For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
For me this past week has been one of feeling overwhelmed to the point of not being able to focus on anything properly.
It all started with listening to the government updates and feeling helpless, coming to terms with the reality of not being able to see my mum and dad, my three children losing their jobs, along with the concern of one of them being in Canada and one other having to pay their rent.
Then seeing Facebook post after Facebook post (other social media platforms are available!) from people with very good intentions of all the things we could do with our children while home schooling, producing timetables for each day, how to make our ‘work from home’ situation manageable, and on top of that being flooded with all the different ideas of ‘live’ church events, prayer meetings and toddler group sessions on screen.
Please don’t get me wrong, I know they are all there to aid us in coping with each day in our own situations, but for me it has been too much. I felt that I should be putting out a live Facebook session of some sort, or leading a sing-a-long or story to share with the families I am in contact with, panicking that if I don’t get something out soon people would think I don’t care about them, and then feeling guilty that I haven’t done it yet. Maybe you are feeling inadequate as you see people filming story time or song time for their toddler group families and you don’t even know how to record from your phone, let alone your laptop. Or perhaps you don’t have any resources at home because they are all at toddler group.
One Way Puppets have put together a very useful web page and gathered many ideas in one place, to help those who feel overwhelmed, so you can to take a look at some point and pick out what could be relevant to you and your situation.
I have just been outside to do thirty minutes of exercise with my daughter (which was exhausting) and at the end of the session, lying in the sunshine I realised with all the ‘stuff’ in my head I’d not heard from God, or asked him what I should do.
Then I clearly felt him say, “Be the person I created you to be”. That was such a revelation to me today, and I want to pass this on to you too.
We are all fearfully and wonderfully made, we are all unique and individual, we all have different gifts, and we all have a God who loves us the same. So today let’s take a deep breath in and breathe out slowly. God knows your heart. He knows you want to be a support to your families. For some of you it will be keeping them engaged on a weekly basis through social media, for others it will be making up packs to post out to families, for others it will be a friendly phone call or a handwritten letter with a prayer inside, or any other creative ways you can think of. It is also important to know that if all you can do is pray for your families, that’s amazing. Connecting with our heavenly Father regarding our families is so important. Maybe start a prayer journal, and show them when you are able to meet again. I know they will be so touched to know you have been praying for them.
Whichever way you can connect with your families, do it with the gifts God have been given. They are unique to you.
Let’s move forward by being the person that God has made you to be … unique and special.
In this video ‘E’, aged 4, would like to say a prayer over you all.
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