As I was sitting in my chair yesterday, I was reminded by my Facebook memories that yesterday was exactly 1 year from the point where my previous church started live streaming their church service, which they never did before. But, let's back up a couple more days...
On March 13, 2020, Governor Inslee of Washington issued a statewide shutdown for schools and limited gatherings. A couple of days later the entire country followed suit and shut down so that in 15 days the country can flatten the curve. Life as we knew it completely changed. Kids were doing school from home. People were getting laid off, furloughed, losing hours, or working from home. Terms, such as quarantine, mask wearing, and social distancing, became a part of everybody's everyday vocabulary.
For me, the quarantine and Covid 19 completely changed my life. Today, I am reflecting on this past year. This past year was far from the year I was expecting. Like many, my life was completely flipped upside down where I had to figure out a new normal.While I was already working from home with my full time job, I lost both my side jobs (nannying and tutoring) that were giving me additional income that helped me pay my bills...
A year before Covid 19 and the quarantine, I had left a toxic relationship and had gone through a lot of counseling for previous hurt. I was so close to being out of a 10-year depression, but there was the constant reminder of my past that kept me from getting to that point. While attending my previous church, I was struggling with having someone who couldn't get past the idea that he was causing me so much pain and anxiety. It was getting worse right before the quarantine to the point where I was highly considering a restraining order and trying to decide whether that was the right thing to do.
While I was in the process of speaking up to protect myself and deal with this situation, Governor Inslee gave the order to limit gatherings which included churches. While being away from my Christian community was extremely hard, I felt the last of the dark heavy clouds lift because I was no longer dealing with the person making me feel so unsafe in a place that should allow me to feel safe. That was just the start of all the changes in the last year...
The plans I had for the year were completely different than what they became. I was planning to scuba dive more often, start saving up for a car and a trip to Paris, and pay off my student loans by my 25th birthday in June. God had very different plans for me, and they were far better than I could ever imagine. The only thing I did manage in my original plan was become debt free.
The quarantine was not as hard for me as it has been for others even though I pretty much was living alone. I spent a lot of my time doing things I had put off, such as switching over my music to Spotify and creating my own personal digital book library. (My heart goes out to all those who have struggled and continue to struggle with the circumstances.) It was God's way to forcefully slow me down. With working full time and side jobs, it did not give me time outside of working to relax and have fun. Since I had more free time, the quarantine really made me look at my life and see what options I had available to me. I saw 3.
- Consider saving money for graduate school once things go back to normal as well as travel to Paris at some point.
- Rig up a van and live in it and travel around the country.
- Try online dating.
I was all in for all 3 options. I didn't know which one God wanted me to follow or if it was any of these options at all, but I was ready for whatever God wanted for me. If you asked me a year ago where you think I would be now, being married to a wonderful God fearing man would probably have been the farthest idea of where I'd be today. God is so good and really knows how to humble me.
Little did I know that after only having Bumble for less than 3 months I would meet my future husband. I wasn't sure about him at first because he didn't seem to be my type, but I gave him a chance because his love for Christ, his family, and his friends is so evident and we have a lot in common. It became clear very quickly that God wanted us to be together. Our dating life felt like one from the 1950's or 1960's. We spent our time together taking walks, talking faith, going on drives, and telling each other what we hope our future lives to look like. This probably wouldn't have happened had it not been without all the other distractions that would have been around if Covid was not a thing. We got engaged 4 months into dating and married 5 months later on March 13, 2021. Unintentionally, that is exactly one year from the day Governor Inslee started the Covid 19 restrictions.
I'm sure in 5, 10, or 20 years for those of us who remember this will remember the lives we had to get used to because of the quarantine and shut down. For me, I'll be the one to say that I met and married my husband during a pandemic.
