by Alain Aldea
Trusting God is like Peter walking on water, as soon as you stop trusting the Lord, you start sinking. Trust in the Lord is the biggest weapon we need to use during these trying times.
How does this pandemic affect out family dynamics? My wife and I are both front liners at NYU and we have been working since the start of the pandemic, taking care of Covid-19 patients. While others are quarantining at home, we choose to risk ourselves to keep others safe, but we do it because it is our calling and there is a great deal of satisfaction gained in helping others. We help and serve so that others can see Christ in us.
There is always constant fear that we may carry the virus home and infect our three children. Our trust and faith in God plus our PPE’s are our sole protection from the virus. We have to socially distance ourselves, even at home, meaning no more real hugs and kisses until the next time we get our routine Covid test. One time, my son said “I miss you even while you’re home because I can’t even get close to you and Mom. I wish you weren’t front liners, but I understand that you have to help others just like God wants you to do.” As a parent, it is tough, but it is even tougher for our children.
Ironically, social distancing has brought our family much closer together. We have spent more time at the dinner table with more meaningful conversations. We have discovered new activities that we were not fond of doing before, like hiking almost every other weekend. There were times when our bodies would fail us and our spirits would be at their lowest, but we wanted to keep our usual activities with our children to maintain some normality in this pandemic.
We now have a new appreciation for the simplest things in life and we have learned how the little things can make a great difference. This may be God’s way of fixing us, our family relationship, and our world, by bringing us all closer together