By REV. SUSAN PINSON

Anyone else feeling like you have a newfound empathy for what separation anxiety must feel like for children? I can close my eyes and hear the cries of my children as I dropped them off with loving childcare providers at church or school and my heart starts racing just remembering it. It doesn't mean that separation was not good for all of us, but the anxiety was real. After being primarily at home for the duration of the pandemic for over a year, re-entry into even safe social settings seems daunting to me. As much as I miss friends and church family and the buzz of a crowd in some ways, in other ways, my dining-room-turned-office and the family that lives under my roof with no need for a mask has become literally and figuratively my safe space. And so the transition anxiety is real now, no doubt complicated by the very real risk of covid.

The pandemic is not over even as I am so grateful that so many adults and teens in our circles are vaccinated. Informal surveys of my friends and research coming out from mental health professionals affirm that I'm not alone. So as we look towards the days and weeks and months ahead, I want to simply remind you to be gentle with yourselves, your children, and one another.

I hope you'll continue to reach out to connect with our amazing Glenn Church family in ways that meet the spiritual needs of yourself and your children -- online and in person. Even if you are a lifelong member of this congregation, we are all about to be first-time worshippers and 1st-time Sunday School students and 1st-time parents dropping off at childcare again.

I am here to listen to your family for ways we can still safely meet the goals of faith-formation in ways that feel comfortable to each family, while still gently challenging ourselves that sometimes it's okay to work through a little separation anxiety in safe ways (in big and small ways, as I'll be having separation anxiety from my yoga pants, too!).