March 21 – Day 4 of Our COVID 19 Adventure

There Is Nothing Wrong at Our House

There is nothing wrong at our house except…

The furniture has turned into a playground and the house is a racetrack.

Izzy took off all of her clothes during nap time and realized she can use her toes to climb out of her playpen.  I caught her seconds away from diving headfirst onto the concrete floor.  Not exactly something I want to explain to her parents.  Not to mention having to go to an emergency room these days.

JW is at the age where everything (most of the time) is his.  If he looked at it a few minutes ago, it is his.  If he thought about playing with it yesterday, it is his.  The household comes to a screaming stop if Izzy touches one of these items.  Today, ironically, the hot item was Izzy’s pink purse.

We had another yucky weather day and were stuck inside.  Jerry just told me that there is hope for Monday’s weather.

The kids ate like they were starving at dinner.  Jerry made sheppard’s pie and they had three servings before they were ready to leave the table.  A very good thing.

Chicken Wisdom

The chickens helped me out this evening.  First with a laugh and with a little understanding.

First, the laugh.  They were in need of a larger box.  I had to make one for them.  While I was sitting in the living room floor, the kids were alternating between helping and fighting (fighting was actually more helpful since they weren’t walking on the boxes at the time).  All of a sudden, our ROOMBA turned on and started coming out into the room.  Scared the bejeezus out of the kiddos, which made me laugh even though box building had to be put on hold while we consoled the traumatized little ones.  I told them that the ROOMBA turned on because they were fighting.  We shall see if that has any impact.

Once we got the box ready for the chickens, Jerry and JW transferred them over to their new home.  They went wild.  They had room and were running and scratching and chirping like crazy.  Once they had some room, they took advantage of it.  This sort of explains what is going on with the kids.  New(ish) environment, having to share at Nana’s house, a close cousin all explaining why we are running crazy.  Being cooped up isn’t fun.

I was thinking about the similarities of this with social media.  You know, there have been a lot of people who have been chirping pretty loudly on social media, whether it be airing dirty laundry, or promoting their lifestyle of the rich and famous.  It is amazing how that stuff seems to have disappeared from my feed.  Maybe those folks and their message are getting cooped up in a smaller space since we are all talking about where people can get food, where the virus is now, and how we can keep safe.

A Call for Prayer and More

Our little church has cancelled church services (great idea!) and will be streaming live from downtown Mertens, Texas, which in and of itself is just crazy to think about.  This morning will be a new, temporary normal for us.  I am looking forward to it, not because I get to stay home and drink coffee while listening to Seth, but because things are different and I can’t go to church.  It is crazy what a difference being told no makes.  (And yes, I know it makes a toy more important when someone is told they can’t have it…see?  I’m learning so much!)  I am so grateful that I will be able to gather and worship with my church family.

Tonight, I received a Facebook message that let me know that we would be praying for our world at 7pm.  I forwarded the message and I prayed, but I am thinking that we are going to need a whole lot more prayers than that.  Please join me in saying a little prayer when you see the death toll in Italy, or when someone’s elderly parents need crackers or hand sanitizer.  And while prayer is important, we are called to do more if we can.  I am so grateful for all we have and all of the generosity I am seeing in the world even when there are examples of selfishness as well.

One more thing.  In the middle of all this craziness, Van Perry had a heart attack and is in the hospital.  A terrible event at any time, but especially now with everyone worried and the hospitals not letting many people in (and then there is the increased worry of being exposed to COVID 19).  Please keep that entire family in your prayers.  They are so dear to us.

Y’all stay safe and help people out whenever you can.  Share your toys.  Be nice.  It is all going to be okay…eventually.