Go Home!

Do not pass go, do not collect $200- go directly to jail!...well, that it was it felt like at the beginning of this month when it was confirmed that my daughter Addi had tested positive for Covid19.  She caught the virus through the daycare that she was working at.  It was time to leave the roof immediately I was working on, make an appointment and go get a covid screening test.  Thankfully Jordan was able to complete the job.  However, it really is quite another life lesson to take it up a notch from lockdown to locked in… lol  Rylan was locked in what I like to call, “the barn cave” as our pool house has been transformed into a really nice living space.  He learned all the ins and outs of ubereats and doordash because he had to isolate from us as well.  Thankfully Rylan, Sharon and I all tested negative for the virus and that was after two tests, the initial one and then another at day 10.  I have to admit it was hardest on Addi no doubt as she was basically locked down in her own room during that time period.  She struggled with her appetite and sense of smell along with a lot of body aches and pains; however we have all come through it, but there were lessons for sure to discover in the midst of all of it for me.

For starters my backyard became my playground and I did creative runs back there doing multiple kms… and then when the weather was incredibly nice, I opened up the pool.  I know, crazy, right, but there I was on March 20^th making it happen two months earlier than normal.

More importantly, this time was learning about salvation.  For me, it is discovering what Jesus has always longed for me to be set free from.  The biblical definition of salvation is to be saved by God from the consequences of our sin and it is brought about by faith in Jesus and what He did for us on the cross.  It is the very reason we celebrate Easter or Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday!

"He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed."  1 Peter 2:24

During my time in isolation, I took another step in discovering what it meant for salvation.  I am learning to be delivered from myself.  It is a lesson I have learned and I continue to learn.  I am learning in my union with Jesus to embrace Him more, to become so thrilled with all that He is to me.  It was also a time to of learning to be delivered from work in that my work and completing another roofing job can so easily define me.  Sharon also challenged me to take my Garmin watch off and be free from the buzz notifications on my wrist.  All this to say that returning to that kind of simplicity to be still was actually quite hard for me, in fact it was difficult.  I think it is so easy to be defined by all that we do instead of simply knowing that we are loved by the Father’s embrace.

1 John 4:15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

It takes an incredible amount of effort to live this way and not just be easily swept away by everything else around you.  I’m learning that being here is the place where it needs to start, the place where I need to discover my purpose, my meaning and my direction for each and every day that he gives me.

When I think of my salvation experience, I think of being delivered from sin and gaining personal holiness.  But salvation is so much more!  It means that the Spirit of God has brought me into intimate contact with the true Person of God Himself.  And as I am caught up into total surrender to God, I become thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself.

Oswald Chambers

I have also been forced during this time to really look deeper at my emotions and feelings thanks to the Junto Institute…see the image of the feelings wheel.  I’m learning to uncover why I can get triggered, what are the root issues and letting the Holy Spirit work specifically where there is resentment, agitation, frustration etc… 

It is remembering that salvation is not only being saved from something it is also being saved to someone.  The Father is continually leading me closer to Him, to His heart, to His will and there it is in the Garden where Jesus prayed through all His pain, saying,

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."  Luke 22:42

As we come to this weekend, may we learn that His will, although not easy, and often difficult, is the place where we will come to know His presence like no other.