We're in This Together

I'm so tired of the word unprecedented. I'm looking at my thesaurus for alternative words. My choices are in alphabetical order but the first one sounds pretty spot on: bizarre. What else do we have ... extraordinary (it certainly hasn't been ordinary but I wouldn't say it's extra ordinary but whatever), fantastic (Ha!), unparalleled, unrivaled, unheard-of, uncommon. Fine. I guess we'll stick with unprecedented. 

In these unprecedented times (I'll use it but against my will), our family life has retained some ordinariness. We homeschool so we're not used to going our separate ways every weekday morning and reuniting for dinner if we're lucky. Home is what we do! Wayne is usually around for two out of three meals a day. He and I regularly take daily 3 mile walks together. I almost always make all our meals. I'm usually in my pj's until 10am. Zanna and I daily pour over grammar, science, history, etc. Dad has already been taking over the math moments when Zanna and Kahn Academy don't get along.  Yep, in many ways it's just another day in our home!

Just laying around reading the Odyssey(for Lit class) 

What has changed is our weekly homeschool co-op. I teach writing and last week we experimented with a Zoom call. 

What has changed is Will doing his college classes online. After going back to New Ulm to grab his books and join the Minnesota National Guard, he drove back home and picked up his girlfriend from the airport on his way. For two weeks they daily packed up their backpacks and a lunch and headed over to church to set up a workspace. They were in and out in the afternoons running, exercising, or kayaking on the lake. We suddenly saw our son as the young man he is becoming: committing to serve our country, committing to his pastoral studies, and committing to the lovely woman he brought home. 

What has changed is how often we see our neighbours. We actually see them more often than before at a proper distance of course. We've enjoyed several social distancing get togethers.

Most people out here have a mule or Ranger they tool around in so we all meet in a circle and keep our distance. BYOB. That's my sad looking little folding chair as we don't have one of those machines. It's nice they still include us;) 

We also pass our neighbours more frequently on our daily walks as they are more likely to be out and we can chat from across the street. Helps the sanity and all of that. 

What has changed the most has been church. This has definitely been the most stressful aspect for us and I know for many other church workers. How best to meet the spiritual and sometimes physical needs of our members with the many changing restrictions has needed wisdom and creativity and an unprecedented (yes I said it) amount of love and patience that only the Spirit can produce. We mourn the loss of getting together with our church family because we really are a family. We struggle with not being able to give the Sacrament especially during these stressful times when Satan is looking for a foothold. We still can't even believe that for most people Holy Week and Easter, the highest point of the church year and in the life of a Christian, will be spent at home on the couch watching their device. And the burden and responsibility of what they are watching on their device falls on our shoulders as much as it depends on us. 

There's been so many variables out of our control and out of our wheelhouse that I have spent hours in tears. I've watched hours of YouTube videos only to learn how much I don't know. We've struggled with crappy country wifi and limitations common to the rural area our home and church are in. We weren't planning on updating our phones but we did mine in hopes of improving the quality and ability to lifestream. I've consulted over the phone with others that can help guide us in what to do or try. I've spent too much time looking at what other congregations are doing and ending up feeling like a bigger failure because we don't have the resources, ability, or knowhow to achieve a produced video, polished You Tube channel, or seamless LiveStream that goes without a glitch. 

So we've kept doing what we can do. We've made good old fashioned phone calls to all of our members, checking in and making sure they're OK. To the more extroverted that find these days of isolation especially challenging, I've tried to slow down and block time to listen, chat, and laugh a little over regular calls. Every week we learn a bit more about improving our online worship and have added a tripod and external microphone. We make mistakes. I cry. And then we start again. That's pretty much how it goes. We sure appreciate those texts or emails or comments on the phone from our members that encourage us and thank us for how hard we're trying even when we had to start over a few times, the sound echoed, or only part of something recorded. 

In these unprecedented, bizarre days of social distancing, mask wearing, hand sanitizing over compensation, and toilet paper hoarding I also find myself enjoying the slower pace. It's a chance to spend some quality prayer time lifting those up to the Lord that are on the front lines of this virus. There's a vaccine to find and  those that are working on it. There's governments and leaders that need prayers for wisdom and guidance. There are plenty of dysfunctional families out there that on a good, normal day have some serious issues so what is their world possibly like with them all stuck in the same house without work, increased stress, and decreased structure? The prayer list goes on and on. 

There's been time to try new recipes, get some baking done, organize closets ... the list is endless! There's gardening to do and weeds to pull. I've tried new makeup (thank you online Sephora) and finally purchased new makeup brushes (thank you Target) because I think most of them were over 20 years old and that's just gross. There's books to read. Yay!!! 

Now it is Holy Week and there's so much out of our control but in our home we will endeavor to keep the focus on Christ like every other year. It'll just look different this time. Some traditions will continue and some will be tweaked. With the internet there is such a plethora of information and resources that we can take our pick from. 

I've FaceTimed with a few dear friends from Ottawa. I've scrolled Facebook and Instagram (the rambling redhead is HILARIOUS) more than necessary but in a hunger for human connection. I recently bought a pair of yoga pants online that I will forever refer to as "my Covid pants" because who has the energy to put real pants on? 

And that's Covid life in a nutshell in the Halldo household. 

My Dad bought me toilet paper!!!!