How COVID-19 Taught Me How To TRULY Trust in God With All My Heart #QuarantineWithGod

Feb 3, 20225 min read

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” -Jeremiah‬ ‭17:7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Wow! I can’t believe it has been since April 12th, EASTER since I last blogged. COVID-19 Quarantine really got the best of me when it came to blogging and social media’s. I really tried to do a tech detox too, which according to my last blog post being over a month and a half ago - I guess I succeeded?

COVID quarantine really taught me so much. I was one of the fortunate ones to walk away truly a better person. I dove into scripture reading so much that I am (almost) ready for a new adventure this coming July/August. While also doing a much needed tech detox, reading more books and finding out that I kind of like homeschooling. Granted, homeschooling was a little brutal there at the end, I truly did love having Tyson home and teaching him and being a full-time stay-at-home-mom. Something I swore I never would had said before this quarantine.

Granted, I missed being a photographer, but I can’t lie, it was a much needed slow down reality check that I was needing. It was amazing how God provided too with me not being able to work, and losing out on the amount of money I was banking on coming in this spring. I had a jam packed spring, and was ready to pay off some things, but apparently God had other plans for me. And you know what, I am thankful. He showed me how much I can truly TRULY trust in Him and Him alone. He provided the exact dollar amount we needed every two weeks until May 1st when I was allowed to start shooting (outdoors) again.

HE did that. HE PROVIDED. Incredible, huh?

Incredible is an understatement if you ask me.

I still get chills thinking about it all playing out the way that it did. I mean right now, head-to-toe, covered in goosebumps at our LORD GOD still holding on to the very dear promises he made and laid out in the Bible for all to read many many years ago. Still fulfilling them, still loving us, you and me, unconditionally.

Let’s just say I didn’t make the dollar amount I was “banking on,” but oh my goodness, as my whole body covers up in chills again, I made so much more y’all!

SO. MUCH. MORE!

And I am not talking dollar signs!

Yes, HE provided the money we needed. Keyword “NEEDED” nothing more, nothing less. HE provided what we needed to survive, but what he gave my mind, my heart... my soul. (Chills again, tears starting to form...) I can’t even put it into words what Our God blessed me with during this time that could have been so terrible.

And I promise to you, I am not trying to brag here like God blessed me of all people with so many hurting and dying out there. That is not the point of this blog post. It is to brag on our Father who still keeps His promises. I have read over and over and over again as I have been reading the Holy Bible chronologically this year, and it is repeated over and over that Our Father knows are needs and as long as we TRUST in HIM, He will always provide what we NEED. But first, we must truly TRUST in HIM. And luckily, that is what I did, instead of worrying, instead of trying to control. I let it all go. I was ready to accept the fate if we lost everything. I truly could see the beauty in starting over if it happened that way. I was truly trusting in God that if that was what was going to happen then boy would that be a beautiful way to rebuild our life from losing everything - you know - stuff - to building our way up again in His way. Or I was trusting in Him to soften the heart of our places we owe money, OR whatever else He was planning.

You see God might not have made this virus happen, but He sure knew it was coming, so I have no doubt He knew all the ways it could play out for each and every one of us. I let Him take the wheel, and He did way better than I would have that’s for sure. And I got to build a relationship with Him that was on a solid foundation. And I am so glad because real life came blazing back in full speed ahead, but now I know one thing...

I don’t want to go back to my old way of living. I don’t want the old “normal”. I want the “new normal”. My new normal is so much better, and yes, it is hard to maintain while throwing in my new working schedule, but I need to keep reminding myself to always inquire of my Father first, and the rest should happen peacefully IF I trust in Him and truly listen to His plans and not my own.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;” - Proverbs‬ ‭3:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

My “New Normal” Goals:

God centered - inquiring of our Father every single day. Reading HIS word every single day
Taking care of myself - eating better - yoga! Why I didn’t start yoga sooner I could kick myself for but I am now!
Husband! Our Family! My kids! PLAY PLAY PLAY!
Be a better housewife - unfortunately I still suck at this one -
My job - remembering I am worth it, my girls are worth it, and never allow my God-given talent to ruin or distract me from my Father who blessed me with this talent. My job never comes before my time with God and I always - every single week - will have a SABBATH DAY! (A blog on this coming later).

That‘s it. Pretty simple huh? You‘re probably wondering why it took a quarantine to get that simplicity down? lol Unfortunately I have failed already numerous times. But I keep trying and I keep steering back to the straight path toward God, and I pray that soon I won‘t veer off the path as much, but you know what I am finding?

Veering off the path, wrenches thrown into my plans, all the messy are actually beautiful. You know why? Because they keep me humble! I never want to get too prideful where I think I can’t “sin” or I am on a “perfect path to God”. That’s where arrogance, pride and the devil creeps in and does the damage. When we think we are all cozy and comfortable and good at life - we then find out it was a prison the entire time we just had our blinders on refusing to see that we weren’t referring to God the whole time, checking boxes and putting on a show for the world and not truly living for God’s life. I don’t know...