“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” – Leonardo Da Vinci

The days seem long and there are always issues with trying to stay put, however, it does appear to be a small price to pay in order to do our part. It is Monday, April 6, 2020, and I bid you a hearty welcome from my bunker to yours. I was thinking about, once the smoke clears, how many different things we will be able to blame on the COVID-19 pestilence that came our way. I did read an eyewitness account of what having the virus is all about. This was of particular interest because the lady writing is an ER nurse and the daughter of some dear friends that we served the Lord together with for many years. Her account was chilling but she is young, the mother of two, and she got through it with mostly mild symptoms except for one short episode of very labored breathing, and scary shortness of breath situation. As a healthcare professional who contracted the virus in her nursing work, she, like nearly everyone who has first-hand experience, finished her account by begging everyone to take seriously this threat and to do everything possible to follow the guidelines. She did. Her exact words, "I beg you ...." We watched that lady as a child growing up in our local fellowship. And, this is the closet person to us, thus far, to have had to deal with actually having the virus itself. We do have many other kids from that same Church family, who, like her, now serve on the frontlines of this battle. May God protect and bless each one. Amen.

Because I enjoy things that remind us of good times, many of the things that flood my Facebook are a variety of pages devoted to all things related to Christmas. Vintage photos, historical images, paintings, decorations, Bible illustrations, and, yes, everything you can imagine involving Santa show up all day long. But, as with anything, no matter how positive or upbeat it might be, there will be detractors. Here is a response on a drawn illustration of Santa Claus, (see above), all tuckered out but still dreaming of Christmas themes including the Nativity. This lady seems to be more than a little upset: ~ As much as I LOVE Santa, it is undeniably the WOMEN of the world who “make” Christmas special. They usually buy the presents and do the wrapping and decorating and cook the dinner and bake the cookies. Why is Santa so tired? We are so fixated on men leading our societies. Even being the kings of our holidays. I will be celebrating Mrs. Claus this year. She does all the heavy lifting. ~ I did delete one of her more explicit words and I will be the first in line to admit the accuracy of some of her comments. However, it does seem to me she is using Christmas as a personal campaign opportunity. At the same time, we do live in a free country, therefore, she is entitled to speak her mind. I think she did. Yep. She did.

Yesterday, we were again joined together via the internet for the regularly scheduled services of our local fellowship, Mims Baptist, Conroe, Texas. The wife and I joined hundreds of other folks to hear the word of God presented by our pastoral staff. We also were led in music that pointed us to God and His provision during times of challenge and difficulty. This approach has become the new normal for us since we are currently unable to meet together at our regular house of worship. Different? You betcha, and then some! Our leadership asked each of us to invite folks to tune in because what people really need is to hear from God. I was super impressed with one lady in our class, a 90-year-old, who is amazingly active on social media because she actually figured out how to share the online streaming services from our Church with all her Facebook friends. That makes her a social media missionary for the Lord. The new norm certainly doesn't have a normal feel to it, but, God knows and He cares and He will make a way. Amen. .....More later.