Kim Henderson - Born into a pandemic

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Monday, March 30. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. WORLD commentator Kim Henderson’s got some good news to share.

KIM HENDERSON, COMMENTATOR: Talk about grand entrances. Our newest grand-guy decided to make his entrance five weeks early in the middle of a pandemic. I just wonder what he has up his sleeve next.

As far as births go, this one was definitely different. The threat of COVID-19 colored everything, from who got to meet the new little fellow (that would be no one) to jokes about a possible name. “Have you considered Cory(ona)?”

The new parents had to do the hospital scene alone. No visitors to sweat it out in the waiting room. No chance to watch the three big sisters ooh and ahh at the nursery window. They were quarantined on the second floor, making round-the-clock treks to the NICU. The wonder of FaceTime allowed them to show us Little Man’s progress.

Meanwhile, life was happening. We had two students home for spring break. Three little girls to keep alive. Parents to check on.

And toilet paper to procure.

Saturday morning I beat a linebacker-looking guy to Walmart’s last package, a pricey 12-pack of Northern mega rolls. While I was laying claim to this prize, my competitor had the gall to mention he’d seen nary a square between there and his home an hour away. I felt a little bad about that.

I felt a little bad another day as well. Some sort of stomach bug hit us and hit us hard. So we added that layer to the story, in addition to all the regular stuff involved with keeping grandchildren occupied, things like peeling playdough off your jute rug and trying to teach them to finish the edges of a jigsaw puzzle first. 

But the good thing about cooking meals for eight is you don’t have time to read many headlines. I did manage to see a catchy one describing COVID-19 symptoms: “This virus just has the whole kit and caboodle.”

It could just as well describe its reach. This threat has touched the whole kit and caboodle of our lives.

And that’s why worship words I heard live-streamed Sunday morning are the kind to take hold of and take heart in. They focused on a Baptist confession written in 1689 for people who knew a thing or two about plagues and wars and fires that destroy whole cities. No wishy-washy God talk then.

With Scripture to back them up, the confessors proclaimed God as a “good Creator” who doth “uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures and things.” All things. In a modern translation, that would have to include COVID-19.    

I choose to hang my hat and hope on that.

So, welcome to the quaranteam, Little James, and to the world, with all its close calls and hopes of a stimulus package and runs on Lysol. It’s a bit topsy-turvy now, but God has a way of making all things right. And when He does, it will be for believers’ good and His glory.

You can count on that.

I’m Kim Henderson.

(Photo/Creative Commons, Flickr)

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