Lifeschooling Lessons in Love Through COVID-19

This time in our world is certainly not an easy one. And I’ve shared in another post a bit about lifeschooling through COVID-19, But this time, I want to share a bit of my heart with you and what the Lord has been teaching me. Maybe He’s been teaching you some of the same things and we can grow together!

I am not one who is naturally a worrier.

I don’t get afraid…sometimes to my own detriment. Looking back, I have done some pretty foolish things in my life because of a lack of healthy fear! (I won’t tell you about the time I naively hitched a ride with a stranger…sheesh.) So my struggles throughout COVID-19 have not been with fear.

Another thing that defines me is my love for the truth.

I can literally remember as a very young girl wondering why in the world anyone would ever lie! What is the point of that? I remember reasoning that I could remain sinless in that area. “Just don’t do it. Simple. Who would have an issue with this, anyway?”

But, because of my love for truth, I sometimes allow it to be twisted into a weakness. (Take notice of your own faults and you will often find that they are really just your strengths that Satan has twisted into weakness). This love for truth sometimes supersedes my love for people. “I mean, I can see what’s going on…so why can’t everyone else?!” I allow frustration to get the better of me.

I really hate that about myself.

I want to just be the kind of nice person who always thinks of how other people are feeling and what they might be going through, but I get so hung up on seeking truth and proclaiming it, that I completely forget to see things through the eyes of those who don’t share my perspective.

That often leads me to just shut up. I figure if I can’t be loving in sharing the truth, then I should really just be quiet. I don’t want to be a noisy gong (1 Cor. 1:1)! There is no point in sharing anything if we are not doing it from a heart of love, both for God and for all of the people He loves! So I think it’s important to sometimes remain quiet in the short term, but that’s not really ideal in the long term.

After all, we are told that it’s the truth that will set us free, right? So how can I just go on with my own life, not sharing what I strongly believe is truth, and allowing others to be enslaved by fear and injustice? I need to learn to love better. I need to love everyone, not just those who are out of jobs and suffering from the economic crisis, but also those who are prone to sickness and worried about their health and safety. It doesn’t matter how legitimate I believe the concerns are…what matters is how I love people whether I share with them what I believe is true or simply remain quiet and pray for God to meet their need, whatever it may be.

Durenda Wilson, whom some of you may also follow, had a wonderful post I shared from her FB wall that I will link to here. Much to chew on! I believe she has struggled with many of the same things I have.

I was so grateful on Saturday when another fellow homeschool blogger, Sheri Graham, sent out an e-mail sharing her heart about all these things and being completely transparent about her perspective. It challenged me to do the same…in love! She admitted how hard it was for her, as a people-pleaser, and that she really preferred to just remain silent. How I can relate! But she felt God calling her to speak, and I feel this same burden to revisit the topic a bit (as I did share a bit back in March).

That being said, I won’t go into great detail about all my thoughts and opinions about COVID-19. I have touched on them before. And I don’t know that they matter much, except to the degree that they get you thinking on your own. But that is precisely my goal…to give you my perspective in the hopes that it makes you question and consider things you may not have. So let me instead share with you some of the things I’ve learned that are helping me to love better, as well as some articles and videos to get you thinking about what may really be going on.

How I’m learning to love:

Don’t watch too much news. This really isn’t a problem for me, since we rarely watch the news. I tend to get my news through e-mail and online. But when I’m at my parents’ house, I watch it with my dad sometimes and it’s a good reminder of why I need to stay away! For me, even the e-mail news needs to be limited.
Take action, but leave it in God’s hands. I believe it’s so important to recognize that we are engaged in spiritual warfare! We must fight injustice, but we must remember, too, that God is in control and His ultimate plan will not be thwarted. What a comfort! So, I try to fill out petitions as they come my way, and share information on my Facebook wall as I am able and led to. But when I feel myself getting “riled up,” I try to take a break and just pray.
Don’t be too involved in Facebook groups. I have joined several of the REOPEN groups that are fighting against the tyrannical actions of our government in shutting down businesses and churches. I find myself being quickly and easily drawn into verbal jousts that probably do not demonstrate my love for others, so I have been trying not to look at those groups much lately.
Don’t talk too much about it. Whenever I start to discuss the topic too much, it leads me away from righteous indignation and into ungodly anger. When I start to go down that road, I close my mouth! Time to pray again!
Find ways to demonstrate love to others. This is one that I struggle with because of our lifestyle right now. It’s all I can do to keep up with the needs and responsibilities of my own family! However, I try to remember that prayer is the ultimate way to love others and help them. (I talked about this in the FB live). There is nothing more powerful! So I try to pray for people as the Lord brings them to mind, and when I see an opportunity arise that I can help with, I try to take it.
Pray for love and unity among the brethren. I just keep asking the Lord to fill me with love and compassion for others who see things differently. I ask Him to help me to see things through their eyes so that even if they are wrong, I can at least understand why they think the way they do. Jesus had such compassion for those to whom He ministered, and I want to have that same love!

