Busy, Blessed, and Grateful by Joylene M Bailey

 

image from Pixabay

A few nights ago, I woke up at 3 a.m. and began thinking about this blog post.

How was my pandemic?

My brain percolated with all the ways God had blessed us through two years of worldwide upheaval. The thoughts came so fast and furiously that I finally got up, crossed the hall to my study, and in the light of a single lamp casting a warm glow into the room, I jotted three pages of blessings.

Three pages! When I counted the bullet points, they added up to 45 blessings.

Don't worry, I won't list them all here. But I will highlight three significant and transformative ones.

Creating Community in Isolation   

As lockdowns were put in place and everybody was isolating, I felt urged to encourage those who may be feeling afraid, lonely, or hopeless. My creativity kicked into gear and before I knew it, I was writing two blog posts a week. I called them my Tea-Time posts, where I welcomed people for virtual tea, treats, and a visit. Not many commented, but according to my stats, I had visits from around the world. If you're interested, here is one of those posts.  

Creativity kicked into gear some more when it became clear that our children and grandchildren, from one and two provinces away, wouldn't be able to come for Christmas 2020 as planned. In my disappointment, my eyes rested on a long-legged snowman that The Cowboy had given me. Suddenly he had a name - Jubal - and a pet reindeer named Reggie. Jubal and Reggie got into many predicaments, and every day for more than a month there was a new Jubal story sent to the grandkids. I had so much fun I almost forgot that our home would be quiet over Christmas. (click here to hear about some of Jubal's predicaments)

God used my creativity to keep me busy and joyful when I could have been down in the dumps. He is so good!

Building a Dream   

Just before Covid hit, plans for the home we'd been dreaming and designing for so long were finally done. The builder was ready to go into the ground. And then ... suddenly people were in isolation, tradesmen opted to take government assistance rather than go to work, supplies became hard to find, and prices for those supplies soared. Our dream seemed dead. 

Until, God directed us to a new builder. His business hadn't slowed down at all, and even better, he understood our vision for the place. It wasn't just a new house for us. It was to be a place of sanctuary for others. "Built for us, with others in mind" is what we always said. Because of skyrocketing prices, we had to give up on our original design and pare down. It was either that or wait until the pandemic was over, but we felt such an urgency to move forward that we were willing to modify the dream. If we hadn't, we'd still be waiting. Instead, possession of our new home is seven weeks away. Our present home goes on the market today.

It's been hard. It's been very busy. But, every step of the way, God guided us through. He has been so good!

A Wedding Window  

We were one of many families trying to plan a wedding during a pandemic. With restrictions fluctuating and businesses trying to cope, a plan made one day would have to be completely changed the next. Nothing was guaranteed. And how do you invite your guests? Do you say you're invited but leave room to be uninvited in case restrictions change ... again. It was all so chaotic, and we felt like we were in limbo most of the time. Then, summer 2021 opened up in Alberta. We jumped on it, planning and executing a wedding in six weeks.

Babe and her fiancée got the date they wanted. An outdoor venue they loved was available and offered a covid flex plan, just in case. The photographer had one day free, and it was their day! A friend volunteered to make the wedding cake and seven dozen cupcakes, unaware that the original wedding cake-maker had fallen through just the day before. The entire six weeks was blessing after blessing.

It was a gorgeous day, enjoyed by friends and family, and blessed with good health for everyone, even weeks later. The very next month, restrictions closed in again. It was almost as though God had made sure restrictions were lifted just for our wedding.  

How good God is!

~~~~~

Yes, there have been hard times over these last two years, both personally and globally. But I choose to count my blessings - 45 so far, and those are just the ones I jotted down in the middle of the night.

God is so good, and I am grateful.

~~~~~

Joy and The Cowboy will live in Edmonton for seven more weeks before moving to their new home in the country, which they've named The Cleft.

Find more of her joy-infused writing at Scraps of Joy.

A Spring Isolation Walk by Joylene M Bailey

~~~~~

Photo by Bonnie Kittle on Unsplash

~~~~~

I step out my front door and marvel at the matted brown grass on my lawn. Just a few days ago, there was two feet of snow here. It’s a puzzle. But it’s not a puzzle I need to figure out. I’m just glad spring has truly and definitely arrived in my neighbourhood.

The back alleys around here have been paved since last spring and, while I do love the natural look of two tracks through the grass and gravel, it’s a joy to travel this path without slogging through mud and dirty puddles. 

The breeze is just enough to lift my isolation-length hair off my collar, but not enough to hug my sweater around me. And the air is refreshing. Wait, is that eau de fresh-baked bread wafting by?

~~~~~

The joyful heart sees and reads the world 

with a sense of freedom 

and graciousness.

Despite all the difficult turns on the road, 

it never loses sight 

of the world 

as a gift.

John O'Donohue

~~~~~ 

There’s no traffic down these back alleys and, most surprising of all, it’s a great place to meet neighbours I’ve never met before. One man is out puttering near his garage. We exchange information on the state of our families. Everyone is healthy in my house. How about yours? Yes, yes, we are all well.

Farther on, a woman stands on her back step calling to her neighbour across the fence, “Hey Ward! How you doing? Ward! Hey, Ward!” Ward doesn’t hear her, he’s too busy hosing down his driveway. 

When she spies me, she says, “Isn’t it amazing? I can’t hear the traffic on the Henday. I don’t remember it being this quiet in the neighbourhood since we moved in.” 

I guess there are pleasant points to a pandemic. 

~~~~~

Add Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

~~~~~

There are at least five dog-walkers out on the main streets that cross the maze of back alleys I’m taking. They wave or nod or say a short hello. But they don’t stop to chat. I find myself wondering if that’s because of the current self-isolation in effect, or if it’s because I’m not walking a dog.

A couple of children whiz by on their bikes, single file. They give me a furtive glance. Obviously, they’ve been warned about the six-foot rule. I hear other children behind a fence, bantering back and forth in the high-pitched voices I usually hear drifting from the school playground. Two doors down, on a raised deck, an almost-grown girl giggles into her cell phone. 

~~~~~

Image by Lori Clouse from Pixabay

~~~~~

On the home stretch I stop behind our house. I soak up the sun-warmed surface of the fence as I peer over it into our sunroom, where hubby has set up his self-isolation home office. I wave wildly, trying to get his attention, but he is absorbed in a web-ex meeting with other grocery company executives, collectively finding their way through a corona-made obstacle course.

Not all the heroes are on the front line. 

Our windchimes bing-dong as though to say see you soon and I head towards the end of the alley. At the corner, a wren high in a towering poplar sings its tuneful song in reply to a similar song nearby. I try to find him in the tangle of limbs and branches, but I can’t. 

~~~~~

Look at the birds of the air;

 they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6:26 NIV

~~~~~

Half a block later I’m back at my front door. My home welcomes me like an old friend. We have been very close these last several weeks. She has sheltered me and provided me with all kinds of things to do, places to sit and work and be. Being is what we are still doing, despite isolation and six-foot rules. Being neighbourly, being active, being reflective. Carrying on. Life is different right now, but the world is still beautiful. God is still there. Still here.

~~~~~

Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay 

~~~~~

Joy enjoys her back-alley walks in Edmonton, Alberta, where she is self-isolating with The Cowboy and Babe. Most of her writing projects have been put on hold during this season as she creates community in isolation with her Tea-Time blog posts at Scraps of Joy.