Has Stay-at-Home Changed Your Life?

Have you noticed a change in the rhythm and the significance of life? Perhaps you have noticed some of the things that I have noticed. Here are three things that come to my mind.

Increased Praying

Praying is simply talking with God. It requires a focus on God and thought. It requires faith that God hears us. It requires a heart of obedience. It is aided by reading God's book, the Bible. Perhaps all of us have experienced an improvement in our prayer life. Mine has never been better since I am talking, sometimes mumbling, to God all day long. Debbie and I pray often, especially about our children and the churches. And, now that I can listen to sermons from multiple churches online, I pray with more focus for churches and pastors.

Slowed Pace of Life

My expense on gasoline has declined. I spend more face-to-face time with Debbie and with our daughter, Kim. Kim moved out of her apartment in Roseville and into our house in January to save for a downpayment on a house. We see this move as the hand of God since she is an esthetician/massage therapist and her business was closed by the Governor. (Her shop, Skin Bliss, is in Old Town Folsom--check it out when things open up.) This slower pace from the lockdown gives us an excellent opportunity to think. Fears from loss of income cause us to turn to God and knock us out of old ruts. This sequestering time fosters needed change in our lives. Slowing down has benefits that our rush-rush society needs--important needs of which society has lost sight. Our country has forgotten God. So a slow down is necessary for reflection on the meaning of life. The only thing that has not slowed for me is yard work and my time on the computer. Oh, yes, and my increased time watching TV, sometimes with Debbie (I'm getting accustomed to Hallmark movies).

Changed Outlook about Things that Matter

Sitting still like this often leads to thinking about life--about things that have a bottom-line significance. I am thinking less about myself and more about others. And God is using you and me during this time, isn't He? For example, a few days ago Chaplain Bill Bibbins stopped by to help me get the lock off my trailer that has things in it that Debbie needed. (I lost the key.) While we were finishing up, a relatively new neighbor next door walked over. She wanted us to know that in August a lot of cars would be on the street and that people would be at her house for a memorial for her daughter. She told us that her fifteen-year-old daughter from her first marriage had died at a friends house from smoking a bad marijuana cigarette. The daughter and the daughter's girlfriend both died. Her daughter's death had happened just three days prior to our conversation. Chaplain Bill went into his chaplain mode and did a fantastic job of ministering to her in her shocked and grieved state-of-mind. (I also got to say a couple of things.) It opened the door to sharing Christ in the coming days. God is at work with you and me during this shutdown. He often brings people into our lives who need the Savior and a place to share their troubles.

Here's hoping that you are doing well and discovering that all we have--and are--come from the grace and the provision of God. God has a reason--always!