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| Class meeting |
Piano Practice
Tonight I am weary...as are many of you, I am sure. We don’t have a news channel, but who needs one? The negativity spreads like wildfire, and facebook is full of all the bad news. I’m saddened by the lack of faith and hope in the American people as a whole, but it concerns me far more that Christians seem to also be lacking hope and faith. So tonight, I bring you to my thoughts. Scary, I know! However, I’ve been thinking, and I’ve come up with Six things that C-O-R-O-N-A cannot take away.
C- Compassion. This awful, wretched virus should not take away our compassion for others. “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous;” (I Peter 3:8) Hmm...there is nothing there that says only have compassion if the situation is good, or it’s in your best interest to have compassion on others. I think of compassion these days as having compassion on my children, protecting them from the fears of the world, pointing them to Jesus instead.
O- Opportunities Okay, so maybe your thinking...what opportunities? We have been gifted with a very special time in our lives (most of us anyways) to spend more time in God’s Word and to pray, oh to pray! I did not consider my prayer life to be apathetic before this “crisis” but I’ve certainly come to love my time in prayer far more than I ever have in my life. I’ve been given opportunities to pray with others that were never presented to me before.
R- Resolute “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord...” (I Corinthians 15:58) Resolute means to be admirably purposeful, determined and unwavering. Let us resolve within ourselves to be resolute, strong-minded, praying fervently, and trusting unwavering in the Lord.
O- Omnipresence, Omnipotent, Omnipotence of God. God everywhere. God’s all-powerful and God’s all-knowing attributes do not change just because the world seems perhaps the bleakest it has ever looked in our lifetime.
Nearness to God- James 4:8 states, “Draw night to God, and he will draw nigh to you...” I don’t know where you are at in your Christian life, but I am at a time where I crave the nearness of God. I desire fellowship with Him. I certainly don’t understand these situations around me, but I can trust that God is near.
A- Attitude I wanted to find a different word for the last letter of this acronym, but this is the word I kept coming back to. The current situation in our country is sometimes overwhelming, but I’m not responsible for the attitudes and actions of everyone else. I am, however, responsible for mine. I’m the first to admit that there have been times of late that my fear has been big, my attitude terrible, and my actions unreasonable! But the more I study God’s Word, the more I realize that my attitude has less to do with my circumstance and more to do with my heart condition. If Paul could write that he had contentment while in prison, I can adjust my attitude while I live in my nice house with food on the table and clothes to wear. Last night, I participated in a short ladies Bible study online. Robin was talking about how we as Christians are okay now...it’s not that it’s GOING to be okay, we are okay now. God’s got this. We might not like what we are seeing and feeling, but God is telling us that we are okay. He is watching out for us...every moment, every day.
I’m sure that you all could come up with different words to encourage you, but those are the words that God brought to mind as I studied His Word this week.
Other news: Blah, blah, blah. Maine has 168 cases of the virus, with like 24 people recovered. So technically, we don’t have 168 cases of the virus we have 144 people with the virus. Apparently, I’m the only one that does math like that though!
Today marked the day where we sent home the second set of packets with our students. I’m praying diligently and fervently that this is the last set, and God will give us a miracle in bringing us back together. I wish more people would stop despairing and start praying!
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| This picture was taken in the pick-up packets line at school today. It looks like Mrs. Wheelis is having a parent conference with the dog! I got a really good chuckle out of this picture! |
A few highlights from today: I had a phone conversation with my dear friend, Jenna, in Wisconsin. We talk way too rarely on the phone, but when we do, we just pick back up wherever we left off. I am so thankful for her friendship, level headedness, and desire to know God and to pray with me and for me.
Also, I’ve come to really enjoy my early morning prayer meetings with Mrs. Wheelis (Wyatt and Travis’s teacher). We pray together Monday through Friday, and our time of prayer has been refreshing and encouraging to me. This week, I also had the opportunity to pray daily with another staff member (Emma’s teacher). It’s been good to connected and to pray with these dear teachers.
I also realized something today. I don’t do well when prayer time is rushed. I was in a situation today where I felt that we must hurry up and pray. I know my attitude towards prayer has changed, and I wanted to really savor the time and to commune with God as my friend. You don’t rush your best friend, do you? It was a weird feeling for me, and I hope that I continue to feel that way towards prayer long after we pass through this crisis.
Our preschool teacher and I put together packets for our preschoolers this past week. It’s harder to stay connected with them as school isn’t necessarily a requirement for them. However, we had a great turnout of parents come through the car line today to pick up at-home learning packets for their children. That was encouraging to see. Renee and I hope to try some type of online meeting with our students and the parents this week. I’ve missed them all so much!
Resting in Jesus,
Sarah
We had an online Bible study last night. And it was encouraging to see seven ladies show up for Scripture and Prayer time.
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