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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. |
Joshua Robinson
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