This is another post for Five Minute Friday, where we take 5 minutes to write about a one-word prompt, and then share the post on the Five Minute Friday website. Here’s my post for this week’s prompt.
This week our one-word prompt is: TOMORROW. You can check out all the other great posts, or submit your own Five Minute Friday creation, right here: Five Minute Friday Link Up 03/20/2020
Now on to the topic at hand. It’s been quite a week; we’ve taken a real wild ride this past week, and it doesn’t seem to be over yet. We are all catching our breath and trying to regain our balance.
So setting the timer for 5 minutes … and GO
Last week at this time I was heading home from the store … with about half what I normally buy, if that. I always do my shopping on Friday afternoons, after I get off work. I get a take-n-bake pizza at the local grocery store for us to have for dinner, and pick up the items I will need for the coming week. I have it pretty well planned out when I get to the store – exactly what to buy, and where to find it.
But last Friday was a complete change. Shelves that were normally full were bare. I wanted to buy flour to make some bread and oatmeal cookies over the weekend. I never expected to find every bag of flour in the store gone. No take-n-bake pizzas, either. So we had to settle for frozen. Oh well.
I had never seen so many cleared shelves before. And I wondered what people were thinking. Did they realize what they were doing, in buying so much at one time? Did they not stop to think they were keeping others from buying essentials they would need? Was their selfishness driven by panic? I think that may be the case. The fuel that drove the frenzy was panic and fear.
If they had stopped to think for a moment they might have realized the world would keep on going, and they would be facing another day very soon. The tension and haste of the moment would give way to the calm and determination of tomorrow. Finding tomorrow in the face of their distress might have seemed like a dim prospect. They were so concerned about the day they were blinded in the moment, and forgot we always have a tomorrow waiting just around the corner.
In their haste to gather what they felt they needed, and not be “left out” they were dooming others to go without. It’s stressful to feel panicked about the future, and feel there’s no prospect of tomorrow. We all want to have hope that finding tomorrow will mean a brighter day for us all. With faith in God’s absolute power, we can trust we are taken care of and God is in control of the outcome.
And … TIME
I am linking up for the Five Minute Friday weekly post. The FMF is hosted by Kate Motaung over at our Five Minute Friday website. We would love to have you join us.
- Worthy or Worthless – Single Mom Struggles
- How To Build A Single Mom Resource Group
- 3 Keys To Teach Kids About Debt
- Criticall Exam Tips – How To Pass The Test
- Tithing As A Widow – Can You Afford It?
- Anxiety – Don’t Let It Control You!
- How To Save Money – Automate Your Savings!
- Cut Grocery Spending Down To Size
- How To Create A 72-Hour Bag
- Laundry Room Organization Hacks and Tips
- 7 Tips To Beat Seasonal Depression
- Heart Disease – Healthy Changes To Lower Your Risk
- Brown Sugar Pound Cake Recipe
- How God Blesses Broken Hearts – Dealing With Grief
Please share this article if you found it helpful. I’d love for other folks to be able to find it. Thanks!
Joan Merrell is a solo mom to two daughters, a widow, and a security technician at Oregon State Hospital. Oregon native, farm girl and 4H leader, maker of homemade bread and chocolate chip cookies, she balances (more or less) full-time work with caring for a home filled with a teenage daughter, 2 entitled cats, and a hyper German Shepherd. She enjoys gardening and hiking, reading Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti novels, and searches for a few spare minutes to communicate with her grown daughter and son-in-law on her Marco Polo app. Find out more about Joan here.
I think that feeling of “not being left out” really does fuel panic, irrational behavior (gather all the flour I could possibly use in six months) and fear. We seem conditioned that way:( Hope you are well and healthy!
The fuel that drives the frenzy
makes selfishness an issue;
just witness that it’s trendy
now, to hoard Ye Toilet Tissue.
The virus, yeah, it’s nasty
but doesn’t warrant terror,
let alone the current hasty
run to mass hysteria.
But could this be an answer
(and sometimes it is seeming)
that many crave disaster
to give boring lives some meaning?
Or perhaps they’re dumb, or just forgot
that Ebola this is not.