Tuesday, April 07, 2020

Your Inner Super Hero? Or Your Inner Wimp?


"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me... The joy of the Lord is my strength."   ... Philippians 4:13, Nehemiah 8:10

(These days are designed to snatch our joy and thus replace that strength with fear. Please don't let this happen to you.)


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This weekend Tom and I Netflixed a movie, The Core, and boy, was that world scenario frightening! Made this current pandemic seem the size of, say, a traffic jam.

Then we watched Captain America where brave folks galore fought enemies lest they be conquered by them.

Seriously, I recommend movies of this type if you need some courage swirled-up. By Monday Tom and I were all, we-can-do-this! And Life-isn't-so-bad!-ish again. Plus, good gracious, we've got almighty God so hey, we can do anything He asks of us.

Anything.
With joy, even.

And think about it. Haven't we all had whole decades of 'Life Boot Camp' so to prepare for hard, uncomfortable weeks? Seriously, consider all those--


tragedies,
challenges,
illnesses,
self-sacrifices,
pains,
struggles,
Life lessons


-- you've faced, learned from and burst through with God's help! Each past experience provides lessons, stamina and stick-to-itiveness. The knowledge that if we quit early someone will suffer, we or those who count on us.

What I'm doing these stay-home-or-else days? 


I'm revisiting Clara for Depression Era cooking. Discovering other women (like her) who make cooking appear fun (Gee, I need those.)  シ

Preparing my gardens, turning compost and repotting cold-weather plants. Ordering new sets of green onions from Aldi and browsing online articles, videos , about 'replanting things from the supermarket'.

Brushing up on prepper skills/videos. (Boy, are those years-old videos suddenly popular!) Inventorying what's on our shelves and listing what we need (this is my part-time job now).

Finding happiness in creating something from nothing. From making supplies last longer than normal.

Watching Great Depression videos to learn how they survived. 

Taking notes from that Proverbs 31 lady. 

Consulting my Master Task List daily so the house won't crumble.

Learning new information. Finding new recipes, helpful hacks and movies, tv shows and videos.

Giving items away to our neighbor.

Sharing encouraging and humorous stories at Facebook. 

Holding myself responsible for praying, listening and locating inspiration and Grace-- 


--and frankly? Marveling that folks are saying they're bored at home(?!?)


Afterward. I'm so considering the afterward of all this. 

Why? Because someday I'll gaze backward at The Big Covid-19 Shut-Down of 2020 and ask--

Did my inner super hero burst through?
Or did my inner wimp crawl out to whine a lot?


Normally I'm not huge on looking ahead, preferring to consider Today, instead. But then, these are not normal times.








Determination: never lose it. It matters more now than ever.

And as I alluded to, above, often we must fight lest we be conquered by our enemy.


"But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the lifter of my head." ... Psalm 3:3


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Oh my! Remember those Jimmy Fallon hashtag videos I've shared? Well, I'd wondered why he wore a wedding ring in the older videos, but not the newer ones. I even did research and found he's still married to the same woman.

But uh-oh! Now I get it. Ouch!!!




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I shared this at Facebook--

They're baaaaack. Victory Gardens! Love this and am thankful that gardening long ago became a habit. My perennial plants are already greening and growing and seedtime is soon, also.




P.S. Today I loved using fresh-from-my-garden chives and green onions (the greens) in our pan-style enchiladas. Yum and don't you just love Springtime?





"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ... Matthew 6:14,15

3 comments:

Betsy said...

Hello Debra, I enjoyed your post today as I always do. Honestly? My life hasn't changed a whole lot except we no longer go out to eat once a week and I don't grocery shop. I don't care for regular shopping so I haven't missed it at all. I'm a homebody. I am spending even more time in prayer and I appreciate that. I hope I don't go back to my old ways when this crisis is over.
Take care my friend.
Blessings,
Betsy

Pam said...

Such an inspiring post, Debra. I sure don't want to wimp out during these Covid19 days, either. When I look back and remember all the times that God has pulled me and my family through, it helps to put things into perspective. After I read Betsy's post, I realized that hubby and my life hasn't changed much, either. We enjoy being home. Lately, I've been finding projects around the house and garden to keep me busy and less focused on the dire numbers and projections of the virus. Yesterday, it our temps climbed to the 70s and hubby and I really enjoyed being outside. We WILL get through this hard patch! We WILL learn something beneficial from it, too. I continue to pray that millions of people will fall deeply in love with the Savior and gain strength from Him.

Debra said...

Thanks so much, Ladies! Your comments about the small changes in your life have inspired me to write a blog post about those whose lives have changed enormously. So thank-you! You both always encourage me with your kind words and they help me keep writing year after year. I so appreciate you both and everyone who take the time to drop me a line! Blessings, Debra