The noise settles.

The silence permeates.

I went skating yesterday and the ice was choppy, uneven from the way the sun was hitting parts of the ice, leaving a slushy surface.  I was gliding along in my hockey skates enjoying the last skate of the season when I met the uneven surface of the ice and went down in all sorts of arms and legs flailing.

It feels like that in life right now.  We were gliding along doing life the way we've done it everyday when suddenly we're down in a state of tangled mess.

Everyone is affected by COVID-19 whether we are working from home, being laid off from our jobs, returning from other Countries to self-isolation, or suddenly taking care of a passel of kids in an unexpected turn of events.  Health Care Professionals gear up to be the heros- to work on overdrive, while other professionals flounder at the implications of social distancing for their own businesses.

We're down for the count.  

It's not what I expected when I entered the year 2020.

But then again, the year hardly ever turns out as I expect.  I think it's a testament to the human condition and how God made us that we are able to look at what comes our way, adjust, and carry on.

Resilience.

The giants of life may come and knock on our doorstep.

We rise to the occasion to meet them.



I believe humans are made flipping well.  God has made us strong though we feel weak, smart though we face the unknown, and ultimately - in Christ- victorious.

For death.  Where is thy sting (1 Cor 15:55) ?

I'm reminded that this place here is not my resting place.  I have a home that is beyond this world with Christ in heaven.  And though I may - in a small way- suffer while I am here on earth, temporarily attached to the vestiges of this world, in the end my hope has never been here anyways.

It has always been in Heaven.

Don't get me wrong.  I had my fair share of anxiety this week and complained about all the people I wished I could see, feeling sad that I couldn't run to my usual retreat of family and friends.  In many ways I don't know what to do with myself.

But when I slow down, I realize that in the overarching scheme of it, I still know who God is and that he is good and is in control.  And no matter the outcome, the grace and mercy of a good Father does not change.

And so I live for the heavenly kingdom and God my Father, looking presently at this situation, asking, "God what would you have me do now?"

How do I face this particular giant?

I've seen some really neat responses to everything that is happening around the world.  People get creative and figure out ways to connect and love one another despite the distance and difficult time.  Online connection, to me, is still a weird concept.  I swear I still belong in the 1800s sometimes.  Still it brings us together through sharing information, direct messaging, and video calls.

This week I was asking myself how I could adjust my expectations due to the ever-changing world.

In this, I'm 100% glad I live with 3 other wonderful roommates who I can spend my social distance time with.  I am glad for the time to work through some of my own battles that being busy and constantly on the go can cause me push off.  The time affords me more opportunities to do art, play music, and write.

It gives me time to reflect- something I so easily neglect.

When striped bare of my usual routines, I am forced to rethink, pause, and take note of where I've placed my value.  I am forced to ask questions and to face some realities I probably would rather not face.

The world is strangely silent right now when we go out (likened to an apocalypse) and we are forced to change our routines, spend time in smaller groups, and have less of the usual activities to do.  We are grappling with the economic implications for the future in light of the quickly changing world.  We are wrestling with the implications for people and family in potentially losing loved ones.

We are facing the giants.  They look different than we thought they might.

The beauty is in how we respond to this time.

It always is.  In each circumstance.

The giants will come.

Inevitably.  As they do.  Large.  Looming.  Voices Booming.

And I will meet them with hope.  I will meet them with gusto.  I will meet them with a smile and a conversation.  Most certainly I will meet them with the steady hand of God at my side.  I will meet them with my friends.  I will meet them in loving others.  Always loving.  I will meet them with wisdom and in taking heed of recommendations from the government and health official.  I will meet them with humour and laughter for I dearly love to laugh.  In times, I will meet them in weeping.

But ultimately, I will meet them with hope.

And if we listen we might hear, the voice on the wind.

Saying, surely, " he will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6).

In this.  Even in this.  He- God- is here.