The year 2020 may well be a year that will be remembered from near and far as one of the most difficult years in a very long time. The year of the Coronavirus. I do not envy our governing bodies as they try to figure out how to protect lives without creating irreversible damage to our economy. There are no easy answers. The impact by the coronavirus is going to be felt one way or the other. Schools are closed, some for the rest of the school year. Businesses are shuttered. Church meetings are cancelled. Stocks have plummeted. Store shelves are bare. Even hiking trails have closed to discourage people in the cities from driving out to the country for a change of scenery. Parents are stressed, trying to school their kids in isolation without even being able to take their kids to a playground to release their energy. No more play dates, sports, or music/art lessons to help occupy our kids' time and energy each week. Many families are trying to figure out how to work from home, which is extremely difficult to do with young kids out of school. Spring Break trips were cancelled and we have been told to stay in one place. A good portion of the population is scared, while others flaunt their freedom from fear and ignore the recommendations from the government. What a crazy time to be alive!
Like most of the country, our family has faced a lot of change in the past month and a half. All Washington state schools are closed for the rest of the school year. When we first heard of this, Gabe and I wondered if it would be possible for us to move to Mexico sooner than originally planned, as Gabe could manage his classroom via the internet for the remainder of the year, but Mexico is a couple of weeks behind the US in terms of the coronavirus and the orphanage is currently closed to anyone off of their campus. The Mexican government has shut down all non-essential travel and businesses as well, at least until May 31st. We are hopeful that we will be able to move down sometime in June, but we will just have to wait and see what unfolds.
Gabe and I realize that in all the craziness going on, we are quite blessed. Gabe is still able to get paid and we don't have to make alternate arrangements for childcare since I was already a stay at home mom. Gabe and I are both home to help our kids with their schoolwork and we have enough space in our house to make it work fairly well. Our kids have plenty of siblings to play with, which keeps them from being too bored. We can be outside around our house to our heart's content. Yes, it is a bit crazy trying to school all these kids at home. Yes, we are going a little stir-crazy. Yes, I am frustrated that I can't do my normal grocery shopping due to limited stock and limits on purchases. But I choose every day to focus on our blessings and be grateful for all of them, big or small. Today, the Lord introduced us to a family that wants to rent our house from us beginning this summer! It was an answer to prayer and we feel very blessed!
If you are inclined to pray for us, here are some of our pressing needs:
1) We need people to partner with us as supporters. Prayer support is always needed, as are financial supporters. One time gifts are definitely helpful, but we could really use a handful more people willing to give on a regular basis. All financial gifts are tax deductible, and most importantly they will go towards helping us bring healing, joy, and education to kids who have been abused and neglected. Please be sure to notify me if you decide to support us so that we can know how close we are to meeting our proposed budget. Here is the link to our donation page if you would like to partner with us in this ministry. https://ffhm.kindful.com/?campaign=1040212
2) We can't bring everything in our house down to Mexico, but right now we also can't have a yard sale or donate items anywhere. Please pray that we would be able to creatively find ways to get rid of our belongings before we leave for Mexico.
3) Pray for our minds to be able to absorb more Spanish. I feel like we have been in a rut and haven't really learned anything new since being back home following our visit to Mexico at Christmas. It is our goal to be able to better communicate with the kids down there in their own language and right now I feel frustrated at my lack of improvement.
4) Pray for our health. We want to protect our own health so that we can protect the kids at the orphanage. There are a few children at the orphanage with underlying medical issues and we certainly don't want them to be exposed to the coronavirus! Also, Gabe's allergies have been affecting him a bit weird this year and causing him to have some head fog and ear pressure symptoms. These symptoms have been something of a trigger for the PTSD he has following his extreme vertigo incident last December. Earlier this month they caused some anxiety and panic attack type issues. Fortunately, the anxiety has improved quite a bit over the past couple of weeks, but please pray for complete healing for Gabe and that he would return to feeling 100%.
5) Lastly, please pray that restrictions would ease and that we would be able to spend some time with our friends and family before we head out. It has been hard not being able to spend time with people outside of our immediate family, especially knowing that we don't have much time left stateside! It would be so wonderful to be able to worship alongside our church family here in Trout Lake before we move!
We pray that God would be taking care of all of you and that everyone would be drawing closer to Him during this trying time in our world's history. May the peace of God cover you, especially if you are dealing with the loss of a job/income right now. And if there is anything you would like prayer for, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. Just as we want you to partner with us in prayer, so too can we pray for you!
