Covid-19 is the great revealer when it comes to our homes. Many of us are spending more time at home than ever before, as are our children. We may be shocked to learn that we don’t really like being home, at least not when everyone else is there, too. Perhaps what we’re discovering is that our homes have been horribly neglected—that the hearts of the people inside our homes are not “at home” at all. They’re gnawing, restless, unhappy, unsettled, and discontented. This is a gracious thing to learn because it means we can begin setting it aright.
A little over two years ago the winter Olympics were in full swing. We watched when we could, wowed by the training and talent on display by athletes from all over the world. Around that same time we found ourselves facing our own unique Olympics: a middle of the night seizure for our youngest son that wouldn’t stop with rescue meds. As I rode along with him to the ER, my husband tended our four kids at home, one of whom had come down with an ill-timed stomach bug making for a night full of vomit clean-up.
The next morning as I was packing up to bring our son back home, I remembered the words of one of the announcers about a particularly successful Olympian, “She was born to win these Olympics!” As I thought about my husband and myself it seemed obvious, “We were born to endure these nights.” Of course, I didn’t mean that night was easy for us or that we felt particularly equipped or competent to handle the circumstances we were given, but simply that this was what God made us for: to be the parents of these children, to help each other through whatever comes, to cling to Christ in the midst of it, and to lean hard on his Word and his promises.
Fitted for Fiery Trials
As the whole world faces Covid-19 and the many varied trials and challenges that go along with it, our first impulse is often to think something along the lines, “I’m not cut out for this!” How many times have I said, “These are strange days,” in the last month? Yet, I’ve been hearing Peter’s words gently rebuke me, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).
God wants us to be prepared for these trials. He wants us to think of them as un-strange—as the very thing Christians were made for. Whether we live or we die, we are here by the very will of God for such a time as this. Those of us who have already died with Christ can rejoice in times of suffering in so much as we are granted deeper fellowship with Christ through them (1 Pet 4:13). We were created to do good in the midst of suffering because our souls have been entrusted to our Creator (1 Pet 4:19).
So, what does that mean for our mothering in these days of shelter-in-place? How does knowing that our souls are safe with our Maker and that our God has fitted us for trials influence how we nurture our kids?
We get to show our children what it looks like to be daughters of Sarah who do not fear anything that is frightening (1 Pet 3:6).
One of the wonderful things about Scripture is how down-to-earth it is. When we’re told to imitate Sarah, particularly her beautiful submission to Abraham, one of the ways that manifested was in her fearlessness. But, it wasn’t that she was a worry wart, fearing things that weren’t really all that frightening. How do we know? Because the Bible tells us that she didn’t fear anything that was frightening! So, too, for us. We don’t have to fear things that are truly terrifying. We can be at peace, submitted to our own husbands, and submitted to God who is working all for our good.
