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The final part of this series is the most important part. How has stay at home orders impacted our relationship with God. Looking back a couple months removed from the orders ending shows great progress.
As everything shutdown and the uncertainty of the pandemic and it consequences took hold there was not a lot anyone could do. As for me and my house we put our trust in our God. We knew that God was in control of all things and we just needed to have faith in God that whatever was too happen has a plan and purpose. At the start of February my wife and I joined a group of people from church on a one year through the Bible reading plan. While at first we struggled somedays to read what we needed to read we slowly got around to a routine. The stay at home orders helped a lot in that after our son went to bed and since inbound calls for work slowed down at night we were able to nightly sit down and read a passage. They say it takes about 21 days to start a new habit. Even now as we have returned to a more normal looking day we still make time to not only do our personal Bible reading but we also read together as a family. As we have read the Bible more and more we have found many things that have impacted out lives today. Through these stay at home orders that we went through I know my relationship with God has become stronger. I depend on God more for things everyday and He does not fail. God enjoys it when His children seek him. While many things are going on through the world I know my God has me in His hands. I pray that as we continue each day to get back to what may have been normal that there are things you can look back on during these past few months and see has changed in you and you relationships with God and family for the better. I pray that everyone has come out of these difficult times as an improved person. We are entering into what can be a new normal in our personal lives. Are you ready for it?
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I know it has been a few weeks since the last post in this series. Many of us are no longer under stay at home orders. However, I wanted to take some time and share the lasting effects of being under a stay at home order on our marriage.
Before being told to stay home my wife and I really didn’t understand what each other goes through each and every day. While I went to the office and took phone calls, my wife was home cleaning and taking care of our son. When our two worlds collided we got to see what the other did on a daily basis. My wife worked endlessly throughout the day. From cooking, to washing the dishes and laundry she spent a lot of time moving about. Most of what she did was addressed when the little guy was taking a nap. And the brief moments to sit and relax come when he was sleeping as well. As for my wife she got to see what I do everyday and how sometimes it can be difficult when taking a customer call. She got to see how I handle things daily within the confines of work. As we have ended the stay at home orders and I have returned to the office we have gained a deeper appreciation of each other and what they bring to the family. Not only did we get to see into each other daily lives but we got to spend more time together communicating with each other. We go to talk about things that we have not been able to talk about due to our busy days. We talked about some hard issues and gained an understanding of where the other was coming from. Through all of this our relationship has grown stronger as we have learned more about each other. We have a greater trust and love for each other now more than ever because of the time we got to spend with each other. While it is sad that it took a global pandemic to get these results, I am thankful that we have moved through this. Being at home all the time has an impact on our kids. They may not understand what is going on but they know things are different. While my son may not express it, he knows things have changed in life.
Some of the first impacts to be felt from the stay at home orders are the activities we do with our son. Weekly we have gone to the library for toddler story time. With all that cancelled until further notice we do not get to take him out. Thankfully we have a good collection of books that we are able to read for him at home. We even have some library books that the due dates have been extended during this time. The biggest loss for my son is not going to church. My son loves getting up on Sunday and getting ready for church. He likes getting dressed and grabbing a stuff toy for the journey. He looks forward to getting in the doors and seeing his friends and several of my friends as well. He looks forward to helping one of our members walk to the door at the end of service. With the stay at home orders our church has moved to an online setting. When we tell our son it is time for church he runs to the door looking for his shoes. He starts saying the names of some of the people that he knows at the church. Each week we have to explain to him that we are doing church in the living room. As the service starts he is able to yell the names of some people he sees on the screen. As a father I am proud to have a son that looks forward to going to church each week. One positive impact with being together at home is the fact I am always home. With the exceptions of grocery shopping or grabbing a meal after church, I am with him all day. Working from home as allowed my son and I to have more time together. I am able to have story time with him and help him get ready for bed. He is very happy to see daddy home everyday. However, he does not understand that while I am on the phone with one of my customers that he does need to be a little quite. My concern is that when this is all over and I return the office is that he will have a hard time