Dear Family, This is Going to Make Us Stronger Than Ever Before

What a time this is, family.

We’re on day nine of who-knows-how-many of all being home together. I’m not going to sugarcoat it: these last nine days have felt LONG. Not necessarily in a bad way, but in a stuck-in-limbo kind of way. 

There have been no playdates. None of the usual babysitters to allow us to focus on work. No spur of the moment shopping trips to break up the monotony. There have been zero coffee dates for mom or guys’ nights for dad. We haven’t had our usual extended family gatherings, and our “outings” have mostly consisted of trips to the trampoline in the backyard.

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Life as our family knows it has officially been disrupted.

It has just been us. 

At home together. 

Waiting.

This season is one of adjustment, and even though we’re just getting started I can already tell it might get bumpy.

We’re going to get on each other’s nerves—I think that part is unavoidable. You’ll make it impossible for me to do my work, and I’ll annoy you with what probably feels like constant hovering. 

I know you’re too young to understand what’s going on, but I’ll grow tired of answering your innocent questions. No, we can’t go to the store; no, we don’t have extra money to spend; no, you can’t see your friends today. 

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There will be times my stress will cause me to be grumpy and snappy toward you. I’m sorry in advance, and I promise it’s not your fault.

There will be very little quiet. Very little chance to think or breathe. Very little time alone. 

The weight of the events surrounding us are going to bring out the worst in us. No doubt about it.

But I have to think that maybe, just maybe, this time is going to bring out the best in us, too. 

We’ve spent so long caught up in the grind of life—going this way and that to appointments, practices, babysitters, games. It seems like we’ve always had somewhere to be until now. The rush of our lives has caused us to become distracted and unintentionally disconnected from one another. 

But this—this confusing, crazy time—is forcing us to slow down. Work together. Reexamine the building blocks that make up our family of five.

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We’re eating dinner together every single night, which try as we might doesn’t always happen when our schedules are full.

We’ve made phone calls to our loved ones just to say hi, and stayed on the line for hours—because suddenly, with the possibility of face-to-face interaction gone, our appreciation for one another has grown. 

We’ve laughed—OH, how we’ve laughed. When did you all get to be so downright comical?

We haven’t played this many board games in God knows how long . . . and while this time is heavy I can’t help but think that this one part—the togetherness—is the blessing our hearts never knew they needed. 

Our priorities have been straightened. Everything that really matters can be found within our own four walls anyway.

No, this time is not a vacation, and yes, there are so many heavy things going on around us right now. But surely we can be grateful for this one glimmer of hope. We have been given this chance to reconnect, and we’d be crazy not to take it.

My dear, sweet family, I pray once this season is over, we’ll remember the foundation we’ve rebuilt here. If we can do that, I just know we are going to come out of this stronger than ever before.