May 24, 2020:

As I write today, I am wrapping up week 10 of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. I spent the first 6 weeks of the shutdown away from home (in corporate housing) as I was on a work assignment. What I thought would be initially 2 weeks turned into where we are today. While its one experience in itself to be in isolation, its a whole other experience to be In isolation, away from your home. A month ago, I made the decision to come home to reset. When making this decision, I thought I would only be home a week or two before going back to my work assignment and with the way things are in the state of Maryland, the timeline is uncertain for specific areas hard hit by the virus.

The uncertainty of this time sure has helped me with something i’ve been working on for awhile: patience. There is much out of my control. As a natural problem solver, I like to see around corners and plan for outcomes. Obviously I’ve been able to do this to my maximum potential. I don’t often respond well when forced into situations, especially situations causing me to come to a full halt. About 3 weeks into the shutdown, I came down with a fever and a cough, overall being sick for 2-3 weeks with what felt like a very bad head cold and cough that just wouldn’t go away. Unnerving would not begin to describe my experience of being sick during a pandemic, alone, and away from home. Talk about a shift in priorities! Up until that point, I was still trying to manage so many things work, diet and exercise (ya girl was getting it), trying to keep life as normal as possible. Getting sick caused me to come to a full stop. I was sofa bound for over a week. I had to let everything else go. I couldn’t work, exercise, write, read, etc. All I could do was tend to the present moment at hand which was tending to my symptoms and keeping my family updated on my progress. While I did not ever feel full on panic, I certainly was worried and more intensely prayerful. In further efforts to be normal, I tried a 30 min Peloton ride the moment I felt better. I got another lesson in patience for the timetable my body was on to recover, not the April Peloton challenge timeline.

After what felt like the longest cold I’ve ever had is when I made the decision to come home and reset. It had been 6 months since I’d last slept in my own bed. Driving home, I thought I was coming to enjoy a relaxing experience, but I learned how much work goes into sprucing up a place that hasn’t been touched in 6 months. I had dead plants and dust inside and pollen all over the patio and balcony outside, not to mention remnants of winter. My place was freezing! I’m lucky I didn’t have a pipe freeze. At any rate, it was a project not only to spruce up the joint, but also make it a place I could thrive in my office, bedroom and kitchen in particular. So it actually turned out to be more of a reset in my life than I thought. Transforming your home is no small feat.

God’s divine timing never fails to blow me away. This time last year, I kicked off what would be an epic summer of beach hopping and vacations with family and friends. For the first time in years, my family was together for Christmas in Maryland. Those times and experiences have filled me up and carried me through this time in so many ways. I’ve been able to build on connection virtually during this time and have never felt alone during isolation. What a blessing. With this newfound patience, I am not mourning the past or thinking about how to resume previous activities when “outside opens back up”. I have peace with today. I have accepted things will never be the same and that’s fine with me.

With that level of peace, I have a renewed and different sense of power.