These days, COVID not only dominates headlines but seems to dominate our lives and thoughts. Our family follows the news for latest COVID statistics and tries to get on top of the ever evolving requirements and restrictions. Nonetheless, we struggle to care and comfort sick elderly parents aboard and we haven’t seen our immediate family for over two years now. With heavy hearts we have cancelled our flights to visit them multiple times due to quarantine requirements. FaceTiming simply doesn’t make up for our longing to be with them in person.

We have also learnt to switch on the online-school and work-from-home mode with not much notice. Online learning is not much of a challenge now but supervising kids while juggling with heavy demands of work at home remains very difficult. In the meantime, our kids are spending more and more time on their desk, indoors with their devices, while their favourite sports are suspended yet again. Just as we were finally able to see our friends at Sunday services and Growth Group, we have to be back online again.

Should we vaccinate our kids? Are we at risk since someone in the building is tested positive? Do we need to stock up our pantry in case our building is locked down? Who is going to look after Coco (our dog) if we were sent to quarantine? Two years on, we are still struggling and getting really weary, frustrated and impatient.

Yet COVID slows down our fast pace of life and forces us to refocus on those close to us. We have a lot more time for each other, have learnt many new recipes, art & crafts, and board games together. We do not take things for granted as much now. We feel so blessed for each of our meals out together, for each gathering with friends and each hug in person. As new lockdown measures were introduced for CNY, we thank God that we got to have Christmas services last December.

COVID makes us more aware of our own vulnerabilities and the needs of others. It makes us lean on Jesus more for his peace and comfort. We cling more to Jesus for his comfort and pray for more faith in him. COVID humbles us to count our blessings from God every day.

We still pray that COVID will be over soon, that our lives can resume to some normality. Yet we also pray that our family’s closeness to Jesus which has grown over the COVID period will stay, for us to strive to be faithful and focused on Jesus, above the cares of this world.