Great Thinkers – Andrea Arthur Owan

Pentecost: Celebrating the Church’s Birthday

On May 23, we’ll celebrate Pentecost—Christianity’s one thousand, nine hundred and eighty-eighth birthday. One thousand nine hundred and eighty-eight years ago God ushered the church age into history.

But what’s so special about this birthday? Why do we celebrate it year, after year, after year? Why is any birthday special enough to deserve yearly recognition?

And what do you need to have a good birthday party?

Before we look closely at Pentecost specifically, let’s examine some birthday characteristics—

If you’re older you probably reminisce about past birthdays, or those of your children or grandchildren. You’ll remember what life was like back then, what you got, what was special in your life. You might even get one of those nifty cards that remind you that a loaf of bread cost a nickel, or a candy bar was a dime. And that triggers you to reminisce about the good old days.

When you were younger—a lot younger—you probably counted the days leading up to the birthday, especially the big ones – like ten – when you finally made double digits, and thirteen – when you could finally call yourself a teenager; and then eighteen (when you thought you owned the world), and twenty-one (when you knew you did!). And then came 30 years, 50 years, 75…

And you may mentally gaze into the future to contemplate what awaits you next year, or make a list of “to do’s” to accomplish.

Birthday party basics—

You need to have a guest of honor

You need to set the place and time of the party – so everyone knows when and where to show up

You need an invitation list

Then you need to compile a guest list (noting the invitees that promised to join you to celebrate.)

The Pentecost party—

As I take you through Pentecost, you’ll see that the birthday celebration characteristics are present—reminiscing about the past, counting down the days, thinking about the future.

And we’ll recognize that we have all of the necessities for a really good party:

a pre-arranged place and time, (Jerusalem during a festival)
an invitation list, (the disciples and followers)
a guest list, (disciples, followers, and soon-to-be new believers)
and, most importantly, a guest of honor, (the Holy Spirit)

A little Pentecost history—

While the church celebrates Pentecost, Pentecost is not originally a church celebration. It was a Jewish celebration that had been going on since God dictated the Book of Deuteronomy to Moses. It’s a feast day, an end to the fifty days after Passover; where first fruits and thanksgiving are presented before God.

So, I want to take you back 1,988 years, when God had a big party and initiated the church age. I want you to view this event – this special birthday – through Jewish eyes.

The Christian Pentecost story—

Imagine you’re a Jew, a follower of Christ, sitting in that Upper Room with about 120 other Jewish disciples on that special feast day. You’re praying and singing psalms and excitedly anticipating what will happen. What Jesus promised would happen.

Ten days ago, just before you watched Him ascend into heaven, Jesus commanded you to go to Jerusalem and wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit – the Divine Presence of God. Jesus said you’d receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon you, and that you’d be a witness to Him in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth. But how can that be? Then your mind retraces the last fifty days.

So much has happened.

First, Jesus celebrated the Passover with the small group of twelve disciples and then hours later you watched as the crowd called for Jesus to be crucified. When Pilate gave the order, you and Jesus’s closest disciples – besides John and some of the women – ran in terror to hide, fearing you’d be arrested too. You hid for two days, scared and confused. Your hearts were broken. You had all been so sure Jesus was the prophesied Messiah who would deliver you from the oppressive Roman yoke.

Then the Sunday morning after the crucifixion, stunning news came that Jesus had risen from the dead and appeared first to the women and then to some of the other disciples. Breathlessly, they told you about it. And you and the others reasoned together about the Resurrection.

It all started to make sense.

Now, fifty days later, you’re in Jerusalem where a multitude of Jewish pilgrims from a multitude of countries has gathered to celebrate.

Passover was one of the three great festivals God commanded the Jews to celebrate. Every year since you were little, your family made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to sacrifice the Passover lamb. Three days later, you were to go to the temple for the Festival of First Fruits – the festival that celebrated the bountiful harvest God had provided.

And to prepare for that festival, every spring you and your family carefully scoured the wheat fields looking for the first swollen grains of the season. Then you’d eagerly mark these stalks with a ribbon, these first fruits of the harvest that were to be given to God. On the third morning after Passover, the priests would wave one of your dedicated sheaves before the Lord in the temple. Then, you were to count forty-nine more days, and return to Jerusalem to bring the first fruits of the barley harvest to the temple on Shavuot, translated Pentecost in Greek.

It was always a time of great celebrating. Your mother decorated the house with greenery to remind you of Mt. Sinai and made special dairy meals – to remind you that Israel is the land of milk and honey. The rabbis compared it to a wedding between God and His people. And it was the day King David was born, and died. You knew it was the ultimate expression of the unique joy of the land. And your parents always had you repeat the Deuteronomy verse you memorized: “And you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given you.”

But this year, Jesus’s death threw you, your friends, and most of Jerusalem into an uproar. The Sanhedrin hadn’t wanted Jesus to die during the festival, but it happened anyway. Then the eleven remaining disciples told you and the others about the new covenant Jesus had initiated at the last Passover he ate with them. That shocked and confused everyone. His body and his blood given for them? That was a marriage covenant he had recited! Then Jesus was raised from the dead on the first day of First Fruits!

