So the weather has been unstable where I live. One day I was out on my back deck enjoying the sunshine. The sun was intense and I enjoyed its warmth on my face. All of a sudden the clouds rolled in, and it "poured buckets" for about 10 minutes, stopped and the sun came out again.
Things get unpredictable from minor every day occurrences to major events. Just like it can rain one minute and the next be sunny. We may feel fine one day and the next day we wake up with aches or fever. In recent months, globally, people saw an abrupt change, and much worse than the weather changing. It seemed one day we were shopping, going to work, and doing business as usual, and the next, most everything was shut down. Just like 19 years ago, one day we were flying and doing business as usual. The next, the tragedy of September 11, 2001 happened.
For me personally, I lived through a rather huge change -- the fall of my birth country from democracy to communism. Mind you I was only 10 years old and don't quite remember the minutiae. However, it seemed one day I was going to school as usual. The next, we packed up what we could fit into suitcases along with some gold, U.S. dollars & dried foods, (thanks to the planning on my parents' part!) and left. Within what seemed like only several hours, we left everything behind and boarded a ship headed to America with the aid of the U.S. military and the American Red Cross along the way.
Change happens. Nothing really is for certain. It was Benjamin Franklin who said that there are only two things certain about life: taxes, and death. So do we walk around fearful that something bad is going to happen around the corner? An emphatic - No! Don't invite fear into your life or it will stay! We can react out of fear which leads to irrational decisions that may hurt us or others in the long run, or we can calmly plan to do that which is right. Not all change is bad. Not all change happens all the time. Change can also be good such as when one gets a promotion, or when a company gets a big contract.
I have seen and heard of some pretty ugly human behavior when drastic change happens such as siblings dealing with the parents' estate after they are gone. With the coronavirus situation, many of us experienced the effects of others' panic and hoarding. (We were literally down to 6 rolls of toilet paper at one point with none to be found anywhere for days! LOL) On the flip side, I am so encouraged by how some people not only adjust, but go out of their way to bless others during this time.
First, there is a ministry in the area called Tree of Life that serves people in need. The current pandemic did not stop them, as they continued to help people with food and meals, taking precaution with masks, gloves, and keeping the physical distance. (Sorry, I do not like the term social distancing. To me that's when you distance yourself socially from someone you really don't like -- haha!)
Second, a few of weeks ago, a former supervisor called to check in on me and my husband. Can you believe it -- a former supervisor! Even though I no longer work for him and in that sense no longer benefit him, he still wanted to make sure we were okay. Different friends have checked in with me, as well, to see how I was doing. Lastly, a couple of weeks ago, someone came by with her daughter and drew a rainbow, with a ladybug, and butterfly on my driveway just to bless me! :) These examples show how some people not only adjust to a very different way of living during this pandemic, but go out of their way to express care for others.
They say we learn a lot of things from our parents. One of the things I've learned from mine is resiliency. More on this in a later post. For now, one thing I want to encourage parents with children still at home is to embrace and be flexible with life's normal and sometimes not-so-normal changes. Life can be full of it. It can be a minor thing like the weather disrupting plans for an outdoor picnic. It can be a favorite product getting discontinued. Those are really minor changes. We can look for a new product or be continually annoyed and complain. Kids are like recorders. How we deal with little things or big changes can contribute to shaping how they navigate changes in life as an adult.
If you are struggling with what is going on or with a totally difference situation all together, I hope you find encouragement in this verse:
"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation." Romans 5:3-4
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