Are we connected?

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I know my posts have been scarce over the past several months. If you’ve read the few posts that have made it out of my brain and into the computer, you know that this has been a crazy season for me and my family. I swear I have had a half a dozen posts floating in my mind, but just haven’t had time to write them down.

My kids are on spring break, so we are currently outside enjoying the sunny warm weather… Oh wait. No. That’s what I had hoped we would be doing. Instead we are inside battling plague #485 of the school year: Pinkeye Gone Bad… Very, VERY BAD! So I thought I would steal a quick moment and de-clutter my brain a little.

Several weeks ago, a dear friend called me and asked, “Are we connected? I feel like God is bringing us together in this difficult time so we can battle this war together.” Or something to that effect anyway. ;)

My answer was, “Yes, I think we are connected.” 

The more I think about it, the more I realize that we are ALL connected. And we are all supposed to fight our battles together. 

In our times of woe and turmoil, we tend to be self-focused and throw pity parties for ourselves. And, if we are honest, we get kind of irritated that others aren’t taking pity on us. 

Since my conversation with my friend, I’ve been trying to use life’s chaotic moments to remind myself to pray for others that I know are suffering. For example…

I was awake on and off throughout the night last night because my poor son has a croupy cough from the pinkeye virus – that we are all suffering from. I could give you a 2o minute sermon on the nasty that is pinkeye. Just ask my poor Facebook friends. Let me just tell you this: If your kid has an eye irritation, get drops IMMEDIATELY. 

While lying in bed and feeling sorry for myself, God gently reminded me of the family at my son’s school that tragically lost their father last week. And of the many friends and relatives that are waging war with cancer. And of my mom who had to have her hip replaced and whose bones are like those of someone 20 years her senior. Sure, this virus stinks and it changed the plans we had for spring break, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not a big deal. 

So I prayed. I prayed for each of those dear people. In the middle of the night. While my throat hurt and my son gasped for air.

Why?

Because we are all connected. 

Can you imagine what the world would look like if we took the time and deliberately stopped in the middle of our own crisis to pray for someone else’s crisis? 

When we hear a siren, whether it’s from a fire truck or an ambulance or a police car, my family stops where they are at and prays. We pray for protection and guidance for all involved. And we pray for God’s peace to surround each one of them.

Maybe our personal moments of angst should serve as sirens. Perhaps we should stop in our tracks and pray for whomever God brings to mind. Not only would we be praying for someone in need, but we would be taking our focus off of ourselves and redirecting it toward God. 

We can’t change what happens to us and what happens around us. But we CAN change our attitude and how we react to things.