Devotions from Covid-19 Days:
Sequestered
Devotions from Covid-19 Days: Sequestered
I know our stay at home orders and physical distancing is challenging. I have had a few days where I was ready to climb the walls if I didn’t go somewhere and at least look at something other than the TV or computer or phone screen. So then I make an excuse to go to the grocery store or Walgreens, or even up to the church to take in the mail. But think about Paul, he was sequestered and even chained to soldiers day after day. What did he do? He wrote letters to the places he had been and the people he had met. He shared what God put on his heart. He scolded, cajoled, gave advice and always told people he missed them and was praying for them. He greeted them and shared greetings from those around him, and extended greetings to people that his letter recipients might see, with personal messages sometimes. So consider being like Paul and sending a card or a letter to someone that God brings to your mind. Until 40 or so years ago, that was how we communicated for hundreds of years. Teach your kids how to write a letter, address a letter and mail it. Remember what fun it is to get a card or a letter in the mail instead just junk and bills. And be kind. No slam mail (that’s what we called it in Junior High and High School). Just send the good stuff and have fun doing it!
Stay Safe—He is Risen Indeed,
Nancy
Lovely
As I looked at my screen saver today I realized it was a lilac blossom. I am really looking forward to our lilac bushes blooming. The new Bible study that the WISP group is doing is called Looking for Lovely— and we are encouraged to look for the little lovely things in our lives. I have been jotting them down in the margin of my workbook. When we had the blizzard and for 2 days the limbs of the trees were outlined perfectly in white was lovely. My tulips are starting to bloom, of course my spring flowers are always something I consider lovely. The fact that my home office looks out a window is lovely. My daughter cooking and planning meals is lovely. Meeting a friend’s sweet dog was lovely. What can you find as you look for lovely? The first week of study in our book really focused on Romans 5:3-5. It’s perfect for this time in our history. “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” As we suffer through this time of restrictions for our own good, we will persevere/endure and in doing so we will show our true and proven character—are we complainers, rebels, gripers or those that hold their heads high, chin up and carry on doing their best for themselves and others. And in that we can see the light ahead that is the hope of better things to come. God is so good, he orchestrated us choosing this study because 3 of our members needed audio books for the study. Little did we know this study was written for such a time as this. This is one of my Lovely things. Frustration “So no one told you life was gonna be this way---It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear when it hasn’t been your day , your week , your month or even your year…” Ugh that part of the theme song to Friends has been stuck in my head as I’ve been fighting with a program on my computer for the last 2 days that says “An administrator has blocked you from using this program”. I AM THE ADMINISTRATOR!!! So frustrating, I tried finding a download of a similar program, couldn’t find one, I tried uninstalling and re-installing, same message came up! How could a program I’ve been using for years betray me!! But the chorus to Friends—“I’ll be there for you –I’ll be there for you—I’ll be there for you” was what God said. And he led me to a CD of an earlier version of that program and it worked!! Thank you Jesus. I spent the morning wasting my time on different ways to solve this problem, and if I had just taken the time to listen to God, he would have shown me the answer sooner and I would be on my way home by now—well maybe not.
But it’s a lovely thought.
--Nancy
Pandemic Month 4
We have made it to month 7, July of 2020. So far we are surviving the pandemic. It’s hard to imagine that it has only been 4 months, it seems so much longer. We are developing a new idea of normal, though some around us are pretending that nothing has changed at all. Technology has been a blessing. We are still able to hear each other’s voices and see familiar faces. On line ordering of everything from groceries and medicines to garden supplies has been amazing. God bless those that deliver everything from pizza to cosmetics and books. Wearing a mask is no fun, I’m grateful that I don’t have to wear mine for 8 hours straight. I think about my sweet niece, the nurse, and how broken out her skin is from wearing a mask for her 10 and 12 hour shifts. The pain and sores from wearing elastic on the back of your ears for so many hours is horrible. I am thankful with a little bit of yarn and some buttons I can offer relief to some of our healthworkers.
No VBS, no 4th of July parties, no concerts, no movie theaters, only small groups can gather. Social distancing is the hardest part, no handshakes, hugs, kisses, sitting close to anyone but your own family. The lack of touch is starting to wear on us. And so people are rioting, deservedly so, but it’s no wonder that people are so easily set off. In so many places you can’t even sit down in a coffee shop to chat. When getting together with friends becomes risky and you feel nervous wondering who they have been with and if they are asymptomatic, you begin to become a little paranoid and what should be joyful becomes strained. No vacations, no graduations, no neighborhood barbecues, no church potlucks—we feel so isolated and fearful.
And yet, God is good in everything. The weather in Colorado has been gorgeous. You can still be outdoors, in your yard, your garden and parks. Families have discovered time together, they cook and share meals and talk! Children are playing outside, there has been an uptick in the number of broken bones in children because they are outside playing, riding bikes, skateboards & roller skates. After being in front of a screen for school, they are enjoying sunshine. We value our friends and family more. We are becoming more creative in ways of reaching out and sharing. We have time to think and pray. Crafting and baking are thriving hobbies again. How many people do you know that are baking their own bread? Yes, life has changed, it has slowed down, turned around and reinvented itself, for good or bad, better or worse, temporarily in some ways and we will see what will become permanent change. But one thing that never changes is our God, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is in the crowd and in the isolation. He is in the Amazon distribution centers and the ICU units with our loved ones. He is with those that choose not to wear a mask and those that sanitize themselves every time they return home.
God knows what we are going through, He directs our steps-“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9—“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21 God is in control, no matter what we plan. Paul prays in 2 Thessalonians 3:5, “ May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness and patience of Christ.” (AMP) Oh how we need to have our hearts directed into the love of God this year as we deal with racial and political issues. And we need the perseverance and steadfastness and patience of Christ as we continue to live under the cloud of Covid-19. But we can cling to what Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 28:20, the end of the verse: ‘And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” Hold fast, be strong, we have made it this far, let’s persevere together.
Nancy
Balancing Rest and Work
What a blessing it was to spend a few days in the mountains. Thank you for not complaining about
letting me have some time away from the office. The Bible study for WISP this week was about
balancing between rest and work. Sometimes when you are in a ministry position, rest is at a premium.
Some weeks are fine, you do get a Sabbath day with no interruptions to family time or home time or
vacation time. But then there are the weeks where the business of the church is almost 24/7. There is
one crisis after another, one extra thing after another, one project after another. So when you can slip
away for a few days, it is a blessing. I also have just read about the effect of blue on a persons state of
mind. Blue, like the sky or water is soothing and reinvigorating. The only thing I don’t like about our
favorite campsite is that you can’t see the lake from it. But the sky was so very blue and lovely this week,
I got some good blue. Another thing I read about our attitude is that people that have a window to look
out of while they are working are less tired at the end of the day. I noticed that when I was working from
home. My makeshift desk faced a window and even though the little boy on his battery powered ATV
was a bit annoying, I enjoyed having the natural light and the window. So open your curtains, go outside
on a cloudless day, walk around Sanborn or Bittersweet pond and don’t forget to take off your shoes
and wiggle your toes in the grass. There are supposed to be health benefits to feeling the ground with
your bare feet as well! Duh, sounds like being a kid and playing outside barefoot and fishing was the
healthiest thing we could do! “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported him all they had done
and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance
to eat, he said to them,”Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”.
Nancy Surprise! How often have you really been surprised by God? I hope you say something like,
‘more times than I can count’. That’s the way I feel. My latest surprise has been
with the ‘little’ Bible study I am leading right now. Our study guide only has about
a half an hour of actual work in it each week, but …I have had so many “AHA!”
moments from this study in the last five weeks that I know that God is getting a
kick out my group doing this study. The study is called ‘Leading a Life of Balance’
and it comes from the Women of Faith. Last week we were looking at the
Balancing Faith and Sight. The study was only 6 pages long with lots of space to
write answers, the verses were familiar, but so many ‘aha’s’ came last week.
