The Fight Is Bigger Than You Think

The Fight Is Bigger Than You Think!

It feels like we are all in this battle against this tiny, yet powerful molecule which can cause us to get really sick.  I think most people would define winning your individual battle in this way:  

1. Avoid catching coronavirus, or

2. Recover if you do catch coronavirus. 

But I think it is MUCH bigger than this.  I think corona can win in some other pretty significant ways too.

• If you come out of this season, physically unhealthier than when it started.  I think people are choosing to cope with the stress by turning to unhealthy things: junk food, alcohol, the couch to name a few.  I know we don’t have access to things like gyms and sports.  I know we have more downtime.  I know my kitchen with my favorite foods is steps away from my current office.  But it all comes down to choices that we make, literally hundreds of times every day.
• If you didn’t deal with the anxiety.  Face it, we were all at least a little bit shaken by this.  Maybe it had direct impacts on your life, maybe it was a huge loss or lots of little losses, maybe it was just a daily feeling of insecurity and fear of the future.  The most important question is ‘What did you do about the anxiety?’  Did you let it cripple you and basically shut out the world?  Did you ‘suck it up’ because others probably had it worse than you?  Did you squash it with unhealthy habits? (see #1)  OR….Did you identify what you were feeling and process through it?  Did you talk about it with others who love you?  Did you talk to God about it?  If the anxiety was really big, did you seek out professional help?
• If you didn’t take advantage of some unique opportunities.  Here is a list of just some of the opportunities that might have come your way:

1. More time with your immediate family
2. More time to do things like read, resume or start a new hobby, etc.
3. More $$.  If your income was not impacted, chances are that your spending went way down.
4. More needs around you

Soooo, basically you have more time and more money.  And you are surrounded by people who are struggling either emotionally or financially.  You have a unique opportunity to love and serve people like you have never loved and served them before!  

• If you didn’t spread hope.  Some things have spread even quicker the past weeks than Corona and those things are rumors, false facts, fear and panic.  Right now, people are listening more…to the news, to press conferences, to social media and to each other.  When people heard you speak or read your words, did they hear fear or hope?  As Christians, we are carriers; not of a disease, but of the greatest hope of all time!  During this season, people were literally starving for hope.  Did you give it to them?

I believe this is all going to end eventually.  Many parts of it will fade from our memories.  2020 will be that year when for the whole world, time was basically paused.  But for you, who won?  Did you REALLY beat the virus?

HELLO 2020!

 I am not typically a resolution girl.  Too many failures in my 53 years I guess.  But there is something that I love about buttoning up a year and opening the GIFT of a brand new one.  I love the moments of looking back and reflecting….being thankful, letting things go, celebrating, grieving.  And then I love the idea of a new beginning!  A chance to start fresh and improve.  A year is like a present from God that you get to open at midnight tonight!  It is not something I earned or something that I am owed, but it is a gift in every sense of the word.  And each year those gifts become even more precious, because I know that they will not keep coming forever (on earth, anyway).

As I have been thinking about an area of my life I want to ‘step up my game’ in 2020, the thing that keeps coming to my mind is doing a better job of loving people.  The 2 most important things to do in this life are to love God and love people.  And so I want to do both of those things really, really well!

To make it more concrete, I am breaking it down into 3 areas….

1. FAMILY.  Over the last decade there have been many significant changes in my family.  My girls are now adults, Scott and I are now empty nesters, my parents have moved into a stage where they need a lot of care and attention.  Each of these things have required a large shift in the way I respond and interact with each of these people.  And, I don’t think I have always done a great job.  I sometimes get lazy and choose to do something mind numbing, rather than engaging with those closest to me.  I sometimes say things to my girls that was more appropriate when I was parenting them as teenagers, rather than the adults that they are.  In general, I don’t speak words of love or encouragement or celebration to those who are the most important to me.  And that needs to change.

2. FRIENDS.  I want be the best friend that I can possibly be.  I want my friends to know that I am there for them and I am ready to serve them.  I want to get better at seeing their needs and their hurts and then doing something about it.  I want to plan events rather than waiting to be invited.  I want to send more cards, give more thoughtful gifts.  I don’t want a single one of them to wonder if I love them.

3. RANDOM TRAVELERS.  These are the people who move in and out of my path everyday.  They are at the grocery store, serving me lunch at a restaurant, in the houses on my street, in the lobby at church.  For a long time, I have labeled myself as an introvert and that has become my excuse.  Random conversations are hard and so I just don’t do them.  This year I want to really SEE these people and I want to make sure they see me and that I am interested in them.  That I truly care about them.  Hopefully that is different than most of the world and when given a chance, I can point that difference to God.

Man….as I read back though this, it sounds hard!  Do I really want to commit to this?  Since I know the way to love God, is to love His people, my answer is YES.  I also know that the ONLY way I am going to do this, is with His help.  So I am going to add one more thing….which is to pray for all of these people and to ask God to guide me to make the changes.  I’m not calling this a resolution since that means 10 pounds off in January and 12 back on by April.  LOL.  But as I open the ‘gift’ of another year tonight, I am committing to a year of radically loving people.