What can we learn from COVID-19? ?

 I heard a friend give a profound insight on what God wants us to learn from Covid-19. She said she thinks our test in all of this is for God to see how we are doing on “lov[ing] our neighbor as ourselves”. That made me really think. It rang true to my heart. It hit me like a ton of bricks!

“Love one another, as I have loved you.” This is a lofty goal! It instantly resets perspective of the true reason we are here. To trying to learn to be more like & love more like Him.

If the pandemic melted away all the extras in our lives & left us with the basics, how did we do in the two fundamental commandments? Are we loving God with all our heart, might and strength? And is the litmus test of how we are doing loving God, how well we love our neighbor as ourselves?

Do we love each other— Democrat or Republican? Mask or no mask? Online school or in school? Sports or no sports? Rioter or policeman? No matter the color of our skin, no matter our religious beliefs or lack there of? It reminds me it may be the best test of how well we are becoming like He is.

Can we love each other in all our perfect diversity, difference of opinions, choices of how we live— and can we allow each other the same? We all love our free agency and our ability to choose what we think and do and value it so much...it’s everyone else’s agency we have a problem with!

I believe God is happy when we allow ourselves to be ourselves no matter what we believe and for His children to love each other. Anyway. This is my Hope for us all and my goal in this crazy 2020 in which we live.

It's Time :)

I began this Blog a yester-year ago, in 2013. It began with a thought, after Elder Bednar's talk about using social media for good, that I could do something. Something small, insignificant from the world's standards, but that would stand up for what IS Good in the world. And celebrate seeing good, being good, and doing good. Recognizing the good in the world; the good people; the good decisions, the good actions, the good deeds, the good hearts, the goodNESS of things and people around us.  Little did I know just how much more important that would be in the future, and NOW I feel I need to continue and do my tiny part in adding good to this world of change!  

2020 has been a whirlwind of unpredictable events and unprecedented times. Fires rage, floods roared and earthquakes, quite literally shook us all. TP became "the" commodity, food storage and emergency preparedness became a focus, and a new 6' imaginary wall around us all, went up, as high fives were replaced with high elbows, and warm embraces by air hugs.  Masks have helped life start to have a little semblance of what once was, as our "new normal" has emerged. Many mental health professionals are describing this Covid-19 pandemic, a "perfect storm" for anxiety, depression, and fear. As doctors and government leaders close the world economy down to save as many lives as possible, a new pandemic of fear, and instability, and anxiety caused by lost jobs, lost homes, and lost hopes of a "normal" school year, begins. The mental health professionals say the aftermath of the economic shutdown and health crisis, will rise the fear and panic of people, which will be felt for many, many more years.  On top of this, political attacks underscore how different people view things. Then riots and mobs desecrating cities, and pointless deaths of black lives and police brutality, enrage all humans.

It is easy to feel scared. Hopeless.  Insecure. And wonder what our future holds? Inside some may question if we should just hit "reset" and start again?  But through it all, there are GREAT things surfacing.  We all had to focus on being HOME, our family, our individual faith, and spend time on what we valued.  What if THIS is exactly what we, as a people, as the human race, and world, actually needed??  I found this amazingly poignant quote, refocus my thoughts about this year. And inspire me to USE 2020, to become better.    

May we focus our thoughts and hearts and hopes on what IS in our lives, instead of what is not. And use this opportunity to find what we all have more in common than we have in differences.  Let's all step up, stand up, rise up to be the best versions of ourselves we can be. And reach OUT to lift others to stand as well.  2020 is not a horrible year. It is OUR year. When people talk of seeing better and hindsight is 2020, let us show it by how we chose to live, now.  

And to the youth, never forget: if you can live through this uncertain time of change, you can get through ANYTHING.  There is nothing to fear.  You are strong. You are determined.  You are awesome.  Nothing can get you down.

We've got this! 2020 is the reset we need, to change. :)