Changing the Atmosphere

To be completely honest, the first few weeks of lockdown were bliss. As a flaming introvert, all my dreams of staying home and having all social obligations cancelled were coming true! But by week six or seven, I hit “lockdown fatigue.” I’ve pretty much been at breaking point ever since, with little to no patience and a super short fuse. I realize this makes total sense, given that I’ve been in the company of four extroverts. For two months. Nonstop. But something had to change.

So a couple of weeks ago I decided to dedicate part of my days to dwelling on the things at home that bring me joy. I shared my thoughts via my Instagram page, and thought that one of those posts might be worth sharing with you in this space because it’s about battling fear by worshiping the King. And who can’t relate to that nowadays?

Yesterday was rough. Today was brutal. The kids have been hitting their limit — I’m kind of amazed at how well they’ve done for this long, really — and all the feelings have been pouring out. The atmosphere has been stormy, as has the sky outside.

Then this evening, as I was singing a makeshift lullaby that I “wrote” for my littlest guy a few weeks ago — essentially the blessings I speak over him each night, but set to a cheesy tune — he fell asleep in my arms. He hasn’t done that since he was a newborn.

And I realized that music — especially praise through song — is almost necessary for this home to be happy. In my own fight for joy, worship music is perhaps one of my most frequently used and most powerful tools. But over the past few days, our home has been almost devoid of music. Cue the angst! (I’ll be remedying that, by the way.)

Back when all this craziness began in March, I could physically feel a spirit of fear trying to move in. (Actually, I sort of quietly freaked out, wondering if my feverish episodes and waves of dizziness and shortness of breath were symptoms of the virus. But then I noticed that my “symptoms” surged whenever we were talking about the pandemic. This wasn’t a virus. This was something altogether different.) So we fought back with praise for the King. And as we upped the amount of worship music played and sung in our home, that fear and unease was replaced with peace. Almost immediately.

Our voice is powerful, especially when proclaiming and declaring truth. Perfect love casts out fear. So let’s declare that love. Shout about his victory over death. It will change the atmosphere.