How the government went to crap and then I got vaccinated...

What is this world coming to?

Friends, it has been a wild first week.

Wouldn’t you know that the same week I decide to start my diet and exercise plan, radical rightest protesters decide to storm the capitol! As much as I wanted to eat my feelings as I followed the story, I held strong against it and kept on track. A few times I had to pinch myself and say, wait, what country do I live in again, oh yeah, the USA. No matter what side of the political spectrum you may find yourself, we can all agree that we are living in a time of political turmoil. Let us hope and pray for a brighter 2021 after a smooth presidential transition on January 20th.

Another surprise of the week was that I got the COVID vaccine. I work as the logistics coordinator at a local dental lab, meaning dentures, nightguards, crowns. We do not have much contact with patients, except the occasional grannie picking up her denture repair, but we still somehow qualify as frontline healthcare workers. Out of the seven people who work in my office, three of us elected to get the vaccine (at no cost, of course). I was not aware that I had the option until about 11 a.m. on Friday, and I got the vaccine at 2 p.m. Before entering the vaccination site, I had to fill out a waiver stating that I understood the hazards and benefits of receiving the vaccine.

The site is a public health facility which performs a number of services including teen sexual health exams and services. As I waited for my turn to be vaccinated, I could see many strange posters about sexual health and methods of prevents sexually transmitted infections. The exam room where I was vaccinated also had free condoms. Yay me!

Spread tingle? Yeah, I get it, passion not STIs, but tingle? The first thing I think of when I read this is the old song from claymation Rudolph: "Ringle, jingle, tingle, you can hear my sleigh bells ring. I am old Kris Kringle. I'm the king of ting-a-ling!"

I'm not sure if that says more about the poster or about me?

It definitely says something about you. You are definitely odd.

Ergh, I know.

I have had my fair share of injections in my life. I’m not afraid of needles. The shot took just a second and I received a special COVID vaccine card. I had to sit in the waiting room to be observed for twenty minutes (my boss joked that this is so they can take notes while you writhe on the floor), but no grossly terrible side affects thus far. The ONE thing….

Uh-oh, did she say the one thing?

Yes, she did.

The injection site is hurting like the dickens. Yes folks, like Charles Dickens himself rose from the grave to slug me in the arm over and over again (preferably while answering all of my most deeply-seated questions about his works).

(Your see both his slugging hands are ready for business in this photo!)

It did not hurt all the afternoon directly after the shot, but it has been killing me ever since, and we are far past 24 hours now. I received the first part of the Moderna vaccine and will have to return for a second injection on February 5th. I believe in the validity of scientific research and the importance of being vaccinated. A slug in the arm is worth preventing the spread.

As I was waiting my twenty minutes’ observation, an elderly man approached the check-in desk and informed the clerk that he wanted the vaccine. I don’t remember all of the specifics of what he said, and I don’t know if they allowed him to get the vaccine at that time, but his desperate plea resonated with me. He said that he was of old age with several health conditions and the primary caretaker to his wife who had severe health conditions. He wanted the vaccine and he wanted it now.

I am relatively young and in relatively good health. I work in an office where I don’t have to see people or very many people most of the day. If I did get COVID, I am unlikely to die of it or even need to be hospitalized. Why do I get the shot before him? Did I take his shot? I hope he, and his wife and everyone else in his age group is able to get vaccinated soon.

With such sobering thoughts, I wanted to end the week with a message of encouragement and hope. Maybe some of you were wondering what’s the deal with this image of the Bible verse Nehemiah 6:3. For those of you not of the Christian faith, it is a perplexing name and reference, I’m sure. Even for those of you who are Christians, Nehemiah is not a book we open our Bibles to all that often, is it?

Last week, Pastor Ron Strack of Meadowbrook Community Church (services streaming online Sundays @9am) gave a fantastic sermon about making a new year’s resolution, which I find universally applicable:

In the book of Nehemiah, this Jewish prophet (named Nehemiah) receives a calling from God to return to Jerusalem from his position in Persia. God wants Nehemiah to assist the rest of the Jewish people in rebuilding the holy city of Jerusalem, more specifically, the city gates, protecting the city from plunder and raiders. Nehemiah goes and directs and organizes the people to building up the walls and through industry and brawn, they draw near to completing the work in record time.

The non-Jewish inhabitants of the area are not happy that the city is being built-up and protected because it could mean a loss of power for them. They see that the wall is completed, but the city gates have not yet been put up. They plot against Nehemiah, thinking to draw him out of the city and then murder him. Nehemiah knows their plans and declines, but they keep asking him and asking him.

Hey, is there a point to all of this?

There is one, I promise.

Is it coming anytime soon?

Next paragraph, for certain.

The last time Nehemiah is asked to go meet these people, he is standing on top of the city walls and he says,

“Tell them, I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.”

So these local people left him alone for a while and that was that.

Wow, pretty cool.

Yep.

So what is your great work this year? What is that one thing you NEED to accomplish this year? For me, it is diet and exercise. I need to get a hold on my weight, or I will have a 60-year-old’s body at 30. And just like the Israelites building the city wall, God isn’t going to just miraculously make it happen for me. Nope, I’m going to have to work at it pretty darn hard. And just like Nehemiah, there are going to be all these distractions, whether they be people, getting too busy, or the Popeye’s chicken sandwich (soooo much better than Chick-fill-et!), that will be getting in my way and trying to make me stop the work. I know that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing, what I was called to do this year. I will persevere, and I will be held accountable by you fine folks.

I hope this mildly religious rant will encourage you to aim for and accomplish a goal this year. I would even love for you to tell me all about it sometime, over some Greek yogurt chocolate chip muffins (seriously, I’m going to miss those guys next week!). If you are curious to hear the full service, you can view it here: https://www.facebook.com/127521670645823/videos/464187581243455

The next time you are on a mission to do something important, even if it is just writing a dumb blog that like eight people read. Remember: you are doing something important, and you cannot be bothered to stop.