let's stay home

LET’S STAY HOME. well before anyone had begun to whisper the word “quarantine,” there were trendy wooden signs in home decor stores everywhere across america. perhaps you’ve seen them: hand lettered and ready to hang in our kitchens or hallways. LET’S STAY HOME— a novel idea. because as americans we rarely do. we are go-ers. we go. we’re gone. always on the move. always out the door and on to the next thing. am i right?

i don’t know if it’s freedom or just some strange form of western-escapism or what, but we like to get in our cars or hop on our bikes and head off. head out. we like to leave. and where much of that can be good and some, of course, quite necessary, we have as a country, collectively, forgotten how healthy staying home can actually be.

well friends, it looks like we are about to find out a lot more about what it does mean.

this new “shelter in place” thing we are all doing or on the verge of doing, is going to teach us a few lessons. i know it will. and, what’s more, i have great confidence we are capable of climbing out of this new normal even wiser and wealthier than when we went somewhat anxiously into it. (and by wealthy i (obviously) do not mean financially).

i know we have a lot of questions about the stability of our world and the safety of our families and friends. of course we do. but let’s not get so caught up in the worry that we forget to catch the wonder and gifting of this extra time at home.

we can’t know how long this situation might last, but it could be awhile. and for a lot of us that is going to start feeling strange. probably already does. i understand the anxiousness that is beginning to creep in and camp out. and if all we choose to do is watch the news and listen to the experts and scroll our social media posts, we are going to get ourselves in a pretty serious situation mentally and spiritually, not to mention physically. 

might i suggest a different approach?

yes, keep updated where necessary and be responsibly informed as needed, but instead of dwelling on the disease and the ensuing disasters, let’s use this time well. let’s even choose to see it as a gift. a time out. a reset. a refresh. a chance to renew.

lockdown doesn’t mean locked up. maybe we need to view it as an opportunity to look around, look out or, better yet, look up. 

if we’re honest, most of us would probably admit that we live our lives too busy. we fill our days flitting from one thing to another, feasting on all this world has to offer. whether in work or pleasure, we are good at fitting in a lot. i am so guilty of this—always thinking i can go do or get or accomplish just one more thing. and off i go, running this way and that. 

if i had a nickel for every occasion i’ve heard someone say, “if only i had more time at home.”

but here we are: now facing at least an immediate future where we will be staring at our own four walls and wondering how to best occupy ourselves. we won’t be able to go to the office and immerse ourselves in work or run off to target for some (lovely) retail therapy. we won’t be meeting friends for a coffee or a face to face conversation. we won’t be galavanting out to dinner at the drop of a hat or packing our car for a trip or a sporting event. 

we will be home. 

so, friends, let’s stay home. 

let’s embrace it not just in civil obedience, but also in spirit.

and if at some point it is no longer our choice, let’s continue to embrace it. yes, i imagine, gone will be the “novel idea,” of those cute wooden signs, but how we face anything is STILL up to us. there is STILL (and always) a freedom in how we choose to focus. we forget that.

let’s not loose sight of the fact that there will be many new freedoms found even in this kind of confinement. we will actually have the chance to be in our homes and figure out all of the things therein which we’ve previously been too busy to notice or attend to. year after year. i know that’s true for all of us. i know our lists might look different, but if we stop and think about it, we all have a list and it’s been mentally building for quite some time.

maybe you need to physically make your list. i mean it. go ahead and write down all the things which you’ve always said you’d love to do if you ever just had more time at home to do them. have your kids do the same. write them out, post them somewhere and start a plan of attack. one gift at a time. i’m a big believer in the impact of actually writing things down. mental lists go only so far, especially after 50.(sigh).

board games and puzzles. movies we’ve been waiting to watch. books we’ve been too busy to read. bible studies to begin. closets and clothes to reduce. photos and recipes to organize. cabinets and drawers to tidy. flowers to plant (for some of us—sorry, northern friends). letters to write. new food to cook. walls to paint. music to play. art to explore. science to investigate. lessons to learn. a new hobby to acquire. i could go on, but you get the point.

there are things outside in our yards too! leaves to blow, soil to turn, weeds to pull, fences to paint, sunsets to see and, my personal favorite, BIRDS!  spend some time siting and watching them. just do it. you’ll be surprised how easily and quickly you become attached. before i left emily this past weekend in mississippi, i insisted, while at the super walmart, we purchase her a bird feeder for her backyard. she might have looked at me like i had lost my mind because most people were stocking up on other more important and sundry items that day when we put a bird feeder in our cart. but i promise, bird-watching can be way more spirit-healing than the number of canned goods in our pantry or rolls of toilet paper under our sinks (by the way, that's all craziness). Jesus specifically tells us to “look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away (toilet paper) in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. are you not much more valuable than they? can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life.” matthew 6:26-27. 

i know not everyone gets as jazzed up as i do about bird-watching or a well-organized sock drawer, and that’s perfectly understandable. so figure out what matters to you. figure out what’s going to feel good and feel healthy FOR YOU. figure it out, find it, and have some fun doing it. 

gosh, i don’t mean to make it all sound so simplistic. i know there’s a great level of seriousness in what is happening. aside from the real health concerns, we have grave economic, political and survival concerns. i know so many can’t afford to miss even a single day or week of work. that stress is real. and, i am so sorry if that is your situation right now. i truly am. but even if it is, i do believe we can all be better if we can flip our focus and look for the hidden gifts in a time full of so much uncertainty. perfecting our pilates moves or finishing a jigsaw puzzle isn’t going to solve for the coronavirus, but it can help us  stay healthy and do our part.

one last note, maybe the most heartbreaking of all of this—at least in my mind—is the kids that live in risky, hard places. i’m not naive enough to believe every child is feeling safe, well-cared for and loved while at home. and though i can’t do a lot about any of that from indoors, i can be more mindful and everyday lift this heaviness up to my heavenly Father. and, yes, there’s another thing we can work on — our prayer lives! we certainly have ample material. 

perhaps the most important thing we can work on in our homes would be the relationships under our roofs — the people we love but don’t always take time for -- the children or spouses to whom we sometimes half-listen or hardly hear. the ones we often take for granted or find ourselves frustrated with. let's connect better with them. let’s use this time for each other. maybe we can spend more time talking. listening. sitting still together. walking together. playing together ... even praying together.

i’m a homebody. always have been. even though some people disagree, i’m an introvert through and through. i’ve always treasured my time alone and i really do like to be in my home. i love to nest and care for those around me. but i am not very good at being still. and, for me, that will be my personal challenge — to soak in the stillness which staying home brings and listen closer to the voice of Jesus. 

for years i’ve had this quote on my blog, “make time for the quiet moments, as God whispers and the world is loud.”  the world is about to grow quiet. maybe for the first time in our lives. what an opportunity to listen for the voice of God.

friends, be safe. be blessed. be home.  

and if we come out of this as budding artists, better cooks, sharper scientists or, yes, even wine connoisseurs ... well, then let's count that all as a blessing!

“be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” ~ psalm 46:10

"he who DWELLS in the SHELTER OF THE MOST HIGH will ABIDE in the shadow of the Almighty. i will say to the Lord, "my REFUGE and my FORTRESS, my God, in whom i trust."

~ psalm 91:1-2

“in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” isaiah 30:15