For a dear friend whose final semester in college that was cut short with sudden goodbyes to friends and community not knowing when they’d meet again, and “last times” experiences she will never meet face to face, 

For a boss who canceled her life-long dream trip to Paris, years of planning and dreaming that came to a blistering halt, 

For a new friend in Discipleship Training School with YWAM who is being sent home suddenly with no time to plan the “what’s next”, 

For a heart friend who is navigating job turmoil, loss of a husband’s job, and as a result an unwelcome shift in income, 

I’ve cried. 

Our privilege is clear, even in our losses. While there are, of course, some already without access to secure homes and food and education that will become even more destitute, most of the nation is afflicted by the loss of things that many don’t have the privilege to ever dream of experiencing. 

But the privilege doesn’t make the sadness and the grief and the heartache any less. It’s still sad and it’s still hard. 

And my friend, that’s okay. 

Jesus doesn’t guilt us for being sad about the concert that got canceled just because someone might be suffering in a different way. He cares about what burdens our hearts because he cares about our hearts. 

We are traversing an unprecedented moment in history that none of us have experienced before. But, we are experiencing it together.

And I don’t know what to do, and perhaps you don’t either. 

But what I do know is that we can pray. I do know that there is a God who is Sovereign in the midst of our mess and whose power is perfected in our weakness. I know that in the midst of the hard and the crazy and the tears that he is breaking new ground to reap an abundant harvest. I know He has created us not only to be in relationship with Him but in relationship with each other. 

So as we continue to walk into days that are foreign, unexplained, and unexplored let’s be part of breaking that new ground.
 
Check in with friends.
Check in with neighbors.
Check in with yourself. 

Smile at strangers.
Post something encouraging.
Have compassion for those that don’t think like you do.

PRAY.

Be humble.
Be gentle.
Be loving.
Be JESUS. 

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” – Isaiah 43:19