00:00I want to share with you just three things very quickly that I think can be helpful and useful to you in maintaining faith, right?
00:08So the first one is staying present.
00:11Staying present means that you're going to need to live fully in these moments, even though it's not easy.
00:17So sometimes we can just focus so much on I'm coming out of this.
00:21I'm going to be on the other side.
00:23I'm going to just overcome that we don't live fully in the moment.
00:28And I think the best way to maintain our emotional and spiritual and mental health in this season is to be honest about how we're feeling and staying present.
00:38How are you doing today?
00:39Not how are you going to be doing, not what's going to happen, but how are you feeling presently in this moment?
00:46This moment is carrying a version and dimension of you that you haven't been introduced to yet.
00:51If you are so intent in breathing past it and moving past it, you may never get to know how you handle yourself in different seasons of life.
00:59And if you don't know how to take care of yourself in different seasons of life, then no relationship, whether it's the relationship you have with God or with others, it's going to be able to serve you in moments where you're feeling perhaps cloudy.
01:12You're going to want to look back and be able to make an account for how you felt.
01:17How did I feel last time I was in a situation like this so that you can also see how I came out of it.
01:23So as you focus in and hone in, you're going to be able to understand who you are in different seasons of life.
01:29You'll know that I tend to get a little low.
01:31I tend to get a little worried.
01:32I have to work out.
01:33It's better for me mentally.
01:35I want you to stay present in this season and really get to connect with yourself so that you can learn who you are from season to season.
01:42This is one of the things that has really, really been helping to balance like those cloudy moments, right?
01:49For me is I've been able to number two, acknowledge and give gratitude for what hasn't changed.
01:55There are things that I do throughout the day that I would have been doing regardless of whether or not we were in a pandemic or not.
02:02Sometimes we can think so much about how life has changed, about what we aren't able to do anymore, how we aren't able to function the way that we used to, that we missed out on seeing how things haven't changed, right?
02:14So I opened my eyes this morning.
02:16I would have done that whether or not we were in a pandemic.
02:18I brushed my teeth.
02:19I would have done that whether or not we were in a pandemic or not.
02:22Take a moment and give gratitude for the things that haven't changed.
02:25And if you're like me, I think you're going to see that there are things in our lives that have stayed consistent more than there are things that have drastically changed, right?
02:35And so in the midst of it all, whether you're a hospital worker or you're at home with the kids, make sure that you take a moment and say, at least this part of my life has remained consistent.
02:45And those things are going to remind you of faith staying consistent, hope staying consistent.
02:52There are some consistencies in the midst of the change.
02:55And we got to know that because it helps us to stay anchored and established.
03:00And the last thing is to actively take time to see outside of yourself.
03:05I was walking with my 10-year-old and I realized I've been so consumed with how I'm experiencing this that I haven't asked her how she's navigating this process.
03:14What do you think about this?
03:16My daughter's four and she gave her baby doll a bath yesterday because she said she had coronavirus.
03:21And I was like, what?
03:23I don't know if the bath is going to take away the coronavirus that your baby doll has, but let's talk about this coronavirus.
03:29And what does this look like from the eyes of a four-year-old?
03:32How is my husband handling this?
03:34His life has changed.
03:35Our children's lives have changed.
03:37Our grocery store clerk, I was in the grocery store yesterday and said, thank you for what you guys are doing.
03:42I know it's been a lot.
03:43Make sure that you also realize that this is happening to everyone.
03:47It's not just happening to you.
03:49And sometimes we can't change what's happening, but taking the extra step to see things from another person's perspective, one helps us remember that we aren't in it alone, but also helps us to become servants in this world.
04:00And when we live to serve those around us and to not just be inundated with how we feel, we see the world become a better place.
04:08Those are three things that I am doing that are helping me maintain my faith and to have hope in this season.
04:15But I think the primary thing that I want you to remember in our time together is how God uses cloudy days to remember that you don't have to feel guilty for whatever you're feeling in any given moment.
04:28But to know that you're still progressing, you're still moving forward, even in the midst of those cloudy days, you're not stuck.
04:35You are not in it by yourself.
04:37And we're going to look up and we're going to be beyond this.
04:41We're going to be better as a society and a culture.
04:43I believe that with all of my heart.
04:45And if you don't believe it, that the culture is going to be better, I think you've got to start with yourself.
04:50I'm going to be better.
04:51I'm going to be more intentional.
04:53I'm going to be more disciplined, more focused.
04:55Set your goals.
04:56Set your intentions and begin to work towards that.
04:59And know that when you have down days, when you have days that you're struggling, that it doesn't mean that you're not progressing.
05:05It doesn't mean that you're not moving forward.
05:07It means that you're human, that you have feelings, that you have emotions.
05:11And sometimes when we can't see our way, we have to trust that God is still using those cloudy days.
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