Hi Friends!
Our Going Beyond team has been praying for each and every one of you! We hope that you’re safe and well in this “quarantine” season! In recent conversation, our team has been discussing what our days now entail, what we find ourselves doing that we were not previously doing, and what new discoveries the Lord has been revealing to us. This is what we shared!
Priscilla:
One of the things I’ve been doing during this time is experimenting with different eating habits and recipes. I’m doing BJ Thompson’s 45 Day Transformation Challenge which offers a “whole foods” eating plan or a vegetarian one. Having a “food road map” to follow has given me the courage to launch out and try different recipes that don’t require meat. So, while I’m still eating shellfish, I’m two weeks into a mostly vegetarian lifestyle. I’ve also cut out dairy, and it has been fun to try alternatives and discover how good they actually taste. I’m excited to see how my body will respond to this and how my overall health will be affected. The quarantine has given me the time and space to explore.
Also, the Lord has been teaching me about the value of a slow lifestyle pace. I’ve always longed for simplicity but your life can only be so simple when you have three sons with demanding educational and athletic schedules. It’s all so fun . . . but also very full. Now, being in a season where everything has been cancelled, my heart is reignited in this area. Instead of getting wound up about all the things we are “missing,” I see this as an opportunity to cultivate our relationships with each other, spend more time together just “being” and it also gives me time to stew on some ideas that can become tangible realities in another season.
Abisha:
We are a home of structure and schedules.
From basketball practices, to endless weekend tournaments, school drop-offs and pick-ups, homework, and bath times. All of it in this well-oiled machine that we call order. Order that I enjoy.
But in this season . . . this season of “stillness,” the Lord has kindly interrupted my thoughts in the midst of my need to bring order to our new norm, giving me permission to trust the day to day. Permission to relinquish control and enjoy the sticky hands and dirty faces, the endless drawings in the art box that is now overflowing, the later bedtimes, the impromptu walks around the block with three rambunctious kids and a dog, the late-night conversations over ice cream bars at 10PM with my husband. He’s reminded me to not get lost in the order, in the schedule of things . . . that order can also look like a home with a husband and children that are simply happy and healthy in this uncertain season that we are in. I’ve been grateful for those sweet reminders.
Shannon:
I’ve been using my time to relax and work on projects that have been on hold for far too long. I started cutting words from magazines about two years ago in hopes of creating a vision board, and let’s just say, those pieces sat in a Ziplock bag until recently. I’ve also been improving my French skills with an app called Duolingo because conversing with my French-speaking boyfriend in his native language is proof enough that my skills need work.
Then there’s my newfound love of nature walks! My appreciation for this Spring season is now as vibrant as the pictures I’ve been able to capture. There is beauty in the way sunshine filters through trees, enchantment in the pollination of flowers, and brilliance in the abstract designs of tree bark. Flowers have always been and will always be just lovely.
Spring is such a gift! I’m so grateful to witness His beauty and creativity in nature, especially when new life grows right before my eyes.
Friends, we would love for you to join in this conversation with us!
What has the Lord been revealing to you during this time? What have you been discovering about yourself?
– The Going Beyond Team
