Dear God,
None of this is your fault.
I know you know that, but you need to hear it.
Times are really tough right now for some people. Of course you know that, you know everything. But here’s something I know, people are going to blame you. A lot already have. People are calling out to you asking you to fix this pandemic. I know that’s not your place. You did not put us here just to bail us out when anything bad happened.
I know you love us, and I know you have the power to stop this, you have the power to stop a lot of things. But that is not your job. We live in an imperfect world for a reason. Because this place, Earth, where we live our human lives is not our final destination. Home is where your heart is and my heart lies with you. You gave us an opportunity in this world to live in a way we seemed fit. While your guidance is readily available to us in the form of prayer and scripture, we get to call the shots. If the world was perfect we wouldn’t know our true selves, who we are. Chaos will either bring the best, or worst out of people.
This is a time to test our faith. It’s easy to believe in you and trust that you have a plan for us when everything is going good. It’s when the waves start up and the boats begins to rock that people will start to jump ship. Well God, I refuse to jump ship (even though you know I’m terrified of boats). I am proclaiming my trust in you Lord.
There are people in this world who are dying. There are people in this world who are dying. That repeated sentences weren’t an error, I just thought people might need to hear it twice. This pandemic is not some joke.
People who are complaining about the “severity” of quarantine, and saying it’s being overdone, are being nothing but ignorant. I know this because initially I was one of them. I remember the feeling of packing up my dorm room, two months earlier than I would have ever imagined. Carrying bags of unfolded clothes down flights of stairs to my moms car that was parked out front. The next part is when it got hard. My friends helped me finish loading up the car and we prepared to say goodbye. Thinking of not seeing them literally everyday and having to wait five months literally felt like I was getting my heart ripped out of my chest. These were some of the first people that I had let see me in my rawest form. They met the nerdy, stressed, and emotional me and didn’t bat their eyes for even a second. So here’s something you’re probably not hearing a lot of right now: Thank you.
God, thank you for blessing me with friends that make it so hard to say goodbye to, and bringing me to a school that has given and continues to give me an immense amount of opportunities.
Sure, this whole ordeal may have ruined spring break trips and caused cancellations/postponements of important life events (such as gradations), but this quarantine will save lives. How many? Who knows. But does that really matter? Sure, being the physically active nineteen year-old I am, the virus may not have as much affect on me. But I can say without a doubt that if I were to somehow be responsible for one of my grandparents getting it (I am extremely blessed to have four healthy and loving grandparents), I would never be able to live with myself. And I know that I would go to the greatest lengths to prevent anything from happening to them. So this virus isn’t necessarily about your plans getting “ruined”, it’s your opportunity to save lives. Even if it were just one, it would be worth it.
In a years time, when hopefully this is all over, spring breakers in Fort Lauderdale will be enjoying spring break of ‘21. The pandemic will be a thing of the past, and it will be because of precautions that are now being put into place.
God this extended break of sorts has given me the opportunity to take a more in-depth look at my life. I feel closer to you. Bad things will happen in life, this probably won’t be the first unexpected thing to happen. I am just grateful to live in an age where medicine is at the place it is and we have the materials and resources to begin combating it.
Thank you for your unconditional love and support during this time.
Your loving believer,
Lauren