February, 2020 brought a strange scenario, one that I didn’t think I would ever experience in my lifetime. COVID-19 has changed almost everything, hasn’t it?
My husband and I had to cancel a trip to go to the West Coast to see our son and family as he returned from an 8-month deployment. Now it has been a year and 6 months since I have hugged my boy—I didn’t see that coming!
Then our son-in-law received orders from California to Mississippi. Thank goodness, now one is closer. But that move was weird too. They finally had to drive cross country and Mike and I met them the day they moved in. What a wild July/August. Katie and I have been painting the house, swinging girlies, walking dogs and falling into bed at night. She has been finishing final edits on her book that comes out the first of November. (Don’t miss it…Fortune’s Fall).
We had a blast with their children. Lydia has spent her first four years basically in the desert (California). She’s seen lots of ash on the cars and the houses from all the fires and she’s experienced a moving bed during an earthquake, but rarely experienced the rain. Driving into Mississippi she was very quiet and then finally, “Mom, look at all the trees, they are so green. Where did they all come from?” And then several days later she experienced a tremendous thunder and lightening storm. The first time she just about crawled over her mom, but by the third storm she was proud that she slept through the storm.
Our daughter as well as our daughter-in-law are home schooling this year—what an awesome experience!
Moms, my heart and all the encouraging words I can provide and lots of prayer are all there for you. I looked at some of the curriculum for 4 yr. preschool and I kid you not, it was 4th/5th grade curriculum. Wow! Thankfully the girls are soaking it up and the two 2- yr. old granddaughters are learning right along with their siblings. (I joked that they would have to skip a couple of grades because they would know it all by 3rd grade.)
Here at home, I’ve tried to spend my sequestered time wisely, so Mike and decided to work with a nutritionist and lose weight. To date, he’s lost about 20 lbs and I’ve lost 30.8 (and yes that .8 is very important). We both feel so much better!
All in all, this “pandemic” time hasn’t been so bad. I don’t know if this is the new norm or if I’ll have to wear a face mask for the foreseeable future, but I’m okay with the world right now. Another good thing…we will have a male addition to our gaggle of girls come November.
As I wrote on my women’s text, for September, this morning, I wrote about trust and peace. He promises in Proverbs all we have to do is trust and in Psalm 91, he says,
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord,
“My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust.”