Hope

Well, my dear readers, this was the not the post I intended to publish next but it seemed the most appropriate, as we deal with something that is universally affecting each and every one one of us in a dramatic way. For better or worse, this is something we will always remember for the rest of our lives. And, perhaps, it might be a time we look back on where we rooted deeper into gratitude, love, prayer, and hope.

If someone asked me what my favorite book genre was, without hesitation I would say historical fiction, particularly that of the World War II era. I love being swept back in time, drawn into the lives of characters during a period of history that is sometimes hard to imagine outside of a history textbook. Something that has always gripped me when pouring over the pages of such books is how the characters are often living their lives in a normal fashion; perhaps aware of impending war, but still carrying on as usual. Going to school, pursuing careers, getting married, starting families; all the typical things that most people do regardless of time period or decade. And then suddenly everything changes. They are caught off guard, and their worlds are completely disrupted and lives are put on hold. As I’ve read these storylines, I have tried to imagine what it would feel like to be half way through a pregnancy or about to get married or on the verge of graduating with a hard earned degree and, without warning or time to prepare, life is turned upside down. 

In the past week or so, I have started to feel that we are all experiencing a taste of this scenario. We are finding ourselves in a situation that could fill the pages of a novel. We have entered a way of life that is completely foreign to us; perhaps the closest thing to war we will ever know. I realize we are not hiding in our attics fearing for our lives because of religious beliefs or ethnicity. We are not afraid of soldiers banging down our doors or being dragged off to a prison camp. We are not rationing food and water…yet. Of course, that is far worse than what we are dealing with. However, hiding from something that could be on anything we touch, anyone we come in contact with and even in the air we breathe is nothing to take lightly. Hiding from an invisible enemy that could potentially make us extremely ill and even take our lives is a form of warfare. Our lives have been stopped in their tracks and instead our focus has shifted on protecting our health and the health of those we love. We’ve all been hearing of postponed weddings, trips of a lifetime cancelled, schools, colleges and churches closing, small businesses faced with the very real fear of going out of business. We’re witnessing countries closing their borders, entire cities shutting down, grocery stores out of staple foods and suddenly toilet paper is the most sought after household item. We’re watching doctors around the world scrambling to treat patients without proper protective equipment; without even a proper mask! Every day, every shift, they are fearing for their own health and what they might bring home to their families, all while trying to fulfill their duty of saving the lives of others. We are hearing of emergency rooms seeking out eye protection and face shields from local technical high school and community college science labs. Ladies around town are breaking out their sewing machines to assemble face masks for the local hospitals. I think we are all looking around and asking ourselves: how, in the year 2020, is this happening? How do we not have the technology and resources to eradicate this immediately? How has a virus, initially downplayed by world leaders and even medical professionals, become a global pandemic.  How, in a matter of days, have our freedoms been snatched away from us; not because of politics but in an effort to save thousands of lives. How is this reality?

Some people have reached out to me to see if, and how, we are being affected by all of this. Living in a remote part of the world, outside of the US, and so far away from home has made this all that much more surreal. And having to translate information, notifications, posted signs and updates from another language has added to the challenge. So, even if just for my own record to look back on, I will share a little bit of how our lives have changed over the past week. If you’re tired of seeing, hearing or reading another thing with a reference to “COVID-19” in it, I don’t blame you one bit. I won’t be offended if you decide to click past this post and come back next time. But, I am hoping, that as I wrestle with my own worries and fears, I can offer a glimmer of hope in the midst of this great unknown that we are all facing together. And that is just it, we are all in this together, not just as Americans, but as humans spread all over the world.

It’s kind of shocking to think that up until about a week and a half ago, we weren’t really affected by any of it! Other than seeing some news reports and reading a few articles about the “novel coronavirus”, it seemed so far away, and so unlikely to be something that we would be dealing with first hand. Then, within a matter of hours, we started hearing of closings, cancellations, and quarantines in our very own municipality. During this time, we were actually not even at home. We we were on a long weekend ski trip to Finland, something we had planned months earlier. This was not a careless trip where we were ignoring advisories to not travel and to just stay home. Not at all. When we left, there were no restrictions in place. The borders were open and travel within Nordic countries was perfectly acceptable. Even once we arrived in Finland, nothing seemed to be amiss. We stopped at the local grocery store before heading to our Airbnb. I actually grabbed a package of toilet paper and paper towels only because we have found, from previous experience, that some Airbnbs are not well stocked with these items. There was plenty available on the shelves and there was no sense of frenzy amongst the other shoppers. By the very next day, we stopped back at that same store and the shelves were virtually emptied. Not a roll of toilet paper to be found. In less than 24 hours, the hysteria had even hit this tiny town in the “middle-of-nowhere” Finland.

