Our community was in a great place…we were preparing for Spring Break and our Spring Musical, our sports teams were in the midst of a great season, Seniors were making plans and preparing for their graduation, etc. Then came March 2020….Luke’s death was a devasting blow to our faculty and student body…and while we were reeling from that blow- we were hit with Covid and a nationwide stay-at-home order. It was like the very ground we were standing on was being attacked with a jackhammer and our very foundation was crumbling. Fast forward a year- we are still struggling with many things- life has not returned to ‘normal’, restrictions are still in place, we still talk with friends with a face mask blocking the ability to read all the emotions. But one thing we have learned is that the foundation actually stood. It may have been shaky…and we may at times still feel the aftershocks…but the foundation stands. I often struggle with wanting to throw in the towel…to just sit and let the crumbling ground beneath me eat me up. But I remind myself that God is my foundation and rock I can stand on. The struggles are there every day but God is there in the struggles. He was in the lions’ den with Daniel, in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, He was in the wilderness with the Israelites, and He was in 2020 with us! How have you allowed God to stop the shaking ground in your life in 2020?
The face masks – and not being able to show my smile to relieve the tension. A small thing, but we communicate so much through our face. And yet there is more tension than ever. If people could just see a smile.
How have I allowed God to stop the shaking ground in my life? I hold on. I have hope. I know that God never promised me that my life would be easy, but instead asks me to count it blessing to be in the storm. I know that He is the Calmer. And though the storm is raging outside, he gives me peace and quiet in my heart.
I have been through storms before – times where I was on my knees begging Him to help me, and finally begging him to help me even to just WANT to get out of the storm. You see, it was easier for me to be in the storm, it was what I knew. But I prayed, I begged, I cried that God would change my heart to want to be out of the storm. And with that surrender, over time, He gave me peace regardless of the storm around me as I do what he calls me to do.