Abraham Walker moved from Virginia to New Orleans to give his children a sense of “normal.”
Walker’s brother had been murdered. He did not want his children’s lives colored with the loss of friends and family as “normal.”
Once he settled, he visited a community Facebook page. He decided to ask, “What are some positive things that have happened to you because of COVID-19?”
Here’s what came back:
I have been having the BEST time with my 4-year-old. I never thought of myself as a good mother, but this isolation has brought us so close together.
I successfully grew a tomato.
We have a swing set in our yard now.
Before COVID, I just got up late, ran around in a panic, usually in a bad mood or at least sad, endured a road rage-filled commute, and arrived at the office late. … Now I wake up and think, “Oh, I woke up again” and then I go out to my balcony amidst the pine trees and the chirping birds and rising sun.
Walker concluded that, After challenging times, there will always be “afterward.”
It’s easy, after almost a year of pandemic, to see the worst. The virus touched, affected, and stretched all. None would choose what has happened.
But can you see the good in it? You have to choose that perspective.
As Paul languished in prison, halted by the Roman justice system. His life’s plans ended. Yet, he took a new view. He saw the positive amid the prison.
“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.” (Philippians 1:12–14)
All experience life, but not all see it the same. Paul saw beyond shackles and had freedom. He saw the good that happened.
So, what do you see? What are your pandemic positives?
-Robert G. Taylor-
