Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
- Matthew 6:34 {The Message}You're here, friends, and I'm so happy!
What can I say. Hasn't this been a month. Or two.
I'm guessing I'm not the only one who's lost track of how many weeks we've been laying low, altering our routines, missing life as we knew it, grieving losses big and small, adjusting to the solitude our families have had no choice but to embrace.
One day at a time.
That's become my new mantra. I'm not looking too far ahead. Not to those special family events that I now hold quite loosely. Appreciating every grace and joy given for the day. Recalling how God has been so very faithful in the past. Tending to my soul, body, and mind the best I can. Grateful for the supportive camaraderie of the blogging community. Thrilled that my husband now does all the grocery shopping. Learning Zoom. Connecting with those I care for online, on the phone, sending cards and notes when nothing less would do.
So here goes with 4 Somethings packed with tons of good stuff for you to sift through while you're biding your time inside your four walls. I'm guessing you might find something that'll hit home for you.
SOMETHING LOVED!
Noted Christian psychologist and author Henry Cloud just kicked off a live call-in radio show. I'm a long time fan and delighted at his latest brainstorm, launched the day after it came to his mind, and unfolding weekdays from his dining room table. The Dr. Cloud Show airs at 4 p.m. EST / 1 p.m. PST.
SOMETHINGS READ!
Love this in particular - on pandemics, baths,
and the practice of the presence of God
Sarah Bessey
Love this in particular - on pandemics, baths,
and the practice of the presence of God
Sarah Bessey
Anne Bogel
Elaine Lipworth
Jen Rose Yokel
On Christians Spreading Corona Conspiracies:
Gullibility is not a Spiritual Gift
Ed Setzer
On Christians Spreading Corona Conspiracies:
Gullibility is not a Spiritual Gift
Ed Setzer
Manyu Jiang
Candace Playforth
Jean Wise
Melissa Schlies
Emily Freeman
Kate Bowler
SOMETHING TREASURED!
Kind, encouraging words matter. Great big thanks to Debby Hudson, Lauren Sparks, Maree Dee, and Lisa Burgess for sharing my writing this month.
SOMETHING AHEAD!
'We do not know the play. We do not even know whether we are in Act I or Act V. We do not know who are the major and who are the minor characters. The Author knows.'
- The World's Last Night and Other Essays
One day at a time ~
Linda
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First of all, I love the pic of Tim doing your grocery shopping, Linda! Chivalry is NOT dead and hopefully resistant to the coronavirus! Lol! Secondly, I'm so glad you're serving up some quarantine-related gems for us to find encouragement from. I'm heading to one of them right after this! Thirdly, I am so glad to find out about Henry Cloud's new show. Sounds like my next "must-see TV!"
ReplyDeleteAlso, Gary and I watched and loved the theatrical production about Jesus, that you so graciously pointed me to. I also recommended it to many others. Which reminds me, have you seen the series on YouTube called, "The Chosen" yet? I'm not exactly sure how it all works, but you can view at least four episodes for free. It's really well done and helps to put flesh and bone on the disciples of Jesus--not to mention, giving you something super inspiring in Jesus' character as well. Hugs and prayers!
Yep, I have heard about THE CHOSEN, Beth ... and with so many thumbs up recommendations I need to check it out.
DeleteAnd if we ever needed something 'super inspiring' it would be right about now.
And yes, please to Henry Cloud's show. For such a time as this ...
I hope you guys are safe and well.
Thank you Linda for sharing loads of encouragement! We are enjoying using Instacart, groceries delivered to our door and we live fifteen miles from the city! Take care and stay safe!
ReplyDeleteInstacart sounds mighty good right about now, Pam. Maybe the way we shop and spend and do our daily lives will be permanently altered by this season.
DeleteAnd that could be a very good thing.
Thank you for all this encouraging info, Linda. I really like the helpful advice Dr. Cloud gives to questions. The photos of the sea gull and the sea glass are so calming. :) Love and blessings to you!
ReplyDeleteYes, there's calm in the chaos. Thank You, Lord, for Your working in our ragged souls and for the way You speak through Your creation!
DeleteWe are so very grateful for every gift You send our way.
And bless my friend Trudy with encouragement and peace today ...
Like you, Linda, I'm trying to take my days a moment at a time, not planning too far ahead in the future, and trusting God will see us through to better days. Loved the photos you shared and the encouraging books/articles to read. Thank you for always being so mindful of us!
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Yep, Martha, the planning is pretty much shelved right about now ... and when all is said and done, it makes me wonder if the frantic activity, running here and there, the constant busyness that so many embraced will be much tamped down.
DeleteThat could be a very good gift ...