with me leaving again each day to go to work. That is something we can pray about as it draws near so that he will understand. Even at two years old he seems to be very intelligent and understanding. Let me close with this, let us all take this time an invest into our children. They are only little once. Investing into them now can impact their entire life. With stay at home orders in effect, I found my working situation changing within hours. I am blessed and thankful that I work in a position that is deemed essential and that I am able to do so from home. My job is at a software company for car dealerships and I work in a support role. Car dealerships around the country are open and we are as well to serve them. I am extremely blessed to be working for the company I am with. Even before the stay at home orders the company made moves to protect employees. From testing remote work options to offering emergency use of PTO and not have it effect your already earned vacation time or sick days. The company asked anyone not feeling well to stay home and if those at risk or anyone else wanted to they can to. By the time we arrived to the stay at home order we all went home to work. The hours before the order went into effect I was on the phone with my supervisor. I had spent the previous day with a cough and it had not gone away by the time I woke up. He told me that there was equipment waiting for me at my desk for me to take home and setup a home office. Grabbing a mask, I quickly went into the office, avoided everyone, and grabbed the gear to take home. After a few hours of setup, I finally was able to take my first call for a customer and assist them in their issue.  Sitting at my desk waiting for the next call to come in. Working from home in a one bedroom apartment has its challenges. I first tried to setup in the storage closet. However, having storage containers all around you and outside the door was a little cramped and not so safe. After a week in there I moved my desk to the window in the living room.
How can you handle working in the living room with a toddler you may ask? Easy, I work an evening shift so when I start work he is usually taking a nap and he is in bed for the last few hours of my shift at night. There is only a four hour span in which he is awake while I am at work and one hour of that is a lunch break. The customers that do hear him don’t seem to mind and sometimes allows us to share a moment together about kids. My prayers go out to those that have lost their jobs during this crisis. May you find peace in this time. I also pray for those that are working and can not do so remotely. This includes our doctors and nurses, fireman and EMT, police officers, grocery store workers, truck drivers, mail men and women, the delivery drivers, and utility workers. I know there may be more to add to this list. I just thank you for all the work you are doing and I pray that you are your families remain safe and healthy. Many blessings everyone. My wife, son and I have been spending a lot of time together at home recently. The state of Ohio issued stay at home orders that went into effect on March 23, 2020 just before midnight. Since then we have stayed at home with the exception of going to the grocery store to get food supplies and taking a walk at the local park, when the weather is nice.
These five weeks have been a challenge for the family. There are many adjustments that had to be made. We have seen plans cancelled, we have had to change how we went about our daily lives. However, these five weeks and counting have been a blessing. We have grown and learned so much about each other. I believe that our family will come out of this stronger and closer to each other. Over the next several posts I wanted to share with you about the different areas in our life that have been impacted. Topics will include work, children, spouse, and God to name a few. And if my wife and I come up with more ideas we will be sure to write about them. Stay safe everyone. Back in May I had the chance to take part in my graduation ceremony for my masters degree. It is something that I wanted to do and celebrate with my wife and son given the hard work and sacrifices that were made to allow to to earn the degree. The trip was well worth it for all of us. We got lucky and were able to get a room in the dorms on campus. When checking out hotels I saw that they were either booked or expensive. Being able to get a room on campus was a blessing because it was cheaper and as we learned made it easier to get around campus and to all the activities. The entire family got into our little car in the early morning hours of May 10th and headed toward Lynchburg, VA. It is about a seven hour drive through the mountains of West Virginia. Now anyone with little kids can tell you that traveling with them on long rides can be a tale of two stories. Will they sleep most of the trip or will they cry. For our son we have already experienced both versions in previous trips. We simply did not know what to expect and this was going to be the longest drive of his little life. Thankfully between leaving so early in the morning and some good attitudes he either slept or smiled all of the way there. Most of the drive was uneventful and we did not encounter much traffic. However, when we pulled off the highway and onto the campus of Liberty University that changed quickly. The campus was full of people checking in for graduation the next day and getting gifts. Police were everywhere. After check-in we attempted to find the dorms, got lost a couple of times before finally getting away from traffic and to the dorms. That evening we attended the baccalaureate at the building next to the dorms. By now little guy was getting fussy from being still and sitting all day. Thankfully we sat in the last row and my wife was able to walk with him on the