“The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Psalm 118:6

I’ve been telling myself for quite some time I’ve got to get back to my blog and update since the pages of the calendar continue to turn. As you see, I haven’t been listening to that voice in my head…until now.

It started Wednesday evening with a text to our “The Whole Family” group…

“You guys watching TV?! Pres Trump just said no flights to Europe for 30 days.” – Jenna

Then…

“Tom Hanks and his wife have it. Also, no fans allowed at March Madness games.” – Jamie

“Did you hear about boys state b-ball? No fans allowed there either. How sad.” – Jenna

“And NBA just suspended the rest of the season.” – Callie

“Wyatt texted me and said a player on the Utah Jazz tested positive and has been playing for a while while sick.” – Callie

“I’m so sick of even talking about it.” – Jenna

“Agree. It’s madness.” – Jamie

And so it began. When we went to bed later that night, none of us had any idea what the next several days would mean to us, to our community, to our state, to our country.

Thursday, March 12…first text of the day.

“Well, my hectic week next week just got easier. Malcolm music contest cancelled.” – me

“UNL is officially online. All spring semester. I’m very sad. I’m sure UNO will follow. What a screwed up senior year.” – Callie

“Geeze. Maybe if things calm down, they’ll go back to normal.” – Jenna

“Yes, it will definitely be one that you’ll remember forever. I’m sure sorry this is how it’s ending for you!” – me

“UNO is cancelled.” – Callie

“Oh Cal, that sucks! Have they put a timeline on it at all?” – Taylor

“Nope, just the rest of the semester! Insane. And sad.” – Callie

“So you’ll be doing everything online, or did I miss something?” – Jamie

“Everything online, yeah.” – Callie

“What sucks is you haven’t even been given the chance to get used to the fact that you will no longer attend classes there. At least when it’s nearly over, you can sort of have your goodbyes. That’s just me. It’s been your life for four years.” – me

“Yes, I’m a little too nostalgic about stuff so I’m sad that it’s just…done. No more class w/my college friends. Like will I even see anyone other than my roommates? Maybe it’ll ease me into post-grad life.” – Callie

“No CWS (College World Series) either? IT DOESN’T END.” – Callie

“WHAT?” – Jamie

“WHAAAAAT?” – Taylor

“Just cancelled it. And cancelled March Madness. Talking about it in class right now – Omaha’s gonna be broke!” – Callie

“You actually HAVE to be kidding me. Ummm, the paper said like $8 million for March Madness alone. No CWS. No Stormchasers?!?! Bye. Moving to Jordan, MT where people have their wits about them.” – Jamie

“The thought has already crossed my mind, Jamie.” – Taylor

“I’m serious. What are they even doing?” – Jamie

“You would think that everything would be back to normal within two months. Haven’t the number of cases dropped in China? And it’s been about 2.5 months.” – Callie

“Keeping people away from each other. I just want to know what the heck they know that we don’t.” – me

“Curt thinks it will be very soon that schools close. Thoughts? I’m just saying…do you think we’ll even have school on Monday?” – Jamie

“No” – Callie

“Annndddd Millard cancels classes.” – Jamie

“Possible Cass County case.” – Taylor

“Yikes” – Callie

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

This is how our Thursday ended. There was a BEAUTIFUL sunset that night. I felt a little melancholy after taking the picture and decided to post it on the Zeorian Harvesting & Trucking Facebook page:

As the sun sets on one of the most unsettling days I’ve experienced since 9/11/01 for our country, I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

As on 9/11/01, I seemed to walk around the house in a sort of shocked state. How is this happening right now? Why is it happening? What will happen next?

My youngest daughter won’t be able to complete her college experience as she should. She probably won’t even be allowed to experience a college graduation ceremony.

HUGE sporting events cancelled. Concerts cancelled. Schools closed. The American economy taking a severe dive. Lives disrupted like we haven’t seen since 9/11.

We know we can get through it. We’ve been here before. The shock will wear off and life will become the new “normal”.

And we’ll wish we could go backwards – to the day when we didn’t have to think about the corona virus or terrorists. Our world continues to change and we MUST remember one thing…

God is STILL in control! He’s right here next to us.

Wake up tomorrow and continue taking one step in front of the other…and move. We must move forward and make the best of the situation as we can.

We can’t let it consume us.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

On Friday, President Trump declared a national emergency waiving laws so hospitals could operate like they need to. Everywhere you looked, there was information regarding how to determine if symptoms are related to COVID-19, more cancellations, more people testing positive with the virus. More reasons to cause anxious thoughts and wondering what the heck is happening.

Toilet paper is one of the most sought after commodity. Crazy! The grocery store shelves are bare. People are panicking. Events are being cancelled left and right. People are afraid to do anything – go anywhere. Those who can are being told to work from home. We are all supposed to practice “social distancing”. Words that I had never even heard of a week ago. This virus was something in different countries…not in our backyard.

It’s now in our backyard.

We received the recorded phone call from the superintendent of our school district last night letting us know school was, in fact, cancelled for the rest of the week. He said they will re-evaluate the situation on the 22nd to see if school would resume on the 23rd. I could sense a tone of defeat in his voice. I can’t imagine the inner turmoil people in leadership have put themselves through in TRYING to determine what the best plan of attack is.

I have a personal situation to deal with. I’ve been putting together a women’s retreat the last three years and the 2020 HarvestHER Wellness Retreat is scheduled for March 26-29. Do I cancel? Do I wait and see IF things will calm down first? After so much work and planning and all that goes into an event – of any size – it’s such a difficult call. I have a Plan B in place now. We’ll see what things look like on the 23rd and go from there. The gals coming from Canada don’t feel as though they can leave the security of their country’s border and I don’t blame them.

This just makes me angry. And very, very sad.

And a bit concerned. What if everything we’re looking at right now isn’t the worst of what’s yet to come? What if we do get really sick? But…what if it’s just like the H1N1 virus and won’t concern most of the population.

I guess it’s a day by day thing. In the meantime, we are all experiencing something we’ve never been through. Something that causes anxiety, confusion and panic. We’ve got to step back and remember that God is still in control! And have faith that whatever is ahead of us, He will be right there beside us.

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4