Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Celebrating Spring Despite "Lock down"


Last Spring, April 2019, my friend Susan and I went to Dallas Arboretum during their Annual Spring Dallas Blooms display. I took my camera and had fun trying to capture the amazing beauty. It's not really possible to do it justice, of course, however I did my best.

I meant to post some of the pictures then but never did.

So here they are a year later to celebrate Spring (in America anyway) and remember fun times when we could get out and spend time with friends. May they soon return!









For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies;
For the love which from our birth,
Over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.
...
For Thyself, best Gift Divine,
To the world so freely given,
For that great, great love of Thine,
Peace on earth and joy in heaven.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This, our hymn of grateful praise.


I found this lovely rendition on YouTube

This song has a long history of modifications according to Wikipedia. If you want the whole story and the original lyrics go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_Beauty_of_the_Earth


Monday, March 23, 2020

Do not worry God cares for you!

Adult male robin in our sycamore tree
Sitting outside on my patio journaling and drinking tea is one of my favorite ways to start the day.

I love all the bird sounds. There is such a variety. I wish I could transcribe them. “Chirp, chirp” just doesn’t cut it! Somehow they can even make the sounds of lawn mowers buzzing, cars revving and planes roaring overhead sound pleasant.

Watching birds also reminds me of Jesus's words in Matthew 6.
"Look at the birds in the sky. They never sow nor reap nor store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you much more valuable to him than they are?" Matt 6:26 (J.B. Phillips)
The song "God will take care of you" has also been going through my mind a lot lately.
"God will take care of you. Through every day, o’re all the way, He will take care of you.…"
These words are as true now as they were when Civilla D. Martin wrote them in 1904.

It can be easy to lose sight of that though. Last week after we spent a while disinfecting our groceries* I suggested we should wait longer to go shopping next time because I didn't want to have to do that very many more times. But then John said we'll have to keep doing it for at least a year since it will take that long for a vaccine to be ready. I was horrified! The idea of all of this lasting for a year is too awful. I don't want to do that. It doesn't seem worth it. The saying "eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die" came to mind.** It may not be considered a model for Christian living but it seemed like a more sane approach. Hanging on to life at the expense of really living felt like a bad idea.

When I made the decision to self isolate due to low immunity during this pandemic I imagined it would be like a "stay-cation." A few weeks to maybe even a month, at most two, of not going out much but maybe seeing a few friends and getting lots of projects done at home. I could even spend extra time praying. Here was my chance, I thought, to try out life as a religious hermit like one the ancient "desert mothers" of the early church!

The reality has been very different. Disinfecting groceries and cleaning doorknobs and light switches wasn't part of the fantasy! Trying to keep track of the constantly shifting situation in our city, country and world is probably taking up too much of my attention. Seeing anyone besides my husband is out--doctor's orders--and especially now since Dallas county was put on lock down today. Going to get supplies for projects is out too. I have been praying more, though. So that is one thing I was hoping for that is happening. But it mostly feels like the, "O God help!" kind of prayers.

Later when I was looking up the Matthew 6 passage about the birds I read the rest of the passage and was reminded that Jesus also said:
“Don’t worry at all then about tomorrow. Tomorrow can take care of itself! One day’s trouble is enough for one day.” Matthew 6:34 (PHILLIPS)
Maybe it won't last as long as John said. No one really knows. But we do know that God cares for us and Jesus said not to worry!

A few days ago I started feeling unwell. My Mom, brother and husband have also had some worrying symptoms this weekend. Any other time our various symptoms would not have been at all worrying. But of course now when we have a little temperature or feel a cold or other symptoms coming on the automatic fear is it could be COVID 19! The fear is what is so draining.

It appears that we are getting better. My Mom's temp went down to normal and mine has been normal off and on this weekend and my brother said he felt better yesterday. So we are hopeful all is well.

So each day is an exercise in fighting worry. Even just trying to write a coherent article when things keep changing is challenging. This was written over several days with many changes but it is all still true! Do Not Worry! God Cares For You!

Notes:
*An article in the New York times suggested: a solution of 1 tsp bleach in one gallon of water to spray on things and then air dry. We dipped some things, like grapes and other fruit and veg in a pan of the solution. We sprayed it on other things like boxes. Just a light spray should be enough you don't want the boxes to get too wet.

(**I just looked it up and it is apparently a conflation of a couple of verses.)

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Pandemic, perspectives and toilet paper?

Last week WHO declared COVID 19 a pandemic. And about two days later the store shelves were stripped bare of toilet paper, at least in our area.

I'm thankful we stocked up ahead of time. A few weeks ago, John asked me to think about what things we might need extra of if we had to be stuck at home for a while. He had been following what was happening in China and suspected the virus might start affecting us soon.  We keep a fairly well stocked pantry but I thought of some things to buy extras of. One thing I put on the list was more toilet paper. He questioned me about it and said he had gotten some recently and did we really need more. We usually get the 12-roll packs. I reminded him of what he said and that I thought we might want to have some extra on hand, just in case. He said, “Ok,” with a sigh like he was humoring me but thought it was silly.

Neither one of us imagined that a couple of weeks later there would be a run on the stuff.
-
But if you didn't manage to stock up in time and you can travel, I know where you can get some. It has beautiful sandy beaches too. A full-time RV couple we watched on YouTube Friday said there is plenty of toilet paper where they are in Baja Sur, Mexico. They wondered if that meant the Mexicans were not as panicked about the pandemic.

It reminded me of the summer I attended a Bible Institute in Mexico back in 1993. Being the only American among the female students it was definitely a cross-cultural experience. I shared a tiny dorm room with several other young women. The six of us also shared a bathroom (toilets and showers) with several others. The school was on a tight budget and didn’t provide frills like toilet paper. So, I assumed we girls would take turns buying toilet paper to keep our bathroom supplied. But I quickly discovered that the others did not have the same expectation. They were happy to use the toilet paper that I put in there but no one else ever seemed to contribute any themselves.  In fact, it seemed like every time I went to the toilet there was no toilet paper no matter how recently I had put some in there. I was baffled. I wondered how the others were managing if there was never any toilet paper in the restroom, except when I took it with me. I finally realized it was a strictly BYOTP situation. My roommates each kept their own toilet paper with their things in the dorm room and when they needed to do their business they went and got it. When they were done, they put it back with their things. It felt vaguely selfish. But in desperation I overcame my qualms and started doing the same thing.

As the weeks went by, I also noticed that more and more pieces were missing from the old catalogs and magazines that always seemed to be lying about on a table near the restroom. When I saw a girl tearing a piece off one before going to the restroom one day I finally realized why. For those who didn’t have the means, or weren’t too picky, that was their toilet paper.

Maybe there hasn’t been a run on toilet paper in Baja partly because it is seen as a luxury that they can make do without if necessary. Of course, my summer in Mexico was pre-internet. Catalogs and magazines were all on paper back then. I wonder what they would use now? 

Anyway, we are taking this pandemic seriously, as we all should. It's no joke!

I have something called IgA deficiency which is a type of low immunity. It means my mucus membranes throughout my body are more susceptible to infections and can take longer to heal if infected. So I am practicing social distancing. I am not going out much and John has started working from home. We stayed home from church yesterday. We are wondering what to do about our respective small group meetings. My ladies small group usually meets in our home two times a month. And John's men's group meets weekly at a restaurant. We'll have to play it by ear so to speak. In the mean time I don't want to become emotionally distant from my friends and family so I am making an effort to make phone calls more.

What things are you doing to stay healthy and reduce the possible spread? Please comment below. And let me know how I can be praying for you too. God bless.
The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Romans 15:33