Plexiglas

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement
Plexiglas

Wouldn’t it have been grand if we had had the foresight to invest in Plexiglas early January of 2020? I’ll bet we would have been rewarded with a significant increase in our investment. Now, it seems every cash register anywhere has a Plexiglas barrier to help ward off the Covid-19 virus. Restaurants often have Plexiglas to separate seating areas. It seems as if we encounter this useful material whenever we leave our home regardless of where our errands take us. Surely an investment in this substance is providing a handsome return to the investors who had the foresight to anticipate the need. Who would have guessed the enormous use of this material last January? Anticipating needs, now there’s a skill we can all use every day. Whether it is to supply our home with vital items that suddenly become hard to find such as the surprising scarcity of toilet paper in 2020 or noticing a person in need and calling them or even the ability to tune into a person’s emotional needs without being informed ahead of time.

Without advance notice, without a lot of research, or without the proverbial crystal ball, how do we manage to recognize a need ahead of time and become prepared for the unexpected? The best route to advance preparation is to keep in regular connection with our God. If we talk to God often and sincerely seek to stay attuned to His will, He can make us alert to those things that will help us protect ourselves and our families. He will bring us clues for when and how to bless others. He can alert us to an emotional need we haven’t recognized. He will reveal steps that would benefit our lives and others that we wouldn’t perceive on our own. Isaiah 59:1b NASB says, “ But the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear,” but our human ability to hear and understand what He considers best for us can be dim. When we practice listening as we pray, we become more attuned to God’s will and His guidance. Instead of spending all our time speaking when we pray, allow for some silence for God to enter our thoughts. We can anticipate catching more of His loving care.