I saw a writing prompt the other day that said, “How has COVID-19 (can’t remember which one) changed/shaped/improved our world today?” (It was along those lines.) But I thought, “You know, I’ve never actually thought about it improving our world, and actually, now that it’s not a huge deal any more, I try not to think about it…”

So, COVID was a big deal. We all know that. Especially for older people, people with medical needs, doctors, nurses, firemen, police, restaurants, schools, and so many more. (But specifically those people with those occupations.) Obviously for anybody in the medical field, it was insane. Hospitals are already crowded and terrifying enough, but to add COVID and everybody has a much bigger risk of getting sick or dying? Yeah, it was a super big deal for them.

For restaurants, they lost tons of customers because nobody wanted to get sick! Nobody risked going outside, eating food prepared by random people, and interacting with people in person. Nope. The same goes for stores. (But Amazon’s business was booming then, so that was obviously fantastic for them.) COVID was a risk that people couldn’t or wouldn’t take.

Anyway. Now, looking at 2024, COVID is pretty much long gone. Sure, there are the occasional people with masks, but kudos to them for being mindful of their health! Yes, in stores or schools (I’ve also seen them in libraries,) they still have free COVID swabbing tests. And yeah…they still have signs saying, “Please stay 6 feet apart!” in some restaurants and stores and libraries and schools and (especially) hospitals. But everything is 90% back to normal!

But, how has COVID improved our current life in 2024? Well, for one, I learned how to use Zoom. That is actually super helpful. With my little brother home from school and my dad teleworking, I also got to spend an enormous (some might even say ridiculous) amount of time with my family, so I would say that we got closer during 2020.

I’ve been homeschooled my whole life, but I have had friends who are public-schooled who, during COVID were forced to basically be homeschooled. (But it was NOT, I repeat, NOT homeschooling. It was just online school. At their home.) However, many of those kids or families ended up saying (when it was time to go to school in-person), “Hey, we like homeschool! Let’s try it out!” So they tried it out and loved it. Homeschooling percentages shot up 30%. But, COVID has also ruined many people’s lives.

On cars I’ve seen stickers that say something like, (I’m making this name up by the way,) “Bob Jerry Smith 1947-2020.” And then there would be something about COVID on the sticker. Many elderly and people with medical needs died or got dangerously sick with COVID, which is one of the biggest impacts on our generation. There were 1,813,188 COVID deaths reported in 2020. That’s over one million. That’s a ton. It’s a horrible death rate.

Fortunately, COVID is, for the most part, over. God not only protected our world, but our faith as well. During the pandemic it was hard for many people to keep a hold on their faith. But thanks to prayer and (obviously) God, we’ve all managed to overcome that earthly (and for some, spiritual) sickness.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 ESV)