By Carla Lindberg

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Whatcha wanna do? I don't know, what do you wanna do? I dunno- I asked you first, watchu wanna do?

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When this quarantine began, I started a “Pandemic List.” I wanted to be proactive with my newly acquired, most coveted gift ever - time.

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DAILY:

• Read Bible

• Journal

• Go for a walk

• Play piano

• Enjoy time with Mark - cook together, play cards, watch TV, have long talks

 

 

WORK:

• Plan/prepare healthy meals

• Clean or organize something

• Wash clothes or dishes

• Pay bills

• Do grading & lesson planning

   

 

GET BETTER:

• Konmari something

• Read something

• Start planning for next year at work

• Learn something new

• Do something crafty

 

 

ONE AND DONE LIST:

• Switch summer/winter clothes

• Clean out the garage

• Clean out the closet

 

 

Can you tell I like lists? I like making plans. I like knowing what's next. I don't like having nothing to do- especially in my mind!

 

If ever my mind feels alone, I quickly grab the nearest electronic device… anything to keep myself from being alone with my thoughts! Do we ever really allow ourselves to be alone? What could happen if we did? What am I afraid of?

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• Reliving bad memories

• Obsessing over an offense I can’t seem to overlook

• Being taunted by temptation

• Guilting myself over past mistakes

• Feeling anxious about my present situation

• Worrying about my future

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But Jesus was often alone with His thoughts (Luke 4:1-2, Luke 5:16, Luke 6:12, Luke 22:39, Matthew 14:13) and He encourages us to do the same (Matthew 6:6, Mark 6:30-32). And ultimately, at the end of our life, we will stand before God… alone.

What I am learning in this special gifted time is that being alone with myself is a necessary discipline. Every time I am tempted to escape my aloneness, I must instead embrace it. And when I do, God meets me there, ready to help me combat my fears, my obsessions, my temptations, my guilt, my anxieties, my past, present, and future. It is there that I realize... I am not alone.

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Isaiah 1:18 ESV