Like many of you, I am trying to process all that has transpired in the past month and adapt to our new normal.

Ninety days ago, I was sitting at Route 6 on New Year’s Eve with one of my closest childhood friends. We were on the Eve of a new year, a new decade, and a milestone birthday. We talked about how 2019 had been a hard year for both of us. But we were full of hope and optimism. In fact, we got a Keno card and wrote what we wanted to see happen in 2020, our 50^th year. We sealed them and she took them home to be opened on December 31, 2020.

Eighty days ago, I turned 50. I had a super fun evening, celebrating with family and friends. We went to a piano bar in the Flats and sang and laughed the night away. Life is always to be celebrated. Two childhood friends were with me and we reflected on life, wondered how we ended up 50 years old when we still felt 20 something on the inside. We made plans for their birthdays and the summer…

And then the Covid-19 Pandemic happened. And life changed literally overnight. Schools, colleges, libraries, major league sports (I so miss baseball…I had opening day tickets), and businesses began to shut down. Social distancing became a thing.

These past couple of weeks have been busy as we (the pastoral staff) have worked through how to pastor and care for people when we cannot physically be together. It has been stretching, challenging, and liberating.

Now that we are in rhythm and things are slowing down, the reality of the new normal has begun to set in. I am not a worrier, but I have to be honest, the unknown is unsettling. What will our world look like when this over? What will my life, my future look like when this is over? What will the economy look like? There are things I am enjoying about this slow down. Will I be able to keep those things in place when this is over?

I still think I am in the shocked phase. I am trying to carve out a routine that will help me have some rest but not become lazy.

One of the things I am trying to do every day is to walk for at least an hour with my dog. I take different routes. It has been nice because I am not trying to cram a walk or a run in-between appointments and meetings. I am not concentrating on miles or even speed…just being outside and exercising.

A couple of weeks ago, as all this was beginning, a Scripture came to mind. It is Psalm 107. The whole Psalm is powerful as it talks about the different messes we can be in (even those of our own making) and how if we cry out to the Lord in our trouble, He will save us from our distress. Verses 26 – 32 & 43 are what really spoke to me:

Their ships were tossed to the heavens and plunged again to the depths;
The Sailors cringed in terror.
They reeled and staggered like drunkards, and were at their wits end.
“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble and he saved them from their distress.

He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves.
What a blessing was that stillness
As he brought them safely into harbor!

Let them praise the Lord for his great love and wonderful things he has done for them.
Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation and before the leaders of the nation.
Those who are wise will take all this to heart;

THEY WILL SEE IN OUR HISTORY THE FAITHFUL LOVE OF THE LORD!”

I have been meditating on this Scripture while on my walks, particularly verse 43.

The other day I walked by South Street Elementary where I attended 1^st grade through 5^th grade and by the old Vermilion Middle School (go Skippers) where I attended 6^th through 8^th grade. I also walked by my old high school. Memories from my childhood and growing up have come flooding back in waves. Some fond memories and some not so much.

And I thought of the storms as a nation we have weathered over my 50 years. I remember the energy crisis and recession of the 70s. My dad was an electrician and was laid off much of the time. He would go sign up for unemployment and then go to the union hall to sign the books. He would come home and say things like “I am 15^th on the bench.” As a kid, I thought he literally sat on a bench waiting to be called to go to work.

I remember the hostage crisis, the Cold War, the end of the Cold War, and the Challenger explosion. The Challenger was set to launch on January 28, 1986. I was a sophomore in high school. I remember televisions being set up all over the school. There was one in the Commons (cafeteria). Students all across the nation sat glued to the television because for the first time a schoolteacher was going to space. Imagine the horror and trauma of watching it explode seconds into take-off.

I remember  9/11 (who doesn’t) and the recession of 2008.

But through it all, God has been faithful. I see in our history, the faithful love of the Lord. And I will continue to see it as we walk through this Covid-19 Pandemic.

I look back on my personal life and the storms I have weathered – the alcoholism of my dad, my grandpa dying at 10, my mom’s stroke my freshman year and her subsequent death the summer before my senior year, my dad and brother Jerry passing away and countless other relatives. I am reminded of a season of personal moral failure in my own life (a storm of my own making).

And I see in my own history, the faithful love of Jesus. I see how He used the bad things that have occurred and used it for my good. It was during the hard times, God’s character was revealed and my character was built and challenged. I have never regretted my commitment to Christ  I made my sophomore year in high school. It has been the single best decision of my life. And as good and loving as I thought He was back then as a 15-year-old teenager, He is much more then I could ever have imagined.

While this pandemic is not good, I know I will continue to see the faithful love of the Lord demonstrated in this time of history.