Following that stunning event, Jesus met with you and His other followers for forty days, to teach, to lead, to forgive. Then ten days ago he returned to heaven. You stood and watched Him bless you and the others while He was being taken up into the clouds. He promised again that he would not leave you alone; he promised that his power would come to you. He was adamant that you were to go to Jerusalem—and wait.

Now you’re doing just that, sitting in the Upper Room house. Waiting.

You know the celebration is starting. Just this morning you heard the temple official call out, “Arise! Let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God!”

It’s officially the day that the season of Passover ends. And you’re sure it will happen on this day – this final day of celebration of First Fruits; where the barley harvest will be baked into two loaves and offered before the Lord at the temple. You now know Jesus is The First Fruit of the harvest. And to send the Holy Spirit on this day – the day Israel recognizes as the day the law was given on Mt. Sinai – would also be a fulfillment of prophecy. After all, Jesus had said that He came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it!

Then you hear it! An enormous, deafening sound like a violent rush of wind. The air itself isn’t stirred; just a powerful sound fills the house. Then divided tongues, looking like fire, appear in the room; one resting on each person’s head. And King David’s psalm floods your mind, “The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness.” And someone else excitedly reminds everyone about the smoke and fire that appeared on Mt. Sinai the day God gave Moses the law!

This has to be it! The Divine Presence of God—the Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised.

Suddenly you and the others speak in different languages. You’ve never studied another dialect, but immediately you’re given the ability to do so. What God started at the Tower of Babel, he has reversed on this day!

All of you run to the temple. It is crowded with Jewish pilgrims from as far away as Iran, Iraq, Rome, Turkey, Libya, Crete, Arabia, and Egypt. They are there to offer their first fruits barley harvest.

And it’s clear that they, too, heard the sound because they have gathered together, bewildered and astounded because you and the others are speaking to them as quickly and excitedly as you can about Jesus, and how his death and resurrection fulfill prophecy and give eternal life. Your heart burns within you as you share this good news.

The crowd listening to you is amazed and perplexed because they understand your words. Some of them get excited and ask you what it all means. They’re eager to know more. Yet others sneer and accuse you of having made some strong wine from your new crops and partaken of it this morning. Gotten drunk from the fruits of your field.

So Peter stands with the other eleven before the crowd and tells them that you aren’t drunk; it’s too early for the celebratory drinking to start. Then he reminds everyone of Joe’s prophecy, where God says that in the last days He will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh, and everyone shall prophecy; that people will see visions, and even the old will have dreams. Everyone, slave and free alike, will receive this power from God.

Then Peter reminds us that Joel also prophesied about the future – where God will cause signs in heaven and on earth. Signs like flood, and fire, and smoky mist; like the sun turning to darkness and the moon to blood, before the Lord’s final return on His judgment day.

Three thousand people believe the message they hear and receive the Holy Spirit. And they hurry back to return to their homes to share the good news of salvation and life through Jesus the Jewish Messiah. No longer will they have to live under the weight of the law. Now they’ll live under grace, just like you.

You know instinctively that it’s the start of a mission that will take all of you to the ends of the earth. The greatest mission the world has ever known.

The Holy Spirit has enabled you for Christ’s service – to share this good news with others, so that they might also know about Jesus and receive His joy of eternal life. It’s the most important thing Jesus calls you to do. And you must be obedient to him. You won’t be afraid because now He’ll be with you wherever you go.

Months later Dr. Luke interviews all of you, so he can make an accurate account of the church’s birth, for future generations to read, remember, and celebrate.

Keeping the party going—

And now, let’s come back to the present—to our celebration this year: 2021.

There’s still inviting and joining and celebrating and praising going on.

Every day people find or hear about the Messiah, and they want to share that joy and hope and promise with the world.

I pray you’ve been invited and said yes to Jesus’s invitation to join Him, received his gift—the power of his Holy Spirit—become one of His disciples, and have your name written on the official guest list.

In order for the party or banquet to happen, invitations are required and a guest list needs to be generated. Like Philip, people need to turn to their friends or acquaintances and say, “Come and see.”

May I ask how many invitations you’ve passed out lately? When was the last time you gave an invitation to someone else to join this party—Jesus’ party?

When have you shown someone the gift of the Guest of Honor?

Maybe the person at work who irks you. Have you invited him to meet the Savior? The complaining, irritating old lady next door? The single mother who’s struggling with everything in life and void of resources, or hope? The indolent teenager whose father is AWOL?

Is your heart broken enough over their lost condition to invite them?

Remember who Jesus invited to the party: the sinners – the poor, the downtrodden, the liars, the thieves, the prostitutes, the adulterers, the prisoners, the blind, the lame, and the lepers; the outcasts and the misfits. He’s still inviting them to come, to be set free. He invites them to come and live a full, joyful life in and through Him.

