The "take aways" and "gifts" of Covid

YES there is a post after a few pictures!!  

Two years ago, our family was very excitedly looking forward to heading to Cuba for two weeks.  While we were there - the news was beginning with stories about Corona Virus.  My grandson asked me “Granny, will the Corona come to Canada?”   I quickly assured him, “No, it won’t.”   A reminder that we should never be so certain about anything!!  Little did this Granny know that “Corona”  would not only come to Canada, but it would come to every country in the world and with a vengeance.

I know I am not the only one that feels tired of all this.  Just plain tired.

I know I am not the only one that is tired of the “Covid talk” that is part of pretty much every conversation - if not at the beginning, you know you will go there.

I know I am not the only one that has struggled with a combination of disbelief and anger at times.

I know I am not the only one that knows someone who has lost a family member during this time, and perhaps they died as a result of the affects of Covid.

I know I am not the only one that would like to hole up somewhere and come out when this is all over and done.

But … this is the real world.  And Covid is still around in one variant or another.

Spreading like wildfire.

Which makes me even more tired to think of it.

SEE?  I have just spent about 240  words talking about it … gah!!  

STOP THIS MADNESS!!

Yesterday I had a friend ask me if I could answer a question that she as asking a few people.

The question was could I send her a text, to say what I felt Covid has personally taken from or given to me.  It could be general or specific.

I obliged  immediately.  I did not need time to think, I knew exactly what I wanted to say - but I had more than one word and told her that she could choose which word to use.   

What did Covid take away? 

Well that was an easy one.  I said TRAVEL.   The trip we took, that I mentioned in the first paragraph, continues to hold such a special place in our hearts.  We enjoyed two weeks away with our kids and grandchildren - spending time in the beautiful blue ocean, playing in the pool,  going out on catamarans, enjoying music,  taking long walks on the sand and on an on.  Our grandchildren were 10, 8, 7 and almost 4.  They all talk about it to this day, and we know it holds a special place in their hearts.  We long for the time when we can go away again.  We used to try to do a family trip every two years … this would have been the year.  We are opting out for now.  So to come up with the answer to the question, was not hard.

TRAVEL … Covid took that away.

And what has Covid given?

Well that answer came easily too.   REST.  More time with family and more time with Jesus.   These are the gifts of Covid.  

I remember when March 2020 came and things were starting to close.  Calendar slates were wiped clean.  Meetings were cancelled.  For us and the ministry, I had to cancel many bookings.  I remember I got finished and had a cry.   And, then it began.  Quiet days - many of them.  And I realized that REST had begun.  It was during this time, that God began to speak to me and I knew that if my calendar had stayed full, I would not hve been sitting in the big chair, spending many many more hours with him.

When Covid began, and everything else was halted, I made a decision.  I took the big chair that was in the corner of the great room, and moved it so that it was turned toward the window, and when I sat in it - I was looking outside.  That space became my space.  It became the place that I would go and meet with God.  It became the place that I would go to just be.  It became the place that I would sing and pray, listen to music and weep.  It was the space where I would listen, reflect and write.  And yes, sometimes I had a nice little snooze in this chair too!

I know without a doubt that this is a gift.  A gift that has come out of something terrible.  Yes, I think Covid is terrible and we all know it is still going, and may get even worst before it gets any better.  But in the midst of all this - in the midst of anxiety which has become something a bit more familiar to me - is this gift.  The gift of REST, more family, and more of Jesus. 

So, I am thankful.

Sometimes we fail to see the beauty in the broken. 

But in it … God is there - He knows - He cares - He carries.

And He, in his time, brings all the pieces back together.  

#God’s got this.

It’s not profound, but those are my thoughts today, from this big white chair in the corner.

With love, 

j