As a non-medical professional, I’ve found myself using some new terminology this past year; super spreader, social distancing, airborne transmission, asymptomatic, herd immunity, and PPE to name a few. Isn’t it incredible that it’s been just a year since our lives were changed by COVID-19, and we began learning about this dangerous virus?
I’ve discovered many things I previously took for granted. I’ve missed dining out, shopping, having large family gatherings, going to yoga classes, celebrating milestones with loved ones, spending time with work buddies, and many other activities. I long for the days when things will return to normal. But will they?
In A New Kind of Normal, Carol Kent tells the story of her only child, an over-achiever, delightful son, and exemplary citizen. He married a woman who had two daughters, discovered that their biological father had been abusing them, and killed the man. Consequently, Carol’s only son was sentenced to life in prison without an opportunity for parole. After this ordeal, she and her husband moved to Florida to be near the prison and regularly visit their incarcerated son.
Over the years, the Kent’s have chosen to embrace life with gratitude, vulnerability, forgiveness, and action. They’ve developed a prison ministry, and she’s become an international speaker, helping people discover how to have enduring faith in this imperfect world. The Kents encourage others to hold on to hope, even in the face of unthinkable circumstances.
While it’s difficult for me to imagine how this would feel, I do know what it feels like to have my world turned upside down by circumstances. We all do! In this imperfect world we have family disputes, we lose jobs, people we love have life-threatening illnesses, and some of them die. A tornado can blow through an area and destroy homes and lives in just minutes. There’s only one promise that God gives us, and that’s His presence with us, no matter what happens.
Just as surely as God never left Moses and the Israelites as they journeyed out of Egypt, or Noah and his family during the flood, or Rahab as she risked her life to save the spies, or Jesus as he hung on the cross, God never leaves us! He’s with us always, through the good and the bad. And that’s the hope we have today and forever. Our “normal” may never be the same, but God is the same today, tomorrow, and always.
Susan Easttom, Director of Family Ministry