Or maybe you know someone who’s so nice and kind they don’t seem to need a savior. (That’s a fallacy, by the way.) They do. No one is ever nice enough or kind enough or good enough. No one matches Christ. Only He—and faith in Him and the grace He offers—saves. You’re not getting into the eternal party without Him knowing you and calling you His friend.

After all, He doesn’t invite strangers to that final heavenly banquet.

So be careful about thinking that you can always just show people your good works without saying anything to them about Jesus.

The fallacy of just trying to show someone your faith rather than speaking it and giving out an invitation—

I’d like to illustrate my statement with this true story: Years ago in Seattle a man named Sam was saved and became a Christ-follower as a result of a Billy Graham event. Sam was so excited about what God did in his life, he told his boss about his relationship with Christ.

The boss said, “That’s great! I’m a Christian too, and I’ve been praying for you for years.”

But Sam was disappointed, and his countenance fell. He said, “Why didn’t you ever tell me? You were the very reason why I haven’t been interested in the Gospel all of these years!”

The boss responded, “How could that be? I’ve done my best, by God’s grace, to live a Christ-like life around you all this time.”

Sam said, “That’s the point. You lived such a model life without telling me that it was Christ who made the difference, so I convinced myself that if you could live such a good and happy life without Christ, then I could too” (Don Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines, 111).

Thank goodness this story has a happy ending, but how sad this person didn’t get the invitation sooner.

His boss was negligent.

God seems to enjoy seeing His people party—

God instituted a lot of feasts. He seems to be in the celebration business. He still has a wedding feast awaiting us in heaven. He’s got more invitations to pass out, more names to gather on the guest list.

But whom does He send to deliver the invitation?

Us.

You.

His friends.

Professional marketers know from research that it takes about seven to nine letters of invitation before someone responds.

How many times have you invited? Do you give up after a single attempt?

C.S. Lewis called God “the hound of heaven” because God never gives up. How often have you asked?

Have you prayed that God would go before you to prepare the heart of the person you want to invite? Have you prayed for Jesus to give you just the right words to speak to them, and for their ears and hearts to be open to the reception of the message? Do you pray—often—for God to provide opportunities for you to share the Gospel?

Do you invest in their life, listen well and hear their hearts? When you do, they’re more likely to respond to the invitation. You can prepare the ground and then plant and water.

Who’s on your invitation list?

Keep inviting. Keep sharing your story and the reason for your joy. Scour the fields; plant seeds. Prepare for God’s harvest.

Your family, your neighborhood, city, state, nation and world are your mission field. Go out and invite, taking the heart of God with you. As my former pastor said after one of his Sunday sermons: “Go fishing!”

When you’re having a party, you want people to come and share in the celebration with you.

When you’ve received a great gift, you want to talk about and share it. I’m sure there are special gifts you still remember and reminisce to others about.

Are Jesus and the Holy Spirit on that special gift list?

All of you have a special story to tell. Jesus has given you the power to tell it. But are you willing?

As John Wesley said, “I look on all the world as my parish, … I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it … my bounden duty, to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.”

I ask you: how special is Jesus to you? Do you find him worth sharing? Do you consider it your duty to share those glad tidings of salvation with others?

As Paul later wrote to the Roman church, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace. Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

We’re recognizing Pentecost May 23. Will you be celebrating the birthday of the church? Will you be giving thanks for Jesus, grace, and His Holy Spirit that gives you the power to live and to hope?

Will you be handing out invitations to others to “Come and see”?

Do you have your guest list ready?

For the believer, it should be the greatest celebration birthday of the year.

Invite some friends, and have a great celebration!

Blessings,

Andrea

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

 
Andrea Arthur Owan, M.S., A.T., R., is a health and fitness pro, speaker, award-winning inspirational writer, memoirist, and senior-ordained chaplain (IFOC). She helps people thrive physically, emotionally and spiritually and recover from grief, loss and trauma.

Toxic Positivity and Grief

Have you ever revealed your deepest grief pain to someone only to have her give you an immediate comeback of super-positive or upbeat thinking they believe you should focus on? Something to get you over your slump?

What they may be guilty of is toxic positivity.

While there is no question that being positive and grateful is good for the brain and good for you physically and emotionally, it sometimes does more harm than good when you’re mired deeply in grief, and you’re nursing a raw heart.

Thinking back—

Do you remember a time when someone responded in a nauseatingly positive way when all you wanted to do was share your heart’s pain and have a listening heart hear it?

How did it make you feel?

I remember a lot of overly upbeat sentiments after my daughter’s death. And I remember the effect they had.

Shame.
Embarrassment.
A sense of lacking, or being inadequate.
Betrayed.
Devastated.
Misunderstood.
Anger.

The emotions list could go on and on.

Instead of encouraging me, most of the responses made me retreat into myself and believe that people couldn’t relate to my pain, didn’t want to relate to it, and were eager to have me get back to life and living.

My pain made them uncomfortable.

So I really shouldn’t share it.

