Pandemic Protocol

My first thought when I heard about the plague coming around the world was, "I think this speaks of the end time. I have to look it up in Revelation."

My concern rose when our son brought us two weeks of food - mostly staples like protein bars, meat sauces to mix with rice or noodles, chicken broth for soup, canned vegetables and fruits. Our daughter brought us T.P. and disinfectant wipes. They both knew my method of shopping was to wait until I was out or nearly out of food before I shopped again.

I checked on our supply of Clorox and rubbing alcohol, and I found our oral thermometer. I really didn't feel panicky, but rather awestruck as I asked myself, "Is this the way the end comes, not necessarily for myself, but for my family, my country, the whole earth?"

During the next week, we kind of hunkered down and followed the news. Within a few days, during my regular Bible study time, it seemed God gave me a list of what I should do. This became my reaction to the pandemic.
1. Think clearly.
2. Rely on Jesus.
3. Manage resources well.
4. Obey sanitary rules.
5. Follow my routine.
6. Live one day at a time.

I thought about cleaning out cupboards and closets and even the garage, but I didn't do it. I thought about writing, but that didn't happen either. I thought about what my mother had done with us kids before antibiotics, when we had contagious diseases. There was Milk of Magnesia to assure bowel movements, peroxide, mercurochrome, and iodine for wounds, and there was isolation.

We were confined to bed in our bedrooms when we had measles, chickenpox, or flu. When my sister had Scarlet Fever, I was sent to my Grandmother's for two weeks. During isolation in our rooms,we played with toys on the bed, read, or listened to the radio. We were not allowed to come out except to go to the bathroom. All food, delivered on a tray, was eaten in bed. Our temperature was taken regularly, and we were not allowed to interact with siblings until it maintained 98.6 for at least a day. Three days later we could return to school. Interestingly, my husband rarely missed a day of school.

We are now in our fifth month of shelter-in-place. The hardest part for me has been to accept new ways of doing things. I make a grocery list on my computer and my groceries are delivered by Instacart, mostly what I want although some brands may be different. We changed pharmacies so we could go through a drive-thru to pick up prescriptions. We go to doctor appointments with masks on, and we attend church at home using Zoom.

As I look back, and also look to the future, all that doesn't seem so hard. I think the suddenness took us by surprise, but we have learned. The world hasn't ended yet. We have taken rides together in the surrounding countryside, had pick-up lunches beside a lake and watched the geese parent their new goslings, and ventured into grocery stores during the early hours reserved for "at-risk" patrons. Our family has gotten together in our backyard using social distancing and bringing their own food and drink. We have finally let the cleaning ladies back into our house every other week, and eventually I'll go to the beauty shop to get a cut and have some color put back on my hair. I'm not fond of long, motley gray.

My overall feeling, if I have one, has been that this is a time of waiting. It is hard to wait, and if you give in to it, you can become irritable and restless. So, I go back to what God told me. I start my day with "God time" so I can think clearly. I follow my normal routine so there is order to my day, and I'm beginning to add writing, socializing, and some deep cleaning. If God hasn't opened other doors yet, I'll wait, and continue to praise Him from the hallway.
Insightfully yours,
Paulita

God's Wisdon re. Weeds in the Field

Jesus told His disciples this parable about weeds in the field:

The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

The owner's servants came to him and said, "Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?"

"An enemy did this," he replied.

The servants asked him, "Do you want us to go and pull them up?"

"No," he answered,"because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn." (Matthew 13:24-30)

Then Jesus told them the interpretation of the parable:

The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and  the harvesters are angels.

As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the  age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.They will throw them into the fiery furnace,where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 13:39-43)

I'm glad God is in charge of the world and I have only a small garden.
Insightfully yours,
Paulita

Weeds

There is a difference between making my garden look lovely, and serious weeding. Often I merely clean up the ground between plants by pulling out the little weeds or cutting them off with a hoe. The last time I did that my husband came along and said, "You know if you'd flood that area first, you could easily pull the entire weed out, root, nut, and all."

I knew he was right. If I didn't pull out or kill each root, I'd only delay its eventual re-growth. The root could even travel underground and erupt elsewhere in my garden.

