Welcome to the weekend!

That being said, as Liz said to me yesterday… “It’s beginning to be difficult to tell the days apart… they all feel kind of the same.”

It’s true. With most of the regular schedule markers removed (school schedule being the one that takes us the most mental space), the days sort of all feel like Saturdays.

Many of you have been checking in through the week since I began short daily posts back on Monday, so I won’t go into great detail on the week aside from this…

France under Covid-19

Most of you have seen plenty Covid-19 headlines and have likely heard a fair bit about Paris. Though we’re on lockdown as well, there’s less immediate pressure on us.

This graphic (from a French news website) shows that the darker the colour, the more cases / deaths and the lighter the colour, the lesser the impact. Our area is in pretty good shape… although we know that the virus is creeping along. We take all necessary precautions and leave the rest to the Lord – we’re in good hands!

Today’s #3GoodThings

If you’ve not touched base during the week, let me briefly explain that, with all the extra negativity these days – fear & uneasiness surrounding the pandemic – I thought I’d dig back out the #3GoodThings series that I began last year; it helps train my mind to look for the positive.

So the format is thus: 3 Good things each day, comprised of 2 positive things from daily life and one Bible verse/passage that gives me hope, strength or encouragement in the midst of these uncertain times.

Earlier in the week I mentioned the daffodils from the garden… this is them. It’s nice to bring a little extra Spring-cheer indoors!

Now… onto today’s #3GoodThings:

1. P’tit Maurice (little Maurice): Thanks to our neighbours, Monsieur & Madame Pelletier our rooster has a name. In conversation between themselves, they started referring to him as le p’tit Maurice and when he relayed that to me, I thought… “aha… I love it!” and the name stuck. To understand though, you’ve got to know the story of le grand Maurice.
   
   The Pelletiers have a summer cottage on Oléron Island and a couple years ago, some temporary summer residents began complaining about an old, well-established local rooster named Maurice – suing the owner for noise pollution. Not only did the judge rule in favor of Maurice, but he ordered the plaintiffs to pay 1,000€ to the defendant.
   
   Maurice it is! I love the fact that the Pelletiers named him (They’ve loved our chickens ever since we got our first ones several years ago). When I told M. Pelletier that “p’tit Maurice had stuck, he was pretty tickled too! (see Maurice below)
2. A Bit More Disconnected: The kids have been back to their homeschooling rhythm this week and, as luck would have it, they’ve been stuck inside during some of the nicest weather we’ve had in over a month. Today though, they were done early enough to be able to enjoy part of the afternoon out of doors. They chucked a football around, dribbled basketball on the concrete patio, Dominic mowed the lawn and Timo whittled a slightly dried apply branch for well over and hour.
   
   Technology wasn’t completely banished – at times they played music through their phone, connected to a bluetooth speaker – but at least they were doing other things than staring into their phones! 😉
3. Isaiah 41.10: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

In the verse above, God actually commands us to not fear, or worry. The “fear not” command appears some 80+ times in the Bible and, like any command, we have the choice to obey or disobey.

Typically, if we disobey, it’s because we tell ourselves “I can’t help but being afraid. It’s an involuntary reaction.” While that may be true of a sudden, unexpected noise or the scary scene in a movie… it’s not true of prolonged fear.

Prolonged fear establishes itself where we’re unable (or unwilling) to focus our attention on anything other than the problem or situation at hand. It’s precisely on that level, that the Lord is commanding us to “Fear Not”… in saying that, he’s saying “Place your trust in me, for I can help you, regardless of the situation.”

When we increase our focus on him… we decrease the hold / power that a given situation has over us & over our thinking. All of a sudden it becomes easier to…

Fear not!

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God bless you and thanks for stopping by this week.

If you find yourself on lockdown anywhere and are looking for some great reading… Pick up the book I published from my Grandfather’s journals. Escape from Corona-Chaos to a much simpler & carefree time.