At first, Covid seemed like some distant disease somewhere far away. Then suddenly she landed right on our threshold! The first serious case was my 80-year-old great-aunt in the retirement home, who, thank God, surpassed him! After that, my aunt (my dad’s sister) wrestled with him, who unfortunately succumbed to the disease. This was followed by the infection of my brother’s entire family, and eventually my parents. The battle did not stop, but escalated. How much we prayed!
My brother’s family gradually recovered from the illness, it was worse for the parents. Dad’s mom had to call an ambulance because he couldn’t breathe properly. He was hospitalized with incipient pneumonia. At first things looked good with dad in the hospital, he ate alone, walked here and there on oxygen, but then there was a twist and he ended up in the ICU in artificial sleep on the device that was breathing for him. His condition was getting more and more serious and the doctors were no longer giving us hope. Although mom also had to go to the hospital, luckily they soon sent her back home. Her condition has improved a lot since then.
Those were extremely difficult days for us. I’ve probably gone through all the stages of sadness. – Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and reconciliation. Sometimes I felt a tight pain in my chest. I bargained with God. She was angry with the whole stupid Covid situation, I was sorry that I couldn’t be with my parents in person. I didn’t feel good about it myself and had breathing problems. When the news from the hospital was not better, I began to feel hopeless. I have reached the stage of reconciliation that I will probably have to say goodbye to my father here on earth.
Despite everything, I very personally felt God’s presence, love and comfort. Although I have to admit that I sometimes told him mine! But I know he doesn’t mind, that he knows my heart and understands how I feel and prefers honesty to pretended pious respect. I had long conversations with him, especially at night when I couldn’t sleep. He comforted me somehow every time. I once felt him tell me that he was in the hospital with his father and that he was taking care of him. When it looked really hopeless, he told me that daddy would get over it, but that the recovery would be long. But the very next day they told us another bad news at the hospital and I believed them more than God.
At that time my friend sent me this reflection: ‘I believe that there is great strength and comfort in prayer. That it is not a means to ‘move’ God, but an opportunity, an invitation to be closer to him and bring him others. Somehow it changes us when we think more of others than ourselves.’ unabled It’s unbelievable how deep the truth is!
It is just such difficult moments that deepen our relationship with God. It will restore the certainty in us that it is with us even at its worst. Even if we don’t have a certain situation under control, he does and he loves us very much, no matter how it turns out. It is a pure experience of God’s love and care.
Since dad was not the first in our family, we were a little better prepared, and in the time of greatest desperation, we thought of sending even more prayer requests than before for the aunt and others. Many of our close friends sent prayers on. People all over the world prayed…until God did a miracle!
The very next day they told us at the hospital that they had disconnected dad from the devices and that he was breathing on his own! It’s still going to be a fight, but we won’t give up. Jesus is still the same, and as he did wonders for the people in the Bible, he can do them for us too! Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever. (Bible, Hebrews 13:8) How extremely grateful we are to him, to all the doctors and nurses who took such good care of him and to all who did not stop in the fight with us.
What else did we do outside of our own persistent prayer? The whole family learned by heart the verses from the Bible on the theme of healing and ‘reminded’ them of God. Especially these two: Jesus Christ heals you. And also – He gives strength to the tired and can strengthen the exhausted. It gives strength to the exhausted and is a source of courage for the weak. (Acts 9:34 and Isaiah 40:29) (We even wrote them on the tiles in the bathroom along with the prayers!) We also strengthened our faith by reading Christian literature and listening to various sermons. Somehow we fasted. My husband skipped some foods, I didn’t eat sweets for a while and I stopped watching my favorite series. At one point, I had the feeling that I should start thanking God in advance, that he had already cured his father, even though we had not yet had physical proof of cure. It was another thing that I believe helped his recovery.
Another fundamental thing and principle that God works was to ‘give up’ in the sense of putting the whole situation in his hands, whatever happens as he sees fit. Every time we do, he then opens his arms to us. It takes a lot of courage and sometimes we do it with bated breath, but we always free his hands to do what is best for us. And over time, if we are honest with ourselves, we will recognize that he just really knows everything better than us. Although sometimes it takes a long time to find something good in it.
My daughter Anisska probably had the most faith of us the whole time. It was wonderful for me to see how the children simply trusted. It was easy for her – ‘Either God will heal the grandfather, or he will take him to heaven, where he will be fine!’ I think she didn’t understand our concerns a bit. But once she said: ‘Maybe God hasn’t cured him yet, because when it’s very bad, it will be a real miracle when he cures him!’
We feel for those whose loved ones did not get out of the disease. We don’t know why someone will recover and some will not, but we can be sure that God is with those who are sick, and also with us when we are full of pain. He is very close to us and keeps holding us.
Let’s not forget that God’s power to heal and do miracles still applies to us at this time!
News, February 2025. – Dad is enjoying good health, he continues to work at the cottage in the summer and enjoy life with his mother.
-Lenka with.
