Coronavirus Reflections #7

'What do you have that you did not receive?' 1 Corinthians 4:7

These words have been a blessing to me this week. There is so much to be thankful and what a comfort it is to know that everything we have has been measured out by God in the right proportions, at the right time.

It has been a blessing this week to have communications from friends updating how they are getting on in the lockdown. I had a lovely conversation with a Christian friend earlier in the week. Some people are just so full of joy in the Lord. Yesterday I received a parcel from a missionary friend which was a great encouragement.

Last Sunday I enjoyed watching a talk about missionary work in Mombassa recorded for a Sunday school class. We had preaching from Psalms and the bible study from Galatians again. In the evening I enjoyed watching some of Paul Washer's talks on Proverbs. We also met on Tuesday with a message from a local pastor from the temptation of Jesus.

Last night the All Souls Prom Praise was online to watch. It was lovely to hear some rousing hymns. There was an amazing pianist which caused me to marvel that the Lord created us with such amazing potential for creative ability and pleasure.

We held our quarterly osteopaths meeting on Zoom. It was good to have a chat with colleagues. I was humbled to realise that I was the only one still working. It is moving to see the deep effect the coronavirus has had on clinic life and the understandable distress of the practitioners. There were positive plans towards getting started again though.

It has been wet a lot of this week. It has done the garden good but more challenging for people in lockdown.

The prime minister returned to week and his partner gave birth to their son. The prime minister is gifted in inspiring confidence and yet showing compassion for the situation. There is generally some unrest in the nation about how we are going to get out of this lockdown situation - the schools are still shut and most people are either furloughed at home or working from home. It has been promised that plans will be revealed next week.

I started some more work this week doing some admin for another team in the trust. It is good for me to have a purpose each day. I've almost finished all the possible spring cleaning around the house.

It's good to have time for reflection and other pursuits. I've now learned 3 new piano pieces and am continuing to enjoy exercising regularly. I completed the bible study course on Pleasing God which I found very helpful. I've started studying Corinthians now. I find I get computer fatigue so it is nice to just use pen and paper to study.

I set up a tablet for my 95 year old friend to be able to watch sermons. She received it this week so hopefully she will get on alright. I may have said before how impressed I am at older friends embracing technology and their resilient spirit coming to the fore.

A man called Captain Tom completed a walking challenge in his garden in Marston and raised over 30 million for the NHS. He celebrated his 100th birthday this week so people sang happy birthday at the Thursday evening clap.

I stayed in all of this week after an upset tummy last weekend. It didn't really make much difference apart from I missed being able to get out for a walk. I'm hoping the step down plans will enable those of us on our own to be able to meet up with someone else.

There is much to be thankful for - friends, family, work, church, access to so many resources, peace and safety, health and so much more. We have all things in Christ.