concourses. Saturday morning was the big morning. The first question was when was the rain going to arrive. The forecast all week called for an all day rain. We were hoping it would hold off until after the main commencement ceremony. Staying the night on campus came in handy as we did not have to deal with traffic getting there. My wife had debated on staying in the room and watching the live stream of the event given the security and number of people involved and that I would not be there to help since I had to walk in. She decided that morning to go and watch the ceremony at the stadium. Security was high as the Vice-President of the United States, Mike Pence was the speaker. Vice-President Pence delivered a wonderful message to us graduates and thankfully the rain help off just long enough to have everyone leave the stadium. The rest of the day was the individual ceremonies where I was able to make that wonderful trip across the stage with my son and wife cheering me on. This indeed was a wonderful experience for the entire family to enjoy. We had fun and got to travel to a new place. We were blessed by the different speakers that imparted wisdom into us throughout the entire weekend. In the end it was the perfect capstone to a lot of hard work and late nights to earn the Master of Science in Cyber Security with high distinction. I am glad I got to share it with my wife and son.  It is amazing how wonderful our God is. He watches over us and provides for us. Sometimes in ways you never expect. This past Christmas season my wife and I saw God work in our lives and provide for our needs. All we needed to do was to trust in Him.
When I started my new job in September we wanted to make sure we always gave back a portion of our income to God as we are commanded to do. We knew this would make the budget tight some weeks with the bills that need to be taken care of each month. I get paid every two weeks so we make a list of what needs to be paid for during that time. That is exactly what we did with the first check in December. My wife and I sat down after getting the paycheck and listed all the bills that needed to be paid and what we needed for our road trip to see my parents. We also set aside something for Christmas gifts for both of our families. We had every last penny accounted for that was available. We did not worry because we knew we would be okay. We started overspending in same areas of the budget. It made things tight. However, we kept moving forward. Then came our trip up north for Christmas. As we were there for the holidays we noticed there was still room in the budget. My wife and I decided to do more for people for Christmas to be nice to them. We traveled home Christmas day since I had to return to work the day after. The next paycheck was also given to me the day after Christmas as well. As usual, we looked at our budget and noticed the miracle from God right in front of us. There was still $90.00 left over from the previous check. I was at a loss for words. We had planned it all out and I figured the account would surely read close to zero remaining by the time the next check arrived. But there was $90. The only explanation we had was that God showed up and made each dollar stretch further and further than we could imagine. This is the type of God we serve. One that takes care of His people and preforms miracles at the most amazing times in our lives. Happy New Year.
It is now 2019. A time for new beginnings, a time for a fresh start. Looking back, 2018 for my family was a time to test our faith. Going a few months without work was hard. However, we out our faith in God and though His power we made it. We end 2018 with a new job and just finishing my Master’s degree in cyber-security. Looking ahead for 2019 we see a lot of growth ahead of us. Both my wife and I are plugged into a wonderful church that is making us grow. We have been invited to be a part of the worship team. A wonderful individual has agreed to teach me how to play the guitar. The goal soon is to have my wife sing and me playing leading our congregation in worship. The church also is forcing us to grow spiritually with the various Sunday Schools classes we attend and the small groups available. This year my wife and I will be celebrating 2 years of marriage this coming February. Also, our now one year old son will soon be walking around. My wife and I are constantly doing what we can to baby-proof our apartment yet, he still finds things to get into. When he starts to walk it will challenge us more to keep him safe and to teach him the way of the Lord. 2019 will bring changes to this website. This website launched in 2012 with the goal of getting back to the Philippines and doing God’s work there. I was able to go to the Philippines in December 2014 however, my stay was short as the trip ended in May 2015. With that I did not know what to do with this page and the amount of articles posted have dwindled. Both my wife and I have decided to continue to use this page since it is available to us. We believe God still has a plan for us to reach people. With that we will continue to post articles on this page about life, marriage, and family to name a few. My wife and I have open hearts to listen to what God will have us do and to share to those that are in need. We hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed new year. we know God has great plans for this year. Blessings, Joshua, Maricel and David Robinson These last few months have been busy for the family and I. Our summer was full of looking for a new job. Without any income at times we really had to depend on God to get us through. Thankfully, we always had food on our table and the bills continued to be paid. I spent days submitting resumes to several different companies while still trying to continue with my classes. It was a trial that brought the family closer together.
