“You ought to say, ‘If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:15)
“Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34)
We’ve started making backup plans for worship leadership should someone need to quarantine for 10 days. Soon I suspect we’ll need backup plans for those backup plans. The provisional “if the Lord wishes” is becoming habitual; Lord willin’ and the test is negative. Lord willin’ and I don’t develop symptoms. Thinking beyond today in 10-day possibilities makes such a sentiment eminently practical.
And that’s enough for today. The next two weeks have been imported into today’s troubles for all of our planning with our work and our kids and our leisure. I know people planning a trip to Portugal in February, and the whole thing was conceived as mere potential; it seems just as likely as not that it won’t come off. Yet they don’t seem worried. They’re playing with house money if they actually make the trip.
I wonder is taking stock of today in light of the next two weeks is a mental habit that will stay with us to our benefit.
YoRocko! 
I had a colleague who used to say, “if the Lord tarries!” I always thought that was quaint but it seems quite apt for today. The principal at my son’s school suggests that we should have a “snow day” mentality and I find that helpful too. Each day holds a new email or auto call from the schools–I’m finding that a shrug works better than outrage. We are all doing the best we can.
That being said, when I took the Covid test nearly a week ago, I was swiftly packing up books, computer, work, snacks, etc., just in case. The OTC tests tell you 15 minutes, but that pink line for positive was clear in about a minute. I quickly threw on a mask and rushed to quarantine until my family could test, leaving behind my favorite reading glasses in my haste. It’s not a bad idea to have your “quarantine bag” packed and ready at all times, just in case — my husband has been so busy keeping us (2 kids also positive) fed and watered that I just got the reading glasses today.
Get well!
The whole business puts a new, grateful light on being able to stock up on things today. Considering my parents’ lingering memories (for the rest of their lives) of the Depression and The War, in which I could hear the capitals, I don’t think we will lose these habits.