COVID-19 has highlighted some notable attitudes in our world. We should think through these attitudes
in order to help our children process what they are seeing and experiencing.
We have seen greed in grocery hoarding. This behavior goes beyond emergency food storage. This has
to do with fear and panic not trusting God to provide what is needed when it is needed. Before going
shopping, we can walk through our home with our children and talk about what things would be helpful
to buy to be prepared in case of an illness. As we are shopping with our children in the store or online,
we talk through our shopping list and have them guess why each item is on the list and why it’s needed.
We can also give our children the opportunity to suggest things that our family might need or could
share with another family.
We have seen selfishness in the mask battle. When our children are told they can serve and protect
others by wearing masks, most of them are willing to wear masks. Some wear them begrudgingly
(honestly, who actually likes to wear masks?), some wear them without another thought, and some
need to be reminded that it’s a way we can be like Jesus to other people before the mask is secured.
There is a lot of talk about mask-wearing being an example of stifled freedom/ However, if our family
wearing a mask encourages someone who has asymptomatic COVID-19 to wear his/her mask which
protects someone with a compromised immune system from contracting COVID-19, then the
discomfort, irritation, and lack of “freedom” is worth it to me. We can talk with our children about
different ways we serve people besides wearing masks (dressing modestly, talking about things at the
appropriate times, being attentive to people’s needs and sensitivities – allergies, sadness near certain
days, etc).
We have seen arrogance in teenagers hanging out in public places thoughtlessly acting like there is no
health concern. We can talk with our children about how to spend time with people appropriately
during a time like this and then set up times to do just that. We can talk about trusting God during an
unprecedented time like this and being wise about our interactions. We can also talk about the
importance of being wise and discerning, but not judgmental. We need to love those teenagers sitting
right next to each other as much as we love the elderly woman who hasn’t left her house in 6 months.
We need to love people who refuse to wear masks as much as we love people who forget to take their
mask off to drive alone down the street.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.
Philippians 2:3
Thank God for the opportunity to train your children how to serve others during this hard time.