Earlier this year, I wrote about the advantages for Trail Families during this current crisis. I realized that post was a bit impersonal. That was partly because it was early into the lockdowns and the future was so uncertain. It was partly because we were still processing all the changes ourselves. Now seems a better time to share some of our real experiences from the last few months. We have certainly grown as individuals and a family.
The first direct challenge for us was the shutdown of everything. The girls take dance lessons which they love. Church is highly important for our family. Our own services moved to an online platform and the Bible club that the girls attended at my parents’s church was cancelled. Being a homeschool family, our educational year did not get interrupted. Our kids still struggled with the social isolation that was not the norm for them. We did our best to meet with friends online and still set Sundays aside for rest and worship. We remained hopeful despite all the changes.
We looked at the time we would have together as an opportunity to grow stronger as a family. We had already set the goal to spend 300 hours outside during 2020. We visited our local park until it was closed, played in our own backyard, and took walks around our neighborhood and on our Rail Trails as much as we could. We made progress on our goal with 45 hours during Spring.
Life has gradually gotten closer to normal over the last several weeks. The girls dance studio is improvising classes and a recital to finish out this season. Jocelyn’s Bible club director called her once a week so that she could finish her assignments and memorization to receive an end-of-year award. We are thankful for the wonderful, dedicated adults in our kids’s lives. We are excited to be back at church while using masks and social distance seating. It has been good for all of us to partially resume some of the important activities in our lives.
Our main event in our summer plans is a Kingdom Trails mountain bike camp for the girls. This was their big gift at Christmas that we, grandparents, and even an aunt and uncle chipped in together to pay for. There was a point when we weren’t sure that camp would happen at all. We are raising our hands and doing a happy dance that the camp is going on and Vermont is not restricting travel to their state. The girls can’t wait to get some professional mountain biking instruction!
Our hearts and prayers go out to those who have been directly affected by COVID-19. We know some personally who have passed from the disease. We pray that all our readers are safe and well. Hug your loved ones a little tighter and keep up hope. Family first; trail second.
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