June 2020 Update: COVID-19 and our Family Life in the Midst of the Pandemic
We've just finished writing our summer newsletter, and in order to keep it from getting too long, I've decided to post some notes about our family life here instead. Many of you get my short clips on live via Facebook, but in case you don't use Facebook, you can catch up a bit here.
Back in March, when life was flowing normally, Jack was starting his first season of lacrosse. Tessa was finishing her workouts in her first attempt at soccer with try-outs starting on Monday. That was the Monday when school was cancelled, and soccer didn't happen at all. At least Jack got to play in one tournament before that all ended, and by then he had converted into a true lacrosse player. On Friday, March 13th, all the kids went to the orthodontist on the last day they were fully open (though the office didn't know it at the time), and Cooper got braces to match those of his siblings.
In spite of those endings, we still planned to go on vacation for spring break, which was one week away from that weekend. We scrambled to switch our trip around because it would have been international travel, but the day before we left, we canceled it all and stayed home just to make sure we would all be safe and healthy. Well, we were safe and healthy, but pretty sad and discouraged. You can all relate; we all grieved our losses and stayed tightly fixed to news releases.
Our cancellations continued: school, Boy Scouts activities and trips, overnight summer camp, Tessa's first mission trip to Cleveland, piano lessons, church gatherings, Dusty's trip to Nigeria, Tessa's 8th grade stepping-up ceremony, Jack's school award assembly, our annual summer trip to Dallas, and Tessa's and Cooper's March birthday parties. Again, these ring true with everyone around the world; we have all had our normal plans cancelled or postponed. We've experienced anger, frustration, loss, confusion, discouragement, dismay, and sadness with each cancellation. There were times when I definitely experienced a touch of depression, which I've never had before.
And yet, life continued on at a new pace. We've been healthy, and we've had our nice, spacious house in which to get some alone time. We've had great weather, and we adopted new routines. We began gratefully eating free school lunches. We adjusted to meetings and meet-ups by video conferencing and school by Infinite Campus. We started reading more e-books when the library closed, and Jack read the entire Harry Potter series. The kids did some Zoom cooking classes with a friend from church. We were able to join a local pool with redirected funds from summer camp's closure, and Cooper completed 2 weeks of swim lessons today! Tessa started taking drivers' education classes via Zoom and gets her permit (God-willing) this coming week; there will be plenty of empty parking lots and slower streets for her to practice her new skills safely (yay!).
When we lived in Africa, we learned how to hold our plans loosely. We saw people's lives unravel so unexpectedly and quickly. Proverbs 16:9, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps," became quite realistic to us. I am having that same sense again - we made so many plans that were then erased (literally) from our family paper schedule. God is good, and He is sovereign. In the middle of our wonky erasures, He has a perfect plan for the Hill family and for each of His children, and this pandemic season is certainly helping us to trust Him in new ways. He is using it to teach us how to be grateful for the small things, how to talk to him, how to make the most of every opportunity, and how to take rest when He offers it to us. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
May my eyes remain open to the goodness of God with each loss. My my heart be turned toward Him when my eraser is scrubbing away at another scheduled event. May I hold our plans with open hands, looking to see how He can use me to bless others who are suffering losses. And may I be grateful for each gift, each day, each challenge with His peace flowing through me.
We've just finished writing our summer newsletter, and in order to keep it from getting too long, I've decided to post some notes about our family life here instead. Many of you get my short clips on live via Facebook, but in case you don't use Facebook, you can catch up a bit here.
Back in March, when life was flowing normally, Jack was starting his first season of lacrosse. Tessa was finishing her workouts in her first attempt at soccer with try-outs starting on Monday. That was the Monday when school was cancelled, and soccer didn't happen at all. At least Jack got to play in one tournament before that all ended, and by then he had converted into a true lacrosse player. On Friday, March 13th, all the kids went to the orthodontist on the last day they were fully open (though the office didn't know it at the time), and Cooper got braces to match those of his siblings.
In spite of those endings, we still planned to go on vacation for spring break, which was one week away from that weekend. We scrambled to switch our trip around because it would have been international travel, but the day before we left, we canceled it all and stayed home just to make sure we would all be safe and healthy. Well, we were safe and healthy, but pretty sad and discouraged. You can all relate; we all grieved our losses and stayed tightly fixed to news releases.
Our cancellations continued: school, Boy Scouts activities and trips, overnight summer camp, Tessa's first mission trip to Cleveland, piano lessons, church gatherings, Dusty's trip to Nigeria, Tessa's 8th grade stepping-up ceremony, Jack's school award assembly, our annual summer trip to Dallas, and Tessa's and Cooper's March birthday parties. Again, these ring true with everyone around the world; we have all had our normal plans cancelled or postponed. We've experienced anger, frustration, loss, confusion, discouragement, dismay, and sadness with each cancellation. There were times when I definitely experienced a touch of depression, which I've never had before.
And yet, life continued on at a new pace. We've been healthy, and we've had our nice, spacious house in which to get some alone time. We've had great weather, and we adopted new routines. We began gratefully eating free school lunches. We adjusted to meetings and meet-ups by video conferencing and school by Infinite Campus. We started reading more e-books when the library closed, and Jack read the entire Harry Potter series. The kids did some Zoom cooking classes with a friend from church. We were able to join a local pool with redirected funds from summer camp's closure, and Cooper completed 2 weeks of swim lessons today! Tessa started taking drivers' education classes via Zoom and gets her permit (God-willing) this coming week; there will be plenty of empty parking lots and slower streets for her to practice her new skills safely (yay!).
When we lived in Africa, we learned how to hold our plans loosely. We saw people's lives unravel so unexpectedly and quickly. Proverbs 16:9, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps," became quite realistic to us. I am having that same sense again - we made so many plans that were then erased (literally) from our family paper schedule. God is good, and He is sovereign. In the middle of our wonky erasures, He has a perfect plan for the Hill family and for each of His children, and this pandemic season is certainly helping us to trust Him in new ways. He is using it to teach us how to be grateful for the small things, how to talk to him, how to make the most of every opportunity, and how to take rest when He offers it to us. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
May my eyes remain open to the goodness of God with each loss. My my heart be turned toward Him when my eraser is scrubbing away at another scheduled event. May I hold our plans with open hands, looking to see how He can use me to bless others who are suffering losses. And may I be grateful for each gift, each day, each challenge with His peace flowing through me.
