Our children were generally well behaved playing games such as Slug Bug or even the Quiet Game. As the day wore on we would start looking for a place to spend the night. On my insistence my husband Winston would go into the rooms to make sure they were acceptable to my standards before I would agree to stay at the designated place.
One late afternoon, on our return trip to Seattle, as he was going through the inspection ritual, a little voice piped up from the back seat. " I don't want to stay at anymore hotels I want to sleep in my own bed," said the exasperated child. "I understand, we will soon," I replied. For some reason the trip coming back home always seemed longer than the trip going. It was exciting thinking about seeing the relatives and being on the East Coast. On the way back to Seattle, I declare the coast moved further west.
I thought of that scene this morning as we head into the 16th or 17th week of restrictions and the recommended social distancing. We don't want to do this anymore. We want to go back to the familiar. we want our old way of life. We want to live the way in which we've been used to doing.
What has occupied my thoughts is that for some there is no going back to the way it was previously. People's worlds have shifted. People I know have lost loved ones. Their world will never be the same. Some people have lost their jobs permanently. Their world will not be the same. High school seniors have had their world changed beneath their feet. They cannot go back.
Some elders have been dragged kicking and screaming into the tech age. They soon learned in order to connect with people they had to get up to speed with Facebook and Zoom. While many of the younger people have moved on to Instagram, and my latest addition, WhatsApp. No, we are not going back to what used to be before this worldwide crisis. Even the behemoth Amazon will never be the same. They learned in this crisis that the delivery business is a beast that they can't conquer at this time.
I believe we are going to need to focus on how we move forward in this world. I believe we need to decide now what are the essentials we need to lead productive and helpful lives. Hopefully people come out seeing that relationships are more important than material things. I am hoping that people come out with a renewed understanding that faith in God is more important, especially when times are challenging. I hope we come out as more compassionate people. We've watched our medical professionals, First Responders, truck drivers, grocery stores, bus drivers put us first even when they were putting their lives on the line. Some of them did not make it even as they served the needs of the public I hope we come out of this crisis with more grace, compassion and kindness than when we went into it.
Yes, like my very young son who was tired of the journey and nightly stops sleeping in different beds, we want familiarity. However just like our long journey home to Seattle, we may have a few more days, or weeks to make it to the other side of this crisis.
One late afternoon, on our return trip to Seattle, as he was going through the inspection ritual, a little voice piped up from the back seat. " I don't want to stay at anymore hotels I want to sleep in my own bed," said the exasperated child. "I understand, we will soon," I replied. For some reason the trip coming back home always seemed longer than the trip going. It was exciting thinking about seeing the relatives and being on the East Coast. On the way back to Seattle, I declare the coast moved further west.
I thought of that scene this morning as we head into the 16th or 17th week of restrictions and the recommended social distancing. We don't want to do this anymore. We want to go back to the familiar. we want our old way of life. We want to live the way in which we've been used to doing.
What has occupied my thoughts is that for some there is no going back to the way it was previously. People's worlds have shifted. People I know have lost loved ones. Their world will never be the same. Some people have lost their jobs permanently. Their world will not be the same. High school seniors have had their world changed beneath their feet. They cannot go back.
Some elders have been dragged kicking and screaming into the tech age. They soon learned in order to connect with people they had to get up to speed with Facebook and Zoom. While many of the younger people have moved on to Instagram, and my latest addition, WhatsApp. No, we are not going back to what used to be before this worldwide crisis. Even the behemoth Amazon will never be the same. They learned in this crisis that the delivery business is a beast that they can't conquer at this time.
I believe we are going to need to focus on how we move forward in this world. I believe we need to decide now what are the essentials we need to lead productive and helpful lives. Hopefully people come out seeing that relationships are more important than material things. I am hoping that people come out with a renewed understanding that faith in God is more important, especially when times are challenging. I hope we come out as more compassionate people. We've watched our medical professionals, First Responders, truck drivers, grocery stores, bus drivers put us first even when they were putting their lives on the line. Some of them did not make it even as they served the needs of the public I hope we come out of this crisis with more grace, compassion and kindness than when we went into it.
Yes, like my very young son who was tired of the journey and nightly stops sleeping in different beds, we want familiarity. However just like our long journey home to Seattle, we may have a few more days, or weeks to make it to the other side of this crisis.
Take care of your family and friends, we will make it!
This beautiful photo of Mt. Rainier was taken by a former colleague Valerie Grimm.
Awesome word, God bless you
ReplyDeleteWow! This is really inspiring. I truly love how you put thing together by adding your children to make it more personal. I pray that everyone truly learned a lesson out of this trying time and continue to fast and pray for this Land to be healed.
ReplyDelete