It's a year since the Coronavirus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
Words most certainly fail at a time like this. I'm not feeling particularly eloquent right about now. God knows I can't quite begin to put my hands around the many ways our lives, collectively and individually, have been altered.
The losses, both huge and subtle. The million ways our relationships have morphed for good or ill. The impact on how we do life in the company of others. How our faith has been stretched and grown ... or atrophied.
We've walked together through it all. The pandemic conversations we've had are gathered right here. Our stories each differ yet there are common themes. So the question begs to be asked.
What was going on in your life when the pandemic hit?
Check your blog posts, social media, phone, camera, calendar, journal, email folders.
And then share your story with us today. The good, the bad, the blessed, the ugly, the miracles. I'll go first. I had just returned home from the hospital ...
It's your turn.
We look back and reflect in order that we can move ahead unhindered. And we trust that God will do more than we can ask or imagine because of what we've experienced {Ephesians 3} ~
Linda
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I don't need to look anything up to know what I was doing and how I felt at the time. We had just said good-bye to family with grands moving to SC, with the promise that we would visit over spring break. When this news hit, it crushed any hope we had of following through on our promise. How my heart was broken! Thank goodness, on this year's spring break, we will finally be reunited in person. For that, I'm so thankful.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Linda!
Martha, I well remember that move your family made ... and its crushing impact on you. It was a great grief.
DeletePraise God for this year's spring break ... you will have a blast!
A year ago the panic started,
ReplyDeleteor should I say, pandemic,
a year that tried the bravest-hearted
as ennui became endemic,
and church and friendships withered,
and sometimes even fell away
as the politicians dithered
just as they still do today.
Where there's life there still is hope,
but there are so many dead,
and with this it's hard to cope
and hard to wrap one's head
'round smiles last year that seemed so bright
and are now lost to COVID's night.
Yes, yes, Andrew. And grief is compounded and made more complex by the inability of so many unable to be with those they loved as they left this earth.
DeleteTragic. Unthinkable.
I went into overdrive on cleaning, writing, schooling my youngest without the “interruption” of outside activities. The loss I felt most deeply was the lack of teaching opportunities—even my 4-5 year old Sunday school class was no more...
ReplyDeleteMichele, I have thought so often about all our kids and Sunday School and VBS and Junior Church and Kids' Klubs. I wonder what happens since so many of the young families have stopped attending in-person church. I wonder what happens to all they've not had access to in the last year. I wonder what they've turned to instead.
DeleteI wonder how God will redeem it all for this next generation.
When conflicting reports (let's remember the WHO denied the suggestion of a pandemic for several weeks) started appearing in the media I had an unsettling feeling.... like living on a train track and hearing the train was coming and yet realizing there was only so much I could do to "get out of the way" of being harmed.
ReplyDeleteOur provincial health officer broke down and cried while giving a daily covid update on TV and I thought "Oh @#$^% this is worse than we predicted."
When everything shut down on March 17, 2020 our city was quiet, songbirds could be heard again and admittedly my soul exhaled for the first time in years.
External mandatory restrictions on face-to-face interactions and travel have allowed me to recover from some tumultuous years. I'm sleeping better – living better than I have in a long time. I hesitate to post this because of the trauma and loss that many people have suffered. I admit a year of stillness is what my being was starving for.
For sure, Kathreen, this right here --> 'I admit a year of stillness is what my being was starving for.'
DeleteI'm grateful you didn't hesitate for long before sharing your experience, because I've heard a number of people who have embraced these months as sheer gift. Empty calendars, no running to and fro, cancelled events have allowed some of us to heal.
We never dreamed our healing would come in this form, did we ...
'My soul exhaled for the first time in years.' Yes, my friend, I hear you well.
I don't remember exactly when things started cracking down here. Unfortunately, it took a long time for businesses in my town to fall in line and require masks and limit capacity. Eventually most of them did.
ReplyDeleteThankfully we had just gone on an extended family outing a few weeks before, I'd just had lunch with a friend, and my husband and I had gone for an overnight trip for our anniversary several weeks before, so we weren't feeling too cooped up yet. I think it was the uncertainty as much as anything that unnerved me in the early days. Our church had just been reading through some of the major and minor prophets, and plagues and other horrible things were some of what God allowed to draw His people back to Himself. It seemed like suddenly the OT was repeating itself in our time.
