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 At the beginning of this odd COVID season I listened to a message by Kris Vallatton from Bethel Church in Redding, California. One of his major points was, “God often shows up as the opposite.” 

When the Israelites were in the wilderness He showed up as a cloud during the day and as a fire in the night. In this season I am seeing evidence of this. 

This season of COVID-19 has had its hardships for us for sure. Early on we seriously reduced the amount of news we were consuming just to maintain our sanity. Walking into the grocery store was traumatizing, as fearful people scurried to locate toilet paper and hand sanitizer. But looking back over the past several months our family has experienced a treasure trove of gifts in this season. 

God has shown himself as light in the darkness.

The most precious gifts being that our youngest kids, Jack and Rachel, moved home to shelter in place. Jack returned from North Carolina and we basked in the privilege of spending the last 8 weeks with him before he married his lovely high school sweetheart, Tess. This felt like God slowed down time right as the last few pieces of sand were dripping from our parental hourglass. 

It’s like He said, “I have a gift for you! A gift that you would never even imagine asking for. You get to spend 8 weeks drinking coffee with Jack in the morning, enjoy bible reading and prayer time together, play unlimited games of Catan. You get to have his fiance over for dinner several times a week and just enjoy his presence. 

Our daughter Rachel came home too. She completed her senior year in college while sitting on the patio, enduring Zoom call classes. For me, it was wonderful. We got to sing in the kitchen, watch movies, work on her post college plans and be with her in the sadness of finishing college in this unexpected way. We got to experience so much joy and connection. 

IN this season of FEAR God has shown up as LOVE in Jack and Tess’s backyard wedding. Truly it was one of the sweetest moments of my life.

In this season where so many feel ISOLATED God showed up as INTIMACY as our son Josh proposed to his amazing girlfriend, Kenzie. We were able to gather both families to celebrate this precious occasion. 

In this season of significant UNEMPLOYMENT rates Jamey (my husband) received a full time job offer (he had been under employed for 6 years).

In this season where assisted living facilities are protecting our cherished elderly residence by PAUSING all outside visits I got to BE WITH MY MOM for 4 days in a row when she went to the hospital for minor surgery (first visit  in 12 weeks) AND she did not get COVID!!!!!

Friends, I could go on and on. 

He is the light in our darkness. He is our cloud in our daytime. 

– Donna Durham

Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash