Last Friday I took the kids swimming. Last summer we got to the point where the bigs were no longer very interested in the pool, but Ellie begged to go daily. I haven't necessarily been very excited about pool time because I figured this year would be more of the same. Sure enough, Ellie begs nearly everyday to go swimming. The bigs don't say much about it.
I was reluctant to take them last Friday. But it was one of the best parts of our week.
One of the things I've tried to instill in them is that we are family, we are FOR each other, we are the others' biggest cheerleaders. I'll never forget when Mason came home from his first day of kindergarten and had to fill out one of those "All About Me" surveys. He had to fill in the name of his best friend. He'd already written his buddy's name in the blank. I told him that Hannah Kate was his best friend (of course, Ellie wasn't born yet), and asked him to erase it and write her name instead. Yes, I did. And, no, that wasn't one of my better parenting moments. I would certainly do that differently today. However, it stuck. There are many things I hope and pray for my children. At the top of the list is that they will truly be best friends not only as children but also as adults.
With that extension came the inevitable that we were somehow hoping wouldn't. Hannah Kate's dance recital was moved online to a virtual event from home. Ellie won't be able to complete her last semester of gymnastics. Mason likely won't play a single baseball game this season, although the league is still looking to salvage something of a season during the summer months. Small things. Such very small things really. Yes, the children have been disappointed. But not once have they complained. Not once have they become bitter or angry. Instead they continue to make of this the very best.
Last week was also my last lecture of my first year serving as Teaching Leader for BSF. Our class was suspended the second week in March so for the last seven weeks I have lectured from my dining room on Tuesday nights and uploaded the teaching to our online platform. That's not at all how I envisioned my first year ending. There's a lot in that regard I'm still processing, especially since tomorrow would've been our annual Share Day, one of my favorite days of the year as we would gather together one last time to celebrate how the Lord moved and worked and taught us and changed us through the study of His Word. But there will be no class share day this year.
So for those reasons and more, last week was just hard. But as I watched and listened to all of the splashing and giggling on Friday, I realized it's not about what we DON'T get to do. It's not about what we're missing out on. It's about what we GET to do. These last 54 days have been full . . . full of time together and games and prayer and taking care of our home and one another, full of learning and growing, full of resting, full of reflecting, full of doing new things in new ways. Full of so many good things.
I have no idea what my children will say about these days in the weeks or years ahead when they look back on this unprecedented time. But I hope they will remember how our family came together, gathered, prayed, laughed, played. I hope these 54 days and counting will be amongst their sweetest of memories.
In the meantime, there's nothing like gathering around a Cinco de Mayo board of grilled chicken and steak fajitas with sautéed veggies, homemade pico, guac and pineapple salsa accompanied by a little roasted corn and black beans. (I'd also forgotten just how long it takes to prep and chop all of this. But it was worth it!)