The couple of posts I wrote during that time that ministered to me the most were Let Trouble Draw You Nearer (https://barbaraleeharper.com/2020/03/15/let-trouble-draw-you-nearer/) and Things I Am Thankful For During the Coronavirus Pandemic (https://barbaraleeharper.com/2020/03/19/things-i-am-thankful-for-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/).
I'm so thankful you're doing better since that ambulance trip.
Don't you just love looking back and recalling those wonderful occasions you and your loved ones were able to enjoy just before everything came tumbling down, Barbara? What grace, what a blessing.
DeleteI'm off to re-read your posts. I remember them well ...
I remember when you had that blood clot in your lungs, Linda. It's hard to believe it has been that long. I remember, too, how weak you were afterwards. I hope your health is better now. Yes, so many changes and losses this past year in so many ways. I hope you may soon see your mom more and give her some huge hugs! Love and blessings to you!
ReplyDeleteBoy, you even remember the details, Trudy. What a memory!
DeleteThankfully, my sister and I are able again to see Mom on Thursday afternoons for about 45 minutes. We have to jump through a number of hoops to do so each time - paperwork, covid test, new masks, temperature taken, more paperwork, plastic goggles.
It's worth every minute. And yes, we get a few awkward kisses with those cone shaped masks ... and some very gentle hugs.
Oh Linda ... I just read your answer to Trudy. I don't even know your mom, but I wholeheartedly agree. Whatever hoops you have to jump through, however long it takes, it truly is worth every minute. When you look back years from now, you won't remember the hoops. You'll remember the kisses and hugs, no matter how awkward.
ReplyDeleteI love your invitation to think back to this time last year and share our stories. I'm trying to do that for a post of my own, and your words (and the comments of others) are encouraging me to keep at it until it's done. Love and hugs to you, my friend. I'm so grateful that we have been able to walk through the last year together.
I can't wait to read your thoughts, Lois. Yes, this has been some year, especially for those of us who were already hip deep in grief.
DeleteYou have been a tender traveling companion through the valley. I'm so grateful ...
I have become more and more reclusive over this year. There are just a few women I visit with. I live in a state where the science seems not important so mask-wearing and distancing and openness of businesses seems to be sporadic and cause for conflict. I do not like it. I have tried to go to church a couple of times for 2 or 3 weeks and then stop because so few wear masks. I just do not understand. So I stay safe. One friend believes God will protect her, and He will. Yet He wants us to care about others and that is important in my humble opinion. So I am fine and keeping busy but mostly alone. I have had my first shot and once I get the second I will still wear a mask.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda! For what it's worth, I absolutely agree with you about mask-wearing, distancing, and getting information about covid from scientists and doctors. It continues to amaze me how many people think they're invincible and that the pandemic will never touch them.
DeleteMore than that, I despise how this whole thing became so quickly politicized, pitting people against each other instead of joining forces.
'Nuff said.
Glad you're here today!
I remember the last brunch with our son, daughter-in-law, and their two girls--as we had so often shared previously on many-a-Sunday after church. The next Sunday we were shuttered in our homes. I remember the last in-person Bible study, just days before the quarantine. We talked about how rapidly the coronavirus was spreading. (When did we start calling it Covid-19, then just Covid?) No hugs that day--just in case. And then just two days before, my writers' group met, but stayed socially distant. Again, just in case. Little did we know it would be over a year before we'd see each other again face to face. I'm so thankful for Zoom that's made it possible to meet on screen. That's a lot better than nothing. But what euphoria we'll experience just to resume what was once so ordinary!
ReplyDeleteWow, Nancy ... all those details you remember ... they are embedded in your heart because these people and gatherings mean so very much to you. We surely were meant to do life in community.
DeleteYour final words are beautiful ... 'what euphoria we'll experience just to resume what was once so ordinary!'
LOVE that.
as for me...life was going along normal and still did...for a few days. We had to make adjustments to our church gathering. I had to stop going to the Y and rode my bike a lot instead since I was by myself. :) I chose to do ministry somewhat differently as well.
ReplyDelete'For a few days.'
