I went to Ralphs late Wednesday night of March 11th after church to pick up some items for my mom. It was that night when the “panic” concerning the coronavirus took a serious turn and became very real. WHO (World Health Organization) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. [1] The NBA announced it has suspended the entire season. [2] Several colleges announced all classes for the Spring semester will be held online. [3] Tom Hanks and his wife were diagnosed as positive for the coronavirus. [4] Up until March 11th, it didn’t seem that bad in the United States. All that changed around 7pm that Wednesday evening.

I’m sure many of you are widely aware about what is going on in our country concerning COVID-19. As of this writing, Los Angeles is literally on full lockdown when it comes to eating in a restaurant or going to the library to study. Churches, including ours, are having to adjust their events and service schedules due to new guidelines and restrictions from Governor Newsom’s office. The CDC just changed it’s guidelines asking organizations and groups to cancel any gatherings or events where there will be more than 50 people. [5] Governor Newsom and the state of California announced it’s ban on all gatherings and events with over 250 people. [6] As this national emergency progresses with more cases developing throughout our nation, it does seem likely that churches would have to adjust their services and even prepare a full-livestream only service this coming Sunday. Sport games, cafes, movie theaters, bowling alleys, and even gyms are shutting down temporarily. Many of us, including myself, are being asked from our places of employment to work remotely from home. What’s going on? What do we do in the midst of this shutdown because of the Coronovirus pandemic? Is there nothing to do now?

I get it. I initially thought negative thoughts concerning all the temporary closures. I didn’t want to have these negative thoughts so I pulled out my notebook and made two columns making a list concerning two categories. This blog post will list out five blessings & things to do in spite of all the closures and cancellations. Please note that this list may or may not help you. It’s also probably going to increase in length as I continue to journal more in my notebook.

Five Blessings to Ponder

1. I am thankful that God is always in control and that I can trust Him in spite of all trials, fears, difficulties, etc. It is through Him I have hope, peace, and comfort. In addition, I am thankful for salvation because if I die; I know I’ll spend my eternity in Heaven with Christ. For some of us, it is also a moment we realize and ponder upon the amazing theological fact of God’s sovereignty, the truth that God has the power and authority to have everything under His control. The Bible encourages the believers in 2 Timothy 1:7 where it says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
2. This “break” from work and busy schedule allows me to spend more quality time with those I love especially my family. My parents and I are planning to stay home together and watch several movies and play couple of boardgames like monopoly. I will also take some time to create more memories with close friends.
3. God is using this situation to grow believers. I think about our church today. We had a smaller in-person service at a different location with livestream. While it was a different setting, the spirit of our church was very strong and there is a sense of unity when it came to getting through these difficult times together. I’m glad to see how many are supportive of one another because in the end we can get through this altogether as brothers and sisters in Christ!
4. We’re adjusting and learning. We’re taking precautions that is tremendously helpful in keeping our communities clean. We’re learning to always keep hygiene a priority now. Churches are adjusting to learn how to use livestream to help broadcast the gospel further past their own church doors. We’re learning that it is always better to over-prepare instead of being under-prepared. So many things we are learning as an individual, as a community, and as a nation. That is a blessing to consider.
5. We will get through this individually and together. I’m in several group chats and it seems like in every one of them, most are encouraging one another. At the same time, everyone is sending updates concerning new restrictions or about the virus. There seems to be this sense of unity of getting through this together and encouraging one another whether it is a family member or friend. We’re able to get through together as a community and as a church! This isn’t the first time we were able to get through difficult times. I’ve read about how people in our nation pulled together to ration and support one another during the Second World War. While I don’t think we’re necessarily in that stage of a national emergency, it’s encouraging to see how people are supportive of one another and I think we’re going to see more and more stories of great unity amongst all Americans and Christians alike.

Five Things to Do

1. Let us take some time to grow spiritually & mentally. Spiritually, we can spend more time in prayer, devotions, and Bible studies. We can use this opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and choose some theological subjects to study during the extra “free” time we have. Mentally, I have several books and podcasts I need to catch up on so I’ll be spending much of my “break” on those two as well. If you don’t have anything to read or a podcast to listen to, learn a new hobby! I’ll be taking some time to learn how to play the guitar.
2. Spend time with those you love. We may have several days or even weeks to spend time with family and friends. Obviously it will be very difficult to go out with everything closed and due to the pandemic itself but we can still gather a few friends and meet at home (as long as everyone is taking their precautions!) and spend some quality time. It’s a perfect time to spend time with our family. Watch a movie together, learn a new hobby, clean the home (highly recommended), read a book, have a Bible study together, etc.
3. Readjust, organize, and clean. Do you have things on your desk that’s been there for several weeks? Are they things you said that you’ll take care of but haven’t had the time to actually take care of them? I know I for sure have those moments and thoughts! What about our taxes. Did we get them done? Yep, I need to get those done as well haha. Now is the perfect time to get these done. Take some time to clean out that garage, organize your bookshelf, etc. All the fun places are closed right now so might as well be busy with other activities.
4. Rest. It is perfectly fine to rest during these times. Sleep a little more and take a break. Think about it. We don’t have to sit in traffic for an hour. Staying away from that is already rest isn’t it!? I’m thankful that I can spend time in rest with family at home.
5. Plan ahead. This pandemic affected everybody, not physically, but on their schedules and planned events. Students no longer have school in-person. Churches in several cities to cancel all their future services due to restrictions placed on crowd sizes (regardless of event or venue type) by local or state proclamations. Organizers have to either cancel or postpone their events. For me, my responsibilities include administration planning future events at church. Several large events planned for March and April (and even May) were either cancelled or postponed. I need to plan ahead of how we are going to move forward concerning these events. In addition, I need to personally plan my future activities with my family and friends as well. We need to plan ahead financially as well. Are we ready to sustain ourselves or our family if this shutdown due to the pandemic continues? Let us take some time to plan so we do not get anymore surprises later down the road.

I hope this was a blessing and help to you. If you have any more, please do comment below with your suggestion as well. In spite of everything being closed or cancelled, remember that the notion there is nothing to do is completely false. There are plenty of things to do! Once again, this isn’t the first time our nation went through a national emergency like this. We’ve been through some horrendous trials and difficulties in our nation’s history yet it’s always amazing to see how we as Americans pulled together in unity and got through it. We can overcome this together through Christ and in love for one another!

References
[1] WHO declares coronavirus a pandemic.
[2] NBA suspends season after Utah Jazz player positive for COVID-19.
[3] California universities move classes online for remainder of semester.
[4] Tom Hanks and his wife determined positive for virus after symptoms.
[5] CDC Interim Guidelines for Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19)
[6] Coronavirus pandemic: California calls for ban on large events