It's happening....signs of life sprouting up here and there as we begin to emerge from the Covid 19 pandemic. The Starbucks inside my Target was finally open today. TP, paper towels and face masks are back in stock (there are mountains of paper goods at Costco). Some previously postponed plans have a pulse again and are slowly making their way back onto calendars, ever so cautiously. I've finally acknowledged my tight jeans and think about performing again...and move towards changing my snacking ways.
All this kind of reminds me of the alyssum seeds I planted back in March. For weeks and weeks I watered and stared day after day....wondering if anything would every come up out of that dirt. When I did see little bits of green poking out, I couldn't tell if they were flowers or weeds. But sure enough, little by little, those sweet smelling angelic little puffs made their entrance and are now starting to spread out, multiply, and fill in those patches of dirt like a billowy carpet, and a sweet reminder of life.
Sometimes growth feels slowwwwww, like watching those seeds. But we are growing, and new life is happening.
Akin to hibernating animals tentatively emerging after a long winter, or the munchkins peeking out after hearing Glinda announce that the Wicked Witch of the East was dead, we are also poking out our heads, looking this way and that, figuring out if it's safe to venture out into the wild, wild what used to be normal. Some tiptoe, some bolt, but little by little, we are making progress on the road back to some semblance of life as we knew it.
Not that things will be the same as before. Both the good and the bad have been so deeply affected on all fronts, I fear some things may never be the same. Weird thought, right? When I was running this morning, I can't tell you how many people I passed scurried to the sides to create that invisible 6' gap as if I really was oozing an airborne disease. I'm tired of seeing 6' marks on the floor, tired of muffled communication through multiple layers of facial masks. I really hope the lingering effects of this pandemic do not include impenetrable personal space bubbles, and facial coverings being the norm. We need smiles. We need hugs. We need gatherings where we do both of those things.
Having so many unanswered questions can be unnerving. How badly and for how long will our economy suffer? Just what will this vaccine be? When WILL schools re-open? All of these can be scary thoughts and questions, if not for an all powerful, all loving God who knows exactly how to work ALL things into something good, beautifully ushering in His plans for eternity.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have been working through it all, and will continue. The kingdom of God never did shut down and we are called to be busy doing His work. Our job? To trust Him, go deeper with Him., to do what we can to keep life and love and the truth of the Jesus in the forefront of all we do. Its so simple, but critical to remember these words of Jesus:
"Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33)
The very best seeds we can sow are those of the good news of Jesus. Let's be about that, friends, no matter what, no matter how long "getting back to normal" takes. May we be patient, trusting our loving Father God with growth as we do what we can to sow those seeds of the Good News. May we enjoy His presence, grow stronger in our trust of Him and passion for Him. May we drink in His Word, fill our minds and hearts with it, and be transformed as it renews our minds and hearts. May we faithfully, sacrificially and joyfully follow, follow, follow Jesus Christ.