Abundant Life

I am rather surprised at this point we haven’t had a major viral, yet ridiculous stunt, showing up on our social media. I had assumed that with the number of people home, especially the number of bored teens, we haven’t seen something. You know, like the Tide Pod challenge or the ice bucket challenge. I fully expected to see something pop up that challenged others to compete in something of that nature.
Because, honestly, I’ve been trying to create some unique ways for my kids to not be bored. I’ve found that if we have something unique to do on a regular basis, it helps keep them engaged and less prone to chaos. At our house over the past several weeks, we’ve had downhill derby challenges, Nerf Fortnite wars in the yard and outdoor picnics for lunch. They do also have a schedule of when school is to be done and chores as well as screen time, too.
But these past few weeks we’ve had to rediscover the way our schedules work because they’ve been forcibly simplified. And we’ve developed the language of ‘essential’ workers, and so, I wonder what other things we feel are ‘essential’ at this time in our lives. I mean most of us probably have had to simplify so much that we’ve come to understand essential a little differently. Maybe we think of essential foods when we shop or essential household goods (like TP and soap). Maybe we think of essential tasks, like kids getting school work and chores done before screen time or parents making sure everyone gets fed every meal.
I guess what I’m saying is that at the end of the day, do you feel like it was a success? I think before the quarantine, success was measured differently than it is now. I would think that simply surviving (and not killing my kids) is a win for me most days. And I think a lot of us are just trying to ‘survive’ this quarantine (and I don’t just mean physically survive the virus). Most of us just want to get through it and back to normal. And I certainly do, too, but surely there’s more than just survival, right?
And that brings me back to the viral challenges that have been lacking so far. What would it take to push us to not just survive this next month or so and to actually thrive? What would it take to not just get through it but to say it was successful? I’m hoping its more than survival, because Jesus didn’t come to earth so that we could just survive, he came so we could have an abundant life. Life to the full! And since he’s conquered death, as we celebrated on Easter recently, survival for Christians is already taken care of. I pray we push for abundant, full lives, even in quarantine. God bless.