I broke up with the news.
I gave it my attention and emotions all last week and it didn't love me back. (How rude!)
I was not a news-watcher prior to Coronavirus, but probably like every other American I got lured in by the notion that I should be informed.
Well, I am now informed, and no better for it. So off I go, back to living (hermit-style, of course, because we must not abandon our quarantine mission just yet!) and I am in a far better state of mind.
If we don't like what's in the news, we can always make our own news!
What goes on in our own homes with our own people is more significant anyway.
Yesterday was our wedding anniversary.
I knew over a week ago that there would be no date night or weekend getaway for us this year.
So the kids decided they'd put together a romantic dinner at home for us.
Anything is as profound as we make it to be!
I guess I have succeeded in handing that philosophy down because they really blessed us with a special evening...
They set up this little table and hung a sheet for privacy.
They even had our wedding video playing quietly in the background!
Here's Nola hard at work in the kitchen preparing our appetizer and dessert tray...
And Soren made sure our water glasses were filled to the brim all evening long...
The waitstaff allowed me to get a photo with them!
Aren't they cute?!
We will definitely come back to this restaurant again! We found the entire staff to be very professional and accommodating.
(*wink)
Micah made sure they each received a generous tip, then shooed them all off to bed.
Yes, this is much better than getting hung up on the news.
I think they just enjoy scaring us.
I've been proud of some of my friends and family this week, embracing this call to home and spending their isolated days baking, reading, and painting.
It's an exciting time for our nation!
We will see a lot of art, like music and poetry, come out of this.
Turmoil always has a way of bringing out the best creativity in people.
And we will see closer, more loving families come out of this, too.
Being stripped of all unnecessary excess in life forces us to settle into what really matters.
Of course Christians should know how to live like this, anyway...
"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."
~ Hebrews 12:1
But maybe God, like a good Father who knows what's best, just thought He'd do it for us.
Of course there will be those who will come out of this rattled and licking their wounds.
We know this type.
They preach kindness and acceptance and love for our planet, but when something squeezes them, out comes anger and profanity.
( If only they knew how bad this is for them! Just cutting the profanity out of their lifestyle would help them by leaps and bounds!
"A man who avoids all vulgar expressions cannot well remain a vulgar man." - Norman Foerster )
These are the types that panic and lose all ability to make rational choices.
When a rational person comes along to offer them hope and encouragement, they become outrageously offended!
In their thinking, since they're panicking and miserable, we all should be, too!
When they can't succeed in pulling us into their hysteria, we will hear them say that we are ignorant, and not taking this pandemic seriously.
But a mature person will be able to see past this.
We know that, "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."
~ Matthew 12:34
The reason why Christians aren't panicking is because we have God's promises.
We have our own testimony and history with God.
We've seen Him provide for our needs.
We've experienced His faithfulness.
So this can be a time of deep contentment and rest for us.
About a week ago when I was grocery shopping, there was a sign in the bread aisle that said, "Limit one per customer." I immediately thought of Psalm 37:25, "I have been young and now I am old, yet never have I seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread."
That one loaf of bread sustained our family perfectly.
I should have known it would.
But being whispered to by the Holy Spirit in the bread aisle isn't the only unusual way God has ministered to me this week.
I opened Soren's second grade health book to read to him, shortly after contemplating breaking up with the news, and I read this...
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine... Wrong thoughts can make you feel unhappy, fearful, or grouchy. They can even make your body sick."
That did it!
The news was making me think wrong thoughts.
In my pursuit of keeping my family far from this dreaded virus, I could actually be having the reverse effect on my health!
Just the stress alone could make me sick!
Time to make our own news...
Here is just a tiny sampling of the things we do once school work, chores, and piano practice are done for the day.
Roman made a little table for his room from scrap pieces in Micah's workshop...
The kids have been working on making homemade notecards...
In an attempt to "flatten the curve" my mother called and asked if the kids would make her some notecards so she didn't have to go to the store.
We've also been reading a lot.
Here are a few books I've read out loud to the kids this winter.
We really enjoyed these...
And lastly...
Instead of allowing the lack of supplies at the stores to cause me to stress, I'm trying to use it as an opportunity to think outside the box.
For example, we have't been able to find Airborne vitamins, which is what we're normally used to.
So we had fun with a little experiment making a vitamin drink from fresh ingredients...
Our idea was to pour hot water from the kettle over fresh lemon and berries and make an afternoon tea.
Sipping hot drinks is good for cleansing the body of impurities. Plus it is very comforting!
Doesn't that look pretty?
Once the water was poured, I covered each teacup to allow them to actually steep just like real tea.
We waited about 5 minutes...
We each enjoyed our drink with a teaspoon of raw honey stirred in right at the end...
If we make this again I will steep for longer than 5 minutes and try pressing into the fruit with a spoon to release even more of the juice. The flavor was very mild.
But even so, I thought it was a great first attempt!
What about you?
Have you thought about breaking up with the news?
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
~ Romans 12:2
Thanks for stopping by my blog today, friends.
I wish you health and happiness during this time...
xo,
~ Courtney ~
