Monday Morning Manna: A COVID Grinch

The gifts are still under the tree. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have come and gone, and the gifts are still under the tree. No torn wrappings on the floor. No dirty dishes still in the sink. No family members still discussing their gifts. A Grinch stole Christmas, and his name was Covid-19. Six days before Christmas, my wife tested positive for the corona virus. A brief hospital stay, and a quarantine, dictated no Christmas visitors in the home and no Christmas trips outside the home. All is not lost. We will gather sometime in January and celebrate with gifts and food and laughter and love. No doubt, we will also discuss the Grinch that stole our traditional Christmas, but failed to steal our spirits. Like the Apostle Paul, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:9). But what about Christmas Day? While everyone around us celebrated, my wife and I, maintaining our doctor instructed quarantine distancing, said with Lou Lou Who in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “I don’t need anything more for Christmas than this right here. My family.”

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford