Working out a "new normal"

Wow, life has certainly turned upside down, hasn't it? Who would have believed, even a month ago, that it would be this different?

I saw the following list shared on facebook this week, and thought I would post it on this blog, and it will end up in my book to be read sometime in the future. It saves me summarising the situation myself and describes how life is at present...........(Thanks to whoever shared it, but there is no name).

Just so we never forget.....

Petrol prices at a record low at a time when travel is discouraged.

School cancelled March 15, 2020 except for children of those working in essential services- parents asked to home school .

Self-distancing measures on the rise.

Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers 2m (6ft) from each other.

Limited number of people inside stores, therefore lineups outside the store doors.

Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed.

Entire sports seasons cancelled.

Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events - cancelled.

Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings - cancelled.

No masses, churches are closed.

No gatherings of 50 or more, then 20 or more, now 5 or more.

Don't socialise with anyone outside of your home.

Children's outdoor play parks are closed.

We are to distance from each other.

Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers.

Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill.

Panic buying sets in and we have no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towel, no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer.

Some food shelves are bare, especially flour and pastas.

Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitiser and PPE.

Government closes the border to all non-essential travel, calls Australians home and makes it mandatory to self isolate for 14 days.

Fines are established for breaking the rules.

Federal Govt hands out biggest financial aid package in Australia’s history.

Private hospital facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients.

Press conferences daily from Prime Minister Morrison and Health Dept officials

Chief Medical Officer gives daily updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths.

Government incentives to stay home.

Barely anyone in the street or on the roads.

People wearing masks and gloves outside.

Essential service workers are terrified to go to work.

Medical field workers are afraid to go home to their families.

Only essential businesses allowed to open like fresh food, groceries, pharmacies, Medical centres and Newsagents

Unprecedented applications for Employment assistance as people go without work and businesses close their doors.

They say it started in Wuhan, China at a market. Hundreds of thousands affected, dead, dying, critically ill.

Many recovered.

This is the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic, declared March 11th, 2020.

That is certainly some list isn't it? Sounds like one of those science fiction movies. Life is definitely a challenge for a lot of people right now. Lots of business' have closed there doors, some they hope it will be temporary, others may never get going again. While the government have put up millions of dollars to support a lot of people and jobs, the economic fallout from this will linger for a long time. Many people are living in fear and feeling isolated.

 As leader of our local Bible Study group, I have been trying to work out how to go forward, without meeting each week. There are some amazing ways now to keep in touch, but some members of our group are not up with them, so at present we are doing lessons by email, and with lots of phone calls. We will see how this works going forward.

Our local Patchwork group can no longer meet twice monthly and many members are older and live alone. As publicity person for our group I usually send out a monthly newsletter, and include information and photos of what the members have been doing. Now it seems more important to try keep the communication happening, so as of today there will be more newsletters per month going out. As ladies work on their projects at home, I am asking for photos of their progress to go into the newsletter, so that we can still feel connected with each other. A lot of time has been spent on the computer this afternoon.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have joined the QGSA Casa Felix Mystery quilt project. Part 3 was released last week, and yesterday I managed to finish sewing 72 double flying geese units, that finish at 4" x 2". These were Foundation Paper Pieced, and did take me a few hours, but they are so cute. I am now ready for Part 4 which will be released later this week. 

There has also been many phonecalls made to quilting customers, and to those who have booked for retreats in the near future. I don't know how long these will be on hold for.

Our local church has had to work out "how to do church together when we can't meet together". This is certainly a situation that our new (well, new last year) pastor probably never thought she would experience! It has been a blessing that a few months ago her services were recorded and put online for us to revisit.  If you are interested in listening, you can click the link for Ruth's sermons. I am so thankful for these parts of modern technology that is making it so much easier in this world for people to connect and keep in touch, especially with social isolation. This morning, it was so easy to be able to watch or listen to 4 different church services, and most of them while still in my PJ's! 

On a family level, things have changed for some. GD1 no longer has her part time job. GD1 and GD2 are both doing uni online. DD1 is now working from home, and DD2 is on leave from her job. So far the others still have work. Last week my mother had her last visit with dad, until this situation is over. The nursing home has gone into "lock down", with no visitors allowed. This was rather a distressing time for mum, although she now has a peace about the situation, knowing that he is in a safe place, and not really aware of the happenings in the world at present. There were many tears in our family as we came to terms with that news, but my morning devotions the next morning were just what we needed to hear.

On a personal level, while life seems to have been busier putting into place new ways of doing things, there has also been less pressure in a different way. I am not driving up and down the highway, and trips to the shop are very minimal. I don't have the deadline of preparation for a retreat, and most of the quilts (not all) that are here don't have a looming deadline. I do miss the retreats and weekends of fun with others. I am getting used to my own company, and still have many phonecalls with family and friends. I have spent time in the garden, doing some long overdue weeding, and planting seeds. I am making more time for daily devotions and reading God's word. There is also more time just listening, without the busyness that went before. This is my workspace at present, where my day starts and where I am choosing to put my focus as we go ahead into the unknown.

I know that God is with us and a source of strength and comfort and hope. May you know that too.

Blessings, From Jude