March 2, 2023

COVID19 Got Us!

Read: Mark 6:30-32, Ecclesiastes 10:10

Well, it finally happened after almost three years…. Sue and I got COVID19 on Friday January 7th. Where did it come from? Perhaps that crowded New Year’s Eve party or the political meeting in Westland the previous Tuesday, but who knows!?

Yup, we were totally vaccinated and boosted, so our symptoms were typical: congestion, coughing, tired, achy, and running nose. When we took the home COVID19 test, I think my results could best be described as announcing the overwhelmingly Positive by a loudly playing Michigan Marching Band. Sue, on the other hand, showed a negative response, but she still had the symptoms.

Saturday morning I awoke around 3:00am feeling like a truck had run into me, but Advil helped and I fell back to sleep. Luckily, we had gotten our Kroger order placed into the car trunk on the prior Thursday, so food was not an issue.

Like a lot of people, we felt lousy for most of the week, and by the next Friday I was feeling better and Saturday too. So, never having too much experience with serious illness, I got a call from Doc James Martin about downhill skiing for half a day at Mt Holly on Sunday (beautiful day and great conditions), then my pickleball group on Monday afternoon and then on Tuesday 20 lengths at the LA Fitness pool.

Guess what! Yup, on Wednesday I started feeling the symptoms returning. So my nurse daughter Katrina and my dear wife Susan, both conferred the same advice, I over-did the expectation of recovery.

So, for the rest of the week I RESTED, read some books (even a couple of non-fiction ones too), petted our two dogs (see Sue’s devotion on 3/9 on our recent #2 dog acquisition) and took the time to chill.

Ya know what, also during this time I reflected on life, illness, and what the remainder of my Retirement should look like (I retired in March of 2020, but that is another related story).

Ya know, I think the Lord was talking to me and used COVID19 as his methodology. Consequently I will be trying something I have dabbled in throughout my adult life, but never to the extent that this will entail. I have already made some important inroads and will find out where they and the Lord lead me.

Prayer: Lord, help me navigate through the next opportunity I will be pursuing, and may it accomplish the greater good that I hope it achieves. Amen.

Dave DeWitt