I am living in a virtual world and I am a virtual girl.
If that last sentence put your mind into the lyrics of a famous 1980’s Madonna song, then you are in just the right head space to join me in following God along in today’s revelation. Yes, today! Finally I return to this blog and tell you how I’ve lost all sense of time in this pandemic age. It’s going to take a little longer for me to set the back drop, get to the drama and then tell you where I’m at so I appreciate it if you make it through the next thousand words.
The material girl wouldn’t survive in my virtual world. There is no excess, shopping experiences are limited, few movie sets exist, less glamourous events are available to display your diamonds to millions in person and spas still don’t have full services available. Instead of doing all that, if you are like me, you’ve spent a majority of 2020 and 2021 in the comfort of a small physical space and a deep mental zone.
Like me, you may have journeyed far into your inner self and pondered who you are, who are you relying on for provision and what stuff you really should be carrying on your person and storing in your space physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
The Bible says “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’.” (Hebrews 13:5)
In this past two years, some pastors would say something like this; although God wouldn’t want to plague the world, He would use this time of isolation and 6-feet distance from all that mattered to us in life to create room for Him to reawaken us as we depend on Him, should we choose dare to believe He could get us through this. One of the greatest pastors I ever had has been spending 15 minutes online each morning with his flock since the day I was searching for toilet paper, Good Friday 2020 precisely. The wisest counsel I received from this virtual sunrise communal prayer space was “make your now place your best place.”
Lord knows my mind would love to return to the 1980s when I was a carefree youth under the provision and protection of two amazing parents. There was no room for worries in my mind full of dreams then. So many times I’d return there as I slept and wander the familiar streets of my hometown, the greatest city on earth – NYC. On the other hand, if I dared to turn on the news, my mind would be forced into fear of the future and all its unknowns. Less not forget the crazy rabbit trails I’d end up on searching medical advice online (and that’s not even the just the pandemic symptoms, I had other issues arise in 2020).
I decided I couldn’t be past or future; I had to settle in to my now place. It was easy as an introvert to seize the opportunities of this digital world; remote work, gym classes, online therapy sessions, grocery orders with delivery, museum visits, YouTube concerts, professional development and much more without ever leaving my living room. I’m even more amazed how I’ve grown spiritually as I took on more and more opportunities to serve with a virtual ministry where I continue to make more new friends faster than I’d ever meet people in person. I also love the friendship groups and church small groups who met on Zoom with me and developed a closeness that would have taken years to develop. Telework, for sure, is the best 9 to 5 ever and has allowed me the breathing room to take care of my own health while being way more productive without office environment distractions.
Most of all, I learned God is my provider and He gives in abundance. I’ve reflected on His goodness in my life so many times. Oh the things I overcame and the places I will go with Jesus by my side! This shift into a pandemic world would just be another challenge I’d endure because of the trust I have in my God. I can have hope and confidence in Jesus.
Scripture says “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in ALL things at ALL times, having ALL that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8)
Some days in the last two years weren’t always bright and it would take faith without seeing to get through. In the middle of the timeframe from my last blog to this one, my world was completely shaken when my at home family dynamic completely dismantled. The way I was living my daily life and who I was living with would be ripped from me in the middle of the night like the thief who comes to steal and destroy. As if that wasn’t traumatic enough, all of this happened two months after a best friend unexpectedly died in her sleep. Grief struck again but I was equipped by faith to press through it's season (and I had a great support dog at my side).
Everything that was happening all at once would have been the perfect storm. But I took the focus to my Perfecter’s opportunity to intervene.
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith …” (Hebrews 12:2)
This is my Jesus. I choose “yes” to His invitation to hold His hand as He gets me through dark valleys, gives me green pastures to rest and creates paths through raging storm waters.
With Him, I spent half of 2021 purging physical possessions. While transitioning from one residence to the next, I looked forward to weekend outings to purge stuff at donation centers or meet buyers. It took six months to inventory all of my possessions and evaluate their value in my life. The toughest decisions were made on the stuff that contained emotional value. My new place couldn’t contain the old things physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually (I literally have zero storage closets). With God, I created a now place in a small apartment that has all many minute details that point to the memories of my favorite places. This made it easier to settle in to my current location in mind, body and spirit.
As I parted with the past I had to come to Jesus with every role I played in my more than four decades of life. And like in the end of Madonna’s video for “Material Girl,” I got in the shanty vehicle of life driven by a humble man who would take me away from the Hollywood set I casted myself in to and forge me into a land of simplicity with him. For me, that driver has to be Jesus and GPS is the Holy Spirit. It is the only way I’ll find serenity in this mad world.
I can’t wait to see where Jesus takes me next and I’ll get better at sharing it more frequently with fewer words.
