This is grief...

There is a lot of restrictions right now and to some people they feel extreme.

There’s a lot of tattling and anger for people not obeying the rules in the same fashion.

Yes, I’m sure there’s people wandering the aisles of any open store simply because they’re bored. But there’s also people that are doing anything they can to combat anxiety, loneliness, and fear.

Some people have decluttered their entire house to get their mind off of this season. Some have scrubbed every inch and rewashed clean clothes to keep their hands busy.

Some have picked smoking or drinking back up.

Some are overeating and some can’t stomach food at all.

This is called grief.

So many people aren’t understanding that this is grief.

For all of us. We’ve ALL lost something from this. And we all grieve differently.

Today I’m asking for you to hold your opinions.

Just for one day.

Hold your opinions when you’re scrolling through social media and

see someone else’s version of “social-distancing”.

Hold your judgment in the grocery store when you see that person laughing during a phone conversation, looking like they’re having too much fun in a terribly sad time.

Bite your tongue when you see the folks in the home improvement store buying what doesn’t look like a “necessary item”. It might have been an item YOU could have waited a month to go out and buy, but for someone else, this is their way to handle grief and they needed it today, right this minute.

Assume the best in people.

There’s plenty of people out there disrespecting the rules simply because they can.

But assume they aren’t.

Just for today.

And for the love of all that is holy,

do not judge me for taking pictures— alone, in the empty field.

I could be at home. But I’m just doing what I can to

keep my brain busy and unafraid. This is how I’m coping.

And remember, if you were at home too, you wouldn’t have known I was there.

All the love and all for Him,

Stephanie