Pandemic Reflections

When the shut-down started

Time crawled slowly

Waiting with bated breath

For the shut-down to be lifted

Days went by

Counting weeks

As the months went by

Time sped up

Each day flew by quickly

How could it be the weekend again 

When it felt like Monday was only yesterday

My private practice picked up

Therapy sessions shot up

One of my Love Languages is Quality of Time

Meeting with my patients was spending time

Daily

All day and night

With people I enjoy

Time just flew

There were also downsides though 

No more bandwidth for ministry

Missed out on new Youth Group meeting times

Not available during new Children’s Church meeting times

Playdates with my spiritual daughters’ children over Zoom 

Were not so fun

It was the most difficult part of the pandemic for me

No more going to places with them

To play and to facilitate their play

Indoor arcades and outdoor playgrounds

Frequenting Barnes and Noble with my Addie

Grandkids hating Zoom

One of my granddaughters announced at the top of a Zoom date:

“I am over it!”

How I agreed with her

Missing out on delicious desserts and meals

when I met with my spiritual daughters over discipleship

That was a true bummer for me

We only got to watch each other eat 

instead of sharing one another’s food

Meeting over Zoom or over the phone though

Made meeting with adults easier

No more fighting traffic to drive from one place to the next

Just stayed home and spent time over teleconferencing

Friday night Bible Studies broadened 

With friends joining from different states

Worshiping on Sundays over Zoom

Catching up with everyone after the service

Seeing my extended families over Zoom

With opportunity to speak with my family members everyday

Margin of time was gained on the weekends

More time to spend with hubby

Picked up drawing and sketching again

Listened to so many more audiobooks

Stayed up late into the night binge-watching Netflix

Got addicted to K-Drama

Went away on vacation breaks

To experience changes of scenery 

And to enjoy nature

Refreshed and rejuvenated

Reset button pushed

Ready to face pandemic life anew each time

As we recover from the Pandemic

Great to see brothers and sisters again

Getting back to seeing people in person

Catching up with one another in outdoor venues

Worshipping with one another 

In person 

Inside church 

Again

New things to come

New normal to adapt to

Incorporating new lessons learned 

Hopefully 

From the pandemic

What Satan meant for evil

God meant for good

With positive and negative experiences and all