Couples & COVID-19
Hello Friends!
Okay. So we've been gone for a minute.
Like all of you, our lives have been turned topsy-turvy by the implications of Coronavirus. As you are, we are also facing and navigating through a trial that has surprised us as a couple and presented some confusing and unprecedented waters to tread in our marriage journey.
There are hundreds of varieties of ways this global pandemic is impacting our lives, and our marriages. The most grave and serious challenges include loss of life and serious illness (from COVID-19 and other conditions), unemployment, domestic abuse, and more. If you are facing any of these varieties of challenges, we sincerely pray for you and also urge you to seek the help you need.
Other challenges facing us might be less dire, and are also painful and hard, from parents learning to homeschool, to piqued anxiety and depression, to working from home, to working overtime (healthcare and other essential professionals), loneliness in separation from family and friends, to limited participation in our hobbies and social circles, etc. I feel that those dear individuals whose weddings, temple ordinances, and missions have been canceled, altered, and/or postponed deserve their own category of grief and heartache. And of course, my own sincere cry of empathy and love to the mothers who have had to give birth without a spouse or support person at their side. There is so much we never anticipated could face us. In short: THIS IS HARD.
With gusto, though, we emphasize this: WE CAN DO THIS. And with further gusto, we emphasize that OUR MARRIAGES CAN BE STRONGER FOR IT.
After a long day of being cooped up together after a long month of being cooped up together, date night may not seem appealing (or even possible!), but goodness--we still need it! We may have more tears cried, more messes to clean up, and less to tell each other over the dinner table. But we also (at least, for most of us) have more time together. Let's make the most of it!
In coming days, Kevin & I will keep posting (much more than we have been!) with continuing ideas for how to date at home & keep your marriages thriving, even amidst all the Corona crazy! If you have any requests for posts, let us know in the comments below or via email, mikayla.renee.johnson@gmail.com
Sending the best of vibes & well wishes for you and your sweetheart,
Mikayla (& Kevin!) Johnson
P.S. ALSO we are playing with our blog design and will likely be making a lot of changes in coming weeks to make it prettier and less glitch-y. So hang tight and we're sorry for the flaws this site has had before!
P.S.S. (I want to restate that we are not therapists, and we have no professional training in this regard, we are simply a married couple committed to staying in love and working to have the best marriage we possibly can, and we hope the same for each of you. If you feel you and your spouse could use marriage counseling to help you get through this time, I have heard of many clinics offering therapy virtually--give it a shot!)
Okay. So we've been gone for a minute.
Like all of you, our lives have been turned topsy-turvy by the implications of Coronavirus. As you are, we are also facing and navigating through a trial that has surprised us as a couple and presented some confusing and unprecedented waters to tread in our marriage journey.
There are hundreds of varieties of ways this global pandemic is impacting our lives, and our marriages. The most grave and serious challenges include loss of life and serious illness (from COVID-19 and other conditions), unemployment, domestic abuse, and more. If you are facing any of these varieties of challenges, we sincerely pray for you and also urge you to seek the help you need.
Other challenges facing us might be less dire, and are also painful and hard, from parents learning to homeschool, to piqued anxiety and depression, to working from home, to working overtime (healthcare and other essential professionals), loneliness in separation from family and friends, to limited participation in our hobbies and social circles, etc. I feel that those dear individuals whose weddings, temple ordinances, and missions have been canceled, altered, and/or postponed deserve their own category of grief and heartache. And of course, my own sincere cry of empathy and love to the mothers who have had to give birth without a spouse or support person at their side. There is so much we never anticipated could face us. In short: THIS IS HARD.
With gusto, though, we emphasize this: WE CAN DO THIS. And with further gusto, we emphasize that OUR MARRIAGES CAN BE STRONGER FOR IT.
After a long day of being cooped up together after a long month of being cooped up together, date night may not seem appealing (or even possible!), but goodness--we still need it! We may have more tears cried, more messes to clean up, and less to tell each other over the dinner table. But we also (at least, for most of us) have more time together. Let's make the most of it!
In coming days, Kevin & I will keep posting (much more than we have been!) with continuing ideas for how to date at home & keep your marriages thriving, even amidst all the Corona crazy! If you have any requests for posts, let us know in the comments below or via email, mikayla.renee.johnson@gmail.com
Sending the best of vibes & well wishes for you and your sweetheart,
Mikayla (& Kevin!) Johnson
P.S. ALSO we are playing with our blog design and will likely be making a lot of changes in coming weeks to make it prettier and less glitch-y. So hang tight and we're sorry for the flaws this site has had before!
P.S.S. (I want to restate that we are not therapists, and we have no professional training in this regard, we are simply a married couple committed to staying in love and working to have the best marriage we possibly can, and we hope the same for each of you. If you feel you and your spouse could use marriage counseling to help you get through this time, I have heard of many clinics offering therapy virtually--give it a shot!)
I love this encouragement, thank you. It HAS been hard try to make a date night possible with all the crazy going on. My hubby and I finally got one in last week. We decided to break our fast last Friday by picking up some Costa Vida and eating it in the parking lot of the church by the temple! It was good to finally get away and spend time together. But, it has definitively been hard to make that happen. 😊
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this idea, Melece! I am so impressed that you two found a way to get out and be together! What a beautiful location to eat your CostaVida, too! Thanks so much for sharing
DeleteThe quarantine has definitely been a mixed bag. Like you said in your post, on one hand we're lonely for more face-to-face contact. On the other, we're blessed to have a LOT more time with our spouses! Clay and I have also been eating out more than we usually do. I love the idea of eating in the temple parking lot though -- I hadn't thought of that one!
ReplyDeleteJessica--I love that you can see the positive in spending so much time with your husband! I love the idea of eating out more and trying new places, what yummy restaurants have you tried?
DeleteThanks for the optimism.
ReplyDeleteThis format worked perfectly, by the way.
So glad it's finally working correctly! Thanks for your help in that regard, Sara.
DeleteLove this and love you guys! It is a hard time, but I totally agree that we can do this. With some optimism + creativity, we can use this time to strengthen our marriages and improve character. Looking forward to the content you're putting out, and this blog design shows up just fine on my computer! Great work!! :D
ReplyDelete