Hello followers of Christ. How is everyone doing during this Coronavirus pandemic? I hope and pray each of you are well and coping with the new circumstances in which we are all living.
So, I have a question? Have any of you ever changed your life? I mean, really changed it? Work, home and relationship all at once? If you have not, I can tell you it is not a fun thing to do.
I did it when I was 25 and I had seven horrendous years navigating and finding my feet. It happened to me again at 55 and I can tell you the seven years following were as horrendous or more than the first time my life changed dramatically.
Seven seems to be a magic number for me regarding stretches of time. I had a book title I was thinking about quite some time back called Seven Years of Sundays. It was titled after my former husband. I never wrote that book, though I loved the title.
This morning, I got a very pleasant surprise. I heard from a great friend of mine who I had not spoken to for more than 20 years.
He is four days younger than me, so we were comparing notes of the past 20 years and speaking of the mistakes we have made. I told him that this past Friday, of all times, during this Coronavirus pandemic, I felt the dark cloud that had been hovering over me for the past 12 months finally lifting, a signal that the seven-year stretch was over.
I said to him, “It’s like the old saying, April showers bring May flowers. I just had my seven years of April; it is my time for seven years of May.”
I told this story to my awesome friend Lisa, who proceeded to bless me with an additional 14 consecutive years of May. I like that!
It is interesting because soon after one friend walked into my life this morning, another friend walked out. I cried a couple of tears and told the enemy that once again, it would not beat me or bring that black cloud back. And then the rest of my day was as I expected. All my other game friends rallied with me and we witnessed success that we had never seen before. Out of the ashes!
My seven (21) years of May is officially ON! I spoke with my dear mother today and she had a rough and tumble 12 months as well. She is in assisted living and the facility has not let any visitors in for two weeks and the residents now eat all their meals in their apartments rather than the dining room.
I told her that she and I were ahead of the game. We both faced the kind of torment over the past 12 months that some are experiencing now. As much as I whine about adversity, these past seven years, with emphasis on the past 12 months, has put me in a position to speak over what everyone may be going through now.
This too shall pass, but with any trying event, life will change in some way. I have been super impressed with how people have come together to support one another. Most everyone, except for essential workers, have been confined to their homes. It has been refreshing to hear and see people laughing and telling jokes. It has not been easy, but Jesus is with us and He is helping us to get through this crisis.
They say The Lord is never late and there have been times when someone has said that to me and I wanted to, well, I won’t say what I wanted to do. It is also said that it is the darkest before the dawn. Sometimes it is so dark, you never think the light will come. I guess you just must do as the Wilson Phillips girls used to sing, “Hold on for one more day.”
So, my wish for all of you is Seven Years of May. If you have a not so nice cloud hovering, call, text or email me and we can talk. I am no expert, but I have been though this twice now in my life. I would have to say changing one’s entire life is the hardest thing you can do. Most won’t even try it because it is so ridiculously hard. And I can tell you that it tests every strand of faith within.
With that:
May The Lord bless you and keep you;
May The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
May The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26
