Zoo Sounds

"Mom! Mom! Come Quick!"
My kids were outside this morning waiting for school pick up, and they were so excited about something.
I ran to the door, and they exclaimed to me, "Listen! It sounds like the zoo out here!"

"Camo day" at school during spirit week

I stood and listened, trying to figure out what they were referring to, and then I heard it:  a chorus of birds.
The sound did sound foreign and exotic.
 It resembled what we heard at the zoo in the aviary.
We all paused for a moment and took in the beautiful sound. "It's a zoo, right mom?!" said Caleb.
"Well, actually," I began, "that is the sound of Spring coming."
The delight in his eyes was magical; it was just what I needed after a weekend filled with dread and  apocalyptic panic of the news and of the Corona Virus.

This was a moment that broke my worried, hazy bubble and let me experience peace and joy.
Although we talked about this virus threat in front of the kids, they didn't experience (thankfully!) the same fear that my husband and I felt. Because it was detected to have infected a person in the town next to ours, everyone was panicking.
As I was making muffins this morning for breakfast, I coughed a small cough into my arm. As he mixed the chocolate chips into the muffin batter,  Caleb very casually, but very matter of factly told me that I probably had "the virus."

I was not concerned or paranoid about this virus until I went to Costco (as we usually do on Saturdays) and saw the mass of people loading up enough food, water and hand sanitizer for a month. I've never seen anything like it; the lines wrapped around the ENTIRE store!

It was in that moment when I considered that perhaps I needed to be panicking too.
Are we missing something? Is this the end of us?

When Sunday rolled around, John and I had the discussion of whether to attend church. We started to analyze our activities. Suddenly, breaking my swirling mind, the verse found in 2 Tim. 1:7 popped into my head.
"For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind." 
Should I be cautious? Yes. Should I be AFRAID and PANIC? Clearly no. 

If this is what I believe to be true, His Spirit is not of FEAR.
So, we decided to continue on as normal, washing our hands and taking more precaution, but say good-bye to the fear.

HOOP-A-THON fundraiser

My best moment for sure today was listening to "our zoo" outside our front door this morning.

Thanks Caleb, for teaching me, yet again, to take a step back, enjoy the moment, and be amazed at life.

Everything turns into a competition with the boys.
Caleb shot the most baskets at their school's hoop-a-thon fundraiser last week.
He was very pleased.  

The kids had their annual fundraiser for their school. The week was full of school spirit and excitement.
Evelyn decided to dress up like the neighborhood cat, Bob.