1. Quarantine.
What a great opportunity to hunker down, slow down, and get intentional. Homeschool field trips have been cancelled, playdates have been postponed, and life is about to come back into a bit of focus.
The culture 'out there' is running around in fear, without hope, without comfort. What a great opportunity to build a tangible picture of the gospel: God is a home-dweller, a lover of family, a lover of children. One who laughs with joy in the face of the future. One who builds a whole kingdom out of the tiny and mundane - the things that quickly get overlooked in our constant restlessness and busyness and outwardness. We have the opportunity to oppose, conquer, and ultimately heal a culture of fear by building our own microcultures of Christian warmth, confidence, healing, peace, joy, education, beauty and abundance. Right in this very moment, in the middle of an outbreak, inside our walls. What a fantastic, rare opportunity we have had thrust into our hands. Let's do something with it.
2. Domesticity.
What better way to spend the time stuck in the house than actually loving on the house? Sometimes I forget that the best way to fall in love with something is to act like you love it first and allow the feelings to follow. My kitchen has been a source of frustration for me lately, so I decided that each day I'm going to pick a cabinet or two to empty, scrub down, purge, and neaten. I'm only a couple of days in, but it's making a big difference in my feelings. (It also doesn't hurt that I bought some gorgeous Blue Willow plates at the antique mall this weekend, and I've just left them out on the counter to resurprise me with their beauty every time I walk in. Even Penelope says they take her breath away.)
I also have curtain rods to install, a basement to paint, and art to hang. I'm going to try a few new recipes. If the weather gets nice, I can get the garage cleaned out. I can gradually load up the back of the van so that when all of this is over, I can bring a massive donation to Goodwill and start the spring off on the right foot.
Penelope and I can get her zinnia seeds in the ground in the next few weeks. What better time could there be than to plan to watch new life sprout?
There is always something creative and necessary to do around the house if we're actually here long enough to see it (and then committed enough to do something about what we see). I think that's one of the reasons that Proverbs says the foolish woman's feet are never at home - we have to be in our homes to actually even know how to take care of them. We have to live with and in them a bit before we even know what there is to do there, but once we have eyes of wisdom to see it, there is always more than enough outlet for creativity and productivity.
3. Fun Momming.
I am not a fun mom. I'm not a boring mom or a mean mom, but I'm not an altogether fun mom. This might provide opportunities to strengthen that muscle a bit. I have things on hand to make bread and cookies. I'm going to let Penelope help me get my kombucha scoby going again. I have a puzzle map of Europe I'm planning to get out when we're on break next week.
4. Life as Normal.
We're blessed in the sense that our normal routine doesn't have to stop when we all stay at home. I think there's something comforting and helpful to all of us to get to carry on as usual with our daily rhythms of productive, meaningful work, and satisfying rest. Homeschool, popcorn parties, family movie nights, story club and family read-alouds can all carry on as though nothing is different.
5. No Library Return Dates.
The library is closed indefinitely at this point, so I don't have to return The Greatest Showman anytime soon. Which means I can watch it on repeat until my eyeballs fall right out of my face. (I hope eternity on the new earth finds me slathering every last surface in buttery pastel- and jewel-toned velvets and satins and silks [oh my], and singing and dancing until my resurrected legs fall off.)
Let's play the glad game - what are you most glad about in this season?
2 comments :
Okay, I meant to comment before, but we saw The Greatest Showman after it came out on DVD too and I adore it!!! I told Jordan we were going Black Friday shopping last year only so I could buy it on discount and watch it until the disk wears thin (do DVDs wear thin? This one will.) Oh my goodness, what a treasure!
Our library closed last night and I have so many regrets of not going at the last minute to grab books galore.
i love this post. when our lives largely consist of rhythms that take place under our roof, it doesn't throw life off balance to spend more time under that roof, it only accentuates what we've already been cultivating.
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