Postponement

Usually the first post in a new blog is about me, explaining why I have chosen to start a blog. But a lot of new things are surfacing these days, therefore my start will be a new style as well...so let’s jump to it...I’ll save the “why” for another day. 

Oh Coronavirus, you sure have made your mark on the world. You become famous around the world, travelling to almost 200 countries & territories. Congratulations, that’s quite the achievement. Everyone knows your name. Constantly the news is talking about you and millions of texts/posts (including this one) mention you. You will be remembered in the future when people talk about the year 2020. Well, whether you want to go by your real name, Coronavirus, or a nickname like COVID-19 or Corona, you've made your mark! God is using you to make people think about life, innovatively show love to others in creative new ways, and using these lockdown and quarantine times to pray more. Now please, COVID-19, you can kindly go away…

Many of you who know me, know that this past year has been a crazy one for my faith. Certain dates stick in my mind: the day I prayed about a certain guy, the day we went on a date, the day I moved to his country, the date he proposed, leading up to the date of April 23, the day my fiance and I were supposed to be getting married. However, Coronoavirus has altered our plan, as we have chosen to postpone our wedding until later this year. Was it a tough decision..YES! But when we made this decision a few weeks ago, my family hadn’t gotten their visas yet and the news had just come: No more visas were going to be given out until April 15. My family was to fly on the 16th. So we decided beyond just the visas, the spread of the virus was starting to spreading like crazy and probably going to last longer than just the 15th of April. And as crazy as it might sound, Ashraye and I are okay with it. After thinking through several of our options, we ended up knowing that we want family and friends to be able to come celebrate what God has done in our lives WITH us. We had gotten through 8 months of dating halfway around the world, and we’ll get through this. Honestly moving was more life-altering for me personally than making the decision to postpone. 

I’ve had many people asking me how I’m doing. And first I’d like to say THANK YOU. Thank you for caring and sending your love beyond the ocean. Second, both Ashraye and I are doing good. It’s day 6 of lockdown (quarantine) here in India and it’s weird hearing the absence of noise on the streets. HOWEVER, the other day I did hear the cow come by to the neighbor’s house for food. (I guess cows haven’t gotten the message about the lockdown yet.) Everyone can still go out to get groceries, but as I’ve heard about it, the police will most likely turn you around if there’s not a good reason for you to go somewhere. So we’re in the house. (I moved in with his family, and that’s another story...but I still get to see him all the time, so YAY!) And as I spend too much time on social media, which is slowly sucking the life out of me, the one great joy I get is seeing how people are loving their neighbors during this time. Creative, innovative ways of caring and reminding people they’re not alone are arising. Whether it's sharing music, sharing embarrassing pictures, driving your car to see someone from a safe, #socialdistancing spot, or through a window while boldly declaring a sign of love, this to me is inspiring and causes me to think, how can I show love to a neighbor of mine today?

Although there are crazy things happening around the world, God’s love and peace are still our foundation. His shalom He gives to us. As we sit in our houses, apartments, or shelters due to lockdown/quarantine we can dwell in THAT love of our Creator. Which then drives us to share THAT SAME LOVE with those in our spheres of influence. I’ve seen people doing it and I want to share it as well. Be creative, be innovative, Will you join?