If there’s anything I may fear (besides the way this is setting us up for the end times and the New World Order), it’s that these times of trial may divide the church. We have such an opportunity here to come together as one unified body of believers! We have a common enemy (Satan) and a common cause (that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven)! We may not always see everything the same way, but we need to learn to give grace and help share the truth in love. We need to remember that in all these things, the world will know us by our love! (verse)

This means we will live out 1 Corinthians 13. We will…

Be patient with others, even when they see things differently.
Be kind to others, even when we disagree.
Not boast. We won’t be prideful in our opinions and “how we are not sheeple.”
Not envy others who don’t have the same difficult situation as we do.
Not be arrogant or rude. Winning an argument or looking smart should not be our goal.
Not be irritable or resentful. Jesus was sometimes frustrated with others (“faithless generation, how long must I put up with you?”), but he never allowed it to make him irritable or resentful of his calling!
Not insist on our own way. We may have some say in new COVID-19 policies and procedures in our churches and places of work, but we must not insist on our own way.
Not rejoice with wrongdoing, but rejoice with the truth. Oh, how tempted I can be to rejoice at the name-calling of our politicians and corrupt leaders! But I should only be rejoicing at the truth being shared.
Bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things. What does this mean? It means we will strive as hard as we can to give the benefit of the doubt to our brothers and sisters in Christ, even when they are not demonstrating Christlike actions themselves. We will believe and think the best. We will do our very best to try to step into their shoes and see things from where they are and think through the reasons why they have their opinions. We will treat them as we would want to be treated.

To help you live out 1 Corinthians 13, you may want to purchase these beautiful 1 Corinthians 13 printables! I pray they will be a blessing to you.

In all things, love. I actually have a shirt with this statement on it…

My friend, will you join me in praying daily at 1:00 PM that God would send revival to the church and to our nation? It begins in our individual hearts! Let’s ask God to show us our own sin rather than being focused on the sins of others. I know I have plenty to deal with in my own heart! Ask God to show you where you need to repent. You can add this Facebook cover I created to your personal wall. Right-click and select “save as.”

You may also be led to do something more, like fast and pray. Believe me, there is nothing more powerful you can do! I have seen God literally change the course of our family and the circumstances around us after times of dedicated prayer and fasting. (This is one such example). To help you do this, I want to offer my Fasting for Focus journal to you for .99 until 5/18/20! I use this journal myself and it has been very helpful in giving me direction and clarity through my fasts.

I love this brand new prayer journal I just published to the website and can’t wait to use it in my own prayer time!! Click here to see everything that’s included (these are just a few of the pages) and get it for only .99 until 5/18/20!!

I know God is at work! So many Christians are talking about revival, and this story about a retired pastor here in North Carolina actually made the news for gathering over 255,000 Christians together to pray online for revival!

“This is truly a revival of prayer,” Lunsford said during the almost-30-minute service, also thanking all those gathered remotely. “From this day forward, God’s going to do wonders. What it is, I don’t know, but I want to be a part of it.”

Some things that make you go “Hmmmmmm…”:

Study: Nonpharmaceutical Measures for Pandemic Influenza in Nonhealthcare Settings – This is a study on the CDC’s own website. Notice, in particular, their conclusion on the use of facemasks.
Crosspolitic: Pastor Cary Gordon on Romans 13 and the Shutdown – We are warned in 1 Tim. 6:20 to beware of science falsely so-called. We are also told that the truth will set us free. Both important things to remember with regard to “not forsaking the assembling of believers.” This is a challenging episode! I don’t envy pastors during this stressful time.
NOTICE of NON-CONSENT to say NO to the “Big Brother” bill (HR 6666) – %contact.first_name%, you just can’t make this stuff up. The actual title of this bill is HR6666! Is God giving us a clear warning here? “Proponents of this bill apparently want to hire a massive number of staff to enforce ‘social distancing’, administer tests in our homes — apparently whether we consent or not, and apparently — if we perceive the bill correctly — even grant themselves the right to take people who ‘test positive’ from their homes!”
‘Social Distancing’ is Snake Oil, Not Science
Is the chilling truth that the decision to impose lockdown was based on crude mathematical guesswork?
Is this Coronavirus a Sign of the End of the World? – This message from the pastor of a church in Georgia is excellent!! I highly encourage you to watch it with your family for your family devotions. Much to think about here.
Man died of alcohol poisoning — but health officials later classified his death as coronavirus-related – Unfortunately, these types of occurrences seem to be happening a lot lately.

I may get some critical or questioning comments below. And that’s okay! 💗 I understand we will all see things a little differently. But I hope that you will remember to give grace in love, just as I am trying to learn to do!

Let me just end this sharing of my heart with an admonition. We know that the Bible tells us that Satan prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. We know that he is devious and deceptive and does not play fair.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

He has come to steal, kill, and destroy, and he will do it in any way he can, even the strangest, most unbelievable ways…after all, he doesn’t want us to believe he’s at work, right? So why do we doubt that there may, in fact, be conspiracies and things happening on a broad scale for the sheer purpose of advancing his evil kingdom on earth?

Don’t be too quick to write something off as a so-called “conspiracy theory.” Satan is the master conspirator, and he disguises himself as an angel of light! Be vigilant.

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

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Danielle Papageorgiou has been homeschooling, or “lifeschooling,” for 21 years (she counts birth as day 1!) and has blogged, spoken, and run her own conference for many of those years. She has a passion for helping other homeschoolers learn how to homeschool in a way that does not compete with family life, but actually enhances it…homeschooling done in a spirit of freedom, not legalism.