GOING BACK TO BED.....

This morning, I was scraping my car in 9° weather when I took a tumble down a frozen driveway. My left hand is black and blue, but the fact that I am typing this at all means it isn't broken, as for an hour I was sure it was. 

I sent a text to my best friend and said, "I'm going back to bed after this and I'm going to wake up on the other side of the bed this time."

©CherieElainePhotography2020

Today is a result of accumulative stress.

Stress over the fires that have completely destroyed the homes of people I deeply love and care about. Stress over the elections. Stress over Halloween (okay, just ignore that one. I am not a fan of this celebration...) Stress over the very real possibility that we are going back to stay-at-home orders. 

I just wanted to go to yoga and be mindful of my spirit and my body and forget the rest....

My fall pushed me over the edge. Or so I thought. It sure felt like it. When I came inside to assess my injuries (quite sure I broke my left thumb), my chest and neck were covered in a rash. I broke down into tears. Really?! REALLY?! 

Here's what accumulative stress is doing to us. And right now I'm going to blame it on Covid 19 so that I don't have to believe my neighbor is just a brat.

When I fell, I fell hard. Face down. I'm not a little girl. I went down with a thud. And I'm quite sure that my neighbor, whom I had just flashed a smile at, heard the expletive following as I hit the pavement. I saw her, out of the corner of my eye, staring at me. I lifted my head and we looked right at each other. She turned around and went into her house. No acknowledgement whatsoever that she saw what just went down. Which was me. 

Are we really so stressed and scared that we can't at least ask if another needs assistance, or if we need a hand up or if we are going to be okay? Is THIS what social distancing has done to us? 

This morning during devotions I had to swallow the repentance pill. I've caught myself often lately thinking, "Oh, do you know who should read this?" I've become a judgmental twit! Just like my neighbor, I'm pretending I don't see, but I'm doing it to myself. I'm turning a blind eye to my own failures. 

I'm halfway through my cup of tea now, and in case you are wondering, yes, I am going back to bed after this. 

Here is what I want you to know. We should NOT allow this damned virus make us independent of grace! I want to think I would have rushed to my neighbor's side to help her up. But would I have? What happened to the common courtesy of lending a hand? Have we allowed stress to rip that from our very spirits? 

Oh Lord, have mercy on our souls. 

I hope you found the humor in this post. It IS supposed to be sarcastically funny. But I also want you to see the truth. 

Jesus touched the leper, the poor, the dirty, the lonely, the sick. Good heavens, but I'm thankful He touched ME. 

I don't want all of this stress to make me quit being the person He wants me to be. 

They'll know we are Christians by our love. By our LOVE? How hateful have politics made us? How afraid to be a normal person has this virus made us? If we are love, is anyone out there able to see it? 

Let me tell you about someone who is still practicing Jesus-love. My best friend. She brought a homeless man into her home for a couple of nights to protect him from the freezing elements outside. She didn't ask if he had been tested for Covid or any other contagion. She let him wash his clothes and his body and eat warm meals with her. THAT IS WHAT JESUS WOULD DO. 

I love you. That's why I try to end every post with those words. It's the most important thing I can share. I have an abundance of it. I hope it's spilling out onto you. 

C.