I signed a birthday card for a friend this weekend, and when I dated it I wrote "2020, it wasn't all bad." Because, honestly, some great things happened this year. I got a new hard top gazebo for my deck. I got my stock tank swimming pool. I got a new car with a back up cam, remote starter, and heated seats. And I had a lot of time to read.

My time in quarantine also helped me reconnect with my friends and reminded me to be more intentional about my relationships. I started weekly check-ins with friends and family. I did a lot of video calls and online game nights. I found more time to pray for people.

When I finally had some time away from people, I learned to appreciate them.

But I think one of the greatest benefits from this crazy time was that we, as a community, learned how to stop.

Over the years our schedules have been filling up, getting busier and busier, with sports, game nights, work, overtime, play dates, heading to the gym, date nights, and doctors appointments. Many families didn't even have one weekly meal where they all sat down together to eat around a table. Life was a hectic rushing from one enriching activity to another, with barely enough time set aside for sleeping and little time left over for rest.

Then, all of a sudden, we came to a grinding stop as movie theaters, clothing stores, factories, and sports fields all closed down. Suddenly, there was nowhere to go. And we had to learn to rest. Although very scary, life became a little bit simpler.

The introverts loved it at first, though some of us soon learned that being forced to stay home is not quite as fun as getting to stay home. I've heard that the extroverts had a harder time with it – it's harder for me to say as there are no extroverts in my immediate family. But after reading some of the posts on Facebook, the day hugging is allowed again I plan to be hiding in my closet.

But that day may not come for a while.

And when it does come, when the world is safer again and people can touch and hug, and maybe enter a building without wearing a mask, I hope we enter that building still holding on to some of the lessons we've learned during the quarantine.

I hope we continue to cherish our interactions with each other. That we continue to cherish each other. That we intentionally reach out and check-up on people we haven't heard from in a while. That we keep some empty moments on our calendar to sit and do nothing. That we focus on the positive instead of dwelling on everything that didn't go as planned. That we dance in delight over all the little things we always used to take for granted.

That we make time to rest.