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Because of severe weather predicted, we were advised by people back home not to dare even try to drive back to Norway on Sunday. We even booked a second Airbnb for Sunday night, planning to drive back on Monday morning instead. Last minute, my husband cancelled that reservation and made the decision to go ahead and drive back on Sunday despite the weather. This was clearly the Lord’s guidance. On our drive back, we were informed that per new regulations in affect just hours before, once home, we would enter into a compulsory 14 day home quarantine because we had left the municipality. It actually didn’t even matter that we had left the country, even driving to the next town would have been cause for an automatic quarantine. And this was not a voluntary “just stay home” advisory but a mandate to not leave the house even for groceries or work. Any violations, could be punishable by prison. This was a wake up call to the gravity of the situation.

By Monday morning, the borders between the Nordic countries were officially closed, and just outside of our town, a police checkpoint was in place to record all those who entered the island making sure they followed quarantine protocol. And this has continued every day since. The entire country of Norway, now experiencing the most far-reaching measures that have ever been issued in a time of peace; and our little municipality among the strictest of all. We are being updated daily and, as of the time I am typing this post there are no confirmed cases in our “kommune”. I pray these measures keep it that way. With the nearest hospital a several hours drive away (in good weather) and limited resources available, there is no room for error. While I can’t leave the house to shop yet, I have been told that even a trip to the grocery store in town requires hand sanitization and gloving up before entering the store. Only one person from a household is allowed to shop at any given time; and no children are permitted to enter. People are asked to stay 2 meters away from each other and only a limited number of customers are allowed in at one time. While certainly a major adjustment, I know this is the only way we might have a fighting chance against this virus here.

So what do we do? How do we process this? How do we continue living each day, uncertain of how long this will last and what longterm effects it will have? How do we not let this universal crisis bury us in worry and anxiety? How do we stop fear from percolating up in us? I certainly have struggled with my own response to all of this. I’ll even admit I had to apologize to God and to my family for how I let the worry and stress of the situation take hold of my heart and my attitude. But, despite my failures, I have absolute confidence that God is in control and that He wants us to look to Him for peace. There is a verse in the Bible that keeps circulating in my mind over and over; a verse that has comforted me in some really difficult times in my life: “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (2 Chronicles 20:12) I think we are all at this point. Whether we’re at home trying to protect ourselves and our families, or we’re medical professionals facing this virus head on, we’re all wondering what do we do? Will the measures in place even be enough? How long will we be confined to our homes and kept from our jobs and communities and friends? Will this strike someone we love? How much worse will it get? Is it too late? What do we do?

When we don’t know what do to, we look up. In this whirlwind of uncertainty, we turn our eyes on Jesus. We trust Him. We believe in Him. And we have faith in Him. We will not be shaken because we know He is in control. We will not fear because we know He is our shield and protection. We will not despair because we know He has overcome. Because he bends down to listen, we will pray (Psalm 116:2 NLT). As long as we have breath, we will pray, and pray, and pray some more. We will repeat these truths to ourselves when we feel anxiety creep in. We will speak of them to our children and grandchildren. We will ask God to plant these truths deep in our hearts so that in the months and years to come, when faced with new uncertainties, we will respond in faith and remembrance of how He brought us through this trial. And while it might seem far away right now, there will come a day again when we’ll sit in a cafe sipping coffee with a friend, attend a birthday party or baby shower or wedding, visit a museum, shop at the mall, go out for a date with our spouse, and worship in song and prayer together. And, maybe when that time comes, we’ll appreciate it in a way we never thought we could.

This will change us as individuals and as a people. We have a choice right now to let that change be for good. Let this be something that brings out the beauty of Christ working in our hearts. Let this be a time where our light shines for Him. Sweet friends, no matter what tomorrow brings, let’s calm our hearts together in prayer and anchor our hope in Him.