In 2011, my husband and I were approached about purchasing a family friend’s ranch. It is in the hill country of Texas. It’s a piece of paradise to me. A place for family, friends and fun. It’s a place where we go for long weekends, many holidays, and sometimes work schedules allow us to stay a week or so there. Recently, we spent spring break here with one of our daughters and her two children. That’s where this blog starts, Spring Break 2020. (Of course, like most schools these days, it is still technically winter when “spring break” comes.)

We arrived here March 6. for spring break. Trees were still bare, grass and flowers dormant, winds cool, and lots of rain. None of that stopped our spring break time with the grandkids. We still played and enjoyed our time together. As normal, I started filling bird feeders, hoping that during our one week stay, we could entice birds to come in. We would go and look for the wildlife and get excited every time we saw a baby antelope. COVID 19 was going on in the world, but that seemed to be everywhere else. It didn’t affect us at all.  Then the email came…”school is cancelled one extra week because of the COVID 19 pandemic.” Wahoo! One more week of playing! This is every kid’s dream! We planned to play some more, then go home and get back to normal. COVID 19 had nothing to do with us or our family.

In the middle of our extra week, our daughter received an email. No school until further notice. Your child’s (our grandchild’s) assignments will arrive by email, and by the way parents, you will be the teacher because you will start homeschool on Monday. Then word from the mayor came. Shelter where you are because it’s risky for you or your family to go around others. Wait. What? This pandemic doesn’t affect us. How can this be? A trickle of weariness started making its way toward me. Church services get canceled…now it’s more like a stream of weariness coming.  Grocery store shelves are somewhat empty…the weariness river is rising. News media talking, talking, talking, and more talking about COVID 19…the weariness river is overflowing its banks. Rains come. Skies are cloudy for several days. COVID 19 deaths rise. Stock markets crash, price of oil drops. Family members and other people I know lose their jobs…all of a sudden, my home is flooded with WEARINESS. As you can tell, I’m starting to struggle with my attitude. Can you relate?

One sunny afternoon I went on a walk. I started noticing the change in the foliage around the ranch. Trees were starting to bud. Tiny little yellow and purple flowers started poking their heads out. Mountain Laurels started to bloom. Changes were happening everywhere. Things were looking new and fresh. A whisper in my heart kept saying over and over again, He makes all things new. I walked by a dead, hollowed out tree. It had pretty green moss growing on it. He makes all things new. Pecan trees that were bare the week before started putting out leaves and their “tassels”. He makes all things new. Birds come into feeders. LOTS of birds. Cardinals hung around and built a nest. He makes all things new.

            The whisper became louder. Everywhere I looked I heard the same thing; He makes all things new. This loud “voice” took me to Isaiah 43:19. “I am doing something brand new, something unheard of. Even now it sprouts and grows and matures.” (The Passion Translation).  Then, I turned to Revelation 21:5-7 “And God-Enthroned spoke to me and said, “Consider this! I am making everything to be new and fresh. Write down at once all that I have told you, because each word is trustworthy and dependable. Then he said to me, “It has been accomplished! For I am the Aleph and the Tav^, the beginning and the end. I will give water to all who are thirsty. As my gracious gift, they will continuously drink from the fountain of living water. The conquering ones will inherit these gifts from me. I will continue to be their God and they will continue being children for me.” (The Passion Translation)

God’s creation shows me over and over that He is in control. Not a president, a governor, or a mayor. Not an illness. Not the news media. God. My Father. He makes all things new, and not just through creation. Because of Jesus Christ, my Father now lives in me. He makes me new each day. My hope is in Him. Not in a vaccine. Not in a ventilator. Not in social distancing. He is my hope. He has prepared a special place for me where there will be no weariness. No pain. No weeping. No mourning. He makes all things new.

Blessings – Cherie