Pastor John,
Wednesday night’s meeting was so good! Thank you for feeding us the words of life! They are so precious!
One thing that stood out to me was something Rob said in his testimony about needing help on what to do as he was caring for Joel when he was sick with Covid. Rob asked Jesus to make it very clear on what he should do. I have been writing out my testimony about the events that lead up to our decision to get the vaccine after our exposure to Covid in the mountain house, so I wanted to share it. I am very grateful how Jesus can make things very clear for us when we don’t know what to do.
Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic things have really changed. Some of the changes have been wonderful blessings but other changes have seemed to cause division and confusion. One of the areas of concern surrounding the virus has been the vaccine.
I have heard scientific data as to why we should get the vaccine and the natural immunity arguments as to why we shouldn’t get it. The information about the virus and the vaccines is ever changing and people’s attitudes toward all of it, at times, has been very alarming no matter which side of the argument they fall on. I have heard of nurses and other healthcare workers who quit their jobs because they refused to take the vaccine. While other medical workers plead with everyone to get the vaccine to help save lives. I had been praying for Jesus to help make it clear which direction we should go regarding the vaccine. I wanted to stay neutral and let Jesus provide direction.
I feel like Jesus set us up to go on an unplanned trip to the mountains to help make things very clear on which way to go. We were going to stay in the mountains from Sunday to Wednesday afternoon. The trip was wonderful and we had a very sweet time with everyone. We were having such a great time that we stayed an extra night.
While we were on the trip, we visited with Joel N. when he unknowingly had Covid. Staying at the house that extra night, we spent several hours with Joel which gave us a significant exposure to the virus. Richard and I left on Thursday morning and our girls stayed another night returning with the Nelsons on Friday.
On Sunday morning, I pulled up Facebook and on my Newsfeed there was a post by one of my former co-workers that I stopped to read. Normally I would skim past such posts about Covid and vaccines but this time I stopped and read it. It was an article written by a physician that has worked on a Covid unit since the beginning of the pandemic. He spoke of how hard it was to watch patient after patient struggle to breathe. It was physically and emotionally draining for him and all the staff to take care of these people and watch them die from the virus.
One of the striking things he said in the article was that he was having a difficult time mustering up compassion for patients that are now coming into the hospital struggling to breathe and then dying because they have made a choice not to vaccinate.
The physician spoke about one man in particular that had come into the hospital with Covid. The man was around my age, married, and had young children. The physician asked him why he chose not to get vaccinated. The man’s reasons sounded similar Richard’s reasons for not wanting to get vaccinated. The man eventually died in the hospital. The physician felt people were dying unnecessarily since there was now a vaccine that can help decrease the chance of dying from Covid.
At the end of the article he wrote: “Covid will find you!” When I read that, the words jumped off the page at me. I clicked off Facebook and saw I had a text message from Donna N. telling us that Joel was very sick. He was in the ER with a high fever and had tested positive for Covid. Covid had found us!
Up to that point we had been so careful. We had been diligent in staying as safe as we could to keep ourselves, our children, and the ones we love safe. We had done our part to the best of our ability. But yet, there it happened, we were unknowingly exposed to Covid. I felt more strongly than ever like it was ok to get the vaccine. I told Richard about the article from the physician and how he said Covid would find us. Richard told me I was free to get it if I wanted but he still did not have the feeling to get it.
Later that same morning my dad called and told Richard of a dream he had a couple days before. It was a strange dream and my dad wasn’t going to tell him about it but given our virus exposure from the mountain trip, he felt he should tell the dream. Richard and I both felt like the dream was a message from Jesus letting him know he was unnecessarily exposing our family and others to the virus and that it was ok to get vaccinated. When Jesus gives us a clear direction it makes everything else nothing (our thoughts, opinions, research, reservations) and brings a huge relief. I am thankful for Jesus’ help in this crazy time. His words make all the difference.
Amy F.