It’s amazing to me how much life has changed in the span of one week. At this time last week, I was meeting with a friend in a coffee shop, joking about the COVID-19 threat in states/countries around us and commenting on the few California deaths that had occurred at that time.

Fast forward a week later and everything is drastically different. School is canceled, work is canceled, all businesses other than essentials are closed, our county has issued a shelter-in-place mandate which basically means we’re not allowed to leave our house unless it’s absolutely necessary for food, medical reasons, etc. If we do leave our house, we need to practice “social distancing” meaning we need to maintain a 6-foot distance from people who are not members of our immediate household. It feels like I’m living a story from one of my favorite YA novels but it’s not, it’s my actual reality.

I’ll admit that there have been moments when the situation has felt more overwhelming that I’d care to admit. I do believe very firmly that God is and always has been in control. I’d like to think I’m not panicking. But still, there’s a lot to process when your whole life is in upheaval and I don’t do well with change to begin with. Throw in a puppy who doesn’t sleep well or pee consistently outside and I’ve definitely had a mini breakdown here and there.

That said! I wanted to highlight a few ways that I’ve really seen evidences of God’s care and grace towards me and my family specifically in light of COVID-19.

1: E’s IEP

We had E’s IEP (the big triennial one that I blogged about) less than two weeks ago. Most likely, we were one of the last families that were able to get our scheduled IEP done before schools were closed for the next month. I’m so thankful that we were able to get that done and signed with no other significant distractions (like a life-threatening virus). What a care for our family that God provided for us in this way … there’s no way I could have known when I scheduled the meeting (which gets scheduled months in advance) that it would happen right before everything around us would shut down.

2: My At-Home TreadClimber

Is this stupid to be thankful for? I don’t know. All I’ll say is that this sat pretty unused for the majority of the three years we’ve had it and Hubby & I even listed it to sell at the end of last year. Nobody jumped to buy it so we said we’d just hold onto it for now. Now that gyms and my favorite Bar Method studios are all closed, I’m SO happy that we have this little at-home exercise machine so that I can sweat out my stress. I always feel so much calmer after getting a good workout in and in a time of crisis like this, it’s so important that I have this little bit of “self care” available. (I’d totally rather go get a massage or a manicure if that were a possibility!)

3: Home Projects

For the first time in a long time, the ONLY thing I have is time on my hands. That means that all those “one day” and “someday” house organization projects that I’ve been putting off will finally get their time to shine. Before COVID-19 became part of my reality, I was constantly complaining to Hubby that I always felt pulled in so many different directions with not enough time for the things I actually wanted to do. I’m so thankful that now, I’ve got time, time, and more time to focus on what I want to focus on! So far, I’ve already deep cleaned & organized our fridge and kitchen/pantry. Next up are the bathroom cabinets and kids’ rooms!

4: Time with Kids

Because schools are closed, I have all three kids home with me. I’ve never been one of those parents that freaks out during summer or winter breaks and tries to fill their kids’ days with activities outside of the house. I love having my kids home. I love the slower pace and the time we spend together. Don’t get me wrong, they do drive me nuts sometimes but they’re all also at this really sweet age that I know I’ll never get back again. How crazy is it that 11 years after quitting my teaching job, I’m able to put it into practice again? How amazing is it that I’ve always done a “mini homeschool” type structure for my kids during the summers and so now, when we’re missing three weeks of school and need to homeschool somewhat, both my kids and I are all used to it? How cool is it that I already had most of the supplies, workbooks, manipulatives, etc that I needed to teach all three of my kids at their exact ages because old habits die hard and the former teacher in me can never say no to a cool educational toy/app/book/tool. (Legit – Hubby hauled in an entire box from the garage that I’ve just been keeping for .. who knows? A time like now?)

