I eased as close as I could to the door of my sons’ room. Night had settled into the Patterson home, and I was doing a last minute check before I headed to bed.
And it was the sweetest sound I had heard in a while.
My oldest son James was saying his prayers, and he was encouraging my youngest son Jase to repeat after him. His prayer ranged from thanking God for a good day to watching over people during this pandemic to asking that more churches be built. Sporadic requests, yes, but it was a sincere prayer.
I went to bed that night with a smile on my face and a prayer of my own in my head. My final thought was that maybe, just maybe, this social distancing at home has its good points. To be honest, I have never heard my children praying such a thoughtful prayer.
This new era of living has its hectic and stressful moments. It hasn’t been easy balancing a hefty workload and home schooling my three little ones. It has been downright fearful not being able to perform basic tasks like grocery shopping without a mask or pair of gloves. And it has been concerning to see what is happening to our local business community as we continue to live day by day in a pandemic.
But I have noticed some silver linings, hidden blessings in the middle of all the concern and fear. I am not sure how it is going in other houses, but it has been life changing in the Patterson home.
We have slowed down – way down. We have had more family game nights and movie nights. We have laughed more and spent more time together. We have eaten more meals together, and we’re talking more than before. We have watched every church service that is available online together. We have read our Bibles more and prayed harder.
Our patience has grown...to a point. Boredom has been replaced with nature walks and country drives. We’ve totally lost interest in celebrity “news” and other trivial things.
We aren’t “stuck at home.” We are a home.
I hate to say it or admit it because it may come out wrong, but the fear and concern only really kicks in when I am heading to town to my office. At that point, I am bombarded with gloom and doom emails, crime dockets, financial worries and true concern over what the future will hold.
Mind you, it is good to have a healthy perspective or reality about these things, but it can be overwhelming at times.
I take a sigh of relief when I pull up in the driveway of my home. It is as if there is a bubble protecting my home and my family from the outside world. As crazy as it sounds, it feels comforting.
I pray that everyone remains safe during this pandemic. And I know that everyone is ready to “return to normal.” But you have to ask will things ever be really normal again.
I am optimistic about our business community returning to normal. I am ready for performing basic daily tasks to return to normal. I am ready for my kids’ school schedules to return to normal.
But what about our home lives?
I don’t want to return to the overabundance of screen time. I don’t want to return to speedy dinners with little conversation. I don’t want to return to days without family activities or outside activities because work got in the way. I don’t want to return to not reading your Bible as much because there isn’t enough time in the day.
Why don’t we make this time we have with our families the new normal? We have enough worries outside in the real world. Let’s make home our safe place, a happy place. Yes, maybe, our bubble.
Let’s continue to slow down for the things that matter. We’ve maybe missed a lot before. This is a nice steady pace, and this race of life has its bumps.
But when you slow down you can get around those bumps a little better. There is no sense in speeding ahead. The view isn’t so bad from behind.
