give it all away

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The blooms are opening up in my front bed of irises, just in time for the world around us to begin to peek out at a potentially new normal. During the past weeks, I have run the full gamut of emotions, as well as the gain-weight-lose-weight-gain-again loop. This morning it hit me hard that I’m going to have to go back out there and join the real world again. Granted, I’ve been to the store. I’ve been to the post office. I’ve continued to work on a limited basis. However; I am not ready to rejoin the “hurry up and get everywhere to do everything” pattern. I’ve never been a fan of that, which is what made the quarantine anxiety soooo bizarre. You would think I had won the lottery when they announced that everything needed to STOP. Instead I was horking down reeces peanut butter eggs in my closet one after the next. In retrospect, I have learned something during these weeks that I will not soon forget.

Ritual. Ritual is a way to create something beautiful in the mundane.

Every day of the week, BC (before corona) or otherwise, we begin with a predictable school day. I make one cup of coffee and a glass of water before I light three candles and turn on a soul-satisfying song. This has been an established ritual in our home. It helps me to get out of bed in the morning.

Throughout quarantine, I have started a new ritual. I rise on Sundays just before the children, and dress for the day of our Lord, complete with hair and make-up. I clean up the kitchen and start a full pot of coffee. My kids drink coffee at church, and they have missed that opportunity, so I make a full pot for them to share with me while we sit together for online services.

Last night as I was falling asleep, I remembered that the morning would promise a full pot of coffee alongside a menagerie of online services to feed our souls, and I felt warm on the inside as I drifted away. It is not arduous or time-consuming, it only requires remembering to fill the filter instead of the pod. It means something to my people, and it marks the day. Watch for these little opportunities to bless the people in your life with kindness, and you will not find yourself without a blessing, in return.


Give and it will be given to you. Luke 6:38

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