We all lost things back in those days. Not just things … we lost people we love, memories we hoped to make, pieces of our lives just seem to have been taken away – outside of our control.
Those were the days the word “Covid” sent shock waves through our country. We all listened, glued to the news of the newest outbreak, unsure of what it would all mean for us. It was 6 years ago – do you remember? Sometimes I don’t want to – the memories can feel pretty raw. But leave it to facebook to keep reminding me …
6 years ago, I wrote this post – it was a necessary grieving that involved more than just a place. It felt like loss of dreams – loss of hope, even. Now, as I read it, I can only hear this verse on repeat in the back of my mind: ““I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten…and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you (Joel 2:25-26)
Because … this!
This place – that meant so much to me… this place – that I grieved the loss of … well, do you see the light shining from the window? It re-opened last week, and I have been watching this from the other side of the ocen with a tinge of awe and wonder.
They didn’t just pause and re-open 6 years older. They refocused and renovated. They rebuilt what was into something better. That loss I had grieved 6 years ago has come back to life in a new way. That light shining from the windows? It makes me think of resurrection.
There’s a reason God tends to look back every time He looks forward. There is a beautiful tension in the hope that is drawn from that, and I don’t want to miss that. Pause for a minute … and trace His hand in the long waiting … in the gestation of our dreams into reality. Sometimes we don’t recognize them because they look different than we anticipated. Sometimes we give up because the waiting is too painful. Sometimes He changes us, and with it our dreams.
But my friend! Don’t give up on the God who restores. Who sits with us in the waiting, who weaps with us in the loss, and who also repays us for the years the locusts have stolen. I don’t have many words right now – just a look back and a breathless prayer of thanksgiving to my God who makes all things new. (Revelations 21:5)
Our God is a consuming fire 