One Year Later: 10 Positive Things About Staying Home

One year ago today our family started social distancing and staying home. 

We made the call early, before it was required, because I was expecting Emily and nobody knew if or how Covid could impact a developing baby. It was hard. In fact due to this choice we lost some of the few Pennsylvania friends we had made since our move. 

We have now spent 365 days in which we have zero social interactions except with our closed circle of people (that included my mom, our next door neighbor family, and a single soldier). 

No movies, no museums, no parties, no in-person-church, no in-person-grocery shopping, no play-dates, and no trips out of state to see family.

And it was absolutely worth it. 

I know that the pandemic has been hard and awful. But I don't want to write off an entire year of my life as bad. So I am writing out 10 positive things that happened for our family while we made the choice to social distance so that in years to come I can look back and remember all the positive things that came from spending a year at home together.

1. We slowed life WAY down by cutting out all the unnecessary stuff that we have allowed to fill our calendars in the past.
2. We read a TON of books together as a family.
3. We taught the kids about boundaries.
4. We did a great job of maintaining those boundaries even when it wasn't easy or fun.
5. We hiked a minimum of 2 miles almost every single weekend... with three and then four small children! 
6. We talked about loving like Jesus by doing the hard things to protect others (like their great grandmother) from illness.
7. We did a lot of science experiments with the kids and got to see how they think and solve problems. I can say that 100% would not have been able to squeeze that in prior to the shut downs.
8. We read a TON of books together as a family, discussed them, and inspired the kids to write their own. 
9. We talked a LOT about rules and authority with the kids when it came to government imposed limits and masks. 
10. We spent a lot of time in prayer together as a family. We prayed for friends, family, leaders, scientists, and medial staff. 

I notice that all of those sentences started with "we". Our family spent the last 365 days together. So yes, the pandemic is incredibly hard. 

Having a baby during a global pandemic was one of the most challenging things I have ever faced. Wearing a mask during a C-Section was awful y'all! The uncertainty during the postpartum phase was REALLY HARD.

Being stuck at home was sometimes boring... but we did it. 

I am proud that we made the choice to stay at home and to wear a mask when we go outdoors.  

We will continue to make those choices until vaccines are readily available and the community at large can be safe. 

We will do that because we want to be like Jesus.