If there is a word that has described the past 6 months, or at least how I have been feeling, I think this would be the word, unsettled.

Unsettled about breaking the regular routine of life, unsettled by the restrictions around shopping for food, unsettled about being separated from family. Unsettled as we’ve lost the Sunday gathering, unsettled because the trailer is gone. Unsettled because of the threat of a pandemic, unsettled with the loss of travel as we had planned (vacation) and unsettled because we just don’t know when life might return to some sense of normal.

Of course what is normal going to look like? Well, for one thing, I hope that in due course we can be with friends and family without the fear that we are either passing on or picking up something deadly. I hope that we can plan to travel freely and enjoy the wonder of places loved. I hope that we can hug and be hugged, that we can gather and laugh and sing.

I must say then, that to keep a sense of normalcy, or sanity however one might measure even that in these days, I am regularly thinking about what is good about our lives. I am remembering how well our kids are doing, how healthy we have remained and that we all have jobs.

It’s that keeping things in perspective that helps me. Yes, there are losses in this time, but there are things to be glad for. I think we have forgotten the word “appreciation”, which use to be captured in a song: “count your blessings”.

So, what are the things that you appreciate? And more importantly, who are the people you appreciate? What are the good memories that you can celebrate and cherish? What are the stories you can tell that remind you of times when the Lord blessed you in ways you could have never have imagined?

And finally, I often remind myself that God is at work in the present in ways that I might not, at first see. He is at work in our lives even now – keep your eyes open.