Monday, March 30, 2020

How Are You Coping?

In the midst of this pandemic how are you coping? In the midst of this quarantine how are you coping? In the midst of the "Shelter in Place" order so much of the United States is under, how are you coping? In the midst of being cooped up how are you coping?

Are you hunkering down and obeying the rules? Or are you being a rebel and coming and going as you desire? Are you considered an "essential" employee for job purposes or are you off work? Is your work location shuttered for the moment?

Are you bored and about to go crazy? Perhaps you are a creative person and have been able to find fun and interesting ways to occupy your time.

Are you fed up with it all and feel like you are coming apart at the seams? Personally, I am ready for things to get back to normal. We are generally quite busy singing several times a week. We sing to seniors during the week and gospel sings and churches on weekends. Not only do we love doing this, it is our passion. Just to touch the heart of even one person with that special song or word spoken in between songs makes it worth it all.

We have been able to find some ways to stay occupied. One thing Cindy did not want at home was a "bored" Ray. Nothing good ever comes of that. So...I had some ideas. This time they didn't cost money! That is good since money is running a little tight right now. I thought we could do a "Gospel Sing Live From Our Living Room". Cool idea, huh? We do it via Facebook live as well as recording it to put on the New Jerusalem Singers YouTube Channel. We have been doing Pubic Domain songs as well as original songs. We are doing this each Thursday at 2 pm on New Jerusalem Singers Facebook page until we can get back on the road again singing.

On top of the singings, we have been doing "Online Church" from our living room, as well. We do that Sunday mornings at 11 am on my personal Facebook page. We invite you to come and join us for one or both of these events. each week. If you can't be with us "live" there's no need to fret. We save them to the Facebook pages they are recorded on.

In addition to these two things I am blogging and hope to do some more podcasts soon, so stay tuned.

Instead of coming apart at the seams I am trying to occupy myself in a productive way. I encourage you to find some creative ways to pass the time whether its playing games with the kids, chatting with your spouse, taking the dog for a walk, walking to exercise, putting together puzzles...or whatever activity will help you to cope during these unprecedented times.

Here's an even better thing to do...spend time with God! Read the Bible! Pray! I realize these may sound like radical ideas to many of you but I challenge you to give it a try. See what a difference working on your relationship with Jesus makes in your life.

Until next time...enjoy the journey!

Ray

Thanks for taking your time to read and share this blog. If you know of someone who would be encouraged by this blog, please feel free to forward  a link or use the icons below to repost or forward this blog.