Great post...looking forward to checking out many of those links! Thanks for all the sharing. And I love that quote! Going to pring that one:) Hope you have a great week ahead!!
ReplyDeleteAh, if C.S. Lewis was still with us, the messages he would pen!
DeleteGlad you'll be spreading his words, Jennifer ...
Love the picture of the adorable little girl with the bunny ears!! Thanks forsharing about Henry Cloud's show. His books have been really good, I will check out the talk show!
ReplyDeleteI knew you'd love the surprise / shock of seeing you and baby girl in one of my favorite pics of this year!
DeleteLove you both ...
xo
{dear readers - Marilyn is my sister and she's holding her littlest grandbaby! Great ears, huh?!}
My husband has been doing the shopping, too. He felt it would be best if just one of us was out in the fray. I am thankful. You'd think I'd have so much more time, but I don't know where it's going. I agree, a day at a time, a step at a time.
ReplyDeleteI appreciates Anne's HSP post. Like she said, I've worked around it so long, I forget it's a factor until the routine changes. With everyone at home, my alone time is less and I am getting a bit overstimulated. But God knows--I'm praying He'll give me the quiet time He knows I need or give me grace to operate without as much as I'd like.
And I so agree about conspiracy theories and gullibility! I get so frustrated when someone posts a link on FB and says, "I don't know if this is true, but I am posting it just in case." It's so easy to fact check things first. And better not to spread it if we're not sure about it.
Love the cute little hedgehugs card!
One of my granddaughters sent me that card that she made ...
Delete;-}
I absolutely agree with your rebuke of this too often seen statement here --> "I don't know if this is true, but I am posting it just in case."
Sadly, Christians don't seem to be exempt from this kind of obnoxious slander. We can do better.
I hear you about being overstimulated, friend. I hope you find quiet pockets of solitude today in the midst of everyone at home.
Read the Sarah Bessey article twice...thank you so much for sharing these links.
ReplyDeleteKathreen, yes! So much of her work is worth a re-read ... or 3.
DeleteI'm glad you're here.
Linda,
ReplyDeleteLove the C.S.Lewis quote. I'm just trying to follow the script one day at a time - trusting that the author knows the purpose and the end of the story. I'll have to read why Zoom calls drain your energy. I've been on a few and I have to say they zap me. Maybe it's the introvert in me? Love the sea glass...little pieces of God's beauty among the ashes. So glad I popped by.
Blessings and stay safe,
Bev xo
We did a family Zoom gathering on Saturday night - 20 or so adults and children! It was a blast and I laughed more than I had since we were last together at Thanksgiving.
DeleteBut yes, I was absolutely exhausted afterwards.
We're gathering together with our Small Group tonight on Zoom ... we'll see if it has the same results.
But just seeing people again? Worth it.
Be well, friend ...
I didn't know Dr. Cloud had started a talk-radio show. I think a lot of new things will come out of this time that will serve others well! It has been a time to get creative on ways to connect. Which also tells me that our human longing is truly connection. Thank you for connecting me to other encouraging places too!
ReplyDeleteLynn, oh yes to this -->'our human longing is truly connection.'
DeleteI love your musings on how creativity could blossom during this pandemic time ... and maybe change the way we reach out in the days ahead. It would be so good if some beneficial life changes come into play because of what we've endured and learned.
Bless you.
Always a delight to see what you have for us.
ReplyDeleteDelighted to pull it together, friend!
Delete;-}
This certainly HAS been a month, Linda! Thank you for sharing the essay by Sarah Bessey. She is always so uplifting. I enjoy reading her writing so much. Also loved the C.S. Lewis quote. And if your hubby is doing all the grocery shopping, he must be a keeper! What a kind act of love. :)
ReplyDeleteLaurie, hi ... and yes, he IS a keeper! He's shopping for 3 households, delivering hot meals and groceries from the church, and taking care of business.
DeleteHe's got a servant heart for sure.
And the supermarket only wants 1 family member at a time in the store anyway, so I can't complain!
I hope you're surviving all this okay, friend ...
One day at a time is my mantra too, Linda. There is such a massive amount of uncertainty every which way we turn. Today Alabama has issued new guidelines beginning May 1, which basically are still very conservative, thankfully. I'm glad they're being safe. Lord, have mercy on our world.
ReplyDeleteMassive uncertainty every which way we turn is an apt description, Lisa. I'm grateful God knows ... 'cause I sure don't have a clue.
DeleteI hope you're doing well down south, friend ...
Ahhh, Linda. What a fresh-air kind of post. I appreciated all you shared, links and words.
