Dear Family and Friends of RRUMC,
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I wanted to start off by letting you know how much me and my whole family felt and appreciated all of your love, support, and prayers as COVID hit the Bogres in late December into early January.
I came down with symptoms on December 23, was tested on Christmas Eve morning, and then received my positive test result on Christmas morning. I don’t know what all of you received for Christmas but I got COVID! My wife, unfortunately, started showing symptoms three days later and also tested positive. Both my wife and I experienced somewhat mild symptoms and are both back to 100%. I did completely lose my sense of taste and smell. I am hoping that by the time all of you receive this Circuit Rider I will have had them both return.
How did my faith get lived out in this? The minute I read the positive diagnosis, I dropped to my knees in my bedroom and with elbows on the bed and hands folded, I prayed. I was fully aware that thousands of people here and around the world have died from this virus, so I prayed for God to not have COVID take my life. You just don’t know.
It effects each and every person differently. I prayed for my family and I prayed for all of the people I knew who had it. The other powerful part of the journey was how I could honestly feel the prayers of this congregation wrapping me up and carrying me through it.
I truly felt your prayers like I have never felt them before. I was also reminded of how people of faith in our faith community care for each other. The way all of you took me and my family under your wings was so special. The cards, the phone calls, the emails, the texts, and all the special packages of all different kinds left on our front porch were humbling. I watched the church be the church. Usually I watch it happen to others but this time it happened to me. It is for that reason that I am forever grateful to all the folks of RRUMC.
Once I knew that I had come through it, one certain Scripture kept rolling around in my heart and mind. “Jesus said, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’” Luke 9:62. One of the blessings of getting COVID is to know that it is now in my rearview mirror. That does not mean that I throw caution to the wind and act foolishly. I will maintain all of the normal safety protocols, but at the same time, I feel like I can refocus on God’s call in my life to lead in faith and to not lead in fear. I am not going to look backwards.
I only want to look ahead to where God has me and this church going now and into the future. I can only do that with my eyes fixed on Christ and not fixed on COVID. I feel like there is a before and after point in my COVID journey and it is in faith that I put my hand to the plow in order to till the soil, plant more seeds, and watch God bring it all to life.
Again, thank you for all of your prayers, love, and support. They are what carried me through. May God keep you all safe, happy, and healthy.
Peace and Blessings,
Rev. Dan