COVID 19 ENCOURAGEMENT EPISODE 01

Hi, this is Chris Benjamin, the director for the Salvation Army Soundcast. We wanted to take this opportunity to share some additional messages of encouragement with you from some of our hosts from shows like Wonderful Words of Life and Heartbeat. We just pray that these are an extra blessing to you. If they are, please share them with a friend. God bless.

Hey beautiful people, Captain Heather Dolby here of the Salvation Army Soundcast. I want to take a couple of minutes today to check in with everybody to see how we're doing as we find this new normal on the flip side of COVID-19 pandemic. I've been on a steep learning curve this week as we adjust around my place to things that are rapidly changing in our everyday lives.

Things that we took for granted like grocery shopping, going to work, going to school, being with friends, worshipping together with our Jesus family. All of that has now been put on the table and is all rearranged and inside out, upside down. And that in and of itself, even if I'm not directly affected at this point by the virus, causes a lot of turmoil. And in the midst of this past week and a half or so, I've come to realize a few things that I wanted to share with you. First off is life ain't normal.

And the sooner I can wrap my mind around that, the better. Because as long as I try to keep things as normal as possible, I bind myself to my old ways of doing things that just don't fit in the current season that I'm in. For example, you see I am here in my car.

I have not gone anywhere. I'm right out front of my house. But having been in the house in four walls with my family and my kids and the dog and all that, you know what, I can't leave to go hang out with friends or go to a coffee shop. I just want to practice safe social distancing.

So here I am in my car. And I've started doing that just for a few minutes every day when I need to take a little break. I have some quiet time to myself where I'm able to quiet my thoughts, quiet my heart. And I find that really helpful because after that five or 10 minutes, when I go back into reengage with my family, I'm a bit of a better better Heather to them. And that's not something I normally would have done before.

In fact, it seemed kind of silly. It would have seemed a little crazy, but it fits now with the situation that I find myself in. And so the first thing I'm learning is life ain't normal and that's okay. And so why don't I find even abnormal ways to make the life I'm living right now, manageable.

Even if it seems silly, if it works, I go for it. Secondly, I have learned this past week, and I know the Lord's going to keep teaching me how to go easy on myself. So I have this desire to maintain as much normalcy as possible, especially for the sake of my kids and the folks that are in our care. But in doing that, sometimes I hold myself to unrealistic expectations. And maybe that's where you're at too. And so I'm learning to go easy on myself.

That means the things, the standards, the expectations that I used to have for my day, for my productivity, for how I spent my time and how I spent my energy. I got to let those expectations go and just be really open handed with them. And instead, I go easy. And in the midst of that, though, I press in. So I go easy on myself, but I press into the things that I do want to be about in these days.

And maybe that looks different than what it's ever looked like before. Because the way I can spend my time, the way I can spend my energy, the way I can spend my money, all of those things are different now. So what do I want to do? How do I go easy on myself but press in? How can I press into some nutritional goals and make food from scratch and dig out those recipes that my grandma taught me and introduce them to my family? How can I press into those educational goals and get to some online classes since everything seems to be online now anyways as we practice social distancing?

How can I meet those goals and how can I maybe do some things that are good for myself? Like maybe it's a great time to get back into a regular sleep cycle where I'm getting a really good night's full night's sleep or taking my vitamins or whatever the regimen that I've been trying to implement for so long. But it's just seemed a bit out of grasp because life had so many moving parts.

Now might be the time to go easy on myself, but to press in. And then the third thing that comes to mind that the Lord is bringing to the forefront of my attention is that while I practice safe social distancing and while I keep myself and my family and my neighbors and my community safe through some really well described practices from the World Health Organization and from my local Department of Health, I can do those things, but I can't replace connection. And since I can't be with people face to face, I definitely want to be intentional about connecting with people in any way possible. And so today, I dug out all my note cards, and I'm like okay I'm going to write people some handwritten notes which is something I've always loved to do anyways, but it's just gotten away from me in a busy lifestyle. I also am going to reach out people on social media, you know, I feel like those social media platforms are exploding with people doing devotionals and worship services and Bible studies, and all this kind of stuff which is fantastic and I definitely love engaging with that, but I don't want that to replace touching base with people that I'm used to seeing in my everyday and just being like hey are you okay. And then sharing with them where I'm at, and some people will respond back some people it might take a time or two just to connect.

And that's okay, because connections matter. So, I'm these days learning that life ain't normal and that's okay to go easy on myself but also to press in, and that connections are important. What are you learning in these days. What is God teaching you in the midst of this. Are you okay. How's your soul. We're praying for you. We love you. We love you.