It seems that the world has gone crazy. The reality we once knew has disappeared beneath the flood that is COVID-19. At times it's difficult to sift out the media sensationalism from the truth. New reports fill our social media feeds multiple times a day.
Conflicting news reports breeding fear, anxiety, apathy. New measures being introduced almost daily. Statistics that each represent a loved one.
It's overwhelming. It can feel like a nightmare. And it can be scary.
I have loved ones, young and old. And family members who will be exposed to the virus in the course of their work. Others are being encouraged to work from home.
And as a mother I want to bring all my chicks home. Not that I can protect them but at least I would know how they're doing.
As for me, I now have a colleague in self-isolation and another who will be when she returns to the country at the end of the week (if she can return). Sorting relievers for the regulatory fourteen days is going to be difficult.
All our leave has been cancelled. Which means that DH may have to attend a Hospital appointment alone next week. As his wife, I want to be there but it just may not be possible.
Son#5's girlfriend returned to the US last weekend to a whole world that had changed. College closed and only limited time to pack up belongings and books and move home.
A student I'm working with is trying to plan a daughter's wedding amidst all this uncertainty. Selfishly, I'm glad our wedding is behind us and we didn't have to try and second-guess whether to go ahead or not, whether to recommend to overseas guests that they stay home since some of them would be required to spend fourteen days in isolation here once they arrived and then the same when they returned home, whether to cancel venues and perhaps lose out financially. I know for her it's a headache and there is no easy answer.
We're told to hand wash and social distance ourselves but I can't practice social distance in my job. Infants and toddlers need cuddles and to be held close and they tend to wipe their noses on your clothes and cough all over you. It can't be helped. It's just part of what we do. And while they might spend twenty seconds or more at the bathroom sink, most of that time is spent pushing the soap dispenser and watching the suds appear and pulling out multiple sheets of paper hand towel which they then try to stuff in the drain. They don't get the concept of a thorough hand washing and are not particularly cooperative when we try to insist on more stringent measures.
All of which is to say, while I'm not in one of the more vulnerable groups, I am at risk of picking up the virus and transmitting it to others.
And while we're talking about those who are more vulnerable, let us who are healthy please remember that those vulnerable are your elderly parents, or your music teacher with a compromised immune system, or your friend from church who has had a kidney transplant and is on immuno-suppressive drugs, or your friend's niece who has a rare disease, or the neighbour who is undergoing treatment for cancer, or your colleague's husband who has a heart condition, or your best friend who has diabetes, or someone else you know and dearly love.
Flattening the curve - which appears to be the primary strategy for dealing with the virus in New Zealand and some other countries - is about social responsibility. We all need to do our part - and I'm not sure that's something we all understand.
Not yet anyway.
None of us know how this will play out. I've seen some say it will last for months, others that it will return annually, others that it will burn itself out in a matter of weeks.
Meanwhile, we take what steps we can and learn to live in this new normalcy.
And all the time, we remember that none of this has taken God by surprise. We may not understand what is happening or why but we know that He is still God and He will see us through.
We won't fear the battle, we won't fear the night
We will walk the valley with You by our side
You will go before us, You will lead the way
We have found a refuge, only You can save
Sing with joy now: our God is for us
The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress
Raise your voice now, no love is greater
Who can stand against us if our God is for us
Even when I stumble, even when I fall
Even when I turn back, still Your love is sure
You will not abandon, You will not forsake
You will cheer me onward with never-ending grace
Sing with joy now: our God is for us
The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress
Raise your voice now, no love is greater
Who can stand against us if our God is for us
Neither height nor depth can separate us
Hell and death will not defeat us
He who gave His son to free us
Holds me in His love
Neither height nor depth can separate us
Hell and death will not defeat us
He who gave His son to free us
Holds me in His love
Sing with joy now: our God is for us
The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress
Raise your voice now, no love is greater
Who can stand against us if our God is for us
Sing with joy now: our God is for us
The Father's love is a strong and mighty fortress
Raise your voice now, no love is greater
Who can stand against us if our God is for us
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