Growth

What Should Stay When Stay-At-Home Ends?

A popular meme prompts people to consider how their lives should be different when we are no longer in a season of social distancing. It challenges us to ponder what parts of normal are worth returning to when normalcy returns. It is a good question. But just as it is worth ruminating on which parts of our previous normal should be abandoned, it is also worth considering which parts of our stay-at-home practices should remain. While the particularities may vary, I think most people can agree that this season has drastically altered their day-to-day, and in stripping away much of what we are used to, there is the opportunity to shape a new normal that is enriched by what we have gained. 

So as you think about what you want to keep from your time in “quarantine”, here are some of the things that I hope to maintain from mine: 

  • A greater reliance on God – While I have definitely experienced personal seasons of uncertainty, I have never lived through a time where there was so much that is unknown across the globe. Throughout much of this period, every day felt like an unknown adventure and when the uncertainty of the future is pronounced, the Christian’s dependence upon God is as well. Even when a global pandemic no longer hangs over our heads, I hope to maintain my deepened dependency on my Creator.  

  • More intentional prayer – A greater reliance on God has caused more intentional prayer as I consider the many people impacted by the pandemic. Perhaps most impacted has been my prayers for the leaders whose decisions have a direct impact on me. Government officials, church and organizational leaders, and many others have been the subject of my concerted petitions for heavenly wisdom, as well as for God’s grace, endurance, and blessings to be poured out. Additionally, my thankfulness that God has gifted people to be healthcare workers, truck drivers, teachers, and customer service professionals has increased. I hope the purposefulness of both my prayerful thankfulness and my petitioning remain long after social distancing practices are lifted.

  • Thoughtful time management – I have shared before that I don’t usually describe my life as busy, preferring instead to describe it as full. Of course, however you describe it, my calendar has had a lot less on it the past 4 weeks. One of the benefits of this is that it has reminded me of the importance of having unscheduled time on the schedule. Our kids have been so creative with coming up with things to do and we have loved figuring out new ways to share time as a family. I trust that life will one day be full again, but I plan to make sure that part of the fullness will contain unplanned time for my family to have unexpected adventures.

  • Renewed recognition of the fragility of life – Scripture teaches us to number our days (Ps. 90:12) and the global spread of a deadly virus helps us realize the importance of this practice. We never know when our days on Earth will conclude, which is why it is important to make sure each day counts. Perhaps the fact that many people passed away in isolation during this pandemic makes this even more pronounced.  Resolving relational tensions or imparting final words of wisdom may not have been an option for these individuals, and this reality should soberly remind us that we are not promised those opportunities either. May I live more regularly in the recognition that I am not guaranteed tomorrow and therefore I need to live today to maximize my eternal impact. 

  • Deeper appreciation for Creation – When stay at home orders were issued, people with kids quickly realized that literally staying at home was probably not going to be the best option for long. Kids have energy to burn and if we expected them to do school at home, we could at least try to provide them opportunities for play in the great outdoors. Of course, options were increasingly limited, but that seemed to make the opportunities to be in nature even sweeter.  The roses in my backyard have been there since the previous owner planted them, but never have I appreciated them more than during this season. My kids were thrilled to walk on the hill behind our house – something we had never let them do before because there was never a reason to. Even hearing the chirping of the birds early in the morning which had previously been an annoyance was a reminder that once again God had caused the sun to shine on the evil and the good (Mt. 5:45) , and that just as He provided for those birds, He would provide for His kids (Mt. 6:26). God’s majesty and love are displayed in the world He created; may I never take that for granted again. 

  • Purposeful checking in – There are a number of people in my life that I check in on a regular basis. There is a far greater number that I check in with because I see them on a frequent basis. Whether they are my students, my co-workers, my fellow congregants, or others that I “run into” regularly, I usually have a sense of how they are doing because I will connect with them as part of my weekly routines. Of course, routines were drastically changed by stay-at-home mandates, and being aware of how people were doing required more intentional outreach. One way in particular this impacted me is that I didn’t know how my students were doing by the look that they had on their face when they showed up to class. I had to be more thoughtful about trying to identify those who were struggling and those who needed an extra dose of prayer and encouragement. The wonderful thing about building these practices is that I can, and should, use them even when sequestering ends.  The removal of “normal” means of social interaction has caused a deepening of relationships in unexpected ways because it required me to prayerfully consider who God may want me to connect with and serve.  Even when the convenience of regular in-person interactions resumes, I pray that I will continue to purposefully reach out to others, as the Lord leads. 

This season of social distancing has impacted people in a variety of ways. And whether you are eager for normalcy to return, or you have enjoyed the reduced social commitments, or you fall somewhere in between, there are probably practices or perspectives that you have developed during this time that would be worthwhile to maintain. May all of God’s children recognize that this season of sequestering is something that should be stewarded, and like any of our stewardships, it should be our goal to gain all that we can from it – for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom. 

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Purpose

The Most Important Thing to Do When Celebrating Easter This Year

Years ago, after my sister was married and had purchased a home, she claimed the right to host Thanksgiving.  Since my mom’s birthday is on Christmas, she had a trump card for hosting that celebration.  Not wanting to be left out of the opportunity for my family to gather at my home, I tagged Easter. At the time, my hostessing skills were pretty minimalist, but God sent me help in the form of my husband who knows how to make even the most mundane things fun. Although his elaborate plans often cause me to question whether we are aiming too high, he always manages to pull them off. And the crowd of people who gather at our home, always end up having a good time. 

