The Coronavirus Pandemic | 2020

It's hard to believe that just days ago, the phrases coronavirus or Covid-19, social distancing, and flatten the curve were nonexistent to our vocabulary.  Our entire world has changed because of them.  Schools have closed, gyms and restaurants and movie theaters are shut down, and many Americans are adjusting to a new normal of working from home offices while trying to home-school kids.  

We've built forts and had paper airplane challenges, started a 1000 piece puzzle and played tons of games, cleaned closets and cooked a lot of food, watched movies, finished books, and doodled over the lunch hour to our favorite, Art Hub for Kids.  Overall, we are thankful to be hunkered down in our dream home with a fridge full of food to eat, and jobs that allow us flexibility when so many others are working hard on the front lines of hospitals, government, and big businesses we depend on for our livelihood.

I have so much I'd like to write about, but one of the things that has continually stuck out to me throughout this Coronavirus pandemic is the creativity of people in the midst of a true crisis.  Saturday night, we tuned in to HopeKids online - the kids got to watch and comment from my phone while sitting on the couch in the living room.  Sunday was church from the laptop while I painted our kitchen cabinets.  The next day, I recorded a video of the Jordyn playing the piano and text it to their teacher.  People are taking their our hoards of toilet paper and disinfecting wipes and sitting on front porches for family pictures to capture this crazy time.  Restaurants are transforming for Friday/Saturday night takeout, barbecue joints are offering free kids' meals to anyone who might need one, people are using their sewing skills to craft handmade surgical masks, churches are leading Sunday morning worship for online service, and neighbors are decorating sidewalks and hiding teddy bears in windows for bear hunts.  Teachers are driving around parade style to see their students and musicians are offering free concerts online.  I could go on and on and on.  It's all too easy to get caught up in the endless and often depressing news cycle, but it's the everyday stories of people's resilience, creativity, and grit that give me a lot of hope in the middle of this storm.