When I think of what I thought Easter 2020 would look like, I never imagined it would involve dragging the dining room table and chairs into the living room so we could live stream our church worship service over the big screen while eating breakfast off our regular dishes and drinking out of water bottles, but you know what, that was our reality this morning and that’s perfectly okay!
Do I wish I was peppering my yard with 600+ plastic eggs for all of our friends’ kids (and a little backyard mini booze bottle hunt for our friends -don’t judge-)? Well, aside from the nasty wind and snow in North Iowa today, you bet I do. Hosting a big egg hunt is one of my favorite spring-time traditions. It’s what I look forward to and plan out while enduring harsh winter days.
Do I wish I was pulling out my good silverware box and piling my kitchen island full of way too much food (especially Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes) in preparation for sharing a meal with our extended family? Oh yeah, more than you know. Man, what I wouldn’t give to give my mom and dad a nice long hug today, and watch my children reunite with their grandparents and run crazy with their cousins as we remind them to quiet down before they bust our eardrums. I have tears in my eyes just thinking of how sweet the day will be when we’re together again.
The truth is, if it weren’t for Stay at Home suggestions/orders surrounding the C-virus, I wouldn’t have gotten to enjoy a slow breakfast with my faithful husband and sweet children whom I love with my whole entire heart. Let’s be real, I would’ve been serving cold cereal, fussing over outfits, filling slow cookers for lunch and rushing out the door to church only to realize once in the van that I should’ve shaved my legs and applied some airbrush legs (love this stuff).
I, a Midwest Methodist converted to Lutheran, wouldn’t be listening to Sean Dietrich right now, a Baptist from the south over Instagram Live as he sings and share stories while I blog away in the foyer of my home on a laptop one of my brothers dropped off for us.
PS. Thanks for inviting me to this live stream, mom. This guy is good. He and his wife have had me laughing, crying, and smiling for the past 20+minutes. Her drum rolls are the best, I wish you all could hear them. Someone mentioned it sounded more like the sound a lawn mower makes. I snort-laughed over that comment.
Speaking of which…Drum roll, please?
Okay, thanks!
I’d like to do a shout out to my momma. My mom is fluent in Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and video calling over an Amazon Echo Show (I mean aside from that time she was sleep-booking and unintentionally went live on Facebook and 2,468 people (slight exaggeration) got to hear her snoring). Ha!
Praise the Lord that as we socially distance to slow the spread of Covid-19, we’re really only physically distancing. This past week I feel like I’ve been a little bit more social than I was pre-covid (this coming from a raging extrovert).
Can we take a minute to acknowledge how many people that never had a use for this kind of technology are embracing and flourishing with it? The Hangouts, the Zooms, the video calls, they’re taking it in and they’re rocking it. The grandparents, pastors, musicians, and more, who are pre-recording, live streaming, or answering a video call on a whim even though they never have before, this is all good stuff.
We know sometimes this happens with a little guidance, and other times it comes natural. It turns out you can teach an old dog new tricks (as I navigated attending my largest Zoom call last week with a slight learning curve)!
Just last night my daddy charged his phone wirelessly for the first time after I put out a plea on Facebook asking if anyone could drop off a wireless charger at their door after his charging port stopped working. Within minutes their neighbor of 30 years showed up with one. God is working through His people everyday and I’m so grateful I get to witness it.
As we read the current news we can quickly be overwhelmed with what is going wrong in the world, can’t we? Last week I became so wrapped up in reading the stats from Covid-19 that I suddenly couldn’t breathe. Like, I was legit gasping for air as I stood up quickly and ran to the sliding door to stick my head out, hoping the cool breeze would ease my mind. I’m pretty sure I was having some kind of a panic attack where for about 20 seconds I thought I would die right then and there. As I looked around and took an inventory of what was real/fact, I realized I actually felt perfectly fine I was just letting my mind get consumed by the media.
I am begging you for your mental health (and my own) to instead of looking at what’s going wrong, look at what is going right today. Some call it the silver lining. Call it blessings, thankfuls, or whatever you wish, but please, call.it.out and be grateful for it, no matter how big or small it is.
Welp, I’ve reached full rambling status, so we’ll go ahead and stop right here, if that’s okay with you?
What I came here to ask was…
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