Looking back over last year’s journal entries and blog posts, I was blissfully UNAWARE of what was barreling our way.* Doug wasn’t.  He bought the last gallon of hand sanitizer in the  drug store, and ordered masks and gloves by the end of January

February 2020

Then, a year ago, the second week in Feburary we both started coughing and hacking and feeling downright lousy.

Could  we have contracted COVID-19?(!)

Who knows? (Prednisone and Proverbs)

When Maryland locked down, life changed, so drastically, I wonder what could have prepared me. All our lives took paths through experiences we could never have imagined – I still can’t comprehend how we got to where we are!

The Struggle

In and out of the church, we are each struggling with all kinds of stuff, and information overload that feeds our fears.  What those of us most vulnerable fear, and what those face who can’t stay home have stretched us thinner than may be safe.

So, Doug and I made a decision; we  decided to keep the Christmas tree up and lit – at least through Valentine’s day.  Traditions can be broken, right? And if we needed a little Christmas before the holidays this year, how much more now! Let’s just keep the lights on a while longer!

Can you see the Heart?

I put a heart atop our little  Tannenbaum, to remind me to have one!

Lord… our heart is restless, until it rest in Thee. ~Augustine

Good Reminder for us all, especially seasoned Citizens

I am glad for a dear friend’s counsel, prompting me to let go of demands for responses from people who are on their last nerve.

No Foresight from Last Year’s Journal Entries, But . . .

Skimming the pages from last year’s journal, I can’t find anything insightful – except maybe from the back of the journal where I jot down some thoughts on sermons: not that these are easily decipherable.     From those sermon notes from the series on 1 Peter **  I wrote on January 5, 2020:

Don’t become paralyzed with fear; rest your hope fully on the grace of God’s revelation to me in His word. How then shall we live? How excited am I that Christ will return?

The last evening service I attended, we studied 1 Peter 2:11-17 – it was the first part in a teaching to overcome evil with good: Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors . . . That was certainly been  indispensable advice in light of  2020’s events, and January 6, 2021. ( Crisis of Faith, World Magazine)

 Last Year’s Prep for This Year’s Troubles

I may not have had a clue what was coming this time last year in the second week of February 2020, but I am grateful for the Lord’s provision in Peter’s words; it’s worth rereading his counsel, and his prayers.

Praying, then dear reader, for us to be encouragers, rather than gripers — or commentators — that we will spend more time checking our sources from the word of God than the word-wide web.

Love in Christ for the next stretch our adventures!

So enjoying our bird feeders . . . and PAINTING! (from the Garden of Bright Images)

May God give you [and me] more and more grace and peace. (1 Peter 1:2 TLB)

BTW, I am looking for the perfect Shamrock tree topper, because things may continue to be . . . interesting, and we will need a little Christmas, even in March.  

Links You Might Like:

*FRONTLINE: China’s COVID Secrets

** Sermons on 1 Peter