Better Than Before
Today marks two full weeks since my family started social distancing. Aside from a few work meetings (Sam), a trip to Urgent Care for stitches (Harper), one family walk and a few grocery runs, the five of us have been cooped up inside our three bedroom condo. There are a lot of things that have been difficult about that: not having a yard for our kids to play in, nap strikes, keeping our kids out of our bedroom-turned-Sam’s-office, and preparing three meals and unlimited snacks per day for a family of five. Harper is having a particularly hard time. She’s an extrovert like her daddy and there’s only so many videos of kids playing with Barbies on YouTube that she can watch before she needs to get out of the house and make a new friend.
But there is also a whole lot of good happening in our little condo right now. Having Sam home every night for bedtime has been wonderful! He bathes the girls, puts Ella down and then cleans the dinner aftermath while I do the big girls’ bedtime routine. Worshipping together as an entire family on Sunday was also a special treat. That rarely happens since Sam works at our church and I’ve been watching church from the lobby or the nursing mother’s room for four years straight. I’ve read more books to my kids in the last two weeks than I did in the two months prior to this. And Avery, our introverted child who is super attached to both of her parents, has been having the time of her life.
Despite the terrible, heartbreaking things going on outside of these walls, there is a lot of good happening inside them. When there’s so much bad swirling around us, it’s easy to let it seep inside. Into our minds and our hearts, into our conversations and interactions.
We should absolutely pray without ceasing for anyone and everyone affected by this pandemic; for those who are battling the virus, those who are at-risk and for those who are risking their lives every day to serve. But we must learn to leave those prayers where they belong: at the feet of Jesus. Because the truth is that this unprecedented moment in our history, which has produced so much death and destruction, has also produced connection and kindness and love.
Some of us are spending more time with our children than we normally would. Some of us are hosting FaceTime bible studies with our families and friends. Some of us are going live on Instagram for prayer calls and dance parties. Some of us are donating to food banks and sending UberEats gift cards to people who have lost their jobs. Some of us are connecting with our neighbors through chalk art and teddy bears perched in windows. Some of our children are sending greeting cards to people living in nursing homes. Some of our teachers are organizing drive-by parades to remind their students that they still care about them. And I don’t want to miss it.
I don’t want to miss the good because I’m consumed by the bad.
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I pray out loud every night with my girls before bed. Harper prays for every person and Disney character she can think of and then it’s my turn. I pray for our family and our friends. I pray God’s protection over our country, for wisdom for our leaders, and for resilience for our economy. I say specific prayers for people we know who are struggling. And lately, I’ve been finishing with this:
God, let us come out of this better than we were before.
I believe He is already answering my prayer. I believe that my relationship with Jesus is going to be stronger. That my relationship with my husband will be renewed. That my children will know how much I cherish them and enjoy their company. That my creativity will be revived. And that my spirit will be refreshed. I will have bad days, of course. Days when my kids won’t nap or my husband and I argue. Days when the statistics are too much to bear and the news of another person’s death cracks my heart a little more. But I’ll know how to get back to the good. And I believe the same for all of you. I believe that new businesses will be birthed and good books will be written. That marriages will be blessed and children will thrive. That friendships will be reconnected and faith in humanity will be restored. That prayers will be whispered and apologies said.
I’m not sure what our bank accounts will look like. I’m not sure what our health (or healthcare system) will look like. I don’t know what our country or our economy will look like. I trust God with all of it, but I don’t know what He’s going to do.
But I do know that we’ll make it through. We’ll be together. And we’ll be better.
This post was written as part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to read the next post in this series "All Things New".