Colossians 1:16 brought my first aha. “For by Him all things were created that are
in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or principalities or powers. (NKJV)”
Wow! The words visible and invisible struck me first. The internet is ‘invisible’,
Wifi, phone signals, broadcast signals for radio and tv are invisible. According to
this verse God created those things! Then I looked at the terms: thrones,
dominions, principalities & powers. Um, Government, business, military,
academia, science and research—they all fit into those 4 words. Really, God is in
control of Facebook & Mark Zuckerberg, Zoom and it’s creator, Amazon & Jeff
Bezos…the list goes on and on not to mention all of the world leaders. God
created them for Him. Wow!! Such an aha moment for me. I just never thought of
it that way before, and yet I can see it. For example: I have just joined a sweet
little Christian Book Club called Porch Pals, spearheaded by Patsy Clairmont—we
will be meeting on Facebook to discuss our books. God is in control there!
Another surprise God gave me in my little Bible study was from the verse Hebrews 1:1 (NKJV) “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen.” I have read that verse many, many times, but this time the
word substance jumped out at me. If we are balancing between faith and sight,
what does substance mean? Substance is well, substantial, duh. Substance has
tangible reality, it’s physical. Louise Groffy looked at substance like food, it
empowers you, strengthens you. And then we get to ‘evidence of things not
seen’. The writer of the study talked about the evidence of the wind—you can’t
see it, but you can feel it. It can be gentle or destructive. My mind went to CSI
type of evidence. Even the smallest fiber or hair follicle can point you to truth.
I hope that you take the time to study the Bible and have your own ‘aha’
moments. They are really awesome. Nancy Ways of Friendship Dear Church Family and Friends,
You know, I have typed that greeting so often, I think my fingers could do it
without my brain being engaged. I’ve been thinking about friends today and well,
for a few days. I deeply care for my friends, but I’m not the reach out and touch
someone everyday kind of person. On Facebook this morning I saw this quote
that describes me very well: “I’m kind of an absent friend. I will love you with my
whole heart and go out of my way to give you any help you need, but I tend to
live in my own world and suck at keeping up communication, and I’m really sorry
to anyone who takes that personally.” This has been true during Covid and quarantine and lockdown and Stay at
Home…except for the people that I am responsible for. And I don’t mean my
family—my sister thinks I ignore her, but it’s not true—I mean the people that I
have been given to help disciple, the people that I walk alongside in ministry and
the people that I carry burdens with. I’ve heard a few people say lately that they
feel ignored. You know, I have clinical depression, I’m on meds for it and anxiety,
and it’s easy to feel ignored when you are quiet. On the personality scales, I’m
almost perfectly half & half introvert/extrovert. I’ve taken that test more than
once and it always comes out that way. I am very comfortable being alone, being
quiet, not talking and being alone at home, most of the time. But when I am in a
social situation with people I know, or where I feel comfortable or strong I can be
very social. But then I will have to have my down time later. What brought this all to mind was listening to my favorite station on Pandora and
hearing James Taylor sing: “You’ve Got A Friend”. My friends, if I don’t know you
have a need I can’t help you, and I will if I can. I think most people, especially
believers in Jesus are like that. I take to heart the book of First John, that is
teaching us how to be with each other. “Beloved, let us love one another, for
love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” I John 4:7-8
My friends, I mean that sincerely even if I haven’t talked to you since March—if
you need help, have a question, lack something I am here. And if I can’t help you I
will rack my brain to think of the person that could help you. The church is here to
help you, even if all you need is a friendly voice to pray with you. If you move
away and expect me to try to keep up with you other than Facebook, that is not
how I live. But when we see each other again I expect a beautiful reunion. There
are some people in this church that are gifted with this type of temperament and
spirit of hospitality, but that isn’t me. Please don’t judge me for that. I won’t
judge you for what you aren’t either. “If you call out my name, you know
wherever I am, I’ll come running to see you again. Winter, spring, summer or fall,
all you got to do is call, and I’ll be there, yes I will, You’ve got a friend.” Nancy My Heart Hurts My heart hurts. I was doing okay with the Stay at Home orders. I was doing okay with
handwashing and social distancing and wearing a mask until now. My heart hurts for so many
reasons. The name George Floyd will go down in history as we all witnessed his murder by
someone who is supposed to serve and protect, and showed no human compassion. My heart
hurts for how protests of Black Lives Matter have become a reason for the ugly of society to
come out and just demonstrate evil by looting and rioting for something to do. My heart hurts
for the police that are being attacked emotionally and physically because of the evil of a few.
