The day the world hit the ‘Pause’ button

Sounds like a fiction book for kids, not a reality. However, here we are in this state of ‘pause’. 

Our teddy bears in the window

I know for a lot of people life has just got a whole lot more complicated, how do families juggle 2 parents working from home, while also having 3 kids to manage? Or for others the struggles are that you no longer have a reliable income for your family and the uncertainty around what exactly that looks like. I have other friends and family right now stuck in isolation alone or single parents alone with their kids or managing co-parenting in an isolated way. I have family and friends in essential services, having to regularly go out into the community and be prepared to make themselves invincible to the virus. I know it is a scary time for those that are immune-compromised or with family who are. Then there are others who are learning to live with family in a closer way than they have ever had to before!

Whatever the situation, we are all in this together… together in our separate little bubbles. It is also good to acknowledge that we all react and deal with this differently too.

A lot of people have asked what our future looks like now, has this completely thrown our plans? The reality is, I don’t know, I don’t think anyone truly knows what tomorrow will bring or how long we will be in this state of ‘pause’. However our intentions remain the same, although we are not sure what the timing looks like. We still intend to leave Waikanae to work as full time volunteers for MMM. We were never planning to long-term move to Fiji until next year anyway, so time will tell what it all looks like. We are not sure when regular flights will even start again to Fiji again, luckily we were only planning to go there for a month this year anyway. 

We are using this time to continue to get our house ready to rent, even though it’s tricky to do that when you can’t leave the section. 

We are very grateful to the people who have already started to give regularly to support the work we intend to do in NZ and Fiji. We wanted to say, that in this time of life's ‘pause’, feel free to hold your financial support to us. I know it is an uncertain time for a lot of people’s finances, so please don’t feel you need to give to us in this uncertain time.

I feel like for our family, stepping out of the comfortable and into the unknown, is a known territory. It can be scary, but it is exciting too with where this time could lead us. I am glad that we have hope in a God that is way bigger than any storm that life throws at us. 

He says,

     "Be still, and know that I am God;

     I will be exalted among the nations,

     I will be exalted in the earth." Psalms 46:10

Who would’ve thought that the whole country would be able to stop and be still so easily!

Just remember even though we might be isolated from each other at this time, we need each other, as everyone is all processing this time in a different way with different things to deal with. We need to be the village even though we are in isolation. Who can you touch base with, who can you show kindness or generosity to in this time? 

If you need anything, a phone call, video call or some groceries dropped to your door, please let us know, if we can’t help, we will find someone who can…  even if you don’t live nearby, I will enjoy the challenge!

Personally, being in this state of ‘pause’ I feel relief, I feel grief, I feel frustrated. At times I have felt fear but I know my God isn’t a God of fear and He wants me to trust in Him… however I haven’t felt boredom, I have 3 kids in lockdown, I still don’t have much free time!

So as we are all in this compulsory state of 'pause', to at least some parts of our life, as I know some are still working hard behind the scenes, I pray that you will all know God’s peace and love. You are not alone and we are all in this together.

God Defend New Zealand