What Story Will Your Life Write This Year?

In the foyer of our home, right inside our blue front door, is a rectangular canvas tote. It has (somewhat affectionately) been named our “COVID canvas.” It has collected all the trappings of our “COVID normal.” A calendar, a pen, and a thermometer to faithfully mark each school morning. Lanyards with the beaded names of our kids and an ever-rotating pile of clean masks for the day ahead.

This little canvas tote, tucked on the bottom shelf of our foyer table, has shared our family’s rhythm of life over this year. Sometimes, in the flurry of checking temperatures and hooking lanyards to masks before my kids swing their book bags over their shoulders and run with sneakered feet to catch the bus, I stare for a moment at our COVID canvas and wonder what story it would tell.

For if our COVID canvas could talk, I’m sure it would have many conversations to recount, many stories to tell. From the funny to the frustrating on the canvas of our life it could paint you a picture of this past year.

“Boys! I’m not going to say it again, stop throwing the football in the living room!”

“Did you brush your teeth? Did you really? Let me smell your breath.  That’s gross.  Go scrub your dragon fangs again…”

“I know you’re tired. I’m sorry.”

“I know you’re excited to see your friends. I’m excited for you, too.”

“I know you are scared. It’s OK. Let’s ask Jesus to walk close with you today.”

“No, wait. Don’t run out the door just yet. Let me pray the morning prayer over you.”

Each of these countless conversations is a picture of the good and the bad, the tears and the laughter, the silly and the serious that has grown and strengthened our family.

There are moments where I catch myself staring at our COVID canvas and, with tears in my eyes, praying prayers I could have never imagined a year ago. Each prayer is born out of the sadness, loss, uncertainty, joy, celebration, and hope all pushing us deeper into the presence of our good Father, whose power and faithfulness never ends.

There are great promises in God’s Word we have yet to uncover and hide deep within our hearts.

There are hard, uncertain moments that push us further into God’s comforting presence than we may have been willing to walk before.

There are questions that grow our faith in the One who holds our future and hope securely and forever in his wise hands.

There are opportunities to know God better, to trust him more fully, to grow our devotion and prayer life because of our COVID canvas.

The psalmist later writes to remind the people of Israel, “The Lord Almighty is with us” (Ps. 46:7 NIV).

This year, what story will our lives write? What canvas will display the rhythms of the lives of our families? Will we let Jesus be the main character in our days, the strong Savior who, out of his great glory and goodness, gives us all the hope and comfort we need for each new morning?

This year, let’s grab the hands of our children and say with the psalmist Come and see what the Lord has done”! (Ps. 46:8 NIV). God’s great power and awesome glory stands firm and secure not only in our homes, but our lives, the world, and all our future hope of living forever with Jesus.

This is why we, too, can sit in the presence of our great and good Father and listen with the psalmist to God’s good words to our hearts and minds to “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10 NIV).

This ongoing pandemic will not be the only time in our lives or in the lives of our children when we will walk a path we do not wish for, or wade through waters of uncertainty, or have the opportunity to trust God more fully and deeply than we have ever had to before. In the story of our lives, there will come many opportunities for God to display his greatness and goodness to us if we will only take the time to sit in his presence and be changed by him.

This year, I want my children to remember:

• We can trust in God’s greatness.
• We can have confidence in God’s faithfulness.
• We can awake each day and know the King of heaven pours out his grace and goodness into our hearts and lives through the great work of Jesus on the cross for us. We no longer live in fear or shame or condemnation or death. We have been gifted life eternal that is firm and secure in the glory and goodness of God.

Oh, the stories our COVID canvas will tell for our children and our children’s children.

I hope it tells the story of Jesus working in our hearts and lives most of all.

Beth Sickel is a simple pastor’s wife who is married to her best friend and called mama by her four favorite little people. When she’s not drinking coffee or hiking with her family, she’s trying new dishes in the kitchen or blogging about creating space for Jesus conversations in your heart and home. You can find her over at RoomforWonderful.com.

Photograph © Mel Poole, used with permission