Social Distancing - WHAT?

Spring of 2020 will forever be remembered for social distancing. The time we all did our best to keep not only ourselves, but also our neighbors, friends, family, and even complete strangers safe from the highly contagious Covid-19 virus. I imagine most everyone questioned the hype at first - how can it be any worse than the flu?

We've moved beyond that question now to the time of wondering how we will survive the next two plus month in isolation. No hanging out with friends. No School. No birthday parties or weddings or even funerals. No gathering for church in big or even

small groups. No meeting up with a friend for lunch or going to the gym. We can't even grasp what's ahead when the virus hits someone close to us. It's beyond what we could have ever imagined for our very social, active, extroverted culture. We've moved to a completely online community now - more isolated and yet more connected in some ways now. 

So, how can we make the best of this time we have ahead of us? 

1. Look for God. Seriously, look for Him. Look at where He might be at work. Consider this - people might be "attending" church for the first time, or first time in a long time, now that every church in America is streaming live into our living rooms. It's almost become "the thing" now! How about what we are seeing in parking lots of hospitals when health care workers are worshipping and praying together? Just like in the aftermath of 911, we are seeing people turn to faith. How can we be part of that? Let's not miss seeing God at work in the midst of this crisis and let's celebrate together what we see Him doing! 

2. Praise and Pray! Anxious? Worried? Battling the loneliness? It's understandable and it's okay to not be okay. When I've been in a difficult and painful season of life, I turned to scripture and listening to praise and worship music like never before or again. Try praying through chapters in Psalms. Pray for God to reveal scripture to you... and He will! Pray those words back to him. Journal your prayers and you'll be amazed at how healing that is. You will also have spiritual markers to look back on one day and be in awe of what God was doing. Crank that music and see how it helps turn your heart and mind toward peace that only God can bring, and away from the stress, fear, worry, and anxiety. How about committing to memorize scripture - it takes time and dedication and we have plenty of room for both right now, right? 

3. Use the tools that are at our fingertips to stay in touch. FaceTime, Google Duo, Zoom, Google Hangout... on and on we can go with apps that allow us to be in touch. It's not the same as sharing lunch with a friend, or taking that trip to visit family in person, is it? But, it's something that can keep us connected and we can do it as often as we want! Think about how Facebook has helped us connect with extended family or friends we never used to talk to or see. Maybe we can start something new with video calling people more - catch up with friends who live states away, or cousins you miss seeing now that you have your own lives and don't have time to make the trips to visit. 

These are just a few ideas... I'm not a master at any of them right now and I write this as much for me as for anyone. I need the encouragement to make the most and find the good in the loneliness and isolation too. I do know one thing - I don't want to come out of this and look back and see that I wasted all this time when so much could have been accomplished. Something can change in my life in the next couple months and I want it to be a change for the good. Will you join me on the journey to find that good?