Contemplations of a Mommy "Monk"

When I was a young adult, living away from home for the first time and feeling pretty alone in my faith, I found a way to be at church almost every time the doors were opened.  I took on a second job working at the preschool because I genuinely loved working with the people from church.  I hardly knew anyone and most people were old enough to be my grandmother or even great-grandmother, but I joined their prayer circle and I soaked up Sunday morning service even if it wasn't the denomination I was familiar with.  The old church was within walking distance of my apartment and it was a place of refuge from the world, an unwelcoming place for someone who wanted to follow God's Word, so it became my home away from home.  I was only there a short time but I dove into that church and served, and found joy and peace in the family of God. And here we are today in 2020 where the world is a bit unwelcoming in general (we have to be, I know).  And we can't meet together ...

2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." This is definitely a time for us as the body of Christ to come together in prayer.  There are so many things to pray for:  healing for those who have contracted COVID-19, safety for those who are vulnerable, that the spread of the virus would come to halt, for all our medical professionals on the front lines, and for the researchers who are trying to find a vaccine or medication that could lessen the symptoms.  YES, let's pray together for healing from this virus and let's fall on knees before God for His intervention because only He has power over disease.   But when I look at this commonly quoted verse in 2 Chronicles, I notice a few things:   One, what is the attitude and heart of this prayer? Two, what is it t...

As a part of a missions class, my daughter has to interview a missionary about their experiences.  We just dug through the bookshelf to find some great biographies for her to read as well - about people like the "Jungle Doctor," Hudson Taylor, Isobel Kuhn, Amy Carmichael and Elisabeth Elliot.  If you haven't read any of those biographies, I highly recommend them - those stories inspired me to be willing to go against the crowd, take big risks, do hard things and lay down my life for the cause of Christ.  I love to read biographies and get a feel for what it was like for those people who lived each day for the Lord, especially the really hard days. In all honesty, it's doubtful that you or I will have a biography quite like my spiritual heroes but regardless, we have a story that we are passing on to our children and our grandchildren.  This virus truly is a historic moment and we get to choose how we are going to handle and what will be remembered in history bo...

1.  A crisis is bound to bring out either the best in people or the worst: people literally fighting over the last package of toilet paper in Walmart, hoarding food and generally allowing paranoid selfishness to overcome their sanity.  OR,  on the contrast is the group of people in my community who have rallied together to purchase grocery gift certificates and quietly slip them into the school's lunch delivery bags.  These people don't want recognition, they just want to help their neighbors.  2.  This is a time for us to join together and fall on our faces in prayer before the LORD - to stop fixating on the news and hysteria and start turning our eyes to God for healing, for peace, for hope, and for the strength to endure this pandemic.  It's our moment to pray not only for those close to use but to become prayer warriors for the unfortunate, those battling the illness, the leaders who face daily decisions and the whole world.  3....

Saturday and Sunday (days 9 &10): It doesn't really feel like a weekend when you spend each day doing similar things, but we were all together all day at home. I made banana bread for breakfast and then venison stew for dinner while we watched On the Basis of Sex   about Ruth Bater-Ginsburg, which was powerful (thankful for free movies on TV right now).  The kids have been so amazingly industrious - they cleaned out the basement family room to make a work out space and to find all our DVDs and games (we have more than we remembered!).  We had some flooding this winter from a burst pipe and things have been a bit of a mess down there because no one had time to really work on  it - now we do!  The kids have been playing spike ball, practicing the piano, reading from our pile of books and we've been going on walks with the dog daily. Today I got a little creative myself and made a fairy garden - we'll see if those flower seeds germinate in the next 10 ...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!   Day 5:  Tuesday was the first "Home schooling" day for my kids at home.  Baking and creating was a fun activity for my 16 yr. old.  The staff came in today for the last time to get their packets ready to send out and families came in to pick up anything they left at school along with the educational resources.  Staff were thankful for the reassurance and the chance to connect one last time with their students before school is completely closed.  Gov. Evers banned all events over 10 people and restaurants are closed.   Day 6 Wednesday Shell Lake Schools serve over 1,000 meals to families in the district delivering by bus or pick up at school.  Families were so thankful for this service - some in tears for the blessing it was to have food in a very difficult time.   Gas is $1.73 which is amazing but it's still a time for tightening our belts and thinking about finances.  I think of all the ...

Psalm 50:1-2 The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets....perfect in beauty God shines forth. The sunrise over the field was a reminder of God's sovereign reign, His power shining forth and the fresh new start of each morning. He is in control even when I can't see it. Day 2 (3/14): Saturday, we stopped by the public library and had to stand behind a line of black tape to maintain social distancing. What an odd feeling. I knew why we had to do it but it felt a bit like I was a pariah. These are strange times. Day 3 (3/15): Sunday we went to church for the last time. Attendance was at about 50%, coffee was served by servers with gloves but we still worshipped and fellowshipped together. Church was a balm and praising God brought peace to my heart. Day 4 (3/16): Monday was spent in meetings all day long discussing as we were 3-6 ft. apart as a crisis response team and administrative team. ...

January 11, 2020 The first person in China dies of an unknown virus, the Coronavirus, later changing names to covid-19.  Most of us in the US didn't think too much of it at this time - China is a long ways away.  January 21 was the first confirmed case in the states but again it didn't seem to concerning yet.  I remember H1N1 and the copious amounts of hand sanitizer and wipes that we provided to classrooms at the time but the actually flu never quite impacted us as badly as we expected, so my level of concern in January/February was pretty low (which was true of most of us here in America). By February, things were getting out of control overseas, in Europe, S. Korea, a cruise ship in Japan, etc.  It became a global health emergency (see the New York Times article for a timeline) and it was definitely concerning but it hadn't changed our lives at all at this point. On Monday March 9, my school district was alerted that our students in Destination Imaginati...