It’s finally here. Our state’s ‘stay at home’ orders have been lifted. It’s hard to believe that it’s been three long months since the Covid 19 pandemic began. Life still isn’t back to normal, but finally, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps you feel this way too. It feels good to start going places again (other than the grocery store) and to actually see people in person even with social distancing in place. In looking back over the past three months, I’ve realized that staying at home during the Covid 19 crisis actually taught me a thing or two. Yes, I must admit that I learned some valuable lessons from sheltering in place during Covid 19.
Giving Up Control That I Never Had in the First Place
Covid 19 pretty much blew out of the water my need to control what was happening around me. As a person who likes to have a plan and stick to it, you could say that Covid 19 threw me a curve ball. With so much uncertainty from day to day, one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from sheltering in place during the Covid 19 crisis is learning to let go of control.
I won’t lie – it was painfully hard in the beginning. I desperately wanted to find a way to ‘fix’ what was happening. And I desperately needed to know the answer to one very important question – WHEN?
WHEN will this virus be over?
WHEN can we safely go outside our homes?
WHEN will life return to normal?
But as time went on, my need to control lessened as I realized that I was never really in control in the first place. Only God knew the plan. Therefore, instead of asking when, I started asking why. WHY was this happening? And what was God trying to teach me in the process?
Exercising Patience
Trusting God during this time of uncertainty was a true test in patience. I had a growing desire to learn how the virus occurred and what we could do to contain it. And with each passing day, my curiosity grew and so did the need to fill my mind with the daily chatter of news reports to find the answers. However, I quickly learned that this didn’t bring me the peace or security I was looking for. In fact, it did just the opposite. I felt hopeless, afraid, and agitated. I soon realized I had no choice but to cultivate an attitude of patience. The reality was that I didn’t have all the answers. Only time would tell how this situation would play out. And only God knew the outcome.
Second, I wasn’t the only one sheltering in place. My family was too. And that was a lesson in patience all in itself. On any given day, it was a juggling act finding a space for everyone to study or work. I bet this was all too familiar in your home too.
Balancing Patience For Others with Gentleness Towards Myself
Meanwhile, my role was to keep the house peaceful and quiet in the process. This task wasn’t easy, and it was a daily lesson in patience. It continues to be so today as my husband is still working from home. And, although my kids are done school for the year, they still need a quiet place of their own. Now they need a space dedicated to working out or FaceTiming with a friend without being disturbed. So, God is still chipping away and trying to free me from my temptation to be impatient.
While trying to keep it all together, I learned a valuable lesson about being patient with myself while sheltering in place. I learned the importance of being gentle with myself, not judging my actions too harshly, and learning to not take myself so seriously. After three long months, I’ve finally learned that it’s NORMAL to have friction within a family when everyone is under the same roof all the time. It’s normal to feel tired of making lunches and dinners EVERY night. And, it’s normal to want a little quiet time for myself, a space to call my own, so I can refresh and recharge to be the best for those around me.
It’s All About Grace
While sheltering in place, I also learned a thing or two about grace. No, I’m not talking about the grace we say before meals. I’m talking about the grace that we show to others and to ourselves. The same grace that God shows to each one of us every time we make a mistake, fall into sin, or leave him out of our life and try to figure things out on our own.
I learned that grace means looking beyond the faults of others and choosing to focus on their good traits instead. And this is an especially hard lesson to learn while sheltering under one roof during Covid 19. For example, I needed God’s grace each morning when I woke up to find a pile of dishes in the sink from the night before. I had to frequently call upon God’s grace to choose to overlook the mess and not start my day off on the wrong foot. And, I needed grace when I caught myself complaining about all the things I couldn’t do during this time. Each day I prayed for the grace to be grateful instead.
I’m the first to admit that showing grace doesn’t always come easy to me. I still struggle with it some days, but I try to remind myself that no one is perfect. We are all a work in progress after all.
Starting the Day Off Right
How I start my day matters. And this is especially true during a pandemic. What helped me stay sane while sheltering in place was starting my day off right. Specifically, starting my day with prayerful consideration. By this I mean beginning my day with online mass, or by taking a walk outdoors and talking to God, or with a daily devotional.
Many days it was listening to our pastor’s daily devotional posted online discussing his thoughts about the readings for the day. He talked about the challenges of families being under the same roof. He encouraged showing grace to our family members, overlooking their faults and speaking words of encouragement. He reiterated the need to be gentle with ourselves during this time. And, he’d often close his daily devotional by reminding us to be disciples of Christ during a time when our world desperately needed it. How did he know that I needed to hear these words? This I’ll never know, but, I found myself looking forward to listening to these messages each day. They were words of hope telling me that it was going to be ok. I wasn’t alone. And, each day was a new beginning.
Using This Time to Grow My Faith
During this pandemic, I’ve learned how important my faith is to me. This time of doing without in so many ways has put into perspective what’s important and what’s not. While the things of this world are fleeting, God’s love is eternal. What really matters is the here and now because we will never have absolute certainty about the future. During this time of waiting, God was also calling me to slow down and to let his timing unfold in many areas of my life.
Finding Time to Learn New Things
While sheltering in place, I enjoyed the opportunity to learn something new and to expand on an existing hobby. For example, I signed up for a few writing courses. I joined a weekly online book club with some wonderful women from our church’s women’s bible study group. And, believe it or not, I learned to like exercise! It became a new outlet for me as did finding online spiritual resources that helped me get through this challenging time.
Learning to Make Lemonade
I love the saying that ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.’ In other words, look for the blessings. Focus on what you’ve learned in the process.
And, that’s just what I did while sheltering in place. It definitely wasn’t easy, and it’s still challenging at times, but it has helped me to shift my perspective on how to handle uncertainty.
What Have You Learned?
So, if you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to think back on the past couple of months and look for the blessings.
When we are finally able to fully step out into the world again, let’s think about how we might share our gifts, our time, and our blessings with others.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish it’s work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – James 1:2-4 (NIV)
What lessons did you learn from sheltering in place? Please share in the comments section below.
Leave a Reply