If you’re like me, you’re sequestered in your house, waiting out this whole coronavirus scare like it’s some giant snowstorm that has blanketed the whole world. Wait and see, wait and see. It’s easy to be caught up in what we can’t do, where we can’t be, and who we can’t be with. But having seen a lot of life in my lifetime–good and bad–I’ve learned to take life in small chunks and try to look for the positives. It doesn’t help to focus on the don’ts, the can’ts and the wannas.
So here’s a list of things I am grateful for. Your list is probably different, but I encourage you to find one:
1. I’m grateful that I have a house to sequester myself into. I hear about the homeless and their situation and I worry for them. And I pray for them and for those who are ministering to them in this tough time.
2. I’m grateful that my wife and I get along. After 45 years, we still call each other best friends, which comes in handy when you are stuck in the same house 24 hours a day for weeks–if not months–on end.
3. I’m grateful my daughter has come to share our house with us. She lives in an apartment in Denton, Texas, about 1 1/2 hours north of us, and was getting depressed working out of her small apartment and being there by herself. Despite being worried about exposing us, she agreed to come and share our house with us. The more the merrier.
4. I’m grateful for the Internet. Imagine if all this would have happened twenty years ago, or even ten. Imagine if we would have needed to sequester ourselves without the ability to talk face-to-face via Zoom. We would have done it, but it would have been much harder.
5. I’m grateful that I live in rural Texas. Not only are we able to live in a spacious house, but we are able to take our dog out daily and get some exercise. And the park here is big enough that she can run without a leash. She gets cabin fever too, you know. And it helps to have a big back yard.
6. I’m grateful for good neighbors and a good church. Everyone here seems sincerely concerned about everyone else, and I am grateful for that. I check in on my nextdoor neighbor (when I see him in his yard) and it’s also great to see church service online. I miss seeing everyone at church, but for now, I enjoy seeing some of them on YouTube.
So what’s your list? What are you grateful for?
The Great Adventure 