×

Faith will see us through

“Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” reads Hebrews 11:1.

I didn’t grow up in the church, but I was taught to believe in God.

When I met my husband, I had been praying for God to bring someone like him into my life.

Friends warned me away, he had recently been honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy and he was rough around the edges.

But I saw through that to the good person I knew he was underneath.

Although I didn’t always attend church, my faith has been strong throughout most of my life.

We married when I was 20 in a church I had grown to love.

It was a place where my husband had been shown who God was and what an impact He could have on a person’s life.

There have been many challenges along the way, but God has always been with me.

Sometimes, faith was the only thing that kept us moving forward.

But then, toward the end of last year, neither my husband nor I felt good.

I thought it was the Mid-Ohio Valley crud that most of us get at one point or another.

Until I couldn’t taste or smell.

At the urging of my editor, we went and got tested on Jan. 2.

We both tested positive for COVID.

We thought we both had relatively mild cases.

We had severe fatigue and some trouble catching our breaths.

Our senses of smell and taste would come and go and we both had a bit of a cough.

Two weeks of quarantine and we were ready to go back to work.

But then, Valentine’s Day wasn’t hearts and romance.

It was a trip to the ER, my husband gasping for breath, shaking and praying he wasn’t going to die.

He spent the night at the ER in Belpre, where he was initially diagnosed with double pneumonia.

The next day, he was transferred to Marietta Memorial Hospital for more tests.

It wasn’t double pneumonia, it was congestive heart failure.

His doctor said it was most likely a result of COVID.

Our faith has been tested many times over the last couple of months.

On Valentine’s Day, my husband told me he didn’t want to die and leave me a widow.

I don’t think we’ve ever prayed so hard.

Throughout our lives, and almost 27 years of marriage, the one thing we’ve had to rely on is our faith.

When God gives us neon signs telling us which path to take, we’ve never hesitated to take it.

We have kept the faith that God would keep us safe.

He kept my husband safe, we kept our faith in Him.

Thankfully he’s feeling better and will soon have a heart catheterization done. In all, he’s worked about two weeks this year due to COVID.

We pray together every day and when he feels down, I read the Bible out loud.

We’ve trusted that our faith would be strong enough to keep us together when times got tough.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

We may not see the path laid out before us, but we have faith that God will once again see us through.

Michele Newbanks may be reached at mnewbanks@mariettatimes.com.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.15/week.

Subscribe Today