Don’t Pandemic

So, covid happened and the world went topsy-turvy, upside down, took a turn for what seemed to be the worst. Then there was a brief window of relief. Well, no sooner than we caught our breath and made headway to return to normalcy, (whatever that looked like), we were and are hit again. The apparent covid beast strikes again- round two.

It’s December 25, 2021, Christmas, and I counter the gritty intent covid tried to bring with some holiday cheer. I am recovering from a major surgery. My body is being restored to full health daily. The surgery took place two weeks before Christmas. My family and I were already prepared for the holidays to look slightly different because my movement has slowed down for the time being. However, what we did not do is change any of our family holiday traditions. We still decorated, we still dressed alike, ate, sang Christmas songs and even attempted to watch movies. When I say attempted, it’s because without fail, I fell asleep.

On Christmas eve, we introduced a new tradition this year, making smores with our new smores machine. What fun! On Christmas day, we concluded with our favorite tradition, making the Frozen themed Gingerbread houses! I could go into all the details of these traditions but that would take hours. The time we spent together was fun and very relaxing. The purpose of this letter is to note the revelation I received as we cleaned up our gingerbread workshop. As my daughter and I cleaned (the others left us high and dry), I said to her, “thank you”. “Thank you for being a great daughter, thank you for making sure we keep to the traditions.” This Christmas was the first of many where I really appreciated and valued the concentrated time we spent together. It was and is never about the “gifts”. What started out as, “oh wow, we can’t go anywhere”, turned into, “oh wow, we are so blessed to be alive and be together!”

See, family is important. It is the lifeline to the existence of mankind. Though there are some broken families, the essence of family still exists and must be restored. I believe with my whole heart that we have been placed in a great position by being confined to our homes with our families. The confinement, thought seemingly daunting, should bring families closer together. We should be having breakfast lunch and dinner together more. We should be playing games and watching movies. We should be having dialogue about how thankful we are for each other. We should be apologizing and moving forward. Most important, we should be praying and interceding for our world.

Let us not look at the pandemic, quarantine and confinement as a bad thing. Let us understand that if God has forced us indoors, then He just may want to redirect our focus back to his original intent and design, Family first. Remember, don’t panic or should I say, don’t pandemic. Maximize the family time and create a faith filled, strong family bond. Family is the legacy that never ceases to exist!

An excellent day is waiting for you to have, so have it and SEE HIM only!

-Kat Simond