Social distancing. Flattening the curve. Self-isolation.  Covid-19. These words have become part of our everyday vocabulary. Our world feels smaller and eerily confined as we grapple on a daily basis with the restrictive chaos of an unprecedented global pandemic.

Yet, all of us are creating stories out of our unique circumstances, tales that will be remembered and told, which will form part of the history of the future.

Almost twenty years ago, my family and I moved from our home province of Ontario to Nova Scotia. We have been blessed to maintain old friendships while also forming new ones. During the past weeks, some of these relationships have interconnected in an amazing way.

On March 16th, my friend, Donna, from Ontario, and I exchanged a number of texts about her son, Curtis, who was with three friends on a hiking trip in Peru. After President Martin Vizcarra declared a state of emergency, including border closures, the boys tried to reach the airport in Lima.

If only returning home was that easy.

When Curtis and his friends arrived at Cusco, Donna told me that they had met up with three young men from Halifax.

I texted my Nova Scotian friend, Kelly, and told her the story.

Kelly said, “I wonder if one of the boys might be my friend, Carla’s, son Jordan?”

After several more texts back and forth, Kelly put the pieces of the puzzle together. Donna’s son, Curtis, and his group had met up with Carla’s son, Jordan, along with his friends, on a street in Peru! Curtis texted his mom that they noticed that one of the boys was wearing a Blue Jays cap and decided to ask them if they were Canadian. The three boys and four boys joined together to become seven, trying to reach home.

The distance from Cusco to Lima was far too great to travel before the borders closed. The boys travelled in rental cars from Cusco to Arequipa. On some parts of their journey, there were no roads, only dirt.

After they reached Arequipa, Curtis and his friends spent the night in a hostel while the other boys stayed at a hotel. In the morning, the Ontario boys found out that they couldn’t drive because of the state of emergency. They decided to join the Nova Scotians at the hotel. The staff were very kind to them. The boys were apprehensive about leaving to get food because of the police presence on the streets so at one point the head of security made the trip for them.

On the homefront, many contacts were made with officials both in Nova Scotia and Ontario. One friend chose a day to send e-mails to the premiers every hour on the hour. Many people prayed for the boys’ return. On Facebook posts, the defining signature became three hearts plus four hearts, for the seven boys. The Canadian government began sending in planes to bring stranded citizens back and finally, the seven young men were taken by bus to Lima, and then on a military airport, put on a flight to Canada.

What were the chances of the four young men from Ontario meeting the three from Nova Scotia on a street in Peru, and then finding out that there was actually a connection between Curtis and Jordan, through friends in both provinces? Coincidence? No. I believe that God brought the boys together for mutual support and protection. He used my friend, Kelly, to put the pieces of the puzzle together, which led to Carla, Donna and others building relationships which provided mutual support, comfort and finally, shared joy. Donna and Carla were complete strangers, in two provinces, but were brought together at an appointed time, just as their sons were. I would call this a divine appointment, not a coincidence

None of us know exactly how long the spread and effects of Covid-19 will last. We need to do our part to stay home, practice social distancing, observe good hygiene and offer hope and encouragement to others. The story of Curtis, Jordan and his friends reminds us that we are not alone. God hears our prayers and works in ways that we could not have imagined. No matter what happens in the days ahead, I will always associate Covid-19 with three hearts plus four hearts for seven brave young men, and new friendships formed.

May  God grant us all peace and protection.

Our young friend ran up and down the stairs, searching for paper hearts which each held a clue to help her find the next one. My daughter, Andrea, had put some ingenuity into these clues. One heart was inside the freezer in heart-shaped ice. Finally, our guest found the last heart, which led her to a bag of Valentine’s Day goodies, hidden under a cat patterned blanket.

During February, we are reminded of the issues of the heart. Valentine’s Day is a celebration of romantic love, friendship and family. The Heart and Stroke Foundation raises heart awareness and canvasses for donations to further medical research. It is important to keep our physical hearts in good order through diet and exercise.

The heart is figuratively speaking the place of our emotions. What we feed our spirits and minds is as important as what we feed our bodies.

We all struggle with negative thoughts and emotions. Working through pain, disappointment, sadness and many other feelings is a process. It is helpful to ask, though, whether we are nourishing ourselves from a place of forgiveness and gratitude or a place of bitterness and dejection. We may need to count the small blessings, reach out to others, and remember that life moves on and circumstances change.

Sometimes, we need to be like our little friend, going from one clue to another, enjoying the hunt and anticipating the reward at the end!

I was almost ready to give up. The night before, a friend and I had attended a large annual Christmas craft sale, in search of gifts or other treasures. An item had caught my eye but I hadn’t purchased it. Neither had I forgotten it. After my husband returned from work, he took me to the second night of the show so I could buy this gift for my daughter.

