IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19, please consider what we CAN do. Like many of you, I am counted among the vulnerable, but it is God who has numbered our days—no one else. Which is most destructive? COVID-19 or the fear of it? Remember our childhood fire drills? We were carefully taught not to panic. In our youth, there may or may not have been a fire, but we ourselves could have become dangerous if we panicked. Until the “administration” gave us the all clear, we just needed to calmly exit the building, or in this case—wash our hands quite thoroughly and self-isolate. With our activities so curtailed, it would be easy to focus on COVID-19 and become fearful. May I challenge you to a more positive focus, a faith-based response? Consider what we CAN do.
- We CAN humble ourselves and pray for our loved ones, ourselves, and those who are especially vulnerable. We can ask God for creative ways to serve others in our churches, communities, and families. We can intercede for our nation, our marriages, the next generation, the unsaved . . . there is much to pray about.
- We CAN pursue health by taking walks in the fresh air, drinking lots of water, eating nutritiously, taking Vitamin C, and washing our hands thoroughly.
- We CAN connect with phone calls, cards and letters, email, texting, social media, and video calls using apps like WhatsApp. There are many ways to counter the isolation and fear.
- We CAN create a stay-cation! I have fond memories of neighbor families congregating around our fireplace during a power outage. For hours, we played charades and board games, told outrageous stories, and roasted marsh-mellows. What memories might we create in “self-isolation”?
- We CAN finish our projects! Why not view this “isolation” as an opportunity to: Do spring cleaning? Put family photos into scrapbooks? Clean the garage or closets? File 2019 tax returns? Find the desk under those piles? Plan the garden? Complete or update our Heritage of Hope Checklist?
- We CAN have a family meeting. Since our mortality is being recognized, might this be the teachable moment in which to share our relationship with Jesus? If I did not know Jesus and all He has promised to me, one of His people, I would be susceptible to the fear of COVID-19. Discussing our exit strategies with our people may give us opportunity to reassure them of our relationship with God as well as update them about our plans for this season, our possible decline, and our arrangements following death. The next blog, March 31, will focus on what our families need to know.
I pray all who read this will remain at peace, with their feet on the rock, as we weather one more storm of this life. 
