Yeah, folks… we are there.  We are in the woods.

Actually, we are LOST in the woods.  We are in the middle of a freakin’ PANDEMIC, y’all.  Never in my lifetime, and never in your lifetime, did we ever imagine that we would be here.

The stages have been daunting;  the statistics have been overwhelming;  and the reality has been hard to grasp.  Many feel immune, and brazenly act accordingly.  Others are terrified and take cautious to another level.  There seems to be polar ends of insanity at play here.

Where is the middle ground?  How do we get out of the woods?

Some of us have hit pause, and are in the midst of true struggle as a result.  Others of us have sprung even further into life, fighting on the front line; and, ironically, witnessing the helplessness of inevitable death.  We have seen the images of praying health care providers.  We have heard the stories from the halls of the hospitals.  We have manufactured hospitals from parks, ships, and convention centers.  We are in the woods.

We have exhausted our employment limits… We are counting pennies… we are looking for work… we are trying to hang on… we are trying to BREATHE.

How do we get out?

How do we explain the inexplicable to our children?  How do we offer them the innate feeling of safety, when we can barely find it ourselves?   And, HOW THE F?! do we help with math??!!

There are SO many scriptures to answer all of these questions (even the math one).  The common theme in them all is to trust in Him at our darkest moments.  He is available to absorb our fears.  He is there providing the comfort that we long for to be able tell our children and even ourselves.  He is in the woods with us.  He knows the way out.  He will guide us along the route to safety.

We cope as best we can.  We Zoom calls, we House Party with friends, we actually WRITE letters (if you don’t, you SHOULD!), we Facetime, we Duo… we stay connected.  It’s a basic human instinct.  Whether you are an introvert, or an extrovert (Lord help me during this non-hugging time!), we have all “rubbed elbows” with our fellow human beings.   We no longer have that luxury or even that stress.  Isolation to some is solace, while isolation to others is maddening (not mentioning any names here, but…me).

I pray daily for strangers and for people I know right in the line of fire.  That is my Christian duty and it is what I am called to do.  As we pray for others, we receive a sense of peace within ourselves.  Ponder on that for a moment.  A selfless act fills your own heart with the Holy Spirit whom you reach out to set ablaze prayer for someone else.

Let me be clear here… as much as I pray, I trust, I believe… I still let my freak flag fly and unapologetically disinfect as if I don’t have the aforementioned faith in my heart.  This is when it’s okay to be human.  Or, a super freak.

This is an ever-evolving situation.  We are in foreign woods here, not in our backyards.  We try one path, and turn around, realizing we are headed in the wrong direction.  We have people shouting to the ones up ahead, and we have others aimlessly following suit.

Seriously, y’all… NOW is the time for GRACE.  Towards one another, towards our leaders on the path, towards our health care workers, to our delivery peeps, to our cashiers at the grocery store, to everyone.  We are lost in the woods together as strangers, as family, and as friends.

Take heed, do your part, as Samuel L. Jackson says “Stay the F@#* at HOME!”

 

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

#holykitt#spotthecross#christianblogger#blogginforchrist#bookofjohn#samuelljackson#coronavirus#pandemic#lostinthewoods#inthistogether#stayhome#grace#homeschool#isolation#quarantine