I don’t know about you all, but I did NOT plan on giving up THIS much for Lent. We are in week four of our study, He is Alive from Becky Kiser, and at the same time, COVID-19 has ushered us into social distancing, home school, work at home, eat at home, and in many cases, self quarantine. . It reminds me of the verse, “Many are our plans, but the Lord directs our steps” (Proverbs 19:21). Okay, Lord — What are You trying to teach us?
In the past week or so, my world has become much smaller. I have only been to work and home, but at work, there were only a few people there, and the focus was solely serving food. We did not have church service as usual. My husband went to the store for us once. That was all. I have learned that I have allowed other people’s opinions to crowd my time entirely too much. Because I have only been around essential people, I have to tell you, Mamas: I do NOT miss a great deal of the folks I have to deal with usually. Not. One. Bit. So, when this is over, I believe God is reminding me to remember how good it feels to take the weight of their opinions/looks/comments off of my shoulders.
One thing that struck me from the third week of our study was 1 Peter 2:9: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Did you know Corona means Crown in Spanish? There seems to be a connection here for us. I feel challenged by this verse; instead of focusing on God, I feel like sometimes I am in a contest of who has it worse during the pandemic. I know I have to work from home while homeschooling, but there are others who are on the front lines in the medical field. I find myself more interested in funny memes than teaching my son his identity in Christ. In that moment, I have to extend grace to myself. We have done some dinner devotionals at least!
But, here’s the thing. We can rise above our feelings of defeat with help from each other and the Holy Spirit. We can focus our eyes on the good that is happening. There have been SO many more instances of bonding with my son than in a typical hustle week. We have done devotions at the dinner table and enjoyed so much laughter and snuggles and quality time outside. Has it been perfect? No. Am I still overwhelmed? Yes. But that verse does not say we have to be perfect or unstressed…it just proclaims we are ROYAL. It’s talking about our identity not our behavior.
Lord, I pray Corona helps all of us straighten our crowns as your daughters instead of worrying and hustling at home. So what about you? How has God used the Coronavirus to teach you things about yourself or your motherhood?
Air hugs,
Jo
#Coronavirus2020 #truthformoms #straightenyourcrown