5 Things I Learned After Catching Covid

It started with a bad headache which woke me up late on a Wednesday night. The next morning, I felt awful. When Friday morning came, I had typical cold symptoms: runny nose, congestion and sneezing. I should have stayed home, but I wanted to tough it out. “I can do this,” I thought to myself. So I went to work. As the day progressed, my cold symptoms became worse. My nose ran like it was in a marathon, and I couldn’t stop sneezing.

That weekend after taking a combination of green tea, water, over-the-counter cold medication and Tylenol, I was beginning to improve. Church was coming up on Sunday. Again, I should have stayed home. But I had responsibilities at church, and in my pride I refused to ask for help. “I can do this,” I thought, foolishly. I made it to church that morning, even while feeling less than my best. Then I headed home.

At home, I rested and drank more fluids. Monday would be here soon, and I wanted to be ready. The morning came, and I felt a slight improvement. Again I thought, “I can do this,” and went to work. I made it through the day, but was still was not feeling well. This was unusual. I rarely get sick, and never for more than two days. That evening I took a Covid test, and tested positive. Soon I would learn how much these test results would affect my life.

Too Busy for Covid?

My life is busy. I work five days a week. I am a Sunday School teacher. I volunteer in my church’s children’s ministry. I also serve my church as a deacon and church clerk. We have meetings once a month and member check-ins once a week. On weekends when I am not teaching, there is yard work to be done, website updates to be made and this Newsletter to plan and write. I have a music ministry which serves the community through concerts and music at special events, so I practice the piano daily to maintain my skills.

I thought I was too busy to get sick with Covid. I couldn’t afford to drop all of the good things I was doing. I thought somehow I could keep trying to do it all, day after day, week after week. Covid taught me otherwise. Over the next month I spent recovering from my symptoms, I had a lot of time to reflect. Here are some lessons I’ve learned from my Covid diagnosis:

1. I need to prioritize my health. When that was gone, I had nothing left to offer anyone. It didn’t matter how many other things I had going on at the moment. It was better to leave them undone or to ask others for help than to undo myself by risking my wellbeing. Instead of saying, “I can do this,” prioritizing my health meant saying yes to rest and no to everything else.
   
   
2. I’m not as important as I think. I am honored and humbled that God would want to use me at all. But Covid reminded me God doesn’t need Cameron Edwards in order to carry out His plan. Everyone can be replaced. His work will continue, whether or not I am around to do it. (This was a humbling thought for me.)
   
   As an example of this, before my Covid diagnosis, I regularly watered the plants in our yard to help them endure the summer heat. After catching Covid, I didn’t have strength to do this. But during my recovery, we had several days of heavy rainfall. Through the rain, God did so much better to sustain our plants than any of my watering efforts could have accomplished. Today our plants are thriving, and I can’t take any credit for it. This gave me a small glimpse into what God does daily on a larger scale to sustain the world — without my help. I’ve learned to accept and embrace this.
   
   
3. I’m not in control. I learned my organization and planning has its place, but the final result is in God’s hands. With limited physical strength and energy, I couldn’t even rely on my ability to prepare a Sunday School lesson. I had to stay home from church for a few Sundays to recover. It was hard for me to let go of the balls I had been juggling for so long. Perhaps hardest of all was resisting the temptation to do things myself. With Covid, I had to rely on others. Most importantly, I had to trust God with the results. When I did, everything still turned out okay. The lesson was still taught. And I was the better for it, getting the rest I needed. Thanks, Covid. This was a valuable life lesson.
   
   
4. I’m strongest when I’m weak. When I was most aware of my health limitations with Covid, I found myself relying the most on God’s strength. I spent a week volunteering at my church’s Vacation Bible School two weeks after my Covid diagnosis. Eager as I was to help, I knew I couldn’t physically and mentally get through each day while relying on my own strength. I needed God to provide the grace and wisdom to do my job. Knowing I was not enough freed me from the pressure of feeling like the week’s outcome rested on my shoulders.
   
   
5. I can’t afford to waste energy on people pleasing. Before I felt the physical drain of my Covid symptoms, I had spent too much effort trying to measure up to others’ expectations. After Covid, I simply didn’t have the energy to try. When I otherwise would have spoken to break an uncomfortable silence, I began to keep my mouth shut and allow conversations to flow naturally. When I previously would have been quick to volunteer, Covid forced me to say no. I have discovered no matter how hard I try, I will not please everyone. That is not my purpose. I’m here to please God alone. If people like me for who I am while I live to please Him, great. If they don’t, it’s not important. Covid taught me to be okay with that.
   

While I hope you never experience COVID-19, the virus has been a great teacher for me. It has taught me to prioritize my health, to think less of myself, to trust in God rather than myself, to accept my weaknesses and live to please God alone.

The writer of Psalm 119 said, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” I may never fully understand God’s purposes in allowing me to suffer with the Covid virus, but I do know He used it to help me learn some valuable life lessons I won’t forget.

Article by Cam Edwards