In my last blog, I mentioned that I would now be preaching on May 9 because I got COVID-19. That has now been pushed to May 16. This gave me adequate time to recover and gave my current church another week to hold services online only to prevent the spread of this virus that so many members of our church have right now. Tentatively, that is when my last day will be. This delay is really making me eager to get this new ministry started. But hey, at least I'm still growing a following on my website in the meantime.

My experience with COVID-19 was, shall we say, interesting... After I tested positive, my county sent me a letter explaining that I could end my quarantine no later than 10 days after symptom onset and 48 hours after the end of my fever. This doesn't make much sense because I only had a fever two times during my symptoms. One on the very first day and again a few days later only very briefly. Actually, I was the only one who had a fever in my family, even though we all tested positive. I think it is hilarious that places take your temperature to screen you for COVID symptoms because, based on our experience, taking your temperature does not sound like a very reliable method to determine the status of your health in regard to this virus. I'm still scratching my head about that, and I can't even raise my arm to scratch my head. Very baffling indeed.

Other than those two brief instances of a fever, I had a good list of symptoms. Congestion, sore throat, headache, fatigue, nausea, sneezing, loss of smell, loss of taste, and inability for my body to regulate its temperature (is that even a symptom? Let me check... The Internet says no, but that is what I experienced. I had chills a couple of times, but more often than not I was burning up even though my temperature was normal. That is unusual for me because I am usually freezing. Go figure. Now back to your previously scheduled programming…) So yeah, that is quite the list. Oddly, I never had all the symptoms all at once. I never really felt that bad because my symptoms would just come and go, almost like some game of roulette. The congestion was constant. There were also several days when I had less energy, but nothing extreme like I have heard others encountered, including my dad.

Because the symptoms were so random and each of them did not stick around very long, I would say I had a very mild case. I am not going to address the origins of this virus, but the randomness of symptoms and the way it practically attacks everything almost makes it seem like this virus was manufactured. Really who knows? I just found it odd. Out of all my friends who recently got it, I was probably the least affected by it. Since I have a compromised respiratory system, about the only way that is possible is that God was looking out for me. Praise God! There was one time in the middle of the night that I thought, “I can't breathe, here it comes, I need to go to the hospital.” So, we checked my blood/oxygen level, it was 98 (anything above 92 is considered normal). It turns out I was actually overheating and once I cooled off and calmed down, everything was fine. (See what I mean about my body being unable to regulate my temperature. Really weird huh?)

Thankfully, I never had a cough, or any other respiratory issues caused by this virus. After about 9 days, my congestion gradually started clearing out and the other symptoms all but disappeared. Other than a couple of lingering things, by day 11 I felt normal. My sinus passages are just about clear now and my body still reacts to temperature differently than it used to, but I'm getting close. Hey, at least I'm not contagious anymore. The most annoying part is that things still don't smell or taste right. I have read it could take a few months for that to get back to normal. I'm not really looking forward to that!

I am so grateful that God allowed me to have an easy recovery from COVID-19, even though that is nothing like what I deserve. I appreciate everyone who prayed for me. God heard your prayers and He answered them favorably. Even though God is always good, even if the worst would have happened, I am continually amazed by how good God is to me specifically despite my failures. I've certainly had my fair share of difficult situations and struggles, but God has always helped me face all of it. I am especially grateful that I did not have to face much from this virus.

If you're reading this and you're having a more difficult time with the virus, I hope you get better soon. If I know you, I am also praying that God heals you. Whether or not I know you, I also hope that you at least have a relationship with Jesus Christ so he can help you face this and anything else that might come up in your life. If not, I hope you will turn to him today, repent from your sins, and believe on Jesus. That way you will have the assurance of knowing that if you were to die today, whether it is from COVID or something else, that your eternity is secure because of the work that Jesus did by dying for you on the cross.