THOUGHTS

April 2, 2020

Okay, I hereby admit I live vicariously by watching my grandkids and the dogs play outside

and via the internet.  My kids are very protective of me, which I really appreciate, and I enjoy my small world very much, thank you.

So here is one of my small moments:

Yesterday was the Great Lizard Hunt.

At first Addie began the day playing with her imaginary friend, "Celia."  Hmm.  Ezra dressed  up in shirt and tie to be her butler.  But then the call of the wild came, and it lured him away to chase lizards.  It occupied him for hours.  Addie joined in.  Then the King of the Lizards showed up, their dad.  I confirmed that was his championship title since boyhood. (Too bad he doesn't have a huge belt buckle to wear to show for it.)  They came came around the back of my house on the great lizard hunt.  I informed them as I sat outside on my porch in the sunshine reading my kindle book that I indeed had a lizard living there.  Sure enough in a tag team response, they caught it.  That was my excitement of the day while doing my best to stay 6' away from lizards and their hunters. 

A small church I've attended many times

in Lake City, Colorado.

But here are some big things...

The pandemic is sobering and has crept into our twin cities with sickness and death.  Sacramento has said that 1/3 of their cases are church related.  Come on people, obey the authorities!  The interesting thing was that they said it wasn't spread necessarily within the church building, but from congregational members meeting outside of the facility.

My nephew's wife reminded me online of a verse, Galatians 5:22

So Christians, you can do and be what we are called to do and be, all within the laws of the authorities.  And, yes, this is hard as we face an Easter that has never looked quite like this. Perhaps your life emphasizes long-suffering (forbearance) and self-control during this shelter in place order.  But you can be loving and show kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness so that others can have joy and peace, being protected from an unseen enemy.  As an immune compromised individual with asthma, I really appreciate the societal controls of our community, state, and nation.  Perhaps no president has had more prayers than ours, at least not since war times.  

A different kind of Easter season:

let prayer cover our country and its leaders.

Christians already know what an unseen enemy of our soul is like in the spiritual battles we face.  Don't let your guard down.  Don't give into temptation and compromise someone else's well-being by going around the current orders given for our protection.  The world has never been through something like this since the 1917 spanish flu epidemic that killed more than World War I across the nations, including my husband's relatives.  But we have the internet to remain in touch and to experience worshipping together with an outreach beyond what our buildings normally hold.  God is working good out of this situation.   Please don't get in His way.