The Covid-19 Challenge

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“We have family meals again, we spend time with our kids, we bake, we exercise…” says every positive family meme showing up on Facebook amongst the crazy time that is the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the village, someone dies, there’s a flood, a fire, a tragedy, and we draw together. 

“The village pulls together during hard times,” we are reminded by everyone we pass on the road.

            My younger daughter is currently sitting about five feet away from me (closer than the recommended 6, but hey, we’re all being quarantined together in this family) on the window sill smiling at me as I write and giving her mom high-fives as mom runs circles up and down our stairs (my turn is coming up and there is a blizzard going on outside right now).

Mom Running Stairs: Who needs a fancy gym membership with kids who like to "help."

            Though none of us have been perfect home-schooling parents in the midst of this (most of us are at least three generations out of practice), we have all spent more time with our kids working the alphabet, reading books, doing art, teaching our kids how to cook, teaching math how we learned it than we have during any other part of their lives.

Ellen loves her home economics class.

            In Italy, neighbors are singing with each other from their balconies unable to visit.  In the United States, we are face timing with neighbors, family members across the country, and sending texts just checking up on each other.  In warmer climates neighbors are setting up happy hours where they sit distant from each other having wine and watching their kids play in separate yards.  We are setting time aside in our stores to allow elders and those at risk to shop while the stores are not so crowded.  Mostly we are just setting aside time.

            Those of us who cannot stay at home because our jobs are deemed essential are being publicly appreciated for the first time in years.  Nurses, grocery store clerks, truckers, and teachers are all being hailed as superheroes who should receive raises at the very least.  We are realizing that the people we walked by everyday while they were just doing their jobs are much more important than we ever thought.

            What is going to happen once we get through this?  We will, after all, get through this just as our ancestors passed through the bubonic plague and Spanish flu.  The economy will get going again, we will go back to work, the stock market will rebound, but what will we do?  Will it be business as usual? 

            This is not a time for New Year’s resolutions.  It is a time for change of habit and change of heart.  I am going to see the people in my community as people and care for them as my neighbors regardless of political party.  I am going to continue to pray for my neighbors, community, and country.  And, I am going to continue to serve others not knowing what burdens they may be carrying.

            I’m also going to challenge you to do the same.  In the comments below, leave a little message of what you are doing in the midst of the pandemic to serve your family, neighbors, or community.  Then, if you feel so moved and challenged, make a pledge for what you will continue to do after the danger is gone.  Then challenge others.

            Villages, after all, pull together in times of tragedy and challenge.

Family project while out on "recess."