Back in late December, I sent out an urgent prayer request for my sweet friends, Greg and Sean. Greg had come home from work on a Thursday night feeling achy and in less than 48 hours, he was life flighted to Denver, in a medically induced coma, and on life support with bags and bags of medicine and oxygen and tubes running in and out of his body. It was touch and go for quite a while.

Sean wrote a daily entry on Caring Bridge, keeping their many friends and family informed what was going on. I came to look forward to the new update everyday so I would know what to pray for next. The pictures Sean posted of our sweet friend were heartbreaking. And slowly…ever so slowly…things turned around. A tiny improvement became a bigger one and a bigger one. He came off the machines. The tubes were pulled. He started eating bite by precious bite till now he is in a rehab center not far from their home. He’s regaining his strength and starting to do things for himself again. Sean’s reports are coming as praises now for the little milestones her sweet husband is making everyday.

Last night’s journal entry talked about how it felt when, as she was walking away from him to leave, she turned around to look at him once more. She caught him watching her, smiling…their many years of love communicating without words and her heart soared. She will never take the little things for granted again. I used to wonder what our lives would have been like if the CPR would have been successful and Mr. Virgo could have returned home after rehab. Those thoughts used to drive me crazy because it was an entirely moot point, wasn’t it?

The Bible tells us to think on whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…if anything is excellent or praiseworthy…think about such things. Daydreaming about “what-ifs” doesn’t meet any of these criteria so I learned to leave such thoughts alone.

That being said, I found out the other night, another friend from the same community is going through much of the same thing as a result of complications of the flu. Please keep M.O. in your prayers. This year’s strain seems to be particularly virulent. And with the Wuhan Coronavirus spreading, there is even more reason to keep your house neat and clean, avoid crowds, use good hand washing techniques, keep your hands away from your face, nose, mouth and eyes. Don’t kiss babies. Keep a handful of masks in a ziplock baggie in your purse or car. If you’re sick, stay home. Keep hand sanitizer on you at all times. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, they say.

There’s a lot of sickness in the world these days. Common sense and lots of love go a long way to curing a lot of ills. When that doesn’t work…try chicken soup. It’s love in a bowl.

❤️

“The Lord sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness.”

Psalms 41:3 NIV