PAUSE.

My heart is full of worry and uncertainty just like every one of you. The first thought on my mind when I woke up this morning was wondering how many more cases of COVID19 were reported overnight, as well as how many families were grieving today due to this disease.
Then I was sent a “pause” and heard another thought….my Dad….oh how I wish I could hear his voice but his wisdom still pushes through all the confusion in my mind.

He reminded me of another scary time. I was born in 1957 in Nocona. Our parents were experiencing much what we are currently yet they didn’t have instant news, daily updates from Dr. Fauci, nor a country filled with billions of dollars to produce equipment and medicines almost overnight. The horrible disease facing our families was polio. I looked at some numbers and we experienced over 16,000 cases of paralysis and over 18,000 deaths each year from 1951-1954. There were only 150 million people in our entire country so those percentages are horrific. The sadder part of this is polio was mainly a childhood acquired illness affecting children under five.

Dr. Jonas Salk did invent a vaccine. I remember lining up at North Ward school in Nocona for several Sundays after church, (maybe 4) to receive my sugar cube containing the vaccine. What I didn’t know at that time was I would make friends with one of the sweetest girls in my life. She was a year older than me and the vaccine didn’t come soon enough for her.

She contracted the disease, faced extreme physical issues, many many surgeries. At one point, as a teenager she was in a body cast for months, attached to a plywood board. We went to her house for Sunday School each week. Looking back I’m flooded with tears for her. How close did she come to receiving the vaccine? A few months? And never did she allow us to feel sorry for her. She continued into adulthood, became an educator, married, had two amazing daughters and is currently chasing grandchildren in her motorized wheelchair. One little word, polio, changed our world.

We are asking ourselves these questions today. The news is everywhere. We have instant updates. We don’t have to wait for a small town doctor to deliver the news in our home-town newspaper. We all have family members who are in vulnerable groups and, to be honest, I believe we are all vulnerable. Schools and churches closing brings all our fears to the surfaces.

So in my Dad’s way he refocused me this morning. He reminded me of my raising and remembering what I learned in that small town. Proverbs 27:1 “Do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

When I was faced with being a young widow thousands of times I wanted to give up. During these times Isaiah 40:31 gave me hope. “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Today I’m thankful for my Dad’s “pause.” As I rethink who I am and how I was raised, I have asked are we near the end of the world as we know it? I don’t know. But I do know Who does know. I also know He expects us to continue living and taking care of each other. He is control and has provided us with the abilities to produce supplies and medications overnight. Man did not acquire this knowledge alone. We all need to “pause”, listen to the news less and spend time listening to Him. Our Lord of hope and promise.