Biggest culprits—

Unfortunately, and embarrassingly, Christians are often the biggest culprits of toxic positivity. They’re too quick to recite Bible passages meant to encourage the griever. To put their grief in God’s perspective. (As if the griever were ignorant about all those passages.)

While their hearts might be in the right place, often their mouths aren’t. They aren’t listening with their hearts.

And now the hard question: Are you guilty of doing that to someone?

Yes, there are many, many Bible passages exhorting us to lift one another up, but there is also that big one that tells us that we need to “weep with those who are weeping.”

In order to weep with someone, we need to listen deeply, and weep. And hold. And then, when the griever’s heart is receptive, encourage with more upbeat passages and thinking.

We need to be available to walk alongside them in their grief and trauma, not rush ahead, drag them forward, or get behind them and push.

But I don’t want us to get way ahead of ourselves here. I want to take time to explore this, so we can really learn and heighten our sensitivities and hone our responses to broken, hurting hearts.

What’s ahead—

I’m going to take the entire month of February to cover this new, hot topic, which you may have heard about. This month we’ll:

Define toxic positivity.
Give you examples of it.
Give you ways to deal with and respond to it (if the damaged griever).
Help you develop good handholding and empathy skills.
Discuss the benefits of helpful positivity and how to incorporate that into your life—at the right time.

Toxic positivity definition—

But for today, let’s just start with the current definition of toxic positivity.

While there is no psychological category for it, nor is there a formal diagnosis, the group at What’s Your Grief? provide this definition:

“Toxic positivity is promoting the ideal or goal that, no matter the circumstances, one should always and only maintain a positive, happy or optimistic mindset.”

In other words, “Happy, happy, happy!’ at all times, and in all things.

Is there anything wrong with this?

Well, no, and yes.

And that’s what we’re going to be exploring this month. In small, helpful, bite-size increments. Helpful for the griever, and the one the griever seeks support and empathy from.

Hope you can join me!

Invitation—

For this week, meditate on the toxic positivity definition. See where your thoughts take you on this. Maybe jot down some times you’ve experienced toxic positivity from a well—meaning friend, or when you think you’ve been guilty of it.

On a side note: After a bout with COVID right at the beginning of the New Year, it’s good to be teaching and mentoring again!

And for those of you who are caregivers, check out Guideposts’ bi-monthly devotional Strength and Grace for daily, uplifting devotions to help caregivers as they minister to and care for aging parents, patients, and family members struggling with mental illness, like dementia and Alzheimer’s. It’s a joy to be a member of the writing team contributing to this magazine. For more information, go to Guideposts.org.

Blessings,

Andrea

“I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2).

Andrea Arthur Owan, M.S., A.T., R., is a fitness pro, speaker, award-winning inspirational writer, memoirist, and senior-ordained chaplain (IFOC). She helps people thrive physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and recover from grief, loss and trauma.

Coronavirus: Fear, Quarantine, Freedom and Peace

Is Coronavirus fear driving you to rebellion and protest or forcing you to hide—fearful and anxiety-ridden—indoors?

Fear drives us to do some pretty irrational things—like reacting rather than thinking and acting prayerfully, intelligently, and purposefully; throwing all caution to the wind and taking unnecessary chances; or—in this case—driving us to turn our homes into quarantine cells.

Where are you right now?

Reacting, thinking and planning?

Hiding, or rebelling?

Paralyzed by fear or crying for freedom?

And why?

Stopping and thinking COVID-19 fear through—

Now, maybe more than ever in some of our lives, it’s critical for us to make the right decisions. The stakes are high.

Unfortunately, with all the conflicting data we’re bombarded with (if you’re paying attention to the bombardment; which, by the way, only heightens the fear), it’s difficult to know who to listen to. What to believe.

While God tells us it’s important to have a multitude of counselors, varying and conflicting opinions abound. We’re not sure who those wise counselors are that we should heed right now.

Our orderly worlds have been destabilized, and we’re searching for ways to right them again.

But there are stakes involved. For everyone.

What are the stakes for you?

Individual and Collective Considerations—

Each of us needs to look at our individual situation. How can we best get through this time emotionally, physically, spiritually and financially?

To figure that out, here are some of the serious questions we might ask ourselves:

Am I out of work and needing to support our family?

Do extended family members need physical or emotional help?

Do I and my family need help?

If my income is stable and I’m able to work from home, is it worth forcing a return to normal—maybe too quickly—and risking exposing high-risk friends, family or feeble elderly to my (possibly) asymptomatic condition? Risk getting the vulnerable sick.

Could my outdoor protests risk taxing an already-overwhelmed hospital and exhausted medical staff? Am I showing by my actions that I don’t really care as much as I say I do about those front line workers? Or my neighbors.

Do I have that “elective” cancer surgery when delaying it puts me at even greater risk of waiting too long and succumbing to the cancer—that didn’t go on hiatus for the virus?

Or maybe you’re thinking:

I’ve examined all my options. I didn’t qualify for a small business loan, or got turned down, and I need to work to provide for my family. That relief check is only going to take me so far.

