I don't think any of us could ever have imagined what a crazy year 2020 would actually be! The whole world feels so very different, but I'm always amazed at our ability as mankind to dig deep, change and adapt.
Just as we've started getting a handle on our "new normal" (if i never hear those words again ...), our city has now been hit with a new crisis. They are calling it "Day Zero". How jolly ominous does that sound! 😳 It's the shocking day that heralds the announcement that many areas in our city have run out of water!!! We've been in a drought for what feels like forever, but never did I actually think we would reach a day where the water would run out! The taps are dry. Broken underground pumps and pipes have contributed to the crisis which they are hard at work trying to fix, but certain areas have had no water for over a week already. I felt like I was in another world driving by a long line of people with their masks on (that in itself is still so jolly surreal!) patiently queuing to fill water bottles and buckets from a water tanker to carry back to their cars and homes. Even the water shops have run out of water to sell! It touched my heart deeply to see the calm in the people adjusting to yet another massive change. Families stood together helping each other. My brother in law was in that queue of people and he was telling me how everybody just naturally jumped in helping those around them. Complete strangers all working together to try and make things a little easier for each other. 2020 has been a shocker ... but the human heart has a resilience that can be so inspiring at times of crisis.
So with all this crazy going on, my husband has decided that it is finally time to dig up what used to be an old underground water tank, fix it up and start channeling any rain water we get into it so that we can run the plumbing of the house off it. We live in a very old house. The plans date back over 100 years and counting. Back in the day they put it in, but somewhere down the line it must have caved in and so they filled it up with sand and rubble. Here's a look at day 3's hard work ...
All this digging has had me me thinking about how deep we have all had to dig through the challenges that this year has brought our way. We've had to stop, prune back, reassess, readjust, grieve the course of loss and change and so much more. But just like this big old pit that we are currently digging out, sometimes even in the trenches we can find our own 'buried treasure'. For some it's the gift of appreciation for what we actually have and the privilege of even things we have taken for granted (like a nice hot shower at the end of the day). For others, the recognition of how resilient and strong they actually are, even at their weakest moments, with the help of God, they've been able to get up and keep going. Many others have rediscovered a new appreciation for family and the genuine kindness in people willing to help others even in these risky Corona days. For my kids today, as they were scrounging through the sand piles they found some old bottles. You would have thought they found an old time capsule the way they were going on about it! Me ... I just wanted to toss them ... but to see the joy in their eyes finding such 'old artefacts' in their minds, even I had to get a little excited and jump in and help them wash them off and delight in their discovery as the started googling how old they could possibly be.
May we all take a little encouragement from the childlike joy of my children today. You may feel like you are having to dig real deep right now, but my prayer is that the Lord would give you fresh eyes to glimpse the depth that He sees in you. Take courage from the words of 2 Corinthians 12:10 in the passion translation which says "So I'm not defeated by my weakness, but delighted! For when I feel my weakness and endure mistreatment - when I'm surrounded with troubles on every side and face persecution because of my love for Christ - I am made yet stronger. For my weakness becomes a portal to God's power." He is made perfect in the midst of our weakness. It is in those hallowed moments where He bends down onto our level, picks us up and holds us close to His heart so that He can remind us of what He sees in the beautiful creation of who He made us to be. Loved and cherished. And just like those bottles we found today, He washes the old away ... the pain, disappointment or shame and sets us back up to gleam with the purpose for which we were created. That's when we find our treasures ... in the places we have had to dig real deep.
All my love
❤️
Janine
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