None the less, with all of this social distancing that's currently going on, I've found myself with more time on my hands, meaning more time to put out some (hopefully) quality content.
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| View from the side of the I-95, NC. |
Honestly, this whole pandemic has been kinda tough for me. Don't worry - I'm healthy and safe and very thankful for that, but at the same time, I've had a hard time processing everything surrounding it.
I'm still away from home, living in the house with the students I've been going to school with this year - we'd all already been exposed to each other by the time the pandemic blew up, so if one of us goes down, we'll all go down together. At this point, we've entered into our second week of quarantine/isolation/social distancing.
Honestly, social distancing in and of itself hasn't actually been that bad. And whenever it does seem to feel that bad to me, I remind myself that the majority of coffee shops, stores, malls, businesses, or anything else that I'd be wanting to go out in public for are closed, and people are mostly all social distancing as well. So I am not alone.
What has been the hardest for me throughout COVID-19 is the whole concept of being a Christian during this pandemic. And let me expand on what exactly I mean by that.
The church that I work for - along with many others - have switched from physical services to livestreams for the foreseeable future. Listening to the livestream sermons these past two Sundays have convicted my heart and challenged me. My church's pastors have been talking about how we can be spreading God's love and the Gospel during this time, sharing with others that as followers of Christ, we have an eternal hope in God, and we trust in the Lord, knowing that all of this uncertainty and craziness is in His hands. I feel like I haven't been very good at that.
I know that I can nod in agreement on a Sunday morning, saying amen and amen because I know that I'm a Christian and I'm not questioning my faith in God, but in my heart I've been far more caught up in questions like "How long will we be social distancing for?", "When can I go back to work?", "Will I be able to go home to my family for Easter?" and so on, as opposed to trusting in God's sovereignty throughout this pandemic. While my faith isn't in question, it's the quantity and depth of my trust and reliance on God that has been wavering, here and there.
My church's campus had a leader's meeting via video call last week, and while the pastor was praying at the end of the meeting, he said something that I wrote down and it has stuck with me ever since:
No one.
Except for God. Because nothing is new to Him. And that's what is bringing me comfort through this. That is what's bringing me hope, and keeping me going on this Day Eleven of GCBI North Quarantine/Social Distancing/Isolation. While I agree that it's true that Christians can walk through this pandemic being a light in the darkness to others, I think Christians should also be able to admit that our earthly humanness can sometimes lead us to ask questions, and to feel afraid and uncertain - even in light of our knowledge that God is in control of yesterday, today, tomorrow, Coronavirus, and everything else that is to come in the future.
When I wake up every morning in this pandemic and I am healthy, I thank God and know that without the faith that I have in Him, I wouldn't be able to face these seemingly unending days of social distancing even half as well as I am... And sometimes I can feel like I'm hardly facing them well. But the Lord and His comfort are my strength.
Here are a couple of songs that have been encouraging to me recently:
-The Blessing: Spotify, YouTube (the song starts around 0:50)
-Sparrows and Lilies: Spotify, YouTube
I'm still away from home, living in the house with the students I've been going to school with this year - we'd all already been exposed to each other by the time the pandemic blew up, so if one of us goes down, we'll all go down together. At this point, we've entered into our second week of quarantine/isolation/social distancing.
Honestly, social distancing in and of itself hasn't actually been that bad. And whenever it does seem to feel that bad to me, I remind myself that the majority of coffee shops, stores, malls, businesses, or anything else that I'd be wanting to go out in public for are closed, and people are mostly all social distancing as well. So I am not alone.
What has been the hardest for me throughout COVID-19 is the whole concept of being a Christian during this pandemic. And let me expand on what exactly I mean by that.
The church that I work for - along with many others - have switched from physical services to livestreams for the foreseeable future. Listening to the livestream sermons these past two Sundays have convicted my heart and challenged me. My church's pastors have been talking about how we can be spreading God's love and the Gospel during this time, sharing with others that as followers of Christ, we have an eternal hope in God, and we trust in the Lord, knowing that all of this uncertainty and craziness is in His hands. I feel like I haven't been very good at that.
I know that I can nod in agreement on a Sunday morning, saying amen and amen because I know that I'm a Christian and I'm not questioning my faith in God, but in my heart I've been far more caught up in questions like "How long will we be social distancing for?", "When can I go back to work?", "Will I be able to go home to my family for Easter?" and so on, as opposed to trusting in God's sovereignty throughout this pandemic. While my faith isn't in question, it's the quantity and depth of my trust and reliance on God that has been wavering, here and there.
My church's campus had a leader's meeting via video call last week, and while the pastor was praying at the end of the meeting, he said something that I wrote down and it has stuck with me ever since:
"While this is new to us, nothing is new to God."Within the past few weeks, I've heard different people say countless times that they have absolutely zero experience with living life through a pandemic. Saaame. Which is why I've said that at twenty-three years old, this has to be the strangest time I've found myself living through. I love to plan things, but I can't right now.🤪 All I know is that I am required to stay in this house for the "foreseeable future", whatever that's supposed to mean, and however long that's supposed to be - who knows?
No one.
Except for God. Because nothing is new to Him. And that's what is bringing me comfort through this. That is what's bringing me hope, and keeping me going on this Day Eleven of GCBI North Quarantine/Social Distancing/Isolation. While I agree that it's true that Christians can walk through this pandemic being a light in the darkness to others, I think Christians should also be able to admit that our earthly humanness can sometimes lead us to ask questions, and to feel afraid and uncertain - even in light of our knowledge that God is in control of yesterday, today, tomorrow, Coronavirus, and everything else that is to come in the future.
When I wake up every morning in this pandemic and I am healthy, I thank God and know that without the faith that I have in Him, I wouldn't be able to face these seemingly unending days of social distancing even half as well as I am... And sometimes I can feel like I'm hardly facing them well. But the Lord and His comfort are my strength.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer... For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will deliver us again." {2 Corinthians 1:3-6, 8b-10}
Here are a couple of songs that have been encouraging to me recently:
-The Blessing: Spotify, YouTube (the song starts around 0:50)
-Sparrows and Lilies: Spotify, YouTube
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