I kept a journal during the pandemic. Because our daughter has a health issue that made her at greater risk if she got COVID, we chose to be extra-careful and basically didn't leave our property for a year.
It was like a year out of time. Everything stopped and all our senses were heightened to the everyday things we so easily missed before in our rushed lives. The flowers seemed to have such a long blooming season, but it wasn't really that they bloomed longer - it was just that we had slowed down enough to actually 'stop and smell the roses' every day!
We enjoyed nature more, we relished many walks in the woods, we spent time together, we did homey things, life became so quiet and basic and slow. We adopted stray kittens. We read books aloud. We put up a swing in a backyard tree. We had a skunk on our porch. We discovered K-Dramas and laughed and cried through them together. We watched the snowflakes fall and walked in the snowy woods. We had new bird species come to the birdbath (hello, Summer Tanager!). We saw a blue moon.
We were grateful to be safe and be together. God took care of us. It was a terrible year yet it was a wonderful year!
I wanted to write down some of the verses and quotes that I put in my journal, that helped me get through that year when I felt so anxious and scared at times:
"The Lord will save us." Isaiah 33:22
"All my days I've been held in Your arms; You are close like no other. I've known You as a Father, I've known You as a Friend. All my life You have been faithful; I have lived in the goodness of God." Chris Quilala
"In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir
"Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you." Genesis 26:24
"Hope has a name - Emmanuel! Light of the world who broke through the darkness."
"Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." 2 Kings 6:16
"God has no problems, only plans. There is no panic in heaven." Corrie ten Boom
"For with God, nothing shall be impossible!" Luke 1:37
"Learn from the flowers. Every day is a new opportunity to experience, to grow toward the light."
"Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with me."