Reality check
The remnants of tropical storm Zeta are swirling around us, the thirty-first named storm of the 2020 season. It canceled our schools for the day and left behind a winter storm in Amarillo, Texas.
Halloween is on Saturday, but of course there will be no traditional events even though this is the one time of year people actually get excited about wearing masks. Even Apple has stolen our precious Charlie Brown and Linus' great pumpkin, the first time in history it will not be offered on regular TV.
Also this weekend? A full moon and daylight savings time.
Let's see. Hmm. The last time there was a full moon and daylight savings time on the same day, the pandemic began in the US. Jokes abound on social media, one of my favorites being that maybe this will force a hard reset.
I'm afraid it won't. Because we are but a few days from Election Day, an election that has severed political parties from each other and nearly ruined the nation. As a family, we are digging in our heels and fortifying our hearts for what will come in the aftermath.
All of this uncertainty and upheaval, while the Christmas ads have started to run.
And I thought the last eight months were surreal.
How on earth do you process these emotions?
Everything, even the weather, is in turmoil so maybe Jesus will come back. Amen, come, Lord Jesus!
No matter who wins the stupid election, America is probably going to burn to the ground. I'm only halfway exaggerating.
COVID cases are rising in our area, church is cancelled, still working from home, and I officially get to go nowhere, ever. Might as well have one of those ankle bracelet trackers on.
Oh but, Christmas is coming, so yay! Merriment and lights and celebration! (Absolutely, the joy of Christmas abounds in spite of circumstances. And my heart really does rejoice over my Savior coming for me. But the tingling holiday spirit? Yeah, not so much.)
You can't see me, but I'm shaking my head and focusing hard on breathing. Slowly, in and out, alive and well. Because this breathing is one of my tools to fight anxiety, the Lord brings to my mind Psalm 23, a deadly weapon to anxiety. His goodness and mercy follow me like sheep dogs, herding me along and hemming me in, every single day. So thankful.
As it turns out, a great many things have been happening around here since my last post. Not the least of which was the start of school.
To everyone's great surprise, the strange arrangement of this year's academics has been working very well for the boys. Trey is, perhaps a bit reluctantly, learning a lot about independence and responsibility through his online work. Aden is happy at the middle school, likes his teachers, and the smaller class sizes seem to be making a difference in the attention he is paying to the material.
Poor Brandon used the month before school began to get online assignments ready for his students, and now is bored to tears. He is trying to patiently await basketball season, in whatever form it may take. There are, and can be, no definite plans until zero hour.
Aden's baseball season ended a few weeks ago, and though there weren't many wins through the summer, the boys showed promise for the future. Aden improved vastly, becoming a virtual vacuum cleaner on first base and finding his confidence at the plate. He's not convinced yet that next season is something to look forward to, but when the time comes I think he will be ready.
Trey finally, finally conquered his fears enough to decide he would play middle school basketball this year. An hour into his first open gym, his asthma had other ideas. We are all heartbroken, and at the same time so proud of Trey's courage. We're urging him to look for something that can be his own, an extracurricular like golf or music or maybe even student government. He'd be good at any of them.
Our sweet next door neighbor, Ms. Sarah, passed away at the end of September. The Lord laid it on my heart to bring her husband a meal once a week, and God's peace is filling my heart every time I tromp across the hayfield, basket in hand. What a privilege, one I should have made time for years and years ago.
I've joined the church choir, after having the great honor of playing piano for them for a month. The singing is so much fun, and this might sound bad, but I'm thankful for a break from working with kids. It has renewed joy in my heart.
I've also joined Noom, yet another diet plan. They're all different, but this one is more about attitude and thought patterns than any other. A little over a month in, and I am fifteen pounds down. Eating different and healthier foods, capturing thoughts of deprivation to hopefully turn them around, and trying hard to think more of food as fuel than a reward for my stressful life.
Here's to maybe sticking with something, for the first time in a very long time.
