COVID-19 has created a once-in-a-lifetime situation that finds many families with less on their calendars and more time at home with one another. While we do not know how much longer this will last, we all expect it to end at some point. Before it does, however, perhaps families would benefit from sitting down and making two lists:

I started outlining this piece about anxiety long before most of us had ever heard the term “coronavirus." Now, it seems to be an all-consuming topic of our news, conversations, and concerns. I’m not going to try to address the specific "what ifs" for the months ahead. Josh already discussed strategy here. Instead, I want to touch on how we can respond when these worst-case scenarios threaten to overwhelm us personally. I want to tell my own story of processing anxieties in the light of the gospel.

Los lideres tenemos un problema serio cuando pensamos que sabemos suficiente. Cuando eso sucede, nuestro aprendizaje se estanca y se retrasa porque el mundo sigue andando, no se detiene a esperarnos. Los líderes que tienen la humildad y el deseo de aprender son los que tendrán éxito al enfrentar los cambios; los que no, seguirán usando las estrategias y los programas que ya dejaron de funcionar.

Like most of you, I've spent even more time than normal perusing the news on the internet. In a recent trip through the news feed, I stumbled across an article on a tech website. The headline read: "Google searches for 'good news' are at an all-time high.” Turns out people are searching for the phrase "good news" more than any time since Google began publishing its trends in 2004. For those of us with a gospel message to share, that kind of lay-up is just too good to pass up.

Yo me quedo en casa—pero ¿cómo? ¿En qué condiciones físico mental me quedo? El Señor en estos tiempos, ha estado tratando conmigo, llamándome a la reflexión. Tener paz en momentos de agitación, confusión, rumores, escasez, con un futuro incierto por delante es lo que más necesitamos, y de seguro es lo que menos encontramos donde quiera que nos dirijamos.

Being a leader can be hard. Leaders have to model the way for others to follow, inspire a shared vision, challenge processes, enable others to act, and care for those they lead. Being a leader is also hard because you have to live in two times simultaneously. Leading means being present with people in the now, while also thinking further down the road.

We're doing the searching and organizing for you so you can focus on serving your family, community, and congregation. Read about the CARES Act Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loans, questions about what the government can and cannot order churches to do, how to leverage this Easter for evangelism, and some other tech-specific help for streaming.

Well, here we are. We're living in a world we never imagined or desired. As much as we may try to ignore it, the coronavirus (COVID-19) is a reality, and it’s global. Regardless of how we are wired or trained to approach challenges, every one of us is prone to fear on some level. We all hold within us the nature of humanity that values something and fears losing it. As much as we may try to suppress or deny it, leaders experience fear as well, and that’s okay! 

We're doing the searching and organizing for you so you can focus on serving your family, community, and congregation. Read what churches need to know about the CARES Act, how our faith informs our practice during a pandemic, and sets of resources from Lifeway and Desiring God.