One time a few years ago, some friends and John and I were in a small fishing motorboat on Lake Minnetonka on a super windy day.
We bounced hard across the water, hitting huge waves and getting drenched with lake spray. Large boats cruised by us without a backwards look, rocking us with their wake. ⠀
An anonymous thought has been going around about our Covid_19 crisis:
We’re all in the same storm, but we’re not in the same boat.
I don’t want to just cruise by the other boats in this season, oblivious to the challenges they are facing, but it’s hard. Circumstances have changed drastically for everyone.⠀
There are those who are exhausted and stretched thin, serving the needs of a whole crew trapped in the boat with them, while also doing a full-time job and wondering if their spouse will lose his.⠀
There are others who are isolated and lonely, grappling daily with depression and boredom.⠀
I’m an extrovert enneagram 7 sharing a boat with an introvert who’d probably prefer to be on a one-person jet-ski.
Some feel like their life raft is sinking and they’re barely hanging on, while others have created party boats, enjoying puzzles, wine, and virtual bingo.⠀
You may feel like you’re on a slow-moving funeral barge, or a solid, steady cruise ship.⠀
The danger I’ve found is assuming anything about the boat others are in.
I’ve been insensitive, forgetting to check in with some who are isolated.
I’ve also become frustrated with unresponsive friends who are stressed to the max on the other.
We need grace, grace, and more grace – for others, and for ourselves in these days.
I think of the verse that characterizes one of my mentors and is my prayer:
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
colossians 4:6
What does your boat look and feel like today? I really want to know!
I shared this first on Instagram. Would love to see you there!
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