I am over the pandemic. Admittedly, I have had it very easy! My husband and I both still have our jobs and my family is healthy. I cannot (strike that – should not) complain! But I’m over it. The sense I get is that everyone around me, whether you’ve faced significant hardships or not, is over it too.
For the first few weeks, this was novel. We gobbled up information like we do with any train wreck or tragedy. We can’t turn away and we spit out “facts” we’ve recently learned as if we too are leading epidemiologists/economists/law makers. We jump on board with online school/worship/friendship and though it’s not the same, we take it in. We’re basically running on adrenaline.
But like any trauma to our system, the adrenaline eventually wears off…and it very much has. Now, we’re just bored and annoyed and many of us have given up. For heaven sakes, I bought Cheetos…multiple times last month! I’m pretty sure I have never bought Cheetos (for myself) in my adult life! (Let me tell you, though, if you haven’t had a Cheeto recently, do yourself a favor. Throw on your mask and go grab a bag. Yum.)
Here’s my point: I fear that our adrenaline shortage and over-it-ness has resulted in massive complacency. It’s not just the lax screen time limits or the later bedtimes. Honestly, those things will probably cause no long-term damage and are battles we can safely lose. But I fear we’re also losing the only battle that really matters – that of our faith. We’ve given up on our own faith formation as well as that of our children.
When is the last time you did something to advance your own faith or that of your children?
No, you can’t really come to church right now and you can’t drop your kids off at Sunday school, but there are Sunday school lessons coming to your inbox every week. I know your kids don’t want to hear it from you and it’s not nearly as fun as when they get to play Bible tag relay with 25 other kids, but the “win” here may just be that they see that you think it’s important and are willing to make the effort. If you can’t manage the lesson, could you read the daily psalm together each day and go through the Talking Topic posted on our blog every Monday? Could you join an online small group to help hold you accountable? Could you have joys and concerns prayer time every day as a family?
This is not me pointing the finger! I’m struggling too to figure out how to maintain my own faith growth and that of my family. I just fear that this pandemic is costing us something that matters more than anything else – eternal lives. I truly believe our faith is worth fighting for, so please fight.
I’d love to hear what you’re doing to invest in your family’s faith throughout this pandemic? What has stuck? What can we, as a church, do to help you make this a priority?
Munger Kids 