Because of our history of hosting Easter, my kids have always known Easter celebrations filled with activities and people we love. It was quite a shock for them to realize that Easter this year would look considerably different. Our house would not contain any of their friends, and there would not be a photo scavenger hunt or a candy exchange for them to try to get their favorite treat. We wouldn’t be donning new clothes or taking pictures in front of our church’s floral cross. This Easter promises to be the quietest one that they have known. 

As their disappointment became evident to me, I tried to think through how we could “make it up to them.” I pondered how we could still make the day special despite the lack of normal events. I considered whether an egg hunt with just our family was even worthwhile and what I should do about dinner for our considerably smaller group  I wondered if it was even worth attempting to create special memories since things would be so different from what they have grown to expect. In a sense there was a feeling of futility as I contemplated the day. In all likelihood they will never again experience an Easter like this one. Is it even worth it to go through the effort of trying to replicate something that will never match what they hope it will be? 

Yet as I thought about these things, I was reminded that whatever hindrances social isolation creates for our Easter celebrations, it cannot detract from what is most important about our time together – making Christ the focus of our day.  Pondering His death on Good Friday and His subsequent resurrection on Easter morning is the real reason for the season. And while fancy new attire and hunts for eggs may normally distract us from this most important thing, this period of sequestering at home should renew our commitment to put our focus where it should be – on the saving work of Jesus Christ. 


What are some practical ways that you can do this with your family? Here are five ways:

1. Read – Each day of this week, read about what happened on the corresponding day during Passion Week. This is a helpful guide to help you know what to read. If you have younger kids, it may be beneficial to have them act out the various parts of the drama as it unfolds. This will not only keep them engage, but it will also help them personalize the historical events recorded in the Bible. 

2. Sacrifice – Make it a goal this week that everyone in your household will make a sacrifice each day to serve someone else  – just as Christ sacrificed for the sake of His children. Everyone in your family can participate in this and every night you can discuss how each individual’s sacrifice mirrored the sacrifice of Christ.  Maybe a sibling extended forgiveness just as Christ did to those who put Him on the cross. Maybe Mom gave up rights to her “free time” to play the game that the kids have been longing to play – just as Christ gave up His rights to Heaven in order to come to this Earth. While sacrifice for the good of others is always commendable, in order for this sacrifice to deepen our commemoration of Easter, it is important that we think through how what we give up is parallel to what Christ gave up for us. 

3. Give Thanks – In your prayers this week, thank God for one thing that you receive as a result of what Christ accomplished through His death and resurrection. We may be quick to think about what we have given up for Christ’s sake, but the truth is, what we gain because of what Christ gave up for our sake is far more significant. If you are struggling with coming up a list of things that Christians have gained because of the work of Christ -here are a few ideas:

  • Eternal life -John 3:16, 
  • The promise of seeing the glory of God – John 11:4
  • The assurance of being sealed by the Holy Spirit – Ephesians 1:13
  • A lasting Inheritance – Acts 26:18
  • Forgiveness of sins – Ephesians. 4:32 
  • Justification in the Sight of God – Galatians 2:16
  • A new life in Christ – Galatians. 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:17
  • Access to the Father – Ephesians. 2:18
  • Being God’s son or daughter – Galatians.3:26
  • A confident hope – Romans 15:13

4. Memorize His Word – If we want our minds to be fixed upon Christ, it is helpful for us to know what the Bible has to say about His death and resurrection. This is a good time to hide some verses in your heart – and to help your family do so too If you are wondering which verses to concentrate on, here are some suggestions (please note – I tried to pick verses that could be memorized by family members of all ages , and ordered them from based on difficulty for memorization)

  • John 14:6 –  “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
  • Romans 5:8 – ” but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
  • I John 4:10 – ” In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
  • Ephesians 2:8 – ” For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
  • Romans 10:9 -” that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”
  • Romans 1:16 – ” For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
  • Acts 2:38 –  And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
  • I Corinthians 15:3 – ” For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,”
  • I Peter 3:18 – ” For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,”
  • Isaiah 53:5 – ” But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”

Share the Gospel – There is no better way to commemorate what Christ has done for us than to share it with someone else. This may be someone in your household, or it may be someone who you check on to see how they are adjusting to this temporary norm. It may even be someone that you get to talk to in the grocery story? line, while you wait on your turn to enter. Can you imagine how much richer your Easter celebration will be if you get to play a role in helping to bring someone to repentance and faith in Jesus Chris? 

As we face an Easter season that looks so different from what we are used to, it can be easy to put our thoughts on all that we have had to give up. And yet, in the quiet of our homes with minimal social obligations, this may be the perfect time to check our hearts and make sure that our Easter traditions are primarily about Christ. We can renew our commitment to put our focus on that which is most important and we can start new rituals that help our families, and ourselves more purposefully celebrate the events of Passion week. We may feel like we are missing a lot, that everything is “cancelled” to use the popular term, but if we are diligent, we can use this sequestering to gain a return that egg hunts will never provide. We can concentrate on that which is most important this Easter- and every Easter- by centering our hearts and our minds on Jesus Christ. 

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