What’s the difference?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are living in a season unlike anything I’ve ever known. I’ve seen flu epidemics, measles and mumps outbreaks, and terrorist attacks. But never in my lifetime has our country just “stopped”. Even the shock and fear from the 9-11 attacks did not shut down everything like COVID-19 has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emotions and opinions run high – mask or no mask, go outside or stay inside, the numbers aren’t right (they’re hiding the death toll, they’re inflating the death toll), questioning government is good, questioning government is bad… there is no end of disagreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Relationships and friendships are taking a hit – lack of contact, different opinions, too much time together. Next fall is likely to see both babies and divorces\/breakups abound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only thing I have control over right now are my actions and attitude. I can take care of myself with eating right, getting enough sleep, nourishing my soul through prayer, alone time, reading, music, jotting down my thoughts, letting myself cry and\/or yell when I need to, taking walks, going for a drive. I must acknowledge my sadness, frustration, and fears (multiple times) – then move forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This season is exposing my core self – who I really am at this moment with everything stripped away. This is an opportunity to look and ask – “Do I like who I am?”. Who will I find when I push past all the emotions and reaction to my circumstances? Will I find someone who is kind, gentle, and hopeful? Will I find someone who is frustrated, angry, and distrustful? Or will I find someone who has given up, hopeless, and ready to just exist?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who do I want to be? What do I need to relinquish or pick up to become that person? I want to use this season wisely, because in spite of the awfulness of it, it is a gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23 <\/sup>Search me, O God, and know my heart! What’s the difference? We are living in a season unlike anything I’ve ever known. I’ve seen flu epidemics, measles and mumps outbreaks, and terrorist attacks. But never in my lifetime has our country just “stopped”. Even the shock and fear from the 9-11 attacks did not shut down everything like COVID-19 has. Emotions and opinions …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[1560,3,1611],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/July-370.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7zbKo-10G","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3886"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3886"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3889,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3886\/revisions\/3889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sheilascribbles.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Try me and know my thoughts![a<\/a>]<\/sup>
24 <\/sup>And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting![b<\/a>]<\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"