Lock down for the Parker household has been full of ups and downs. I have dyslexia, so initially the prospect of homeschooling our four children (13, 11, 9, 7) was daunting to say the least...
That said, we started off full of enthusiasm and even excitement at the challenge. We were doing really well in the two weeks leading up to Easter, but having a two-week break derailed our momentum and routine, and in the last couple of weeks we have really struggled to get back into it. The excitement has definitely worn off and it feels much more like a chore for us all. And of course, these feelings are compounded by not being allowed to leave the house.
Having said that, lockdown hasn't been all bad. It's forced us to think outside of the box and get creative. We've done things that we wouldn't have done otherwise.
One night we had a lockdown party, turning our loft room into a dance floor! The Christmas lights were pulled out and put on flash mode. The kids danced to tunes on the smart speaker at full volume (sorry neighbours), or lounged by the “bar” with a bottle of juice! On another evening our girls waited on me and my husband as we had a “date night”. They got dressed up to set the table, serve our meal and pour our drinks. As a family we love camping. The weather has been great and in different circumstances we'd have definitely gone away for the night. So instead, the kids decided to sleep out in the garden in a tent on a couple of occasions! It was so sweet watching them pack their bags and make preparations.
Perhaps one of the nicest things about lockdown is that my husband André has been working from home. It's been a fantastic opportunity to all come together at lunchtime and eat together. We've built lunch Bible time into our routine, where we read a section of the Bible and pray as a family. It's been really important to show our kids that while this world feels very different to the one we're used to, we still have the same awesome God—a God who knows us so well and knows that we are prone to feeling anxious and so talks about that in his word. It's been great to lead our kids to these passages.
I hope that our new book, Seek and Find: Old Testament Bible Stories will help you and your family to turn to God and his word in these strange times. I had the idea for the book 4 years ago. I could never have imagined the crazy “lockdown” world it would be released into. But with our options more restricted than usual, I hope it serves as a creative way for your kids to have fun and to learn. Each page of this book has been lovingly put together to be as fun, beautiful and educational as possible. The stories are faithful to the Bible and deliberately short, so you can use them as a springboard for talking about our amazing God with your children. It'll teach them all about his character and how much he loves us. You can also download 2 free coloring in pages to accompany the book here. I hope and pray that this book brings you a bit of light relief from life in lockdown.
Seek and find book exploring Old Testament Bible stories.
With over 50 things to count on each page, this beautifully illustrated, biblically faithful "Seek and Find" book will bring you and your kids hours of lockdown fun. To order your copy of Seek and Find: Old Testament Bible Stories and download the free coloring sheets, click here.
Sarah Parker is the author of all the books in the Seek and Find series. She lives in London with her husband and four children.