KIDNAPPED BY CORONA!!!

These random reflections were part of a time of devotion and witness of God's goodness in the midst of COVID-19 days.  These thoughts were shared with our European colleagues who were hoping to gather together in person in Lyon, France in April 2020.  And then COVID-19 happened....

First of all, I'd like to make it a bit light ~ this corona virus season that we're in ~ because, quite frankly, it's all pretty heavy to me, to us, to our world.  Here's my best attempt at making it light....

Some things just sound better in a foreign language.  I remember back in Belgium, it was my favorite word "gezellig", which when translated from Flemish into English, it comes out as cozy, snug, intimate.  That same word is one of my favorite words in Swedish:  mysig.  Also translated as cozy or comfy, the Swedes also say "fredagsmys" which means Friday coziness....which looks like Friday evening hang out after a busy work week, often eating tacos and playing games or watching TV together with your family.

Even words associated with Corona virus days sound a bit "mysig" in Swedish.

Try this one, for example:   koronakram (corona hug).

It's the way we greet each other now at church, at our team meetings, with a group of friends.  We say "hej" and then bump elbows and say "koronakram".  And some days, it even feels okay.

If I look at how to translate "corona hug" in the languages that our colleagues are working in across Europe, it would look like this....

Swedish:  Kidnappad av corona 

Flemish and Dutch:  Ontvoerd door corona

French:  Kidnappé par corona (and put on your best thickest French accent for good measure!)

German:  Von Corona entführt

Czech??? Our colleague Max helped with this one, but I didn't write anything down when he said it in Czech and I can't find anything on Google translate!

In late night conversations with friends who were heading back to the US in the midst of Corona, we all recognized that their departure, and our entire lives, have been, in a sense, kidnapped by corona.  All things related to their final weeks ~ their eventual departure ~ had been kidnapped by a pandemic.  None of us, in any of our cross cultural training,  could have seen that one coming!

But there's a serious side to Corona ~ really serious ~ and that's where I'd like to go now.  But I won't be talking about numbers of cases, numbers of deaths, numbers of recoveries, or how the economy has been affected by all of this.  And I won't be touching on strategies or methods of dealing with Corona virus either, because that all is just a bit beyond me!

First, let's define kidnap:

Kidnap:  abduct; hold captive.  Nab.  Seize.  Typically there is an element of force or fear.

The absence of the consent.  Being carried away.

Confinement of a person against their will.  (Confinement vs. lockdown has been an interesting switch in vocabulary from our colleagues across Europe.

We’ve been kidnapped by corona.

Our sanctuary should be full....of people, not cameras and video equipment!

Virtual CMC ~ in all our years of service outside of the US, there's always a first!

The negative side of things:

~ministry opportunities have been taken away

~life is just still

~kids in the house!

~spouse in the house!

~can’t get out to be with the people that God has called me to serve

~no fun being in my space any longer, even though my space is beautiful and a gift from God!

~risk of losing contact with those we were connecting with pre-Corona

~risk of losing language skills because we’re stuck at home with just English speakers

~FEAR!!!

The positive side of things:

~children!!! At the train station with just 5 carry-ons, 5 backpacks and one suitcase, this lovely remark burst out from a young child:   "This is already enough!"  ~ as we waited for the rest of the family and the other suitcases to arrive on the train platform...

~list of 101 reasons to come to Swanson B&B:  Malmö, Swansons just waiting to love on you, don’t have to worry about cooking and having food to the last minute, free taxi services, strong coffee, as strong and as often as you want/need it, comfortable beds for all family members, the sea, adult  conversation, safe welcome gift on every family member’s pillow, game closet full and lots of free time to play games for the kids, garden and enclosed back porch for your perusal and personal use, garden mentioned above has sweet garden light.  Oh, and I forgot:  lots of water and soap for good hand hygiene, and we'll be making masks together too!

~I never got further than the sweet garden lights.  Solar paneled lights.  Butterfly.  Flamingo.  Hanging lights.  Lights in the ground.  Lights that can be white or changing colors:  blue, green, red, purple.  

Totally loving the garden lights ~

Stickers in the house ~ they keep showing up in the funniest places!

Swanson's art gallery, complete with recent additions....and those stickers!

When small group meets by ZOOM and one member doesn't have internet or a smart phone....learning how to include everyone in corona times!

And the even more positive side of things:

~God is in control.  When we wake up in the morning, recognizing we have breath in our lungs and our hearts are beating, we have so much to be thankful for in that moment of recognition.  God chose to give us a new day!  How cool is that!! 

~God is in control.  In the middle of the day, when things are quite chaotic, when we feel like life, ministry, health has been kidnapped by corona, it's been good to take a deep breath, get a breath of fresh air, listen to some music that brings it together for your soul, and recognize:  God is still in control in the midst of the chaos.  In fact, it's best to remember that.  He's in control.  We never were in control.  Perhaps that's the hardest thing just now.  We never had any control in the first place.

~God is in control.  At the end of the day, when we go to lay down our weary bodies and minds that are trying to take in too many numbers and process too much information all at once, it's good to speak these words out loud:  Thank you, God, that you're still in control.