One Month of Quarantine

Today marks one month of Quarantine/ "Shelter In Place": 
1 month of no school
...a month of my kids learning many things in "At Home Learning"
1 month of not going out to eat
…a month of SOOO many dishes
1 month of seeing primarily only my immediate family members in person
...a month of multiple Zoom calls with family like never before

1 month of gyms closed
...a month of more families out riding their bikes and people out exercising
1 month of cleaning my own home
...a month of my kids learning new chores 

1 month of missing seeing friends in person...a month of making plans to call & "see" friends (virtually), no matter the distance
1 month of most stores being closed
...a month of learning how to order more online, planning ahead & increased patience  
1 month ago being scared I may be sick with Coronavirus
...a month of being sooo incredibly grateful for my health, and that of my family's
1 month of church buildings being closed
...a month relying much more on my faith and teaching my children faith in action.

I'm actually quite surprised that I'm handling this so well. Reading my Bible Study this morning I read we should "consider it pure JOY when we face trials, as the testing of our faith produces patience/perseverance (James 1:2-3).  Yes, I can see that! I am JOYFUL despite facing trials... Has my patience been tested? Absolutely! Have I "lost it"? For Sure, and unfortunately more than I would like to admit. (Don't ask my family, as they'll say "Mom is stressed out"). But am I???... not as much as usual.

I'm doing better with my mental health than I was before we were stuck in Quarantine. Before I answer WHY that may be, I want to first be transparent that I was NOT in a great place in the beginning of 2020. I was anxious and not super-motivated. January and February can be hard months, especially for someone who loves to be outside, and this year when it rained so much I was struggling a bit and wasn't at my best. We "celebrated" our 20 year Anniversary on February 19th with a nice dinner while the economy was still good, but were saving our big celebration for later this summer and our kids' first trip to Europe, to visit Italy and the city where we met. Little did we know that would be the height of the market for the foreseeable future. We had been watching the situation in Italy closely, and even prior to February I think I had underlying fears of this "Chinese Virus" dating back to January when some Public Health experts were predicting COVID-19 may infect 40-70% of the world. So I was anxious early, when others probably thought I was crazy and this virus infecting Asia would not have any impact on their lives, much like other epidemics that have affected Asia without causing harm on the rest of the world. Did I think we would be in this severe a predicament? No. But maybe I got over some of my Anxiety early. I had underlying Anxiety and increasing pessimism as I saw reports of Italians being infected and their society closing down, that our 25th Anniversary trip this summer, with five families (22 of us in a villa for a week) would not come to fruition. Sadly our Europe trip is postponed, and while I have hope that we will be able to take our family in Summer 2021, I know that it may look quite different due to changed financial situations and many unknowns. We live in a time of much uncertainty where we are aware we cannot forsee what the future holds, for both short term and long term and whatever is the "new normal".

So why am I doing fine now?
I'm fine because I'm trusting in God and relying on my faith. KNOWING HE is IN CHARGE and I'm not trying to control things out of my control. This is a lesson I should be able to follow more often, but much of the time we have the illusion of control and we think we are in charge of our own lives, rather than submitting to Him, the Almighty.

I'm fine because I'm living according to my priorities and my life and time is aligned accordingly: Faith, Family and building relationships with those whom I care most about. And I'm living with INTENTION and PURPOSE according to these priorities. I'm schooling my children and making sure they're growing and learning. I'm taking care of my family by making sure they're fed. I'm acting frugally and not wastefully by using up what we have in the house rather than caving in to their requests for something specific that we don't NEED.

I'm acting to help those less fortunate than us, and working to spread the gospel. Am I doing enough? Never. But I have opportunities to support important missions of helping get food and masks to healthcare workers. And reaching out to our faith community, and hopefully showing and sharing my faith publicly in the ways I can during this time. And getting my kids involved in acting their faith in addition to educating them about it.

I'm fine because I'm taking time for myself and for exercise and being outside. I go out each day and garden and exercise. Either a bike ride, roller blades, singles tennis or tennis with the family. Exercise and being outdoors is VERY important to my mental health!

My new Vegetable Garden

Riding @ White Rock Lake

A windy White Rock Lake

I'm doing well because I have time each day to think! To set goals, and make plans for reaching them. To journal, Bible Study, waking up early, and making time where I won't be interrupted. Am I interrupted a lot? During the day when others are awake - yes, unless I leave my house which is why I leave on my bike after the school day is over. It's my release so I can be present with my family again and not so irritable. While I'm overseeing the kids learning I'm home to be able to put something in the crockpot so it's ready when I'm home from my ride.


I'm doing well because I'm not living in my car driving everyone around non-stop. In normal times I think that helps me and I say I don't like being in my house and fear I'll get bored, but there are so many things to do when I'm motivated, boredom hasn't even entered my mind. I now realize how much time I'm wasting while driving and waiting for kids sports, etc. Do I miss their activities, yes!...mostly for them, but we are finding ways to keep them active and involved, and this has highlighted how important (or unimportant, as case may be) certain activities are for my kids.

I hope that we come out of this Quarantine with a renewed sense of lasting purpose, for me and as a society so that I learn to say NO to the good in order to FOCUS and be ALL IN for my more selective "YES"s.