The COVID-19 virus has certainly affected the way I look at most everything. At the beginning, I felt fear of the unknown and frankly of death. But in week two of the stay home recommendations, the pastors of my church began a nightly Facebook Live prayer meeting, and my perspective took a much different turn. I went from a place of fear to where I am today, a place of hope and longing for a “new normal.”

Through my faith I am finding God’s plan and purpose for my life. This is a time in which God and the church fit! People are longing for something to hold onto. And those of us looking for our purpose are seeing how we can use social media to spread our beliefs as well as find ways we can help our neighbors in need.

I started 2020 with “heart” as the word I wanted to live by through the year. My word has become my focus and the lead word for the purpose I believe God has for my life. Never could I have imagined the magnitude my word would take on. There is so much need, and those of us who are fortunate enough to have our jobs are in a prime place to help those who are not as fortunate.

I look to the end of COVID-19 as an opportunity to find the new normal my life has needed for a long time, a life where the heart of each of us focuses on being the hands and feet of Jesus. By investing our hearts in the needs of our neighbors, we grow in a faith and love deeper than anything we have ever known.