Masks

I missed my usual post yesterday because I had my mind on other things.  I've spent the last couple of weeks reviewing patterns and fabrics for facemasks. Sunday after my Zoom Bible class and my church's Livestream sermon, I jumped into making a mask for my son. He's the only one in my immediate family going out daily for a job. 

I completed 2 masks yesterday afternoon.  It's a slow process because I'm learning and I'm making a more involved mask for extra protection.  I decided on the model from fabricpatch.net, a fabric shop in the heart of Washington - one of the hardest hit states.  The owner is a retired nurse and has 3 videos explaining "how to' and giving options for materials.

A mask may help the spread of this awful virus, but I know that our true protection comes from the Lord.

Psalm 71:7-8 (NLT) My life is an example to many, because you have been my strength and protection. That is why I can never stop praising you; I declare your glory all day long. 

Sheltering in Place

We've now completed week two of self isolation. As an introvert, I believe it's easier for me than for many others. I do miss seeking my friends, but we talk on the phone and via Facebook. Some people seem to be getting a lot of projects done, but I've worked from home and find myself with very little extra time. I do think in reading a bit more.  

My daughter is adjusting to school from home, but misses her friends too. My son is working with a plumber. (I suppose all of that excess toilet paper will cause problems.) I do hope you'll join me and pray for his protection each day.

I am thankful for what we have: running water, good, safe homes, electricity, ways to communicate, working from home, sunshine, warm weather, etc. The list goes on and on. Americans are so fortunate in this crisis. We have access to doctors, nurses, hospitals, police, rescue personnel, medicine, etc. We are so very blessed.

I Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Be Strong and Courageous

God knows exactly what is happening in our world. I just participated in a Zoom Bible class and watched my church service online. Both were very helpful in calming my spirit. I encourage you to find an online group.

I think there are many lessons I will learn during this season.

• Need vs. Want
• Sufficient vs. Preferred 
• Kindness vs. Selfishness 
• Faith vs. Fear
• Peace vs. Anxiousness 
• Time for things that matter vs. Entertainment 

God spoke this to Joshua as he was about to take over leading the Israelites following the death of Moses.

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

This is powerful for those who are children of God. I pray that all who read this have given their lives to Christ.

And the World Changed

I've learned a new phrase - social distancing. In a week we've gone from hearing about COVID-19 to a national emergency which encourages each person to stay away from large crowds and only venture out as needed. I've already been informed by my child that she is bored, even though most of her weekends consist of staying at home. Our only change was not attending church, but rather watching online. This we did together using Chromecast on our TV. It worked well.

Monday I'm going to attempt working from home all day. It is an experiment to see if we can get all of the pieces working in order to run the office regardless of location. Although instruction has been halted for two weeks, staff members are still required to work and keep the office open. In my opinion, this defeats the purpose of social distancing. I don't want anyone to catch the virus and I honestly don't understand why universities need to stay open to the public when instruction has halted. In this age of technology, why not temporarily use email for all correspondence? 

I also don't want fear to be a driving force. Instead I want to lean on faith. Faith that we should take precautions and let God take care of us as He always has done. President Trump declared today a National Day of Prayer. This is something that was done in Old Testament times and it is up to us to follow suit.

II Chronicles 7:13-14 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 

And also, I leave you with this blessing.

Number 6:24-26 

24 “The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’

A Different Kind of Weekend

My normal weekend consists of house and laundry cleaning, and church. This weekend I decided to mix it up a bit. On Saturday I convinced my BFF and my daughter to join me at a book signing. We went to the square in Gainesville, ate burgers at The Collegiate, then met with the author and his wife at the local bookstore. It was fun to reminisce and catch up on life. 

However my daughter only agreed to go if a shopping trip was included, so she did get a couple of items. She also commented that we had a good day and she was happy that she was actually social on a Saturday. I was thrilled! Perhaps I can get her out in the world more often. :)

Sunday after church my BFF and I trekked around Gibbs Gardens. I had never been and it was wonderful. Definitely a place I will visit again many times this year. I can hardly wait to drag the daughter there for a bit of photography!

Sometimes I get so bogged down in what I need to do that I forget to look up and enjoy the great adventures around me. Doing so is like learning to sing a new song. Just trying something different, I was able to soak up a ton of joy! 

Psalm 33:3 Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy.

Leap Day and Spring Forward

In a span of 8 days, we will have added 24 hours and taken away 1 hour. February 29th (aka Leap Day) was yesterday and next Sunday at 2 am, we will be springing forward to Daylight Savings Time. I'm just amazed sometimes when I sit back and observe how we as humans put so many constraints on time.

An extra day is added every 4 years to 'catch up' to the fact that the span of a year is approximately 365.25 days, based on 24 hour days. It could have been different - we could have a year of 487 days that lasted 9 hours each and there would be no need to add an extra day to catch up. Just think, you could work 9 hours, sleep 9 hours, be off 9 hours, but still work 162 days or 36 weeks a year (if the year had 487 days). Probably not the wisest plan. Good thing I wasn't on that planning committee. :D

So we added 24 hours this week by extending the year by a day, but wait. Let's not be hasty. Someone thinks we need more sunlight in the evening, so let's arbitrarily create a 23 hour day, then have a 25 hour day in about 8 months to balance out the year. Why? Because that's the way it's been done off and on since WWI. Personally I'm not looking forward to it. (Pun intended!)

Regardless of the length of a day, the number of days in a year or our arbitrary counting of those, I'll focus on two things.

Psalm 118:24 This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. 

Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 

Trials

This was a week for one day at a time, one prayer at a time, and one step at a time. It wasn't the most peaceful week, but God's presence was felt in the midst of the troubles. I also felt the love of my friends and family as we prayed through unexpected trials. I know that not every day is sunshine and roses, but every trial comes with resolution and peace if we seek and trust God and his wisdom.

