An update from my small corner of the world...
Amazingly, today wraps up six weeks of being back home in the US, as well as six weeks of distance learning. Though it took some time to adjust to the demands of teaching online, things are better now and I’ve been able to find a more sensible work-life balance. Well, kind of. And, of course, being here with my family is an enormous blessing.
Taking short breaks, enjoying quality family time, playing board games, walking around the neighborhood, paying close attention to all of God’s glorious creation, cooking/baking, playing the piano again (after a three decade break!), taking pictures, and reading good books are a few things I’ve done to bring much needed balance and perspective. Sometimes, I still get sucked into that ominous black hole of seemingly endless work (emails, notifications, lesson prep, team conference calls, tech issues, etc.), but my family is always so good to gently pull me back out.
I have to take a moment now to say how grateful I am to be a teacher at Shanghai American School. Their response to this crisis has been extraordinary. In fact, we haven't missed one day of school since our distance learning began on February 3. And, it's continued to evolve and improve as we've learned more along the way. Our leaders have gently pushed us to continue to grow professionally through online professional development and have offered tremendous support. This has been evident through frequent communication, emotional support, extra resources, financial reimbursement as a help to help offset unexpected additional expenses, the right dosage of humor, personal messages to see how we are coping, and so much more. After reading many sad accounts from teachers around the world who feel displaced, unsupported, and often unpaid, I am even more thankful to be a part of school that takes such good care of its teachers.
To add to that, just this morning, our Chief Academic Officer, Emmanuel Bonin, shared that the International Baccalaureate Organization has just published a guide to it's 5,300 schools on how to prepare for online learning. In that publication, they chose to highlight and share our school's Distance Learning Plan and cited it as the one exemplar to follow. Wow. Being recognized for the quality work our school is doing and knowing that it will help others is very rewarding.
In addition to asynchronous learning via Seesaw, we’ve recently started synchronous (or “real time”) learning through the use of Zoom, so that’s been a fantastic way to reconnect with my students and see their darling smiles and missing teeth. The parent feedback about what it has meant to their child has been tremendous, especially since many of my students have been holed up in Shanghai, unable to interact with any other friends for the last 6 weeks now. My heart just breaks for them. You can imagine their elation to be able to see their friends again, even if it’s just virtually. (And, the “mute” power I have as the Zoom meeting host has been especially good for those overzealous students who momentarily forget our meeting agreements. haha.)
So, the million dollar questions are: When will all of this end? When will our campus reopen? When will I return to China? When will “normal” life return? Well, while I have no answers to any of these questions and that can feel very unsettling, it’s been a good opportunity for me to really lean into the Lord and trust His wise and perfect plan in all of this. Allowing anxiety to creep in and take hold is both sinful (because it’s the opposite of faith) and unhelpful because it doesn’t accomplish anything. So, instead, I choose to preach truth to myself, find comfort and refuge in scripture, rest in his sovereignty, and pray often!
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." John 14:27
On that note, it’s been such a joy and encouragement to be able to go to my home church while I’ve been here, as it has been so fantastic to be back with the GIBC body and get built up in the Word, but sadly, that will have to end, at least temporarily. The reason for this is because of the rapid spread of COVID-19, which is now an official pandemic and one which seems to have its clutches in 116 countries (to date) and nearly every one of our 50 states in some capacity.
This greatly complicates things because I am currently living at home with my parents, both of whom are in their 70’s. To further complicate matters, after a battle with lung cancer 10 years ago, my father was left with only one lung. He coughs quite a bit daily, which is apparently a common side-effect of lung cancer survivors. Though ten years have passed, our family still feels anxious when my dad has one of his coughing episodes. Once he stops, he always reassures us that he is fine and the coughing is normal. Still, it always unnerves us.
Last week, we were concerned about his health, so he went to see his doctor and they did blood work. By God’s grace, everything came back perfectly normal and he is in good health, especially for being 75 years old. (Imagine, he doesn’t even take any medication!)
Though some may feel our decision is a bit extreme, our family has had many conversations about this over the last six days and have prayed about it together and we feel it’s the right decision for us. Quite frankly, having come from China and experienced all that I have, I think now is the time for people to act and do whatever they can to be prepared and then stay at home, if possible. Choosing to remain at home doesn’t mean that you are living in fear (although it definitely could), but it means that you are doing all that you can to prevent this virus from spreading further. If everyone took a more conservative approach, it could curb the effects of this in dramatic ways, since we know that people can be asymptomatic and still be very contagious.
I should wrap this up. These are difficult days. Staying home is tough. Getting sucked into the news is all too easy. Allowing fear to creep in is a very real temptation. But, now more than ever, we must remind ourselves that while we live in a sinful broken world, God is still truly sovereign over all things and at all times. We need not fear. He is good. Always. And, for believers, we know that we have a great hope, as we look forward to our true home in Heaven with our glorious Savior, Jesus Christ, who made it all possible.
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:1-5
May God give us wisdom to make difficult decisions, faith to trust Him well through this difficult season, and love for our neighbor, as we prefer their good above our own.
All for His glory,
Laura
PS. Every week I make a video update to share with my students and parents. My goal is to connect with them on a social-emotional level, so they can feel close to me, despite the many miles between us. And, it’s been so sweet to see how some of the families have sent me video updates from their corner of the world, as well. Technology is truly amazing.
If you’re interested, I’ll be very vulnerable and share a few with the hope that it will bring someone out there encouragement. There are pictures at the end of each video, so please feel free to scroll past my talking. :)
Here you go:
