In today’s post to his blog, Jack’s Winning Words, Pastor Freed used this quote – “I’m telling you, things are getting out of hand. Or maybe I’m discovering that things were never in my hand.” (Gordon Atkinson)
For many, if not most, the situation that we find ourselves in right now is a humbling experience that demonstrates to us how little we really control in life. For a few, this leads to frustration and anger. You see them yelling and demonstrating on the news shows, all without masks, or you see them congregating in groups, again without taking any precautions.
We are tempted to ask, “who’s in charge here”, but we already know the answer – God is in charge. The only things that we have any control over is how we react to what is happening. It is that realization that allows us to revisit our faith and put our trust back in God. That is not to say that we can then act stupidly and go out without taking precautions, just that we revisit the faith that allows us to say , “Not my will, but Thy will be done.”
Once you gain (or regain) the insight that you are not in control of the situation that you find yourself in, no matter what you do, you can move on to focusing upon the things you can control – your reactions to it. Taking steps to decrease your personal exposure is the first things that you can do – staying home, washing your hands and practicing social distancing when out. If you are able physically and financially, another thing you can do is to help others – volunteer to shop for food or necessities for someone, volunteer to mow the lawn for someone who cannot do it for himself or herself, help load up and distribute food at a local food bank – many people need help.
Some who have the skills and tools to do so have made masks and other PPE for use by essential workers and others. Others may have organized efforts to make PPE or to collect and distribute food. Many have at least made and displayed signs of support for essential workers. All of these people have taken charge of themselves and decided to do something, rather than just sit around complaining or feeling sorry for himself or herself.
So, who’s in charge here?
God and you – in that order. Give God a hand and take charge of yourself. He’s got a enough to do right now.
From today’s post to the blog Jack’s Winning Words, comes this quote – “The best use of imagination is creativity. The worst use of imagination is anxiety.” (DeepakChopra)
It is hard not to be anxious these days. Every unmasked stranger that we pass by, we imagine is a COVID-19 carrier who is exposing us to the virus. Every surface that we touch might have last been touched by an infected person, so we wash our hands or use sanitizer. Every night the reports on the news shows reinforce our worst anxieties. What are we to do?
For one, we can turn our imaginations to being creative about staying safe. We have already seen people being creative about making their own facemasks and many have had to become creative about other things like gloves or making their own hand sanitizer. While we are staying home, we must use our creative side to avoid becoming bored, especially if we have younger children who must be kept busy ot occupied.
We can turn our imaginations towards finding ways to communicate with those whom we cannot visit right now. One doesn’t have to use technology to sit down and write a letter or pick up the phone and make a call to someone that we can’t visit with. Some have used their imaginations to create innovative posts to social media.
So, let’s all use our imaginations in positive ways to get through this crisis. Let’s be creative about how we protect ourselves and others. Let’s create our own “new normal”, rather than just being anxious about it. As Jack pointed out in his blog, we have a God who has advised us – “Be not anxious, for you have a God who cares for you and will never leave you.”
In today’s post to his Jack’s Winning Words blog, Pastor Freed used this quote – “If you work hard and run straight, God’s gonna bless you sooner or later.” (Brian Carroll) He went on to relate about Brian, who works as a car concierge – a person who will do all of the work to buy a new car for you.
It seems like this current crisis has shown us how hard it is to wait for that blessing. We have become a nation that is used to instant gratification, sometimes without working at all. We no longer have the patience to write novels; so, we write Tweets. Out “knowledge “is served to us in sound bites, rather than in great lectures. We are not willing to self-quarantine to protect others because what we have to do we feel is more important. For us, waiting is the hard part. We don’t have time for later. Come on God, we have things to; let’s get to the blessings part now.
We have also become a nation obsessed with getting on to the next big thing, owning the next new gadget or having the next new experience. That tends to downplay what we already have, what God has already given us, including the fact that we awoke this morning to another day. Rather than be thankful for what we have already been given, we are constantly striving for the next thing. Rather than enjoying the gifts that we have in hand, we are dissatisfied with what we have yet to achieve or possess. We don’t have time for later. Come on God, we have things to; let’s get to the blessings part now.
This crisis and the Stay at Home time that was government mandated in many areas should have provided the time to pause and thank God for being alive, for not being sick and for all of the other things that you have. Instead, it has driven many to acts of stupidity or worse. Violence in domestic abuse cases is up, suicides are up, shootings are happening over the lack of a mask in public and armed demonstrators have taken to the streets demanding the right to congregate and get sick. We don’t have time for later. Come on God, we have things to; let’s get to the blessings part now.
That’s not how it works. Start with the work hard and run straight part of today’s quote. Basically, that boils down to doing the right things. The right things never involve the anger and stupidity that some are displaying or the violence towards others. Loving thy neighbor as you love yourself does not involve yelling and screaming, or pushing and shoving. We were asked to do the right things by staying at home and practicing social distancing when in public. For many that was easy to comply with, but for a few who don’t have the patience to wait and help stop the spread of the disease, it was impossible. We don’t have time for later. Come on God, we have things to; let’s get to the blessings part now.
We now enter a very dangerous phase of this crisis, when economic and political pressures are forcing government leaders to take actions that they know will cause an increase in the number of deaths – projections from models range as high as 400,000+. Government leaders have decided that the potential death toll is an acceptable trade-off to get the economy running again. We will all soon be at greater risk in our stores and restaurants, at our workplaces and in any gathering of people in public. Our scientists medical professionals have warned us and shown us data that says we are not ready to re-open the country. Our reply… We don’t have time for later. Come on God, we have things to; let’s get to the blessings part now.
Let’s hope that God takes pity on us. He has forgiven a foolish people before; maybe he will forgive us again. Maybe we should all pray for patience, rather than telling God…We don’t have time for later. Come on God, we have things to; let’s get to the blessings part now.
Lest we not be hypocrites, let’s also remember to pray for those who trespass against us (without their masks) as ask for forgiveness for our own trespasses.
Pastor Jack Freed posted this quote in his Jack’s Winning Words blog today – “I’ve been down in the dumps…This really brightens my day.” (Liz Koto) His post was about the couple who started the walk funny phenomenon that has been reported on the news. That couple started walking funny, like on the old Monty Python show, on a whim, but discovered that it helped lighten up and brighten up some people’ days. Now many people all over the country are walking funny or dressing up in costumes for their walks. What can you do to brighten someone’s day?
We have all seen the ads on TV that recommend that you call someone rather than visit them. Calling them also helps brighten up their day, especially those who have been enduring this pandemic lock-down alone. What can you do to brighten someone’s day?
Many people have been putting signs in their windows or yards thanking the frontline workers in their area. Some even hold clapping sessions on their front porches or lawns to thank those who continue to serve us through this crisis. Doing something like that helps both the people who serve and the celebrators alike. What can you do to brighten someone’s day?
There have also been stories in the news about car caravans being organized to drive by the home of someone celebrating a birthday or other special event. Some were organized just to say “thank you” to someone for being there to serve others. What can you do to brighten someone’s day?
Even on Facebook, there are people who go out of their way to post funny pictures or cartoons to help lighten up what could otherwise be a grim time. People need those little breaks of humor every day to help them make it through this. What can you do to brighten someone’s day?
So think about what you can do. Who can you call? What funny thing can you do? What sign can you make up and maybe post a picture of on Facebook? Imagine how much better others will feel if you can somehow break the grip of loneliness or depression for them. Just imagining that will also help you feel better. What can you do to brighten someone’s day?
A good way to put yourself in the mood to do something is to go to your bathroom and look in the mirror; then make a funny face to yourself. Break out of your own serious mood and then set you mind to work on answering the question – What can you do to brighten someone’s day?
Two of the most truthful statements that I’ve heard on various news casts lately were “We just don’t know” and “We’re making it up as we go along”. Those were honest responses made by State-level bureaucrats in recent news show interviews in responses to questions about what happens next and how Federal financial aid programs were being implemented.
While one can get weary hearing terms and phrases like “unprecedented”, “extraordinary” and “never in my lifetime”; the fact it that the current situation is one that very few have been alive long enough to remember having experienced. The 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic was the last comparable event. So, honest confusion about what to do is understandable. We are all making this up as we go along.
Honest confusion about what to do next should not be compared with the overt stupidity being displayed by those who would ignore the threat and get everybody back to work immediately. Idiots running around in large crowds with “Liberate Michigan” signs represent only the lunatic fringe of society, so self-centered and unconcerned about others that they would put us all at risk.
The paper today had a story about the impact of the Stay Home order on the tourist industry in the northern part of the state, specifically in Mackinaw City. While the lack of tourist traffic will be a severe hardship for the businesses that depend on the million –plus visitors to Mackinaw Island each year, the business owners there ae more concerned about loosening the restrictions too soon and putting their communities at risk. Some were even quoted in interviews stating that they might not reopen their stores or restaurants if the Stay at Home order is lifted too quickly. They are rightfully concerned about travelers from other parts of the country bringing the virus with them.
Fear, anger and ignorance seem to be driving the push to reopen all businesses right away. Some of that is understandable even if not acceptable. The response at the Federal level has been pathetic and states were unprepared for something this big. Perhaps the states that have decided to open up starting next week will show us all whether that is a good idea.
We’ve already seen the impact that a stupid mayor in New Orleans had on spreading the disease and turning his city into a hot spot. Later he said. “Gee, I didn’t know that letting people gather in large crowds for Marti Gras would spread the disease.” Well, Duh! Maybe the Governors of the states that are rushing to reopen can dust off that lame excuse. It’s unfortunate that the states surrounding those states can’t close their borders and prevent travel from those states.
For most of us, honest confusion is almost inevitable. We are bombarded daily with conflicting views from politicians and government leaders about what has been done and what needs to be done. The messages from medical professionals has remained consistent, focused upon social distancing and personal hygiene. Their goal all along was to try to slow the spread enough to allow an unprepared health system to keep up. Others in that industry have been working to find effective treatments for the sick and to develop a vaccine for the future.
As much as those healthcare professionals appreciate the “clap outs” and supportive signs that they see, they are more concerned with the movement to open the economy back up too soon. They know that our healthcare industry cannot sustain the intense level that they have been operating at for the last month or so. A second wave outbreak of the virus, precipitated by getting people back to work and back to public gatherings too soon, will break the system and the people within it.
The question now becomes one of, “Who will we listen and follow?” Will elected leaders who have little real understanding of the situation and no scientifically defensible rationale for their decisions cave into the loud voices of the angry mobs demanding the right to get sick and to be allowed to sicken others? Will common sense prevail or will we all be exposed to the unmasked and loud, virus spreading shouts of the ignorant? Should the connector on their signs be changed from “Live Free or Die” to “Live Free and Die”? Let’s watch what happens in Georgia and see; before we make the same mistake in Michigan.
In the meantime – let’s all stay home, wear masks and gloves in public and wash our hands often. There’s little to be confused about in that.
I wrote back on March 20 (see What’s your plan?) that there are four stages that we all would be going through during this crisis. Stage 1 – Shock and Awe, Stage 2 – Fear and Anxiety, Stage 3 – Frustration and anger and, finally, Stage 4 – Acceptance and inventiveness.
We have been through stages 1 and 2 for the past few weeks in quarantine and many, if not most, have already entered stage 3, as witnessed by the protest rally at the state capitol yesterday. The frustration and anger are fueled by fear and have been exacerbated by a total lack of leadership at the national level. One is tempted, while watching the daily briefings from Washington, to cue up the music “Send in the Clowns”, but as the song itself says, “Don’t bother, they’re here.”
So here we are, into stage 3 – frustrated and angry. Frustrated that we don’t know who to be angry at and angry that everything that we want to do is frustrated by the situation at hand. For some, that frustration and anger results in stupidity – going to crowded protest rallies unprotected by masks or social distancing comes to mind or going to large church services. For others it has resulted in family friction that threatens to end marriages or cause depression. For many this feels like the same anger and frustration that as children used to cause us to hold our breath until we turned blue. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.
Stage 3 is the most dangerous stage to get through, since it is the stage that precipitates to most dangerous reactions. When anger takes over your life, reason is often pushed aside in favor of a response – a response that in many cases just makes the situation worse. In this stage, even God becomes a target for our anger – we ask, “How could God let this happen to us?” In fact, it is in this stage that we need God’s help the most. We need to pray for God’s help to let us quickly move on to Stage 4, where we start to take positive steps to deal with the changes needed in our lives. We might pray that God calm our frustrations and anger or end our self-pity party and give us the strength to accept our new reality and find ways move forward within that reality.
