Monday, March 30, 2020. In this strange and unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, emotions can turn on a dime. Sometimes it's necessary to just let the tears flow. Today was a full and busy day, albeit we never stepped foot outside our own gate. Our family activities were plentiful between homeschooling and phone calls, correspondence and paying bills and making sure six kids were fed. All the way to 8 PM when we finished a spaghetti dinner around the table while video chatting with family members in Florida for our recent weekly Garcia devotions on Monday nights. Uncle Mateo even led us in reading Psalm 34 and choosing our favorite verses to turn into a family song! It was a time of togetherness and laughter, a warm and welcome closing to the day.
Towards the end of our family time, our dog's barking alerted us to a visitor at the gate. It was our new next-door neighbor asking for Pedro. Only later did I learn he had come with an astonishing gift, a box of 3M N95 Health Care Particulate Respirator and Surgical Masks for our family. That gift was the dime on which my emotions turned, overshadowing an otherwise pleasant day with the fear those masks represented. I felt surprised and grateful for a stranger's kindness while questioning why these neighbors chose to give them to us (are they afraid we are not careful enough? is it our proximity to their home?) and also feeling guilty that we now have something my own sister in southern Chile cannot obtain and which even many medical professionals reportedly lack. My tears began to fall then and harder still after hugging my unusually quiet and sad fourteen-year old an early goodnight.
Other factors came into play, such as my husband's whispered words about the need to prepare contingency plans which meant considering real and scary possibilities as they might occur in our country of service during this season of sickness. And then I read a blog post which overflowed into more weeping for someone I don't know in real life but I've often felt as if I do. Another missionary family, another country and continent of service, but one whose story in some ways mirrored our own with the wife's background as an MK and their experience of transracial adoption and similar ages and years of ministry on the mission field. They faced the same sudden onslaught of COVID-19 life changes in their context with the huge difference of a mandatory repatriation that gave them only four days to pack up their entire life and leave.
Garcia Praise: Based on Psalm 34
The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time. I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears.The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the person who goes to him for safety.My soul makes its boast in the Lord. Let the humble hear and be glad.Those who look to Him are radiant and their faces will never be ashamed.The angel of the Lord encamps around them and defends all who fear Him. The Lord hears His people when they call to Him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.
My tears subsided because as nighttime fell, our life did not come to a halt and our children still had needs and there were responsibilities to fulfill. Knowing I must fight fear with truth, I read the verses we had chosen earlier from Psalm 34 and was reminded that though these are uncertain days, we are sustained by a certain God. He knows the number of our days and the needs of our hearts, and we can trust Him.
1 comment:
Love this!
Post a Comment