In our community context, out of a deep desire to protect one another, we pulled back. The diversity in age and ability at Jesus People means there are many older and immunocompromised individuals. So we choose the safety of many over the comfort of a few. I choose your safety over my comfort. This is loving your neighbor at its ultimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In our \u201cnormal\u201d life as a community, we shared meals together in our cafeteria-style dining room. My son ran around, socializing and bringing his joyful life into our neighbors\u2019 mealtimes. In pandemic life, we pick up pre-packaged meals or ingredients to cook in our tiny apartments, and we generally eat alone. In our \u201cnormal\u201d life, we would spend time together in our hallways and common spaces. My son would run up and down, playing games with our neighbors. We\u2019d prop open our apartment doors, a welcoming gesture to let everyone know they can sit down for a cup of coffee, visit for a while. In pandemic life, we wear masks in public spaces, don\u2019t spend time in the halls, and physically distance. Large gatherings now take place on Zoom. These changes lead to a deep level of loneliness while ironically living in a building with 180 others.<\/strong> Of course, there are <\/em>ways to meet safely. A yard for my toddler to run wild. Outdoor benches to share distanced meals with neighbors when the weather is decent. But life is still turned upside down for all of us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Something God has been revealing to me in this strange time is my deep need for simplicity.<\/strong> I’m not talking about today\u2019s minimalism trend. Sure, less stuff can be freeing, and isolation leads to some decluttering or DIY projects. But I mean an internal simplification. Decluttering of mental space. A minimizing of plans and expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Parenting during a pandemic takes the art of letting go to a whole new level. Letting go and grieving expectations I had for my son\u2019s schooling. Letting go of previously expected mom-breaks and the time alone, or the hope I had to start a new job. Letting go of vacation plans, traditional baby showers, and what I hoped for my daughter\u2019s first year of life. Letting go of my son\u2019s previously packed social calendar, play dates, church, museum and zoo outings, park meetups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My world has gotten a lot smaller, simpler.<\/strong> And this might be hard on us parents, but it\u2019s even harder for our kids. They feel things more deeply and don\u2019t have the language to communicate what\u2019s going on inside. But focusing in on quality time with my kids, trying to be present through the days, has also brought freedom. Freedom from the busyness, freedom from cluttering our family life with activities. I\u2019m not saying I\u2019m good at this new slow-living yet even one year into it. I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s any easier. But this realization has me learning. It also has brought me gratitude. I\u2019m seeing this time as a \u201cbonus year\u201d at home with my son. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A daily practice that is helping me get through these months has been \u201cbreathing prayer\u201d. Breathing in gratitude, breathing out control. Breathing in patience and breathing out plans. Breathing in thanksgiving and breathing out grief. Breathing in new life and breathing out the old.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll end with this. I have immense gratitude for my built-in community. I see people more than I would if I was in my own home. Sure, most gatherings look different, but the \u201cnew normal\u201d is giving me time and space I would usually fill.<\/strong> It\u2019s making me more intentional and present, when I let it. For others parenting through this pandemic: if we\u2019re just surviving, that\u2019s enough. Full stop. But if we are learning and growing, changing and transforming in the midst of it all? That\u2019s God at work.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Parenting tiny humans is hard. Full stop. Parenting tiny humans during a pandemic is extra hard. Now, parenting a three-year-old, then giving birth, and parenting a newborn in the midst of a global pandemic while living in a community with 180 others \u2013 that\u2019s just crazy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-life","category-covid"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jesuspeoplechicago.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/community-parenting-2-1024x674.jpg\")
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