"1" G Name It

I need a place to process and a place to take all the input and output.

I need a place to say this quarantine is a GIFT...yep that is actually the word that I first hear from people when they are choosing to see the blessing in it.

It's a gift to have time together.
It's a gift to have time for projects.
It'a a gift to lean into slower pace, more meals at home, and so many less trips to the store.

But I need a place to say for all the gifts there are BURDENS too. There are businesses dying. There are people dying. There are people who so desperately need human connection and they are only able to do it through a screen. There are people who will need years to recover from this and will be effected forever in ways they don't even know yet.

And so I grieve for all that is lost right now because I know that it isn't just that I should be on a an airplane right now coming home from a cruise. It's about that we all have losses in this that we have to face and NAME so that we can then grieve and move on. This is what Emily P. Freeman says and I think she is stinking right. I think there is something so powerful on naming BOTH. I'm sad that Micah isn't swimming. I'm sad that Aidan is at at Christian school that we are paying for him to be a part of that community and he has to do it online. I'm sad that Family Camp will be different. I'm sad that I can't go out on a date to Marinos or out with friends. I'm sad that the ocean is out there and I can't be in it. I'm sad that Micah got the news that he isn't moving up to Senior Prep yet. And while I know these sadnesses are temporary they are real right now.

But I love that I can hear the sounds of...

Jeremy playing guitar and singing praises.
Aidan playing video games with Andrew.
Micah talking on the phone with his friends and building a Friends Lego set.

And the sound of hope and peace.  I love that and I can name that too.

So that's where I'm at on 8:29 on 3/29/2020 on a Sunday night after Spring Break in quarantine because of Covid-19. And tomorrow at 8:29 pm I will name something else, but for today I can name that God is good. Jesus is my Shepherd. The Holy Spirit will comfort.

And even if we feel that "we are walking around the walls for 6 days aimlessly" just as the Israelites did BEFORE they knew how the story ended...and wondered what the heck they are doing, I know we can have hope that on that "7th day" the walls will fall down and there will be victory.

I can't name what day we are in today of the 6 day walking around the walls, but I know it's not the 7th and so until it is I will name my hope in Christ and trust His word and His truth that passess all understanding.