"Over" Time — Rachel Sinclair

Is anyone else tired of riding the Corona-Coaster? It reminds me of the time I went to Busch Gardens and only agreed to ride the one rollercoaster that didn’t go upside down, the Cheetah Hunt.

Except it did go upside down.

“What the heck?!?!” I yelled at my friend Carly, who was strapped in beside me. “This went upside down! You lied!”

“I forgoooooot!” Carly yelled back, while we dropped down another steep incline.

I did not sign up for that! Neither did anyone sign up for the coronavirus pandemic. Yet, here we are. It’s like we’re locked into this roller coaster, and there is no unbuckling or bowing out now. Like it or not, this is reality, and we don’t control when the ride will end.

(Sidenote: Once I got over the shock of going upside down when I had been explicitly told that the ride did not do so, I actually enjoyed the Cheetah Hunt and rode much scarier coasters the rest of the day. Busch Gardens is fun. You should go there, you know, when we’re not in a pandemic and all.)

Despite the up and downs of the Corona-Coaster, I would dare to say that we have all learned a lot during this experience. A common lesson seems to be that we have a clearer understanding of the important things in life and a better gauge to measure when our priorities are off.

I wrote this in my journal on March 31, which incidentally seems like 20 years ago. I had had a particularly rough day and felt swamped by big questions and with no “right” answers.

The ink fell out of my pen so fast, I hardly knew what I had written until I stepped back and looked at what was on the page. These “overs” were inspired by the book “Jesus Over Everything” by Lisa Whittle, which I highly recommend. The idea of the book is to look deep within yourself––your true, unfiltered soul––and identify unhealthy mindsets that leave us unsatisfied. As Lisa digs deeper, she walks through how and why true satisfaction comes through Christ alone.

I love Lisa’s message because it cuts through the fluff, even the fluff that we try to feed ourselves.

This is a hard world. We are overwhelmed by Facebook posts, recommendations, regulations, articles, conversations, comments, and thoughts, which leave our heads spinning.

While there are a million things we can’t control, we can control the priorities in our hearts.

I challenge you to pause and make an “overs” list of your own. Take an honest look into the yucky parts of your heart, and ask yourself what needs a priority check. Although there may be some overlap, your list will not look exactly like mine, because only you and God know your heart.

Whenever I wish I could stop the Corona-Coaster, or at least be able to see the twists and turns ahead, I have to turn my focus internally instead of externally.

Don’t be afraid to take a long look at your messy heart, because (spoiler alert!) we’ve all got ‘em. Get real with your “overs” list, and start feeding your soul with the good things you want to grow there.