Two Years: A Letter To West Franklin

West Franklin Family,

This time two years ago, all of our worlds were being rocked by a virus. We were pushing people out of the way at Costco to secure toilet paper. We were buying masks and assuming the pandemic would be over by Spring Break. We were already ready for our kids to go back to school. I sent my first Saturday letter to you two years ago – March 21, 2020. TWO YEARS! It was the Saturday before our second Sunday we didn’t meet due to COVID-19. Yep. It’s hard to believe. Tomorrow marks the two year “anniversary” of the first Sunday we didn’t meet.

Here’s a portion of the first letter:

Dear West Franklin,

Tomorrow will be week #2 since we have seen one another on a Sunday morning. It’s true, isn’t it? Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Your pastor didn’t know how much he needed to be with you until he couldn’t. I don’t really fear the virus. Honestly, I am not scared of contracting it. Maybe I should be. I do have a fear in the midst of all this, however. My fear is not knowing how long this will last. That, if I am being honest, is what troubles me most. Part of that “trouble” is not being able to be with you.

You know what, though? The Apostle Paul was often far from his congregations. He probably spent more time away from them than with them. What did he do? Wrote letters. Love letters to the men and women he cared for so deeply. If it was good enough for Paul, it’s good enough for me. So here goes. . .

Thursday morning, I read this from Proverbs 19: “Many are the plans of a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” (v.21) Chew on that for a few minutes. Seriously. I’ll wait. How many plans have you had interrupted over the last 10 days? Me too. If you’re like me, you are still making adjustments – constantly re-planning or rearranging your life. God isn’t surprised. God isn’t worried. As we say in North Alabama, “He ain’t skeered.” He is simply allowing His divine purpose to prevail. Don’t blame Satan for this pandemic. He doesn’t deserve the credit. Sure, this is a result of living in a Genesis 3 world. But the LORD has His purpose in allowing it now. Lean into that.

My guess is, if you’re like me, you thought this pandemic would be over by Easter 2020. It wasn’t. As a matter of fact, there are still significant traces – TWO YEARS LATER of the heinous virus. Though I hope we are well beyond the worst of it, we just don’t know. You know what I do know? That you are resilient. You love your church. You love Jesus and want others to know about His love. You love your pastor and the staff team. You maintained your joy. You prayed for one another. You text one another. You called one another. You tried Zoom. You longed to come back and worship together. You watched and worshiped on-line. You hugged even when you weren’t supposed to (I love that). You were patient as leadership tried to navigate something no one knew anything about. You worshiped six-feet apart. You worshiped in the fellowship hall. You endured the interesting “sanitary” Lord’s Supper elements. You remembered God was in charge. You remembered God is always good. I’ve learned a lot about us over the past two years. One biggie is how resilient you are.

What have you learned about West Franklin over the past two years?

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow with my Bible open to John 9. It would be a good idea if you set your clocks forward an hour before you fall asleep tonight.

I’ll close today the way I closed with my first letter to you. The things I challenged you to do, you did. And I love that you still do. . .