The Only Thing We Know for Sure this Easter
Easter will look a little different for many of us this year. We likely won’t be getting dressed up in our spring dresses, rushing to get to church early because the church parking lot is always packed on Easter Sunday. We won’t be brunching with extended family. It’s likely going to be quiet and simple - but it’s still the greatest day of the year.
It’s ok to feel sad that things are different right now and it’s ok to grieve that. Add it to the list of things we are grieving this season – graduation ceremonies cancelled, weddings postponed, along with sports events, concerts, and vacations, just to name a few.
Friends, right now, the only thing we know for sure is UNCERTAINTY and JESUS. Let’s start with uncertainty and end with Jesus.
Before COVID-19, for many of us, our grief centered around the uncertainty of our changing bodies.
“I can’t believe I have to buy new clothes again.”
“I don’t look anything like I did my freshman year of college.”
“I can’t believe how much my body changed after baby #2”
“Oh hello gray hairs.”
And now grieving our changing body is just one of the many items on our grief list. We have to make room for all the other losses.
We all struggle with expectations. We wish our world was different right now. And just about all the time, we wish our bodies were different. I talk a lot about expectations here.
It’s ok if our bodies are not how they looked 2 months or two years ago. Our bodies change as a way of adapting to our circumstances, environment, mental, physical, spiritual and relational health. So enough with the memes about quarantine weight changes. Yes, our bodies may change. And it’s ok.
We take care of ourselves the best we can during times of uncertainty and then we have to LET IT GO…and as cliché as it sounds…LET GOD!
Body changes are actually part of God’s design. It’s truly amazing, honestly, that our bodies adapt in this way, which is why we were never meant to be the same weight and shape we were when we graduated high school. We weren’t done growing, we hadn’t had babies, and we hadn’t started the aging process.
I truly believe that my metabolism slowing down as I age was actually put in place by our Creator to help extend life for when it’s time to approach the last few decades. I’m going to want those “reserves” on board as I face diseases that are common at the end of life.
So, body changes are as certain as all the other changes in life. The only thing that doesn’t change and is constant is Jesus.
In Hebrews 13:8, it says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Halleluiah and Amen!
We can count on that one thing never changing because literally everything else will.
You can count on your body changing, but you can count on Christ NEVER changing. You can count on His love for you never changing.
This Easter, let’s meditate on His unchanging love during times of uncertainty.
I hope you are encouraged that the reason God came down to Earth and became man is for the very season we are in right now – to bring hope, peace, and certainty amongst all the uncertainty.
Nicole resides in the East Bay Area where she works in private practice as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. She is a Mom of two and serves alongside her beloved husband in their local church. Most recently she's devoted her time to cleft and craniofacial awareness, education and interventions when her second daughter was unexpectedly diagnosed with a cleft palate at one week old. She completed both her bachelor's degree and her dietetic internship at California State University, Chico, where she was also a NCAA cross country and track athlete. Through those experiences, God prompted her to help people of all shapes and sizes discover health, body peace and acceptance through the unconditional love of Jesus. Nicole most enjoys spending time around a table and eating delicious food with the people she loves.
