“Where do people put such things when they live by Plan? Our entire plan is simply Miscellaneous.” -Gladys Taber, Stillmeadow Seasons, 1950
Last Sunday was our first time back in a building to gather and worship for church since March of this year. I refer to that time as “2020 B.C.” as in Before Coronavirus.
Guided by our pastor and staff, we were properly spaced in family or couple groups, masked up and elbow-bumping our hellos to one another. It was….. weird. And it was somehow wonderful at the same time. Why? Because we were together again with our brothers and sisters, standing in the same room with live music. No more screens with live streaming church services…the body of Christ was re-membered–put back together again.
But yes, it was weird. Not the church part, but the whole year part.
For instance, how is it almost July?
It seems like 2020 should only have two months–January and June. Or better, just two parts–Then and Now. The plans in my Daytimer were thankfully in pencil (I’m old school like that) and erased easily enough. But instead of checking off or crossing out events and tasks, January through June just became one gaping hole.
Weeks have turned into months, days are jumbled together in no particular order. I wake up nearly every morning and wonder, “Now is it Tuesday or Friday?” Without Sundays set aside to be in fellowship and worship, weekly anchors that held my life in place disappeared almost overnight.
Yes, there has been little to plan on in these days of #coronavirus. Facts change overnight, what was for sure and for certain and familiar has vanished. I have been forced…. goaded? nudged? into facing the one fact that remains–God’s word is the only anchor I can count on. His truth centers me, His spirit fills me and His daily faithfulness in the world around me has continued to save me.
I am forever grateful that this pandemic and isolation came when Spring in our corner of the world was just waking up. Now here we are in the thick of Summer and flowers and trees are lush and vibrant, my potato vines are flourishing, the bees are busy in the lavender. Life continues in God’s creation whether there’s lockdown or not. You can’t quarantine nature, that is for sure.
The nudges I feel in this season were summed up beautifully the other morning when I read in Psalm 143 during my quiet time.
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Psalm 143:8
I so wish I could actually make plans in my Planner. That I knew what was going to take place in the next month or two. But the Holy Spirit is continuing to remind me that we are only given one day at a time and our days, whether we acknowledge it or not, belong to God.
I can’t think of anyplace safer to be right now than listening and looking into the coming year one day at a time. That is God’s saving grace.
Tell me, what’s saving your life right now? I’d love to hear in the comments.
If I didn’t live with my best friend (my husband!), if FaceTime, Facebook, email, and blogs didn’t exist for keeping in touch (regularly and conveniently) with others, if a friend wasn’t working on a novel for which I’m providing feedback, the isolation of the last 3 1/2 months would have been very difficult. I’m also enjoying long, leisurely quiet times–on the deck when the weather cooperates. That’s my favorite time of day. These are the things that are saving my life.
Oh Nancy, praise God for life-sustaining connections, both virtual and in real life! And outside on the deck in the summer…. such a gift. I appreciate you, friend.
And I, you, Jody! SO thankful that circumstances permitted us to meet in person in 2015!
Ahh Jody, picture this random ADD woman who hasn’t settled on a cute planner for decades, because I’d probably get tired of it. HA! I did buy a Happy Planner. It was so pretty. time for a new thing! So how do we think that went!
My Portland OR kids were going to come this summer….then they didn’t know .. . . .then they probably weren’t . . . . then they said they are, but even though it is in my computer calendar, I am holding it loosely. it’s been TWO years since we have ALL been together. sigh. It could be another year.
I have watched you enjoying your new Grandbaby – sounds like such a miracle. You have made me smile a lot!
Oh Carol, I am ALWAYS choosing a different way to organize my days–variety is the spice of life, indeed. I do so hope your kids make it for a visit. We will all be together–my kids, their spouses and all the children, plus new baby Mary Becca–next week for my husband’s 75th birthday. It will be a Christmas card photo op for sure. Thanks for reading friend.
What’s saving my life right now? Accepting the quiet, leaning into Jesus and talking with Him in a new, intimate way. Quiet time has taken on a whole new meaning ~ REALLY quiet. Becoming content ‘to be quiet’, His voice is more clear, His revelation in the Scriptures more vivid, having a ‘running conversation’ every morning, it’s a two way thing, really. I’ve been committed to 5 minutes of complete silence every morning. At first, I confess, I checked the clock. Not anymore, my times of silence have brought revelation, joy, and smiles. Have you ever counted the different shades of green? I have because silence has gifted me with new eyes to see what I had been too busy to see before. Five minutes of silence can get away from you, zip lining you right into an hour, then two hours, then…you get the picture! So it’s joy filled silence that’s saving me everyday.
Oh Jude, you speak truth! Finding the quiet to listen is such a gift. And slowing down to notice green….. I love that image.
Thanks so much for your presence here and in my life. xo
What is saving me this season?…two things:
1. Washing in the water with his Word (Eph. 5,26) – really old text but still very true. I feel like a bird that finds an outdoor bird‘s bath and lands in the middle, dipping my head in, letting it wash over me, drip into my pores, splash around and get the under parts that I can‘t even see but feel they are dirty…put in modern context: meditating and reading and contemplating on God‘s Word in the Bible. Making and taking time to soak and let it sink in to deeper levels.
2. Praying in Unity with the saints. Community prayer…not easy with lockdown and Corona…but there are wonderful, creative ways to make it happen and there is a newness to it. A sense of privilege and a sense of urgency that breathes new life into me when I get the chance to hear Jesus in the prayer of another or see someone touched by Jesus through my prayer.
Oh dear Anna Marie, thank you so much for that metaphor of the bird and the bird bath. I love that phrase about the washing by the water of the Word, having just a read a similar take on it in Titus Chapter 3. Isn’t God making us grateful for the smallest things these days? Thank you for chiming in here, I appreciate your presence.