Our View from Quarantine: Part II

Yesterday, I shared what we’ve been doing in the month since we returned to Michigan, along with some things that have been good about the time we’re spending in quarantine and isolation. Today, I’ll give you a peek into what’s been hard about this past month and tell you about some things you can pray for.

What’s Hard?

There’s no two ways about it. Quarantine is hard, but it’s hard in different ways for different people. I read somewhere today that we’re all in the same storm, but we’re in different boats. That rings true right now. This is what’s been rough for us:

• Space – We are living full-time in the RV. In some sense, this is normal, but it’s a bit different than living on the road. Normally, we’d be doing school and meals in the church buildings. Right now, everything is happening in our kitchen/living room. We’re using the same space for school, play, meal prep, eating, meal clean up, games, puzzles, reading… It can get a little frantic trying to clean up one activity to make way for another!
• Dishes – This one might sound funny, but we don’t have a dishwasher. Sometimes, it seems like we’re doing dishes ALL DAY LONG. Yes, we’ve enjoyed cooking and eating together again, but man, it’s amazing about many dishes a family of six can produce in the space of a few hours!
• Separation – When we were first faced with the prospect of ending the travel season two months early, one of our first thoughts was getting to invest in our relationships here in Michigan near Life Action’s headquarters, especially for the kids. Maybe taking a couple trips to see family in Iowa and North Carolina. Boy, were we naive! There’s been a learning curve to figuring out how to connect with people in ways that are responsible and meaningful.
• Uncertainty – We’re not sure about the coming months. We don’t know what Camp is going to look like. We still have spots open on our team, and we don’t know what training will look like. On top of that, our dear friends and minstry partners, Shane & Leigh Black, are going through a difficult season as they make decisions about their daughter Lindsey’s health.
• Sin – When we started our journey of raising support, Amanda and I would joke that we were “learning new ways to communicate poorly with each other!” Right now feels similar. We’ve lost some things – our sense of mission, our community, our routine. In some ways we’re grieving those losses, even when we don’t realize it. On top of that, our whole family is getting a new view into our own selfishness and sinfulness, as we share more time and less space with each other than ever before.

Some Things to Pray For

In the midst of all the good and hard things, here are some things that we need your prayers for right now.

• The Black Family – I mentioned above that Shane and Leigh are making decisions about Lindsey’s treatment. The most likely scenario is that she will have to leave the team and stay home. This means that Leigh will also need to stay at home with most of the Black kids. Whatever happens, with the Black family splitting up, this is going to be hard for all us. Please pray especially for Shane, Leigh, and their family.
• House – The biggest suprise of this month is that we’re about to buy a house! Out of the blue, a house right next to Camp has come available at a fantastic price. After a lot of prayer and consideration, we’ve decided to move forward with the purchase. We hope to be closing early next month. We’re so thankful to be getting a place to land and replenish during the summer and winter breaks. In addition to being adjacent to camp, the house has some space that we could rent to a couple singles or a young couple. It would be great to have some folks keeping an eye on the place while we’re on the road. Please pray as we take these steps.
• Support – We’ve been at about 75% support since we got on the road. At times it’s been scary to think about the future. But amazingly we haven’t lacked for anything since we came on staff. Now we’re about to purchase a house, and our needs are about to change a bit. We’re asking God to provide $1,000 a month of regular support. If fifty people reading this would pledge $20 per month, that would do it! Would you consider partnering with us? If you’d like to talk more about what your support would got towards, I’d love to talk more. Just shoot me a line at GarrettLee@lifeaction.org.

Thank you for taking time to read about our joys and struggles. We’d love to hear from you as well! What’s good right now, and what’s hard? What do you need prayer for? Send us an email or leave a comment. We’d be honored to pray alongside you.

We’ll keep you posted on developments with the house, so keep and eye on your feeds and inboxes!