I was chatting with my cousin who is a mother of 5 kids who range in age from 7, 10, 14, 17 and her firstborn son who was recently married and is 21 (not pictured above). She’s as amazing women who before raising a family had a successful Christian Book Store and knows what it takes to run a business and a home.  She has home schooled all her children and knows what a being a busy stay at home mom takes.  She lives it every day!  

We were discussing how a positive Covid test for her husband created more closeness than they all could handle for the 10-day quarantine time.  She felt the “Covid-crazy” took over, but now that they have been released, she is trying to get back to her healthy habits. 

When I asked her, these are the thoughts that came to her mind: 

1.       "Do the next right thing".  She said after a situation that causes disruption or a change in schedule like “like this Covid episode” that it can be hard to get refocused.   She stated that she has stopped herself and regained focus by saying, “what is the right next thing to do” and then without hesitation just do it!  That has led her to the next right thing to do. My cousin also said, the Christian author and speaker Elisabeth Elliot was a firm believer in this philosophy.  She, if you don’t know was married to Jim Elliot who was killed in 1956 while attempting to make missionary contact with the Auca of eastern Ecuador.  Their story (Nick Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming and Jim Elliot and their families) was depicted in her bestselling book Through the Gates of Splendor and also in the movie End of the Spear as told by Steve Saint.  She wrote the book still in Ecuador at the request of and cooperation with the families of these 5 brave men.  It was their story of moving forward when faced with the murder of their husbands that has inspired many people to “do the next right thing” when faced with something difficult. If she and these families can move on and take that step, doesn’t that inspire you to do the same under much less horrific circumstances? 

2.       Rethink getting back on track. As a homeschool mom my cousin had to rethink life during their quarantine due to Covid. She asked herself the next question to get on track, “what is really important here right now?” Instead of trying to catch up on study/homework, she thought her children’s mental state was most important. She decided to do something “healthy for our mental state and doing some projects around the house that needed to checked off that 'ol list and some projects that just made you feel better about the house.” She totally changed the track from a school catch up, so what can we all do together to make our home calmer. “The kids all pitched in and I think it was especially valuable to our health during that period.” 

 

3.       See a teaching moment: Instead of glossing over the Covid virus, she decided to use the real-life situation to help her children deal with an unexpected situation now and for future situations they may experience. She allowed them to blurt out what they felt would help them cope.  Instead of a routine, she saw that “Spontaneity was also good! One of the children would say, I think we need to go out and talk a walk! We'd stop what we were doing, change gears and get some movement and fresh air and what good medicine that was!” 

 

4.       Delays are okay Being the wise and intuitive mom that she is, she “delayed the start most days on our homeschooling to make sure we did some stretching or an exercise DVD.”  They also did “some healthy Covid practices like running some peroxide/water/salt through a nebulizer to help with the Covid.”   She realized that doing what was healthy took precedence to the studying.  How could the kids focus when they were cooped up and needed to first get out some energy and improve their physical well-being and then talk about what they were feeling as well as engage in other practices of healthy living.  “We realized doing these things first helped us mentally and physically so much that it became a priority over other things” like staying on task with studies and homework.   

 

My cousin is a very wise and Godly woman. The nuggets gleaned are:

• She taught her children valuable lessons for future unexpected situations. She taught them to listen to their body – take care of yourself, refocus and then once your top needs are taken care of you can do the next right thing.

• Do what is important and prioritize based on the situation and your own health.

• Be mindful, life is full of teaching moments when we listen and take a pause. And lastly that delays are okay.