So that's where we are, the good, the bad, and the ugly. How wonderful to know God has the whole world in His hands, even when it doesn't seem like it.
Halloween is on Saturday, but of course there will be no traditional events even though this is the one time of year people actually get excited about wearing masks. Even Apple has stolen our precious Charlie Brown and Linus' great pumpkin, the first time in history it will not be offered on regular TV.
Also this weekend? A full moon and daylight savings time.
Let's see. Hmm. The last time there was a full moon and daylight savings time on the same day, the pandemic began in the US. Jokes abound on social media, one of my favorites being that maybe this will force a hard reset.
I'm afraid it won't. Because we are but a few days from Election Day, an election that has severed political parties from each other and nearly ruined the nation. As a family, we are digging in our heels and fortifying our hearts for what will come in the aftermath.
All of this uncertainty and upheaval, while the Christmas ads have started to run.
And I thought the last eight months were surreal.
How on earth do you process these emotions?
Everything, even the weather, is in turmoil so maybe Jesus will come back. Amen, come, Lord Jesus!
No matter who wins the stupid election, America is probably going to burn to the ground. I'm only halfway exaggerating.
COVID cases are rising in our area, church is cancelled, still working from home, and I officially get to go nowhere, ever. Might as well have one of those ankle bracelet trackers on.
Oh but, Christmas is coming, so yay! Merriment and lights and celebration! (Absolutely, the joy of Christmas abounds in spite of circumstances. And my heart really does rejoice over my Savior coming for me. But the tingling holiday spirit? Yeah, not so much.)
You can't see me, but I'm shaking my head and focusing hard on breathing. Slowly, in and out, alive and well. Because this breathing is one of my tools to fight anxiety, the Lord brings to my mind Psalm 23, a deadly weapon to anxiety. His goodness and mercy follow me like sheep dogs, herding me along and hemming me in, every single day. So thankful.
As it turns out, a great many things have been happening around here since my last post. Not the least of which was the start of school.
To everyone's great surprise, the strange arrangement of this year's academics has been working very well for the boys. Trey is, perhaps a bit reluctantly, learning a lot about independence and responsibility through his online work. Aden is happy at the middle school, likes his teachers, and the smaller class sizes seem to be making a difference in the attention he is paying to the material.
Poor Brandon used the month before school began to get online assignments ready for his students, and now is bored to tears. He is trying to patiently await basketball season, in whatever form it may take. There are, and can be, no definite plans until zero hour.
Aden's baseball season ended a few weeks ago, and though there weren't many wins through the summer, the boys showed promise for the future. Aden improved vastly, becoming a virtual vacuum cleaner on first base and finding his confidence at the plate. He's not convinced yet that next season is something to look forward to, but when the time comes I think he will be ready.
Trey finally, finally conquered his fears enough to decide he would play middle school basketball this year. An hour into his first open gym, his asthma had other ideas. We are all heartbroken, and at the same time so proud of Trey's courage. We're urging him to look for something that can be his own, an extracurricular like golf or music or maybe even student government. He'd be good at any of them.
Our sweet next door neighbor, Ms. Sarah, passed away at the end of September. The Lord laid it on my heart to bring her husband a meal once a week, and God's peace is filling my heart every time I tromp across the hayfield, basket in hand. What a privilege, one I should have made time for years and years ago.
I've joined the church choir, after having the great honor of playing piano for them for a month. The singing is so much fun, and this might sound bad, but I'm thankful for a break from working with kids. It has renewed joy in my heart.
I've also joined Noom, yet another diet plan. They're all different, but this one is more about attitude and thought patterns than any other. A little over a month in, and I am fifteen pounds down. Eating different and healthier foods, capturing thoughts of deprivation to hopefully turn them around, and trying hard to think more of food as fuel than a reward for my stressful life.
Here's to maybe sticking with something, for the first time in a very long time.
So that's where we are, the good, the bad, and the ugly. How wonderful to know God has the whole world in His hands, even when it doesn't seem like it.
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