Hello everyone and blessed Good Friday,

I hope you all are safe and healthy in these crazy times. I am sending out so many prayers, love, and hugs in hopes you find comfort and peace.

Today I wanted to share some thoughts on my heart during the current pandemic we’re in. I shared this with my small group, Dwell, and wanted to bring it here.

For peace..

Jeremiah 29:11-13: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

This verse has been on my heart all during this season we are in with COVID-19. More than ever I realize how our plans can so easily change… and the one thing that remains constant is our God! This pandemic has allowed me to seek peace in Him and not the plans I have made for myself. Our Lord knows the plans He has for us… to prosper us and never to harm. In that, I am secure.

Psalm 46:1-5: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 

This verse reminds me that God remains our refuge in the midst of this pandemic. It seems as though the earth is giving way right now…state closures, health risks, companies closing, graduations canceled, financial burdens… but God hasn’t gone anywhere. This has brought me tremendous peace while my fiancé and I are praying our June wedding date will still work. We are faced with uncertainty in our jobs and our post college plans, but in all of this, God wants our hearts more than ever. When God is within us, we cannot fall. One thing I have asked myself daily is “what am I allowing to dwell in me during this season?” It’s easy to let negativity, doubt, and uncertainty win right now but we need to replace those thoughts with His promises and goodness.

John 14:27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

This world physically cannot provide peace like our God does. This pandemic shows how easily our world can be robbed of peace… maybe this can help us return to God? Maybe this season can bring us the rest we needed – to slow down, spend time in prayer, be with family, focus on relationships virtually, help those in need…

In our physical distancing maybe we become spiritually close. 

He calls us to uncertainty so we can become fully certain in Him.

This season of physical isolation can bring us even closer to our Savior.

It would be my joy to pray over you in this time. Please reach out with any prayer requests via my contact link or Instagram. We are all in this together!

ciao for now,

claire