Good morning…
“1 year ago today the world went sideways,” my husband Steve wrote into our family group text first thing yesterday morning. “Mom, Ky (25), and I were at a Hawks game when the NBA season was canceled. Adrianna (21) found out she had to quickly get home from her study abroad semester in Spain before international travel shut down. Tessa (23) had her internship cancelled, and Jeremiah (19) was about to go to his last day of in-person high school and his final lacrosse game ever. And the world hasn’t been the same since.”
A snapshot of “before COVID.”
“One interesting year in the history of our family,” I texted back. “Sheltering-in-place for eight weeks under the same roof. Beach week at Kiawah Island. Three separate COVID quarantines in our basement. Visiting family at the lake anyway. A snowy Christmas in Ellijay. Great memories will always stay and the bad ones will fade.”
A snapshot of “during COVID.”
By early afternoon I got a message from our doctor: “You are eligible to schedule your vaccine.” I signed up my first shot slot on St. Patrick’s Day 2021.
I begin to search for a snapshot of “after COVID.”
Jesus also told them this parable: “God’s kingdom realm is like someone spreading seed on the ground. He goes to bed and gets up, day after day, and the seed sprouts and grows tall, though he knows not how. All by itself it sprouts, and the soil produces a crop; first the green stem, then the head on the stalk, and then the fully developed grain in the head. Then, when the grain is ripe, he immediately puts the sickle to the grain, because harvest time has come.”
And he told them this parable: “How can I describe God’s kingdom realm? Let me illustrate it with this parable. It is like the mustard seed, the tiniest of all the seeds, yet when it springs up and grows, it becomes the largest plant in the garden, with so many large spreading branches, even birds can nest in its shade” (Mark 4:26-32, TPT).
Gradually emerging through unpredicted pruning, we will branch out again together. Fruitful. Expansive. Offering a shady nest of God’s bushy love.
“Then the other trees will know that
I, the Lord, make tall trees fall to the ground,
and I make small trees grow tall.
I make green trees become dry,
and I make dry trees become green.
I am the Lord.
If I say that I will do something, then I will do it!” (Ezekiel 17:24, ERV).
Watch with me as our Lord God grows eternal promises “after COVID.”
…Sue…
