When news first came about and we started hearing more and more about the Coronavirus, I was skeptical, thinking people were making too much of it and were paranoid.
Before all this, life was buzzing by! 6:00am breakfast call, making lunches by 7:00am, and then kids off to school. After drop-offs, I would clean up, exercise, and see clients for the rest of the day. Pick-ups started at 2:30pm, then snacks, homework, dinner, showers, off to bed, and all over again the next day. You could say life was hectic, constantly busy, and always on the go.
Then schools announced they were closing for a month, and grocery stores started to look different. Where are all the canned goods, and why can’t I find any toilet paper? What is going on? My clients started to cancel, one call at a time; soon I found myself not working at all.
Things were changing quickly, and I don’t like change! Then it was announced schools would not be going back until next year. Wait, what?! Did I hear that right? A five-month summer break?! “I won’t survive, how am I going to do that?” I thought. Life as I knew it had changed, and it was a little bit scary. No really, a lot scary.
The first couple of weeks I went into a little bit of a depression. I had no motivation to do anything. I didn’t want to exercise, cook, clean, or take care of anyone or do any activities. I was feeling really down. I had these four faces staring at me asking, “Mom, what are we gonna do today?” I just wanted to go back to bed and sleep until it was all over. I wanted to get back to the normal life I knew. I quickly realized I needed to pull myself out of this kind of thinking. I needed to get my motivation back. But how?
Duh, pray to the God of the universe, who knows exactly what is going on and how I was feeling. Think about His attributes: He is transcendent, sovereign, omnipotent, everlasting, limitless, faithful, omniscient, holy, righteous, just, and merciful. When I think about these things, I am comforted and hopeful, and excited! A friend of mine always used to say, “life is hard, but God is soooo good” and that is the truth.
Slowly, we started to get into a groove of living the life of “shelter-in-place.” One thing I know that changed for the better is time with the kids. Being able to slow down from the normal hustle and bustle has been a nice change. I have been able to do things with the kids that I probably never would have done before because of the business and burnout I was feeling. We have gone on several hikes and had so much fun just being together and laughing at each other. We have also gone on bike rides and walks, planted plants together, played games, and done lots of crafts. There have been so many more moments of connection and it’s been great! God is still working and God is still on His throne. I believe He is always working in small ways and big ways. This is a good wake up call to living differently; I know it has been for me. Even though most people do not like change (including me) that change is maybe the only thing that will get our attention.
I can say I am thankful that the Coronavirus has challenged, changed, and strengthened me in who God is and who He will always be in a world that is chaotic, unstable, fast, and definitely not my final home. I am so thankful that we have been able to create memories that we will be able to look back at and say, “Remember when the Coronavirus happened and we did this and that?” We can also look back and say, “Remember when the Coronavirus was here and God was there for us, and working for us and through us in such a difficult time?”
Even though we still have some hard days with financial stress, schoolwork, getting on each others’ nerves, cabin fever, or loneliness, the key is turning to the God who is there with you and knows all that you are going through. Seek Him on those hard days. He is there, we just need to trust and surrender to Him. Life is hard, but God is sooo Good.
I found these verses in Ephesians, which is Paul’s prayer for spiritual growth and I want to share them with you:
“When I think of all this I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” – Ephesians 3:14-19
(Jennifer Velasquez and her husband, Angel, have been a part of SBC for over 3 years. She is a mother of 4 and is a self employed Esthetician. Jen has served faithfully as a teacher in our K-1st KidsCo. class.)
