Striving for Abundant Life in Quarantine | A Guest Post by Kim Clark
What a long way we have come since the beginning of March! As I look back on my journal entry from March 8, I see that I was looking forward to Spring Break, Mississippi State baseball games, and many other things that have definitely not gone according to plan, including my son Charlie’s graduation from high school. However, I have always had a certain Pollyanna-like outlook; so, for my family, while our days of quarantine have not been perfect, I have definitely seen many blessings. I would even go so far as to say that there are aspects of these days that I will miss whenever the time comes for us to get back to “normal.”
My husband and I own our own business, and we have four kids aged 14 to 20. Prior to COVID-19, we definitely kept a full calendar! But did we have full lives? In John 10:10 Jesus states, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” I also love the wording in the NIV translation, “…that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
One of the lessons I’ve been reminded of during this season is that having a busy schedule does not equate to having a full life in Jesus. In fact, many of the things keeping our schedules so full may actually be robbing us of some of the fullness of life that Christ offers.
That being said, the first weeks of quarantine came as something of a relief to me. I was able to stay home from work quite a bit, and I realized how much I had been craving some stillness and rest! Quarantining agreed with me! In fact, my daughter Sarah Kimble created a PowerPoint presentation including a family pyramid, with our positions based on how well we were coping in our new circumstances. I made it to the top! I was cooking family dinners, leading Bible study with our family along with my husband Jeffrey, and all around living my best life! Admittedly, as the weeks have progressed, I am doing these things with less consistency and zeal, but I still desire them, and I pray that my family and I are “joyfully work[ing] righteousness” in our increased family time.
Many of the blessings experienced by my family have been echoed by others. We have enjoyed more time outside. We have enjoyed more time around the table together, whether at meals, playing games, or just chatting together. We have spent time in simple pursuits like reading, working puzzles, and grilling on the patio. My girls have been baking. My boys have been landscaping. We’ve done crafts and watched movies.
One huge blessing has been learning to focus on the needs of others. In April, my in-laws’ home was affected by a tornado. By necessity, they came to stay with us for eight days while their utilities were restored. The quality time that my children were able to spend with their grandparents was a treasure. They saw my husband honoring his father and mother in a new way, and learned lessons that I hope they will carry with them forever.
Of course one day soon we will start moving toward our new normal. While we don’t know exactly what the future will look like, we do know that it won’t stay like this, nor would we want it to. We need community. We miss our extended family, our friends and our church family. My teenagers even miss school! We have all realized that no amount of technology is a substitute for face-to-face interaction. But it is my hope that as time marches on, we will reflect on Ecclesiastes 3:6(b), which tells us that there is “a time to keep, and a time to cast away.”
What good habits have we made, what good lessons have we learned, that we will “keep” when normal life resumes? Are there some commitments to our time, or activities that are keeping us busy but are not life giving that we need to “cast away”?
For me, I hope that we will prioritize some evenings at home during the week, that I will “keep” serving my family by making them meals and encouraging us to spend time at the table together. I pray that we will continue to see and appreciate the beauty of creation around us, and that we won’t allow our lives to become so frenetic that we miss the blessings right in front of us. And most of all, that we will prioritize our relationship with the One who gives life, and gives it abundantly.
