Maggi Barnard

Now more than ever we need to act with kindness, be considerate of others, and support our local community and businesses.

Reach out to an elderly neighbour
Leave some flowers and a note on their doorstep. Make sure they have your phone number. Call out over the fence. Offer to pick up some groceries. Just let them know they are remembered.

Jump off email and onto Zoom or Facetime
With many people working from home or having to stay at home, we will miss the nuances of face to face contact. Instead of emailing or texting, choose instead to video call with someone.

Shop online locally
Look up your favourite local physical stores to see if they have an online option – many will have.

Keep local restaurants and cafes in business
You can order direct with them, support them and help to keep their staff numbers up. Practice exceptional hygiene by washing hands as soon as you receive and unpack the bag.

Share a laugh
Don’t forget that humour can be a great mechanism for coping with stress. Positive jokes and witty conversation can make you feel closer to the people around you and socially supported. Another important aspect of humour is that it helps us to look at the same situation in different ways.

Take care of each other everyone!

Parents who have undertaken the decision to homeschool have done so after much deliberation and research. But this week parents across our community have been literally thrown into the deep end with the Premier’s advice to keep children home from school

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned from homeschooling my kids for over a decade, is that it’s possible to have fun being at home and to enjoy learning together.

Much of the thinking that goes into preparing to homeschool are decisions about curriculum. In this case local schools are providing lesson content so parents can take a supervisory role.

School at home is quite different to homeschooling where there is much more integration in life and lessons, but many of the same strategies in dealing with kids at home apply.

When we embrace learning as an adventure, we can have a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards our children’s learning. For work that seems a little more tedious, what we need to help them realise is that, like any exercise, we might feel a little strained when we’ve used our brain to learn something new, but the more we practice the easier it gets.

It’s about equipping our kids with the tools they need to become independent learners. We have to change our expectations when our kids are learning at home.

Our home environment also becomes a work environment so there is going to be more mess, especially if we want to encourage creativity. Learning to pack up and do some household chores together to keep the house in order can be part of the experience.

Think of fun things to do together such as reading a great story. When you can, spend time in your garden. Get the kids involved in the kitchen. Use screens (sometimes you need a break), but don’t be afraid to let your kids experience boredom. This is often when creativity is sparked. If they are idle or mischievous, giving them a chore to complete is a good idea.

This is a very uncertain time for all of us, but we can embrace the positives which is surely getting some unexpected quality time with our kids. Use it as an opportunity to cultivate your relationship with them.

Parkes residents are encouraged to observe a minute’s silence on Anzac Day despite ceremony cancellations nationwide.

“It’s a devastating blow,” said Parkes RSL Sub-Branch Secretary Paul Thomas of the decision by RSL NSW to cancel all Anzac Day commemoration ceremonies and activities.

This includes the dawn services, gunfire breakfasts, dinners, marches and flag ceremonies.

Paul said the decision was understandable under the current circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Australian War Memorial in Canberra also closed its doors to the public indefinitely on Tuesday. The War Memorial will host a private Anzac Day commemorative service in the Commemorative Area and Hall of Memory on Anzac Day. The event will not be open to the public but will be broadcast live across Australia by the ABC and streamed online via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The traditional Dawn Service, National Ceremony and veterans march will not take place.

Australians have rallied on social media to get the word out about honouring veterans while maintaining a safe social distance. The initiative calls on Australians to stand at the end of their driveways as they observe a minute’s silence at 5:55am on Anzac Day, Saturday 25th April. People are also encouraged to display red poppies on their post boxes on the day.

One of the greatest resources we have available to us is the Book of Psalms. Psalms touch every kind of human emotion bringing comfort, peace, strength, healing and courage.

The best known is the remarkably powerful Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd… He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul. Even though I walk through the valley of shadow of death, I will fear no evil…” Other Psalms that bring special strength in these times include Psalms 34 and 91.

The season of Easter brings great hope to all people. Jesus so identified with us, with our deepest needs, that he was fully acquainted with our grief, he bore our sorrows, our anxieties and our sins “and by his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53).

The great hope of Easter is Christ’s resurrection. Increasingly putting our trust in Jesus, asking forgiveness for our sins, removes all fear, especially the fear of death.

Experiencing God’s love frees us from all anxiety so that we are released to help others in times of crisis. Reach out to others while diligently keeping social distancing and hygiene rules. Show acts of kindness, especially to the needy and those in the high risk group. Ring people, use old fashioned letter and card writing.

If you are unwell or have a prayer need, please contact your minister or any one of your church leaders. Please stay in touch. For those with internet access, please check your church’s webpage or Facebook page.

Please pray for all on the frontline, especially those in authority, our police, emergency services, media, school and daycare staff and our very precious medical workers. Pray the Covid-19 curve will flatten quickly.