Delete;-}
Yes, we've had no choice but to do ministry differently. It's given leaders lots of room for creativity and innovation and out of the box ideas. And that's a very good thing.
I'm still a big fan of your praying in the driveways ministry, Bill.
Interesting how I just finished a devotional today with the final verse being Psalm 64:11. "You crown the year with bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance." This was a reminder to me on how God shows His abundance in nature over and over again. The pandemic hit, yet the mountains are still majestic and the trees still grow! A year ago I had returned from a dental conference and was immediately put into two week isolation due to Covid cases at the convention. I never thought it would last this long, but now that spring is on it's way, and Easter is around the corner, and the economy is opening up more, and the trees are still growing (of course), I am feeling very hopeful because of God's abundant nature!
ReplyDeleteLynn, thanks for sharing this verse ... it could become our theme song! May the hard pathways that people have had no choice but to walk on yield blessings that we never expected.
DeleteI so appreciate this wise insight you've shared today. Wow. It's a game-changer.
I'm glad covid missed you ... hope you are well!
Dear friend! You always encourage my heart. It is so strange because it is like God had been preparing my family and me for what has happened this last year. Some of the things that have most impacted the world around us had already happened in our lives and made it easier for us to accept and walk through such strangeness. He is so faithful to arm us with what we need to face every battle. I am so thankful for you and your steady encouragement and the hope you bring here. You are a gem, and I thank the Lord for you.
ReplyDeleteCheryl, hi! I'm fascinated that you're seeing that God had been preparing you for what has happened this past year. This gives me cause for pause and in times of stillness, I will continue to see if this is true for me, as well.
DeleteThank you for nudging me to go deeper into His big picture. His plans are to give us hope and a future. And He is able to use any and all circumstances to take us there.
Words fail, indeed. One thing I noticed for sure, life carries on. The weather and seasons shift, but the sun rose and set - along with my emotions, frequently. Memories became a touch stone, future plans - a life raft to cling too. Riding each and every day's wave, up, down, up and down. A vaccine is six days away for us and our entire teaching district. A day that almost feels as surreal as the day it all began. Gratitude is ever-present.
ReplyDeleteBarbara, your words are so beautifully reflective and speak peace especially in the shifting, the up and down, the unknown. And yes, yes, gratitude is ever-present.
DeleteAnd hasn't that been the most absolute grace ...
It's hard to believe it's been a year! I don't think any of us thought we would still be facing so many restrictions a year later. The last "normal" thing I did was a band rehearsal. By this point we were all starting to get a little anxious about things and we questioned whether the rehearsal would be on the following week and the conductor insisted it would. Of course it wasn't, and we haven't been able to play together again since. In the last year I've only had one opportunity to play music with others, so I hope we can get back to it soon.
ReplyDeleteI hear the yearning in your voice, Lesley ... and I know you feel the same way about the ministry that was ready to kick off.
DeleteSometimes it's hard to trust God's timing, isn't it ... and then we realize He knows the end from the beginning. All will be well.
Linda, as I have looked back over the last year all I can see and think about is the faithfulness of God. Sure, it hasn't been easy, but we are here - by His grace and strength. A song which has been on replay for about a week now has been this one >>>> https://youtu.be/x-1-WSaJakc
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Joanne, good morning. I'm listening to the beauty and truth of the song you've shared.
DeleteHe never let go. And the longer we walk through the valley or life or experiences, we realize again and again the glory of the truth that God hasn't changed a bit, that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that His mercies are new every morning.
Great is His faithfulness. May we recognize this awesome reality and praise Him continually!
I pulled out my One-Line-a-Day calendar. On March 11, 2020: "New no-hug rule by me and Kay at Johnson Towers. Hard, but coronavirus could wipe out everybody there." We thought we were being cautious by not hugging those we delivered meals to in disabled housing. But it ended up being the last time we were even allowed in. I haven't seen these friends in over a year. :( Some have died without us getting to say goodbye.
ReplyDeleteOh Lisa, I'm so sorry. Truly.
DeleteThere's something in us that cries out to say good-bye. Our trauma and grief can be greater if that ends up being impossible. This might be one of the pandemic's severest sorrows.
I hope that soon, doors of opportunity will reopen for you, and all of us who long to serve. The list is long ...