My heart hurts for those that feel persecuted for their skin color, and for the fact that many
have no trust in people of a different skin color. My heart hurts when I hear Christians being
belligerent about wearing a mask. My heart hurts because I can see Satan sitting back and
enjoying the whole thing. I know that there are demonstrations of God’s love and Christian compassion
throughout this time and situation, but they only make the end of the news. Groups are
donating thousands of pounds of food because neighborhood grocery stores were burned to
the ground. People are just showing up to clean up the horrible trash and debris that have been
left behind by the daily protests, riots and looting and tagging. Police officers are standing with
the protestors in solidarity and outrage over what one of their number did on camera! Because
the Holy Spirit is still in the world, because Christians are still in the world, we know that Satan
does not have control. However, as believers we are called to be servants, just as Christ was a servant. As Christ
humbled himself to come to earth, to live like one of us, to live a quiet life until he was called to
his ministry and even in ministry was servant to all. He humbled himself and washed the nasty
dirty feet of his disciples on one of the last days he was on earth. How hard is it to humble
ourselves and wear a mask? Being a servant of Christ means you put others before yourself.
Yes, handwashing, social distancing and mask wearing is not fun. Being Christlike is not always
fun, the man that took the video of the woman who freaked out because he asked her to put
her dog on a leash in a special area of the park wasn’t having fun. But he demonstrated
restraint. The pastors and leaders of Black Lives Matter are demonstrating Christ’s love through
peaceful protest; it is not something they really want to do. The people cleaning up the garbage
and filth left behind from the rioting definitely have more enjoyable things to do, but they are
demonstrating the servant’s heart of Christ. James 4:10- Humble yourselves before the Lord and
he will lift you up.
Yes, my heart hurts, but I’m asking for wisdom. What can I do? What can you do? Ask
for wisdom, pray for peace, ask God to remove Satan from the situation. After 7 weeks of study
about Looking for Lovely, I am looking for the lovely happening and I am hanging on to the core
verses of that study: Romans 5:3-5- Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we
know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character: and character, hope. And
hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through
the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. My hope is to reflect the Holy Spirit that abides in me
by being a humble servant that shows love and compassion. I pray the same for you my
brothers and sisters. Nancy Nettles Up and Down Don’t you just love the ups and downs of summer? The grass grows up, you mow it down, you put the
seeds down in the dirt and they grow up, hopefully. The temperature is almost 100 on one day and it’s
down to 73 a few days later. Ups and Downs, ups and downs. When I was growing up we lived in Fort
Collins and one of the houses we lived in was in the path of the hot air balloon club. We loved hearing
the whoosh of gas and air in the early morning over our house as the balloons flew over. We also had a
free standing swimming pool in our backyard and one morning as we were sitting in the kitchen, that
whoosh got louder and louder and one of those hot air balloons looked like it was going to land in our
little pool! I will never forget that morning! Truly, this summer is having its ups and downs. As we watch
the numbers of virus sufferers in Colorado go down, we are feeling up—and businesses and churches
are opening up, little by little. With the social unrest and outrage over the murder of George Floyd, our
hearts felt so down. No matter where you are God is always there to pull you up. One of the Bible
studies I led the ladies through, several months back, talked about us all being in the branches of a tree,
all on different branches on different heights of the tree. And our brothers and sisters in Christ are all
there with us to help us move up or to catch us or pull us up if we slip and fall down. Even with social
distancing and zoom and livestreaming and face time we are still in the same tree helping each other
with the ups and downs of our life. Hang on to your branch if that’s all you can do, but reach up, there
will be someone there to help you up. Nancy Nettles Highs and Lows This has been an odd and interesting week full of highs and lows. I don’t know about you, but my highs
and lows are usually pretty symmetrical, not too high or too low and not of long duration. This week it
seemed like the lows really drug out. But the highs were pretty high up there! The WISP ladies had their
proper, socially distanced picnic on Wednesday and that was a LOVELY and quite a high. I brought pool
noodles to measure social distancing, but they weren’t necessary! And ladies, I forgot to give you the
handouts! I always have handouts for my Bible Study classes! But I have just been in a bit of a funk. I am
back working at home and realized how much I forgot at the church for the few days I will be here. It’s
so frustrating, our internet is frustrating, our printer doesn’t like communicating with our computers
and that is frustrating! Oh my goodness! I could just get up and stomp my feet! My daughter’s would
say, “First World Problems”. That is true, but they still cause emotion and frustration. I have been
reading through Psalms at night, and boy does King David and Asaph and those other psalmists express
frustration with their circumstances! Psalm 74:1 says, “O God, why have you rejected us forever?” That
shows a little frustration Asaph. Psalm 22:1 says, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me? Why are
you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” Of course that is King David. Another David
one: Psalm 54:1, “Save me, O God, by your name; vindicate me by your might.” David was a little
frustrated with what was going on with King Saul. Yes, frustration, whether with God, your enemy or if
your enemy is the internet, it’s okay to verbally vomit it all over God. He’s your father, he can handle it
and let you get it all out before you start feeling better and he can soothe your soul. Enjoy those highs,
and you can whine a bit through your lows, just read Psalms, you’ll see you aren’t the only one. Nancy Nettles Chicka, Chicka, Zoom, Zoom, I’m working from my dining room! With the stay at home order I have effectively closed the church office for the time being. Of course I
will be going over every day to get the mail and check the church answering machine and drop things off
or pick things up as I need to. This is effective at least until April 11, as the Governor has ordered.
