God’s Goodness

For the Lord is good, and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100:5

For some reason, God prepared my heart last year about the seriousness of living with an epidemic. I was viewing websites of colleges our granddaughter was considering attending in the fall, which included Abilene Christian University. It was there I read the featured story of Alumnae Kent and Amber Brantly.

Dr. Brantly’s miraculous survival, after contracting Ebola while treating patients in Monrovia, Libera in 2014, was my first naive glimpse into the seriousness of an epidemic. God spared the young doctor’s life after he and two other seriously ill colleagues were finally flown back to the U.S. for admission into Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Three doses of the drug, ZMapp, which had never been administered to a human, eventually saved his life.

The important truth I learned about the Brantly’s story was a continual expression of their mission . . . that they would always, wherever God placed them, look for ways to love their neighbor, whether on the mission field in Africa or at home in Fort Worth, Texas. (Mark 12:31)

Who knew in a few short months after I read their story, we would be living in a pandemic, which was much more vast than the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Although both of the viruses cause havoc on the human body and are highly contagious, Ebola did not spread as quickly or globally as the Coronavirus. Later, Dr. Brantly’s opportunities to testify before two congressional committees in Washington DC helped to inform certain expert task forces diligently working now in our country.

Readers, I will attempt to share my heart with you, as I approach this body of work during the first week of May, 2020. Quarantines are loosening a bit, but school kids are still in need while receiving daily curbside pickups of breakfast and lunch. People continue waiting in long lines to receive food from food banks. The unemployed are still struggling to pay rent and buy necessities. Children continue to be homeschooled by their parents, who also work from home. Positive new COVID-19 cases are daily counted while the death rate continues to be staggering.

So, I know most English teachers advise first person writing as a last resort, but personal stories are more important now than refined essays. I will be your friend this week to show my concern by sharing my thoughts with you. We are all wounded in some way and are in need of a kind word.

Jill Hendrix

*Called for Life, Kent and Amber Brantly, 2015.