Maine news: Maine is up to 118 cases of Coronavirus. The governor has ordered the shut down of all non-essential businesses, and that order is in effect at least April 8th. Our school is closed until April 27. I beg of you, to please pray with us that the school will be able to open by that date or sooner!
We need the passionate prayers of God’s people to pray with us on behalf of our world, nation, states, communities, church and schools. This virus will not be changed by social distancing or even staying-at-home, but rather the Almighty Hand of God is the One who has the power to change the course of the wind, sea, and sun, so certainly He has control of this virus. Please pray!
I missed my regular prayer meeting with Mrs. Wheelis this morning at 6:30am., as my parents were getting ready to leave this morning. I felt strangely like something was missing as I’ve come to look forward to that early morning prayer meeting. I’m looking forward to resuming our prayer time together.
Roger took the day off this morning, as the weather was not good this morning. We woke up to about four inches of snow!! While we wouldn’t have minded if he had work, it was nice to have him home today. My parents left about 8:30am., and I had my prayer time with another school teacher at 9:00. She knew that my parents were leaving today, and she asked how I was doing. Well, okay until I was asked! I had a rough few moments trying to get my emotions under control. (I’ve had an abundance of waterworks in my eyes these past few days!) I was thankful to pray again as I truly believe that unless we pray fervently and often for God to shed His grace on us once again, life may never be the same again. I struggle with all the negative news that I read on Facebook and the internet, so again, I rejoice that we don’t have to hear it via the TV also. One of the blessings of staying at home so much is that my time with the Lord in prayer has become very dear, sweet, and unhurried. I absolutely must trust in Him, because to be honest, sometimes my faith is colliding with my fear. Often it is moment by moment when I allow fear to overtake me, and then I must make the conscious decision to give all my fears back to the Lord. And oh, there are so many! However, the God of eternity has already gone on before us...I just have to remind myself of that often. I am fervently praying for a revival to sweep this nation and our world. That the truth will go forth so boldly that people can only step back and say, “That was of the Lord!” So, do you believe that He can? Do you pray believing that He will? Truly, “Pray without ceasing.”
Once my parents left this morning, I settled the kids down for their school work for the day. At-home schooling is not my favorite thing to do, but I want our children to be prepared when we go back to school. Emma started crying when going over her numbers saying that she wanted Nana to come back and teach her. “Nana is (a) way more fun teacher, Mom!” Trust me, I know! I rarely feel like I am a “fun” teacher, but we are getting though it one day at a time. I am thankful that the school work can all be done in a relatively short amount of time, because we are all ready to be done when the books get put away!
Since Roger was here today, we went on a hike. We’ve been getting outside as often as possible. The snow was wet and everything was sloppy, but we all needed to go out. We drove down to the ocean and took a hike along the shore for a while. The sunshine was nice, and even though some of the boys ended up with wet socks, it was a great time. I highly encourage you all to go outside for at least a little bit every day whenever possible. Sunshine can be a balm to our souls, and the world seems a bit brighter when the sun is shining.
On the way home from our hike, we made a stop at Wal-mart. Because we are trying to do our part with “social distancing”, just I went in the store. Emma told me that she hasn’t been in a store in a long time. She really doesn’t understand the whole “social distancing” thing and probably the rest of my kids don’t all grasp it fully either. We are trying to be responsible...and praying fervently! I felt like I had hit the jack pot at Walmart as I was able to get flour, sugar, butter and toilet paper!! It was nice to snag a few of the groceries that we have been missing from our pantry or getting low on. I have been trying to use the Walmart grocery pick up, but there just have not been any time slots available. So, I try to be cautious and careful, but not fearful and afraid. I have never, in my entire life, grocery shopped like I’ve been doing. Because we are a large family, it is nearly impossible to hoard food. I like to use coupons, shop sales, and go to several different grocery stores to get the best deals. And then there’s corona...and it’s like “We will eat what is in our pantry. We will eat whatever food happens to be at the grocery store when I go!” It’s a whole new level of shopping for me, and it’s not my favorite. I much prefer to make a list, clip coupons, and shop the sales. Instead, I don’t even bother to make a list because most likely the stores will be out anyways; I try to avoid all the stores; and I get whatever random things happen to be in the store!” Thankfully, we don’t have picky eaters here, and there have been plenty of fruits and vegetables available! Yes, eating is not cancelled on account of the Corona! Not laundry and not eating! But...it means we have clothes to wear and food to eat, we are blessed!
Tomorrow will be spent with praying and preparing for the next two weeks of school work to get ready to go home with the students on Friday in their “at home” learning packets. I prayed fervently for a different outcome, but that’s not what God gave at this time. So we will continue on in faithfulness and trust, and we will work diligently on the task for today.
March is often a long month...but this year it is the longest.month.ever! I don’t think I’ll ever forget this month as long as I live. April is not looking to be awesome at the moment either, but hey, I’m going to learn to rejoice in what God gives for today. I will trust Him even if its a constant struggle to do so. Paul had it right when he wrote in the Bible, “The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Yes, on so many things!
Blessings from today:
1) It was a blessing to have my parents here. I’m thankful that they were able to come.
2) Roger was home today, so that was nice for us.
3) We were able to get outside and hike.
4) Some grocery staples were available today.
5) God is still on the throne where He’s always been
6) While the snow was not my favorite, it did provide a beautiful white covering this morning.
7) God will continue to watch over us.
Our love,
Sarah
 |
| Scissor Practice |
Thankful for God’s love and protection
I’m thankful for these children
Thankful that we can go outside today!
No comments:
Post a Comment