Disasters and Real Community

How is it April already?  Life has been turned upside down, I realize that this is not just my reality, but everybody’s!  Barrett was coming home, then delayed, then coming home again.  When he did come home, we were in a stay at home state for the covid virus.  So all the huge homecoming events were cancelled and we had to stay in the car and wait for him to come to us.  Kind of a drive-through-pick-up-your-sailor event.  Except the drive through line took three hours.   The excitement and joy was still palatable and we are still so elated to have our sailor/tickle monster/Disney dad home!

We had planned a “hunker down at home” weekend when he got back anyway, so staying in was not too much of problem.  He has met a lot of my new friends via zoom and I hear of his trip through pictures and stories.  But mostly he just wrestles, nerf guns, and terrorizes the kids to their delight.  We’ve managed a couple of family kick ball games and soccer keep away drills as well to keep us moving and grooving.

I’ve always said I’ve been through or experienced most natural disasters: volcano, tsunami, earthquake, typhoon, hurricane, and tornado.  Now I can add plague.  This is a weird one.  All the others brought a loss power, water, and even transportation, but this is the first where  all of these necessities are available, but the community is not.  It was the community in the tragedies that suffered along with us. They helped us through the hard times.  We would gasp at the destruction, laugh at the random things remaining (like a deck of cards in a house that was destroyed by a tsunami), hug each other when reality set in, and be inspired by the way the Lord used horrible events for good.  Our common struggle brought out the best in so many of my communities.  Then came the plague.

As a homeschool mom our daily activities were not rocked too much.  We miss kicking the kids out to play for hours after work was done, sports clubs, and the Y, but we have managed to still go outside and exercise.  Then the random stuff happens.  Lydia and Ronnie were playing and Lydia slipped and landed on her mouth.  This once again gave me the opportunity to say words that make me cringe, “Lydia, open your mouth.”  Blood lined her teeth and filled her mouth.  Her tooth managed to slice a flap of her lip open making my legs go weak.  I hid my fear and calmly held a tissue on her flap to see if the blood would end.  My thoughts:

“Oh man, I can’t take her to a hospital.”

“Even if I could, no one can watch my kids with this social distancing thing.”

“If it does need stitches, will the ER actually see her in any sort of normal length of time?”

“Will we get covid there?”

“I don’t have masks.”

Repeat.

“Lydia, let me see your mouth hun.”  The bleeding had stopped.  Praise the Lord.  The flap was a veritable flying lip flag, but I knew that the mouth heals fast so I rested in that.  Then came dinner.  As she ate the flap got angry and bled a little more.  Blast.  I still held it together and told her it would be better tomorrow.  I prayed with her and told her she was so brave.

The next morning was better.

Then I noticed that Annabelle was losing a lot of hair.  Like, A LOT.  It filled her brush and fistfuls came out as stroked it.  Her clothes were full of it.  I waited a couple of days to see if it was for real.  Then I looked it up online and asked some doc friends what I should do.  All of it was fixable but I needed to see a doc first.  Again, all the internal mental fights of social distancing, being in a doctor’s office with no mask, and the fear that it might actually be a sign of an uncurable disease, all run through my head.  We went.  Turns out she is dealing with a combination of too much stress and eczema…and possibly a fungus.  Now I have to go shopping for oil treatment for her hair as well as fungus.  Again, no mask, wondering what’s ok to touch, should I hold my breath when passing people, do I really need to firmly grasp a cart?  No one smiles, everyone moves out of everyone’s way.  If we come too close, we get a look.  The community is lost.  So is the humor.

The Craig problems are really small compared to so many families who have loved ones fighting the covid fight in a hospital, clinic, or grocery store.  In the midst of our serving others by staying at home, we try and think of ways to serve others…to find out how to have community with social distancing.  The love your neighbor mandate has taken on a whole new look during this time.  Zoom has created Brady Bunch fun in many ways, from family to school, from gymnastics to Sunday school, and from bible studies to prayer groups.  Isn’t it funny how this generation has created a reality where no community is needed, but when it’s taken away, that’s all we really want?  Why is that?

The Lord made us for community.  He made us to do life with others for our good.  Community is where we share our troubles, weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice, get called out on our sin, sing, encourage, process out our lives, laugh and learn.  It’s where we realize we can’t do life alone, we need each other to help us in our fitful journey of life’s pits.  Hebrews 10:25 tells us not to neglect to come together, but to encourage each other as the day of Christ is coming (loose translation).  So, how can we encourage each other when we are together?  To remind each other that our hope is not in a covid 19 vaccine, of course we pray for one, but it won’t ultimately save us.  Our hope is not that the economy will begin again sooner rather than later, although we can pray for that too!  Our hope is that we have a rescuer that saved us from something even more deadly than covid 19, He saved us from our sins!  How profound that God permitted this shut in to happen during the week of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Our hope in death, is due to His substitutionary death on the cross.  He took our sin for us, God turned away, the curtain separating God and man was torn in two, and the sun went dark.

But He didn’t stay there, the ground shook and couldn’t hold Him!  He rose again on Sunday proving He has power over more than covid 19, He has power over death!  Oh community!  Encourage each other in this!  Your sins can be forgiven when you trust in Christ!  And just wait, there’s more!  This same suffering servant is coming back!  He’s coming back again to throw satan away for good!  No more tears, no more sadness, no more lost jobs, no more lost retirement, no more missing saying goodbye to a loved one with covid, no more losing another patient…Christ is coming back as the conquering King!  He wins!  Over all!  This is good news community!  There will be no more plagues, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, floods, volcanos…and no more sin!  Christ the Lord is risen today!  Hallelujah!  I can’t wait for my life to be turned upside down because of this!  What about you?