My Take…

Tonight my sensitive Abigail started to cry and say she was getting scared with all that is going on in our world. I tried my best to reassure her…and me. I explained to her about how germs are spread and how people stay away from one another, the virus has nowhere to go. This helped…this time.

Abigail went with me to the store this past Friday. She experienced the empty shelves, the packed aisles, the frantic faces, and the tension in the air. She said that night to us that she felt like she was being pushed through the store.

Seems like everyone has an opinion on this thing. Seems like they all know one way or another how it’s going to play out. Some blow it off while others are stocking up at any cost. I saw a 4 pack of toilet paper online for sale for 15$. The conversations everywhere are either jokes about toilet paper or hand sanitizer. It was funny a couple days ago…until President Trump announced to keep our gatherings to 10 or less people. That hit me. Scared me. I started to think of the things we have. The things we don’t have. The things I always said I’d get in a time like this. Frantic is the feeling I had inside. Fear is another word for it.

Seems like all over the Internet you can find jokes or encouraging do not fear quotes. Or if you’re a facts kind of gal, you read the articles that are cranking out daily. Bottom line?

What if? That’s a question I bet many of us ask when the devices are put on the charger and the televisions are turned off. What if? When the school work is done. And the dinner dishes are cleaned up. What if?

I’m not here to give you a quote to make you feel better. And I’m out of jokes on the matter. There is a fear that has been knocking on my heart. And it comes and it goes. It goes mainly when I remember I’m ok I’ll make it to heaven. But then the fear returns when I think of my loved ones who may not make it there. What if?

Yep leave it to me to dramatize this whole thing. Leave it to me to be the raw one…but, what if?

Honestly, none of us have an answer to any of this. We definitely do all have our opinions though. But…what if? What if it happens to you? What if your child gets it? What if your child suffers from autism and OCD and fear of germs? And now her world is torn apart by the one thing she usually has to make small in her mind just to make it through the day. Have you considered those who have legitimate fears of germs? What that looks like for them each new day?

There will be many more stories like that, along with others I’ve heard. A father to stationed states away from his pregnant wife. Who now can’t make it home for the birth of his child. Children of elderly parents who sit in their homes wondering and worrying over their parent in a nursing home.

There are going to be some sad stories that come out of this. Tragedy. But what if? You become one of those stories? Who will you lean on? What about those who have no one?

So you see, again my dear reader, the conundrum I find my thinking in. But you who know my writings know I never leave you with a bad/sad ending because out of all of this chaos, out of all this fear, our God still sits on throne. Our God still wins. Our God has this in control. He said, and I believe it with all of my heart, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. He’s there for you and He’s here for me.

So the next time we ask what if? Maybe we can hear Him say…I’m here.

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