The Coronavirus crisis has impacted families around the world in profound ways. In this series, ”Covid-19 A day in the life of…”, we can get an insight into how different Christian families are finding hope in the gospel during this uncertain and challenging time.
Some parents are keyworkers and are working hard to serve society as a whole; others find themselves having to work remotely from home while juggling childcare; others find themselves unemployed and full-time homeschooling as a result of this crisis. All of us are social distancing, all of us can only meet our church family virtually, all of us and all of our children have been profoundly impacted by this.
We are really excited about this series. Our hope is that as we hear about how other parents are living for Jesus during this time, it will encourage us to do likewise. So let’s meet Lynn’s family…
Lynn’s Family
1) Describe your family and what your average day looks like under lockdown.
We are a family of four; Me, two beautiful children and an naughty, somewhat smelly, gorgeous dog. I work as a Practice Nurse in a very large doctors surgery. I leave the house every morning before the house is awake and head to meet the challenges of the day. Life at work has changed dramatically over the last couple of weeks. Work is strange. We have scaled back all non urgent work to make way and prepare for urgent covid-19 patients, with daily talk of a covid-19 hub being set up and how many beds there are available in the local hospitals. Isolation rooms are being prepared within the surgery for seeing suspected cases and we are checking to make sure there is plenty of PPE still available. I have spent my week visiting vulnerable patients at home who are frightened and just need to be reassured. We visit in masks, gowns and gloves not because we suspect them of having covid-19 but to protect them from us and the potential that we may carry the virus unknowingly.
Meanwhile at home my children socially distance themselves – at 16 &18 they are old enough to be left on their own. They fill their day with college work, craft activities, walking the dog, jogging, playing xbox , watching Disney + and cooking. It is very refreshing to come home when it’s been a long and stressful day to fresh baking and tea being cooked. My daughter is an awesome Baker!
2) What challenges have you encountered?
The main challenges I find is the guilt I feel every day thinking I could bring Covid-19 into the house. I worry that I put my children in a vulnerable position. I take every precaution I can from changing my clothes at work to showering as soon as I walk in the house, boil washing my uniforms and of course lots and lots of handwashing! My daughter follows me constantly with dettol wipes! I struggle to go shopping and sometimes finding enough food can be a challenge. I shop for my parents too who are both above the age of 70, ensuring that they do not need to go out and can stay at home . My weekends feel like they are full of just trying to get enough food for the week for everyone.
3) What encouragements have you seen?
The blessings definitely outweigh the challenges, I could fill pages and pages of a book telling you about all the individual blessings. We were saying as a family how lovely it was just to sit down to tea together every evening. Life before the coronavirus was busy busy. With everyone’s social life, we sometime would only sit down to tea together once a week.
I have loved witnessing how people are supporting each other . I have been thanked more times in the last week for being a nurse than I probably have in the last 10 years I have been nursing!! I feel so looked after not only by my lovely children but by friends too – I have had some lovely surprise deliveries to the door step.
4) Why is the gospel good news for your family at this time?
I have been acutely reminded over the last week that God has totally got this and that if we look we can see his blessings in this.
I was in then garage last week looking for newspaper and wallpaper paste for a friend, who wanted to do paper mache with her children. I was looking under a garden table that was all covered up with tarpaulin. I spotted out of the corner of my eye a flower! I thought I was seeing things … as I climbed further under the table I saw there was a planter under there which had been there since we moved into the house in December. I thought the planter was empty so had left it there to use in the spring. When I pulled the planter out from under the table there was beautiful flowers growing from it. Spring bulbs that had sprung up and flowered. Even without light or water they had sprung up against the odds and these beautiful flowers had bloomed. Yes the stems were a little floppy and not as green as they normally would be, but the blooms …they were no less beautiful and vibrant.
I was reminded of Isaiah 43.19
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Gods love and blessing have been so clear to me especially over the last year. Even though the last year has been difficult and so painful for me personally and the last couple of weeks, scary and uncertain. I can see that God is doing a new thing not only in my life but that of my family too. The good news is that even though the world feels dark right now and it is scary, God is still doing wonderful things. Those bulbs are still continuing to bloom. We just need to open our eyes and look for them.
A huge thank you to Lynn’s family for taking part in this series!
Why don’t you take a few moments now to pray for Lynn’s family? For protection for Lynn and her children as she nurses on the front line. For their faith to grow during this time, and for them to continue to see blessings spring out of this.
Could you take part in this series?
We would love to feature as many families as possible in this series.
If you would like to take part, then please send you answers in an email or DM, to the following questions (it should only take 10 mins or so to answer them):
1) Describe your family and what your average day looks like now under lockdown. (Some parents are key workers, some parents are juggling working from home while providing childcare, others find themselves unexpectedly homeschooling – what is your situation?)
2) What challenges have you encountered?
3) What encouragements have you seen?
4) Why is the gospel good news for your family at this time?