COVID-19 A day in the life of the Van Zyl family

This blog post is part of our new series “COVID-19: A day in the life of…” where different families will give us a glimpse into their new lives during the Coronavirus crisis. In this series we will hear from parents who are keyworkers; who find themselves unemployed and unexpectedly homeschooling; who are juggling working remotely from home and providing childcare; from foreign missionaries and international families to learn about how this global pandemic is having a huge impact on families around the world.

As we see into their lives, we’ll get a chance to hear how to gospel is good news for them in the midst of this crisis.

The Van Zyl Family

  1. Describe your family and what your average day looks like under lockdown.

We are a family of 5 humans and 2 dogs! Our days are looking quite different at the moment, as we are all under the same roof 24/7. My husband used to work away quite a lot and our 2 eldest children (aged 16 and 6) were going to school each day. That meant my youngest (aged 1) and I were going to playgroups and meeting up with friends, on most days prior to lockdown.

2. What challenges have you encountered?

My biggest challenge has been managing 3 different age groups within our family. Most attempts at trying to be productive with my 6 year old daughter, are often thwarted by her little brother! My husband is mostly heard muttering that he doesn’t know how I do this every day!

3) What encouragements have you seen?

I have to say that my encouragements have far outweighed the challenges…well for now anyway! I love having my whole family under one roof and have realised that I am definitely a mother hen when it comes to wanting my children under my wings, so to speak. I am thoroughly enjoying spending time with my daughter and working through little bits of her school curriculum, as well as having time for all the other fun stuff! I have also been encouraged seeing how we are all learning to get along well and that we are handling conflict situations way better than before. The slower pace of life definitely agrees with me. I have time for the little things and I have found that I’m actually way more creative than I ever thought. I’ve also enjoyed connecting with friends, family and neighbours in the virtual realm or even as we’ve met coincidentally, during our daily exercise time, across the river near where we live!

4) Why is the gospel good news for your family at this time?

The gospel is the best news for my family during this time because we have hope in something far greater than anything this world could ever offer us. We don’t need to live in fear of the covid-19 virus and we can go through our days with an assurance that God is in control of everything. It also helps me to know that our days under lockdown don’t have to go smoothly or perfectly and that’s actually okay. Every morning I give my day over to God and I rest in the peace that only He can provide and in the shadow of His wings.

A huge thank you to the Van Zyl family for taking part!

Why don’t you take a few moments to pray for the Van Zyl family right now? Pray that God will help mum, Michele, as she juggles looking after the educational, emotional, spiritual and physical needs of her three children. Pray for dad, Sheldon as he seeks to be productive as he works from home. Pray that God would help them to continue to grow in unity as a family during this lockdown.

Could you take part in this series?

We would love to feature as many families as possible in this series.

If you would like to take part, then please send you answers in an email or DM, to the following questions (it should only take 10 mins or so to answer them):

1) Describe your family and what your average day looks like now under lockdown. (Some parents are key workers, some parents are juggling working from home while providing childcare, others find themselves unexpectedly homeschooling – what is your situation?)

2) What challenges have you encountered?

3) What encouragements have you seen?

4) Why is the gospel good news for your family at this time?

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