James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 

Abundant Life

I believe I have missed more blog posts in the past 6 months than at any time in the last few years. It's not that I'm winding it down, it just seems that life is ratcheting up. I find it difficult to write when I'm on the road, so I just save up my stories for the next week. Last Sunday I flew to Norfolk, VA for a conference. It was a beautiful area and the weather was wonderful, with temps in the upper 60s. It was unexpected after driving to the airport in Atlanta with a Freezing Fog Warning, temps in the low 30s and 5 inches of snow on the ground at my house. 

The snow had come in to GA on Saturday morning. In between watching the snow fall, doing laundry, and packing, my nephew got married. I was up at 4 the next morning trying to figure out what in the world freezing fog was and if it would be a problem as I drove to ATL. It all turned out just fine, even if I was a little sleep-deprived later that evening. 

I spent a few days visiting with friends from the southeast as we learned lots of new things at the conference. When I landed back in Atlanta on Wednesday, I had left the cooler 45 degree drizzle in Norfolk for the balmy 75 degree heat wave. Good thing I wore layers!

I've taken a few days to regroup and rest. Now today I celebrate my 54th birthday with family, church, steak, and cake! Life is never dull; it is most definitely an abundant life!

John 10:10b I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 

Palindrome Day

Today's date marks a fairly unique occurrence as a palindrome. It's 02022020, the same forward and backward. I love numbers and this one is very cool. It's also Groundhog Day and I just saw a new Super Bowl commercial for Jeep, which recreated some scenes from the movie "Groundhog Day". (I thought it was awesome, even though my friend Jeff is reserving judgement. :D) Overall, it's just a normal day with some quirky features. 

The uniqueness of this day got me to thinking about how God makes every day special and how I can recognize this and make any day stand out. So many times I find myself just trying to get through the day to get to the next thing. I don't think that is the way I should be treating what little time I have on this earth. What could I change to make every day unique, joyful, and memorable? It's kind of like the movie. If I could relive a day, would I change anything? Would I treat people differently? Would I take joy in the day without pushing through it like a steamroller or like someone being lead through a fire swamp? 

Ecclesiastes 5:19-20 As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor - this is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart. 

Oh, to be kept busy by the joy in my heart!

Adventures Together

Last weekend was my daughter's 14th birthday. We did something to celebrate that we had never done before. We went out of town on an adventure. I had a work-related meeting in Savannah the day before her birthday, so I talked her into skipping school and going with me. We left on Thursday and drove down. Friday morning we explored River Street and then headed to Savannah State University. During my meeting, she stayed with the staff of the financial aid office and worked on her homework. Afterward, we were free for the next few days.

I had room reservations on Hilton Head Island with a beachfront view. It was so cold when we arrived, I wasn't sure we would be able to do anything except look out at the ocean. The wind was ferocious and I heard it all during the night. However, I awoke on Saturday morning to the sound the waves in the distance. :)  It was her birthday and she was up 7 a.m., eager to tear into her gifts. (I think that day and Christmas are the only two days each year she will voluntarily get up!)

The day was hers and I was her chauffeur and sidekick: chocolate, chocolate chip pancakes at IHOP, a visit to the Maritime Museum on Port Royal Sound, a search for the perfect Hilton Head sweatshirt, shopping at the Tanger Outlet (where somehow she ended up with two more sweaters), corn dogs and fries, an hour strolling on the beach with temps in the 60s, a birthday cake with Grammy and Pop singing on speaker phone, and an evening watching HGTV. 

It was a great adventure, but we were ready to head back home the next day. The highlight of the trip home was stopping in Athens to have an early supper with my son. In just a few short days, we were refreshed by seeing a new place, playing together, and spending one-on-one time to celebrate.

Romans 15:32 that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. 

Helpers

On New Year's Day, I drove to the store for supplies and my dad rode shotgun. Along the way, I asked him to tell me the best place to have my car's brake pads replaced. The next day he was calling around getting prices for brake pads and rotors. It wasn't long until he volunteered to do the job while I paid for the parts. That was never my intent, but in the end I also knew that no one would do a better job than he would.

He traded cars with me on Thursday and started the process of taking off the wheels and identifying exactly what needed to be done. I was able to help him on Saturday. I don't know much about car repair, but I am a good helper. I hand him tools, move lights, get parts, fetch water, clean up and generally ask too many questions. However, I learned a lot and it made the time pass so quickly. Today I realize that I know how to set the foot pounds on a torque wrench, where to put the jack under the chassis, not to touch the new rotors with bare hands, and that I remember the words to all of the old country songs played on WCON 99.3 from Cornelia.

The best part of being a helper is spending time with the person you are helping. I repeat, the best part of being a helper is spending time with the person you are helping. I bet God thinks the same thing when He helps us.

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

New Year, New Decade, New Je Ne Sais Quoi

It's 2020, the year with multiple meanings. It's the beginning of a new year and a new decade. I think most people would like to toss out the old and press the restart button on a variety of things. Perhaps it's human nature to never be quite satisfied with the status quo. We look back and wish we had done some things differently, wish we hadn't eaten quite so much over the holidays, wish we were in better physical, mental, and spiritual shape, that we had aspired to learn something new, and had organized the house as if we had it all together and had our lives figured out.

The term 20/20 is used to express visual clarity or sharpness of vision. I know that's what I want in everything that I do. Many people choose a word for their year, so I thought I might try that this year. I used the Dayspring.com quiz to answer 7 questions to help me find a word for 2020. Based on my answers, the word was Abide. That's given me a lot to think about. I'm going to write it down and dig into that word and the Word. I'll be looking for visual clarity.

Habakkuk 2:1-3 I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected. Then the Lord answered me and said: "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.