The focus at state leadership levels will soon turn to defining the rules that must govern or lives as we return to work. We will not be out of danger with this virus for months, but efforts to flatten the curve have worked to some extent to reduce the severity of the outbreak and prevent the wholesale overrunning of our health care system. We could soon be at an acceptable steady-state level of infections and deaths (if there is ever an acceptable level for deaths), that will allow us to slowly put people back to work. It will not be life as we knew it. Nothing will be as we knew it. Some will call it the “new normal”; many will just use the old hack – “It is what it is”. I call it Stage 4 of this crisis – the accepting and adapting (inventing) stage.
In this next phase we will need to understand how to conduct our lives and our businesses in a manner that doesn’t harm others by re-introducing the virus to them. The virus will still be there. It will always be there. We will not have a widespread vaccine or enough people with herd immunity for a year or more, so we must learn to live without killing each other. Social distancing rules and practices will dramatically affect how we live and how we conduct business.
It will be literally impossible for some businesses to operate profitably under social distancing rules. How can a restaurant, that may have been small to begin with, be expected to continue with half or less of the tables that it needs to be profitable? Yet that may be the new reality, if tables must be far enough apart to prevent the spread of the virus. How can small stores, in which 3-4 people constitutes a crowd, remain open under new occupancy and social distancing guidelines? How can large events like sporting events or street festivals that draw huge crowds be allowed or made safe? There are no good answers to these simple questions, yet, and we have not even thought of all of the questions at this point.
It is in this stage that our resourcefulness as a people and as a nation will be tested. It is also in this stage where a moral triage of sorts will take place. We will be making the conscious choice to accept a certain level of illnesses and deaths as the necessary price for the survival of our economy. While that has always been true in our society, it has seldom been as starkly apparent as it will be now. We have always chosen to let a certain segment of our society go without access to healthcare (and die) for economic reasons. It was convenient for us to ignore that segment, since they were usually the poor and homeless. This new choice puts our friends, co-workers and families equally at risk. The virus is not discriminatory in that regard.
Let’s move as quickly as we can into stage 4. It is a much more positive stage than the self-destructive environment of Stage 3. Our best scientists and medical professionals will continue to focus on finding treatments and vaccines. Now our best business minds must focus upon creative ways to get America safely back to work. It won’t be easy, but there is not a challenge that we can’t overcome, once we put our minds to the task.
As a business owner, the first task at hand in Phase 4 is making it possible for customers to shop or eat or get services in your business with a minimum risk of becoming infected, and still be profitable while doing so. That task is quickly followed by finding the best way to let your customers know that you are open again and have taken those steps to protect them. Just don’t be the bull-headed merchant who re-opens without regard to the guidelines and gets shuttered again by the authorities (and there will be those jerks).
Believe me there is plenty of pent-up demand for goods and services and food . It’s time to get to stage 4 and get ready to re-open. There is not a more creative group in our economy than the small business owners who make up the backbone of that economy. It’s time to get creative.
Pastor Jack Freed used this quote from the movie Shawshank Redemption in his blog today –
“Hope is a great thing, maybe the best of things. No good thing ever dies”
Hope never dies, but sometimes it eludes us. Perhaps it is because we are so consumed with fear or anxiety that we fail to look for it. Hope is like an onion with many layers. You may start with I hope things get better soon or perhaps I hope things get back to normal soon. There may be a layer that says, I hope they find a cure for this soon. Right below that hope maybe the layer that says, I hope I don’t get this virus. If you dig down deep enough, at the core for almost everyone is the hope – I hope I don’t die from this virus.
When one gets down to that level of the onion it is not unusual that one find that hope is joined by faith. Faith and hope together form the foundation for belief – belief in the message and promise of Easter that there is life after death.
As we wait out this pandemic, one can find guidance and reassurance in the Bible. The book of Romans has quite a few good references to hope –
Romans 5 – “we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope”
As we persevere through the current stay at home lockdown, imagine the character that we are building. Think of it as a long workout at the gym, but we are not building muscle; but, rather, we are building character. For most of us, this lockdown may be the longest amount of time that we’ve had by ourselves, maybe ever. For some it is building character that they did not know that they had in them and bringing out hope that may have been long forgotten.
