Being Prepared For These Times

Auuuu that title sounds like I'm trying to write a General Conference talk or something hahaha. Probably still on the GC vibe from the beginning of the month lol.

Anyways...
So this pandemic that's going on, it's been something else! It has put the whole world on lock down. So many lives have been affected.

I've written quite a bit in my journal, but I wanted to make sure to write about how the Lord has prepared our family specifically for this time. Looking back just in February and March, we can easily see how the Lord had orchestrated parts of our lives. 

In February Aljay secured an art collector who commissioned several art pieces. His deposit was the cushion that brought a sense of financial security when we entered this lock-down life. 

Towards the end of February, my bosses had heard about school closures in Seattle and decided that we should have a plan in place for our advisers to work remotely in case the schools had to close. We honestly didn't expect to implement the plan until maybe April or May. We were two weeks ahead of the school closures in Utah. We were ready when the school closures were enforced. 

March 16 - First Day of School Closures

It was when the schools closed that things got a little hectic here in Utah. People were buying out toilet paper and water. Everyone was trying to stock up their homes. You could feel anxiety in the air as families made adjustments to schooling and working from home. 

At work - I was stressed because I have 6 advisers that I oversee and I worried for them. Even though we had a plan in place, we did have very long days of working with all our partners and the advisers to implement the plan. 

For Church -  I worried so much over the sisters in our ward and their families. The elderly sisters and the ones who recently had babies were especially weighing heavy on my mind. We utilized the ministering system to reach out to all our sisters and the ward council made sure to check on specific individuals. My phone was blowing up with text messages and phone calls for two days straight; probably the most activity my phone has ever seen lol. 

At home - We felt secure and prepared both spiritually and temporally. Tuesday night, I went to sleep feeling a little more at ease knowing everyone had been contacted and accounted for. 

March 18 - Earthquake

I woke up from this because I felt the bed moving. At first I thought it was Aljay, but when I looked over, he wasn't moving. By the time I registered in my mind that it was an earthquake, it was over. I immediately reached for my phone and googled to see where the earthquake was! I also jumped on our work channels to see who else felt it and if everyone was okay. I then got out of bed and got ready for work. 

That earthquake shook me (no pun intended lol). I felt like I had just come off of an adrenaline rush from Monday and Tuesday, and now I was back on alert mode. People in Salt Lake County were still feeling aftershocks, so around noon my boss just told everyone to take the rest of the day to do whatever they needed to do. I was so relieved when she sent that out to us. 

I immediately switched gears to focus on church folks and reached out to everyone to check on their ministering sisters and make sure they have 72 hour kits ready. This is the area that I knew we were not prepared. I knew this was going to be family project for the next few weeks.

It didn't help that during all of this there were so many false messages that were creating more panic and anxiety for people. People were saying that scientist were predicting a larger scale earthquake and that people should have emergency kits ready in their cars. You had to search credible websites for accurate information. I was on my laptop still doing church and work stuff, while listening to Utah news radio stations to make sure I was on top of the latest updates. 

It was a lot. I was trying my best to be aware of my fear or any onset of fear and to replace it with faith. It just kept feeling like fear darts were being thrown my way left and right. 

Man, I was so exhausted at the end of this day, I broke down and cried in Aljay's arms.  I felt better after a good cry and a fervent prayer.

Aljay and I laid in bed talking about how crazy this whole thing has been. But more importantly, we expressed our gratitude for everything the Lord has done to prepare us for this, because He most certainly placed the things we needed most in our paths. There is no doubt that there is a God and that He loves us. He is aware of and works within the details of our lives.  He has already prepared the way if we will but listen and hear Him.

You know what's crazy....a little while back as I was preparing to go back to work after having Salani, had prayed to Heavenly Father asking Him to help me with my calling and to give me more time with the kids. I was really missing them even before I went back to work. And now I'm working from home with my #quaranteam and having so much extra time with them. It truly is a blessing. It's stressful and exhausting, but I'll never get this time back...so I'm grateful! Not to make light of the situation or take away from the pain and suffering of so many, but just recognizing the silver lining in all things. So thank you Heavenly Father for calling us all back to remembrance and giving us yet another chance to better ourselves.

Good Friday
It's Good Friday as I'm finishing up this post. I'm quite emotional right now just thinking about Christ and the true purpose of our Easter celebration.

I'll just end with this posting from a Come Follow Me Daily social media account that I just love so much. This author/curator has gift and almost always summarizes my feelings so beautifully...

Come Follow Me Daily

What is so good about Good Friday?

Nothing about the situation...

But everything about Jesus in that situation.

When the world was at its worst, Christ was at his best.

He created good from evil.

He created Hope from despair.

He created life from death.

He still does.

“Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. [...]

But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come. [...] In this life or the next, Sunday will come.” (Joseph Wirthlin)

.

The world is in a state of “Friday” right now.

But it too is good. Not because the situation is good, but because Christ is good in the situation.

He overcame death. And He will help us overcome this. And everything else we face.

Sunday will come.

Come Follow Me Daily

Our prophet has asked us to fast, and he has said, “I know that God will respond to the pleadings of His people.”

Elder Holland said in the same vein,

.

“He who created this marvelous world in which we live can say to any of the elements in it: ‘This far and no farther.’

“That is what He will say to this blight we are facing.

“In the presence of His majesty, even subatomic-sized creations must bend—if only figuratively—and each in its own way ‘confess’ that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the great Redeemer of all.”

.

I don’t know the exact outcome of the fast. I don’t know how far is “this far and no farther.”

But I know God will respond.

And I know our God is a God of miracles.

And I am excited to kneel with the whole body of Saints and fast unitedly,

then stand back and watch the unfolding of God’s plan as He delivers.

Our Lord loosed the bands of death.

That is what we celebrate this weekend: Christ doing the impossible.

He did it then, He does it now.

Sources: “Opening the Heavens for Help” by President Nelson and “Shelter in Place spiritually and physically” by Elder Holland.

Art by Jenedy Paige