Surviving The Second Covid Variant Wave

Is Groundhog Day upon us? Because if you have been reading the news and the latest information on Covid with its new variants, another fall like last year with shutdowns and mandates may be upon us.  Can your family survive another pandemic season?  I also wonder what position our government will assume? A status of no action with the attitude concerning those who get sick and possibly die, get sick and die?  Or will they grow a backbone and tell the American people what they must do to stop Covid completely?  And if Americans seem not to be able to comply, then mandate it as law?  What am I saying…our government and a backbone?

Ok, enough picking on our government. My groundhog does resemble some of our officials. 

What are you doing right now to buffer yourself, your family, and humanity from another Covid season? I was vaccinated, and I wear my mask when I go out and make a few trips out as possible.  If I can protect someone else by wearing a mask, it is no big deal to me.  Of course, washing hands is an OCD area for me.  It grosses me out when someone does not wash their hands in the bathroom.  Don’t they realize they have “potty germs” on them and then on everything they touch?  Yuk! Washing your hands will definitely save humanity!

Next question, how is your mental health?  Are you able to function every day, or has all of this beaten you down?  If you feel overwhelmed, please seek help.  Whether it is a best friend to confide in, a Pastor, or a Therapist, do not let the circumstances take control of your life!  Ya’ll know me; I go to the Lord.  And some of you would laugh to hear my prayers.  They are not formal, flowery, or repetitive religious prayers.  I envision myself as a child climbing up on my Father’s lap and then laying my head against His shoulder. Snuggling in, I begin to pray. When it is Jesus and me, I see and know my Father as the lamb as He was slain.  The scars on His face and body are ever before me, and I know the price He paid for me.  It makes me very much aware of His love for me. And His reassurance that what I am experiencing today is only temporary gives me the strength and hope to move forward in life.

Of course, when I pray for others, it is different. Because that is when I come before Jesus’ throne, I lie prostrate before Him. It is an audience with the King, and He is The King. I give to Jesus my petitions with His words and promises attached. I humble myself as low as I can and pray fervently for those on my prayer list. Also, I thank Him for answered prayer, even if He did not answer it my way. 

I will pray for you; email me. All prayer is confidential. Prayer is the greatest gift to give and receive! This world needs prayer! Prayer is…

For some, the journey we call life can be extremely tough, while others breeze right on through. And the second wave of Covid variants may be a struggle for you, your family, and your friends.  I have a few suggestions that might help all of us survive and thrive this next year. First, you can set up a “check-in” session by inviting a small group over each week, sitting around a fire, talking, and maybe adding a little prayer. Second, run errands for those who can not or should not go out, have a text chain, spread love, hope, and kindness to as many people as you can during the day. Third, pray for those you see each day and do not know who are homeless and begging for money. And when you begin to feel drained, go somewhere quiet and sit with the Lord.  He wants to love on you too!

I know our world has become uncertain and frighteningly violent.  Which to those of us who study the bible, it is not a surprise.  In the days before Jesus comes to take His church back to heaven, read the book of Revelation, these events will begin to happen. It is how we endure this time that is so important. We can be servants, or we can be served. I want to be the servant! What about you?

Comments are appreciated, vulgarity deleted!

God Bless You!

12 O’Clock Noon

I love to watch classic movies because most are intricate stories. Not just slap some sex, profanity, blow a few things up, and shoot people type of movies, even though they can have the exact attributes. Last weekend I watched a 1949 Gregory Peck war movie called Twelve O’Clock High. The storyline concerned the American bombardiers at the beginning of WWII and the stress mentally and physically they had to endure. Planes, gas, and bombs were limited because our factories just began production on war materials.

And their leaders were also affected because they had to send the men out on dangerous missions without enough supplies and support. These commanders found themselves torn between commanding and caring for their crews. And imagine the young men who had never been in war and not knowing what to anticipate while watching their comrades go down in fiery flames each day.  

Gregory Peck’s group was the group of focus in the movie. At one point, morale and confidence are so low that excuses start to build up as to why they can not fly. Gregory Peck goes to the base’s doctor to report on who was fit to fly the next day. Now Peck is tough, but the doctor has babied the men, and he began to explain about their pseudo colds, etc., knowing most were mental avoidance. To which Peck replies,” Paint them with iodine and mark them for duty.”

Ouch! When I grew up in the sixties, iodine was one of the mainstays of a family’s medicine cabinet. The privilege of medical care was on a needed basis. And a little child did look “painted” with all their scratches and scrapes.

