I was watching an online sermon yesterday and something the Pastor said stuck with me. I've been hearing and saying myself that "we are all in the same boat" for the last few weeks, but what he said was "we might all be in the same storm, but we are certainly not all in the same boat".
"We might all be in the same storm, but we are certainly not all in the same boat"
I have heard and read about people that are enjoying the relaxation and slow-down as they are financially and personally strong enough to move through this without being deeply affected. I've seen local coffee shops and other business shut down and have to lay off employees who now are without income to pay their rent, gas or other bills. I've talked to and heard about employers, big and small, who have had to make the difficult decision to layoff hard to replace long-term employees, knowing full well what difficulties that creates. I've read about businesses that are borrowing money they do not have to keep employees, hoping this passes sooner than later. I've talked with retired people who have seen their entire retirement funds hammered. I've talked with builders that days and weeks ago were signing multi-million dollar loans to purchase land to keep up with the demand of families wanting a new home this year. I've spoken with bankers who went through the 2008 crisis and worry this could snowball into a similar situation. I've spoken to Pastors who are preaching to empty Churches not knowing if their message was being received as intended and realizing their Church's ability to pay expenses and overhead may be in jeopardy. I've spoken and read about those in healthcare having to work unbelievable hours and in less than desirable circumstances and be worried they may get sick and infect their own loved ones. I've witnessed first hand our three kids transform into home school kids while their teachers, schools and mother all move into the unknown and unplanned world of online home-schooling, for who knows how long.
You see, we are all in the same storm, but certainly in different boats. Some people are battleships slicing through the rough seas and some people are clutching onto a piece of driftwood just trying to stay above the water.
For me and my family, we will not get lost in the bad news or wait for a government bail out. We will pray for the world, encourage each other and try to be the best encouragement we can to others. This too shall pass, and hopefully we will all be better people and encouragers of life than ever before.
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