This season is unprecedented. For the first time in more than 100 years, there is a pandemic that finds businesses, schools, sports seasons, and church buildings closed down around the nation and around the world. 

COVID-19 has created a once-in-a-lifetime situation that finds many families with less on their calendars and more time at home with one another. 

While we do not know how much longer this will last, we all expect it to end at some point. Before it does, however, perhaps families would benefit from sitting down and making two lists:

1. Make a List of New Rhythms You Want to Maintain

While social distancing has presented challenges for families, it has also created opportunities for many. Take a moment and make a list of some of the new rhythms you and your family are enjoying and then make it a goal and a prayer to continue these even once we are on the other side of this pandemic. 

For Example:  

• Family Meals at Home—Since we cannot eat out or fill every night of the week with activities right now, we find ourselves eating more meals together at home. What a blessing this can be! Family meals around the dinner table create opportunities for family worship, laughter, and conversation that is free from the distractions of phones and tablets. 

• Less Sports and More_________—If your family typically spent hours each week watching sports and following every major sporting event, then those hours have naturally been filled with something else now that the NBA, NCAA, MLB, and PGA have all cancelled or suspended their seasons. If you have found yourself more attentive to your spouse, more available to your kids, and more interested in family activities because there are no sports to watch on TV, then put this on the list as a new rhythm you plan to maintain even when all of the seasons start again.  

• Intentionality with your Church Family—With church buildings closed, many Christian families have become incredibly intentional and creative in how they stay connected with their brothers and sisters in Christ. Perhaps you have spent things weeks disciplined in attending Zoom Bible studies or Facebook Live services, or even in contacting your church family through calls, texts, FaceTime, and e-mails. Let’s commit to keep this going. Let’s not lose this, but rather, let this intentional community grow once we are able to be together in person. 

• Family Worship—Some of the sweetest testimonies I have heard over the past month have to do with family worship. So many households are taking advantage of extra family time right now by praying together, reading the Bible with one another, and allowing praise music to fill the home. Whether your family is just now starting to practice family worship or your family worship seems more consistent and free during this time, add this to the list of rhythms you would like to see continue. 

• Family Activities—Puzzles, board games, walks around the neighborhood, bike rides, reading hours, crafts, and movie nights are just some of the ways families are passing the time during their month-long quarantine. Ask your family which of these have been their favorite, and make a plan to continue these activities. 

2. Make a List of Old Opportunities You Look Forward to Enjoying Again

While the first list leans into some of the sweet, new opportunities families are enjoying right now, this second list will consider some of the old opportunities your family is missing right now. 

If your family is struggling right now because you are unable to visit grandparents or other relatives or because your church homegroup is unable to share meals with one another, then take time right now and make a list of all of the things you want to truly enjoy once the stay-at-home restrictions are lifted. 

Many of the things we miss are things that we likely took for granted just a month ago.  

When we were able to gather with the church, eat a meal with close friends, play at the playground with our kids, visit our relatives, or go to work with all of our coworkers, we, perhaps, lacked a deep appreciation for these opportunities. In fact, we might have even skipped out on these opportunities or complained about these gatherings as though they were more of an obligation than a blessing. 

Let this season of missing such freedoms lead to a newfound appreciation for all of these. Plan now to enjoy these moments in a deeper way than before. 

For Example: 

• Gathering with Family Members—Ask your family which relatives they’re most excited about seeing once they’re able to, and make a list of activities you all can enjoy together soon.  

• Gathering with your Church Family—What are you most looking forward to as you think about the first time your church or home group or Sunday School class will be in the same room, able to shake hands and hug, again? 

• Breaking Bread with Friends—Perhaps your family will make a list of friends you miss and go ahead now and plan on sharing meals with one another as soon as possible. 

• Working and Studying with Joy—Work and school are two spheres of life that we are often tempted to complain about. Both have taken on such different forms lately. Employees, students, and teachers have all been faced with the unique task of continuing their occupation and education virtually. This sudden shift brings a host of challenges that leave many longing for normalcy. When this normalcy is resumed, will you return to work or school with the same tendency to complain, or will there be renewed joy and appreciation for the opportunities the Lord has given? 

None of us know how much longer these restrictions will be in place. But while they’re here, let’s take just a few minutes to sit down together and make the two lists that could help shape and bless the rest of our year. 

Jonathan Williams, Ph.D. (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the founder of Gospel Family Ministries, the author of Gospel Family: Cultivating Family Discipleship, Family Worship, and Family Missions, and the senior pastor of Wilcrest Baptist Church in Houston, TX. He lives in Houston with his wife and three children.