More Than Germs Can Be Hidden

Photo Credit:  hurley_gurlie182 from morgueFile.com

Well, hello there, Sunshines!  Yes, it’s been awhile.  I wrote my last Sips of Sunshine in November of 2018 to be exact.  My 13-year-old daughter said, “Uh, Mom, maybe you should write a Sips now.  With the quarantine, you have tons of time, ya know?”

So…here I am!  It’s Blurryday, the 50^th of Mapril, I believe.  Is it still 2020?  Because THIS 2020 is definitely not the 20/20 where I can see clearly!  Seriously.  Wow.

How is everyone doing out there?  Hello?  Hello?  Anyone there?  This is certainly new territory for all of us.  We haven’t been here before.  Boy, this terrain is rough!  The waters here are uncharted.  These paths are unbelievably bumpy, with so many unexpected twists and turns.  Welcome to the Corona Region.  We’re the first explorers to set foot here.  Yikes!  Can we go back…to ANYWHERE but here?!

Coronavirus, COVID-19, The Rona, CV, C-19, Corona…whatever we want to call it…it’s affecting everyone in some way.  For the first time in my life, I’ve seen a type of storm that every single person is having to weather.  Different places all over our world deal with hurricanes, tornadoes, drought, earthquakes, tsunamis, blizzards, floods, cyclones, and wildfires.  But THIS!  This Corona Storm has impacted us all.  No one is exempt.  No one.

What I have seen is a whole bunch of humans just trying to do their best.  I do know that.  There is not one right way or wrong way to do “The Corona Dance.”  We just dance the only way we know how.  We actually just make up the dance moves as we go along.  It’s freestyle.  We weren’t taught the moves beforehand.  Nope.  Not at all.

So, how exactly are some of us trying to dance “The Corona Dance?”

Some send funny Corona jokes and memes to cope with the stress.  Others watch the news non-stop.  Some gals put on make-up to feel halfway normal.  Others don’t even know where their make-up is.  Some ladies are still tweezing those random hairs on their face.  Others now have eyebrows that connect into a unibrow.  Some men shave like they always do.  Other men will be able to donate their beard to make a wig after this is over.

Some people shower each day and change their clothes.  Others stay in their pajamas for days at a time.  Some can’t stay at home with their families because they’re working the front lines to protect our families.  Others don’t have a job to go to anymore.  Some have toilet paper to last until the year 2030.  Others literally have one roll left in the cabinet for their family of four.  Some are learning to cook.  Others don’t have food to cook.  Some sleep all the time.  Others can’t seem to sleep at all.  Some have sanitized everything and everyone in their home.  Others can’t find any sanitizer on the supermarket shelves.

Some are quarantined with their family.  Others are in lock-down-mode all alone.  Some aren’t able to hold their new grandbaby.  Others aren’t able to hold the hand of a dying loved one.  Some are learning how to teach their kids at home.  Others aren’t able to stay at home to teach them.  Some long to be back in church to pray.  Others have said a prayer for the first time in awhile.  Some get a tingle in their throat and are frozen with fear that it’s Corona.  Others work in healthcare and are exposed everyday to Corona and every other hidden germ.

I could go on and on, but through this time of fear, loss, and the unknown; it appears that more than Corona germs can be hidden in all of this.  It seems to me that blessings are hidden alongside the germs.  Some of the blessings are easy to spot and others require a deeper look.  Let me just list a handful of the blessings:

• Store employees are working endless hours to keep shelves stocked for us and they’re allowing the elderly to shop first.
• Teachers and administrators are thinking outside the box to ensure their precious students have lessons and lunches.
• Priests and spiritual leaders are making sure our souls are still fed with live church services and Masses on Facebook and church websites.
• Health professionals are tirelessly caring for their patients, while putting their own lives at risk.
• Families are spending more time together and praying more, I believe.
• More conversations are taking place while sitting around a family dinner table.
• We’re realizing what we need and what we can do without.
• We’re slowing down, living a bit more simply, and leaning on God a little more.
• We’re making use of our God-given talents because we have the gift of time.  We’re sewing, making music, painting walls, doing woodwork, baking, and landscaping.
• We’re realizing the value of the wonderful people in our lives that we miss terribly and can’t wait to see and hug again!

Maybe the hidden blessing is that we’re finding new ways to show love, while being our perfectly imperfect selves.  We’re making what used to seem impossible…possible.  We’re trying to do small things with great love, but we’re just having to do them a bit differently than we’re used to.

An interesting thought comes to my mind.  Corona is the Latin word for crown. Hmmmm.  I read how the scientists named this virus for the way it resembles a crown under a microscope.  But, a crown also symbolizes victory, triumph, glory, and Resurrection.  Yes, Easter is coming up…The Resurrection of Jesus Christ!  I have a good feeling that Jesus has some beautiful plans that will come out of this Corona chapter of our lives.  I don’t know exactly what those plans are, but let’s keep looking for the hidden blessings…right alongside those hidden germs. 

More than germs can be hidden.

Hang in there, Sunshines!  I’ll pray for you.  Please pray for me.  Bye for now.