Quarantine is a bit Overwhelming

    According to the Barna Group, 72% of women say they have too much stress in their lives,  more than half of all moms say they are overcommitted.  This was BEFORE our current plague outbreak.  Let’s face it,  life is overwhelming,  especially now. 

   We have been asked to ‘work from home,  school your children at home,  connect with friends from home,  attend church online and keep your family calm”.  When I write, I often turn to my thesaurus to find better words.  Overwhelmed has an overwhelming number of words to express it.  Dazed, stunned, astounded, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, overthrown, conquered.  Read through that list again, slowly.  Feels like the days we are living in, doesn’t it?

   My head spins at all the numbers the reporters throw out at me on a daily basis.

   I was stunned to see the empty shelves in my local grocery store. 

   It astounded me to pull into the Costco parking lot and see a line of 600 people waiting to get inside the store.

   Small business owners are closing by the dozens and  restaurants begging us to carry out their food.

   Schools, churches closed.  Hospitals off limits unless you’re a patient.

   Coronavirus has conquered our country.

    Fear is always going to weaken it’s victims.  As we stand in these moments,  I want to proclaim in the words of Isaiah to everyone who is discouraged, 
         “Cheer up!  Don’t be afraid! Your God is coming to punish your enemies.  God will take         revenge on them and rescue you.”   Isaiah 35:4 CEV      

   Several years ago, an acquaintance waited in a hospital waiting room outside a burn unit where two of her three children lay.  They had been injured in an explosion and the doctors had never given them any hope. After only a few days,  the doctor came out of the unit to deliver the news that her daughter was gone.  Instead of bursting into tears, this mother began to sing,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiEqKpN90W4

Thinkin’ on this today.