This month we
celebrated Ella and Cody’s 6th anniversary on 2/22, Caitlin and Ben’s 4th
anniversary on 3/5, my brother Ken’s birthday on 3/6, and Kortney’s birthday on
3/17.
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| Taking a walk with the Mickles on a Sunday afternoon |
Levi and Zuzu fighting for popcorn (Zuzu won)
Of course, the Corona
virus is foremost in just about everyone’s mind, and it has definitely had an
impact on our family. With Hannah, Kevin, and Abigail all working in the
health care industry, we are especially praying for their safety and
health. Abigail already was forced to leave work and quarantine herself
at home because she treated someone who later tested positive for Corona.
She has had no symptoms, so we’re praying she is OK and will be able to go back
to work soon. Our church services were canceled, my chorus was canceled,
and at work we are being told to work from home as much as possible. Some
of my job I can do from home, but some I can’t, so I’ve had to come into work
every day this week so far.
When this
crisis was still relatively new, Amelia, Zach, Jem, and Levi took a train trip
to visit Cai, Amy, Carissa, Matt, Ruby, Caitlin, and Ben. We did notice
someone all goggled and masked at the train station when I dropped them off,
but mostly it was pretty normal. They had a great time spending a long
weekend with them, playing games, sharing meals, and visiting.
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| Waiting for their train (I've never seen our train station this crowded!) |
While they were
gone, Krista and I had a foretaste of being empty nesters. We think we’ll
do fine. We definitely missed them, but the house was nicely quiet, and
Krista said it stayed clean for much longer.
I took a day
off while they were gone, and Krista and I visited Niagara Falls.
The weather wasn’t perfect, but Niagara Falls is always a great outing.
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| Cave of the Winds |
Cave of the Winds, Bridal Veil, American Falls
Cave of the Winds, looking towards Canadian Falls
Three Sisters and Little Brother Islands
American and Canadian Falls from the Observation Tower
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| Looking toward the American and Canadian Falls |
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| View down the Niagara River |
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| Lunch at Red Coach Inn with a view of the Niagara River |
I am praying
that all of you stay safe and healthy, and remember God is not surprised by
this crisis. He is still in control and worthy of all praise! The
question is not “Why do some suffer and die?” but is “Why don’t we all suffer
and die?” It is only by His grace that any of us live, because we all
deserve death for rebelling against our Creator. But God, in His amazing grace, didn't leave us with our death sentence. Because of His great love for us, instead He sent Jesus to die for us. Jesus willingly came and took our death and gave us His eternal life. He took all our sin and gave us His perfect righteousness. And He proved His victory over sin and death and hell by rising from the grave three days after He died. Now, all we have to do is surrender to Him, trust solely in Jesus' sacrifice by the power of His grace and through the faith He gives us, repent of our sins by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we can again have the perfect fellowship with God that He planned from before time began.
Until a
hopefully non-quarantined April!
