Good Friday morning Church Requel!
One week ago today I tested positive for Covid-19. This past Monday Mary Kay tested positive as well. We are both doing much better today. My symptoms were mostly those associated with a severe head cold - laryngitis, runny nose, stuffy sinus, at times uncontrolled sneezing and at other times a dry cough. And always - fatigue. Most nights I go to bed at 7pm and sleep until 7 the next morning. Mary Kay's symptoms were different. She ran a low grade fever (I never did) and suffered from headaches. She also experiences fatigue. The earlier part of this week was the most difficult for us, but we seem to be on the positive side of this thing now. And we consider ourselves most fortunate that our symptoms were not much worse.
We are both following the isolating protocols of quarantine. Today is Day 7 for me. The Health Department contacted both of us and instructed us to quarantine for 10 days - or longer if we show any signs of a fever. So needless to say, I won't be leading worship at Church Requel again this Sunday morning. That honor will be given to Brandi and to Brian. Both remain symptom free and both want to maintain a live worship opportunity at our church. Thanks to both of you!
So for those of you who live in the Mansfield area, you will have the choice to attend worship locally at 11am. If you do, please wear a mask, maintain a social distance from one another, and make liberal use of the hand sanitizers. Several within our church have tested positive for Covid-19 this past week (besides Mary Kay and me), so we completely understand if you decide to play it safe and watch the worship stream on Facebook this week. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that this pandemic is hitting all of us very close to home.
Brian has agreed to preach the second sermon in the new series from Proverbs - God's Practical Guide To Good Living. This week the title of the sermon is "Earning Respect." I believe this will be an encouraging and helpful talk for all of us. Thank you Brian!
The songs we are planning to sing include "See A Victory," "Who You Say I Am," "What A Beautiful Name," "Stand In Your Love," and "Glorious Day."
Once again I will be worshipping beside many of you online. After I did this last week, I have some suggestions for those of you worshipping with us online. First, prepare your heart ahead of time. Don't just click in at the last minute. But start your own focus on the Holy Spirit about a half hour ahead of time. Anticipate the worship experience.
Second, I found out that it really helped me to make comments throughout the worship time. When we are present it is easy to clap and smile and participate. But we can participate online too! We just have to be a little more deliberate about it. I loved that several of you actually responded to others online writing that you were praying for them. Way to go!
Finally, it is really easy to miss out on the communion and prayer time and just allow your brain to go into stagnation. It helps to actually have the communion elements in hand as well as writing out a list of prayer requests.
This is a difficult time for all of us. We are each doing what we can to make the best of it. Hopefully the end of this pandemic is in sight. In the meantime, let's continue to hold one another up in prayer, encouraging one another with affirming words. I appreciate each of you! Love you! Pastor Mark