Options will not be back until April 17 as of now. Who knows. If you need something from the church
let me know. But I will let you know that the church has been diligent in checking the security cameras to
see who has been in the building. You know, I really don’t care for the phrase ‘new normal’. Things are changing so fast that we don’t
have time to settle into anything long enough to make it feel like normal. We are in a state of flux, but it
doesn’t have to be chaos. If you put on your armor of God you can battle chaos and win. God is a god of
order and perfection. Nancy Nettles Survivor Challenge: LockDown You may not know this about me, but I love the TV show, Survivor. I think I really got hooked on season
two when they were in the Australian outback. I have watched almost every season for the last 20
years! This season has been a great escape and sort of a parallel to Stay at Home (except we still eat
better than they do!). This season they have been sending those that are voted out to “The Edge of
Extinction”. It’s been crazy. And this season is all past winners, so they are amazing survivor players. Last
night, Amber, talked about being on Extinction and how she hated it, but in some ways it was so great.
She is a busy mom of 4 daughters and for over a month she has had a very simple, non-hectic life, lots of
time to talk and to think. You and I might call it an enforced retreat or even a Sabbath.
To me, part of the Stay at Home has been very similar to Amber’s experience. I hate parts of the
lockdown and I love others.. Yes, I have been busy working from home. I still have deadlines and make
lots of lists, but my planner looks different. I rarely have to go anywhere. I do have more time to get my
Bible study done. We don’t grumble and rush around as much on Sunday morning. In some ways and
most weeks (but not all) I actually can spend some time in rest. Rest can look like reading a book,
sewing, crocheting or watching a movie. Rest can be walking the dogs in the middle of the day. I love my
ladies Bible Study WISP on Wednesday mornings. And since we have been doing it on zoom, I don’t have
to make coffee of put out pastries and fruit and photocopy handouts before class. I just come with my
own cup of coffee to the computer.
Have you taken the time to read the Bible or do a new Bible study during your time at home. I know
some of you have to work away from home still, but there has been something freeing about the things
we can’t do and how we now know we can live without them. The verses that are integral to my current
Bible study are Romans 5:3-5: “Not only so, be we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that
suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put
us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has
been given to us.”
This is a time for building up that quality of perseverance and developing a greater Christ-like character
and finding the Hope because God’s love has been poured into our hearts! Nancy Everything Old is New Again Another week has passed of ‘Safer at Home’. The weather is getting better though. I don’t know about
your yards, but so far my spring flowers have been a bit disappointing. My tulips had a very rough time
and didn’t last very long. My lilacs are barely blooming. But it looks like my irises are going to do well. The first one was blooming yesterday. I’m definitely going to have to dig (okay, Dave will do the digging)
some of them up when we get ready to move.
