Devotions with Pastor Fran

Dear Church Family:
Can We Just Go Back to Normal??

Well let’s see, we have been in this stay-at-home mode for about 8 weeks now and if you are like me, I am so ready for all of this to be over.  Now whether that will happen anytime soon is still to be seen but one thing I do know is I am itching to go back to a more “normal” pace of life.   Maybe you have gotten somewhat used to the stay-at-home lifestyle and are enjoying having time to do things that you have not had the time for.  No matter where you are in all of this for most of us we are looking at a gradual transition back to our work places or back to worshiping together again or back to life as we used to know it…well maybe it will never be just like it used to be but we will all have to face transition back whether it is physically going back to work or mentally preparing ourselves to meet the changing and maybe challenging circumstances ahead.

I am sure that life will continue to unfold in a restricted, socially distancing format.  But I hope that over the past few weeks you have been able to use your time at home to invest in your relationships.  Whether it has been in helping your children with homework, sitting down to meals as a family, having real conversations, doing family devotions with Holly,  having time to get to know your spouses again or just slowing down the pace of life.  Besides - just think of all the honey do lists that have gotten done! 

Hopefully, you will be able to reflect on the things that you will want to take with you and carry on from this time at home. Maybe you have realized that your kids don't have to be in everything to keep them occupied.  Maybe you have also realized that cooking together as a couple or family can be a worthwhile experience. Maybe the communication between you and your spouse or your child has greatly improved since you have had to occupy the same space at home for a few weeks now. Maybe you have found some time for you that you greatly needed. Maybe you have taken more time to get re-acquainted with loved ones through Zoom or facetime that you were too busy to keep in touch with.   My prayer is that as we step back into the hustle and bustle of life again that we will not become so busy with the minutia stuff in life that we get too busy to enjoy life.  To enjoy the little things.  To enjoy our families. That we will still take the time to sit together at mealtime, play games in the evenings, take walks together, have devotions together and always tell each other “I love you.”  To seek Him first and let Him guide our steps ahead. 

I am sure there will be a lot of uncertainty that we are going to face and I’m not sure what our lives will look like weeks or months from now but one thing I do know is that I know the One that does!  Jesus said in Luke 12:22-31 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.  For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.  Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?   Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
 “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!  And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.  For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.  But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

I do not know about tomorrow, but I know the One who walks beside me and holds my hand and He knows what lies ahead for all of us.   Isaiah tells us, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.  Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold on to you with my right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10
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Pastor Fran