ReplyDeleteThis quote by CS Lewis really made me stop and think: "We do not know the play. We do not even know whether we are in Act I or Act V. We do not know who are the major and who are the minor characters. The Author knows."
We should live with the mindset that we don't know the number of our days and keep our eyes and hearts fixed on Jesus. Our Father knows his plans and how many days we have. This quote reminds me to live each of them well. Thanks for this, friend.
How reassuring, isn't it, Jeanne, that the Lord knows His plans, He numbers our days. Our lives are in His hands.
DeleteThere's no place I'd rather be ... even and especially when I'm not sure what's going on!
Thanks for sharing all this encouragement, Linda! I love the CS Lewis quote and the verse at the start from the Message is one that really stood out to me at the start of all of this with all the uncertainty and changes we were facing.
ReplyDeleteI loved the link about why Zoom calls are so tiring too. I seriously wondered what was wrong with me the first few weeks of using Zoom because I couldn't believe how tiring I found it, but I read another article, which made similar points to the one you shared, and it all made sense. I've got more used to it now and also managed to reduce the number of calls a bit so it's easier. I hope you and your family are all doing well.
Lesley, hi! I hear you about the Zoom call. I found it surprising how exhausted I was after our weekend family call ... and found this article helped it all make sense.
DeleteIn some ways, we're in a whole new world, aren't we.
And yes, sometimes nothing says it quite like The Message. This verse. Wow.
I hope you're holding up well, friend.
One day at a time. Trust in God.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
'Simply trusting every day;
DeleteTrusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by,
Trusting Him, whate’er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.'
- Edgar Page Stites (1836-1921)
Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient to the day are the evils thereof. KJV
ReplyDeleteI often say this to myself: Sufficient to the day are the evils thereof. Tolkien also has a quote which is based upon this verse but I cannot remember it or put my finger on it right now.
And the Christians who support the conspiracy theory about Covid-19! I go between feeling sorry for them and feeling completely frustrated with them. It makes me think of the doctors creed which says, “First do no harm.”
'First do no harm.'
DeleteYes! How can I bless and encourage and honor instead?
I love that you finished up with those 4 words, friend.
Sorry I'm late here, Linda. Bad days.
ReplyDeleteThey say this is the final inning,
and the game is called for rain;
I turned and saw the devil grinning
through the darkened window-pane.
They say that things are looking bad,
and that the tide won't cease to rise;
and that I should not be mad
at tears now found in mine own eyes.
They say that fate should be accepted,
and that my death is no great loss;
I'm what the wide world has rejected,
and I should humbly take my Cross,
but hear ye, those of Judas Kiss;
you ain't lived till you've felt my fists.
No one will ever accuse you of not battling this disease which has gotten hold of you, friend.
DeleteEven as you battle, may your soul find rest and peace in your faith in Jesus.
Praying for you right now, even as we speak ...
Beautiful sharing Linda... thankfully here where I live, the world has gone on rather much the same as usual. Spring is here, and I am busy in my garden, and home is where I love to be. But I hurt and ache for so many who are in such difficult financial and health situations, and so I spend much of my time in prayer, praying for the Lord, the great Author and Creator of this world to bring us through it. He is able. Appreciate all the great links you shared, and I will have to listen to the radio show by Dr. Cloud. Many blessings to you!
ReplyDeleteMarilyn, hi! I'm so glad when I hear that an area here or there has been spared by the pandemic. It means so much to know that people like you are lifting those of us who are dealing with it up in prayer.
DeleteAnd yes, I'm just beginning to get outside and have little garden projects to putter with on those sunny days that come here and there.
Thanks for checking in with me today. You've brought kindness and peace with you. I'm grateful.
One day at a time seems to be the best way to go. It's about all I can do right now. Thank you for the abundance of goodies within this post. You are such an encourager.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right, Mary. It's about all we can do right now.
DeleteI'm finding a bit of freedom in that reality. Seems to have taken the pressure off believing we can figure out the days ahead.
He's got this.
Oh Linda ... that C.S. Lewis quote is perfect. "The Author knows." Amen! (I also appreciate all the links, as usual.) :-)
ReplyDeleteThose three words give me peace. The whole quote is powerful.
Deletelove your quotes and a delight to see my post mentioned, Thank you. I am a planner and tend to live in the future so taking one day at a time is challenging but oooo so important right now. Thanks,Linda!
ReplyDeleteI so appreciate your emphasis on gratitude in the midst of the storm, Jean! I'm trying to keep my bedtime prayers focused on praise for what God has done during the day.
DeleteHe certainly has his hands busy tending to my requests all day!
It calms my soul and soothes me knowing that He cares deeply about where we find ourselves.