I really want to go to the beach, and the Constitution guarantees my right to peaceably assemble there with my like-minded friends.

I have a right to assemble, so I’m going to show up at the governor’s mansion armed to the teeth with a show of firepower force to prove it. Intimidation. That’s the ticket.

In his first letter to Timothy, (1:2-3), the Apostle Paul says that we need to pray for our leaders so we can live peaceful and quiet lives. That’s the main goal here.

Living in peace.

Paul says that goal is good and pleases God our Savior.

I can live in peace as long as someone allows me to earn wages to support myself and my family, pay whatever taxes the government extracts, travel to, from and when and where I desire, and be allowed to worship and practice my religion “in godliness and holiness.”

I’m not making a political statement here. And I’m not going to divulge what I think about the lockdown and quarantine “laws.”

What I am encouraging everyone to do is to ask themselves the right questions:

What is my personal situation; and what are the stakes?

Know what they are for you, and for your community.

We are individuals with rights. But we are also part of a larger tribe. Americans like to think of themselves as country-driven, until something runs up against their personal rights and independence.

What to do about our paralyzing COVID fear?

This isn’t about “us” versus “them.” And it isn’t about shaking our fists at the virus, or the authorities, and demanding our rights.

This is about seeking out the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God who loves us, knows all about the ins and outs of this virus, cares for our pain and fear, and wants us to enjoy peace in the midst of this storm.

I know that’s sometimes easier said than done. But it’s the truth. If we earnestly seek out God and ask, He’ll gracious give us the kind of peace we need to get through this.

Why should you ask for and receive peace?

We should ask God for peace because research indicates that those who enjoy that personal, calming and fulfilling relationship with the Lord—particularly followers of Jesus Christ—are suffering less anxiety, fear and depression during this COVID “crisis,” and the unbelievers are suffering more.

We can win this fear battle. We can tamp down reactive rebellion. If we’re able to stay home, we can view it as a time of rest and joy rather than a time of prison.

How do I know that?

Because I had to experience something similar to this 25 years ago.

Assessing my personal stakes—

A little over 25 years ago, I was confined to bed during my pregnancy with my younger son. Completely confined. No getting up and meandering into the kitchen for a snack. No sitting up to relieve the hip and backache.

No freedom.

And I couldn’t even lie flat. My legs, pelvis and chest had to be propped up higher than my head to relieve the pressure on my cervix, which had been sewn shut after I went into premature labor at 22 weeks.

For three months I was only allowed to get up to walk to the bathroom—four steps away. The only exercise I got was contracting my calves to point my toes to reduce the risk of getting blood clots in my legs. I gingerly maneuvered my increasing bulk from one side to the other to avoid getting pressure sores on my hips.

Because my digestive tract shut down a week into the quarantine, my meals were reduced to canned spinach, orange juice, sauerkraut juice, and Ensure. (Yum!) My husband bought it by the carton loads.

I was scared I was going to lose another baby to a high-risk pregnancy problem.

But I was determined to give it my best shot. I counted the cost—the stakes.

They were very high indeed.

Stay in bed and improve my chances of giving birth at full term to a healthy baby.

Or push the envelope, get up when I felt like it, and risk losing it all.

Four months didn’t seem too long, until I parked myself in that bed.

Every day I put a one-day-more check mark on the little pocket calendar propped on the table next to my bed. I counted the number of days I’d successfully lain there, and the number of days remaining. I noted those on the calendar too. If I made it through a morning and into the afternoon, I was overjoyed. One more minute, one more hour, one more day improved the chances.

Alone every day in a big house on four acres in avocado country. I’d eagerly await my husband and four-year old son’s arrival home, to chat with them for a half hour, until they dispersed to do other things. We had no cable TV and only two major channels that always snapped off to bug races by midnight, sometimes the hardest time to be with myself. I watched the entire O.J. Simpson trial. Got to be familiar with his lawyer Johnny Cochran and the rest of the circus. It wasn’t the most inspiring five hours a day, but it kept me entertained.

I couldn’t even enjoy the outside.

Or see it.

The only window in the room was behind my bed, and I couldn’t sit up and look outside.

The French door to the outside had a window it, but it was covered with blinds that didn’t flip open. They could be rolled up, but because the afternoon sun shone in the room and heated it up too much, the blinds remained closed. The only thing I could see through the slats was a little sun during daylight, and a sliver of moonlight at night.

Day after tedious day, I did the same thing. It became a ritual. A ritual I clung to. It was the only thing giving me any sense of stability and hope.

Within a month I thought I was going to go nuts.

And the longer the time went on, the more fearful I became. In spite of the better odds, my anxiety became more pronounced. Depression settled in at night.

Around the third month, the panic attacks started.

I’d never had a panic attack before. It was frightening.

And it nearly drove me out of bed.

And if I had gotten out of it, I likely would have lost the battle.

And that’s what could happen to us during this pandemic.

We could get out and return to normal too soon. Test too much of the waters. Not see the rip current beneath the surface ready to sweep us away from safety.

Or—after informing ourselves to the best of our ability, taking counsel, and praying fervently —we could determine in our heart to do what we have to do. Maybe return to work; open our family business to willing customers.

Whatever that is for us, and for our family. And for our community.

Striving, in as much as possible, to live at peace.

How do you confront fear and keep going in spite of it?

Staying in bed like that was tough, and lonely.

My doctor reminded me during my check-in phone calls with him that it was a tiny portion of my life to sacrifice. I knew he was right.

But when it was all over (I made it three out of the ideal four months and gave birth to a six and a half weeks premature baby boy who is now six-feet tall and finishing law school), he shook his head and said, “I don’t know how you did it. It must have been shear determination.”

I smiled and shook my head. “No. Determination had nothing to do with it. If it weren’t for God and the heavenly encouragement He gave me through different sources—friends, motivational tapes, and uplifting messages on Christian radio—I would never have made it. I would have gotten out of that bed a long time ago.”

He simply nodded. As though he was in awe.

Coronoavirus-19 is an individual problem, and a community problem—

During this pandemic of worldwide “we,” we stand both alone—sometimes in isolation—and together.

As Christian artists for King and Country, Tori Kelly, and Kirk Franklin sing in their recently released song “Together,” (filmed during quarantine from each of their homes),

we will fall together,

or rise together.

But it may be the individual decisions that cause either one of those scenarios to happen.

What are the stakes for you?

They do affect all of us.

Invitation—

Have you spent a lot of time in prayer, reflecting on this pandemic and what it means for you, your family, and your community?

What is God saying to you, and what are you going to do about it?

What is the hardest part of the quarantine for you?

What lifts you up, makes the quarantine easier, and reduces your anxiety and depression?

May God give you the knowledge, wisdom and discernment you need to answer all of your coronavirus questions and dispel your deepest fears.

Until next time,

May God protect and guide you, in all ways.

Andrea


Andrea Arthur Owan, M.S., A.T., R., is a fitness pro, chaplain, and award-winning inspirational writer. She works and writes to help people recover from grief and loss and to live their best lives — physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

COVID-19 Virus Battle Emotions: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

The world has fought a lot of wars throughout history, and it feels as though we’re fighting a war now. A battle against a tiny microbe—officially named COronaVIrusDisease-19 (COVID-19)—invisible to the naked eye. That’s one of the problems with this particular battle. We like to see our enemy, be able to predict what he’s going to do next, calculate how to handle him and thwart his plans.

But with this little halo-surrounded enemy, it seems we can only develop hypothetical models that keep changing, shut everyone behind closed doors, and hope for the best.

It’s obviously a little more complicated and sophisticated than that, but to the average person on the street—who has now been told in some places to continue staying off the street (or beach) or get arrested—it all seems about that simple.

A time of stark contrasts—

The times we’re living in, the battle we’re fighting, brings to mind the opening line from one of my favorite books, one of the best books ever written: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. A lot of you could probably recite it without looking it up—

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

This beginning of the very l-o-n-g first line pretty much says it all for us. We can relate.

Dickens tells the story about life in another war, the French Revolution, and he continues with a string of contrasts.

…it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,

it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,

it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,

it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,

we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,

we were all going to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

A far-flung range of emotions—

How many of us have gone through, or are still going through, these wildly contrasting emotions?

For those of us who cherish our families and time spent with them, we feel doubly blessed to be around them so much.

But domestic violence is on the rise, and tensions are developing in families suffering from too little personal space, or outdoor space. And upended orderly, hyper-scheduled lives.

Drunk driving accidents and arrests are way down; but drinking and drug use have increased dramatically.

We’re looking to trained professionals to give us answers, and we get a multitude of opinions.

A possible breakthrough medication is mentioned, and a couple thinks their fish tank cleaner containing some of the same chemical will work for a homeopathic treatment. After all, they don’t want to get the virus, so—without doctor recommendation or consultation—they ingest their fish tank cleaner. (Who does this!?) The husband dies, and his wife blames our country’s president for her stupidity.

It’s a time of people being terrified and too self-protective, and a time of people throwing caution to the wind, inviting trouble, and putting God to the test.

It’s a time marked by notable events, when we desperately want to believe someone, and a time when we’re so shocked by the unfolding circumstances we doubt everything.

For believers in God, it’s a time when they see Him moving, showing His power, fulfilling prophecy; for the unbeliever, it’s a time of sadness, anxiety, and paralyzing fear.

For those able to maintain their jobs and support their families, it’s a blip on the inconvenience scale. (For some, like my husband, it’s a blessing to not have to rush to and from work every day.) For those watching their lives and livelihoods unravel, they feel stunned, betrayed and helpless. Their futures look dark and impossible. Hopeless.

For them, there is nothing before them.

For others, their greatest fear is whether or not they’ll have enough toilet paper to last through the lockdown. For so many around the world, they don’t know if they’ll have food to feed their children their next meal.

For all of us, we only know what we have right now—before us—and see only a question mark for our and our countries’ futures.

What next?

When will this end, or will it? Will we have to permanently adjust to a “new normal?’

Will staying quarantined, hunkered down, and apprehensive change our brain chemistry so much that we wouldn’t be able to return to normal even if we wanted to?

Rarely in history have we felt the collective “we” we’re now experiencing. The global “we” that for a brief blink in time puts us squarely in the human fragility boat.

As a young man said during an international prayer call I joined in on a week ago: “Thank you, Lord, for bringing us to our knees and showing us just how small, helpless and vulnerable we are.”

It was an admission of humility, of God’s omnipotence. And it was also a plea for mercy to a God that listens when His people cry out to Him. He’s not the detached, aloof God of the Deist; He’s a God of His creation, His people, His children, who listens when they say, “Abba (Daddy), help!”

It may not seem as though He’s listening or moving, but He is. He always is.

What’s in a name—war or not?

Some people don’t like referring to this pandemic as a war. While it may not be in the strictest sense, for many people it certainly is a battle—emotionally, physically, spiritually and financially.

As during Dickens’ story, we are living in a time of stark contrasts:

hope and fear
knowledge and ignorance
trust and suspicion
resignation and obedience and blaming and rebellion
hope and hopeless
Light and Darkness
hope and despair
joyful solitude and despairing isolation
resolution and waffling
meditation and anxiety
acceptance and rejection
prayer and self-focus
gain and loss

Good emotions versus bad emotions—

I could fill pages with these contrasts. And strike up a passionate discussion.

Are these negative emotions bad?

No. They’re honest emotions, reasonable and human reactions to upended lives, unknown futures, unanswered questions, and death.

The negative emotions aren’t bad, unless we allow them to swallow up or control our thoughts, kill the positive emotions, and rule our lives.

But the ultimate question is: which contrast do you want to cling to, to practice, to emulate? To grow in. To emerge from this pandemic a better person than you were when you entered it.

Because it is a time of change and growth. A time when we’re confronted with difficult decisions. And we need to look to Someone who can shine a Light on the best ones and guide us down the best paths.

Ultimately, we do have a choice to make it our worst of times or our best of times. Or the opposite.

I don’t mean to imply that this is easy. It’s not. It may take every last ounce of energy we have to successfully emerge and resume a more “normal” life. One that’s hopeful and purposeful. God’s been known to do that to people throughout history to make alterations permanent.

It helps us remember.

A little encouragement—

Before I sign off with the invitation for today, I want to leave you with a couple of encouraging truths:

“You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.” —Thomas Merton

“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” —Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)

Invitation

Write down all of the emotions this pandemic and chaos has caused you to experience. Don’t judge them, or yourself. Just jot them down.

Then write down why you think you’ve felt these emotions—like fearfulness, anxiety, weepiness, peace.

Draw pictures to accompany your feelings.

Continue to do this as your lockdown progresses or restrictions are eased.

Do you see changes in your emotions and their ability to control you?

Write the steps you can take to make sure your emotions and physical and spiritual life end up on the positive side of the contrasts.

Or turn it into a prayer, asking God to help and guide you to accomplishing those attitudes and behaviors.

Better yet, turn it into worship. It’s hard to feel negative emotions when you’re singing praise and worship songs!

Here’s one of my favorites to get you started.

And I’ll see you back here next week (or sooner)!

Blessings,

Andrea


Andrea Arthur Owan, M.S., A.T., R., is a fitness pro, chaplain, and award-winning inspirational writer. She works and writes to help people recover from grief and loss and to live their best lives — physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

How to Start Your Year Right, With a Personal Retreat

Are you feeling a little post holiday-letdown melancholy? Today I’ll give you a tip on how to combat it.

I was feeling a whole lot of letdown. Because we’d been remodeling our home, the decorations and tree went up just days before Christmas, and then it all seemed to be over so soon. And I was trying to extend the festivities. The emotional, feeling part of them.

Our holidays were unexpectedly full and joyous, and I was still trying to live on the happy fumes. The house became eerily quiet after our kids and their wives and sweethearts departed. My heart ached over the feeling of loss, and I didn’t want to let go of their happy, energetic presence. Their spirits still lingered in the house.

But the outside world was busy moving forward and trying to drag me (and other reluctant earthlings) along with it. Even when I found myself out grocery shopping January 2, I was in a happy, festive mood. Everyone else in the store, though, seemed anxious and grumpy. The store was packed with edgy people, all getting in one another’s way. Couples were yelling at each other about taking too long to find a particular food.

When I arrived at the checkout counter, the young woman and I struck up a conversation. The topic of the stressed out and angry clientele came up. “I know,” she said. “It’s awful. I don’t like it. Everyone seems upset.” She went on to say how happy and relaxed she felt and the customers were chipping away at that.

And that was on January 2, the second day of the New Year!

The second grocery store I wound up shopping in was already hawking Valentine’s Day chocolates, not too far from their deeply-discounted Christmas ware. Home improvement stores were already displaying their spring and summer items.

But I’m determined to ease into 2020 a bit more slowly and intentionally divest myself of the holiday trappings.

