Joy Mixed with Sorrow

These days of the pandemic are such a mix of joy and sorrow, highs and lows. On Friday morning, a friend from church texted to ask if we needed anything from Costco and then came by with some rolls of paper towels and toilet paper to share. It was such a kind act and brought her joy to give and gave us joy to receive. And then I had joy in sharing some of the paper towels with another friend and my son.

I went upstairs to do some work and got distracted by a funny video sent by another friend. As I was laughing out loud (literally) over that video, I received a text from a different friend. It read, "Please pray. A teacher at (local) school has died from the virus." WHAM! Sorrow hit like a brick. I don't know the woman who died, but my friend was doing grief counseling and I felt the heaviness with her.

I was able to eat lunch with my friend Betsy, enjoying the Spring sunshine and breeze. We also took a walk and I saw different flowers than are on my usual route in my neighborhood. I get so much joy from my walks and talks and photo shoots.

My church asked me to participate via video in the worship time this past Sunday. The prompt was, "In this season, God is teaching me. . ." My answer was, "In this season, God is teaching me that he is faithful. One reminder of this is Psalm 57:10: 'For your faithful love is as high as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches the clouds.' God has shown his faithfulness to me as I walk in my neighborhood and see flowers and trees blooming and know that he is trustworthy and good."

Back to Friday afternoon, Mom and I drove to do some errands. The first stop was the Post Office and I needed to go inside to buy some stamps. I put on my folded bandanna with hair ties to go around my ears and it was suffocating. The five or so minutes that it took me to go inside were so frustrating: dodging people in a socially distant queue, getting annoyed at the stamp machine that was slowly dispensing the ugly type of stamps.

The next stop was CVS, where I put on my mask again and went inside to pick up Mom's prescription. I was thankful for wipes that were available to clean the keypad and am so grateful to the pharmacy technicians and cashiers who are working so hard during these days.

We went to Mom's apartment building and stayed in the car while she went inside to get her mail. I enjoyed the breeze through my open car window but also had more frustration placing our to-go dinner order. Our final stop was to pick up our groceries, and I was thankful for both opportunities to have food to eat and for the workers who are doing their jobs and businesses that can stay open.

The apostle Paul wrote: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ESV).

I am thankful and there is a lot of joy in my life, mixed with sorrow. I also have lots of questions:

• When will this pandemic end?
• Will we always and forever have to wear masks and not hug our friends and family?
• What is really going to happen to our economy?

But then I remember that a friend showed kindness and another friend shared a funny video and I got to eat lunch and supper outside and saw a dear friend and a dear son, all in the same day. And all of this was despite and because of a pandemic.

Also, I have more than enough food and I have a more than comfortable home to shelter in place in and I have a car and clothing and a job. And my friends and family are healthy.

So, I "give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His steadfast love endures forever" (Psalm 118:1).