It seems a little ironic that our blog post published a mere two months ago was all about community. At that time, we were ramping up for spring by looking forward to playing in parks, as well as a few field trips. When the restrictions went into place due to COVID-19, to be honest, our day-to-day home life has been unaffected.
Math still had to be computed, grammar still had to be learned and science was still something to be experimented. But at the end of the school day, we found ourselves at home, not in a park, not at the library, nor eating supper with our friends in The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse. We found ourselves home, together just us as a family.
It was daunting when I realized that we, as parents, had 100% influence and authority over our children. I mean, I know we have always held that authority to a certain degree. Never has there been a time when we control every single detail of our children’s lives. Now, if my daughter talks to her friends, its because I put a computer in front of her and connected her virtually to them. Any conversation she has with the outside world, it’s because we allow it. That goes for anything she watches, anything she listens to, anything she plays with.
To be honest, that realization made me a little uneasy because that means she is only watching us her parents. We are her only influence in her life right now. I know we have always been an influence on our daughter, and it has always been something that we need to be very serious about. But now, like many other things, it has become even more clear how much that is true.
It’s time to evaluate
During this time, it very important to be aware of what we are teaching our kids, and what they are seeing and learning from us each day. Now is also a great time to make use of resources available to improve your parenting. Then, at some point, we will be back in community. We will need to remember that they are still watching. The changes you make now can have a lasting effect on all family members!
Here is an article from the Gospel Coalition that is related to this topic for further reading.
Please pray for all the families would use this time to evaluate their discipleship practices. Then we can make Holy Spirit led changes.