On Saturday, April 25, Mom and I were able to Zoom with Dad and my brother so that we could all see Dad together while the attendant held the phone. It was good to see Dad, but it was hard, too. The day before, Dad had been moved to another room on the same floor which was a step down from ICU, so that was a huge praise! He was still sedated, though, which made it hard.
Unfortunately, seeing Dad was just too difficult for Mom. It’s heart-wrenching enough to stand beside the bedside of a loved one and hold their hand and beg them to get well. It’s another to watch them on a screen knowing they’re less than half-an-hour away but it might as well be the other side of the world because you aren’t allowed to visit them.
I later told Mom that it makes me think of what loved ones went through during the World Wars. They only got letters saying that their son or brother or husband had been wounded, and they didn’t know what would happen next. They couldn’t rush to their bedside and they had to leave their care up to the nurses and doctors who were already worn out and overwhelmed.
That night, I was exhausted emotionally. And God reminded me of II Kings 6 where the prophet Elisha and his servant are surrounded by an enemy army bent on killing them. The servant is afraid, but Elisha isn’t, even though he’s facing certain death. Instead, Elisha prays for God to open the eyes of his servant and the servant “saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” Then God reminded me that no matter what our enemy is—even COVID-19 or my own fears—the LORD of Hosts is with us, the God of the armies of Heaven is my strength!
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