5: Kylo

Kylo, oh Kylo. I have gone back and forth over the past two weeks whether or not getting him right now was a good idea. On the one hand, I am so tired. He is an extra “thing” to care for that I sometimes wish I didn’t have to think about. On the other hand, though …

We always knew we’d get a dog. Now that we have him, what better time and opportunity to train a puppy than a time when literally ALL five family members will be home all day indefinitely? I have all hands on deck to help with training this dog!

Also, as more and more news about COVID-19 is coming out, I think all I’m understanding is that .. we really know nothing. I don’t know how long we’ll have a shelter-in-place and social distancing for. If we’d waited any longer, it could have been possible that we wouldn’t have even been able to get a new puppy until the threat of COVID-19 was behind us (and some are saying that could be up to a year??). So all in all, I’m so thankful that God was sovereign in His timing in providing THIS dog to us at THIS moment in time. Plus, puppy makes for a really awesome distraction 🙂

6: God is in Control

Our church is going through the book of Exodus and just as all this madness about COVID-19 started to pick up, our pastor started preaching on the plagues of Egypt. Plague .. a word that in some translations could be read as pandemic. God was in control then, He’s in control now. Over the weekend as we started getting ready for what I could sense would be some sort of mandate like what we have right now, my son D got really, really sick. He woke up fine on Sunday and we were to have church at home (so thankful I was able to focus on the sermon before he got sick!). Then almost immediately after church was done, D started not feeling well and vomiting. And then he kept vomiting. And his stomach was hurting so bad, he was weeping and writhing in pain. And it’s not like I could take him to the doctor or the ER, not at a time like this when there’s a much bigger threat out there. But all I wanted was to help him feel better. I asked for people to pray for us on IG and I prayed as well, asking God to give me peace over the situation as really .. I had no control over it but He did. Guys, within the hour, D stopped throwing up and said his tummy did not hurt at all. He said his head started hurting but a little bit of Tylenol and then a full nights rest after, and he was a brand new kid the next day. I’m SO THANKFUL – that was just one small, tangible reminder that man has no jurisdiction over his day but God orchestrates each and every moment, big and small.

JUST SOME OTHER HELPFUL TIPS

I’m sure I’m missing other ways that I’ve seen God work both in the weeks leading up to this mandate and in the hours since it’s been announced. Overall, I think the point I’m trying to make is that I want to cultivate an attitude of thankfulness that has eyes opened towards all the ways God IS in control and working, and moving, even in the midst of a pandemic like that one we’re facing.

I just want to close out this post with some helpful hints for you guys.

• Structure is important for kids if you have them home with you right now. There are TONS of examples on the internet right now of sample schedules that you can implement with your kids but just in case you’re curious, here’s what mine looks like with my kids. (It’s a screenshot from my IG stories.)

• That said, there WILL be days when things don’t go to plan. Don’t worry about it, it’s NOT a big deal. If there’s a day when your kids just end up watching TV all day, that’s FINE. Don’t stress about it. Your kids (if they’re school aged) will not fall behind because they miss two weeks or a month or more of school. My personal approach of “homeschool” for my kids is one more of maintaining what they’ve already learned more than trying to teach them new things. I just want to maintain some normalcy for them. Some days, my kids look like this and I just have to accept it.

• Let them play outside as much as possible. I’m so grateful that we have a huge backyard with lots for my kids to explore, even if all they’re doing is slowly walking around for an hour (which is definitely what they did today LOL). The weather here has been absolutely miserable the last few days and I thought my kids would fight against having outdoor time. WRONG, my two year old completely LOVED being in the rain with her little pink umbrella over the weekend. #istandcorrected

• Try to maintain some normalcy for yourself, too. At first, I was like – score! I don’t have to leave my house? Comfy pants all day, everyday! But I realized for me, that doesn’t make for a very productive start to the day so I try to put on an actual pair of jeans or pants even when I’m just home with my kids and husband all day. I don’t wear any makeup though 😉
• Last tip is not so much a tip as it is a shameless plug. Now that we all have all this time on our hands, go check out the newest episode of my Pen & Page Gals podcast! We talk about our book recs for the next few weeks while everyone is stuck at home!