For the first time in my life I’ve been told I can’t go see my parents. I can’t go to church on Palm Sunday or Easter. My daughter can’t have a 16th birthday party. She can’t work at a local restaurant. My kids are homeschooling. Thank God they’re old enough to do their work without supervision.
But the sun’s out as I write. Daffodils are blooming. My pussy willow’s catkins have bloomed into long tails. Red buds have flowered on trees. Tiny lilac leaves are showing, and little quince blossoms are ready to burst as soon as it gets warm enough. My forsythia bloomed prettier this spring than it has in years.
My son gets to ride and work on his go-kart once he’s finished his school work. He’ll sit for hours and get ‘er done. My daughter paces herself and can take walks after she finishes her load of homework. Both kids have been helping with dishes and laundry—without being asked in some cases.
They miss their friends. My daughter misses work. But overall they’re taking the stay-at-home order well. I’m so proud of them. They’re not griping about not seeing their friends. FaceTime helps. So does Snapchat. But they’re pretty calm about it, even when they can’t see their friends.
I frankly think having this down time has been good for them psychologically. I think a lot of this comes from getting more sleep and having more freedom over their schedules.
I’m able to run my life as I normally would, for the most part. My main concerns are missing loved ones, church, and the increasing financial pressure. Who ever thought Americans would be forbidden to go to work?
Some people are using this time to deep clean their houses. Others are getting a head start on summer yard work. My daughter has thoroughly cleaned her room and rearranged her furniture. My son swept and reorganized his garage. It is his garage, by the way. He’s a budding mechanic and will definitely own his own diesel mechanic shop in ten years; mark my words. Fortunately the house is in my name, so I get to park my car in his garage.
It’s been a blessing seeing how calm and peaceful my kids have been for the most part since the schools closed their doors.
Another huge blessing is Jamestown School District providing delicious and nutritious lunches. I’ve gotten huge boxes filled with cartons of one percent milk, oranges, apples, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, bananas, chicken, tuna, and more. Fresh buns. Pastries. Cereals. It’s wonderful!
Everyone has the same question: how much longer? But none of us can answer that. What we can do is decide what we can control today.
We can control what we eat and drink, how much sleep we get, who we talk to, text, or message. We can control what we post or read on social media. We can choose what we watch on TV or which podcasts we listen to. We can choose to read a book instead. We can walk outside and bask in sunshine.
We can eat healthfully and go to bed earlier. We can watch live streams of church services, decorate our houses with fresh flowers, read our Bibles, and sing hymns or praise songs during our own private worship services.
We can pray God will completely eradicate coronavirus, heal the sick, and prevent the spread.
And, for heaven’s sake, we can discipline ourselves to only buy toilet paper if we need it.
All God’s blessings to you this week!
`` Fallowfield United Methodist Church has cancelled worship services and all activities until after 30, 2020. They plan on broadcasting worship services on Facebook.
`` Adamsville Presbyterian Church will broadcast their worship services via the Zoom app for the next several weeks.
`` Atlantic Community Church has cancelled church until May 3 due to coronavirus. They will monitor the situation then. The April 25 church birthday party will be rescheduled.
`` If you are interested in ditch dirt, please call East Fallowfield Township’s building at (814) 382-8188 or the township’s garage, at (814) 382-0920. Leave a message if no one answers.