Hope

But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish. Psalm 9:18

We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. Psalm 33:20-22

I have been a part of the Pandemic Planning Team for my hospital since March of 2020. As part of this, I have done work that I could never have imagined. Since March, we have talked about what our medical community can do to fight the pandemic. What it will take to eradicate this virus. We have considered the miracles of modern medicine, and compared this virus to the influenza pandemic of 1918, physicians have expressed their fears, and considered how patients will be managed in the event of an infection surge. We have imagined a hospital with beds in hallways, with testing in tents, with patients in procedure rooms, with nurses from around the country coming to help us care for those impacted. And we have prayed, and hoped and dreamed of a vaccine. 

On December 10th, the FDA recommended approval of the first COVID vaccine in the United States. I felt GIDDY with hope. Even though the vaccination process will take MONTHS and will be a tremendous amount of work, this will give us a line of defense against a virus that has taken more than 300,000 lives in the United States. On December 14th the hospital that I work at started the vaccine clinic less than 4 hours after our supplies were received. During our pandemic call that afternoon you could hear the JOY in the voices of our clinicians, providers and organizational leaders. By the end of the day we had vaccinated more than 400 health care providers. 

The night following our first day of vaccinations my hope brought tears to my eyes. I was so relieved to be moving to the next phase of battle against this terrible virus. I was able to let go of some of the fear that I have spent so many months carrying. Fear for my family, myself, my community, the physicians and nurses and other health care professionals that I cherish deeply in my day to day work. Having those fears replaced with hope was one of the most earth shattering experiences I have ever had. 

Prayer: God of hope, thank you for guiding the scientists who have worked tirelessly toward a defense again this infection. Thank you for supporting and watching over the health care professionals who are providing care to your children. Amen     

Christi Moock