Tough times can test us in every area of life, and even our faith can undergo our scrutiny and doubt. During these difficult times, we need to “paint ourselves with iodine” or “paint ourselves with God’s word” to come out of the fire as pure as gold!

“These [trials] have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:7).

Instead of whining and complaining, bite your tongue, and ask God what to do. Read your Bible so that God may reveal to you what path He wants you to pursue during this time. And each day discover something positive and write it down in a notebook. It is significant to reflect and realize how far God brought you, strengthens your faith!  And always remember, “this too shall pass.”

God Bless You!

God Loves You So Much, that He Wants to be The Navigator of Your Life!

Try to think back to when there were no cell phones, no Garmins, or any other technological advances that appear to make our lives easier.  Some of you may not be able to do that since you were not born then.  But imagine you need directions, instead of your phone, you have to pull out a map, a compass, and know the streets you will be driving down.  Now my dad was great at directions, and he tried to explain to me how most cities were designed using the North, South, East, and West compass points to plan their streets.  He could go anywhere, any town, or city and find his way.  For me, it was a little different.  I am a landmark person.  Tell me to take a left at the library or Chick-Fil-A, and I am okay. And if you want to give me an idea about the location, tell me it is near the Arboretum or the NRC stadium, depending on where I am traveling.

We all have different ways to navigate our lives each day, and it is akin to the way we learn and adapt.  If you are going through a stressful, uncertain period of life, sometimes our navigation signals get all out of sync, and we wind up confused and depressed.  COVID has brought about many of these situations to us and the world, creating extreme loneliness, lovelessness, and depression.  I believe COVID did shine a very bright spotlight on our problems, and it will not allow us to sweep them back into their dark crevices, nor will it go away until we develop a vaccine while finding a different way to thrive with one another.  That is why some marriages are crumbling, and some are not, some people are successfully flourishing, and some are barely surviving.

I do have what I deem as valuable suggestions to help the sunshine a little more each day in your life.  Remember, sunlight is not just light; it is also warm and soothing made by our Creator to warm us when we are cold.

Start by putting God back into the center of your life, your home, and your work environment by reading the best navigational book for life, The Bible.  God loves you and wants you to live a life following His plan for you. He wants to be the lead Navigator steering you through the rough waters and languishing with you when it is smooth sailing. The only way to do that is to read His word and understand His truth.  Never depend on anyone else, not even a religious leader, to tell you what the bible says or does not say.  Read God’s words and press them into your skin, into your soul, like clothes covering your body.

Next is laughter, and laughing is great for the soul! It shakes our bodies around and up and down, helping to break free of those icy chains that grip us. Start your day by finding jokes or cartoons and have a good belly laugh to start your day.  Don’t forget to sing and dance too each day; this way, you exercise your heart, body, and vocal cords!  I love to go around my house singing and dancing, and I  sound like the singer that I am listening to, with my headphones on my ears. Of course, those listening have a totally different opinion.

And know God loves you by reading this paraphrase of  1 Corinthians 13: 4-8.  I found it in Barbara Johnson’s book “Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy.”  If anyone knew tragedy multiple times over and overcoming them, it was Barbara.  Her joy, love for the Lord, and faith in God are still infectious today.  Barbara is in glory now with the Lord, but her books live on!  Read this paraphrase morning and night for one month, and I know you will find strength and purpose in God’s love for you! And you might even turn over the navigation to your life to Him!

Because God Loves Me, He is slow to lose patience with me.

Because God Loves Me, He takes the circumstances of my life and uses them in a constructive way for my growth.

Because God Love Me,  He is for me. He wants to see me mature and develop in His love.

Because God Loves Me, He does not send down His wrath on every little mistake I make, of which there are many.

Because God Loves Me, He does not keep score of all my sins and then beat me over the head with them whenever He gets a chance.

Because God Loves Me, He is deeply grieved when I do not walk in the ways that please Him because He sees this as evidence that I don’t trust Him and love Him as I should.

Because God Loves Me, He keeps on trusting me when at times I don’t even trust myself.

Because God Loves Me, He never says there is no hope for me; rather He patiently works with me, loves me and disciplines me in such a way that it is hard for me to understand the depth of His concern for me.

Because God Loves Me, He never forsakes me even though many of my friends might.

Because God Loves Me, He stands with me when I have reached the rock bottom of despair, when I see the real me and compare that with His righteousness, holiness, beauty, and love.

It is at a moment like this that I can really believe that God loves me.

Yes, the greatest of all gifts is God’s perfect love.

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God Bless You!