I wonder how many of people will emerge from Covid-19 with lives that look very different from the ones they entered it with.
There's been a lot of talk about how combatting the virus has affected organizations & industries. Some things will never go back, but I've been thinking a lot about how these larger shifts reflect individual ones.
Even if you yourself don't get sick, don't lose your job, & are able to maintain a semblance of community, there's no way to keep the life you knew b/c the entire world around you will have changed.
How many marriages will end? How many jobs lost or changed? How many people will change churches? How many children change schooling experience?
How many people will need to downsize? How many people will move to be closer to aging loved ones? How many careers paths & 10 year plans will become completely nonsensical?
It seems impossible to underestimate the signifinance of this moment. It's not just about surviving until things get back to normal. It's figuring out what the new normal will look like on both an organizational & individual level.
A vingette: A couple years ago, my kids got all their Pokemon cards mixed up & couldn't agree on who owned what or how to figure it out. It was awful. Only solution was to lay out all the cards & let kids take turns picking them. It became known as the Great Pokemon Reshuffle.
I feel like 2020 is the Great Covid Reshuffle. And it's going to affect everything. Friendships. Work. Education. Churches. Communities.
We're going mark the time as before 2020 & after 2020 & heaven give us the grace & patience we're going to need to sort this all out.
All that to say, if you're feeling disoriented within your own life, you're in good company. If you're questioning everything that you once took for granted, you're normal. If you're not sure how this all ends, welcome to the club.
This is a strange time b/c it may undo a lot of what you've worked for. But it also might clear the path for a whole new life that you'd never even consider were it not for 2020.
So right now, the best thing you can do (I think) is stick to basics. You can't control this, but God is still sovereign. His providence may deliver you to a new shore, but He'll keep you in the journey.
As much as possible, just let it be. Let it play out. Lean hard into His care. Pray for patience. Hold your plans loosely. And remember that our calling is simply to respond to His call. Even when it sounds completely different from what we thought it would be.
