After being on lockdown for months, relegated to working and living in her apartment during coronavirus chaos, she decided to buy some seeds in April of 2020. A packet of morning glory seeds brought a creative gardening spark to her little home. She filled terracotta pots with potting soil, pushed seeds into black dirt, and positioned pots on the window ledge. Having escaped the northern winters, she knew there would be no cold air in this urban apartment window. Frost layers did not surround the lower window edges. No cold breezes leaked around the window frame. In this southern climate, her plants did not face frost danger. She did not miss that northern chill; instead, she enjoyed the warmth and sunshine of this new climate.

The new job took her thousands of miles south of her previous position, which also meant leaving family and friends behind. Her arrival in the southern climate timed with the simultaneous COVID lockdown of that state in mid-March of 2020. Nine months later, she still works solely from home, conferences online with her team, and has not met her boss in-person. With restaurants and museums closed, she postpones her exploration of new surroundings. She joined a church and other online groups, but meeting people and making new friends remains a big challenge given the COVID restrictions.

For the first time in her quarter century of life, she could not spend Christmas with family or friends. Knowing that she could not see them in person, she arranged online get-togethers. She zoomed, skyped and Duo-phoned for virtual visits with family and friends. This pandemic Christmas proved to be strange and unique—definitely one to be remembered.

She loved her apartment. The new job offered great challenges and new experiences, although COVID restrictions resulted in different job responsibilities from the original posting. Although grateful for an enjoyable, steady job, she longed to explore and make new friends in the area, pursuing those positive aspects of a cross-country move that she had anticipated. And being so far from loved ones with no option of travel felt heart-wrenching at times, despite the new adventures of this pandemic season.

Rounding the corner into her living room that Christmas morning, a purple color on the window ledge caught her eye. She ran over and looked. There in one of the flower pots bloomed a symmetrical five-point star in gorgeous shades of purple. A morning glory had blossomed into full flower overnight.

A Christmas morning glory! An exquisite gift from the Creator Himself, sent on the anniversary of His son’s birth. In the midst of her solitude, God displayed His creative beauty. Just as God personally and miraculously entered that stable millennia ago, and later placed a large star in the Eastern sky, he now surprised one of His children with a beautiful star in her apartment window.

Lord God, let the beauty of your creation be recognized as your gift of love to those who seek you. In this season of remembering Christ’s birth, may people all over this world be drawn to you. Let those who seek, find answers in your Word. May they recognize your provision and protection in everything from small flowers to big miracles in the midst of COVID disease, pandemic lockdowns, and coronavirus chaos. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

[Originally posted December 2020]