So, apparently, more of us are gardening this year, huh? Or maybe I’m assuming too much because of how difficult it’s been to get lids for canning. But I’m pretty sure I heard that was the case. Since our quarantine hit right about the time gardens needed to be planted, it makes sense. And that’s great. I had lots of lids left over from last year, so I’m good! But it got me thinking, did more of us plant gardens because we had always wanted to but didn’t have the time or did we simply need something to do?

Now, I don’t want to cause any conflict, but as a parent I was impressed again this week. You may disagree, and I’m good with that, but the inevitable happened this week. Astoria had the first confirmed case of COVID in the school. Now, I anticipated this happening within the first couple of weeks, which it did, and I don’t think any of us should be surprised. I mean, it is actually rather surprising we haven’t had other cases pop up here yet (that I’m aware of).

I feel like I am one of those people who grew up right between two different generations. In fact, there’s a video comparing boomer dads to millennial dads and I feel like I’m right on the fence between them. The boomer dad in me sees a McDonald’s and says, ‘I need a Big Mac’ and for my injured kid to ‘just walk it off!’, while the millennial dad in me tells my competitive kids that ‘We’re just out here to have fun’ and ‘you can’t eat that, it has too much sugar.’ And being stuck between two generations allows me to see a significant shift in church dynamics, too.

The hardest things in life usually bring us the greatest benefit, right? This can be the hard choices that we make, but even hard or difficult situations often bring about positive change for us. I know as I’ve dealt with really hard situations that often when things get resolved I find myself in a better place. And I know it is certainly true that when I do the hard things that Jesus called me to do, I always feel and am better after it’s done.