Quarantine Week 6 is starting off with a bang.
On Sunday I felt the weight of responsibility; cooking Easter dinner and helping our soon to be 3 year old grasp the meaning of the resurrection {no pressure}. So, we survived Easter. It did make me appreciate extended family a little more though. It’s so nice to celebrate with others, share a meal {and the responsibilities of cooking}; we certainly won’t take it for granted going forward.
Sunday night we were under a tornado watch. Around 3AM we grabbed both kids from their upstairs bedrooms and moved to a huge makeshift family bed downstairs. We lay awake listening to the wind howl until it passed, moved the kids back to their beds and attempted to get a couple hours of sleep. Monday morning we learned that the tornado skipped us but hit our 2 neighboring towns hard. Some families lost everything. I spent the day obsessing over how to help our neighbors without posing threat of contact {do they even want our donations?}. I can deal with quarantine but quarantine from helping our neighbors feels so wrong.
We went on a walk Monday morning and Banks asked why bad storms happen. I was torn…can a 3 yr old grasp ‘the fallen world’ when I struggle to understand it myself? Banks asked if God was afraid of bad storms. I told him a story about when Jesus stopped a bad storm simply by telling it to be still. I thought about his first question the rest of the day. I believe when God granted us free will he granted it to the entire world…animals, plants, the winds and rains. I don’t think he’s causing bad storms any more than he causes people to make bad decisions. Sometimes he intervenes and stops the storm; sometimes he offers grace and comfort after the storm. That part {whether He intervenes}, I have no understanding of other than the fact that He is God and He knows best. I have to allow my faith to trust that part rather than question why He doesn’t stop every storm or every bad decision.
Which brings us to Monday night. Monday turned into a beautiful afternoon so I called my SIL, Elizabeth {AKA Aunt Lizzy}, and asked if her family wanted to come hide Easter eggs and have dinner with us {quarantine style}. They were still without power and appreciated the invite. They brought a picnic blanket and sat in the yard while we sat on the screened-in porch and didn’t allow anyone to break that barrier. Banks was handling that pretty well given he REALLY wanted to play with his cousins. It was getting late so I started Pearson’s bedtime routine. She’s still nursing {because pandemic}. I could hear Banks crying downstairs while she was still eating. I laid her down, and was shocked to see Elizabeth in the kitchen when I went down. The first thing she said was “Banks knocked out his tooth!” that sentence ended with “quarantine be damned!” {but she didn’t actually say that part}. I found Banks bawling & bleeding on Robert’s shoulder. I kissed him and went straight out to look for the tooth. I know…I’m mama yet didn’t grab and comfort him. Banks is a daddy’s boy and usually even if he says he wants me he really wants Robert. Also, when there’s that much blood I need a problem to solve and I am a finder. I find the tiniest of earring backs when Pearson loses it in her sleep, I find the perfect dress for 90% off, I find my Great Aunt’s crush from WWII after 50 years of silence...I didn’t find the tooth. Elizabeth is on the phone with our pediatric dentist {calling his cell at 8pm}; thank God she is friends with everyone. I went back in and got Banks and the Boo Boo Bunny {if you have a child under the age of 5 and don’t know what a Boo Boo Bunny is, get one here immediately}. With Aunt Lizzy’s experienced-mom-genius suggestion we turned on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs {of course the spaghetti tornado had come up earlier}. Banks is calm and starts telling us about the hole in his mouth. Then it hits me, where else could the tooth be; it has to be in his clothes. I look down to shake his shirt and there in his shirt pocket is the tooth! Aunt Lizzy runs to put it in milk and tell Robert who is now on with the dentist hearing all the extensive sedation and prodding that will happen if we don’t find the tooth. Banks is laughing now and back to himself. Daddy gives him ibuprofen and we thank Elizabeth & the kids for everything.
Later I’m lying in bed processing everything that just happened. From tornados, to storms to knocked out teeth. Robert and I went over a few scenarios where it would have never have happened…if I had taken Banks to get ready for bed when I took Pearson…so on. Banks wouldn’t have knocked out his tooth but he also wouldn’t have gotten to be silly with or hug Aunt Lizzy. We could try to control him; teach him to be careful rather than tough, we could tell him to slow down rather than enjoy or we could let him make his decisions and deal with the natural consequences. If free will is so important to the Lord, maybe it should be important for us as well. God didn’t intervene for Banks. But his grace was so obvious in this storm. We hadn’t had a single person in our house in 6 weeks and when this happens not only was Elizabeth there but she had our dentist’s personal cell number on speed dial. The bottom line is; the storms are tough, God doesn’t always intervene but He always shows up. I hope some day I can help Banks understand why there are bad storms, teeth get knocked out, that God is good and free will is not to be taken lightly {not even under quarantine}.
