April 9, 2020
A few days ago I had a conversation with a friend. We ended with the question, “If you had a t-shirt made for this point and time, what would it say?” We went back and forth basically summing up our days of quarantine in one single phrase. They were both comical but had one thing in common, we were getting through it. It proved that no matter how many days we spend in our pajamas roaming our houses and homeschooling our children, we were going to beat this. With or without toilet paper.
I have read numerous blogs on how we should be coping and setting up our homes for an integrated work/home lifestyle. Keeping a routine so we don’t go crazy and helping our kids stay on some form of school schedule (yeah right). I feel for those who no longer have their offices or classrooms to retreat to. I also feel for those who are in the frontline of this thing such as our healthcare workers and law enforcement.
I am a stay at home mom and small business owner. The great thing about it is that my sewing studio is within feet from the backdoor of my home. This temporary, new way of living is basically my norm… on steroids. I haven’t had much to adapt to other than the added fact of homeschooling my children and the constant ongoings in the kitchen. The breakup of my day however is more intervening and can be a bit challenging, especially when I’m pushing a deadline.
There is this word that annoys me and picks at me like someone poking your shoulder over and over wanting your attention. It drives me crazy but it is also something I yearn for. PURPOSE. A request of doing things according to God’s will is a continuing prayer of mine. As a stay at home mom and small business owner I always ask and wonder if there is something more that I should be doing or contributing to. Here lately though, my purpose has been clearer than ever. How about for you?
As I was making my bed and tucking away a few things in my reading corner, I stumbled across a piece of paper tucked into a book. It said, “Your purpose is the situation in which you find yourself in.” My priest told me that one day while I was visiting with him and it has stuck like glue, tattooed in my head, and like I said, written on scraps of paper tucked in every nook I can find. It always serves as a reminder that no matter how insignificant we may feel, our purpose lies in where our feet hit the ground at that given moment, even if it is cooking and cleaning. In these moments I share with many other moms like racing around the kitchen, washing dishes, resetting the WiFi box, and making sure kids are up in time for their video chats with teachers, there is purpose in your being at that very moment. It seems monotonous and quite repetitive, but if you stop and focus on the importance of it, it’s pretty remarkable.
So what are your moments looking like these days? Are you schooling your kids, keeping them fed, entertained, and let’s be real, sane? Are you video chatting with students giving them a social outlet and teaching them something new? Are you working in a corner of your house, trying to keep the bills paid? Maybe you’re a CrossFit Trainer delivering equipment to your client’s home so they can continue what they’ve worked so hard to gain. As for me? I am at home, with a multitude of chores, kids to be fed and kept safe, and sewing face masks day in and out. I never in my wildest of dreams thought I’d be consumed with orders for face masks, but I am. It definitely puts a new sense of purpose to my God-given talent. We are all doing something different, but that doesn’t mean one is more important than the other.
Use this time to enjoy the simplicity of our new found (temporary) routine because one day this freaking nightmare will be over and we will have to go back to fitting into our bluejeans and putting on makeup (and doing our hair I might add). You will get to look back and know that you made history and will have one hell of a story to tell about how you got through a pandemic. Oh and let’s not forget the toilet paper run…I still don’t understand that one, do you? But I guarantee when we retell the happenings of COVID-19, toilet paper will be a bullet point…just sayin’
This crap is tiring and sometimes enough to make you want to crawl out of your skin. I just know that when this is all over I am coming in full force for a hug, so brace yourself. I also know that I will appreciate things a little more like waiting in my car for kids to get out of practice, going to the grocery store, sitting in the stands when its 40 degrees at a track meet, getting to go to church, or a hug from my mother. These simple tasks are where my feet land on any, non-pandemic, ordinary day and these are what centers my life around that word I yearn for. No matter the significance of the act, it is grand to the person receiving it. Remember that while we are cooped up in our homes serving others right now. Stay well through all of this!
xoxo
Kimberly