So goes my life. I can hide my sins for a while, but if I don't allow my heart to be flooded with God's word, and then confess my sins to God, He cannot cleanse and forgive me. The same sins will crop up again, suddenly emerging where I don't expect them. Just looking good isn't enough.
Insightfully yours,
Paulita

Tomatoes

By the time our tomatoes were a foot tall, the leaves began to shrivel and curl up. The plants looked sick and the tomatoes were tiny. My husband said, "No self-respecting tomato worm will bother with our plants."

One day a friend came over and noticed the tomato plants in our garden. "You're watering them too much,"he said. "You should water them only once a week, even if the weather gets hot. That forces the roots to go deeper and makes a healthier plant."

When God looks at our lives, what does He see? Shriveled, curled up, self-indulgent people, or healthy, vibrant, engaging individuals?

The Lord wants our faith in Him to grow and be healthy. So when it seems like He is not listening to your prayers,or He's withholding His blessings, ask Him to help you focus on others rather than yourself. What does He want you to learn? What opportunities is He giving you to trust Him? Remember, everything God brings or allows to come into our lives is only for the purpose of driving our roots deeper in Him.

The Farmer and his Field

     "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop - a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

     This is a parable Jesus taught. What does it mean? What does it have to do with us?

     When anyone hears the message about the kingdom of God and does not understand it, Satan comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

     The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. but since he has no root he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

     The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the woman who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.

     But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the person who hears the word and understands it.That person produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
(From Matthew 13:3-9 and 18-23 with gender attributions by me)

     What are we supposed to produce as the result of receiving God's word? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control - these are called the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Insightfully yours,
Paulita

Sweet Peas

     It's hard to think of spring flowers when it's late fall in California. It seems I've only just cleaned up the remains of the pumpkin vines when it's time to plant sweet peas. Forcing myself to visualize their vivid colors and deliciously sweet smell, I prepare the ground and sow the seeds. In the still warm earth, the seeds spout and within weeks the baby plants are 3 to 4 inches high. Then  they seem to stall, waiting through the winter for spring. My gardening book says they need this long cool growing period to develop a strong root system. The approach of spring and longer days triggers the top growth and a few months later I have a profusion of fragrant, colorful blossoms, my reward for planning ahead.
     There will always be times in our lives when we want instant results, and God says, "Wait." We move, leaving friends behind and it takes time to form new friendships. We are injured or ill and must wait for recovery. Our job is terminated and we wait for a response to our new application. We wait for school to be out and vacation to start.
     It's been said, "While you're waiting for God to open a door, praise Him in the hallway." In God's eyes, it's not how long we wait, but how we wait. We want our outside circumstances to change, but God is producing strength and character on the inside.
     Finally, the result of sowing in our own life, or in the life of someone else, appears. We see we are changed because or someone's sowing in our life, and we thank God.
     "He who began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6
Insightfully yours,
Paulita

Fruit Trees

     Wouldn't it be fun to enjoy fruit from your tree the first year it is planted? When we landscaped our large backyard in the Bay Area, we planted four bare root fruit trees: a cherry, a golden delicious apple, an almond, and a freestone peach. We anticipated great rewards, but the first season our cherry tree produced only three cherries, two for the blue jays and one for us. The other trees produced no fruit at all.
     The second year seemed to be magical. We harvested our first delicious apples, our first almonds, and eight more cherries. But we had to wait until the third year for the peaches. Then we got the most luscious fruit we'd ever seen or tasted.
     A "real" gardener will tell you the trees need to spend their first couple of years establishing roots before bearing fruit. Some even advocate pulling off the fruit for the first two years.
     New Christians are like baby fruit trees. Sometimes spiritual fruit appears soon after a person becomes a believer, but more often, really mature fruit comes after time  studying with the Lord Jesus in His Word. Even the apostle Paul spent three years learning what God had called him to do before beginning his ministry. (Galatians 1:17-18)
     Maturity takes time, nourishment, and mentoring: time to experience and process, nourishment from studying God's Word, and mentoring by a pastor, fellow sojourner, or friend.
     Where are you on your spiritual journey? Are you a new Christian? Welcome! Or are you ready to mentor someone else?
Insightfully yours,
Paulita