Life at Home
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I was topping-off my morning coffee when I heard that familiar voice down the hall, “Maaaahhhhhhm!” I grab my liquid grace-in-a-cup and walk towards the bathroom. Once inside, I know he just wants to talk so I start to put on moisturizer. I hear his little voice from the shower, “I made a spa and it’s next to the grocery store. It has a fountain inside and it has pizza, a soda stand, and benches. Do you want to see it?” He was referring to yesterday's Minecraft adventures.
If you’re like me the idea of a spa sounds refreshing. For a moment, I visualized a man-made waterfall with fresh botanicals, creamy colors filled my mind, and the revitalizing scent of eucalyptus filled the air, and then so did the smell of pepperoni, basil, and melted mozzarella.
In real time I am experiencing tension. All the parts of my life are jumbling together and fighting for attention.
To be fair, adjusting to this shelter shut-in hasn’t been as difficult for us as it has been for others. I have friends calling or texting asking for prayer as they navigate layoffs and loss. Fear and grief are neighbors and daily we too have to choose not to let them in.
I’m seeing opportunities fade like a flame blown out on a candle. Special events and moments are lost in social distancing. Voices concerning discrimination that were once in the spotlight appear to have been silenced. Crisis reveals what we are made of and how fragile that is. All this change got me thinking:
“What is our calling during a crisis?”
Sure, some projects are put on hold and some dreams are crushed in crisis, but our projects and dreams aren’t our identity. I don’t think important conversations should end either, just handled with care. Calling is a journey we navigate rather than a tool we control. I love what Angie Ward says about calling in her book “I Am A Leader.” She mentioned, our calling includes our daily responsibilities, and though it’s not our identity, it should be fulfilling. So what is our calling during a crisis? Well, what is fulfilling in a crisis?
Three things I know are fulfilling and are especially more meaningful in a time of crisis:
1. Helping someone.
2. Helping myself.
3. Sharing my faith.
Now, you may be have made the same observation I did. These are my calling before a crisis even occurred. How about you? Same? So, if these three things are our calling with or without a crisis,
How do we steward our calling when there is so much unavoidable tension?
I have an idea.
May I share it?
As you lower your standards and microwave your coffee like I am, consider creating a block schedule for you and the other adults who share responsibilities in your home. Then with your specific block hours do these three things: Help someone, help yourself, and share your faith.
Below is what our block schedule looks like. I kept it simple. This way we can be flexible and have a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day, without feeling trapped the next morning or overwhelmed that I have to do it all again.
Click here to download a (blank) copy and personalize your own schedule.
Life-At-Home
This schedule gives us space to process the crisis, take a nap, have meaningful devotional times, binge watch Netflix and complete projects for work.
Now, maybe you can’t do this all-day, every day, but can you do something like this a few days a week?
The Anderson’s block schedule
As you can see it’s not perfectly half and half, sometimes our work hours do overlap. Overall, I work a few hours and my husband plays with the kids. My husband works a lot of hours, and I’ll homeschool the kids and prep meals, etc. Basically “taking shifts.”
School and work start sometime in the morning after we have had our coffees, hugs, and stared at the tv for a little bit. Any assignments that don’t get finished are completed during nap time, which is also early afternoon and not at a set time. (School and Nap time are the orange and yellow highlighter.)
We do chores as a family just before bed so we can wake up to a clean house in the morning. (That is the pink highlighter.)
These are big blocks of time for all of us. There is a lot of talking and interruptions, a lot of walks outside and playtime. Still, we have a goal and a big window of time to accomplish it. We know who not to interrupt because they are working and who to ask for help when we need another snack or a problem solved.
If you haven’t found a rhythm I hope this idea will get you closer to one that works for you. Check it out.
Cheering you on!