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…
The Collis Family
1) Describe your family and what your average day looks like under lockdown.
We have 3 little blondie boys, 5, 4 and 2 and a 4 month old baby girl. Our family picture is of us in true lockdown mood, no make up, dirty clothes, I’m sure I saw my hairbrush a few days ago somewhere. Life in lockdown is far from quiet! If I’m completely honest it doesn’t feel unrecognisable from life a few weeks ago as our eldest was in P1 but the other three were still at home with me full-time.
Thom, my husband is a tree surgeon for Northern Ireland Electricity so has been going to work as normal. We aren’t sure how that will change in the coming weeks but I suspect it will in some way.
Our days start bright and early (too early). The best part of the morning is taken up with a walk. We are so fortunate in that we live in such a beautiful part of the country and there is no shortage of local, remote places to choose from. Now, when I say walk, I mean a snail paced potter! I get so much out of being outside so this has probably always been my favourite part of the day and I love the conversations it brings up as they stop and poke at everything they see. I’m also all about my mid morning snack so we usually stop somewhere along the way for that. I am such a rule keeper so I am always looking over my shoulder during this as it isn’t really exercise! However, all I ever see is sheep looking back at us!
I’m a big believer in letting them learn through play and just letting them explore the world and awakening a wonder at what they see. I think a lot comes out of that wonder and curiosity. Because of this I try and keep worksheets to a minimum. However, at this stage of the day I do get them to write/draw a bit about their walk and what they saw. I also get my eldest to read a book at some point too. The rest of his literacy and numeracy comes through play eg.writing a cafe menu, writing notes to his toys, writing numbers in the mud!
The rest of the day is filled with lots of stories, play and endless, endless drawing. We have a good sized garden with a fire pit which we’ve used a few times this week, it has been a real treat to get good weather to enjoy that.
Another favourite part of my day is afternoon snack time. We sit round the table and take some time to read a bit from Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing
*. It only takes a minute to read but it creates a bit of calm in the middle of the afternoon, and importantly gives me a chance to get a hot cup of tea. They are well drilled to not start eating their snack until I’m sat with my tea too! I cling to the quietness that a snack brings and want to use it wisely!! I feel I should say that the tantrums, many fights, nappies, crying fits and ‘mmuuuuummmmmy’s are all interspersed in there somewhere! Funnily enough, not so much on our walk.
2) What challenges have you encountered?
We have had a busy last few months, with a new baby, finishing of building our house and then moving in to it with still a lot of work left to do. So in the busyness getting broadband or sorting out our TV wasn’t a priority (kicking myself now). I’m embarrassed to say that I was relatively oblivious to the progress of Covid 19. One minute I was reading a BBC news article about a woman in lockdown in China not really seeing the connection to us, then the next my son’s school was being shut down, family members in hospitality had to stop working and I couldn’t buy any pasta or toilet roll! I think I went in to a state of shock for a few days. It’s all I could think and talk about and at times I felt very fearful. It shook me as I realised how weak and powerless we actually are in the grand scheme of things. I have progressed past that by and large, and am amazed at how people are adapting so quickly. However I do feel quite isolated. We are in the countryside which has it’s definite perks, but I feel like I am in a complete bubble without broadband, TV and limited data on my phone. It has been nice to see more families out walking past our window, but I’m worried I have scared some of them with my all too enthusiastic waving! The poor Asda delivery man and postman probably know my life story. On a side note if anyone can tell us how we can get broadband at the minute I will be eternally grateful!
On a deeper level I am worried about vulnerable family members. It’s hard not being able to do anything for them at the moment. I also feel a sense of frustration as there will be people in our community who will be massively struggling through all this, and I’m not sure how we can reach out to them in an impactful way. I’m just praying that God raises up a sense of need for him amongst people.
3) What encouragements have you seen?
I’ve been encouraged by how we’ve had the chance to introduce ourselves to the rest of our road. We haven’t been living here long so didn’t know them yet. This has given us a good excuse to let them know we are here to help in any way we can.
4) Why is the gospel good news for your family at this time?
I have been drawn to Matthew this week. I am loving spending time focusing on Jesus and his goodness and beauty. Fixing my eyes on him each day refreshes me in a real way. This time is facilitated by our Mr Men/Postman Pat DVDs which the boys can now recite! I also listened to an episode of ‘ask pastor john’ in which John Piper spoke about how we can make sense of this all. It’s well worth a listen to. It was pure balm to my fearful heart to be reminded that God is sovereign and he sees all that is going on.
A huge thank you to the Collis family for taking part in this series!
Why don’t you take a few moments now to pray for the Collis family? Pray for them as they settle into a new home in such strange times. Pray for their faith to grow during this time, and for them to continue to see blessings spring out of this.
P.S. You can now give thanks… their internet is sorted!
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?