Did you know that Covid-19 has caused resurgence in gardening? Every plot in our community garden is
taken. People are finding that the time at home, the spring weather and the need to be outdoors has
brought them back to the garden. I just keep thinking about that verse, Genesis 50:20. Joseph is talking
to his brothers and says, “ As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to
bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” (NASB). Now we aren’t saving a nation
from famine, but in many ways we are saving the environment, the family, and ourselves from the
lifestyles that took us away from real connections. Yes, we are missing those physical connections right
now, but we are longing for them like we haven’t in a long time. We crave our friends and family and
value them so much more. People are spending time with their families doing jigsaw puzzles, so much so
that it’s hard to find one at Walmart. People are cooking again and eating at the table with each other,
and being creative when ingredients are hard to find. People are baking bread, it’s hard to find yeast!
We are finding joy in the things we were ignoring because of busyness. People are also finding time for
their pets, enough so that some animal shelters have almost no animals left to adopt. What was
intended for destruction (and I’m not belittling the devastation of the virus) but there is some lovely
things happening that God is providing for us all. Nancy Eye Roll Accountability I was thinking about a cute story my friend that has 2 granddaughters told me. She banged her toe really
hard and well, a four-letter word flew out of her mouth. Her granddaughter, called her on it! She said,
“Oma, you aren’t supposed to say words like that, they make God sad. You need to ask forgiveness.” You
can imagine she was in pain, wanting to laugh and realizing that she needed to take her granddaughter
seriously. Kids have no compunction when it comes to pointing out our mistakes, our right from wrong.
If they know it’s wrong and especially if you’ve told them it’s wrong, they are going to call you on it.
They will hold you accountable.
Adults have put up boundaries about calling people out on their mistakes. It’s not polite, it might offend
someone, they won’t like me if I do, I could make them angry…all excuses for not holding someone
accountable. Recently I had a friend hold me accountable for a very loud eye roll. Yes, me… rolling my
eyes for all to see. My friend was right to call me on it. It was as loud as a snort of derision and just as
rude. I needed to be reminded to watch my facial expressions.
In this time of social distancing and separation, I think we have separated from knowing how to act
around other people. We have lost some of our social grace. There are things we would not do if we
had regular interaction in person. And let me tell you when you are on zoom or one of the other
meeting platforms people are staring at your face and your facial expressions can say a lot! Now some of
them are funny, but sometimes as you are staring at that other person or group of people you can see
the boredom, the scorn, and the anger. The camera doesn’t hide much. In person, you can turn away,
be distracted by someone else and feel empathy, empathy doesn’t really flow across the internet as
well.
So be aware my dear friends, if my eye rolls can be loud and upsetting to someone so can yours.
Remember the book of First John, it’s a whole long discussion about how to treat your fellow believers,
your brothers and sisters in Christ. Matthew 12:36 says, “But I tell you that men will have to give
account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” Yup, I think that includes
that stinking loud eye-roll. And don’t be angry when someone holds you accountable. It’s not an easy
thing for them to do, and usually, they are only doing it for your benefit, to help you show the Christ
living in you. Nancy New Normal? Have you seen the meme that says, “ 2020 is a unique Leap year, it has 29 days in February, 300
days in March, 6 months in April and 9 years in May.”. Well, we’ve almost made it through
May! Can you believe it? Things aren’t going to go back to the way they were ‘normal’ and we
won’t necessarily have figured out our new normal yet, but at least right now we seem to be
relaxing and trying to get closer to where we were 3 months ago. Masks will be part of the new
normal we are developing. People used to hate and rebel against seat belts too. One thing I
know about Americans, if we have to wear masks they are going to improve, and they are going
to be fun. Already the masks I’ve seen are a lot of fun. Dog groomers with pups on their masks,
masks with big goofy smiles, some with favorite movie, tv and cartoon characters. I think some
of my favorite are the Star Trek uniform masks. I’ve made a few masks. The pattern of the first
set wasn’t labeled children’s size, but they are small and then they shrunk. (I forgot to prewash
my fabric!) On all of my masks I could never get the length of the elastic right, either too short
(very painful) or too long(they didn’t stay on!). So I ordered some masks, they said cool max—
but when they came they weren’t cotton or cotton knit, they were polyester and very hot! Yup,
as Americans if we are going to make masks part of our future normal, we have to start using
our ingenuity and make them better! And you know, I think God will guide us to make them
better. Who knows, even I may make a better mask that will be fun and not so hot! Romans
5:3-5 says: Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering
produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us
to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who
has been given to us. Nancy
Past Devotionals
Daily Bible Verse