John 14: 27

… Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

 

We’re all more than ready to get back to normal. Go shopping. Get our hair and nails done. Go eat at restaurants. Visit family and friends. GO TO CHURCH. All those activities and more sound great and sooner or later we’ll get back to doing them, but…. I hate to break it to you. I don’t believe we’re going to go back to normal. Life will resume but it’s not going to be the same as it was before the pandemic.

What’s it going to be like?

I have no idea, but what I do know is that Jesus told us to not be troubled or afraid. And since he told us that, we know that we have the power to do that. I know that’s not easy to do for some of you, but I’ve had a lot of practice in this area.

In 2012, I was diagnosed with bilateral brain tumors. They weren’t cancerous but that doesn’t mean they didn’t turn my world upside down. For the next five years, I dealt with one medical setback after another. First I became deaf in one ear. Then I lost my balance. Then I was on steroids for months at a time to try to save the hearing in my other ear. Steroids meant weight gain and no sleep which also meant absolutely no energy. I could barely walk from one room to the other. Then I started another treatment called Avastin–a type of injection–to keep the tumors from swelling. And then my feet and legs went numb and I couldn’t walk without a walker.

But through it all, I still had peace because I learned to trust God. I learned to stay in the present and not mourn the past or worry about the future. I had two verses that I would repeat over and over throughout the day until they became a part of my belief system. They were Romans 8: 28 and Philippians 4: 13. You can look them up. They comforted me and I’m sure they’ll comfort you during this time.

Now, it’s 2020 and I have a new normal. I am deaf in one ear and have a significant loss in the other, but I can still hear with the help of a hearing aid–not as good as I used to but I can hear. I still have balance issues but only have to use a cane when I’m outside. I still have chronic fatigue but it’s so much better than it was even a year ago.  I’ve lost 60 pounds and work on being as healthy as I can be.

I can’t go back to the normal I had before the brain tumors, but life is still good for me. And that’s what waits for us on the other side of this pandemic. We won’t be going back to normal but we’ll have a new normal.

What’s it going to be like?

Like I said, I don’t know but let not your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

 

 

God bless you!