At least if I could find it. The vendor stall was near the back of the building. The dense crowd made it difficult to navigate. I pushed my way through, scanning the merchandise, turning corner after corner, trying to complete my coveted goal. Finally, I wondered if I should accept defeat. And suddenly there it was. The stall I was looking for. I gratefully made my purchase and prepared to exit the building.

If it were only that easy. Where was the exit? Everything became a maze of stalls, merchandise and crowds of people, crowds so dense that it was difficult to make any kind of forward progress. I am not exactly agoraphobic but could feel myself getting hot and anxious. It seemed I was wandering in circles, seeing the same tables, going through exits only to find that they didn’t lead to the front of the building.

Some years ago, I learned that if you need to make your way quickly through a crowd, one of the best strategies is to look at your feet. This technique sounds counterintuitive but works. You retain your sense of where people are but are not distracted by other sights. I looked at my feet and kept moving, kept trying new directions and finally arrived at another exit. By this time I was looking up again and saw a lady I had worked with. She told me how to get to the front of the building by walking outside for a short distance. Soon I was in the van with my husband, telling him the story of my harrowing experience.

As we enter 2020, many of us have goals, dreams and challenges. Sometimes the path ahead is clear and straight forward. Often it is not. The obstacles may seem too bewildering or difficult to overcome. We may be tempted to drift into the future, taking the path of least resistance. What are our options?

Don’t give up

If I had not walked a few steps further, after debating if my search was futile, I would not have found the gift for my daughter. Unless you decide that your goal is not your destiny, keep going until you obtain it.

Wait

David said, “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry” (Psalm 40:1, NIV). This type of waiting is not passive. David was waiting on God with expectation and hope. Some situations are simply out of our control. They may be dependent on another person or other factors. Our active waiting and trust release our faith. God hears our cries and answers in his time.

Take action

In other circumstances, we may be required to take action. We are still waiting, still trusting in God’s guidance and power, but need to pursue our object aggressively and relentlessly. I would not have found my way out of the building standing still. Sometimes we have to push forward, retrace our steps, turn corners, find another exit, change direction, ignore our discomfort and put one foot unceasingly in front of another until we reach our destination.

Look at your feet

My pastor has often said that when we are stuck, we may need to do something different. Shake things up, consider new possibilities. Looking through a small crack in the wall can open up an entirely new vista. Making a small change can bring sudden resolution. Look at your feet!

My daughter, Andrea, loved her gift. It was well worth struggling through the crowds. In 2020 go after your dreams. May this be your best year yet!

Happy New Year!

Many years ago, during a difficult time in our lives, several friends provided us with a turkey for Thanksgiving. The direction our path had taken was both devastating and unforeseen but for this moment in time, I was overwhelmed with a sense of richness, as my family sat down to our Thanksgiving dinner. There were many dark days to come before our circumstances gradually shifted with new opportunities and unexpected solutions. However, the sense of excitement our family felt over this bountiful meal will always be one of my best memories of Thanksgiving.

Gratitude for all we have is a practice to cultivate even when, or especially when, our realities do not match up with our dreams, or even our needs. We can view the proverbial glass as half-full or half-empty. Choosing a positive lifestyle is not always easy. Pain, loss, fatigue, anxiety, lack and shattered hopes can reduce the light we hold to a bare flicker.

Here are a few ways to intentionally build gratitude into your life:

Look Back

In the Old Testament, the children of Israel are constantly reminded to remember what God has done for them. After a victorious battle against the Philistines, the prophet “Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer saying,’Thus far the Lord has helped us'”(1 Samuel 7:12, NIV).

Find your Ebenezer. What has God done for you in the past? What prayers have been answered? Has a situation been resolved in an out-of-the-box manner that you hadn’t thought of? Place your Ebenezer before you. Trust that the power of God in the past is still there in your current circumstances.

Look Around You

What blessings are in your present? In what areas are you experiencing joy and plenty? An excellent practice is keeping a gratitude journal. Write down each day a few things you are thankful for. Include the good things you see happening in the lives of others. The more you practice gratitude, the more exponentially appreciative you will become of the small and large blessings already evident.

Look Ahead

What is your vision for your future? What are your hopes and dreams? What is God calling you to do? Our lives will not always look like we had expected them to. We all experience difficulties. Look towards the future, though, with faith, not fear. Pay it forward by being grateful for all the good things which lie ahead.

This year, we were able to make a contribution to another family’s Thanksgiving meal. We also celebrated a tradition with our own family of going around the table and sharing something we are thankful for.

All year long, let’s choose gratitude as a way of life.

Happy Thanksgiving!