Tag / COVID-19

by Karen Twinem

Try This: COVID Media Fast

We’ve had five months or more of COVID-19 pandemic news. Let’s try to step away from it for one week. The pandemic has increased anxiety and disturbed our sleep for too long. We can take a break from the onslaught, while continuing to be safe and thoughtful of others.

This Christian mindfulness exercise has us deliberately reduce our media intake about COVID-19 and its impact. Here’s how:

  1. Consider where you are getting your COVID information. This includes: news media (online and offline), email alerts, social media, podcasts, television and magazines.
  2. Think about where you feel bombarded by information or opinion about the pandemic. What upsets you the most?
  3. Fast from it for a week. You can entirely cut off the source or use it only for specific times, days or amounts of time. You also could refuse to read or listen to COVID information and opinion.
  4. During times when you would ordinarily be consuming the media, pray instead. See if we can discover more about how God wants us to behave during this time.

Give your mind protection from the panic. I pray this will take the weight of the world off our shoulders. How do you think you will feel if you can take an information vacation from the pandemic?

by Karen Twinem

Do a Home-Based Retreat in April

This quarantine is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. What kind of experience is mostly up to us. April is a great opportunity to have a home-based retreat. If you are alone or at home with adults, you have the ability to schedule times of solitude and silence. We can look through our bookshelves or online, asking the Lord to show us the way.

If you are at home with children, this is an opportunity like no other to teach them about character, faith and perseverance. A retreat with your children could be a great creative experience with scheduled times for learning and listening. For example, you could create your own Vacation Bible School for the young and work through Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline for the teens. Amazon also has some books of guided reflections for children that could help.

This virus is from our fallen world, but the Lord can redeem our time, calm our fears and teach us lessons in this time. We can open ourselves up to ask God what He has to show us. We can read, pray and reflect.

God has shown up how fragile our civilization is and how interconnected we are with each other. I also feel that God is working with us to deepen our faith and give us the strength to choose calm and peace.

What has God planned for you this month?