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The quarantine shocked us all.\u00a0 Nobody expected the world to be shutdown.\u00a0 Of all things, people raced to acquire toilet paper.\u00a0 One evening I saw a local pastor, filling her cart with as much toilet paper as she could carry.\u00a0 Later, I saw her post on social media that she would be completely unavailable.\u00a0 In that moment, I realized that wiping her ass was much more important to her than loving her neighbor.\u00a0 Unfortunately, she was not alone.\u00a0 In other posts, I saw pastor after pastor declare that they were unavailable.\u00a0 Deeply convicted, I made a covenant with God that wherever there was a need I would go.<\/p>\n
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There was the abused woman trying to move her stuff out of her house.\u00a0 I wonder if I got it from the screaming husband.<\/p>\n
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There was the fleeing woman that needed my assistance finding a place to hide.\u00a0 I wonder if I got it from the front desk clerk.<\/p>\n
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There was the troubled man who was suicidal and just needed a friend.\u00a0 I wonder if I got it from some of the others who came to help.<\/p>\n
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There was the homeless man who had nothing to eat.\u00a0 I wonder if I got it from someone in the restaurant.<\/p>\n
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Despite wearing every type of protection I could get my hands on, I still got it.<\/p>\n
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In interview after interview, I called on other pastors to take the same risks I did to help their communities.\u00a0 Few heard me.\u00a0Many even had the nerve to criticize me when I was diagnosed with the virus.\u00a0 These worthless vessels of godlessness had the nerve to attack the sick guy rather than actually getting out and helping the sick.<\/p>\n
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Early in the week, I developed a slight fever\u2026then came the headaches\u2026then came the coughing.\u00a0Despite the pandemic, I was positive that I just had a routine sickness.\u00a0 I figured it was just a minor case of the flu or a sinus infection.\u00a0 In the past, I\u2019d just been able to sleep any sickness off.\u00a0 When I started being unable to get out of the bed, I realized that things were getting serious.\u00a0 Still, I tried to convince myself that I could handle it.\u00a0 I was wrong.\u00a0 Ultimately, I started having trouble breathing\u2026I couldn\u2019t stay hydrated\u2026I could feel my kidneys not working properly.\u00a0 Early one morning, I knew that I couldn\u2019t take it anymore.\u00a0 In the midst of the pain, I drove myself to the hospital and was immediately admitted.\u00a0 The diagnosis was COVID19.\u00a0 I was told that I likely contracted the disease from some of the people that I\u2019d helped. \u00a0For three days, I precariously laid in a hospital bed alone.\u00a0 During those long hours, I prayed and prayed.\u00a0Visions came and went.\u00a0Repeatedly, God revealed to me that God runs to the sick and not away from them.\u00a0 This beautiful affirmation was the fruit of the virus for me.<\/p>\n
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Amen.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 The quarantine shocked us all.\u00a0 Nobody expected the world to be shutdown.\u00a0 Of all things, people raced to acquire toilet paper.\u00a0 One evening I saw a local pastor, filling her cart with as much toilet paper as she could carry.\u00a0 Later, I saw her post on social media that she would be completely unavailable.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2509,"featured_media":7747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[5487,5490,1619,1799,5510,5527,3201],"class_list":["post-7745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-freshwritings","category-thoughts","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-hospital","tag-jeff-hood","tag-pandemic","tag-quarantine","tag-sick"],"yoast_head":"\n