One Year Ago

One year ago today Brenda and I slipped away from the rest of the family for a date night. We drove to a local restaurant, found an isolated booth to enjoy some time together. Life gets busy. Life in ministry can get even busier. It was important for us to get away for a little while. It still is. We are going to have a date night later tonight. We have enjoyed many date nights. Most of them I cannot remember the details. 

I remember that night in detail a year ago. I wrote shorts, a polo shirt and sandals. Brenda looked ravishing. Stunning as usual. I remember what I ordered for dinner, I remember some of our conversation. I remember something else vividly. It was during the meal of chicken fried steak, baked potato and fried mushrooms that I started coughing. A little cough at first. It progressed as the evening wore on. I thought little of it. 

The cough persisted and intensified. To the point I could not sleep. Two days later I went to get tested and found out I had the Corona virus. Brenda and I spent the next 14 days together in quarantine. The cough kept me all night. No medication brought much relief. I took prescription cough syrup, some over the counter stuff, popped cough drops like candy, and drank hot tea mixed with honey. I coughed so violently at times I could barely breathe. 

I stayed up all hours of the night until I finally passed out from sheer exhaustion night after night. I managed better during the day than at night. As soon as my head touched the pillow the coughing fits made me get up and sit in a recliner. I watched television and coughed until my eyes grew bleary. 

Brenda and I watched old classic movies and romantic movies during those 14 days. I also experienced some shortness of breath. As bad as all that was, the time with Brenda I treasure to this day. She never exhibited any symptoms. She stayed by my side, bravely slept in the same bed, and took great care of me. Those were some of the sweetest days of our marriage. 

Sometimes we did not say anything but just enjoyed being in the same room together. Her on her tablet and me reading, dozing, and watching television. It is hard to believe all that has transpired in the past 365 days. Through all of it God has been faithful. 

He saw me through sleepless nights. Nights when I flipped through television channel after channel trying to take my mind off the incessant coughing. Ironically, last night I could not sleep. I tossed and turned and finally got up a little after midnight to watch television. Something I have not done since this time last year. I came across some of the same material I watched a year before. That prompted the reminder that it had been a year since I got sick. 

God blessed the time Brenda and I shared. She took great care of me. She cooked some wonderful meals. Unlike many who came down with the virus, I did not lose my sense of smell or taste. She made a fantastic salad and other savory dishes nursing me back to health. 

I grew stir crazy after a week and got out to take a little walk. I intended to walk around the block. I had no idea how much the virus affected my breathing and energy. On that little walk I had to stop and sit three different times. I even wondered if I had the strength to make it back home. I did not have my phone and trusted God to get me back. Slowly, step by step I managed to stroll back to the house at a snail's pace. 

The cough lingered for months, especially when I preached or taught. It annoyed me greatly. Looking back it is hard to believe it has been a year.

In that time, the church has grown, our youngest son graduated from high school, other sons have had profound encounters with the living God. God has sustained me. He has met with me. He has walked with me through the hard times and ushered in triumphant days as well. He provided five vehicles in a month's span back between Thanksgiving and the first of the New Year. Through it all, God has been faithful. What He has done and continues to do for me and my family, I am confident He will also do for you. 

God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. I Cor 1:9