Right from the outset, I think you and I have something in common to talk about, no matter where you are on planet Earth. We’ve never faced a pandemic like COVID-19. But here we are, friend. We’re facing it. And my sole purpose in clickety-clacking my fingers across the keys today is to encourage you with a few simple ideas. I hope these practical steps will help you face this thing with bravery and perseverance so that someday you’ll look back and smile, thinking about what important things were forged in your soul in this very hard place.
Neither of us have much experience in this particular area, I know. It’s hard to know what next steps to take. But last year, my eight-year-old, Blake, was in the hospital for a long and heavy seven week period. (Many of you who’ve read here for a while know this already!) Living in crisis mode for an extended period taught a few lessons to my soul — both because of successes and because of great mistakes. So from one human being to another, I’m hoping to impart a little bit of hope and strength and grace to you, out of one life-or-death journey, believing it can speak to another life-or-death journey — the one we’re all facing right now.
I’ve put this advice inside four simple points, and I hope they will be a breath of encouraging fresh air to your soul…
1. Establish a (Temporary) New Normal
One of the greatest things you can do for yourself right now is decide how you are going to live during this unique season. For many of us, the new normal is confinement at home. Isolation is hard. We were created to live in community. Out of love for our neighbors, isolation and helping reduce the spread of this virus is a great choice. For those who are health care workers, we are praying for you. As you may find yourself isolated at a hospital instead of outside of it, I pray you can find a temporary new normal as well. Here are some suggestions for what establishing a routine could look like.
- Get up at the same time every day. Shower and get dressed. Just because you’re not leaving your house doesn’t mean you don’t still have a life to live and work to do. Many people who regularly work from home speak to the benefits of getting dressed and treating their day like a work day, even if the commute is from the kitchen to the home office.
- Exercise. Your body needs this now, like always. Try downloading an app on your phone to guide you through a workout or hit your own home gym if you have one. Exercise will boost your mood, reduce the risk of depression, and mean you don’t develop a COVID-15 during COVID-19.
- Plan your day. This is especially helpful if you have children. {I’ve shared some ideas for all you suddenly homeschooling parents right here.} If you can continue to work from home, schedule the hours where you’ll be doing that work. When is lunch? When is quitting time? Don’t let the hours drag on and blur together. A schedule and rhythm for the day gives peace and order to the souls of the children in our care — but I’m confident it can benefit us adults just as much. Sometimes, when we’re feeling discouraged by the weight of what’s happening in our world, we need a little schedule to tell us what to do, to encourage us to keep going.
“One foot in front of the other” was forged into our souls last year, and it’s great advice. Maybe this is a great time to check in with old friends — schedule some catch-up calls. Maybe it’s time to finish that project you started and shoved in a closet last year. The point is, don’t let your day happen to you. You get to decide what to do with the time you’ve been given.
- Go to Bed at a Reasonable Time. This is the shampoo, rinse, repeat part of the equation. Now is NOT the time to start a bingewatching habit. Go to bed at a reasonable time so that you can get up, exercise, get dressed and live fully into the routine you’re establishing for yourself. Your body needs rest — probably more rest than you were giving it a few months ago. This could be the time to establish a new normal that you’ll want to carry on once the world is back in business.
2. Stay Informed, But Don’t Stay Afraid
When we had no idea whether or not our son was going to survive, we did everything we could to understand as much as we possibly could understand about his condition. We knew what each of those wavy lines meant that moved across the vital signs monitor above his bed. We knew when his ICP’s were getting too high. We watched pulse Oxygen, blood pressure, heart rate and EEGs with fierce affection. With a non-medical educational background, I was swimming in foreign territory, but I learned the waters quickly and began praying very specifically.
Sometimes, though, there was a whisper that came to my soul and taught me something new about trust: Keep Your Eyes Above the Waves. Those six words were a whisper to my heart that spoke volumes. Yes, Blake was in grave danger. Yes, those numbers on that screen mattered. But God was (and is) still on the throne. I had to trust that He had the final say in whether Blake would survive.
It is important for us to know what is going on in our communities. If there is a Shelter in Place, barring some significant internal conviction of the Holy Spirit, it is right for us to obey it. If help is needed in our community, we should be aware and help when and how we are able. The bell curves and bar graphs will continue to fluctuate like waves across our screens. More people are contracting this virus. More people are dying. We must come to a place where we are certain in our hearts that the voice that spoke and calmed the Sea of Galilee can speak and calm the waves crashing around our world right now. We will trust Him and we will pray for Him to do exactly that, and be glorified in all of this.
3. Live On, and Live With Gratitude
If you’re reading these words, you are still here. You still have breath in your lungs and a life to live. Don’t stop living this one precious life you’ve been given. We learned this in our own forty-eight-day fire last year: every hard place is also an opportunity. We grew closer as a family. We experienced this incredible wrapping-around-us love from our community that was unlike anything we’d ever felt before. And we felt the nearness of God — as He truly does come close to those who are weary and heavy-hearted, burdened and facing hard places. And, as incredulous as it sounds to say it, there are precious moments from that season that we look back on with fondness and even miss, now that they are in the rear-view mirror.
If you see this season as an opportunity, and you choose to hold tight to the hand rails, trusting God to bring you safely through this roller-coaster ride, you might find gifts in unexpected places. We are losing loved ones, and it is heavy. It is right to grieve. It is right to feel sad. This is not an encouragement to force yourself into unrealistic emotions. But it is a challenge to remember to keep living. To trust the sun will shine again. To remember this season is not forever.
You can live this out practically by cooking good meals. Enjoy the loved ones that may join you in isolation. Try something new that you might continue to do when all this has passed, like watching a cooking class or learning to identify different species of birds. Try learning a new language or try your hand at calligraphy or watercolor. The key ingredient is to look for the gifts. Give thanks when you hear a bird chirping outside. Give thanks for the food you have on your table. Give thanks for the loved ones you have nearby, or the ones you can communicate with thanks to technology. And give thanks for that tech!
4. Choose to Believe ‘It is Well’ — No Matter What
Last, I’m reflecting on one more moment in my journey last year that built strength into my soul and gave me peace for the journey. Close to two weeks into our hospital journey, I was pacing the halls trying to articulate something to a friend on the phone. I came to this conclusion. “I have to come to a place in my soul where I’m not putting my hope in Blake surviving this. I have to put my faith in the goodness of God, no matter what.” Was I going to pray like crazy for our son to be healed? Absolutely. But I also just felt I couldn’t live in this limbo, I needed to get to a place in my soul where I could say, “Lord, I’m going to trust you — No Matter What. I believe You are good. I believe I will see Your goodness here. Somehow, You will make this good. I won’t stop loving You or following You. No. Matter. What.”
If you are a believer, I want to encourage you to find a place in your soul to say the same thing. Goodness is in the very character, the very nature of God. There is brokenness in this world, yes. There has been ever since the Fall. But He is always in the business of redeeming. He is always in the business of making broken things beautiful.
Friends, this is indeed a hard place. It is hard to live in uncertainty. It is hard to live not knowing what tomorrow will bring. But Corrie Ten Boom put it so eloquently when she said,
Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
We truly never know what tomorrow will bring. But we should never stop believing in the God who does.
xCC
I sure hope this was an encouragement to you today! Could you use some more encouragement during this crazy pandemic? If so, you can subscribe and never miss my (weekly) posts by clicking right here. I’ll do a happy dance, and you’ll get encouraging words in your inbox once a week! (I’ll also send you an awesome Meal Plan Step-by-Step Guide… Definitely a win/win! Hint: I Instant Pot like nobody’s business.
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Well said