On Sunday I felt the weight of responsibility; cooking Easter dinner and helping our soon to be 3 year old grasp the meaning of the resurrection {no pressure}. So, we survived Easter. It did make me appreciate extended family a little more though. It’s so nice to celebrate with others, share a meal {and the responsibilities of cooking}; we certainly won’t take it for granted going forward.
Sunday night we were under a tornado watch. Around 3AM we grabbed both kids from their upstairs bedrooms and moved to a huge makeshift family bed downstairs. We lay awake listening to the wind howl until it passed, moved the kids back to their beds and attempted to get a couple hours of sleep. Monday morning we learned that the tornado skipped us but hit our 2 neighboring towns hard. Some families lost everything. I spent the day obsessing over how to help our neighbors without posing threat of contact {do they even want our donations?}. I can deal with quarantine but quarantine from helping our neighbors feels so wrong.
We went on a walk Monday morning and Banks asked why bad storms happen. I was torn…can a 3 yr old grasp ‘the fallen world’ when I struggle to understand it myself? Banks asked if God was afraid of bad storms. I told him a story about when Jesus stopped a bad storm simply by telling it to be still. I thought about his first question the rest of the day. I believe when God granted us free will he granted it to the entire world…animals, plants, the winds and rains. I don’t think he’s causing bad storms any more than he causes people to make bad decisions. Sometimes he intervenes and stops the storm; sometimes he offers grace and comfort after the storm. That part {whether He intervenes}, I have no understanding of other than the fact that He is God and He knows best. I have to allow my faith to trust that part rather than question why He doesn’t stop every storm or every bad decision.
Which brings us to Monday night. Monday turned into a beautiful afternoon so I called my SIL, Elizabeth {AKA Aunt Lizzy}, and asked if her family wanted to come hide Easter eggs and have dinner with us {quarantine style}. They were still without power and appreciated the invite. They brought a picnic blanket and sat in the yard while we sat on the screened-in porch and didn’t allow anyone to break that barrier. Banks was handling that pretty well given he REALLY wanted to play with his cousins. It was getting late so I started Pearson’s bedtime routine. She’s still nursing {because pandemic}. I could hear Banks crying downstairs while she was still eating. I laid her down, and was shocked to see Elizabeth in the kitchen when I went down. The first thing she said was “Banks knocked out his tooth!” that sentence ended with “quarantine be damned!” {but she didn’t actually say that part}. I found Banks bawling & bleeding on Robert’s shoulder. I kissed him and went straight out to look for the tooth. I know…I’m mama yet didn’t grab and comfort him. Banks is a daddy’s boy and usually even if he says he wants me he really wants Robert. Also, when there’s that much blood I need a problem to solve and I am a finder. I find the tiniest of earring backs when Pearson loses it in her sleep, I find the perfect dress for 90% off, I find my Great Aunt’s crush from WWII after 50 years of silence...I didn’t find the tooth. Elizabeth is on the phone with our pediatric dentist {calling his cell at 8pm}; thank God she is friends with everyone. I went back in and got Banks and the Boo Boo Bunny {if you have a child under the age of 5 and don’t know what a Boo Boo Bunny is, get one here immediately}. With Aunt Lizzy’s experienced-mom-genius suggestion we turned on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs {of course the spaghetti tornado had come up earlier}. Banks is calm and starts telling us about the hole in his mouth. Then it hits me, where else could the tooth be; it has to be in his clothes. I look down to shake his shirt and there in his shirt pocket is the tooth! Aunt Lizzy runs to put it in milk and tell Robert who is now on with the dentist hearing all the extensive sedation and prodding that will happen if we don’t find the tooth. Banks is laughing now and back to himself. Daddy gives him ibuprofen and we thank Elizabeth & the kids for everything.
Later I’m lying in bed processing everything that just happened. From tornados, to storms to knocked out teeth. Robert and I went over a few scenarios where it would have never have happened…if I had taken Banks to get ready for bed when I took Pearson…so on. Banks wouldn’t have knocked out his tooth but he also wouldn’t have gotten to be silly with or hug Aunt Lizzy. We could try to control him; teach him to be careful rather than tough, we could tell him to slow down rather than enjoy or we could let him make his decisions and deal with the natural consequences. If free will is so important to the Lord, maybe it should be important for us as well. God didn’t intervene for Banks. But his grace was so obvious in this storm. We hadn’t had a single person in our house in 6 weeks and when this happens not only was Elizabeth there but she had our dentist’s personal cell number on speed dial. The bottom line is; the storms are tough, God doesn’t always intervene but He always shows up. I hope some day I can help Banks understand why there are bad storms, teeth get knocked out, that God is good and free will is not to be taken lightly {not even under quarantine}.
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