In case you missed it on Instagram or Facebook, we had quite the experience at the beginning of October.
On three consecutive days, my wife, daughter, and I all tested positive for COVID.
Positive.
Positive.
Positive.
(I thought this might be a good time and space to share with you what happened next, and to give you some hope in case you or someone you love is going through something similar.)
We all tested positive, and within a couple of days, we were all feeling under the weather and wondering how this was going to play out.
One factor that made things interesting is that my wife Amanda has severe asthma. With so many reports of COVID affecting peoples’ respiratory systems, we instantly recognized that she might be at an elevated risk.
One other snag in all of this (again, in case you missed it) is that my wife is pregnant! That also became an immediate concern that came to mind as we wondered what the coming weeks would look like.
On a scale of symptom severity, I ended up with the best case scenario. I had a headache for a solid week along with some congestion, but it was all more annoying than debilitating.
Fortunately, Amanda’s case was also fairly tolerable, with cold-like symptoms along with a loss of taste. She said that was definitely the weirdest part of this whole experience!
This leaves our 1 year old, little miss Amelia. She got the short end of the stick and was the one stuck with a fever the entire week. That in combination with some minor symptoms, she was not a happy camper and certainly didn’t understand what was going on or why she felt so poorly. It nearly broke out hearts to see her so down and out, but she too recovered by the end of the first week of quarantine.
Back to Amanda’s case, post-quarantine her doctor said that everything pregnancy-wise looked just fine and still on track. That was a big relief for all of us!
So what did we learn through this whole experience?
(After all, this kind of forced break may have been once in a lifetime – we weren’t about to waste it by not learning from it!)
We certainly got more physical rest than we would have otherwise gotten, and that part felt wonderful. Going to bed earlier is a habit we’ve carried since because we just feel so much better the following day. We also got more quality family time than on a typical week – working from home, we see each other all day long but it was nice to not have a particular agenda for a few days so we could have time to take care of one another. From this, we’ve been continuing to learn about the importance of taking mini daily Sabbaths, even just slowing down and taking a break for a half hour to be together as a family.
On top of all this, we got to practice the discipline of faith. We prayed that God would take care of our bodies and that He would continue to provide during our time off of work, but our faith was not in God’s healing or His provision. No, our faith was in God Himself, that His will would come to pass and that He would use our circumstances as part of His good plan. What a lovely perspective shift this was! Praising God for who He is and not what He does is always such a humbling reminder of what this life is all about.
Now that we are all healthy and fully recovered, we’ve been making it a point to remember a few specific things. First of all, that God is good. Always. Secondly, that many many people have died from contracting this virus and that our experience was wildly milk compared to what it could have been. We don’t want to belittle or undermine the varying experiences that others have had with COVID. Thirdly, we want to remember that we have a responsibility to take care of our bodies, to be good stewards over them. However, this experience is a reminder that our health does not determine our value as human beings. We want to keep our pursuit of great health at the appropriate priority level moving forward – not worshiping it, and not forgetting about it either.
Anyway, that leads us to today! Feeling great, feeling refreshed, and ready to take on each day ahead with a fresh perspective! Thanks for reading a bit more about our story and experience with COVID, it means a lot to us to know that you care!
Have you or someone you loved had a similar experience? I’d love to hear about it!