Our daughters have grounded us, sort of. They are starting to get really bossy about it. They quiz me about what my plan for the day is, then reprimand me when I report my necessary trips to tie up loose ends at the church. And the bank. And the store. Dayna is pleading with us to stop going anywhere, for anything. She says it will be worth it in the long run, and her home cooking has improved immensely. Her report today is, “There are 16 coronavirus cases in all of China, four from the Wuhan region, and 12 from Chinese citizens who just flew back to their country.”  If you are on Facebook, go to her page at Dayna DeBorde Avery, and read her post about sheltering-at-home from a missionary friend, Jessica McFarland Cannell, serving in Dalian in northeast China, who says in part: “We would say ‘this too shall pass.’ But we really weren’t sure when. Nor did we know if all these restrictions were actually necessary. . .They say hindsight is 20/20 and looking back I can say with a resounding YES! it was completely, totally necessary. And it was successful! …Please take advantage of other countries’ experiences. Don’t be selfish. Be inconvenienced. Be wise…Please, everyone, just stay home. YOU will make a difference.”

I will shelter in place. I will be inconvenienced. I will seek to set aside my pride in believing that I am somehow so important that I am the exception. I am also asking myself, what if I get the virus and never know that I am a carrier like Typhoid Mary, infecting others who might eventually die? I am exploring how best to proceed in worship, prayer and counsel to the church. I am learning about live-streaming, podcasting, and other ways to bring encouragement. Even though we are all becoming “homebound” for now, we can still connect. I may not be able to send you an EVANGEL every week. Let’s stay grounded. Friend me on Facebook. My phone will always be charged so call me anytime. I have set up an email to use for such a time as this.

• Facebook: Darryl S. DeBorde
• Phone: (918) 230-0781
• Email:  BroDarryl@cox.net

Today pray for those already infected and those they love. Pray for the most vulnerable and frail. Pray for the caregivers, doctors, nurses and health care workers. Pray for the first responders who are always on call whatever the emergency. Pray for yourself, that you will find peace in this time of crisis. Love your neighbors. Keep in touch will all the Lord brings to mind. 

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Stay grounded! And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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I love libraries. I worked my way through college and seminary as a staff librarian. In that life long ago, I worked in the Special Collections Department of the Harwell G. Davis Library of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. I was a Micro-photographer, which meant I photographed historical books, maps, newspapers and documents for researchers and writers to read on an old technology called Microfilm and Microfiche. After college I served about 3 years as the full-time Serials Librarian at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Fleming Library. That’s serials with an “s,” not with a “c.” We did not serve breakfast. Serials are periodicals, magazines and annuals. I had a staff of eight people to supervise and over 4,000 different titles to catalog and file. It was an amazing and diverse job with the opportunity to help students, professors and Biblical scholars research the most current materials available in religious studies.

I went to the local branch of the library in hopes of finding a certain book. The Tulsa City County Library System is amazing. The young librarian was very kind and helpful as she directed me to the big Start Here sign over a brightly decorated computer, since the card catalog drawers were recycled long ago. No luck finding the book. I had lost my library card and needed a new one. After completing the proper form back at the computer, the librarian gave me a plastic library card with my personal barcode to use with everything. She taught me the intricacies of downloading library books through the various kinds of apps for my devices and even gave me a list of the apps needed for the many different e-book platforms that publishers use. All free and done in less than 10 minutes. Before saying farewell and sending me on my way, she patiently listened to my stories of microfiche and serials. 

I am continually grateful for the skills I learned working in libraries. I learned vast amounts of history while filming newspapers from colonial times through World War 2. I learned how to read quickly with comprehension, and how to research current ideas through periodicals. Technology is always changing, but libraries open the world to us all. Andrew Carnegie, the giver of libraries to the small towns of America, once said, There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, or wealth receives the slightest consideration.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Expand your world. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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