Interruptions

Today ends week 1 of home prison... Week 1 of 5, for now. It's been crazy. Day after day, it's bad news after bad news. The lockdown rules get stricter, the numbers are still rising, HCW are dying, borders closing... Our home has been both M's office and E's school. The first 2 days seemed fun. I kept joking that M must be enjoying working at home with lunch, teabreak provided, a nice balcony where he can take breaks and do his gardening, a bed to take short naps with etc.

Little did i know, he was getting frustrated being enclosed in the dark guest room (to hide from E) and no colleagues to talk to. I was also getting really tired and frustrated dealing with E the whole day long, his incessant requests to go downstairs and play, on top of having less me time (to catch up with study and reflect). The bad news also continues, Qatar cancels my MIL's trip next month, my exams are going to be postponed... So by Friday, everyone was tensed and snappy. E lost my highlighter pen cover and that small thing sent me into a torrent of tears (like the straw that broke the camel's back). Cabin fever is so real!!! 😱 That afternoon, M sat me down and we talked about this and decided that in this new normal, we need to be more mindful of each other's feelings and endeavor to love better.

I found encouragement in this quote by C.S Lewis "The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own', or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life- the life God is sending one day by day: what one calls 'real life' is a phantom of one's own imagination."

Indeed, Prov 19:21 puts this craziness into perspective "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." Now, i don't know when we can go back to normal, if and when we will even get a chance to go back to SG like we planned. However, i pray i may trust the Lord's heart and unfailing love. This is season for faith to grow.