Hi y’all! I’m pastor Jeanette Yep. I serve as the pastor of global and regional partnerships at Grace Chapel. Welcome to my study in scenic Billerica. My housemate Linda Doll and our dog Gracie moved here from Burlington just about a year ago. We live on the edge of a golf course (it’s not a fancy schmantzy golf course, honest). So far, we’ve not found any golf balls in our yard – phew!

Do you remember that it’s Lent? The coronavirus has taken over our lives. We’re living in unprecedented, historic, culture making times. Schools are closed. Restaurants are take out only. Many are unexpectedly unemployed. Households search for more TP and rice. University students are home. Graduates may not get to participate in a prom or a commencement. We’re physically isolating, tele-working and finding ways to control mayhem at home. We’re anxious. Frightened. Overwhelmed. Henny Penny, the sky is falling!

This puny, microscopic coronavirus has caused the whole world to face our frailty and vulnerability. On Ash Wednesday, we heard “From dust we have come and from dust we shall return.”

Recently, I’ve written our 50 partners who serve regionally and around the globe. I’ve asked them how they and their family are doing personally, invited them to share prayer requests, and finally to offer us at Grace Chapel any advice in this time of uncertainty.  One partner sent this scripture from Hebrews 10:23-25.

23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (NLT)

When times are hard, we’re invited to look to God, our maker. He knows us when we’re at our best and he knows us when we’ve messed up. Author Philip Yancey wrote, “Nothing we do can make him love us more and nothing we do can make him love us less.” God is for us. He’s our hope. He’s trustworthy and keeps his promises. When I’m tempted to despair, to give up, to cave in to my worries or my tendency to be depressed, I try to remember the times and places God has been faithful in my life. The ways he HAS shown up for me and exceeded what I could think or imagine. While we are in our collective funk, would you take a few moments to remember how God has been there for you? How has he been faithful? How has he been true to his promises and near to you in the hard times of your past? Pause to thank him for his faithfulness. “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”

The passage also encourages us to express “love and good works.” Pick up the phone to call someone. Send an email to check in with someone God brings to your mind and heart. When you are planning a grocery run, see if someone in the vulnerable group – those 65 and those with compromised immune systems of any age – check in and see if you might be able to do their grocery shopping for them. Offer to go for a walk outdoors, 6 feet apart, with someone who needs a break. And remember those living alone as well as those living in close quarters. Sometimes, family life, 24-7 can feel like too much of a good thing. Maybe the loving thing is to give each other space from time to time. And who’s kidding who? Proximity can bring out old wounds and unresolved conflict. Offer to listen carefully and pray for those near you.

I leave you with a spiritual tool that I’ve found helpful. It’s called “fixed hour prayers.” It’s one of the oldest and more authentic forms of Christian spiritual practices. There are short readings, scriptures and prayers that can be prayed 4 times a day. And I have found that “praying the hours” connects me with Christians around the globe who are praying in this way, inviting God to be present in our daily life even as we ask for more of his kingdom to come to earth. I’m using this book by Phyllis Tickle, “Eastertide – Prayers for Lent through Easter from the Divine Hours.” An electronic version of the daily office can be found at online through the Ann Arbor Vineyard, Pray the Divine Hours at: https://annarborvineyard.org/resources/pray-the-divine-hours/  There’s no guilt in this practice. If you’ve missed a day or a timeframe, just jump back in when you are able.

Let me conclude with a portion of a morning prayer for Tuesday, March 24th. Please join me in prayer.

“Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought me in safety to this new day: Preserve me with your mighty power, that I may not fall into sin, not be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.”