Day Five - April 5, 2020
Today I (again) awoke to sore muscles and an aching back…
The sun rose, despite this pandemic.
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Two failed attempts to get Nanny connected to online church 9am, 11am - ended successfully with the 6pm service. Family should not be helping family with electronics after a certain point… grrr! God bless professionals in their field!
It was a bit emotional to be worshipping together in our living room on Palm Sunday. We remember this as the day when all the people waved palm branches and sang, “Hosanna!” And just five short days later - everything changed. The Friend of sinners who called the tax collector and fishermen to follow Him was beaten and hung on a cross to die. The world as they knew it was over.
This Holy Week, we symbolically walk out the next five days understanding that because of His death and resurrection - everything for us is changed!
What a time in history to ponder the immense changes that have happened in such a relatively short time across our entire globe!
Today when I scrolled through my camera roll on my phone looking for a picture of something - I was shocked again at how different life is from just a few weeks ago.
I have pictures of us in a restaurant, at a tennis match, in a grocery store, taking a hike, working for my brother, traveling to Iceland… just weeks ago! And now… I’m lucky if I have any deviation from the dog walk, the garden, or my kitchen!
This type of difference is life- altering. Many of you know that my husband was born and grew up in Moscow. Around the age of 10, life changed completely for him. His younger sister was born and every day it was his responsibility to go out into the city and find milk for her. Some days that might take him a few hours just to secure that day’s supply. Other days his responsibility was to see what he could find in the way of simple staples - such as bread, milk, eggs, vegetables, meat - but rarely fruit. This usually took hours.
He also suffered three currency crashes in his lifetime - watching paper money and coins become valueless overnight. That changes a person. It is life altering.
I watch my husband move through this current season with grit and fierce determination. I see the fear come like a wave and then watch as he hunkers down and digs his feet in solidly.
He has flashbacks to his childhood that cause him to shudder … but he’s strong. Why? Because of his faith. He’s not the over-spiritual one in our home. His roots are deep and secure. He knows that human survival is not about material possessions - but about relationships.
And in particular that one overriding relationship with his Creator God who speaks and guides… Who does not worry about His beloved, but seeks to bestow love and mercy, forgiveness and grace.
My husband moves through this season with an acute understanding of his relationship with God, from whom He takes his cues. He walks the line of loving and providing.
Today he finished building the garden box alongside me because this is his way to love. He finds work for those in need, Food for the hungry…
And I’m pretty sure he found Leah a duck this afternoon which is now in my living room tonight. Our little Leah has been dysregulated for quite a few days and I’m assuming (knowing my husband) that securing a duck in the middle of a global pandemic is his way of loving her. Yikes! It’s all about the relationship, right!
So I’m headed into this next week trying to find soil for the garden boxes without leaving my home, sharing our home with a duck and bird-dog, and walking the path towards understanding better how to patiently love and change in this season.
As we walk into this Holy Week, may we remember that there is a certain raw beauty in the stripping down of all we held dear and possessed - only to set foot on a new path to find the beauty of the HIDDEN treasure in a relationship with our Creator.