So last week, I took some action.

While some of our decorations were beginning to disappear from our shelves and walls, the Christmas tree was still full. And I decided to use it to my advantage last Thursday.

My intentional retreat day—

I had planned a full-day retreat, a day to seek God’s direction. To read, pray, sing, praise and zero in on life and where I was headed—or should be. Not just for this year, but potentially for the next five to seven years, or entire decade (since we just started a new one).

I originally had a grandiose idea of going to a local botanical garden, to wander along their winding desert paths and sit on a bench to read and write in my journal. I thought the peaceful surroundings would give me just the jolt and inspiration I needed to receive a word from the Lord.

But my budget and unexpected cold, cloudy and windy weather disrupted those plans. So I enjoyed a warm-up sojourn around our hilly neighborhood and then settled down in our library with my Shetland sheepdog, Dolly, in front of our library fireplace.

And I turned on the Christmas tree lights to add an atmosphere of joy and promise.

The results—

After a day of reading voraciously, praying, and filling pages of my journal, I finally felt ready to bid adieu to the holidays, tuck the precious memory of them into my hart, box up the tree and ornaments, and step firmly into the new year, and decade.

What a retreat day can do for you—

Taking that time helped me focus and open myself up to possibilities and hope. It helps you slow down, extract yourself from the world and its incessant, tiresome demands, and focus on the important stuff. I would highly recommend to everyone that they take a retreat day before we get too much further into the year and other demands or allow well-meaning people take you in directions you hadn’t planned on, or shouldn’t be going.

The time leaves you refreshed and excited. Content. More focused, purposeful and intentional. And that gives you a feeling of control, something so important to our emotional well-being.

Now my husband is trying to figure out when he can take his own personal retreat day, something that always recharges his emotional, spiritual and physical batteries.

Planning and taking your own personal retreat—

Try to block out an entire day. But if you don’t have the luxury of a full day, then block out a 4-hour time period in the morning or afternoon.
Turn off your smart phone and stash it someplace where it won’t be a distraction or temptation. Turn off your computer and any other electronic devices.
Make sure you’re by yourself and won’t have to endure interruptions. If you have babies at home, hire a babysitter and head out to a favorite place to enjoy your retreat, preferably someplace quiet. Ask your spouse to take care of the kids for a day. If you’re choosing a Saturday, have your husband/wife take the kids to the zoo, the movies, or a kids’ museum so you can retreat uninterrupted. You need to be able to focus on what God’s saying to you without worrying about distractions.
Grab your Bible, journal (or notebook/paper), and a pen, prayer beads, and anything else that will help you focus on God, your relationship with Him, and the direction he wants you to take this year.
Write down the activities that make you happy, the ones that really recharge and satisfy you. Make a mental note of doing more of those this year. Pencil them into your calendar for January to get a kick-start.
Identify your strengths and weaknesses, and brainstorm how you can utilize your strengths and dilute your weaknesses.
Make some notes on the tremendous blessings in your life, including people, events, work, etc. Thank God for those.
Identify the things in your life that are time-wasters and energy-drainers. What are you doing just because someone else wants you to do it, or because you feel guilty if you don’t. If you must do them for a good reason—like maintaining the family finances or health—ask God to give you a heart for them. Otherwise, make a point of releasing yourself from these wheel-spinning activities.
Identify what areas of your life you could change in order to give yourself more freedom and joy. Does your home need a thorough run-through, to throw out old clothes, unread and will-never-read books, and dust-gathering knickknacks that don’t fall into the family heirloom category. How can you simplify your life, and what can you do to achieve that goal?
Identify those people in your life that you’d like to spend more time with and develop a plan on how to achieve that goal. What individuals or groups do you want to nurture friendships with?
Choose any area of your life and pray about how you might make it more enjoyable or prosperous.
Identify areas God wants you to expend your energies. Remember that His yoke is easy and His burden is light!
Pick out some Bible verses to pray, personalize, and write down, and post in conspicuous places in order to remind you of your focus.

Will all of your plans come to fruition by December 31? Probably not, but as God reminds us, people perish without a vision.

Our (my husband and my) year will be focused on getting out of all debt, gaining freedom and preparing for retirement in the next five to seven years. For us, that means we have to forgo our coveted travel (even to the Northwest to visit our boys and daughter-in-law).

Since travel is one of our high-priority activities, it’s going to be tough. But we’re already looking forward to the possibilities and rewards, and are experiencing a new sense of freedom and control. It’s triggering ideas for alternative, scaled-down, budget-friendly activities. And it’s a great place to be in a marriage.

Now it’s your turn. You’ve got 18 days left in January. Pick out a day and get refreshed through a retreat! Face this year with joy, promise and expectation.

Until next week,

May your new year, and decade, get off to a great and promising start!

Andrea


Andrea Arthur Owan, M.S., A.T., R., is an award-winning inspirational writer, fitness pro, and chaplain. She writes and works to help people live their best lives — physically, emotionally, and spiritually.