Quarantine Chronicles: The Good in the Bad!

The Good in the Bad

Almost the whole world is experiencing the effects of COVID-19! 

Children are home, learning from home. Teachers are home, teaching from home. Parents are home, working (double-duty) from home. Families are quarantined. Church buildings are closed. People are dying every day. People are testing positive for this disease every day. Hospitals needed PPE's and thousands of ventilators. Many people lost their jobs and many people are losing their minds. Graduations are canceled or postponed. Online shipping is delayed and "non-essential" businesses are closed until further notice. Essential businesses have shortened their hours. Limited customers are allowed in stores. Shelves are empty or barely stocked. We must wear face-masks or face coverings whenever going out in public. We must stand 6 ft apart from people AKA social distancing. We must wash or sanitize our hands twenty-four-seven. And the list goes on and on. It seems as if the bad outweighs the good. Although that may be true (or that may seem true), we cannot ignore all the good that has come out of this pandemic.

So, I know you might be wondering, "Where is all the good in all this bad?" I know it might be difficult to see the good in all of this, but I challenge you to shift your mind and focus to the GOOD and not the BAD (even if it's just for a few minutes).  

Throughout this pandemic, I must say, there has been SO much good that has come out of it for me and my family; in ways we never imagined. Allow me to share those blessings with you!

Blessings in the COVID-19 Pandemic:

• Stimulus Check-(married with 4 children but got it for 3 children) which is still a HUGE blessing! To some, this money may not have meant much or may not have been much. However, to some, like myself, it meant a lot. This money helped with the essentials of life, especially because my spouse isn't working due to the pandemic.
• Esurance Shelter-in-Place Payback-almost 15% of our auto insurance monthly premium was issued back because many of us are not driving to work at this time; we are working from home. Although the money I received was a few cents short of $52, it was well appreciated! Plus, we received another payback for May as well :) Another blessing in this is saving money on gas; although I only live about 6 minutes from my job. To not have to spend money on gas is a blessing!
• SNAP benefits increased-families that receive food stamps were given EXTRA money on their EBT cards twice in April. In May, the extra benefits were combined with what families normally get each month. That's a HUGE blessing for large families like mine (I have a family of 6). 
• Honey, I'm Home- my husband is pretty much home all the time now, which is a blessing in disguise. He's a driver but he hasn't worked for these last two months since the Stay at Home order from the governor in March! God has blessed us through all of this, and it doesn't feel like we had a loss of income. Usually, he'll play dominoes with some friends and they'll play till the wee hours some time. Now, at home in quarantine, he plays online dominoes and I can actually watch him play; I didn't get to do this before because I would be home with the kids. He's also cooking way more now than he normally does (he's really the chef of the house:)) and he's NOT COMPLAINING about it. Now, THAT's a blessing!
• Working From Home-thankfully, I am still working from home, which means, I still have a paycheck coming in. I am a Teacher Assistant for a Kindergarten class and school is still in session. We do LIVE lessons and meetings. We create pre-recorded videos of ourselves reading and teaching. I take attendance daily, still. We have weekly grade-level meetings as well as staff meetings, virtually! I still message parents and respond to them each day through google classroom and Class DOJO.  
• Double-Dipping @ Church Online-I've been able to participate in multiple church services that my home church has online on Facebook and Youtube! This is a MAJOR blessing because prior to quarantine, I couldn't stay for more than one service as often as I wanted to. Now, I can double-dip and participate in ALL or most of the weekend services, if I choose to do so. My church has four services. Plus, we have Weekly Prayer calls and 20 minutes of Hope Bible Study on Wednesdays (it really has been very encouraging and refreshing!). All in all though, nothing beats gathering together in person :) Can't wait for that day...hopefully, sooner than later! 

Now that I've shared some of my blessings with you all, it's your turn!

What are some blessings you and your family received in this pandemic? Feel free to share! I would love to hear about them :) and I'm sure other visitors to the blog would love to hear them as well. 

Just remember that God works ALL things together for our good, especially for those who love Him wholeheartedly! We might not see it, but we must believe it. Just have faith in God! If you struggle in the area of faith, pray a simple prayer to God asking Him to increase your faith in Him. Don't forget: There's a blessing in the storm!

Listen to the songs below and let them minister to your heart in this difficult time! 

All Things by Nicole & David Binion

Blessing in the Storm by Kirk Franklin

Be Blessed,

S. Harris