Romans 8:24-25 “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
Perhaps hope is the best thing. Hope based upon faith and belief is the strongest hope of all. We all need that kind of hope during this prolonged crisis.
Romans 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Taken right at dawn coming back from walking the dogs
Years ago I bought a large Star of Bethlehem to use at Christmas time. It is a commercial display piece that is about 4 feet tall and 2 ½ feet across and lights up, so it can be seen from quite a distance. I usually use it as part of the Christmas decorations on my home. Since it is large and positioned on the second floor of the house, I just leave it up year around, but usually only illuminate it during the Christmas season. Until now. I have set it to light up from dusk until dawn until this crisis is over.
The current COVID-19 crisis has put the entire nation on edge and the stay at home order in this state has exacerbated those feelings of fear, uncertainty and doubt. I just felt like it was time to turn the star on again, to give people who see it something to cling to and have faith in.
It is ironic that it is lit during the Holy Week of Easter, yet somehow very appropriate. Christmas and Easter represent the birth and resurrection of hope as well as of our Lord. Now is a time that we all need hope and it is my intention that those seeing the star lit will find some measure of comfort and renewed hope for better days ahead.
If you drive by my house at night and see the star, please don’t honk, just smile and perhaps look over at the loved ones who may be with you in the car and have hope and faith that things will get better.
Like most of you, I had a routine, before all of this virus crisis started. It was a mundane routine that began at about 6 AM when the dogs got me up to go for their morning walk. I’d throw on my “dog-walking outfit’, which consists of a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and off we’d go. Our morning walks were usually about ½ hour; so, depending upon when they got me up, we were usually through before 7 AM. Then it was time to check emails and Facebook, look at my calendar of events scheduled for that day and maybe write a blog post. At 8 AM I usually walked down to the Rite Aid store a block away and got my morning paper (unless it was Thursday or Friday when it is still delivered). Most mornings my wife would make a breakfast or at least get out the cereal and pour a glass of orange juice. After breakfast, I would normally shower and get dressed for the day in a nice business casual outfit. Then it was on to the appointments and business of the day.
Well, that all changed about three weeks ago and dramatically so two weeks ago when Governor Whitmer issued her stay at home order. Both of the part-time jobs that I work at – as a Realtor and selling advertising for the Spinal Column Newsweeklies – came to a screeching halt under the governor’s order. Newspapers were exempted under the order, but literally all of the advertisers that I have as clients were immediately shut down. The order also restricted real estate agents from doing the things that they normally do – showing and listing houses, since both involved face-to-face time with clients. So, suddenly I had a completely open calendar. (NOTE: Ever resourceful Realtors have since figured out how to do much of their business virtually.)
The dogs don’t understand that anything is happening, so they still get me up every morning about 6 AM. I still throw on my dog-walking outfit and we make our trek around the block to take care of business. I still check in on my email, although it is down quite a bit. Facebook has also changed, with threads about dealing with the virus now dominating. I still walk down to Rite Aid and get a paper most days and we still have breakfast. That’s when I noticed that things had changed in a way that I don’t like. I have been getting latter and latter on my morning shower (which has even turned into an afternoon shower a few time) AND I have been exchanging one pair of jeans for another and sitting around in jeans all day.
That has to stop! I’m not doing that anymore. Sitting around in PJ’s or jeans all day is an admission of defeat and I will not let this thing defeat me. I may not have anywhere to go or any business appointments, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t put on a nice business causal outfit for the day. I am still conducting some business over the phone – talking to advertising clients and calling past real estate clients. Even though they can’t see me (I don’t use SKYPE for those calls), I know what I look like and it makes a difference to know that I am dressed as a business person while making those calls.
The other things that I’m not doing anymore is letting the situation drag me down into inactivity and boredom. That is like being a mime and allowing yourself to be trapped in an invisible box that is the product of your own imagination. There are just tons of things that need doing around the house and out in the yard at this time of year. Instead of having a calendar full of business appointments, I now have a calendar that was filled in from the “honey do” list that I had been avoiding tackling. My days will not be measured by how many dumb TV shows or old movies I’ve sat around watching all day; but, rather by how many things I can check off the list of things that I promised I’d get around to doing someday. That someday is here, now, and the stay at home order has become it’s “get to work” siren call.
We all have the choice during this crisis of deciding if we will let it dictate our lives to us or we will remain in control of our lives and figure out how to live as best that we can under the situation at hand. Maybe you can stay in that one pair of jeans all day, but that doesn’t have to mean sitting around the house idle all day and feeling sorry for yourself. There are things to do and people to call and check up on. There are lawns that need raking and neatening up, closets that you’ve been promising yourself you would organize, small maintenance items around the house that you’ve been meaning to get to. There are always things that didn’t ever make the “A” list is our past lives that we now have time to get to. Sitting around and feeling sorry for ourselves should not be on any of those lists. I’m not doing that anymore and neither should you.
I have to go, now. I have things to do. But first, it’s time for my morning shower.
In his column today, Mitch Albom wrote under the headline “In a crisis, find the one thing that soothes you”. For Albom and his wife, that one thing is having a young man named Knox in their home during this crisis. Knox is from the orphanage in Hatti that Albom and his wife run. Knox was in America, staying at the Albom house, for a regularly scheduled therapy trip when the Covid-19 virus caused the shutdown of travel back to Hatti.
For Mitch and his wife, being able to watch Knox explore and enjoy the things that they take for granted has provide them with a soothing distraction during the stay at home period. Perhaps the word “distracts” could be substituted for the word “soothes” in Albom’s headline; for it is something that takes you mind off the current crisis that his is describing.
There are many words that come to mind to describe the feelings, emotions or reactions that people are experiencing during this crisis. The words fear, frustration, anger, boredom and confusion all leap into the mind. But what is the one thing that is there not to distract us; but, to sooth us during this difficult period? I would argue that one thing is faith.
At the end of the day, every day, we all must put aside our feelings of fear or anger or frustration or whatever and seek comfort in the core beliefs that we hold. For Christians, those core beliefs always points to the same thing – that Jesus came to die for us, so that we might have eternal life. Nothing calms all of the concerns that our current situation has put us in more than a strong faith.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
This is not to say that we should do foolhardy things to expose ourselves to more risk. Practicing the recommended social distancing and staying at home to slow the spread of the virus arte both prudent and necessary. They are also not selfish acts; but rather acts of concern and kindness to others. One could and should view them as acts of faith. Viewing them that way allows us to see them as proactive acts, rather than reactive acts and we can feel good about doing our part, instead of feeling like a helpless victim of our circumstances.
Bringing your faith to the surface during this crisis not only comforts you, but it empowers you to comfort others. We see and hear all of the messages that say, “we’re all in this together” (albeit standing 6 feet apart from one another) and “we’ll get through this together”. When you see or hear those messages, don’t you have a reflex reaction to look around at others to see if those around you are as afraid or concerned as you? What most are really looking for is are those people whose faith has made them strong enough to be offering aid and comfort to others.
YOU can be that person, once you have empowered yourself through your faith. Empowerment through faith always starts with the same thing – prayer to God. It is certainly OK to ask God for protection for yourself, but it is much more empowering if you ask for His protection so that you can do his work to protect and comfort others.
Another story in the paper this morning was about the role that many healthcare workers find themselves in as they provide the last bit of earthly touch and comfort to the dying in hospitals or nursing care homes who would otherwise be alone, due to visitation restrictions. Whether they acknowledge it or not, they are sharing their faith with those patients. Playing that role takes a huge emotional toll on those healthcare workers; but one cannot but see the hand of God in their efforts to provide comfort in those final moments. As you pray, pray for God to continue to give our healthcare workers the strength to play that role.
We cannot all be on the front lines of this crisis with the first responders and the healthcare workers; but we can all join in the effort through prayer and faith and by doing what we can. Perhaps that means making masks, collecting or distributing food, calling neighbors, friends and family to make sure everyone is safe or to see what they might need. Whatever you can do to put your faith in action will bring you comfort. At days end, when you have done all that you can do, pause and consider this…
“Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.” (Esther 4:14)
Posted by Norm Werner 
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