As I am sure you are all aware, the world is being rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic and it has greatly affected everyone of us and our daily lives. This past month has been interesting as I have transitioned to working from home and have experienced a drastic change of pace.
Ministry
All of my ministry responsibilities have been on pause as we are unable to meet in person on Sundays or throughout the week but our church leadership has been very intentional in reaching out via technology. We are meeting with the youth of our church through Zoom- an online meeting platform that allows up to 100 people to connect via video chat from their own computers. We have also utilized this resource to connect with the guys and girls separately according to age group (high school girls with high school girls, etc). The high school girls are meeting twice a week to go over a short devotion together, exchange prayer requests, and keep one another accountable. It has been a total blessing to be able to see all of their faces and briefly connect during this time of social distancing.
Life in the Midst of COVID-19
I have also found the change of pace to be very beneficial for my brain- I have few to no headaches and I feel much less stressed. Praise God all of my tests have come back normal-the doctor thinks it has been stress and now that things have slowed down and I feel better, I 100% agree.
Another factor that has contributed to the decreased stress is the pause on wedding planning. Isaac and I will be getting married on July 18th, 2020 but at this point, we don’t know if we’ll be able to have a wedding so I haven’t been worrying about details.
Regardless of if we can have a gathering, we won’t be able to afford much as my mom was laid off during this time and without my parents help we will only be able to afford a very modest wedding (which I am totally ok with!) So in the strangest way that has relieved a lot of stress. I’m not worried about finding a caterer or arranging details or ordering and sending invitations because there may not be a wedding to invite anyone to.
We hope and pray that all of this is cleared up long before then and that everything can go off as planned (or dreamt of) but if it doesn’t, we know that the only details that are important are the two of us standing before God and entering into a covenant to honor Him and love one another for the rest of our lives. The other details of the day are insignificant and unimportant.
We would still LOVE to include all of our loved ones in our special day but it may not be the traditional American wedding we’ve come to expect. It might be dessert and coffee only, it might be a potluck, it might be a small ceremony broadcast live on Facebook because we can’t have more than 10 people in the room. Whatever it turns out to be I am just so thankful to have a marriage to prepare for regardless of what the wedding looks like.
The Urgency of the Gospel
I know that the coronavirus has many of us floundering for a new “normal” and that it has shocked many, if not all of us but I also know that God is working in the midst of it and preparing people’s hearts for eternity.
In my own family I have seen this. My uncle, my dad’s little brother, passed away last week and he received Christ just 24 hours before he died. The circumstances of our world and his life caused him to realize the frailty of his life and his great need for a Savior and by God’s grace, he accepted Jesus before passing into eternity. My dad had the privilege of witnessing to him for the upteenth time, expecting rejection, but he was obedient to the Holy Spirit, shared, and asked if Mike wanted to receive Christ. He was ready and now he’s in heaven because of God’s grace and my dad’s obedience.
So in a way we see great blessing flowing out of great hardship and I want to encourage all of you to keep sharing Christ with those around you! Even those “hard nuts” who have always been hard to crack. You never know if they might be primed and ready to receive Christ in light of our world events. Don’t let coronavirus become an excuse for not doing what God has called us to do, but use it as an opportunity to shine the light of Christ in an ever darkening world.
With love,
Hope