Everything Is Canceled. What Do We Do Now?

What do we do now? No sports. No public events. Not even church. No Bible study either. Some don’t have school, or work, or appointments. Everything is canceled. Cancellations and social distancing are the words of the day. This COVID-19 pandemic is spreading far and wide and wreaking havoc in the lives of many. So, now what? we may ask.

What do we do now?

It’s a strange feeling, isn’t it? Maybe unlike anything we’ve ever experienced before. I said to my husband this morning, “This virus may very well alter the lives of many, including ours.” He agreed. We don’t know exactly what will happen. And, maybe that’s a good thing. But, God knows. And for today, that’s enough.

I don’t ever remember experiencing the feelings like the ones I’m working through this week. Maybe that’s because I’ve not experienced a pandemic like this before. Maybe you haven’t, either. So, this is new territory for many of us. The thing is, we can’t focus on the what ifs. Doing so will drive us to the point of hoarding food, and supplies, and toilet paper in our garages. Instead, let’s just focus on what we can do now.

What can we do now?

My husband and I started a list today. Will you help add to it?

We can:

• believe the best.
• trust God that He knows best.
• reach out to our neighbors. What do they need?
• pray.
• send encouraging texts, notes to our friends/family.
• stay positive.
• read scripture to encourage our hearts.
• use this time to connect with our children, our spouse, our loved ones at home.
• read an uplifting book.
• catch up on the projects we’ve been putting off.
• begin something new.
• finish taxes.
• go for a walk (unless we’re quarantined!).
• start a blog or write a new blog post.
• try a new recipe.
• offer to run an errand for an elderly friend.
• do yard work.
• call our parents.
• take care of ourselves (however that’s best for each of us).
• journal our thoughts and experiences during this time.
• bake our favorite dessert.
• encourage one another.
• plan our gardens for this year.
• thoroughly clean our cars.
• put together a family budget or fine-tune one.
• start a recipe club or another kind of group on social media.
• organize a room in our homes or those photos from years ago.
• freshen up a room with a new color of paint.
• reach out to that person who has been on our minds.
• email our pastors to see how we can be praying for them.

What else? What have we missed?

Feel free to add to this list in the comments below.

Which one of these can you do today or tomorrow? Which one tugs at your heart the most? For me it’s to reach out to my extended family to see how they are doing. What might they need at a time like this? Then, I might try a new recipe for tomorrow night’s dinner for Bill and me.

Truly, this is a unique time to make a positive impact, not only in our lives, but in the lives of our families and in the lives of others. We’ll then get the added benefit of watching God bring good from what appears to be a not-so-good situation. When she shine His light in this dark world, it becomes a whole lot brighter.

The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out.

John 1:5 CEV

God bless you, friend. Take care of you and yours!