My husband and I were on the road a bit yesterday. We left early in the morning. It was quite foggy and misty outside, a gloomy day to usher in the arrival of spring. The fog looked like a weight bearing down on our world with brown grass and barren trees leftover from winter. I gazed out the window and thought about our current situation in the world. This whole scenario also feels a bit like a foggy day.

We’re living in the middle of much unknown, which most of us have done at some point before. But this one is unchartered territory for all of us. I tend to do a lot of people watching and observing. I’m seeing people who are wound up politically and who are becoming angry, which does nothing to help anyone. There are those who are fearful—I think there’s a bit of that in each of us regardless of how brave we appear. I’m also seeing people who are offering their time, talents, words of wisdom, soothing music, laughter, educational resources, and much more to try and ease the burden of this season.

It’s a strange way for spring to arrive with this weight on our shoulders. Yet my daffodils are growing stronger each day when I check on them. The buds are forming on our trees. The birds are at the bird feeder all day long once again, and they’re singing loudly this morning in my back yard. The sun still peaks through giving us a sense of warmth. The raindrops continue to fall this morning watering the earth. The temperatures are slowly climbing and leaving the frigid air behind. I wake up each morning and think, “God is still in control.”

I’ve always loved this season. It feels like hope to me. I still believe spring will arrive, and I believe it will arrive with a greater determination, a deeper thankfulness, and a renewed love for life when it does. I think the extension of a barren winter has given us all pause to stop and reevaluate our lives. I hope when we emerge from this winter into the spring of a “new normal” that we won’t forget how blessed we are. I pray we’ll appreciate our relationships, that we’ll continue to serve each other when the panic has faded away, and that life will be a bit richer on the other side of this in ways that truly matter for eternity. Because in the end, that’s what we have left. God, each other, and eternity.