By the end of August I had a job offer. It was a major breakthrough that would ensure the family was taken care of while I got to spend more time with the family. A job where I would not have to work overtime everyday. I would not have to work on Saturday. Gone are the 60 hour work weeks. Gone are the countless days of being so worn out that I could not function when I got home. Gone are the days wondering if I was going to bring in enough to take care of the family. The job I took involves being a software support representative for the customers of the company. While this is simply an entry level job, it has proven to be exciting. I work a steady shift, when the day is done it is done. I get to spend more time with my wife and son. While this might be entry level, I know that my future is bright and the opportunities to move forward are right in front of me. This job meant changes for the family. First, and most important was that we had to move. The job was located in Dayton, Ohio which means I had to leave my small little town in Michigan to take the job. This is where the adventure begins. Finding a place in the area was difficult and it had to be close to work yet within out budget. So, while we were looking fro a place to live I had the amazing opportunity to stay with my best friend and world traveling companion, Steven. It was a blessing that he was able to take my family in so that I could start the new job. Further, his family and church took us in and made us feel welcome. As of today we have our own apartment again. While it is small it is nice. I live close to work so I can get home quickly and spend more time with the family. I am near some great friends that I get to see on Sundays and a few other days throughout the month. It has been a busy few months but know it is starting to settle down. The next few months will be interesting. I will be completing training soon for my job which means that I will be given a shift to work. Also, in a few weeks I will be finished with school. This is something both my wife and I are looking forward to as the last year of classes have been hard. There have been a lot of sacrifices made to get this far in the graduate classes. Knowing we are now just a few weeks away is such a blessing. We trust that God will use it to open doors, advance my career further. God will be using us in Ohio. We look forward to seeing what He will do in our lives here. Today is Father’s Day. This is the first one that I get to celebrate as a father. Just six months ago I was blessed to have a little boy join the lives of my wife and I and it has been an adventure. As I sit here this morning typing this post while my family is still sleeping I get a chance to wonder about dads and what it takes to be a great dad.
The best example that we have as the best father ever is that of God. He is the perfect father to everyone. Last week during Sunday School at the church I was able to lead the class and we studied the Parable of the Prodigal Son that is found in Luke 15:11-32. In this story we see a boy demand from his father to give him what he is going to get when his father passes. The father loves his son so much that he fulfills the request and allows his son to do what he pleases. Much like that of what God allows when He does not control us but allows us to exercise free will. When the son lives his life and has nothing left and finds himself eating with the pigs he decides to go home and ask to be a servant. When he was still walking the father saw him and ran to him. He treated his son with a hg and a kiss. He forgave him and restored him to the family. This is exactly what our Father in Heaven does for us. He always loves us no matter what we do and is there to restore our relationship with him every time we mess up. This is the love that we should show to our families. We know they will make mistakes. While my son is this cute little six month old now that smiles and sleeps all the time, he will grow up. No matter what he does it is my duty as the father to love him and to continue to restore him to this family. Same with my wife as well. No one is perfect. We all make mistakes. Yet it is the love of Christ that flows within us that allows us to forgive others as Christ forgave us and to restore that relationship. As we go about this Father’s day let us thank them men in out lives that raise us to be the people we are today. Let us also thank our Father in Heaven for the love he pours onto us every moment. HAPPY FATHER’S DAY. |
Joshua Robinson
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