re-set and re-balance even if we didn’t know we needed it.  Keep sharing your stories, keep sharing your ideas and mostly lets keep praying for each other and don’t forget to go to Mass in your living room.

A Seed To Plant:  Pray about the three things in the last paragraph and pick the one you need to focus most on this week.​

Blessings on your day!